"W-wait!"
Sora called fruitlessly, stumbling forward to catch her balance. But when she turned back, Hoseok was gone, vanishing among the throng of half-naked bodies.
Gawking in that direction, wondering what just happened, Sora was unable to dawdle much longer before her eyes caught the flailing arms of Milli, who was waving desperately at her from the cabana.
Suppressing a gasp, Sora sped off towards her, thankful for Hoseok's jacket, since she couldn't trust her flimsy top from flying off at the speed she was going.
"Sora, where were you?" Milli scolded when she arrived back. "Orders are piling up like crazy, and even more guests have arrived since our firework show is starting in five minutes!"
"Oh, shoot!" Sora slapped a hand against her forehead, feeling like an idiot. "The firework show! Did that much time pass already? I'm sorry Milli, I'll get caught up real quick."
Glancing out from the cabana, Sora knew that Milli was right. Even more people were crowding the resort, and she could barely even make out a path from one end of the pool to the other. Gulping down her guilt, she quickly turned back inside, grabbing order cards and cramming as many drinks piling up on the bartender's queue as possible onto her serving tray,doing her best to memorize which drinks went to which part of the resort.
"Excuse me, excuse me!" Just like squeezing through the girls to get to Hoseok, Sora found herself shoving herself into swathes of people, fervently keeping her tray from being flipped or tipped by flailing arms as well as any part of her bikini from getting inadvertently ripped off. The loud music pounded into her ears, making it hard for people to hear her, but thankfully, drinks were served accordingly with minimal mistakes.
And speaking of Hoseok's jacket, even as she served, Sora couldn't help but search for Hoseok, his words ringing in the back of her mind.
He said he wanted his jacket back... but where is he? He sounded like he was in a hurry.
Although she was distracted by her duties, Sora noticed that Hoseok hadn't returned to his circle of girls, who were now mindlessly playing a few pool games on their own, not a trace of him to be seen. Figuring he must just be in the bathroom or something, Sora shook off anymore thoughts, hoping she'd be able to find him before they closed up for the night.
"Final order!" Sora heaved to herself in glee, ecstatic and relieved she'd finally caught up.
Looking out, she was even more relieved to see that most people were already out the gates of the pool, trickling towards the magnificent hill where tonight's firework show was hosted, and she knew that the resort staff had already set up grills, more drinks and refreshments, blankets, and picnic baskets at the top of the hill, ready for their patrons.
Okay. Just this final group. Then everyone would be out of the pool area, distracted by the firework show on that hill, and I can finally start cleaning everyone's crap up—
Sora froze when she saw what group her final order was for.
Group Eleven.
She stifled a groan.
Not those perverts again.
But a job was a job, and the fact that they were her last order motivated her to add the eight cocktails onto her tray and head out, as much as her feet dragged. Pretty much everyone had emptied the pool area now, tables bare and pool vacant of bodies for the first time that night. Sora knew that all of the other resort staff were busy escorting their guests up the hill, setting up the area, or preparing the fireworks. And so, with a silent groan, Sora knew she was alone in this, and she couldn't push this duty to someone else to take care of.
Ugh. Here goes nothing.
They were watching her long before she began approaching them, obviously expecting her. Just like before, Group Eleven not-so-secretly ogled her chest, as much as she attempted to keep them covered with her tray of drinks.
"Hi!" Sora said, forcing her cheery demeanor back on despite how nervous sweat slid down her back. What she did notice, however, was that instead of eight guys like before, there were only three this time.
"Fancy seeing you again, darling," one of the guys cackled, giving her a greasy smirk. Grimacing, she handed out their drinks.
"Thank you for your continued patronage! Here are your drinks, but I must remind our lovely guests that our state-of-the-art firework show is starting soon, and the pool will be closed for the night. We encourage you to—eek!"
One of the guys' hands had whipped out onto Hoseok's jacket, which she'd been wearing the whole time, and had thrown it aside.
"You're not supposed to be wearing that."
Flustered, Sora stumbled back, shocked they were so bold, but after looking around, she noticed that the lack of other people probably gave them confidence.
Uh oh. This isn't good.
The other guys laughed uproariously, and one of them shamelessly began ogling her up and down. Shrinking behind her tray, Sora forced a mini bow, sputtering, "Th-thanks again, and we hope to see you at the show!"
"Woah, where do you think you're going?"
One of the tall guys lashed out, grabbing her by the wrist before she could turn away. Yelping, Sora dropped her tray. The tray tumbled into the pool next to them while the extra five drinks shattered onto the paved ground, spraying the stone and water a brilliant red.
Realizing now how serious the situation was becoming, she began peering around helplessly. Unfortunately, a silent hush washed over the pool area, a stark contrast to the thriving atmosphere before, everyone's back turned to them as they progressed up that hill.
Heart racing, Sora regretted that she ignored every red flag and hadn't reported them sooner, and she gasped as another guy's hand began feeling her up, sliding along her leg,down and up. Her eyes widened when yet another man pulled out his phone, seemingly beginning to record or take pictures of her, and, squeezing her eyes shut, Sora opened her mouth, about to scream—
"Woah, wait a second!"
Eyes flying open, Sora whipped her head up at that familiar voice, and she sucked in a breath to see Hoseok materializing out of nowhere like a ghost, a cold, dead expression on his face so monstrous that her blood ran cold. But, in the next split second, his laid-back, coolheaded expression was back, so quickly she thought she'd imagined that first demonic look.
He stepped towards them, disturbingly calm, before stooping down to scoop up his discarded jacket. Unlike before, he was now in khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, and turning back around, he only gazed at them with concern, eyes glassy and filled with worry.
"Can you please take your hands off her?" he said with overflowing politeness, brows knitted with concern. "She's my girlfriend, so I'd appreciate it if you don't touch her like that."
Huh? Girlfriend?
Sora couldn't speak, shocked into silence.
"Ha, so what?" one of the dunces chortled. "Selling your girlfriend's pictures will get us lots of money, more than any of the other girls here, big shot. So get the hell out!"
"But please," Hoseok said, and Sora couldn't believe her eyes at how docile he was, his eyes filling with tears as he dropped onto his knees. Hands clasping in front of him, he pleaded,"I beg you, please let her go."
Another man cackled, deep and guttural, at how pathetic Hoseok was, a man in a Hawaiian shirt groveling on his knees. "What if we don't, loser? What are you going to do, huh?"
"What am I going to do?" Hoseok paused, getting back on his feet before pacing towards them, gaze lowered, stopping right before the man who asked him that question. Then, when he looked back up, Sora's insides froze as that same, ghastly look, as grotesque and nightmarish as before, appeared back on his face like a lightbulb switch.
"I'll kill you," Hoseok said.
The man choked on his spit, as shaken by the sudden switch in demeanor as Sora was, but Hoseok had already rotated, throwing the back of his hand onto his forehead in distress.
"Oh no, how terrible!" he sobbed, pacing towards the pool. "My girlfriend is being threatened, and it seems like I can't do anything." He turned back around, sniffling. "But I did promise I'd protect her, and I am a man true to his words."
He glanced at each of the three men, who were still touching Sora. "But where are your other five friends?" he said, head tilting and eyes wide and innocent. "I thought there were eight of you, taking crude pictures of unsuspecting women and selling them online for millions."
Sora gasped at that unexpected truth, and one of the guys flinched, spooked.
Wait... so these guys illegally take inappropriate pictures of women and sell them?
Bile rose up in Sora's throat, and she suppressed the inordinate urge to vomit.
"Where are they? What did you do?" one of the guys demanded, releasing Sora. The other two also abandoned her, seemingly more concerned about what Hoseok was saying, and Sora immediately skittered away, dry-heaving into the ground from their invading touches.
"Where are they?" Hoseok twisted on his heel, pacing back to the pool, still sniveling and crying. "Well, I think your friends might be in there." And he pointed into the empty pool.
What?
Sora had no clue what Hoseok was doing, and it was clear the three men didn't either. They stared at the pool, frowning. "What are you talking about? There's no one there."
"No, but it's true!" Hoseok sobbed, walking over to a picnic table and picking up a napkin, blowing his nose. "Again, I only tell the truth."
Then he turned to the table of game toys, picking a water gun up, examining it and making little "Pew, pew" sounds.
Another man stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "This guy's a fucking pussy. Get his ass!"
"It's true though," Hoseok repeated, his voice hardening. Turning back around, he said, "Why don't you go see for yourself?"
One of the men scoffed. "What the fuck? Are you saying we should get in the pool?"
"Yes." Hoseok pointed the water gun at him. "Get. In. The. Pool."
The man guffawed loudly with his other two cronies. "What a joker! You really going to shoot some water—"
Bang!
The grins on the other two men slowly vanished, and Sora's heart stopped as she watched the first man tip backwards into the pool, a burst of blood splattering the surface of the water, mixing with the deep red of the margaritas that had tipped off of her tray. A real gun!
Sora froze, unable to move as her eyes slowly slid back to Hoseok. The innocent, pushover expression was gone, replaced by that spine-chilling, unearthly, nefarious look once again. He swiveled the colorful water gun to the other two, and they both jumped, throwing their hands into the air in surrender and dropping to their knees, just like he once did.
"Sp-spare us!" one whimpered. "We'll... we'll let your girlfriend go!"
"Yes!" the other blubbered. "We'll give you all the money too!" To prove it, he tossed his phone at him.
"That's nice," Hoseok said, scooping up the phone and pocketing it with no gusto."That's what we're here for, and Namjoon would be satisfied with this." He tapped his chin. "But what to do? I did make a promise. Two promises, in fact."
The two men were silent, fear crawling into their eyes."One is that I protect my girlfriend. The other is..." He peered at them, eyes devoid of emotion as he cocked the water gun at one of them, "...is that I'll kill you."
Bang!
The man dropped like a rock into the pool, and the last man didn't need another second to begin sobbing and shrieking and begging. "Please, spare me! I was wrong, please!"
Unsympathetic, Hoseok pointed his water gun at him. "Then get in the pool."
He didn't need to be told twice. With her guts churning, Sora assumed that Hoseok simply wanted to play with his food by forcing the man to get himself drenched in water before finishing him off, but what she hadn't expected was for that man to dive into the pool and never come back up.
She stared.
One minute. Two minutes. Few minutes later.
And all she saw were air bubbles breaking the surface, but after a few seconds, even those had disappeared.
He'd drowned!
And with a sickening stab in her stomach, Sora knew that those other five men were down there too.
"Hey there, ready to go?"
And peering up, all she saw was Hoseok's hand reaching down towards her, light and life back in his eyes, and she never would've guessed this cheery gentleman and that heartless, two-faced killer were the same person.
She glanced between his hand and the pool, hand and the pool, and it seemed as if Hoseok got the idea as he sighed, flopping down and taking a seat next to her.
"Water-activated tape," he said matter-of-factly as if talking about the weather, pulling out a roll of brown tape and playfully twirling it around his index finger.
"Something you can find at your local stationary store. I used it all the time for some of my school projects. Oh, those were fun!"
He peered at Sora, but she still shivered, unsure of how to feel. Pulling his black jacket up, Hoseok once again draped it over her shoulders and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in close.
"They were our targets from the start. It was just a simple swap at the admissions booth. Your resort's bracelets and this tape look pretty similar, so I just swapped out their bracelets with a thin roll. Then, when they go in the pool, once their wrist touches the ground or the walls, they're stuck." His eyes flashed inhumanely for a split second. "Forever."
Sora drew her knees in, shivering under his jacket. "S-so, they are dead?"
"Yeah." His smile drooped, puppy eyes back. "Are you mad at me?"
Sora bit her lip. She was shaken, that was true. The way those men touched her caused her to shiver harder, and the pool water, a spiral of scarlet, made her stomach churn. But Hoseok did keep his promise.
"No, I can't be mad, because you protected me..." Sora muttered, hugging herself. "But why... why me? What about you? What happens to you?"
Hoseok hummed, staring upwards into the darkening sky. "If they touch me, they get stung. But if they touch you..." He turned to her and flashed his bright-eyed, cheery smile."they're dead."
And then, as the sky burst and echoed into a marvelous display of fireworks, Sora realized that just as Hoseok claimed, he was telling the truth. He had protected her, ever since he gave her the jacket in the first place. He'd disappeared afterwards, taking revenge on five of those criminals by somehow getting them in the pool, and Sora suppressed another wave of nausea when she realized that all other party guests had continued swimming in it, oblivious that there were five dead bodies right beneath them. And then he'd finished off the other three.
He murdered them in cold blood, and it disturbed her, but weirdly enough, his touch, unlike those of those perverts, currently wrapped around her shoulder feels so safe.
"So what do you say, Sora?" Hoseok then stood up, extending a hand down towards her. Pointing his water gun in the sky, he said with a pout, "We're gonna miss the entire show at this point. So..." He looked back down, hand still outstretched. "want to watch it with me?"
Staring at his hand, Sora knew that this was a question and a choice worth a million times more than simply watching fireworks.
But she had already made her decision.
Reaching up, she wrapped her hand around his, knowing there was no turning back.
"Yeah. Let's go, Hoseok."
"Yay!" Hoseok pulled her up, immediately dragging her towards the gate of the pool towards the hill. "And when we're there, I'll introduce you to everyone as my girlfriend!"
"W-what?"
"Remember?" He smiled joyfully at her again. "I'm a man true to his words. I told those guys you're my girlfriend so my goal is to make that true!"
And then, as he skipped off, hand closed around hers, Sora realized that although she may be in the hands of a devil with the tears of a crocodile, he had the wings of an angel.
And that was all that mattered.