To KookieWani0109:
as you suggested, girl 😂😂
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The group reached the level where their rooms were located. Exiting the elevator, they scattered in different directions to go to their rooms. Joohee and Jiah found their room and noticed Hoseok walking past them to the door next to theirs. Taehyun and another boy – whose name was Joonmyung, thirteen years old – were with him.
Hoseok and Jiah made eye contact before smiling at each other and entered their rooms.
Jiah put down Joohee's bag on the bed and placed her luggage beside the television table. Joohee bounced on the bed, making Jiah chuckle. The little girl stopped bouncing when she reminded, "you need to wash up now. We have to go down again for meals."
Joohee obediently hopped down the bed and grabbed a hotel towel from the table. A few minutes later, the sound of the shower could be heard, followed by Joohee's sudden screaming. Jiah was startled but quickly calmed down when she heard the girl say, "the water is too cold."
"Do you need help?" Jiah shouted back.
"No, I'm a big girl. I can fix it."
Jiah released a sigh and chuckled. She went to the window and pushed both sides of the curtains. Water droplets slid down the glass as rain continued to pour. The sky showed a darker hue, signifying that night was about to come.
Hoseok had everything planned, but Jiah worried that the rain might force them to cancel their plans. With the children with them, she feared sudden cancellation might upset them. Nevertheless, she hoped nothing like that would happen.
After more than twenty minutes, Joohee stepped out of the bathroom in her pajamas with wet hair. She walked to her bag, took out a comb, and asked, "Jiah unni, please comb my hair," as she sat beside Jiah on the bed.
Without a word, Jiah grabbed the comb and a towel, gently ruffling the little girl's hair and untangling the knots in her hair. Once the hair was straightened with the comb, Joohee turned around and asked, "are you and Seokjin oppa dating?"
There you go again. Jiah displayed a forced smile and said, "nope!"
"How about you and Hoseok oppa? You two held hands!" Joohee said. Joohee's keenness surprised Jiah. The news of her assisting Hoseok during the event might have even reached the orphanage.
Incredulously, Jiah laughed. "We aren't dating," she said.
"Why were you holding hands then?" The girl tilted her head to one side, her bottom lip jutting out.
"Hoseok was sick. I had to hold his hand to help him be strong!"
Joohee gasped, her eyebrows raised. "Do you have some superpower?"
Things would be harder if she said 'no.' She knew where that would lead. Hence, she answered, "yes. I only have it for Hoseok."
"Hoseok oppa is lucky! Poor Seokjin oppa," Joohee said, jutting out her bottom lip again. Jiah chuckled at that.
She thought that she'd better change the topic quickly. She asked, "anyways, are you hungry?"
Joohee nodded her head.
"I heard from Hoseok that we're going to eat a lot of chicken skewers and salad with some nut paste here. What do you think?"
Humming and beaming, Joohee said, "that sounds delicious! Let's go down now, unni! Quick, quick!"
**********
Fortunately, the rain had died down by six in the evening. Despite the ceased rain, only some of them were up for Haji Lane. Saekang and Taehyun were left at the hotel with the rest of the Bejiwoo staff who were too tired to join.
Namjoon, Jiah, Hoseok, Seokjin, Yoongi, and the older kids went around the aesthetic lane. To strangers, it might have seemed like they were a family with their children.
Colorful street art and funky murals adorned the walls, catching Jiah's attention. She took out her phone and snapped a few photos of them. While she was snapping a few photos of some aesthetic shops, Seokjin came up behind her. "I can help take a few photos of you," he said.
Turning her head, Jiah found him standing close to her. "Oh!" Her shoulders jumped. Finally, she turned her body to face him. "Didn't know you were here."
Seokjin chuckled. "I've been here with you; didn't want to lose you," he said, his eyes fixed on hers.
If it wasn't because of Joohee (and Han Shinhye), Jiah wouldn't have heard that statement differently. But, what if they were right? Because of both of them, she had been keeping her eyes peeled on Hoseok and Seokjin.
She could simply thank Seokjin for waiting and see it as waiting for her as a colleague, but it had been a few days that their behaviors put her into sleepless nights. For a moment, she remembered the way Seokjin had been looking at her and that had her feel – unexplainably – bad.
"How about I take photos of you?" Seokjin said, breaking the unexpected silence.
"Sure!" Jiah said, handing her phone to him. "Thanks!" She scampered to the art wall as Seokjin squatted down to capture a better angle. She posed for the camera as he counted down from one to three, resulting in multiple poses being captured.
He stood up, walked to her, and showed her the photos. "Are these fine for you?" he asked.
She nodded her head, smiling and said, "you made me look pretty in these photos."
"You are pretty!" Seokjin insisted.
She laughed, throwing her head back. "Thanks, by the way. We should get going." She patted her stomach and said, "I'm hungry."
Seokjin nodded his head, and they walked together side by side.
During their walk, Jiah remained quiet, forcing herself to focus on the street walls until they reached the end of the lane. Four minutes away from the lane, there was an Indonesian cuisine restaurant. The two-storey restaurant was painted in white, its window frames were red. The signboard read 'Minang' in capitalizations.
Joohee was already there. The little girl was looking for them when they stepped into the entrance, guiding her and Seokjin to a table and urging them to sit with her. Since it rained a while ago, Jiah could feel the chill on her chair. In addition to the ceiling fan above her, she crossed her arms to keep herself warm.
Yoongi asked a waiter if they could link the tables together. The waiter gave an 'okay' sign. Soon, they had two tables combined, and the same waiter took their menus before he went to send them to their chef.
Breaking the silence, Hoseok started, "since it's just us, this is the best place I could bring us."
Yoongi commented, "but the rest don't get to see the murals."
"They can come after Universal Studios tomorrow if they'd like," Hoseok said.
"Universal Studios?" Jiah raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, the place with amusement rides and cartoon mascots," Hoseok answered. Jiah smiled at him, her lips tight, and the corner of her eyes gave out a tiny wrinkle. He gave her a nervous side-eye. "D-don't... Don't look at me like that. I'm not... I'm not going to ride any of the rides!"
Jiah still showed him the same smile, saying nothing.
He added, "ne-ver."
**********
They had gone to some slow rides, but this time;
"I miss my mom..." Hoseok muttered from the secured seat. He kept his gaze up to the clear, blue sky, trying to ignore the sun's rays piercing through the clouds. His knees were clenched together.
Beside him was giggling Jiah, her legs swaying back and forth on the Cyclone and Human ride. She was the one who picked the frontmost seat, and he couldn't find himself to refuse.
"J-Jiah, please hold my hand," he said. But Jiah continued to giggle, her attention focused somewhere as she held onto the safety frame. It was a slow ride to begin with.
"Jiah, hold my –" and suddenly, it zoomed down. "– HAAAND!" The hoodie on his head flew to the back due to the wind. Gritting his teeth, he grunted out loud, "Lee Jiah! My hand! Hooold!!"
Jiah was laughing uncontrollably. When he felt a hand patting his, he immediately held it tight. The woman beside him gleefully shouted, "this is crazy!"
He could hear Goo-in, Jaeil, and Rowoon screaming behind them, along with Namjoon's laughter. Seokjin shouted, "uhmma, Jisoo-yah! I'm sorry!" And it was the first time he heard Yoongi screaming, "I'm crying! Uhmma!"
Who would have thought the guy who often appeared intimidating would cry and scream for his mother?
Meanwhile, Jungkook was singing a ballad loudly next to a stranger.
His staff were different breeds...
As the sight of a hut came into sight, the ride gradually slowed down, and Hoseok slumped his shoulders on the backrest. He could feel his soul seeping out. A long beep cooed in his mind. Jiah's giggling, the teenagers', and Namjoon's laughter, Yoongi's whimpering felt distant and blurry.
Everyone raised their hands to lift the secure frame, and Hoseok did the same sluggishly. He zoned out until Jiah called him, bringing him back to the present. "Hoseok?"
He faced her slowly. "Yeah?" he drawled.
"You okay?"
The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. He said, "yeah."
Yoongi was gagging in the background. Footsteps then loud patting on the concrete floor made Jiah whip her head back. She returned to look at him and asked again, "are you really okay?"
"Yes, I am."
A slow grin adorned her face once again. "You're coming with me for another ride!"
They left the ride and stepped out of the hut. Jiah walked beside him, all grinning and waving at mascots. On the other hand, Hoseok couldn't feel his limbs. His sneakers scraped against the ground as they moved. He had no idea which ride Jiah was going to bring him to; he just followed. However, suddenly, he stopped.
All the weakness in his limbs melted away. Familiar faces walking past him, saying 'hi.' However, everything got fuzzy, and his focus was only on the woman who was spinning around with a one-eyed Minion mascot, radiating happiness and joy.
The endearing smile on her face. Who dared to say 'no' especially when it bloomed something inside?
Something warm and ticklish. Sometimes, something unexplainably deep. Sometimes, he dreamt of wanting to hug Jiah as long as he could and rock her from side to side, whispering to her something warm. But he couldn't do it.
He knew what that feeling was. He had experienced it in the past. It had been long since he felt that way, and if he was going to question himself, he was going to deny it vehemently. If someone were to ask 'why,' he would just answer: 'to keep their relationship strictly business.' That person might call him 'stupid,' but what about Seokjin? Even Seokjin still kept his feelings hidden.
However, Seokjin was more direct than he was. For sure, he was going to confess first. What if Jiah felt the same for Seokjin?
'No,' his internal voice protested. 'You can't let him win.'
The inner voice vanished when Jiah's voice broke through. "Hoseok?" He looked down, finding her in front of him, waving her hand to get his attention. "Did you hear me? We can find slower rides," she said.
He blinked and said, "you can bring me to any rides you want."
"But I don't want you to get sick," Jiah groaned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Or, instead, we can shop for something cute! We can get the children some candies."
Hoseok stared at her, momentarily lost in her shiny, dark brown eyes. The silence between them invited Wheein's desperate, loud voice shouting at Saekang not to run. Tiny squeaks from the toddler's shoes and heavy footsteps of Wheein took over their area.
"Alright. I just want you to have fun as much as you want. You're making me feel bad about myself," Hoseok uttered. The glint in Jiah's eyes darkened. "But I have one condition to reduce that."
The glint came back, a light smile spread across her face. She asked, "what is that?"
"Allow me to pay for everything you want."
The light smile spread wider. She said, "fine by me. I'll just get five."
"No need for a limit. Just... get as many things as you want. Get something for Joohee too."
Jiah pursed her full lips, buzzing. She said, "I don't like how you're being too nice right now."
Hoseok showed his hands into his short-sleeved jacket pockets, raising both of his shoulders. "I'd made you cry before, and that still makes me feel bad. At this very moment, your happiness matters to me," he said. Bending down to match her height, he added, "so, get as many things as you like."
"Okay," the woman breathed. They held their gazes for a short time before both of them broke into a chuckle. She broke the gaze and looked around. "I'll need to get Joohee."
"Go ahead."
As Jiah walked away to look for Joohee, he turned around to see other things behind him. However, his legs gave out, pushing him to kneel on the ground. He tried to lift a leg, but it failed. He had no choice but to use his hands to carry a leg.
Trying to avoid embarrassment, he bent down and retied his shoelaces. Once he finished, his eyeballs rolled left
and right to make sure no one saw his struggling. Once again, he forced himself up, but he stumbled again.
With droopy eyes, he mumbled, "oh my..."