We woke up the next morning to a rude awakening. Fans had swarmed the hotel, crowds of girls ranging in age standing outside of the hotel with signs. It really discouraged us from going outside.
The hotel even warmed us about fans checking into the hotel just to be able to legally be on the premise.
It was a total nightmare.
"So we can't go outside now?" Wonho pouted, looking out the balcony down at the pool. It was crowded with tourists, but it was hard to discern which ones were regular people or crazed fans.
"Of course you can go outside!" I said, feeling responsible. After all, if I hadn't punched the shark and been featured in Lilly's ass photo, then we wouldn't be in this predicament. Who could have predicated that it would actually go viral... "I'll just work double time! I'm a bodyguard after all, this is the kind of things I do."
I was actually way overqualified for this.
"That's not fair to you..." Hyungwon sighed. He seemed content with napping.
But this was their vacation, it shouldn't be ruined by fans! After all, this sort of ruined my plans as well. Today I was going to tell Hyungwon and Wonho that I couldn't be in a relationship with either of them, separately of course so I could let them down easy. I couldn't do that on the one day I'd be stuck in a room with both of them.
"The only safe place the middle of the ocean..." Hyungwon muttered, chuckling at his own joke, staring at the television.
'He's right...'
"Wait!" I said excitedly, coming up with an idea. "You're right! We should rent a boat!"
They looked at me, confused expressions on their face.
"What?" I asked, shrugging. "It's a good idea!"
"Good?" Hyungwon chuckled, "Remember what happened last time we went in the ocean?"
'True...'
"We'll just be more careful this time!" I said. What were the chances we'd run into a shark again? "Besides, if we hire someone to take us out on the ocean, they'll know what to do!"
'That's the spirit! I let them have fun, then I break their hearts! Fool proof!'
I wasn't exactly excited to let Hyungwon and Wonho down, but it had to be done.
The guys all eventually agreed that going out on a boat was the best option for us. Otherwise, we'd spend all day in the hotel room, and that would not be the best way to spend out time in Hawaii. We called down to the hotel who hooked us up with a yacht and Captain. I stood on the boat, salty wind rushing through my hair as we sped to open waters.
The boys were lathering themselves in sunscreen while I stared out into the water, watching some sea life as we passed. A pod of dolphins swam by us, one of many that we would see that day.
'Good, the more dolphins the merrier!' I thought, hoping the guys had seen them, 'More dolphins would probably soften the blow...'
"So exactly how long do we have to do this for?" Hyungwon asked, already over being on the boat. "I get sea sick."
"Here." I said, reaching into my purse, "Take this." I handed him a bottle of Dramamine, a sea sickness medicine. I took as many precautions as possible before leaving, wanting to be out on the ocean as much as possible. These guys would have fun, or else! "It will make you extremely tired, though. So you might pass out."
Hyungwon grimaced before opening the bottle and taking one of the pills.
The captain stopped the boat once we found a good position. It was far enough from the shore that no one would be able to swim out and bother us, but far enough out that we were around some more sea life. I could look down through the clear water and see fish swimming around deep down.
"Are there going to be any sharks?" Shownu asked me, peering out the side of the boat into the clear waters.
I shrugged, "There's really no telling. But I'm here, so we'll be fine."
Shownu didn't seem convinced. He returned to the inside of the boat, which was large and had a seating area with enough room for all of us. The boat was also fully stocked with food and drinks, and the Captain was at our disposal to make cocktails.
"Let's have a lot of fun guys!" I cheered, motioning for everyone to come look out at the ocean with me. We were supposed to admire the sea life and maybe go swimming.
"Yeah!" Minhyuk agreed, brightening up when he saw a pod of dolphins from afar. I guess this might be my chance to ride one into the sunset.
Wonho came up from behind me, handing me a cocktail in a stemmed glass. "Yeah, let's have fun." He smiled, patting my back. His hand lingered, which I enjoyed. But I remembered that I was going to try to break things off with him, so the moment was ruined for me at least.
"Let's go swimming!" I suggested, shying away from him. I set down the drink and jumped into the water, wanting to avoid these guys that made my heart race as much as possible. I swam around, realizing just how much I actually didn't care for swimming in the ocean. The tide made it much more difficult and as much as I liked sharks, I was still worried we might run into another.
Wonho jumped in after me, swimming around in circles. He had a floatie with him, making it easier to swim.
I tried to avoid him, swimming to the other side of the boat. But I reached the other side of the boat just in time for Hyungwon to jump in. When Hyungwon's face came up through the water, my eyes seemed to automatically land on his lips.
'I really can't seem to catch a break...'
After some time of swimming around, we got back into the boat and went farther out into the water to see more fish. I sat in the boat, sipping on a cocktail, hoping to see something interesting. Maybe a shark, but this time as far away as possible.
"Ooh, I see a shark!" Changkyun said, running in to poke my arm.
Of course as an intellectual that appreciated sharks, I followed him to the bow of the boat to see it. The front was pointed and elevated above the water. Changkyun pointed, straining over the bow to look out the water. We weren't going that fast, so chances were I might not miss seeing the shark. I still jogged a little hoping to catch it before it swam away.
"Oh, it's just a-" Changkyun started to say, but before he could finishing talking he fell off of the boat.
"Changkyun!" I yelled, running after him. The boat came to a stop as soon as he fell into the waters. I dove in to save him, relying on my FBI training to get him back in. After all, there was a shark in the water!
'I'm a terrible bodyguard.' I scolded myself, swimming at top speed to Changkyun.
I stopped swimming once my hand was gripping his arm, pulling him back to the boat.
"Come on, we have to get back to the boat!" I yelled, head darting around to look for the sight of a fin. But then again, Great White Sharks have been known to attack from beneath the water too, there was really no knowing if we were safe. The sandy beaches of the shore were still visible, but we were still far enough out that any time of shark was a possibility. I could hear the guys yelling at us from the boat to come back in.
Changkyun seemed to be fighting against my pull, "It's okay Jiyeon, I was lying about the shark." He said, chuckling.
I released my grip on his arm when he said that, letting out a sigh of relief.
"What? Why would you do that?" I asked, eyes narrowed. Lying about a shark being in the water was like yelling fire in a crowded theater. And I didn't like these kinds of pranks.
"So I could have a chance to do this." Changkyun grabbed onto my waist, pulling me into him. Our legs touched as we both treaded water to keep ourselves from sinking.
"What're you..." I stared to say, noticing Changkyun's face getting closer and closer to mine. My eyes widened once I realized what was going on.
'Hold on a second... he's-'
Changkyun's lips touched mine for a brief moment before he pulled away. I stared at him in shock. He smiled at me for a brief moment, blushing madly, before turning to swim away.
'This certainly is an odd prank.'
I was speechless as Changkyun swam himself back to the boat. I was dazed before following him back to the ship.
It suddenly hit me why Changkyun accompanied Wonho to follow me on the date! He must have had some secret crush on me this whole time. I must have a lot of charm I didn't know about to be able to attract three out of the seven in this group so far.
'Well, I guess that's three people I'm going to have to let down today.' I sighed, pulling myself up onto the boat.
I have a lot of work ahead of me...