~~ "But wishes are only granted in fairy tales." ~~

 

Before Azalea and Jungkook left, I made sure to give Jungkook a speech about treating my best friend with respect. I felt the tension arise between the two of them, and I wanted to make sure that Zael had a wonderful date after what happened the day before. I was shocked to hear that her dad had gone missing, but at the same time it felt like something he would do.

“So, don’t get so upset over nothing,” I said, finishing up my lecture.

“If you two are quite done, I’d like to go exploring,” Zael said.

“I was just finishing up! You two lovebirds have fun!” I shouted as they walked out the door.

I saw Zael look at me with an unsure expression and I made sure to give her a thumbs up and a wink as she left. Hopefully it worked.

I came back to the beds where Jimin was laying down, messing with his phone. He looked quite hot, if I did say so myself. His body was totally defined and toned in every single way, and it made me wonder if he was even human. I shook my head to look away from him, and made my way to my suitcase.

"Is it okay with you if I go call my mom by the pool?" I asked Jimin, my back to him. I was digging through my suitcase to find that tiny cardboard box at the bottom that I had hid.

"Of course!" he chimed.

I turned and leaned over Jimin, placing a kiss on his cheek. I told him I would be back in 10 minutes, tops, then headed downstairs to the hotel's pool. I was glad to see no one around, nor a sign that said I couldn't smoke.

Now, I had never smoked before- ever. But I had compulsively bought a pack and a lighter when Zael had been out with Jungkook one afternoon. I had saved them and hadn't even broken the seal. But for some reason, it felt like a good time to do it.

I had never been as happy as I was in Korea, but for some inexplicable reason, I was feeling (as Cher Horowitz would say) an overwhelming sense of ickiness. I was happy with Zael, I was happy with Jimin, heck- I was even happy hanging with Jungkook, but I was nowhere near happy with myself.

I peeled the plastic off the pack of cigarettes and threw it into a trashcan. Then I made my way towards a plastic pool chair. I sat on the edge as I opened the box and pulled out a thin roll of- let's face it- death. I could see pictures of black lungs from my AP Biology textbook, but shook the images out of my mind as I placed it in my mouth. I took out the black Bic lighter and lit up the cigarette. I took a deep breath, then blew out. An immediate feeling of nausea and dizziness came over me, but left me unfazed. In fact, they were welcomed with open arms. I took another drag and blew out a stream of carcinogens like I had seen Peggy from Mad Men do.

"You know that kills a person every six seconds?" a voice from behind me said.

Jimin.

I threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with my glittery sandal. I swung my head around and was surprised not to see Jimin, but another guy towering over me.

"I am quite aware, thank you," I snapped at him, looking back down at the crushed cigarette.

I put the lighter back in my pocket, then turned to look at the guy again. His black hair came down to above his eyes and was pressed down under a backwards baseball cap. He wore a blue flannel and a black tee shirt with a pair of skinny jeans. It took me a second before I realized who it was- Hoseok, a regular at our bookstore and a slight acquaintance. By slight acquaintance I mean he always tipped and would start conversations with me in English. I smiled and stood up, going in for a hug. He hugged me back with one arm.

"Also, the sign says no smoking," Hoseok said kindly, point to a white sign with Hangeul written all over it.

My cheeks heated up as I realized my folly. I had expected a classic 'no smoking' symbol, but I guess it must have just been written down.

"You know my Korean is limited to 'decaf or regular'!" I joked, sitting back down. I patted the seat next to me for him to take a seat. He did, then turned to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Vacation with Zael and the boyfriends. What about you?"

"Research and vacation with my study group," he said, smiling at me. "I didn't know you smoked?"

"Research? And I don't," I said, adding a defensive tone the second part.

"Yeah- for school. I'm majoring in marine biology."

"No way! You're kidding!" I said, instantly feeling happier than before.

"Nope. But enough about that, where's the lucky man?" He asked, looking around the pool area dramatically. I laughed, and he laughed too.

"In our room, which reminds me- I should be returning. It was great to see you, Hoseok. Zael and I quit, so I don't know if we will see you again before we go back to America." I said, standing up with my box in hand.

He stood up too, and gave me another hug. We said our goodbye's then I walked back up to the room. I opened the door to see Jimin taking a nap on his bed. This was a perfect opportunity for me to slip the cigarettes back into my suitcase. I realized I should have tossed them back at the pool, but I had completely forgot. However, as I was making the quick transfer, I heard Jimin stir a little. I shoved the box into my suitcase, the slipped off my sandals. I pulled up the covers and laid next to jimin. He draped an arm over me and whispered something in Korean. With my newly received Korean skills, I was able to get 'nap' and 'sorry' out of the utterance. I didn't mind, I was a little overwhelmed with the whole 'roll of death, tar, and carcinogens' kind of thing.

After about five minutes, Jimin was awake again. This time he started a conversation. "How was the pool?"

"It was nice! I actually saw a guy who comes by my work pretty often. His name is Hoseok and he's in school right now for marine biology!" This got Jimin's attention quick. He went from half awake to wide awake in a split second and sat straight up.

"You were with some other guy?" he asked, making puppy eyes at me. I laughed lightly and shook my head.

"No, silly! He just came by and said hi, then I came back up. We barely talked at all." I smiled a little, seeing Jimin get jealous. His innocent jealousy quickly turned to angry jealousy.

"You smell like smoke," he said, making a disgusted face. I sat up too now. I had forgotten about that- I probably slightly reeked of smoke at the moment. "What happened?"

"I, uh, had a smoke. But I don't smoke, that was the first and last time," I said, not wanting to lie. Jimin's eyes grew large.

"You smoked with some marine biologist named Hoseok?" He asked.

"No, I smoked, he talked, I left. Why are you getting like this? I don't flip when you flirt with my best friend!" I said, feeling overly defensive.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, c'mon. I mean I don't mind because I love both of you and trust that you guys don't mean it, but I am not blind!" I said, getting redder by the moment.

"I-It's not like that. I didn't even notice. I'm sorry Anna," Jimin said, beat but sincere. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and looked down. His eyes slowly trailed to me and he smiled a little. "You love me?"

"I know you both are attractive and flirts and whatever, but it's just- hm. Whatever." I looked down too now and I fully comprehended what he had said- what I had said too. "Well- I- You know how I feel..." I said nervously.

This is a make or break thing...

"I love you too. I'm sorry." He said, hugging me.

"I'm sorry too." I said and leaned into the hug.

"I'm glad you said it first, I was worried my heart was going to burst