Before my work partner arrived, I freshened up at the staff area leaving Jungkook to loiter around the reception desk. Before ten minutes elapsed, I was ready and slipped behind the large mahogany structure. Lying on the surface were the papers Natalie gave me. I glanced at it with feigned disinterestedness and was more than happy when Nana showed up at exactly 7.  She was my junior and accepted the paper and the job of obtaining the signature with two willing hands while I busied myself with the computer.  

Most of the early morning hours passed like any other day with no real work. I was so immersed in the movie I was watching that I didn't hear muffled footsteps on the pebble strewn floor of the hall until too late. 

Nana was already on her feet when I registered the situation. I lifted my eyes from the screen and found the person I Ieast expected to see right then. My eyes were still glued to the person in front of me as my fingers roamed over the keyboard to pause the movie. Finally I found the common sense to stand up. 

"Annyeonghaseyo," Beside me Nana kept bowing her head off while I did a perfunctory one and kept my head bowed. 

I heard Taehyung return the greeting. Nothing else, but the need to steal a glance at him made me raise my head. He was addressing Nana and I thought I could safely take a nice look at him. Boy, I was wrong—he was looking at me. I felt like a mouse caught in a trap before his calm gaze. I didn't know what he was thinking but it was as if he was daring me to ignore him. 

"Annyeong-anyeonghaseyo," I said, still holding his gaze.  

I could've given my full attention to Taehyung if the girl next to him wasn't asking for it herself. She shifted from one foot to the other and in a voice louder than the situation called for said, "Till when are we going to keep on greeting..." 

I couldn't roll my eyes at her, so I imagined rolling my eyes at her.  

Nana passed the papers over the counter to Taehyung and Somi and led them off to the sitting area a few yards away. I shrank into my seat and observed them over and around the screen of my computer, all the while pretending to type something very important. I didn't know why, I was so badly wishing that the girl who was sitting almost glued to Taehyung were me and not someone else. I finally looked away when Nana handed them the single key and just for the sake of distracting my thoughts,  took a gulp from the water bottle and swallowed something more than a mouthful of water. It hurt.  

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"Wow...you really are a sight when you eat," 

I didn't see Jungkook coming because I was too busy wolfing down my dinner before I head back to work in around ten minutes. Still munching, I told him to 'shut up' as he pulled out a chair and sat right across from me. He chuckled when most of the syllables went down with the food I was eating.  

Jungkook had barely settled down when his phone began to buzz in his jeans pocket. 

"Yes Hyung," I heard Jungkook say as soon as he picked up.  

Even over the noise of the canteen—though I wasn't particularly listening to Jungkook—it became impossible to ignore his side of the conversation, now that I knew who he was talking to. But by the time he hung up he had said little and left much to my imagination by saying something along the lines of 'will be there'.  

"Taehyung?" I said as soon as Jungkook removed the phone from his ears.  

Jungkook just hummed in reply which annoyed me. I didn't know why but it did. He was tapping at his phone. Finally I decided to let out what had been bugging me for sometime. 

"You knew he was coming here,"  

Jungkook looked me direct in the eyes and said "Uh yeah?" 

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

I didn't say it in an angry tone or anything. I was curious and confused. Jungkook didn't even give me a hint about Taehyung's arrival and what's more. I've always had a feeling that he was being silent on what he knew happened on the night when Taehyung decided to withdraw himself from our trio.  

"Well," Jungkook began searching for more words. I could barely hear his voice now; people were bustling about in a frenzy as the dinner time for the guests drew nearer. "You are going to find out anyway...sooner or later." 

I looked at him over the rim of my glass of juice, keeping it poised before averting my gaze and downing the content in one go. Seems like there are a lot of things I'll have to find out...sooner or later. I thought as I got to my feet. 

"Let's go. I think I'm late already." 

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Jungkook usually left on Friday nights which meant I would not be seeing him again for quite sometime—a week at least. When I got off work at 8:30, he had already left.  

Having no one to hang around with, and feeling too sleepy to do anything I went to bed early. The moment I rested my head on the pillow, I dozed off and slept like someone who hadn't slept in years.  

The next day dawned with a clear sky and it kept getting brighter and brighter as if it hadn't rained like crazy the previous day. I took my time enjoying the view on my way to work, taking in the serenity around me. Leaves dotted with water droplets glistened in the sun like tiny adornments all around me. There wasn't much of a breeze, but as I entered the reception area, I saw the sea with the tiniest ripples peeking through the gaps in the shrubbery lining the beach. It was, what guests would call a perfect day—and in perfect days they spend much of their time outdoors, preferably the sea. I'm used to seeing so many people heading towards the beaches in groups on days like these either with goggles or masks or fins or carrying full gear for SCUBA diving. 

That's why, when a seemingly bunch of guests approached me, I thought they were going to ask where they can heir out gears for diving. But it turned out they were interested in something else. There was a senior staff member among the crowd who informed me that I was to accompany a couple of guests to the cruise ship which arrived sometime the previous day. I was a bit shocked to find out that it was 'The Ray' and wondered if Taehyung was aboard. I shook off the thought quickly because it seemed unlikely his gluey girlfriend would leave her boyfriend for even half a minute.  

At around 9:30 I was sitting in a speed launch with four guests, trying hard to dispel a string of unwanted thoughts mostly related to Taehyung—but in vain. Through a screen of sea spray, I saw silhouettes of islands pass by us (or we passed by them) before we arrived at the ship moored a kilometer off shore.  A wave of nostalgia hit me as I stepped aboard the majestic ship. I recalled the times when Jungkook, Taehyung and I used to play hide and seek among the numerous rooms during off seasons when the ship got overhauled. It was weird how I wanted to see him right then and there like old times.  

Old times.  

I reminded myself that old times are gone and walked about the ship for sometime; I had more than half an hour till the guests returned after their little excursion. Except for some minor changes, the ship looked pretty much the same to me. As I sauntered up and down the main deck, someone darted out of a door on my left and nearly bumped into me.  

"Oh—Cess!"  

I was so focused on the glass bottles in his arms that slipped a bit as he came to a stop, that even after recognizing Min's  voice, I only looked up when he got a stronger hold on the bottles.  

"Hey Min," I said with a grin. "Sup?" 

Min who is 6 years older than me, worked at Taehyung's dad's company and I can't remember exactly when I first saw him or knew him. I had known him for pretty much half of my life. He is like a brother to me.  

"What's our Cess doing here?" He pinched  my cheek, hugging the bottles with one hand as he said that.  

I said that I was with some guests and he immediately seemed to remember why he was carrying the bottles.  

"Can do a favour?" He handed me 2 bottles. "Room 52." 

He tapped his watch, pinched my cheek again and went the way he came from with the remaining bottle.  

With a bottle labeled Sparkling Water in each hand, I set off to find room 52. Not to risk being late for the trip back to the island, I took the lift as I remembered the room was on the 6th floor.  

There was no one to be seen in the hallway except for an old couple who turned a corner and disappeared into a corridor at the end of the hallway. Standing on the doorstep of room 52, I knocked on the door. The sound reverberated across the place. I was about to knock again when whoever was inside the room—after taking all his time—told to me come inside. 

I opened the door gingerly and crossed the threshold into the room drenched with a warm light. My eyes quickly found the person sitting at the edge of the queen size bed. He was sitting facing the door, so it was just a matter of seconds before I recognized him with wide eyes. I froze where I stood. Kim Taehyung of all people.   

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Hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll update as soon as possible ^^ Love you guys <3