Chapter 11

“You live here?!” Samantha yelled out, clearly surprised by this. She was still mortified about all 8 guys seeing her almost half-. After that humiliating fiasco, she pushed past Jihoon and ran into her room to throw some clothes on.

Jihoon nodded sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with her.

She glared at the BTOB members. “And you failed to tell me?!” she cried out.

BTOB could not bring themselves to look at her. “We thought you knew,” Eunkwang pointed out.

Samantha scoffed. “No I didn’t know! I just thought your room was vacant the whole time!” she pointed at Jihoon. “Where the hell have you been this whole time?!” she asked glaring at him.

He cleared his throat. “My schedule is different from BTOB’s,” he informed her. “That’s why I’m home late. Look,” he sighed, “I’m sorry again.”

“Looks like, Jihoon hyung has a habit of scaring Sam,” Ilhoon snickered. Jihoon and Samantha turned to glare at him.

“Whatever happened tonight does NOT leave the dorm,” she announced. “I repeat, does NOT leave the dorm. Understood?”

“Yeah,” they murmured then went back into the room, leaving Samantha alone with Jihoon.

“The same goes for you,” she said to him.

“I won’t say anything,” he said raising his right hand.

“This is the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me,” she covered her face with her hands.

Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder. She looked up to find Jihoon standing beside her. “Don’t think too much about it,” he said. “For all you know, you’ll look back and laugh about it. I’m really sorry, Sam. I promise I won’t say anything.”

She met his eyes and saw the sincerity in them. She’ll trust him for now, she thought.

“I should be heading to bed now,” he said heading into his room. Turning around he gave her a shy smile, “Good night, Sam.” He said then shut the door.

Samantha stood still for a moment. She touched the shoulder where his hand was, a look of astonishment evident on her face. But still, she was embarrassed nevertheless. Who wouldn’t? A bunch of guys saw her in a towel so it was understandable why she wouldn’t be able to face them. She was simply dreading the morning.

Sneaking out of the dorm the next morning, she headed to the Cube Café for her morning coffee. It was her day off that day and she didn’t want to be at home, not when the boys are there. Samantha sat at a table by the window and stared ahead, thinking of the things she could do. She would hang out with Ailee but her best friend was working. She wondered what Dongwoon was up to but since it was still early in the morning, she figured he was asleep and decided not to bother him.

The bell on the door sounded off, three boys entered. Samantha eyed them curiously but froze when she saw the maknae line of BTOB in the café. Taking out a book, she pretended to read so that they won’t notice her. “Good morning Sam!” Sungjae’s voice called out to her as the three guys approached her.

“Damn it,” she hissed to herself then faked a smile, “Hey guys! What’s up?”

“Just grabbing coffee and a quick breakfast,” Ilhoon answered. “What are you doing here?”

“Same,” Samantha held up her mug and pastry. “Would you guys like to join me?” she asked trying to be polite.

“Sure,” Sungjae took a seat beside her. Then, Ilhoon proceeded to sit beside him. Finally, Peniel took the seat across from Samantha, facing her. The stoic expression still glued to his face.

Samantha mustered up the courage to smile at him, “Hi Peniel.”

“Hi,” he said softly, then took out his iPad and ignored her.

Sensing the awkward tension, Sungjae spoke first. “So what’s the plan for today?” he asked her.

“It’s actually my day off today, Jongwon doesn’t have anything for me,” she informed them. “Did you guys need anything?”

“No,” Ilhoon answered. “It’s our day off too.”

Samantha’s eyes widened. “Oh really?” she asked. They nodded. “Well if you guys want, we can go do something.” Peniel finally looked up from his iPad.

Sungjae beamed. “Really? Like what?” he asked eagerly.

Samantha shrugged. “I don’t know… Since you guys know the city better than me, we can go sightseeing. You guys could give me a tour or something,” she suggested. “Maybe hit up some shops—“her eyes went wide—“Oh, I’ve always wanted to ride a carriage.”

Peniel snickered at the older girl’s last suggestion. Riding a carriage? That was random. He thought and then shifted his attention to his iPad. Who even rides those nowadays?

She saw him snicker at her. “I know I’m weird,” she remarked. “It’s just I’m kind of homesick and they used to offer carriage rides in my hometown,” she said. “I mean I would go into the city and see a bunch of tourists riding them. I still haven’t ridden one before.” Peniel knew exactly how she felt because he was homesick too. The table went quiet upon hearing Samantha’s little confession.

“We haven’t either,” Sungjae informed her. “So do you want to ride one today?”

Ilhoon beamed and nodded in agreement, “Yeah! Let’s do it!”

Everyone waited for Peniel to respond. He looked up and groaned. “Okay, let’s do it.” He said dryly.

“Great!” Samantha beamed. “Just don’t tell the others where we are. I wouldn’t want them complaining.”

They nodded and started heading out of the café. As they walked, Samantha saw a hint of a smile on Peniel’s face. Maybe this was a good thing, she thought. She can get him to open up when he’s comfortable. “Let’s have fun like Ferris Bueller, yeah?” she announced.

The guys stared at her in confusion. Sungjae scratched the back of his head while Ilhoon cocked his head to the side. Peniel shook his head at her reference of the classic American movie. “They don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said dryly.

“You guys have never seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?” she asked incredulously.

“No,” Sungjae shook his head, “What is it?”

“Never-mind,” Samantha shook her head, hoping to change the subject. “So what do you guys want to do first?”

The first stop was the mall. It slowly dawned on her that since her stay, she’s never been to the mall before. It was a lot bigger than the one she worked at back home, not to mention the multiple floors. She stood in awe, admiring the scene before her. “It’s just the mall, it’ll always be here,” Peniel woke her from her little trance, and then proceeded to walk ahead of her following the younger boys.

She made a face at him knowing he wouldn’t see her. “Way to be a buzz-kill,” she muttered then followed behind.

They went into multiple stores where the boys tried on clothes or checked out electronics and whatnot. Samantha watched in amusement as they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even though she wasn’t much of a shopper, she enjoyed window shopping because she got to see nice items she could barely afford. She only shopped if she needed something. However, as they walked around a particular item caught her attention. It was an orange printed sundress with ruffles and spaghetti straps. The boys stopped and stared at her admiring the dress.

“Like what you see?” Sungjae asked curiously.

She faced him and nodded. “I’m gonna go try it on,” she said going into the shop. The boys followed behind.

“I didn’t know she liked stuff like that,” Ilhoon muttered.

“Did you forget she was a girl?” Sungjae asked sternly.

“No, I didn’t forget. She just doesn’t seem like the type to like dresses and stuff.” The rapper pointed out as they waited outside the fitting room for her.

It was true. Samantha was an attractive girl but she didn’t seem to care about the way she looked around the guys like other girls.

Samantha was aware of how she looked but didn’t like putting effort into her appearance unless it was necessary. She was more of a jeans and t-shirt type of girl and only dressed up when she had to. When it came to shopping, her sisters Stacy and Marie would usually tag along to help her pick out clothes. But looking at the dress, she knew her sisters would approve nevertheless. “I’m ready,” Samantha said from inside the fitting room. “If I come out, will you promise not to laugh at me?”

“Why would we laugh at you?” Ilhoon asked, curious as to how the dress looked on her.

Soon, the door to the fitting room opened and Samantha sheepishly appeared wearing the dress. The three boys were speechless, especially Peniel. She looked beautiful, they thought. The dress fit her petite frame perfectly and the length showed off her bare legs. “What do you think?” she asked finally.

“Wow…” Sungjae mustered up the courage to say. She had to admit his expression was adorable and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Wow as in…?” she asked curiously.

“You look stunning,” Sungjae beamed.

“Um… thanks,” she smiled, then turned to the shop employee. “I’ll take it.” The employee nodded then walked off.

In turn, she ended up buying the dress along with a black blazer, and gold dangly earrings that would match perfectly with the dress. She had already brought a pair of strappy sandals (which were intended for her trip to Thailand) from home that would also go with the dress.

Next off, they were off to lunch. “Do you guys wanna grab ice cream after?” Samantha offered, “My treat.”

Ilhoon and Sungjae glanced at one another and turned to her, “Yeah!” they nodded.

“Sweet!” she smiled gleefully then turned to the stone-faced Peniel.

“Don’t think you’ll win me over with ice cream,” he said, then continued eating. Samantha frowned, and then went back to her food.

After much insistence, Sungjae had one of the staff snap a picture of them with his phone. “Just so I can look back and recall the fun I had on this day,” he had mentioned. Samantha made him promise not to show the other guys.

“Speak of the devil,” Ilhoon muttered when Sungjae’s phone chimed: Minhyuk calling.

“Remember what I said,” Samantha warned him before he answered.

Sungjae nodded before answering, turning on the speakerphone. “Hey,” he said. “Me? I’m with Ilhoon and Peniel right now. We… we’re exercising at the gym right now.” He thought of an excuse.

“Really because I’m at the gym right now and I don’t see you,” Minhyuk said with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Everyone froze. “Well, we went to a different gym,” Ilhoon chimed in grabbing the phone. “I wanted to try out a new one and asked Sungjae and Peniel to join me.”

Peniel nonchalantly sipped his drink as he listened. Samantha started to grow irritated by his indifference. “Where’s Sam?” Minhyuk asked suddenly.

The three looked at her and she waved her hand frantically and shaking her head. “I don’t know,” Sungjae answered. “Why do you ask?”

“She wasn’t here since the morning, I figured she was with you guys,” Minhyuk informed them. “I’ll just call her and see where she is. Talk to you guys later.” Then he hung up.

Samantha sighed and waited for her phone to ring. When it rang, she immediately answered. “Hello?”

“Where’d you go?” Minhyuk complained. “I didn’t have breakfast this morning!”

The girl rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, was I supposed to make you breakfast?” she asked.

“Well, duh!” he exclaimed as if she was supposed to know. “You work for us!”

“Excuse me, Minhyuk,” she stopped him. “I didn’t read in the contract that I had to be at your beck and call all the time. I clearly stated that on my days off are literally my days off. So I’m spending my day off alone at the spa and doing a bit of shopping…”

She heard him groaning. Gosh, what a whiner! She thought as she shook her head in frustration. “Look, I’ll be home later tonight,” she informed him.

He seemed pleased enough with the answer. “Fine,” he said. “It’s my day off and I was thinking maybe you wanted to hang out with me and Eunkwang today.”

Guilt started to settle in, so that’s what he wanted. “Alright, if I’m not too tired,” she started to say, “I’ll hang out with you guys later tonight. How does that sound?”

“Okay!” he exclaimed. “See you later tonight, Sam.”

“Alright bye, Minhyuk,” she said then hung up.

“Someone’s popular,” Ilhoon muttered.

Samantha sighed, “You guys ready to go?” she asked.

After ice cream, they finally got to do what Samantha had always wanted to do which was to go on a carriage ride around the city. The seats faced each other with Sungjae and Ilhoon on one side and Peniel and Samantha sitting on the other. The two younger members were causing a mini commotion beaming at every sight they saw as the footman narrated. Samantha couldn’t help but smile as she watched them enjoying themselves. Today was a really good day, she thought.

She turned to Peniel who was still avoiding her as he focused in the other direction. Sighing, she decided to swallow her pride and tap on his arm. He turned to look at her. “Look, I don’t know what I did wrong but if I did something to upset you in any way, I’m really sorry,” she spoke sincerely looking down. “I hope you forgive me,” she finally said then focused on the beautiful scene as they rode along.

Peniel’s expression softened after he heard the sincerity in her apology. He realized he was being an for ignoring her. There was something about her that bothered him. He didn’t know why he was so angry at her. Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it softly garnering her attention. He gave her a shy smile. “I’m sorry for acting like a jerk,” he said softly.

Samantha breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, it’s about time you stopped being mad at me,” she chuckled.

“Thanks for inviting me even though I feel unworthy of all this,” he said looking away.

“Don’t worry about it,” she insisted. “I figured I want to spend time with my new friends before I leave soon.” He nodded in understanding but felt a little disappointed in her last statement.

“Hey,” Sungjae finally said. “Let’s all take one more picture together!” he announced handing his phone to the footman. “Born to Beat on 3!” he said after they were in position.

“Okay 1, 2… and 3!” the footman counted before snapping the picture.

“BORN TO BEAT!” the four of them exclaimed then flashed bright smiles to the camera.

They got out of the carriage and decided to head back to the dorm. Peniel looked at Samantha sadly as she followed the two younger members. Where was she going? He wondered.

Hey guys! Here's another boring update... Anyways enjoy! :D