Chapter 30

As Peniel made his way over to them, his eyes never left Jeremy’s. “Hello, Samantha,” he greeted her dryly. “Care to introduce me to your friend here?”

Rolling her eyes, Samantha finally sighed and spoke up, “Right. Peniel, this is Jeremy. Jere, this is Peniel. We—“

“We’re dating,” the younger idol cut her off.

Samantha’s mouth hung agape at Peniel’s sudden declaration, then slowly turned to Jeremy hoping for a reaction.

If Jeremy was stunned by the sudden announcement, he sure was great at hiding it. He narrowed his eyes at the young man before him. “Dating, eh?” he repeated.

“You heard me,” Peniel replied, sizing him up.

It was now Samantha’s turn to say something. Fuming, she was finally ready to charge at him, “Why you little—“ her eyes had a murderous glint in them.

“You see this? She totally wants me,” he smirked placing an arm around her waist. “Not now, babe. There are people here. But I can’t wait to get back to the hotel so I can eat you up,” he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck causing her to flinch.

“You’re a little too young for her, kid. Don’t you think?” Jeremy inched closer not about to step down from a challenge with the younger man.

Peniel scoffed. “Psh. Not that much younger,” he replied. “I’m only younger by two years meaning I have more energy and stamina than you, Grandpa!”

Jeremy scoffed then looked at Samantha, who was clearly feeling humiliated by the situation. “Did this kid just call me ‘grandpa’?” He was dumbfounded at this point. Samantha really wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole at that point.

“I’m really sorry about this, Jeremy,” she finally mustered up the courage to say.

“Sam, are you really dating this guy?” he asked.

Before she could clarify, Peniel had cut her off. “Of course we’re dating. I make her happier than you could ever imagine.” He started to explain, improvising as he went. “When she cried, I was there to comfort her and wipe away her tears. When she wanted to talk about her day, I was always willing to sit and listen to her talk about absolutely nothing no matter how exhausted I was. Not once had I cut her off when she tried to pour her heart out to me, I may be as busy as you but I sure as hell try to at least make time for her!”

Jeremy and Samantha were clearly stunned at the confession. She was sure Jeremy believed it. “Sam…” he turned to her. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”

Samantha tried to blink back tears looking away from him refusing to meet his eyes.

“I’ve always wondered what she sees in you,” Peniel said coldly. “Because honestly, she deserves so much better and you know what? I want to be that better person for her. I want to be that someone who appreciates her more than you. Someone who won’t run away or give her false hope, in other words, someone who isn’t you! You may be older and wiser, but I’ll admit I’m more of a man than you’ll ever be. Come on, Sam. Let’s go.” Peniel finally said grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away leaving Jeremy alone.

The three entered the venue not knowing where to go so they had decided to split up. The men at the event were constantly eyeing Ailee like she was a piece of meat, which in turn made her uncomfortable. A man was wolf whistling at her in which she scrunched her face in disgust. This was the least of her worries at the moment because finding her best friend was more important. She finally found Jihoon and Dongwoon standing still and approached them. She turned her head in the direction they were facing in time to find Samantha, Peniel, and Jeremy talking.

After standing still for a moment, Ailee, Dongwoon, and Jihoon stood dumbfounded upon witnessing the exchange between Peniel and Jeremy. “Peniel, is now officially my hero,” Dongwoon finally said, a hint of a smile forming on his lips.

“He told Jeremy off,” Ailee said upon realization and then beamed. “Good job, Peniel.”

“He took my job from me,” Jihoon finally said.

“Don’t feel bad,” Ailee turned to him. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have known about today. So thanks for helping us.”

“Yeah, you’ve contributed big time,” Dongwoon nodded in agreement patting Jihoon on the back, he was still thinking about Peniel’s speech to the older guy. “I can’t believe what I just saw,” he chuckled to himself.

“Alright, before we start jumping for joy we should go find them,” Ailee snapped him out of it then walked off to search for Samantha and Peniel followed by the two guys.

When Samantha and Peniel were finally away from him, she shook his hand away. “What the hell, Peniel?! We’re dating?!” she exclaimed angrily.

Peniel shrugged. “It’s the first thing that came to mind,” he replied nonchalantly. “He totally believed it.”

“This is great. Just brilliant,” her tone was overdramatic and sarcastic. “How the hell am I going to face him? If the press were here to hear that little confession you made about me, the Melodies are gonna skin me alive!”

“Relax, I’m trying to keep a low profile as it is,” he said. “Good thing he doesn’t know who I am. If he found out I was the reason he lost—“his eyes went wide—“Oops…”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you say?” she asked incredulously.

Peniel gulped. “I, uh,” he chuckled nervously scratching the back of his neck, “am sorry about his loss. I mean it was bound to happen, you know… They say ‘you win some and you lose some’. In this case, luck was not on his side.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Peniel, answer the question,” she demanded. “Did you throw that water bottle at Jeremy?”

He looked away. “Let’s say hypothetically, I threw it. What happens then?”

She crossed her arms glaring at him. “Gosh, you’re starting to remind me of him.”

“How so?” he asked curiously.

“You both sure like to beat around the bush,” she answered irritably.

“Hey!” he yelled out in defense. “He deserved it, okay? I did everyone a favor. I did what Ailee and Dongwoon couldn’t do… I got to Jeremy before they did so I at least deserve a ‘thank you’.”

“Dude, you made him lose the fight?” Dongwoon’s voice interrupted them. “Did I say hero? Peniel, you deserve to be worshipped.”

“You heard the whole thing?” Peniel was taken by surprise, along with Samantha.

“How’d you find us?” Samantha asked defensively looking at Dongwoon and Ailee.

“I told them,” Jihoon spoke up. His presence surprised Samantha the most. “I heard you and Peniel talking in the hallway and I had to tell them,” he said glancing over to Dongwoon and Ailee.

“So, did you get what you came for?” Ailee asked finally.

“Not exactly,” Samantha sighed. “Just as I was about to finally say something, Peniel decides to cut me off.”

“Oh come on, Sam,” he groaned. “You have to admit, what I did was kind of funny.”

Thinking about all those times she suffered because of Jeremy, she relaxed a little. “Well when you put it that way,” she chuckled. “It serves him right. Bummer…”

Peniel and Dongwoon smiled mischievously. “There you go!” Dongwoon exclaimed giggling like a school boy. Turning to Peniel, he had to ask. “You have to tell me the whole story, Peniel!” Dongwoon summoned Jihoon to tag along as Peniel told the story leaving Samantha and Ailee alone.

“How are you feeling?” Ailee finally asked.

Samantha shrugged. “I can’t say,” she answered. “I admit when I saw him again there may have been sparks but nothing too exciting. I missed him but you and Dongwoon are right. It won’t work.”

“Are you sure about this, Sam?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Samantha nodded. “I’m not saying I wasted my time on him but I can say this was a good learning experience. Peniel’s little spiel has gotten me to understand what I wasn’t getting out of the whole ordeal. So I think I can let him go with ease even though there will always be something there between us."

“I’m glad you finally know,” Ailee smiled. “I’m so proud of you, Sam. You have no idea.”

Samantha blinked back tears of joy. “Don’t make me cry, Ailee.” She said. “Thanks for sticking around even though I was being a .”

“What are friends for?” she pulled Samantha into a tight hug. “Come on, let’s go meet up with the boys.”

A/N: Here's another update for you guys! I really appreciate all your feedback and comments! I think I might end this in a few chapters or so. Then I can start on something new. It's still in the works but I will try to update soon. Enjoy my little gift for you guys! :D