Chapter 18

After playing together by the pool all morning and afternoon, some of the boys decided to play some basketball in a nearby court just a street away from the house. It was L, Simon D and YoSeob versus WooHyun, SungYeol and Jay. MinRin and HyeSu came with them to watch while the others were left in the house.

L was the one holding the ball with WooHyun guarding him. The girls were sitting on a bench at the side. WooHyun glanced at Minrin and smiled at her. “You really do like my sister, huh?” L suddenly asked which caught WooHyun off guard. L smirked, “Hyung, it’s not like I don’t notice. I just try to ignore it most of the time.” He said.

“MyungSoo,” WooHyun started, watching L dribble the ball. “You should know, I asked her to go out with me.” He said. L’s eyes widened as he stopped dribbling altogether and straightened. “I told you because I want to make it legit. I don’t wanna sneak around with your sister.” He said.

L closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s not that I don’t approve of you Hyung, it’s just…” he started shrugging. “What about infinite? Our career? My sister’s future? Fans? What do you plan about them?” he asked as YoSeob passed him the ball again. He looked at WooHyun and threw the ball towards the ring, making 2 points. “Did you think of anyone else, other than yourself when you decided to ask my sister to be your girlfriend?”

MiEun volunteered to cook dinner since it’s been Shinae and Minah who were the ones worrying about it for almost 2 days now. The others left in the house went to the beach to play some Frisbee. SungJong walked inside and watched MiEun cook. “Hey.” He said softly and MiEun looked back with a smile. “Do you need help with that?” he asked her.

“Sure, any help would be good.” She replied to which SungJong smiled then stood up and joined her by the kitchen. She was tossing in ingredients to the stew she was cooking then turned to SungJong. “I guess we should cook some meat too huh?” she asked and SungJong nodded, heading towards the fridge and looking through what’s inside.

DongWoon ran inside, heading to the kitchen to drink some water. He was surprised to see the two youngest, having fun while cooking. “Hey, you guys need any more hands around here?” he asked, as the two of them looked up at him. He gave a smile to MiEun, “I mean, I’m not the best cook but I can help with the chopping and stuff.” He said with a small shrug. “Besides, the hyungs and noonas are too good with playing Frisbee.” He said, shrugging.

MiEun smiled and nodded. “The more the merrier!” she exclaimed and pointed to the vegetables at one side that needed chopping. DongWoon smiled eagerly and walked to the faucet, washing his hands that he barely noticed SungJong narrowing his eyes at him. It was his moment with MiEun, why was he spoiling it. SungJong pouted a little and just turned back to the stove.

Outside, by the beach, JiYong, TOP, JunHyung  with Shinae and Minah were playing Frisbee. Shinae laughed as she tossed the Frisbee towards TOP’s direction with him running off to get wherever it landed. “Yah! Let’s take a break since the players are uneven!” TOP called out, running towards them with the Frisbee on hand.

They all sat down by the shore, letting the water run through their feet. “So, are you two back together?” JiYong asked conversationally towards Shinae and JunHyung. Shinae’s eyes widened as she looked at JiYong who just chuckled. “No worries, G-Dragon can keep a secret.” He said.

Shinae looked at JunHyung who slowly took her hand. “We’re… taking it slow.” She said and JunHyung nodded. She was still unsure about all of it. Did she do the right thing when she agreed to try out their relationship again?

Before the sun went down, everyone was at the house again, enjoying the dinner that the younger ones cooked for them. After dinner, everyone was sprawled all over the living room as they agreed to watch some movies. MinRin sat in between WooHyun and her brother. She noticed how WooHyun didn’t talk to her after the basketball game that went on. Did something happen? She doesn’t remember doing anything wrong to him though. She just sighed and blew it off.

HyeSu sat beside her cousin as the two of them talked while waiting for Simon D and YoSeob to finish setting up the player and the TV. She didn’t notice SungYeol taking the spot beside her, munching on popcorn. She’s never realized that SungYeol was always craving for her attention. Or maybe she mistook it for him being childish, being called Choding SungYeol after all.  Minah had originally wanted to sit beside Shinae who had Jay already on her left, the two of them were talking. JunHyung sat on Shinae’s right with his lips pursed. He didn’t look too happy. Minah had no choice but to sit down beside JiYong.

They started watching Step Up which was chosen by Simon D. Everyone was basically enjoying the movie since they were all dance enthusiasts. After Step Up, they let Jay pick a movie and he chose to watch Silent Hill. Everyone was quiet, Shinae was observing the young ones as they watched. L had his arm around MinRin, as if he was afraid she was going to disappear by his side. WooHyun on the other hand, would just casually look at her. HyeSu was watching intently the movie while SungYeol had a pout on his face, looking at the girl beside him. He heaved a sigh that she probably didn’t hear too. MiEun had her hand by her lips, then she jumped slightly, then turned to DongWoon who smiled and welcomed her with open arms. Shinae smiled as she watched SungJong pout. Her eyes then travelled towards JiYong who obviously was thinking of something instead of paying attention to the movie. She watched him raise his hand attempting to put it around Minah but failing in the process.

She smiled to herself at the thought that everyone around her was falling in love. Maybe except for her. She was trying to figure out if she deserved what she had at that moment. It’s not that she didn’t care for JunHyung, she was just being responsible. She turned to her left and was surprised that Jay was looking at her intently too.

After the second movie, the younger ones started to fall asleep. L carefully picked up MinRin and carried her up the stairs and in her room. SungJong realized MiEun was sleeping and was figuring out a way to pick her up. DongWoon noticed the younger one’s dilemma and decided to swoop up MiEun in his arms and took her up himself. HyeSu also fell asleep, leaning on SungYeol. He was about to swoop her up until TOP stood up and picked up his cousin, bringing her to their room.

“So,” Simon D started. “Are we going to continue watching movies or do you guys wanna hang out outside, maybe chill by the pool.” Everyone murmured a general agreement, Simon D started setting up the sound system outside. Junhyung and YoSeob started bringing cans of beer outside. Shinae sat down by the pool side, dipping her feet in. Minah sat down by the couches with JiYong and Jay.

It was a warm night outside, only a light breeze coming from the sea. DongWoon came out of the house followed by TOP. The infinite boys retreated to sleep already. “Are we partying or are we partying?” TOP asked excitedly as he took a beer from Simon D. He took a few more and handed it to JiYong, Jay and Minah.

JunHyung watched as Shinae kicked her feet on the water. He opened another beer can and sat down beside Shinae handing her the beer. “Your awfully quiet.” He said as he started drinking. “You’re not happy.” He said, taking her hand and enveloping it in his. “For once, can we go back to when everything else didn’t matter to us?” he asked her.

Shinae smiled and ran her free hand through JunHyung’s cheek. “It’s not that easy.” She told him simply. “It’s not that easy to turn back because of this life that we chose. It was the only the two of us once, now we have everyone else watching us.” Shinae told him.

In over an hour, JunHyung was drunk and Shinae was sitting beside Minah, the two of them talking about the events that happened. She could hear JunHyung laughing and talking along with the other boys. JiYong came up and took Minah’s hand, pulling her up for a dance. Jay sat down beside Shinae. “Having fun yet?” he asked with a small chuckle. He motioned to the beer she was holding on for the past 30 minutes. “You’re not much of a drinker are you?” he asked.

Shinae waved her head in reply. “Nope, not so much.” She said with a small smile. “I just feel that this is all too awkward you know. I mean, sure I agreed to date him again but… This is just too weird.” she said, slightly shrugging watching Minah smile and have fun with JiYong, at least some of us are enjoying this.” She said.

A slow song started playing and JiYong wrapped his arms around Minah. Then he felt her stiffen up a bit. “Let’s just… dance for now.” He whispered to her. He smiled a little when she loosed under his touch. He slowly pulled away a little and looked into her eyes. “This… might be wrong but… I don’t care.” He said and slowly leaned into her, their lips meeting with each other.