When I finally managed to piece myself together and force myself off the pavilion floor, I made a quick exit out of the clearing. I followed the path that Jongin had led me through and soon emerged at the pool.

Joonmyun certainly wasn’t lying when he said that there was a game going on with water guns; everybody as armed and the place was a battlefield. I scanned the faces of the boys currently engaged in combat, along with the several girls who had decided to tag along on the fun –Jongin was nowhere to be found. I stood there like a lost deer, trying to figure out how I was going to get back to the cafe without getting caught on the cross-fire when I heard someone whoop my name.

“Come on and join in the fun, Aeri!” Chanyeol yelled at me. He was holding one of the larger water guns, one that needed two hands to operate. His hair and clothes were soaking wet. He got even wetter when Minhyuk and another boy, Jongdae, decided to gang up and shoot him.

“I’d rather not!” I yelled at him, but I didn’t think he heard me very well because he was uttering a battle cry and going rampant with his water gun as payback.

I glanced around helplessly. There wasn’t a space that I could slip into that would ensure me a safe getaway. They had dominated almost every inch of the swimming pool and water was flying everywhere. I took a step back when something sprayed me on the face, rubbing it fervently like a cat that had just been sprayed with a spray bottle. I froze when I looked up –two water guns were being aimed right at me. I knew those two boys –Niel and Chanhee, the two playful troublemakers who liked to fool around in class.

“Oh no you don’t,” I barked at them, doing my best to scare them away with my glare.

Niel laughed. “Charge!” he hollered, before shooting jets of water at me.

Instinctively, my hands shot up, trying to protect myself from the worst of the siege, but to my surprise, nothing but a few droplets landed on my face. Opening my eyes, I saw a figure standing in front of me, blocking me from the attack and enduring Niel and Chanhee’s wrath in my place.

“You little devils.” He raised his gun and retaliated. Niel and Chanhee scurried away, cackling with laughter.

When Joonmyun turned to face me, his shirt was completely wet. His hair was plastered to his face, flopping just above his eyes, making him look absolutely dashing when he smiled.

“Need help getting to the other side?” he offered kindly, but then the gentleness in his eyes vanished when he flashed a roguish grin. “Why not you try and get past me first? If you can’t, I’m recruiting you as my soldier.”

“You’re evil,” I said with a frown, instinctively ducking behind him when another jet of water flew my way.

Joonmyun laughed and handed me a spare water gun. “Keep close,” he said, before taking my hand and barrelling into the battlefield.

After the whole water gun fiasco, I went up to my room to wash up and change my clothes. I smiled a little at the memory as I stood in front of the mirror, combing the tangled knots out of my hair. Although Joonmyun had recruited me as another one of his ‘soldiers’, he still protected me, taking the brunt of the attacks. We laughed for a good portion of the game, especially when one of the sneakier boys had decided to play a little prank by pulling Chanyeol’s calves so that he tipped backwards into the pool. With his water gun floating a few metres away from, he became the next target as everyone continuously shot at him.

Throughout the game, I wanted to ask Joonmyun where Jongin went. Since the purpose of Joonmyun looking for him had been to recruit him as a member of his team, it seemed odd that Jongin wasn’t there at all. I didn’t have the time to ask, for everything just seemed to rush by and I ended up being too busy trying to fend off attacks. I had tried calling Jongin a few minutes before, just when I got out of the shower, but his number was engaged.

I reached into the drawer and pulled out the hairdryer Hyunji had brought along. I plugged it in and soon, the reassuring sound of air being vacuumed in filled the whole hotel room. The scene at the pavilion still bothered me a little, but the images in my head kept overlapping every time I thought about it. I kept seeing Jongin’s eyes –the darkness of his two irises when he gazed at me, the shimmering flame of irritation when Joonmyun suddenly got in between us. He had wanted to tell me something important, and Joonmyun’s intervention had not boded well for either of them.

I sighed, fluffed my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. I might as well look for Yixing and Hyunji. Spending time with them might help me clear my head a little. Besides, I was desperate to know if there was something going on between them.

We didn’t have any activities until late afternoon, so everybody was just lazing around. I knew the hotel game room had become a crash pad for most of the boys, and the girls were either in their rooms or chilling out by the pool. With nothing in my hands but free time, I began to wander around, popping my head into the entertainment rooms and public facilities, hoping to find both of my best friends. I dialled both their numbers several times, but none of them answered. I was beginning to think that they weren’t even at the hotel to begin with.

In one final show of effort, I decided to check out the game room once again, hoping that I’d find someone whom I could talk to. It was still as congested as ever; the boys had dominated the machines, steadily feeding it tokens as they battled in one game after another. Most of them were in groups, cheering each other on every time one of them succeeded to pass a tough level or topped the high score. I walked quietly down the carpeted room, finding a lot of familiar faces, but none of whom I was on speaking terms with.

Soon, I reached the back of the game room. It was an enclosed area, meant for pool tables. Partitions rose up from the ground to the ceiling, separating each pool table, ensuring privacy to those who intended on engaging in a serious match. I realised that it was the only area that I had not searched. Approaching it cautiously, I slowly poked my head into one of the partitions to have a quick look.

I went through one after another, but none of them yielded any satisfactory results. Pool wasn’t a popular game amongst the students, so most of it was dominated by other guests, most of them too absorbed in their games to notice me as I quickly withdrew of my head after I peeked in. As I reached the far end though, I heard raised voices.

At first, I wanted to turn and walk away, figuring that it was just two strangers on disagreeing terms. But then, one of the voices began to sound familiar and I stopped in my tracks.

“How could you do that?!” Jongin’s rich bass suddenly sounded louder than everything else in the room. The last word, the note of disbelief it held, hung in the air, heavy and forceful.

There was a reply, a softer one –another voice that I knew. Tentatively, I stepped closer, trying to discern Joonmyun’s words as he spoke to Jongin.

“You know I had everything planned!” Jongin accused him. “Everything was going smoothly. Why did you have to ruin it?”

Again, Joonmyun’s reply was too soft for me to make out his words.

I heard a loud thump; Jongin had hit the table with his fist. “You said that there was nothing going on between you two when I asked –you gave me the get go. Why do you have to do this to me now?”

There was a moment of silence. “I’m sorry, Jongin.”

Jongin’s voice was hard. “Sorry doesn’t mean anything in a situation like this.”

“Look, it’s not something I can control!” Joonmyun’s voice rose, but then fell quiet again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like this.”

“I thought I could count on you. I thought you’re my hyung.”

“Jongin I –”

“So this is it, then?” Jongin said, cutting through his words like a knife through butter. “You’re not going to back down?”

Another moment of silence.

There was a crash and then the sound of multiple things hitting the floor. I peered in slightly. In his fury, Jongin had used his arm to sweep the cue balls off the table.

“If that’s how it’s going to be, fine. But don’t think that I’m ever going to forgive you for this,” Jongin said. The tone of his voice sent chills down my spine.

Realising that those words were meant as a final parting speech, I ducked into the partition next to the one that Joonmyun and Jongin were in. I shrunk back against the wall, hoping to make myself invisible. Seconds later, Jongin’s loud footsteps echoed down the hall. Through the dim light, I could see that fury in his eyes, the anger that seemed to contort his features.

His footsteps receded, but I stayed put. A minute later, there was another set of footsteps. I heard Joonmyun heave a sigh as he trudged down the hall, one that was thick and heavy with suppressed emotions. He didn’t glance into the partition I was in but continued walking, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration. A few seconds later, he, too, was gone.

I slumped back against the wall, my heart thumping uncontrollably in my chest. I felt bad for eavesdropping on their fight, but I couldn’t help myself from wondering what had it all been about.

After witnessing the unsettling encounter between Joonmyun and Jongin, I trudged back into the hotel lobby, head swirling with questions. I knew it wasn’t my place to pry, but oddly, it somewhat bothered me. I had never seen such as heated fight, an atmosphere so tense that I was beginning to worry that Jongin might throw punches at Joonmyun. But they were cousins and disputes were bound to happen; I didn’t know why I was so affected by this one.

I shook it off, deciding that I had witnessed enough to warrant my taking the rest of the day off. I was about to make my towards the elevators, debating in my head whether or not I should make another try at contacting Yixing or Hyunji, when I spotted one of the persons in question at the hotel lounge.

The glass that separated the lobby and the lounge was thick and slightly tinted, but I could recognise that figure anywhere. I knew from the thick brown hair that was always combed over his eyes, the tanned sweater he wore that I knew was his favourite. I paused for a while, trying to peer in. Yixing appeared to be conversing with someone –someone who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Mr Jung and Mr Park.

It appeared to be harmless conversation, but I could tell from the frown lines embedding Mr Jung’s brows that Yixing was proposing an idea that he was not altogether fond of. I saw him open his mouth to reply to something that Yixing said, but then, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Their gazes shifted to Mr Park, who was smiling kindly at Yixing and nodding to what he was saying. Yixing dipped his head in a quick bow –thanking him I supposed –and whirled around to quickly walk away. Instinctively, I plastered myself onto the wall to my right, praying that he didn’t see me.

He exited the lounge with hasty steps and crossed the lobby equally as fast. I pondered over my decision for a moment, watching him dodge other people and skirt around little children in tubes, before detaching myself from the wall and following his trail.

Yixing had exited the hotel. I supposed that was what he had been asking Mr Jung and Mr Park for: permission to leave. At first, I hesitated. There was to one to know that I had left. Yixing thought he was going on this little stroll alone; Hyunji was unreachable by cell phone.  The others –friends that I could trust –were nowhere to be found. If I waited to tell one of the teachers about it, I would certainly be hindered from following Yixing’s trail, not to mention that I’d have to think of a suitable excuse to suddenly beg for permission to go to town. Finally, after an intense mental debate, I decided to follow Yixing, hoping that the bustle of the hotel would be able to cover me in my short moment of absence. 

Years of watching crime movies had taught me the appropriate method to stalk. I let Yixing walk ahead of me, allowed the people to flow between us so that we were separated by a suitable distance. I tried to make myself as invisible as possible, pulling up the hoodie I had cared to throw on when I left the room, shifting my eyes away from him every now and then to not make it so obvious that I was staring.

The town we decided to go to on the school trip was located far within the outskirts of the city, secluded, but not entirely isolated. It was a quaint little town, meant to accommodate tourists when the city got too full to take in any more. Unlike other towns that had been developed to become tourist spots, it wasn’t part of a historical village, but the tranquillity of it, the simplicity that came from being surrounded by nature instead of cement and glass, made it a popular getaway for those seeking the refuge from the city bustle.

Everything here was built to accommodate a small population: restaurants were few and far in between; the cafes could be easily be counted by hand. They only had three major hotels, one of which was the one that we checked into. The other available lodgings were mostly bed and breakfasts and cheap, cosy motels for backpackers. But that was the charm of it I suppose, to enjoy simplicity over luxury.

Since the hotel we checked into wasn’t far from the town, we need only walk to reach it. At the beginning of the journey, I worried that Yixing was going to see me (he had a remarkably keen sense when it came to things like this) but his urgency apparently overwhelmed his senses. He walked in a brusque pace that I found hard to keep up with, but with such a thin crowd between us, I was still able to spot him before he disappeared. He took turns that I was surprised he even knew, crossed streets whose names I could barely pronounce. He seemed intent of reaching his destination, and, as I was halfway through the journey, I couldn’t help but question his motive.

It was only the next ten minutes later, when I was beginning to wonder if Yixing’s mission was actually at the outskirts of the town instead of its heart, that he finally stopped at a quaint little shop with a charming front. It was a flower shop, with a brick wall and a glass door, very much unlike the classy ones you find in Seoul. Like the whole town, this one was as simple as it was elegant.

He paused to gaze up at the sign, taking more than a few seconds necessary to read it, before quickly jogging up the steps and pushing open the door. I watched as his figure slowly vanished behind the glass door, before tiptoeing up the steps and peering in quietly. Seeing that he appeared to be deep in conversation with the owner, I quietly pushed open the door and ducked in myself.

The arrangement of the shop was very much akin to that of a bookstore’s: shelves ran its horizontal length, stocked with bouquets meant to mourn the deceased and celebrate the living. There were smaller trinkets. Bears on swings, holding a bunch of roses; soft fluffy toys holding large hearts. Around the shop were fresh flowers, submerged in buckets, available for choosing. However, instead of the overwhelming perfume that immediately attacked your senses in the city stores, this one had a softer fragrance it, gentle and inviting.

I ducked behind the shelves, navigating carefully around them until I was near enough to hear Yixing’s conversation with the woman behind the counter.

“Every girl would love this,” she was saying, setting another bouquet next to the other two she had lined on the counter.

I couldn’t see Yixing’s expression, but I noticed that he was scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably as he picked up the bouquet and twirled it around.

“I’m low on budget, actually,” he finally said, looking up. “Is there anything cheaper?”

The woman smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry. This is the cheapest I can offer. How about a single rose, instead?”

Yixing was staring at the bouquet again. I knew from his reluctance to part with it that it was the one he liked. “No,” he said finally, setting it down on the counter. “It’s okay. I have to go. Thank you.”

He bowed. I managed to duck back just in time before he saw me. I stayed put as I listened to his footsteps, crossing the store before vanishing after the creak of the closing door. Tentatively, I stepped out and glanced around. Finally, I made my way to the counter and rang the bell.

The woman, the one who attended Yixing, came bustling back to the front to greet me. “Yes, dear?”

I smiled at her. “Can I see the bouquets you showed him?”