10

I graduated a few weeks later, five or six. We all did: myself, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Sehun, Kai. I graduated top of the class, with Baekhyun and Kai right behind me. My feelings at that point in time were…indescribable. It had always been my goal to leave my aunt’s house as quickly as possible, to go as far as I could get away from her, her creepy son and her creepier boyfriends.

—

I turned in the mirror to check my back profile. I frown contorted my face and I sighed, turning back to face my reflection. I had no idea why I’d agreed to doing this — no, that was a lie. I knew why I was doing it, I just wasn’t happy about it.

“Where are you going?” My aunt asked from behind me as she entered my room, without permission. Then: “Dressed like that?” 

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I asked, though I wasn’t comfortable with it either. I looked her up and down. “Are you really trying to dictate my sense of style, too?”

Her eyes widened, “Aniyo! I’m just, uh, I’m just sayin…” She cleared then walked further into my room. She drew my hair back and I stared, wide-eyed, at the mirror as she pulled my long locks into high, curled ponytail. “Hold on, stay right here.”

It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, at least not until Baekhyun came to get me. She left my room and returned shortly after with a makeup kit.

“I'm going to the beach, not a photoshoot,” I told her and she waved dismissively at me.

“Only a little. Just enough to enhance your features,” she said as she brushed a light coat of blusher over my cheeks. I certainly didn’t need that since my cheeks naturally pinked at every occasion. She then applied pink lipgloss on my lips and a little mascara — waterproof, of course. “Et…voila!”

She turned me around and I inspected myself in the mirror. I hated to admit it but the light makeup went well with my beach outfit. I wore a light pink bikini, high-waisted denim shorts and a white graphic tank to cover my chest area. Unfortunately, the shorts did little to keep my decent.

“Kamhamnida,” I mumbled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Before I could grab my cardigan, she chose a white one instead and threw it at me. She raised her brows expectantly and I sighed, pulling on the garment. To be fair, it did go well with my white converse.

“Aigoo…my niece is so pretty,” she cooed, brushing my cheek with the palm of her hand. I frowned and pulled my face away from her. “I wish I’d realised sooner just how pretty you’d become…aish. I could’ve enrolled you in a modelling school!”

“Or not,” I muttered. “I want to be a doctor, not a doll.”

“Models have very hard lives, you know,” she insisted, folding her arms. “Yeah, they go through a lot of stress. It’s not an easy job to do.” She grinned and cupped my face. “But I bet my pretty niece could do it!”

“No,” I deadpanned, slapping her hands away. I picked up my bag, which had a towel, my phone and earphones, sunscreen, my purse and a change of clothes in it, and slung it over my shoulder. As if on cue, honks sounded outside and I went to my window, glancing outside. Baekhyun’s car was parked in view. “Baek oppa’s here. I’m leaving.”

“Nara-ya,” my aunt uttered, chewing her lip. I quirked a brow. “Be safe, okay? The beach is a dangerous place.”

“Ne, I’ll be safe,” I affirmed, “and I have Baek oppa, Chen oppa, Kai and Sehun looking after me. I’ll be fine.”

“Nara-ya,” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when she spoke up again, “Can I just ask…are you dating anyone? Are you…um…having ? Because if you are, we can go to the doctor together and get you on birth control!”

My eyes tripled in size, “MWOYA!? Gomo, what are you saying? I’m…” Well, technically, I wasn’t a . But I refused to accept that Dohyun, the demon, was my first. So, in my mind, I still was a . “I haven’t done anything like that. I don’t even have a boyfriend!”

“You can’t blame me for bringing it up,” she quickly added, “your only friends are four handsome, charming boys. Two of them are from chaebol families.”

“I’m not a gold digger,” I deadpanned.

“I didn’t say you were,” she continued, “I’m just saying, I’d be stupid to just assume that you don't have a boyfriend or that you’re not ually active. As your legal guardian, I need to make sure you’re safe and healthy.”

“I’m not ually involved with any of my friends, gomo,” I said slowly, so she’d understand one last time. “I’m not dating any of them either.”

“Well, why not?” she asked, pouting childishly. I had to admit that my aunt was a pretty woman. She shared some features with my father, if I remembered correctly, and he had been a very handsome man. “You can’t stay single forever. I need grandchildren.”

I didn’t bother telling her that my future kids would not be her grandchildren. In fact, she wouldn’t even know of their existence because I would have moved far, far away from her and her messed up son. 

The urging sounds of honking saved me.

Thank you, Byun Baekhyun.

“I’ve gotta go,” I walked around her and exited my room. She followed me all the way to the front door.

“We’re talking about this when you get back!” she shouted as I hurried outside, to Baekhyun’s car. “Have fun! Be safe! No !” I rolled my eyes and opened the car door, getting in at the passenger side. Kai, Sehun and Jongdae were sitting in the back seats. I could see a plethora of beach toys sticking out of the boot, one of the floats poking Sehun’s blond head.

Baekhyun pulled out of the parking space and started driving towards Eurwangni Beach, which was almost two hours away from Gwangmyeong. 

“Yah, yah, yah, yah,” Jongdae repeatedly smacked both Kai and Sehun. Baekhyun seemed to understand what he was going to say already and flicked his eyes to me. They widened. “Kim Nara. What the hell are you wearing?”

“Ouch,” I muttered, frowning as I pulled my cardigan over my body. 

“Not like that,” Baekhyun clarified, swallowing thickly, “You look very pretty.” I blushed and, little by little, allowed my cardigan to fall back at my sides. “But you’re showing too much skin. Close that cardigan up.”

“Oppa~~~” I whined.

“All who agree to murder anyone who looks at our Nara for more than three seconds, say ‘aye’!” 

“Aye!” the three boys at the back shouted, throwing their hands up in the air. Even Sehun had raised his voice. I groaned and placed my arm on the window sill, dropping my cheek in my palm.

“Three seconds? Aish,” I snarled under my breath, staring out the window. 

“Don’t you know people can fall in love in three seconds?” Jongdae asked. I snorted and pushed myself off the window, looking behind me.

“That’s only in dramas, Kim Jongdae,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“Ani, it happens in real life, Kim Nara!” he insisted, then folded his arms stubbornly. “And we’re not allowing you to fall in love with anyone or vice versa. You belong to us.”

“Yah! I’m not property, oppa,” I hissed. 

“if we were in a motorcycle club, you would be our property,” he reasoned, “coz that’s what the girls are called. Or old ladies, but that sounds kinda wrong, y’know?” I slackened my eyes at him while the boys chortled at his words.

“This is going to be a long ride,” I sighed, facing forward again.

“When does this party start anyway?” Jongdae asked as he picked up a large, red cooler. By the looks of it, it was heavy, so Sehun gave him a hand whilst Baekhyun, Kai and I took the rest of the supplies out of the boot.

“Taemin said at one o’clock, since that’s when the sun is at its brightest,” Kai answered. Taemin was a good friend of his or, rather, his partner in crime. Though Taemin paled in comparison to Kai’s rudeness — at least that’s what I picked up on when I met him. I’d only spoken a total of five sentences to him and I’d immediately disliked him.

He was like Kai, except I didn’t have to learn to love him since he went to a different school.

“This is gonna be so awesome!” Jongdae squealed. “I can already see the mass of hot girls shaking their—” I shot him a meaningful glare and he faked a cough, “Uh, I, uh…I mean…um…”

Baekhyun patted his shoulder, “Save it. You’re toast.” I listened to Jongdae sprout nonsense to get himself off the hook as we made our way to the beach. Baekhyun locked his car over his shoulder. We finally got to what looked to be the heart of the party and I, with the help of Sehun, started setting up our site.

Kai left immediately to go find Taemin, Jongdae hot on his trail but only because Taemin would surely be surrounded by girls. Baekhyun left to rent us beach umbrellas, since those were the only items we hadn’t been able to pack in the car.

“Sehunnie,” I said, opening the cooler and taking out two cans of coke. I turned around and held one out for him, patiently waiting as he peeled off his t-shirt to reveal milky white flesh. His shoulders were broad and his skin was unblemished. I spotted a number of girls openly gawking at him. Especially the ones that could only see his back, since that was where his buttocks were.

He threw his t-shirt aside and took the can of coke from me, thanking me afterwards. I retrieved the sunscreen from my bag and walked over to him. He raised a brow.

“You’re really pale,” I explained. He looked my up and down, one corner of his mouth turning upwards.

“So are you,” he said, taking the sunscreen from me. “Put your arms out.” I complied and watched him apply the protective lotion on my arms, then my legs and, finally, my back. I took over when it was time to do my chest and stomach.

“Your turn!” I grinned, squirting the cream into my hands. He sighed but stayed still as I coated him with it. His skin was smooth and supple under my fingers and I found myself taking longer than necessary to complete the task.

“Your face,” he pointed out. I flicked my eyes up and tilted my head. “It’s red.” I blushed and looked away, brushing away the fact that we were standing so close. He took my hands, wiped some of the sunscreen on them onto his then cupped my face. “You’re going redder.”

“A-ah…ne,” I mumbled. He didn’t need to know that the sun wasn’t the cause of my rosy cheeks. 

“Woah-ho!” 

He removed his hands from my face after massaging the sunscreen into it. We both turned to face the owner of the voice. Taemin stood before us, Kai and Jongdae at his side. Baekhyun came over and he and Jongdae started getting the beach umbrellas set up.

“Kai, is that Kim Nara?” Taemin asked, nudging Kai. “Because I swear she wasn't this hot last time I saw her.”

“Taemin, hi,” I said through a forced smile. “So good to see you again. Happy birthday.” I got his present out of my bag and walked over to give it to him. “It’s not much but I hope you like it.” I bowed my head. When I looked back up, he was smirking in a conventional Kai manner.

“I know what you could give me instead,” he purred, wiggling his eyebrows. Kai elbowed him in the gut and the shorter boy grunted in pain. “Yah, Kim Kai.”

“You’re not allowed to try anything with her,” Kai told him. For once, I would gladly let him speak for me because the last person I wanted to flirt with me was Lee Taemin. “Chingu-ya.”

“Mwoya~” Taemin laughed and rubbed his bare stomach. He, like my friends, was well equipped with defined abs but, like with my friends, I was almost immune to those charms. Of course, I was still a teenage girl so I couldn’t help but look from time to time. But my interest in him started and ended there. “Do you like her or something, Kai-ya?”

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