Eomma once said to me that attraction was not a choice; there was a time and a reason she had fallen in love with my father, and at that moment, there was nothing but hope for the future and beyond. She believed in living in the moment, accepting things as they were and hoping for the best that they could be.

But then life took a turn for the worst, and it is during this time where she had to adapt. She learned, like many people learned, that love comes with a price. Love always comes with a price, and at that moment, it had something in for her. And I don’t know about you, but if I had to choose between a whirlwind romance and an eternity of pining for a person who doesn’t love you in return, I would gladly be a masochist and sacrifice my happiness for a good dose of reality.

There is no such thing as love, because if it is truly as ‘powerful’ as it set out to be, I wouldn’t have lived my life without a man who lied to me that he loved me, only to leave me the first instance he could.

If Chanyeol were a protagonist of a drama, the first thing that would have happened was a slow motion take of how he had hooked his arm around Sun Young’s waist, effectively pulling her into the room while maintaining a chic gaze upon her surprised face as he slammed the door to the Observatory shut.

The air would reek of tension as he continued to look down at her, his expression serious and intense, trapping her between the door and himself.

As it was, there had been no such thing.

Upon her screaming, Chanyeol had panicked, especially when he had noticed the doors to the West Wing open, and had merely tugged Sun Young into the room with the intention of not wanting them to be caught by potential staff for having a suspicious rendezvous alone with him.

He knew how easily rumors could fly.

But the screaming, though, he thought, his ears ringing as he pushed her slightly away from him, before proceeding to ensure that the door was locked.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she stammered, breathless.

He turned, leaning against the door, and glared at her. “I can say the same for you, you gave me a heart attack!” he protested.

dropped open. “Yes, well… you frightened me!”

“But you didn’t have to scream and tell the whole world you’re here!” he blustered, running his hands through his hair.

Sun Young’s face felt hot with embarrassment. “I didn’t know you were inside!”

He shut his eyes in resignation. His heart was beating so fast, he could hear it drumming in his ears.

She took a few steps forward, her sneakers making screeching sounds that gnawed at him “B-besides, no one’s out there, anyway,” she cried, proceeding to push him off the door, “Honestly, I don’t know what is your problem! Move, I’m leaving.”

Of all things, a confrontation with her was the last thing he had wanted while he was waiting for Baekhyun. Why did she even show up, and how did she know that the door was unlocked?

Or an even better question, why didn’t he make sure to lock the door?

Chanyeol folded his arms over his chest. “Oh, now you want to leave?” he asked, annoyed, “Why did you even want to come in anyway?”

“Well, I didn’t expect it to open!” she argued back, shoving his tall frame, “Ugh, can you please move your ?”

Chanyeol looked down on her through the sides of his eyes.

Sun Young stared upwards. She tried tiptoeing to gain as little difference in height as she glared at him, and barely succeeded in keeping them at eye level. In fact, she was almost leaning on him for support.

He scoffed. “Don’t even try being taller. It won’t add to your fearsome exterior.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Don’t let the height fool you, you know I can beat you up anytime,” she retorted. “Move.”

He turned to face her directly. “Make me.”

Sun Young’s lips parted and she laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, you think you’re so funny, don’t you?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I’ve been told that before, yes,” he commented, “Either way, complimenting or insulting me won’t do you any good. You can’t leave. Not yet, at least.”

She gritted her teeth, meeting his eyes again. “And why’s that?” she protested, giving a punch to his arm that might have hurt more than it should.

He flinched, resisting the urge to hold onto his arm, as he turned to the door, pointing to something she hadn’t seen: a peephole in the wood. “While you were busy overreacting,” he said, as she peeked through the hole, “Someone entered the West Wing.”

“What are you talking about, it was empty outside-” she protested, looking outside and ducking suddenly as if whoever was outside could see her, “Oh. There are people out there.”

He watched her look out of the room again. “When did they show up?” she wondered aloud, turning to him, “But can’t I just slip out?”

His hand shot out, slapping her hand that had slowly been reaching for the doorknob away.

He gave her a look. “If they see you coming out of here, they’d be overjoyed with extra gossip,” he said, as she shut her eyes and leaned her forehead against the door, “You’d probably have the lowest votes and walk out the door before you can say ‘I can explain’.”

She opened her eyes, still staring at the door in defeat.

Chanyeol frowned. “You didn’t think I was keeping you here just because I wanted to, did you?” he asked.

Their eyes met for a millisecond, before she looked away.

He raised an eyebrow. “You did think that, didn’t you?” he pushed on, “Good God, woman, just how many dramas have corrupted your mind-”

“Shut up,” she interrupted, her voice low.

Chanyeol smirked, watching her turn and walk towards one of the armchairs.

She plopped into it.

It was his turn to scowl. “That’s my favorite chair, go away-”

Sun Young’s gaze was dangerous. “Make me,” she seethed, sounding very much like he had moments ago.

He paused, sending her a disgusted look.

She changes mood really quickly, it’s insane.

She pouted like a sulking child. “Tell me when you don’t see anyone outside,” she said monotonously, and he could hear her mutter something under her breath. “Of all the places to be…”

“Then you shouldn’t have meddled into places you shouldn’t be at,” he said with a shrug.

“You shouldn’t have scared me then!” she scolded back, “I could’ve just peeked in, see you, and be out of here!”

Chanyeol peeked through the peephole. He turned to her.

“Why are you even in the West Wing anyway, aren’t you supposed to be outside?” he asked, “Doesn’t PD Kim lock up the Lilium Suite during the day?”

She made an irritated sound. “I wanted a moment alone, can’t I be granted even that?”

He pressed his lips together, remembering how she had something to that effect the night before when he had found her in the maze.

He hadn’t realized she craved silence that much, given the fact that she was noisy in general.

Meanwhile him, wanting to find his place in the world but too afraid to venture out of his introversion.

They made quite a combination.

“You should have known that a reality show doesn’t give you a moment’s peace,” he said, sounding slightly less accusatory this time, more gentle, “It’s not as if you can hide from the world-”

“Stop trying to advise me, I don’t need this.”

“Are you still mad I scared you-”

“Just leave me alone,” she muttered, covering her face with her hands and letting out an exhale, “I didn’t sign up for this stupid competition, so I didn’t know, okay? Just…get off my case.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed. “You didn’t sign up for this?” he asked, “As in, this competition?”

She regarded him with a cold stare. “Do I look like the type of person who’d be bothered by these kinds of things?”

“Who signed you up then?” he asked, amused, “You must’ve wanted to murder them in their sleep.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t murder my mother. She’s still paying my university fees.”

He let out a snort, making her glare at him. “Sorry, I just-” he burst out laughing, “Manager Han? Why?”

Sun Young pretended to look excited, and he could see the side she had been trying to not show, the part of her that wasn’t all happiness and wide smiles. “She said I didn’t have a life, and so she decided to make me embark on a journey towards friendship and romance. Little did I know that included you, of all people.”

“I feel like you said that to offend me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please be offended,” she said sarcastically, getting to her feet and walking towards the dome-shaped section of the room, near the windows.

Chanyeol took a few steps forward, watching her look at the telescopes near the glass windows. “I think I’m immune to your remarks now. Sorry,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Her back was to him as she stared out the window, but he could hear groan in resignation.

Without her gaze upon him, he was free to smile to himself. “Maybe I should just eliminate you from the show,” he commented, “If it makes your life and mine easier.”

She ran her hands over the telescopes. “Yeah maybe you should,” she murmured distractedly, before turning to him. “But then again, if you wanted to eliminate me, why’d you kiss me last night?”

His head shot up, his stricken expression meeting her calm and collected one.

He could feel the blood drain from his face, could feel his limbs freezing, and his throat constricting.

At that moment, it felt like his world had crumbled around him.

The light entered the glass panels of the domed section of the room, illuminating her form as she waited for him to answer. She turned back to the telescope, running her hands on it, as though her words didn’t have any sort of effect on him.

But Chanyeol remained as still as a statue, his hand reaching halfway for a telescope, wanting to speak but unable to due to the amount of thoughts speeding through his mind.

She remembered, he thought wildly. She actually remembered.

Stupidly, he felt a glimmer of happiness inside his chest at the unexpected confrontation.

She didn’t forget.

“So this,” he began hoarsely, “Was why you were avoiding me.”

She was walking the few steps towards him now, and he struggled to remain calm despite the fact that he was steadily panicking.

“What, it wasn’t obvious enough?” she said, by way of explanation, “But now that it’s out in the open, maybe you can tell me why you lied and say nothing happened when something clearly did.”

He swallowed.

She stood in front of him, one arm’s length away, her arms folded over her chest, her hair falling over one shoulder as she looked at him coolly.

“Well?” she asked, “Where’s your smartass comebacks now?”

Chanyeol didn’t answer.

“At least make an excuse or something,” she said, “Why’d you do it? Because you wanted to mess with me, take advantage of me?” she asked, “Or because I was drunk and I looked easy-”

“That’s not true,” he protested, “I’m not that type of person-”

“Then why?”

Chanyeol stared at her. “Would you have wanted me to tell you in the dining room itself?” he burst out, “Just give it a thought, Sun Young, what if someone overheard our conversation and implied that we’re having some kind of relationship? Well, I’m sorry I was trying to protect your dignity!”

She jabbed a finger against his chest. “Don’t try to push this back at me!” she cried, punctuating every word with a jab, “You were the one who started this whole mess- oh, god, I feel so dirty…and violated!”

He snatched her hand, effectively stopping her. “Violated?” he repeated incredulously, making her shuffle backwards and almost knocking one of the telescopes with his intensity, “You kissed me back! Don’t say that you didn’t-”

She pulled her hand from his grasp. “Oh, believe me, Park Chanyeol, it is something I regretted!” she spat at him, breathing hard.

He stepped back from her, if only to have some kind of space between them. He could feel the waves of anger floating off each of them.

Something had changed, something he couldn’t quite understand, but no more was this a lighthearted argument that they would be able to continue talking from.

And it scared him. He hadn’t wanted this to happen.

Sun Young swiped at her eyes, breaking eye contact, and something inside of him felt hollow, watching her hide her tears. “So why’d you do it?” she murmured, and he saw the shadow – was that disappointment? Embarrassment? – cross her visage as she held onto a telescope. “Or is it easy for you, going around kissing people?”

He pushed down his rising irritation. “That’s not true,” he muttered.

I’ve never even had a girlfriend.

She sniffled. “Did you think you could just easily forget what happened and move on, and try to be your ever charming self, talking with me like nothing happened last night?” she asked, “I’m not that type of person, Mr. Park. I hate those type of people the most.”

Why does it feel as though she is talking about someone else?

He stared at her as she cleared , finally looking at him.

“At least tell me a lie, and say you liked me or something,” she said emotionlessly, “Instead of saying nothing happened. That way I can still maintain a shred of self-respect, because I don’t have to feel like I’ve been used and pushed away.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed, wanting to say something but holding himself back.

He wanted to tell her she was none of those things, and that she shouldn’t have to feel that way.

He also wanted to say that telling her he had feelings for her wouldn’t have been a lie, but he didn’t dare.

At that moment, he just felt so sorry for her, and for himself too, for being pathetic.

All his high-class education didn’t prepare him for matters of the heart. Maybe this was why his mother had always accused him of being too insensitive in favour of logic and reason.

Well, it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t feel his own emotions, what more look out for others’?

Sun Young cleared . “We should have stayed out of each other’s way in the first place, for our own sakes,” she said, avoiding his gaze, “Then we wouldn’t have such…issues…to address.”

Still tongue-tied, he only managed a cough.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and inhaled a shuddering breath. “I see that you’re out of anything to say,” she finally concluded, pushing him aside easily, and proceeded to walk past him.

He was still staring at her dumbly, like a scolded child, trying to come to terms with the defeat of speech, when his hand held onto her arm of its own accord.

You have dealt with upset people before, Chan, he told himself.

She frowned, her eyes meeting his, and he looked back, blinking at her.

You have dealt with hundreds of upset people.

He exhaled, his free arm reaching for her other arm.

Sun Young’s eyes widened. “What are you doing-”

What is one more?

Even if you like her, she is still an upset person, he told himself. An upset guest.

Chanyeol searched into her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t suddenly go rabid on him like she had the first time they had crossed paths.

Just spit it out and get this over and done with instead of trying to hold onto your ego.

“Look, I’m sorry for lying to you,” he said, maintaining his gaze on her, “And I am finding it incredibly difficult to speak now, but...I can’t let you leave, at least not without an explanation.”

What did he tell her earlier?

“…walk out the door before you can say ‘I can explain’.”

Well, he was the of the joke now.

I am going to go mad with embarrassment.

No. I think I may I have already gone mad.

“I was wrong for lying,” he stated.

“So you said.”

He ignored her attempt at being petulant. “And I completely understand that you are upset at how I addressed – or rather, did not address – what had transpired last night,” he said, his words coming out in a rush, “I didn’t want to put you in a situation where your reputation, and that of mine, would be questioned, especially in the dining room where the possibility of being overheard is very high. You can’t expect me to say something so personal…in such an impersonal environment, that could possibly alter your thoughts of me.”

He pursed his lips. “Nonetheless, I think you may already have thought of me as a horrible person,” he mused, to which she looked away, “But everything you’re accusing me of, it’s not true.”

Her glare softened into a frown, and it gave him some assurance that his plan was working, at least for now.

“Whatever happened was not me trying to be a douchebag,” he said, “I think, and you must’ve thought it as well, that something happened last night when we were talking to each other, and perhaps…to put it simply…perhaps we both gave into the moment.”

She opened to protest.

“I might have initiated it,” he said quickly, and she shut , “But I’ll be damned if I was the only one who was feeling a little reckless at that point in time.”

Her lips twitched.

Chanyeol sighed. “I am willing to cast it off as something stupid we had gotten ourselves into, seeing as you are extremely upset at that…violation…as you say,” he said neutrally, “And I am equally willing to not put myself in such a situation in the future.”

Her wide-eyed gaze remained on her face, speechless as he pressed his lips together.

“I was really planning on airing this out with you, at a later time… perhaps in a quieter place where we won’t be stared at by humans and cameras alike…maybe even the maze again… but I see that it has made you distrust me.”

Sun Young in a breath, her eyes peering up at him. It was unnerving.

“Believe me,” he continued, releasing her, “Lying to you was, is, and will always be the last thing I wanted to do.”

She was staring so intently at him, he felt his cheeks burn with the intensity of her gaze. It didn’t help that the silence of the room had shrouded over them again; he could hear his haggard breathing loudly in his ears.

“Was that,” she began softly, “Was that so difficult to say?”

Bolstered by the lack of animosity in her tone, he let out a shuddering breath. “You make it so difficult for me to defend myself.”

She looked like she was about to argue, but let out an embarrassed laugh instead. “You’re afraid of me, huh?”

“You can be really terrifying when you’re pissed.”

“I should work on that,” she murmured.

He didn’t say anything. His hair fell over his face in waves, effectively hiding the mortification he had to endure for the past three minutes.

His chest felt tight with tension, and his hands were frozen at his sides as he bowed his head.

“I’m sorry,” she said, making him peek through his hair at her, “I shouldn’t have assumed that all men were jerks like my dad.”

So that was why she had been furious.

“I’m sorry too,” he said, “For acting like one. I apologize again.”

In the world of customer service, you can never sorry too many times.

Sorry may not solve everything, but it sure does soften hearts.

Sun Young chuckled. “Why did I get so worked up about something stupid like this, when it was just a stupid misunderstanding?” she said, massaging her temples and sighing, “I swear, I’m not usually this angry.”

A small smile graced his lips. “I doubt the authenticity of that statement.”

She fixed him with a glare.

His smile disappeared.

A smirked adorned her face. “So, I guess you did fall for my charms, in the end, Mr. Park.”

He scowled. “This was precisely what I didn’t want you to say-”

“I’m messing with you,” she interjected, turning slightly to one of the telescopes. She cast him a quick glance. “So…we are okay, right?” she asked him, before hastily adding, “We understand each other now, right?”

He nodded. “How exactly?”

“You know…We were just drunks being drunks.”

“We were.”

“No hard feelings. One peck…one peck on the lips doesn’t constitute the end of the world, right?”

He raised an eyebrow at her roundabout way of talking. “No, I suppose.”

She cleared . “There is nothing between us, is there?” she asked suddenly, “At least, nothing beyond this?”

“This?”

“Yes, this,” she said awkwardly, and he could see her cheeks being a little pinker than earlier, “You can’t really think that we can be-”

The Observatory door suddenly opened, making them yelp in surprise, as Baekhyun entered.

“Sorry I’m late bro!” he said cheerily, shutting the door behind him, “I thought I’d get some of the tteokbeokki that- OH MY GOODNESS WHAT IS THIS?”

Chanyeol nudged Sun Young. “Get out of here,” he muttered under his breath.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?” Baekhyun gasped. “AM I BARGING INTO A BLISSFUL, INTIMATE MOMENT?”

She nodded, about to run for the door, but paused.

“It’s a red telescope, isn’t it?” she asked him.

He frowned. “What?”

“Your missing item. It’s a red telescope, isn’t it?”

His mouth dropped open. “Yes,” he breathed, “How did you-”

She nodded. “Guess I’m right,” she said, before dashing for the door. “Hi Baek, sorry I can’t stay,” she said, clapping him on the back before peering through the peephole, “Alright, the coast is clear.”

Baekhyun raised the plastic bag of tteokbeokki. “Wait-”

She was gone the next moment.

Baekhyun looked around, confused, and his eyes fell on Chanyeol. “What just happened?”

“Nothing.”

“ing bull,” came the saucy reply as he collapsed into a chair, “I feel like I just got a heart attack!”

Chanyeol turned away from his friend, looking out of the glass windows at the Gardens. “Join the club,” he murmured, his heart feeling uncharacteristically heavy.

After all, Sun Young as good as rejected him to his face.

“There you are!” Victoria said, as Sun Young appeared, “PD Kim’s gathering all the teams for the last round, and they’re installing hidden cameras inside the room so that we’d have more space to move around.”

Sun Young looked around. They were at a holding area for luggages, and she could see a door marked Lost and Found. “Oh, I see.”

“Apparently there is a filming break, remind me to throttle Kris when I see him. ‘No filming break’ my . Then where’d all the cameramen go?”

Ju Hyun appeared, holding a paper cup filled with water. “Who’s going to go?”

Hyun Joo appeared behind her, drinking as well. “What is our missing item?”

Sun Young glanced around, seeing the other teams preoccupied with their group discussions. “It’s a red telescope,” she whispered.

“What?” the three of them chorused, obviously confused.

“Why?” Victoria asked, “Wait, first of all…How did you even come up with that?”

Sun Young relayed all the observations she had noted down throughout the race. “I’m sticking to my guess. It’s definitely the red telescope.”

And Chanyeol already confirmed it.

But I can’t tell them that.

“But who had taken it? We still need to find out who.”

“Definitely Mr. Yoon,” Victoria replied, “He had mentioned that Housekeeping department has staff who clean other parts of the hotel as well. I mean, it can’t have been Chef Do or Minho.”

“Exactly. Who took it, that’s an obvious answer. They probably wanted to distract us with it.”

Ju Hyun nodded. “I volunteer to go in and find it,” she announced, “Since Sun Young and Victoria and Hyun Joo helped out with the deciphering.”

“But I know what it looks like,” Sun Young insisted.

“Are you saying I don’t know what a telescope is?” she answered back.

“That’s beside the point. We only have sixty seconds, and this is assuming that no one else came to the same conclusion as we did.”

“Which is why you should send me in,” Ju Hyun said, sounding mildly annoyed, “Because I can feign innocence. If you go in, they’ll all follow you around.”

“CHOSEN REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH TEAM, I WILL NEED YOU TO COME FORWARD!” Minseok’s voice blared from a megaphone, “Oh, wow, I wasn’t expected the volume to be so loud.”

“You can lower the volume