Just like the previous game, Chaewon knows that Spin the bottle would take time, maybe even longer but she's nervous. Since they were deciding she knows that she'll be partnered with Minjoo because Eunbi was leading them.

She tries her hardest to avoid any contact with the girl, either physical or eye contact. She was lost in her own thoughts that she wasn't able to notice that the others were already starting the game, she tries to pay attention but she can feel someone's gaze was on her the whole time.

 

She stared at the spinning bottle until it stops and points at her. "Finally! I thought I'm gonna have my third question." Eunbi complained. "Chaewon, stop spacing out and please focus."

 

She scratched the back of her neck when she noticed everyone was waiting for her, "Sorry, can you repeat the question?"

 

"If you were rescuing people from a burning building and you had to leave one behind from this room, who would it be?" Yena reads the question again. "I have a feeling it would be me."

 

"It would definitely be you," Chaewon answered and stuck her tongue out at Yena. She spins the bottle to continue the game. Still avoiding the pair of eyes that was on her.

 

After a few turns, the bottle pointed at Yujin, Yuri reads the question for her, "What would be in your web history that you'd be embarrassed if someone saw?"

 

Yujin cursed under hear breath upon hearing the question, she hesitates but the game won't continue if she doesn't answer so even if she was embarrassed about it, she answered. "That cupid love Calculator that lets you enter your name and the name of the person you like," she says at a rapid speed that made her out of air afterward, but still, the others heard it and bursts out laughing.

 

"She's blushing really hard right now!" Hyewon teases her, she was also one of the few people who was laughing really hard.

 

"What are you? An elementary kid?!" Sakura joins in, her hands on her own stomach while laughing.

 

"Pft. I might just know whose name she entered." Hyewon stated so Yujin covered using her left hand while she hurriedly spins the bottle using her right hand to avoid Hyewon spilling more tea.

 

The laughter died out as the others took their turn to answer questions. The bottle spins and points at Chaeyeon while the other end pointed at Hitomo, she plucks a card and hands it to the latter to read it. "What's something that you would probably do in a haunted house?"

 

"I think I'll be that person who'll be the one to scare rather than getting scared."

 

Hitomi put the card down, "Woah brave, just imagining that gives me goosebumps."

 

Chaeyeon spins the bottle, stops, and points at Wonyoung. She picked a card and let Hyewon read the question. "A habit that others find weird."

 

Wonyoung thinks hard for a minute before answering, "Collecting books."

 

"How is that weird though?" Hyewon puts the card aside.

 

"It's because the books she collects are for kids ages 3-10." Chaewon buts in while her other friends nodded in agreement while laughing.

 

Wonyoung pouted, "It's because you guys don't know what nostalgia it gives." Upset, she leisurely spins the bottle.

 

Chaewon released a sigh of relief when she confirmed the girl stopped glancing at her from time to time shortly after her first turn but she still tries not to have eye contact with her.

 

It was her turn again with the question, "Who do you like least in this room?"

 

"I'll answer that for her, I know it would be me." Yena volunteers.

 

"But it isn't you." Chaewon saw Yena's eyes sparkle. "Because you're beyond that." and just like that, she was glaring at Chaewon again. "I don't have someone like that. It's either I'm good with them or I love them."

-

 

The bottle spins over and over again until only half of the piled cards were left. Chaewon follows its rotation until it stopped, she raised her gaze and met the eyes of the girl she's been avoiding, but instead of what she's been doing, she stared back at her.

 

There was no point of being nervous about being paired together anymore. Maybe her feelings were just out of curiosity or mere infatuation and the pairing thing will be a good chance for her to know.

 

Nako, who was the one going to ask, took a glance at Minjoo while picking a card for her. "Yah Kim Minjoo where are you staring at. It's your turn now so please focus this won't take long." Minjoo got startled after getting called out, she breaks the eye contact with Chaewon and apologized to Nako. "Here's your question then, Who do you think is the worst dressed person in this room?"

 

Minjoo scanned all the girls but she didn't need to think hard because being the fashionista that she is, she noticed since earlier the girl whose outfit was the worst.

 

"No offense but it would be her." She gestured towards the girl sitting at her right who was clearly taken aback.

 

"Yah! I've had enough of Kim Chaewon hating me for today and now someone I just met last night says that to me?!" the poor girl complained again with her lips pouting.

 

"Sorry, Yena but I have to agree this time. You totally when it comes to clothing." Yuri raised both hands. "and I think that's why Chaewon has been grumpy towards you today." Chaewon nods.

 

"We just met too but I would totally agree." Nako chuckled. "Pure honesty no offense."

 

Yena lowered her head in defeat, "None taken." she sighs.

 

Minjoo apologizes at the sulking duck who was in Yuri's embrace before spinning the bottle.

 

-Wonyoung's turn

 

"Had your first kiss in?"

 

Yujin's ears perked up upon hearing the question. Wonyoung never mentioned something like that to her before so she had no idea. She got really curious but also prepared for the worst she can hear.

 

"Actually..." Wonyoung cuts short.

 

Because Yujin got impatient, she unconsciously taps the table with her fingers fast. Hyewon beside her chuckles at the younger's childish action. She taps the restless girl but got a glare in return.

 

"You're so obvious, idiot." Yujin realizes what she was doing and immediately stops.

 

"Now that I think of it, I haven't really k-kissed." WHY DID I STUTTER?!

 

"Wonyoung you're red." Yuri points out which made her cover her face. While Hyewon whispered to Yujin, "At least try to hide that smirk on your face."

 

-Chaewon's turn

 

"If you could give up the most precious thing you have for your most desired, would you do it?"

 

"I wouldn't think twice," she answered instantly.

 

"Ohh~ interesting. So what is that thing that you desire most?" Yena says with an amused face.

 

"Don't be sneaky, you need another spin for that. There may be no question like that too."

 

“Oh, really~”

 

-Minjoo's turn

 

“If you could go back in time and erase or correct one thing you said or did, what would it be?”

 

Minjoo focused her gaze on Chaewon as she remembers that scene, “That time when this certain someone had a misunderstanding and instead of explaining what really happened, I told her her hair color suits her. I regret that the most right now.” She smiles when she saw Chaewon’s eyes widen in surprise with a bit open, the girl is completely flustered.

 

Because of that indirect from Minjoo, Chaewon was left on her train of thoughts thus rendering her distracted.

 

-Yujin's turn

 

“How long have you gone without a shower?”

 

“Wait a minute. Why am I always the one who gets that question all the time?”

 

“It must be destiny~” Hyewon singsongs. “Just answer already, I just want all of this to finish.”

 

“Psh, are you a tsundere by any chance? You’re the noisiest since we started the game.” Yena jokes. Among the two groups, both of them surprisingly have great chemistry.

 

“Actually you two are. That question 3 days are getting annoying.”

 

They looked at Yujin with either mouth hanging open or frowning. Hyewon chuckles at their reaction and Wonyoung shooks her head with a tiny smile.

 

“It’s 3 days, she said it in between her sentence.”

 

“Do you really need to expose me like that? Traitor.” she pursed her lips whereas Wonyoung just shrugged.

 

She spins the bottle but pointed at her again when it stopped. “What? Me again?” she complains and hands the card to Nako.

 

“For this question, we need to know who’s the most important person to you.”

 

“Hyewon and Wonyoung” she instantly answered which got ‘ooh's from the others

 

“Then if the two is drowning who would you save fir-

 

“WONYOUNG” she immediately covers but it didn’t save her from the others’ teasings.

 

“Ya! I didn’t even finish the question yet. But bruh, that was whipped!”

 

She ignores Nako on purpose and tries to change the topic, “Why are there many questions about rescuing though?” she casually takes a peek at Wonyoung, she grinned when saw that the girl was slightly blushing.

 

‘Cute’

 

“But that was just the second time though?”

 

“Yeah right, now next!”

 

-Chaeyeon's turn

 

“What have you seen that you wish you could unsee?”

 

“When Minjoo was at her worst. I’m happy I could see all her sides not just the joyful her but the fact that I couldn’t even do something to ease the pain she was feeling is something I will always regret so I’d rather forget about that because I was useless. Sorry Minjoo-ah, I know you’re surprised.”

 

The said girl was sure surprised at Chaeyeon’s sudden confession. After what happened that time, Chaeyeon had never said a word about it so Minjoo thought the girl had stopped blaming herself about what happened. She couldn’t think of something to say to her best friend so instead, she hugged her.

 

Chaewon, on the other hand, can’t help but wonder about what happened. She curiously scanned the group of friends in front of her and notices something about their reaction. She came up with a conclusion and decided to look into it more. Little did she know that one of her friends had been keeping an eye at them too.

 

Unlike the lively and full of laughter of a table they had earlier, now it was just dead silence with a heavy atmosphere slowly forming. After hugging each other, Chaeyeon noticed the change of mood. It was a sensitive enough topic for their group but the other group was also throwing quizzical glances at them. She tried to smile and spins the bottle for the next round.

 

-Wonyoung's turn

 

“Most illegal thing you have done?”

 

“Uhmm, stealing money from my mom’s wallet to buy mint-choco icecream~”

 

“That’s it? That’s the MOST illegal thing you ever did in your whole life?” The heavy atmosphere in their table didn’t disappear even after a few turns so Yena, who didn’t really think of it as a big deal, decided to return the lively table they had.

 

“Yeah? I mean it still haunts me every now and then.”

 

“A 19-year-old still having nightmares like that?” Yuri joins in. “When did that even happen?”

 

“Duh, I got a handful of scolding that time. It was back at 2nd or 3rd grade, I think?”

 

“You’re too innocent for this world Wonyoung-ah. Maybe we should send you to an island far from people so you won’t get poisoned by how our society is.” Eunbi pats the youngest’s back.

 

Wonyoung pouted at them and it made them UWU.

 

Yena released a sigh of relief. At least the heavy atmosphere was lifted even if it was just a bit. But she didn’t know that later on, it would be heavier.

 

-Chaewon's turn

 

Yena wore a sly smile when she sees where the bottle pointed when it stopped. She picks the card that she set aside earlier. “Guess what, I got my chance Chaewon.” she waves the card to Chaewon. “This is the card earlier, it says here that if it will be your turn again, I can choose if I want to ask the follow-up question or pick another card and obviously I pick the first one!. Now, what is it that you desire most?”

 

Chaewon was silenced for a while, her gaze unconsciously landed on Minjoo. She knows exactly the answer but she couldn’t say it, not in front of her, especially with so many girls listening. She thinks hard to cover up the right answer, never taking her gaze off the girl.

 

“So that’s your answer? Okay next!” she immediately shifts her gaze from Minjoo to Yena. She sees the girl wearing a smirk. She runs her hand through her face.

 

‘I’m doomed.’

 

“Huh? But she didn’t answer yet.” Yuri asked, confused.

 

“It’s okay, I got the answer. I’m the one who asked and I got the answer, isn’t that enough?”

 

“But-” Yena hushed her. The others just accepted Yena’s reasoning. At this point, all they wanted was for the game to end. First, because there was still tension around Chaeyeon and her group. Second, some were already excited about the pairings. Third and also the last, Hyewon was getting drowsy from all the eating she did.

 

-Minjoo’s turn

 

It was the last card from the table and Chaewon was tasked to ask the question. “An experience you want to forget about the most?” She saw how Minjoo’s smiling face turned into a pained expression real quick after the question.

 

“When my most favorite person failed me when I needed her most.” This time, it was Minjoo who avoided Chaewon’s pair of curious eyes. She looked down, aware of how that answer will cause the atmosphere to be heavy again and it did.

 

It was the last but it also had the heaviest air of all time since they started the game, especially Minjoo’s group of friends. The game is over, or so they thought. No one moved, even Hyewon who was restless became still on her seat.

 

Chaewon hesitates to inform the others about the last card, she noticed how heavy the tension is between them, it was like there’s a thick wall forming between the six of them. She thinks of an approach to slowly erase the tension even just for a temporary period of time.

 

Yuri leans into Wonyoung and whispers, “There’s that strange tension that we felt earlier.” the younger nodded at her. “Yeah, and it’s affecting the whole table.”

 

"In case you guys don't know." Everyone's attention directed to Chaewon. "It says here 'Chance Card', there's another question regarding that first one." She takes a glance at Minjoo, waiting for a confirmation to read the question.

 

Minjoo inhales deeply, "Let's get this over with, please read the question."

 

"Ugh, this might make them more uncomfortable," she mumbles.

 

 

"Who's that favorite person?"

 

 

Minjoo became still for a moment, she knew it was going to be that question and she knew for herself too that she can't answer that.

 

The girls who were in the dark of what was happening waited for her to answer while the other girls didn't want to hear the answer because they knew who it is and how the situation will turn out.

 

"S-sorry but I c-can't answ-" Minjoo was cut off when she saw the girls in front of her shifted their direction from her to another. She too followed their gaze and saw who they were looking at.

 

It was Ahn Yujin, she was raising her right hand, avoiding gazes from the others while she clenches her left hand into a fist. "I was." and just like that she stands up and walks away.

 

Hyewon immediately follows her, Nako apologizes first before going out to follow them too. On the other side, Minjoo was covering her face while looking down, being comforted by Chaeyeon and Sakura.

 

Wonyoung wanted to follow Yujin too but Eunbi instantly pulled her down and shook her head at the youngest. Sakura apologizes to them too while they accompany Minjoo to leave.

 

Now, six girls were left on the table confused and curious. Chaewon speaks up first, "I had a hunch about their about them having some misunderstanding but I didn't expect it to be that deep."

 

"Oh? You too? Throughout the game, I was thinking about that too." Eunbi replies.

 

"We didn't think it would be that deep but Wonyoung and I felt a tension since she asked if all of them were friends too."

 

"Same here, I actually asked Nako about that and she said something about their friendship splitting because of an unresolved argument between that two."

 

"What? You guys were thinking about that the whole game? I didn't even have a slight suspicion of what you guys are talking about until that walk out scene of them."

 

"It's because you're Choi Yena."

 

"Okay, stop being grumpy on me Chaewon, I promise I'll wear better clothes than this. Now, please enlighten me."

 

"Nope. Let's just mind our business and not interfere with them. Let them solve their problem on their own." Chaewon stands up and fixes her chair. "By the way, let's talk." She didn't wait for Yena, she pulled her chair into one corner where the others cannot hear them. "About my answer earlier."

 

"Ohh, that? It was obvious you know, you were staring so I immediately got it." Yena confidently says that made Chaewon nervous. 

 

'So she saw me staring at Minjoo? I'm in big trouble.'

 

"It's food, right?" Chaewon blankly looks at Yena. "You must've been hungry, that's okay. The food's surprisingly good in here." She released a sigh of relief.

 

'I can't believe her, is she that oblivious or it's just plain stupidity? but either way, I'm safe.' 

 

"What's with that judgemental look? Am I wrong?" 

 

Chaewon starts walking away, leaving Yena puzzled. "No. You are exactly right! Bye! I'll be leaving first." She waves at the others too.

 

Yena doubts but returns to her seat, Yuri asks her, "What did she ask?"

 

"About her answer earlier."

 

"But you guys, I agree with Chaewon, I don't want to meddle with other people's problem. Now, you guys go and do your thing and I'll inform the staffs that we're done. Now, the remaining activities will be tomorrow. It's all up to you to do what you want this afternoon." The remaining girls nodded at her, arranged their chairs and made their way out while Eunbi talks with the Staff.

 

------

 

 

Chaewon walks toward her room. She doesn't have anything in mind to do. She decided to talk with Minjoo later in the afternoon when the girl's stable. She really doesn't know what to do with that 'partner' thing. She figured she would just take that chance to talk and get to know Minjoo more or if lucky she can ask what happened between them.

 

Without thinking much, she opens the door to her room and regrets immediately. She saw Minjoo sitting on her bed. She scratches her head out of embarrassment. "S-sorry, I didn't even think you would want to spend time alone. If you would excuse me." She turns around to get out but stops when Minjoo talked.

 

"It's okay, we share this room so it would be understandable and by your gazes earlier I know you have plenty of questions. Besides, I owe you right? Because we lost in the game. You can ask anything." She turns around again, slowly this time, and faces Minjoo who wears a slight smile.

 

"Oh, that's strange. Usually, I'm not that easy to read. But are you going to answer all my questions though?"

 

"You bet I will. Now ask away."

 

"Nah, maybe later. We don't have anything to do in the afternoon so I'll ask questions by then and we can talk while walking."

 

"I like that." They smiled at each other.

 

 

 

-tbc-
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Forget about this story being short, I'll make this as long as I want. Thank you for reading this far! Please point out any typos and grammatical errors.

Don't forget to leave a comment about your thoughts about the story so far.