Comforting A Wounded Heart
Among Yellow Roses [EDITING]
THE THIRD PETAL
Comforting A Wounded Heart
Chapter Content Warning: Adult Language (cussing) and underage drinking (see author's corner at the end of the chapter).
BUSAN SEA FESTIVAL 2010 FINAL DAY
It was the final day of the festival and Aerin really just wanted it to be over. Though the event itself wasn’t bad, it was constantly witnessing Seolhyun and Jooheon acting increasingly lovey-dovey—which in turn made Minhyuk more and more miserable with each passing day—that she found torturous.
On the first day, after arriving, they immediately went to the festival—though there had been a slight snag with some sunscreen; or more the fact that Seolhyun forgot to bring hers and then spent half the day pouting because Jooheon used Aerin’s instead of the one her aunt had offered. It was so childish that Aerin honestly couldn’t understand why any guy would like a little diva like Seolhyun. However, after getting to know her over the last few days, she could kind of understand my Minhyuk and Jooheon liked her.
Despite her sometimes childish behavior, she was a bright girl that could easily bring a smile to the older girl’s face. It was undeniable that Seolhyun had a cute charm to her that made it impossible to hate her. To compliment her attractive personality, she had a body that most girls would kill for. The moment Seolhyun came sauntering out in a bathing suit Aerin had to practically punch Minhyuk in the chin so he would close his mouth and stop drooling. Though she wasn’t as endowed as Aerin in the chest department, she was tall and slender and had good proportions—something that Aerin deeply envied.
Each day of the festival followed the relatively same pattern. They would go to the festivities with Seolhyun’s aunt and her husband, after lunch the three teens—plus Aerin—would split off from Seolhyun’s guardians to “hangout.” They would further split off into pairs to “go on dates.” Aerin was certain that Seolhyun and Jooheon were making the most of their time alone, but each day Aerin and Minhyuk ended up roaming around for three hours with nothing to do. She felt like she had the area memorized from the amount of times they’d walked up and down the streets. The old man in a nearby ice cream parlor was beginning to consider them regulars from the number of times she and Minhyuk had stopped to get out of the heat—and have an icy little treat while they were at it.
That day was no different. They’d been playing in the salty ocean water, listening to the live band playing some distance away on the beach, and around one or two o'clock Seolhyun pulled Aerin and Minhyuk out of the water so they could “hang out.” Minhyuk and Aerin watched the real couple walk away, Seolhyun’s arm looped through Jooheon’s while she leaned her head against his shoulder, before they began their usual trek through the busy streets of Busan. Aerin looked to Minhyuk who, for the nth time in the last four and a half days, had a crestfallen look on his face.
Each time the young woman saw that lost, lovelorn expression on the other’s face she had to stop herself from marching right up to Seolhyun and shaking her senseless while spewing whatever curses came to mind. The entire situation was frustrating and Aerin couldn’t even express it to the cause of her—and Minhyuk’s—misery; because, yes, they were both feeling miserable. It pained her to have to see the younger suffer—especially because it was a type of suffering she was all too familiar with.
Aerin hit him on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from the pair.
“Where do you want to go?” she asked. Minhyuk shrugged in response and Aerin gave him a deadpan look. That was always his reply—why did she even bother asking anymore? “Ice cream it is then!” she said, looping her arm through his and dragging him in the direction of the ice cream parlor. Like all the days previous, the old man was behind the counter and smiled at them as soon as they walked in—greeting them in a cheerful, though gravelly voice. They left the shop with a frosty treat each, though Aerin felt a little sad that it would be their last visit to the shop—unless they, for some reason, decided to go to next year’s festival too.
As they walked down the street, each idly eating their ice cream, Minhyuk said something Aerin honestly hadn’t expected him to. “Thanks, noona.” Aerin blinked, surprised.
“Finally saying it now, after so long, you little brat,” she teased, once she was able to pull herself out of her momentary stupor. “Took you long enough,” she said, the minty ice cream that was beginning to dribble over the side of the cone.
“Sorry,” he said with a small smile. “I really appreciate you being here, even though you don’t want to be.”
“Well, it’s not so bad….” Aerin trailed off. “Though I hope you realize how stupid it was for you to agree to come on this trip,” she said in a slightly chastising manner.
“I know it was,” he admitted, then draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. “I haven’t been a very good boyfriend, have I?” he asked jokingly. Aerin snorted indignantly and rolled her eyes.
“It’s not like I was actually expecting you to act like my boyfriend,” she replied, elbowing him lightly in the ribs—causing the younger to grunt, but he didn’t pull away.
“It’s already the last day, so let’s actually have a fun date, okay?” he said, a wide smile on his face.
Aerin shook her head with a roll of her eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that graced her lips as he pulled her toward some game stalls that had been set up for the festival. They played a few games, Minhyuk managing to win a stuffed animal while Aerin only managed to get a tiny keychain. Minhyuk laughed as they walked down the street, brushing past people as they went.
“You really at playing games,” he said around his chortles. Aerin scowled.
“I told you I have horrible aim! You chose that stupid ball toss game on purpose, you !” she said, pushing him with a pout on her lips.
He hugged the stuffed whale he’d won, giving her a pointed look as he rubbed his superior aiming skills in her face. She huffed and looked away—though she wasn’t as angry as she pretended to be; it was actually a relief to see Minhyuk smile and laugh. It was the first time in a while that she’d seen him happy and genuinely having a good time. However, before she even really had a chance to enjoy the moment with the younger, his mood came plummeting down. Minhyuk suddenly stopped in his tracks and the smile fell from his face. The short woman followed his gaze to a nearby café, though she could already surmise the cause of Minhyuk’s complete mood change. Under the shade of a wide umbrella, sitting as close as humanly possible to each other, were Jooheon and Seolhyun—lips meeting and parting in sweet, tender kisses.
The couple seemed absolutely unconcerned by how their blatant show of affection was widely considered inappropriate. This was Korea, not Europe! However, there it was. All Aerin could think to do was cover the tall teen’s eyes and force him to turn away from the scene. She dragged him away by the wrist, heading back the way they’d just come.
When they were a sufficient distance—and around a couple of corners—she turned around to face Minhyuk. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach the moment she looked into his eyes. He looked hopeless and defeated. His eyes were glassy, a sign she knew meant that he was on the verge of crying. She looked around, frantic to give the boy some privacy. A motel caught her eye and, for a brief moment, she had the thought to just let him cry out there in the middle of the street—instead of let him cry to his heart’s content in the privacy of a room; even if it was in a motel. However, she quickly pushed the selfish thought away and pulled him toward the building—determined to get a room before she had a chance to think and talk herself out of it. After what felt like mere seconds she was standing in a room, hand still firmly clasped around Minhyuk’s wrist. With the door closed she turned to him once more and let out a heavy breath.
“I’m gonna go get something to drink, so stay here and calm down for a little bit, okay? I’ll be right back,” she said as she patted him on the shoulder and moved around him to the door. Out in the hall she let out an exasperated sigh and ran one hand through her long chocolate locks. She really needed some alcohol to take the edge off of the entire situation—which was saying something, because she really didn’t like the taste of it. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that the only way she—and even Minhyuk—would get through the rest of the day without blowing up at anyone was with something sort of pick-me-up. She was already exhausted and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet.
She made her way to the convenience store on the corner, which she’d been to a few times over the last four days to buy snacks and drinks while she and Minhyuk were on their “dates.” Stepping inside, she headed straight toward the alcoholic beverages. Not even sparing a glance toward the various brands of beer the store had in stock, she grabbed two bottles of Soju; one peach and one pomegranate. After grabbing a couple bags of chips and some beef jerky, she headed to the counter. The guy behind the counter eyed her suspiciously as he checked her identification to confirm that she was, indeed, of legal drinking age. However, she could see the doubt on his face as he was most likely trying to gage whether he was holding a fake I.D. or not.
With an irritated sigh, she mentally cursed her short height before giving the guy a level look. “Are you going to sell the stuff to me, or not?” she asked, plucking her I.D. from his fingers. “Because if you aren’t then I’m going to have to demand you give me the contact information for your superior so I can complain about this rude behavior,” she said threateningly, sliding her I.D. back into her wallet. Granted she was barely over the legal drinking age, but it wasn’t like she looked like a middle school kid—well maybe she did if that assumption was based solely off of her height.
The guy cleared his throat and apologized before ringing up her items. She paid, took the bag, and barely gave the guy a second glance as she left the store. Though the afternoon air was hot, and she really didn’t want to be out in it, she took her time getting back to the motel—figuring Minhyuk would appreciate the alone time to organize his thoughts and emotions. Even when she arrived back at the room she stood out in the hall for a while, leaning against the door. She didn’t go in until a man passed her, eyeing her up and down. She promptly covered her face with one hand and fumbled her way into the room.
Aerin expected to see Minhyuk sitting or laying on the bed, but he wasn’t. Instead the sound of the shower reached her ears. She dropped the bag onto the bed before moving to the bathroom door. With a gentle tap of her knuckle on the hard surface, she called his name. When there wasn’t an answer she slowly turned the knob, almost expecting it to be locked—like in those overly dramatic movies or dramas where the door would have to be broken down to get inside to save the person inside. Thankfully it wasn’t locked, so there would be no reason for Aerin to bust in like some drama heroine; not that she was even sure she could without getting the manager of the motel.
Minhyuk stood under the spray of the showerhead, still fully clothed. Upon approaching him, Aerin found the water nearly icy in temperature as she pulled him out from under it—reaching over to turn it off in the process. When she looked at his face she saw the hopeless, defeated look still there. Pressing her lips into a thin line she felt her anger rising. She had half a mind to hunt Seolhyun and Jooheon down and chew them up one side and down the other for putting her friend—someone whom she thought of as a younger brother—through such emotional pain. However, she knew that Minhyuk wouldn’t want that. Instead, she grabbed a towel and threw it over his head.
“What are you trying to do, give yourself pneumonia?” she asked, rubbing his sopping head of hair vigorously. She grabbed another towel and draped it over his shoulders. “You’re completely soaked. Though I guess your swim trunks aren’t that big of a deal,” she said, pulling him out of the bathroom and into the main room. She grabbed the last towel left in the bathroom and left it folded as she placed it on the bed, commanding Minhyuk to sit. When he made no move to listen she guided him over and pushed him down with a firm pressure on his shoulders. She stood off to the side as she continued to dry his hair.
“I hope you know that you’re being super dramatic right now,” she said teasingly. “You better not give me crap about Minho oppa ever again.” Minhyuk didn’t respond, so she grabbed his face between her hands and turned his face toward her. “Got that?” she asked. He still didn’t respond, but at least he looked at her. After a few moments of silence she cleared and looked away. Moving to the other side of the bed, she grabbed the bag and took out the bottles of soju. “I got these thinking they might help lift our spirits, but since you decided it was a good time to become a popsicle, this should do a good job of warming you up too.”
The young woman looked around for a cup or anything that could be used to drink from, but immediately noticed that the room lacked anything resembling a kitchen. Aside from the bathroom, there was a desk with a chair, a television stand with a TV, a bedside table with a bowl full of—what Aerin guessed were—condoms, and one queen sized bed. Clicking her tongue, she twisted the cap and pressed the bottle to her lips, taking a mouthful of the sweet peach flavored drink. With a hiss she swallowed, feeling the burn of the alcohol—like a fiery snake—all the way down to her gut. She held the bottle out to him, which he took hesitantly.
“Drink up, drink up,” Aerin said. “I won’t tell anyone you did, so long as you don’t tell anyone that I gave you alcohol before you’re of age. Let’s just keep this our little secret, okay?” With that Minhyuk took one last look at the bottle before pressing it to his lips and sampling the clear liquid inside. From the surprised look on his face she could tell he was expecting it to taste bitter. “Pretty good isn’t it?” she asked, sitting down on the bed with a small bounce. He nodded, this time taking a long swig from the bottle. Aerin laughed when he coughed, half choking on the soju, likely not expecting the intense burn in his throat from such a large drink. Patting his back she scooted closer to him. “Minhyuk-ah, are you a masochist?” she asked.
“What?” he asked, face red as he tried to catch his breath around his coughing.
“Are you a masochist?” she asked again.
“Why would you think I was?” he asked.
“Because you’re torturing yourself with this dumb trip,” she replied, snatching the bottle from his hand and taking another drink. “You realize that has been rubbing her relationship with Jooheon in your face this entire time, right?” He didn’t say anything, instead he dropped his head and let out a very heavy sigh. Staring at his slumped shoulders her heart ached at the sight. Pressing her lips into a determined line she stood up, depositing the bottle on the floor before doing so. “I’m gonna tell that rotten little fox how nasty she’s being,” she said, about to march past him, but Minhyuk quickly wrapped his arms around her waist—effectively stopping her.
“Don’t. Please,” he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides.
“What should I do then? I hate seeing you like this,” she said, tears b in her eyes—partially from the anger that was rising inside of her, but also because she felt so bad for Minhyuk; because she knew exactly the pain he was in.
“Just… comfort me,” he said slowly.
She let out an exasperated sigh, trying to let go of her anger as she did so. Though it worked to a minimal degree, she was still extremely displeased with Seolhyun and the entire situation she’d forced Minhyuk and Aerin into. Turning in his arms, she placed a hand on his head and pulled his face close to her bosom. She his chocolate locks and placed her other hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t really know how to comfort someone, so sorry if I’m not doing it right,” she admitted. She felt his warm breath dance over her collarbone and his arms tighten around her waist. His eyes fluttered closed and he seemed to be soaking in the attention she was giving him. Though, after a few long moments of silence—her hand continually his head—he opened his eyes again.
“Noona,” he called to her.
“Hmm?” she replied with a hum, acknowledging that she’d heard him.
“I think I may have figured out a way that we can make each other feel better,” he said.
“Oh? And how is that?” she asked, leaning back so that she could look at his face.
“Kiss me,” he said, his voice low and husky—huskier than it normally was. The sound of it sent an odd tingle down her back and, not sure what else to do, she took a step away from him.
“What?” The question falling from her lips as barely more than a confused whisper as she raised an eyebrow.
His hand was warm as his fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Kiss me,” he repeated, pulling her back toward him, so she was standing between his legs. Her hands were firm on his shoulders as she tried to push herself away, but he locked his arms around her middle and held her in place.
“Are you crazy? Why would I do that?” she asked, flustered and looking anywhere but at him.
“Because, when you do it, you’re going to imagine hyung,” he said. She froze, her eyes widening as her gaze snapped toward him, his words slowly sinking in. “You can do it if you think of hyung, can’t you?” he asked.
“I…” Aerin honestly didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t like she’d never thought about it. In fact, she’d fantasized quite a bit about what it would be like to kiss her long time crush.
“Just try it,” Minhyuk urged. “Close your eyes,” he instructed. The elder stared down at him, her heart beginning to pound loudly in her ears. When she didn’t follow his command he shifted his weight and spun, causing Aerin to fall onto the bed—pinned beneath him. She let out a startled yelp from the action and stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes seemed impossibly big as they stared at each other. “If you won’t do it, then I will,” Minhyuk said, looming over her.
“M-Minhyuk-ah,” she said, panicked and pushing at his shoulder. However, he easily caught her wrists in his hands and pinned them above her head.
“I’m not going to do anything bad,” he reassured her, leaning closer to her face. “Close your eyes,” he said again. Swallowing thickly, she listened to his command—not wanting to witness whatever it was that Minhyuk was going to do. Her entire body was tense as his breath ghosted over her cheeks. “Relax,” he said, right next to her ear—causing her to squirm as an unexpected tingle of arousal shot down her spine. The low rumble of his voice was, as much as she hated to admit it, y. She shied away from him as her face flushed, turning several shades of pink before settling on a brilliant red. “Imagine I’m hyung,” he said, his lips sliding along her jaw.
So, Aerin did just that. In her mind, instead of Minhyuk she did her best to imagine that it was Minho; Minho’s full, kissable lips trailing over her skin; Minho’s large, warm hands around her wrists; Minho’s hot breath dancing over her face, mingling with her own nervous panting. The lips that pressed against hers, gentle and patient, were his as well. She slowly began to relax as she responded to the kiss—although a bit clumsily.
She parted the soft petals of , tentatively, as the tip of his tongue glided over her upper lip. A small moan rumbled in the back of as their tongues met in a timid dance. One of his hands slid from her wrist to her hand, intertwining their fingers. The other lifted her hand to his shoulder, the fabric of his shirt felt very damp. However, the salty smell of the ocean that clung to his skin painted a very vivid image of the older man—sun tanned skin glistening under the sun—wading out of the ocean, his damp shirt clinging to his torso like a second skin as he approached her with a predatory look in his eyes. She could clearly imagine him pushing her down on the warm sand, covering her body with his as he moved in to slowly and sensually devour his prey.
Gently grazing his teeth over the plush flesh of her bottom lip, his warm palm slid down her arm and over her side—stopping just below her . His nipping kisses moved from her lips—now red and swollen from the attention—to the curve of her jaw and then down the swooping expanse of her neck. He seemed to favor a spot at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, where he spent quite a while , nipping, and —to the point that it was almost painful.
“Oppa,” she said around a moan. When he pulled back, her eyes fluttered open. Instead of Minho—who she had so vividly imagined—Minhyuk stared down at her with a dark, heated gaze. Aerin’s heart fluttered giddily and, for the first time in her entire life, she realized that Minhyuk could actually look kind of y. There was no sign of her annoyingly loveable little brother in sight and that fact seemed to make her entire body feel abnormally warm—even excited. Her face in particular felt hot, to the point that she was sure she was nearing the color of a tomato, and her heart beat rapidly against the inside of her ribs.
Aerin covered her face with her hands, causing Minhyuk to chuckle. “Not too bad, right?” he asked, rolling to the side and propping his head up with one hand, staring down at her.
Still covering her face, she rolled onto her side so that her back faced him. She was far too embarrassed to give him an answer, because she actually had liked it—a lot. There was no way she was going to let him know that though, despite how much he was pressing her to admit it with gentle pokes to her shoulder—and, in a singsong voice, calling, “noona.”
A vague jingling sound caught her attention and she sat up—immediately recognizing it as the notification sound on her phone. She looked over to her purse, which she’d set on the television stand when she entered the motel room. Sliding off the bed, she padded across the floor to the bag and fished her phone out. She had four unread messages from Seolhyun, the first two asking where she and Minhyuk were. The third informing Aerin that she and Jooheon were going to head back to meet her aunt and the last said that she covered for Aerin and Minhyuk and told her aunt that they wanted to hang out for a little bit by themselves for a while and that the rest of them were going to eat at a Chinese restaurant, so to call or text for the address.
It was then that Aerin noticed the time. They were nearly twenty minutes late meeting Seolhyun and Jooheon. How long had she and Minhyuk been making out? It hadn’t felt like that long, but apparently it had been for around forty minutes or so—if her calculations were correct, anyway. Her face became even hotter. How the hell had that even happened?
Clearing awkwardly, she turned to him—though she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “We missed the meeting time, so they are going to have dinner without us,” Aerin said. “What should I tell them?” she asked.
“Tell them we’ll meet them back at the festival when they’re done eating,” he said.
“You don’t want to eat dinner?” she asked.
“It’s not that, I just don’t really want to see them right now,” he answered. The “them” obviously referring to Seolhyun and Jooheon.
“Okay,” she said, quickly sending Seolhyun a reply, letting her know that they got distracted playing games and exploring and that they would just meet them back at the festival after dinner. She set an alarm on the device that would go off in forty-five minutes and put it back in her purse.
She got the snacks out and the television, intending to pretend like she and Minhyuk hadn’t just face for more than half an hour. However, she found it impossible to focus on anything when she could feel Minhyuk’s heated gaze on her. Picking up a piece of jerky she chewed on it idly and pretended like she was very engrossed in the drama that was playing on the screen.
Aerin was thankful that he didn’t try to push her to do anything more. She assumed that he was thinking—or possibly even watching television—though she wasn’t entirely sure since she couldn’t really bring herself to look at him; far too embarrassed and also not wanting him to think she was giving him a sign to make a move to continue where they’d left off. Neither spoke until the alarm went off on her phone, letting her know that it was time for them to head back to the festival. Shouldering her bag, she looked over to Minhyuk who seemed to be mentally preparing himself to face Seolhyun and Jooheon. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“If you want we could head back to Seoul tonight. We don’t have to stay here any longer,” Aerin said.
“They’ll think something is wrong if we just up and head back without them,” Minhyuk replied. He stood up and grabbed the bag with the remaining snacks and the unopened bottle of soju. “It’s only one more night anyway,” he reasoned. The younger moved toward the door and she followed, each slipping on their shoes before exiting.
Aerin held onto Minhyuk’s arm and leaned against him, having chugged the last half of the peach soju from earlier—after all, it would have been a waste to just leave it there or pour it out in the bathroom sink. The elder was far from drunk, however she was just tipsy enough that her head felt a little fuzzy; but she didn’t trust herself not to get separated from Minhyuk as they pushed their way through the crowded streets. It didn’t take as long to get back to the main body of the festival as she thought it would. They sat down on the warm sand, listened to the music of the festival, and watched the sun set—painting the sky in brilliant shades of red, orange, and pink—as they waited for the others to return.
As the elder stared at the people passing by, her mind began to wander to the happenings inside the motel room and to Minho. She didn’t understand it herself why she’d loved him for so long. She wouldn’t say that her love was a particularly painful one; it was more stressful and disheartening than anything. Of course she was jealous of the girls the older man dated and felt the sting deep in her heart when she saw him being intimate with whatever girl was in his life, but—seeing Minhyuk’s reaction earlier—she wondered exactly how deep her feelings for Minho were. She glanced over at Minhyuk, who was blankly watching the crowd, and began to question herself and her feelings for Minho.
However, she pushed any negative thoughts away. Just because she wasn’t as dramatic or look as heartbroken over Minho didn’t mean that she loved him any less than Minhyuk loved Seolhyun. They just reacted differently. She didn’t take Minho’s obvious disinterest in her personally. Minhyuk, on the other hand, knew that Seolhyun was trying to show him exactly how much she didn’t care about him—or his feelings. Maybe she was doing it as a way to help Minhyuk get over her, though Aerin couldn’t say for sure. Whatever she was doing, it was cruel and the elder girl didn’t appreciate the way the younger girl was torturing her childhood friend.
Staring at him, tracing all the lines of his face, Aerin wondered if—maybe—Minhyuk’s intention in the motel room was to help them both get over their unrequited loves. But if that were the case, did he intend for them to be together? She shook her head at the thought and looked back toward the crowd. She highly doubted that was Minhyuk’s intention. If anything it was because she was the only one there at the time—making her a partner of convenience and not because she was a necessity.
With a heavy sigh she pulled her knees up to her chest, for some reason feeling strangely crestfallen at the thought that she was just useful and not actually needed. Tracing abstract patterns in the sand, she really wished that the others would show up so that she would—hopefully—stop thinking such weird thoughts.
On the first day, after arriving, they immediately went to the festival—though there had been a slight snag with some sunscreen; or more the fact that Seolhyun forgot to bring hers and then spent half the day pouting because Jooheon used Aerin’s instead of the one her aunt had offered. It was so childish that Aerin honestly couldn’t understand why any guy would like a little diva like Seolhyun. However, after getting to know her over the last few days, she could kind of understand my Minhyuk and Jooheon liked her.
Despite her sometimes childish behavior, she was a bright girl that could easily bring a smile to the older girl’s face. It was undeniable that Seolhyun had a cute charm to her that made it impossible to hate her. To compliment her attractive personality, she had a body that most girls would kill for. The moment Seolhyun came sauntering out in a bathing suit Aerin had to practically punch Minhyuk in the chin so he would close his mouth and stop drooling. Though she wasn’t as endowed as Aerin in the chest department, she was tall and slender and had good proportions—something that Aerin deeply envied.
Each day of the festival followed the relatively same pattern. They would go to the festivities with Seolhyun’s aunt and her husband, after lunch the three teens—plus Aerin—would split off from Seolhyun’s guardians to “hangout.” They would further split off into pairs to “go on dates.” Aerin was certain that Seolhyun and Jooheon were making the most of their time alone, but each day Aerin and Minhyuk ended up roaming around for three hours with nothing to do. She felt like she had the area memorized from the amount of times they’d walked up and down the streets. The old man in a nearby ice cream parlor was beginning to consider them regulars from the number of times she and Minhyuk had stopped to get out of the heat—and have an icy little treat while they were at it.
That day was no different. They’d been playing in the salty ocean water, listening to the live band playing some distance away on the beach, and around one or two o'clock Seolhyun pulled Aerin and Minhyuk out of the water so they could “hang out.” Minhyuk and Aerin watched the real couple walk away, Seolhyun’s arm looped through Jooheon’s while she leaned her head against his shoulder, before they began their usual trek through the busy streets of Busan. Aerin looked to Minhyuk who, for the nth time in the last four and a half days, had a crestfallen look on his face.
Each time the young woman saw that lost, lovelorn expression on the other’s face she had to stop herself from marching right up to Seolhyun and shaking her senseless while spewing whatever curses came to mind. The entire situation was frustrating and Aerin couldn’t even express it to the cause of her—and Minhyuk’s—misery; because, yes, they were both feeling miserable. It pained her to have to see the younger suffer—especially because it was a type of suffering she was all too familiar with.
Aerin hit him on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from the pair.
“Where do you want to go?” she asked. Minhyuk shrugged in response and Aerin gave him a deadpan look. That was always his reply—why did she even bother asking anymore? “Ice cream it is then!” she said, looping her arm through his and dragging him in the direction of the ice cream parlor. Like all the days previous, the old man was behind the counter and smiled at them as soon as they walked in—greeting them in a cheerful, though gravelly voice. They left the shop with a frosty treat each, though Aerin felt a little sad that it would be their last visit to the shop—unless they, for some reason, decided to go to next year’s festival too.
As they walked down the street, each idly eating their ice cream, Minhyuk said something Aerin honestly hadn’t expected him to. “Thanks, noona.” Aerin blinked, surprised.
“Finally saying it now, after so long, you little brat,” she teased, once she was able to pull herself out of her momentary stupor. “Took you long enough,” she said, the minty ice cream that was beginning to dribble over the side of the cone.
“Sorry,” he said with a small smile. “I really appreciate you being here, even though you don’t want to be.”
“Well, it’s not so bad….” Aerin trailed off. “Though I hope you realize how stupid it was for you to agree to come on this trip,” she said in a slightly chastising manner.
“I know it was,” he admitted, then draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. “I haven’t been a very good boyfriend, have I?” he asked jokingly. Aerin snorted indignantly and rolled her eyes.
“It’s not like I was actually expecting you to act like my boyfriend,” she replied, elbowing him lightly in the ribs—causing the younger to grunt, but he didn’t pull away.
“It’s already the last day, so let’s actually have a fun date, okay?” he said, a wide smile on his face.
Aerin shook her head with a roll of her eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that graced her lips as he pulled her toward some game stalls that had been set up for the festival. They played a few games, Minhyuk managing to win a stuffed animal while Aerin only managed to get a tiny keychain. Minhyuk laughed as they walked down the street, brushing past people as they went.
“You really at playing games,” he said around his chortles. Aerin scowled.
“I told you I have horrible aim! You chose that stupid ball toss game on purpose, you !” she said, pushing him with a pout on her lips.
He hugged the stuffed whale he’d won, giving her a pointed look as he rubbed his superior aiming skills in her face. She huffed and looked away—though she wasn’t as angry as she pretended to be; it was actually a relief to see Minhyuk smile and laugh. It was the first time in a while that she’d seen him happy and genuinely having a good time. However, before she even really had a chance to enjoy the moment with the younger, his mood came plummeting down. Minhyuk suddenly stopped in his tracks and the smile fell from his face. The short woman followed his gaze to a nearby café, though she could already surmise the cause of Minhyuk’s complete mood change. Under the shade of a wide umbrella, sitting as close as humanly possible to each other, were Jooheon and Seolhyun—lips meeting and parting in sweet, tender kisses.
The couple seemed absolutely unconcerned by how their blatant show of affection was widely considered inappropriate. This was Korea, not Europe! However, there it was. All Aerin could think to do was cover the tall teen’s eyes and force him to turn away from the scene. She dragged him away by the wrist, heading back the way they’d just come.
When they were a sufficient distance—and around a couple of corners—she turned around to face Minhyuk. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach the moment she looked into his eyes. He looked hopeless and defeated. His eyes were glassy, a sign she knew meant that he was on the verge of crying. She looked around, frantic to give the boy some privacy. A motel caught her eye and, for a brief moment, she had the thought to just let him cry out there in the middle of the street—instead of let him cry to his heart’s content in the privacy of a room; even if it was in a motel. However, she quickly pushed the selfish thought away and pulled him toward the building—determined to get a room before she had a chance to think and talk herself out of it. After what felt like mere seconds she was standing in a room, hand still firmly clasped around Minhyuk’s wrist. With the door closed she turned to him once more and let out a heavy breath.
“I’m gonna go get something to drink, so stay here and calm down for a little bit, okay? I’ll be right back,” she said as she patted him on the shoulder and moved around him to the door. Out in the hall she let out an exasperated sigh and ran one hand through her long chocolate locks. She really needed some alcohol to take the edge off of the entire situation—which was saying something, because she really didn’t like the taste of it. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that the only way she—and even Minhyuk—would get through the rest of the day without blowing up at anyone was with something sort of pick-me-up. She was already exhausted and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet.
She made her way to the convenience store on the corner, which she’d been to a few times over the last four days to buy snacks and drinks while she and Minhyuk were on their “dates.” Stepping inside, she headed straight toward the alcoholic beverages. Not even sparing a glance toward the various brands of beer the store had in stock, she grabbed two bottles of Soju; one peach and one pomegranate. After grabbing a couple bags of chips and some beef jerky, she headed to the counter. The guy behind the counter eyed her suspiciously as he checked her identification to confirm that she was, indeed, of legal drinking age. However, she could see the doubt on his face as he was most likely trying to gage whether he was holding a fake I.D. or not.
With an irritated sigh, she mentally cursed her short height before giving the guy a level look. “Are you going to sell the stuff to me, or not?” she asked, plucking her I.D. from his fingers. “Because if you aren’t then I’m going to have to demand you give me the contact information for your superior so I can complain about this rude behavior,” she said threateningly, sliding her I.D. back into her wallet. Granted she was barely over the legal drinking age, but it wasn’t like she looked like a middle school kid—well maybe she did if that assumption was based solely off of her height.
The guy cleared his throat and apologized before ringing up her items. She paid, took the bag, and barely gave the guy a second glance as she left the store. Though the afternoon air was hot, and she really didn’t want to be out in it, she took her time getting back to the motel—figuring Minhyuk would appreciate the alone time to organize his thoughts and emotions. Even when she arrived back at the room she stood out in the hall for a while, leaning against the door. She didn’t go in until a man passed her, eyeing her up and down. She promptly covered her face with one hand and fumbled her way into the room.
Aerin expected to see Minhyuk sitting or laying on the bed, but he wasn’t. Instead the sound of the shower reached her ears. She dropped the bag onto the bed before moving to the bathroom door. With a gentle tap of her knuckle on the hard surface, she called his name. When there wasn’t an answer she slowly turned the knob, almost expecting it to be locked—like in those overly dramatic movies or dramas where the door would have to be broken down to get inside to save the person inside. Thankfully it wasn’t locked, so there would be no reason for Aerin to bust in like some drama heroine; not that she was even sure she could without getting the manager of the motel.
Minhyuk stood under the spray of the showerhead, still fully clothed. Upon approaching him, Aerin found the water nearly icy in temperature as she pulled him out from under it—reaching over to turn it off in the process. When she looked at his face she saw the hopeless, defeated look still there. Pressing her lips into a thin line she felt her anger rising. She had half a mind to hunt Seolhyun and Jooheon down and chew them up one side and down the other for putting her friend—someone whom she thought of as a younger brother—through such emotional pain. However, she knew that Minhyuk wouldn’t want that. Instead, she grabbed a towel and threw it over his head.
“What are you trying to do, give yourself pneumonia?” she asked, rubbing his sopping head of hair vigorously. She grabbed another towel and draped it over his shoulders. “You’re completely soaked. Though I guess your swim trunks aren’t that big of a deal,” she said, pulling him out of the bathroom and into the main room. She grabbed the last towel left in the bathroom and left it folded as she placed it on the bed, commanding Minhyuk to sit. When he made no move to listen she guided him over and pushed him down with a firm pressure on his shoulders. She stood off to the side as she continued to dry his hair.
“I hope you know that you’re being super dramatic right now,” she said teasingly. “You better not give me crap about Minho oppa ever again.” Minhyuk didn’t respond, so she grabbed his face between her hands and turned his face toward her. “Got that?” she asked. He still didn’t respond, but at least he looked at her. After a few moments of silence she cleared and looked away. Moving to the other side of the bed, she grabbed the bag and took out the bottles of soju. “I got these thinking they might help lift our spirits, but since you decided it was a good time to become a popsicle, this should do a good job of warming you up too.”
The young woman looked around for a cup or anything that could be used to drink from, but immediately noticed that the room lacked anything resembling a kitchen. Aside from the bathroom, there was a desk with a chair, a television stand with a TV, a bedside table with a bowl full of—what Aerin guessed were—condoms, and one queen sized bed. Clicking her tongue, she twisted the cap and pressed the bottle to her lips, taking a mouthful of the sweet peach flavored drink. With a hiss she swallowed, feeling the burn of the alcohol—like a fiery snake—all the way down to her gut. She held the bottle out to him, which he took hesitantly.
“Drink up, drink up,” Aerin said. “I won’t tell anyone you did, so long as you don’t tell anyone that I gave you alcohol before you’re of age. Let’s just keep this our little secret, okay?” With that Minhyuk took one last look at the bottle before pressing it to his lips and sampling the clear liquid inside. From the surprised look on his face she could tell he was expecting it to taste bitter. “Pretty good isn’t it?” she asked, sitting down on the bed with a small bounce. He nodded, this time taking a long swig from the bottle. Aerin laughed when he coughed, half choking on the soju, likely not expecting the intense burn in his throat from such a large drink. Patting his back she scooted closer to him. “Minhyuk-ah, are you a masochist?” she asked.
“What?” he asked, face red as he tried to catch his breath around his coughing.
“Are you a masochist?” she asked again.
“Why would you think I was?” he asked.
“Because you’re torturing yourself with this dumb trip,” she replied, snatching the bottle from his hand and taking another drink. “You realize that has been rubbing her relationship with Jooheon in your face this entire time, right?” He didn’t say anything, instead he dropped his head and let out a very heavy sigh. Staring at his slumped shoulders her heart ached at the sight. Pressing her lips into a determined line she stood up, depositing the bottle on the floor before doing so. “I’m gonna tell that rotten little fox how nasty she’s being,” she said, about to march past him, but Minhyuk quickly wrapped his arms around her waist—effectively stopping her.
“Don’t. Please,” he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides.
“What should I do then? I hate seeing you like this,” she said, tears b in her eyes—partially from the anger that was rising inside of her, but also because she felt so bad for Minhyuk; because she knew exactly the pain he was in.
“Just… comfort me,” he said slowly.
She let out an exasperated sigh, trying to let go of her anger as she did so. Though it worked to a minimal degree, she was still extremely displeased with Seolhyun and the entire situation she’d forced Minhyuk and Aerin into. Turning in his arms, she placed a hand on his head and pulled his face close to her bosom. She his chocolate locks and placed her other hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t really know how to comfort someone, so sorry if I’m not doing it right,” she admitted. She felt his warm breath dance over her collarbone and his arms tighten around her waist. His eyes fluttered closed and he seemed to be soaking in the attention she was giving him. Though, after a few long moments of silence—her hand continually his head—he opened his eyes again.
“Noona,” he called to her.
“Hmm?” she replied with a hum, acknowledging that she’d heard him.
“I think I may have figured out a way that we can make each other feel better,” he said.
“Oh? And how is that?” she asked, leaning back so that she could look at his face.
“Kiss me,” he said, his voice low and husky—huskier than it normally was. The sound of it sent an odd tingle down her back and, not sure what else to do, she took a step away from him.
“What?” The question falling from her lips as barely more than a confused whisper as she raised an eyebrow.
His hand was warm as his fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Kiss me,” he repeated, pulling her back toward him, so she was standing between his legs. Her hands were firm on his shoulders as she tried to push herself away, but he locked his arms around her middle and held her in place.
“Are you crazy? Why would I do that?” she asked, flustered and looking anywhere but at him.
“Because, when you do it, you’re going to imagine hyung,” he said. She froze, her eyes widening as her gaze snapped toward him, his words slowly sinking in. “You can do it if you think of hyung, can’t you?” he asked.
“I…” Aerin honestly didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t like she’d never thought about it. In fact, she’d fantasized quite a bit about what it would be like to kiss her long time crush.
“Just try it,” Minhyuk urged. “Close your eyes,” he instructed. The elder stared down at him, her heart beginning to pound loudly in her ears. When she didn’t follow his command he shifted his weight and spun, causing Aerin to fall onto the bed—pinned beneath him. She let out a startled yelp from the action and stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes seemed impossibly big as they stared at each other. “If you won’t do it, then I will,” Minhyuk said, looming over her.
“M-Minhyuk-ah,” she said, panicked and pushing at his shoulder. However, he easily caught her wrists in his hands and pinned them above her head.
“I’m not going to do anything bad,” he reassured her, leaning closer to her face. “Close your eyes,” he said again. Swallowing thickly, she listened to his command—not wanting to witness whatever it was that Minhyuk was going to do. Her entire body was tense as his breath ghosted over her cheeks. “Relax,” he said, right next to her ear—causing her to squirm as an unexpected tingle of arousal shot down her spine. The low rumble of his voice was, as much as she hated to admit it, y. She shied away from him as her face flushed, turning several shades of pink before settling on a brilliant red. “Imagine I’m hyung,” he said, his lips sliding along her jaw.
So, Aerin did just that. In her mind, instead of Minhyuk she did her best to imagine that it was Minho; Minho’s full, kissable lips trailing over her skin; Minho’s large, warm hands around her wrists; Minho’s hot breath dancing over her face, mingling with her own nervous panting. The lips that pressed against hers, gentle and patient, were his as well. She slowly began to relax as she responded to the kiss—although a bit clumsily.
She parted the soft petals of , tentatively, as the tip of his tongue glided over her upper lip. A small moan rumbled in the back of as their tongues met in a timid dance. One of his hands slid from her wrist to her hand, intertwining their fingers. The other lifted her hand to his shoulder, the fabric of his shirt felt very damp. However, the salty smell of the ocean that clung to his skin painted a very vivid image of the older man—sun tanned skin glistening under the sun—wading out of the ocean, his damp shirt clinging to his torso like a second skin as he approached her with a predatory look in his eyes. She could clearly imagine him pushing her down on the warm sand, covering her body with his as he moved in to slowly and sensually devour his prey.
Gently grazing his teeth over the plush flesh of her bottom lip, his warm palm slid down her arm and over her side—stopping just below her . His nipping kisses moved from her lips—now red and swollen from the attention—to the curve of her jaw and then down the swooping expanse of her neck. He seemed to favor a spot at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, where he spent quite a while , nipping, and —to the point that it was almost painful.
“Oppa,” she said around a moan. When he pulled back, her eyes fluttered open. Instead of Minho—who she had so vividly imagined—Minhyuk stared down at her with a dark, heated gaze. Aerin’s heart fluttered giddily and, for the first time in her entire life, she realized that Minhyuk could actually look kind of y. There was no sign of her annoyingly loveable little brother in sight and that fact seemed to make her entire body feel abnormally warm—even excited. Her face in particular felt hot, to the point that she was sure she was nearing the color of a tomato, and her heart beat rapidly against the inside of her ribs.
Aerin covered her face with her hands, causing Minhyuk to chuckle. “Not too bad, right?” he asked, rolling to the side and propping his head up with one hand, staring down at her.
Still covering her face, she rolled onto her side so that her back faced him. She was far too embarrassed to give him an answer, because she actually had liked it—a lot. There was no way she was going to let him know that though, despite how much he was pressing her to admit it with gentle pokes to her shoulder—and, in a singsong voice, calling, “noona.”
A vague jingling sound caught her attention and she sat up—immediately recognizing it as the notification sound on her phone. She looked over to her purse, which she’d set on the television stand when she entered the motel room. Sliding off the bed, she padded across the floor to the bag and fished her phone out. She had four unread messages from Seolhyun, the first two asking where she and Minhyuk were. The third informing Aerin that she and Jooheon were going to head back to meet her aunt and the last said that she covered for Aerin and Minhyuk and told her aunt that they wanted to hang out for a little bit by themselves for a while and that the rest of them were going to eat at a Chinese restaurant, so to call or text for the address.
It was then that Aerin noticed the time. They were nearly twenty minutes late meeting Seolhyun and Jooheon. How long had she and Minhyuk been making out? It hadn’t felt like that long, but apparently it had been for around forty minutes or so—if her calculations were correct, anyway. Her face became even hotter. How the hell had that even happened?
Clearing awkwardly, she turned to him—though she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “We missed the meeting time, so they are going to have dinner without us,” Aerin said. “What should I tell them?” she asked.
“Tell them we’ll meet them back at the festival when they’re done eating,” he said.
“You don’t want to eat dinner?” she asked.
“It’s not that, I just don’t really want to see them right now,” he answered. The “them” obviously referring to Seolhyun and Jooheon.
“Okay,” she said, quickly sending Seolhyun a reply, letting her know that they got distracted playing games and exploring and that they would just meet them back at the festival after dinner. She set an alarm on the device that would go off in forty-five minutes and put it back in her purse.
She got the snacks out and the television, intending to pretend like she and Minhyuk hadn’t just face for more than half an hour. However, she found it impossible to focus on anything when she could feel Minhyuk’s heated gaze on her. Picking up a piece of jerky she chewed on it idly and pretended like she was very engrossed in the drama that was playing on the screen.
Aerin was thankful that he didn’t try to push her to do anything more. She assumed that he was thinking—or possibly even watching television—though she wasn’t entirely sure since she couldn’t really bring herself to look at him; far too embarrassed and also not wanting him to think she was giving him a sign to make a move to continue where they’d left off. Neither spoke until the alarm went off on her phone, letting her know that it was time for them to head back to the festival. Shouldering her bag, she looked over to Minhyuk who seemed to be mentally preparing himself to face Seolhyun and Jooheon. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“If you want we could head back to Seoul tonight. We don’t have to stay here any longer,” Aerin said.
“They’ll think something is wrong if we just up and head back without them,” Minhyuk replied. He stood up and grabbed the bag with the remaining snacks and the unopened bottle of soju. “It’s only one more night anyway,” he reasoned. The younger moved toward the door and she followed, each slipping on their shoes before exiting.
Aerin held onto Minhyuk’s arm and leaned against him, having chugged the last half of the peach soju from earlier—after all, it would have been a waste to just leave it there or pour it out in the bathroom sink. The elder was far from drunk, however she was just tipsy enough that her head felt a little fuzzy; but she didn’t trust herself not to get separated from Minhyuk as they pushed their way through the crowded streets. It didn’t take as long to get back to the main body of the festival as she thought it would. They sat down on the warm sand, listened to the music of the festival, and watched the sun set—painting the sky in brilliant shades of red, orange, and pink—as they waited for the others to return.
As the elder stared at the people passing by, her mind began to wander to the happenings inside the motel room and to Minho. She didn’t understand it herself why she’d loved him for so long. She wouldn’t say that her love was a particularly painful one; it was more stressful and disheartening than anything. Of course she was jealous of the girls the older man dated and felt the sting deep in her heart when she saw him being intimate with whatever girl was in his life, but—seeing Minhyuk’s reaction earlier—she wondered exactly how deep her feelings for Minho were. She glanced over at Minhyuk, who was blankly watching the crowd, and began to question herself and her feelings for Minho.
However, she pushed any negative thoughts away. Just because she wasn’t as dramatic or look as heartbroken over Minho didn’t mean that she loved him any less than Minhyuk loved Seolhyun. They just reacted differently. She didn’t take Minho’s obvious disinterest in her personally. Minhyuk, on the other hand, knew that Seolhyun was trying to show him exactly how much she didn’t care about him—or his feelings. Maybe she was doing it as a way to help Minhyuk get over her, though Aerin couldn’t say for sure. Whatever she was doing, it was cruel and the elder girl didn’t appreciate the way the younger girl was torturing her childhood friend.
Staring at him, tracing all the lines of his face, Aerin wondered if—maybe—Minhyuk’s intention in the motel room was to help them both get over their unrequited loves. But if that were the case, did he intend for them to be together? She shook her head at the thought and looked back toward the crowd. She highly doubted that was Minhyuk’s intention. If anything it was because she was the only one there at the time—making her a partner of convenience and not because she was a necessity.
With a heavy sigh she pulled her knees up to her chest, for some reason feeling strangely crestfallen at the thought that she was just useful and not actually needed. Tracing abstract patterns in the sand, she really wished that the others would show up so that she would—hopefully—stop thinking such weird thoughts.
AUTHOR'S WORDS
Here is chapter three! I had such a hard time writing this chapter. Lee Minho was blocking me during the intimate scene. It's actually supposed to be longer, but I cut it short. I plan on finishing the scene and the extended version will be available to my supporters once it's done. This chapter was also supposed to be the first day of the festival, but I thought it would be more fitting for it to be the last--that way nobody would expect a second chapter for the festival XD. Overall I hope the chapter isn't horrible. If it is, I'm sorry ;A;. Hopefully the next chapter will be better ^^.
Also, it should be noted that I do not condone underage drinking unless a responsible adult is present and said underage person's guardian(s) give them permission to partake. I personally drank a bit when I was in high school, but only when I was around my parents or my elder brother (who is thirteen years older than me). Aerin allowing Minhyuk to drink soju in this chapter is technically an illegal act, however there are plenty of teens that consume alcohol without appropriate adult supervision. This is mainly for the sake of situational realism and not necessarily because I personally think that my character's actions are acceptable.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did I hope you will consider supporting me through AFF's crowdfunding feature (which you can join by clicking the green button that says 'Join BloodyRavens's Crowdfund' at the top of this chapter).
Thank you for reading!
Also, it should be noted that I do not condone underage drinking unless a responsible adult is present and said underage person's guardian(s) give them permission to partake. I personally drank a bit when I was in high school, but only when I was around my parents or my elder brother (who is thirteen years older than me). Aerin allowing Minhyuk to drink soju in this chapter is technically an illegal act, however there are plenty of teens that consume alcohol without appropriate adult supervision. This is mainly for the sake of situational realism and not necessarily because I personally think that my character's actions are acceptable.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did I hope you will consider supporting me through AFF's crowdfunding feature (which you can join by clicking the green button that says 'Join BloodyRavens's Crowdfund' at the top of this chapter).
Thank you for reading!
Mood : Exhausted ▪ Eargasm : Monsta X - Myself ▪ Eyecandy : Minhyuk
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