Chapter 10

By the Sea

Haha fanned the briquettes hoping the fire would get bigger so dinner can start soon.

Afterall they were both owners of a BBQ restaurant. This is their forte.

His Hyung sat beside him skewering chunks of meat as he made his signature Kebabs. Unlike how he was usually, he was actually a little more quiet than he was comfortable with.

“Hey Hyung are you okay? Is it Byul? Has she been too pushy? See! I told her to back off but she wouldn’t listen. I’m sorry I agreed to her scheme to invite Jihyo. I didn’t expect her to say yes and I should have known you would be uncomfortable with this arrangement. After all you have always said that you wanted it to happen naturally. I mean, you have liked her for years but she is newly single. Aish I should never have listened to her. If you want, we can end this trip early and leave tomorrow. We were planning for two more days.” Haha went on a nervous soliloquy and chattered on non stop.

“Hey relax bro, we are fine. Come on it’s Jihyo. We are family. I know Byul means well. Since when have I ever rejected spending time with you guys. We are getting along fine.”

“Ok, anytime it gets uncomfortable you gotta let me know. I mean it’s clear you guys mean a lot to each other but the last thing I want is to make it weirder than it was already. I remember how affected you were the last time.”

JongKook knew exactly what Haha was referring to.  Jihyo didn't know then, but when she got together with Baek, it left him in a bad shape. He tried to wish them his best. He went on dates planned by Haha and Byul. He even tried online dating, but it never got to anywhere

No one smiled like her, laughed like her, cried like her, teased like her, fought like her, made his heartbeat hard like her, or broke his heart like her. And the crazy thing was, they weren’t even together.

They had their usual team gathering after the SBS awards. It was the first time in a long while that he agreed to a couple of soju bombs, after all he ate much, he shouldn’t be a lightweight. Boy, he was wrong. 

Jihyo didn't drink much cos she had an early radio interview scheduled the next morning. The night ended with her left sober while everyone else was trashed. Even Gapjin, who was supposed to send Jongkook home.

But it was late. Anyang was far away and her home was the nearest so she offered to let him bunk the night. 

After much struggling and coaxing, she managed to get him up to the apartment. It made the most sense to her. Her parents were