”S-sure,” you answered gently before changing your position to a sitting one. The pain in your knee disappeared but it still hurt when you poked the swollen bruise that formed on top of your knee.

JB took a step inside the room and slowly closed the door after him. He walked over to the couch you were lying on and took a seat on the other end. There was a silence that you didn’t enjoy at all. It was awkward and how much you even thought of wanting to break it, you didn’t find the right words to say. You looked down at your lap where your hands were and played with your fingers.

“I miss you.”

Your eyes flew over to your left side where JB was sitting, having the focus on him because of the random sentence he said out of nowhere. He didn’t look at you but played with the end of his T-shirt.

You understood his sentence perfectly well because the meaning of ‘I miss you’ is obvious so you questioning him with a ‘what’ would be kind of stupid. Instead you just looked at him and tilted your head to the side.

“Why? I’m always here,” you said in a calm voice.

At that he turned his head towards you before speaking, “You’re here but you’re not.”

Your eyebrows connected at his statement because this is where you lost control over the conversation and the things he was saying. “I don’t understand.”

“I mean, for each day that goes by, we talk lesser and lesser,” he shifted his body to the side so he could face you better, “Even when we are ‘hanging out’ with each other, the others are there too so there isn’t any personal interactions. That’s why I miss you. I miss talking to you about anything and everything,” he sighed, “And now I even have a feeling that everything is my fault. I’m a bad friend.”

 “What? No! JB, no,” you shook your head, “Why would you be a bad friend. You’re everything but that.”

“Really now? How many times were you in trouble and were in need of help, my help, but I was never there? Instead, it always happens to be Yongguk who is there to help you. The devil himself,” he made an annoyed face.

“Hey, it’s not your responsibility to take care of me. Heck, it’s no ones!” you explained, “So don’t you worry about that. I don’t even think that this is the problem…”

This time, he was the one to tilt his head, “What do you mean?”

“I have noticed that you’ve been down lately, why? Do you want to talk about that?” you offered.

“What? Nooo,” he laughed nervously. “Me, down? Hell no! And even if I was, I wouldn’t bother you with my problems,” he smiled in hope to trick you but he failed. You’re really good at reading face expressions and his was more than fake right now but you didn’t want to push him to something he didn’t want to.

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, but listen Jin Ah… I really wanted to wait for you in front of the forest but everything was Hoya’s idea…” he started off.

“Hoya’s idea? What was Hoya’s ide-“ you stopped midsentence and widened your eyes. “Son of a ,” you said through your teeth.

“I know,” he rubbed his temples, “I didn’t like this at all, trust me, but everyone thought that this was a great idea. Leaving you and Yongguk in the middle of nowhere… That’s why no one answered the phone. Well partly because some of them actually left their phones inside, but others just ignored the calls.”

“And this is what I call friends…” you said sarcastically. “But you?!”

He looked away from you, “You never called me..”

This caught you off guard. For a split second you totally forgot this but then remembered that you didn’t call him on purpose. You just nodded at that and looked away too.

“Jin Ah, seriously now, come out! I swear to God we won’t wait for you anymore!” you heard Zico call from the outside.

“Just put the meat on the table already!” Daehyun's irritated voice came not long after Zico’s.

You rolled your eyes in irritation and stood from the couch. “I’ll have a nice talk with that stupid cousin of mine after the meal. Come on, I think the others will start crying if I don’t come out,” you turned towards JB again.

“Yeah, probably,” he laughed, “But hey, don’t tell Hoya that I told you this.”

“Don’t worry.”

Once the two of you went outside you saw everyone sit around a huge table that was filled with side dishes and grilled meat. Daehyun and Zico were already by the grill, doing the last round of meat, while the others just chatted with each other and started eating once you came out. You walked around the table and sat beside Amber who played with a pair of chopsticks, while JB went back to his original seat between Youngjae and JR. Beside from you and your friends, there were other people too and Yukwon was one of them who you recognized.

“Hyung, this beef is still raw!” said one of the guys with a very dark voice after taking a bite of the food in front of him.

“P.O shut your mouth, I’m doing my best,” Zico’s attention was on the barbeque while he answered to the guy named P.O.

You saw him make grimaces behind Zico’s back before turning back to the conversation he had with some others, eating the raw beef in the end.

The sun disappeared a long time ago so you could call this an early night. After Daehyun and Zico were done with the last round of meat, they placed the plate on the table and joined the group. The night was a bit chilly because you were near the water but no one minded. Everyone chatted, ate and had a good time. After a while, Hoya came over to you and sat down on your other side. He had that stupid mocking smile of his that you wanted to rip off in one go.

He started filling your plate with even more food and tried to feed you with it. You snatched his hands away and rolled your eyes before turning back to your meal.

“I’m not a baby, idiot,” you said without looking at him.

“Wow, sorry for being nice,” he put his hands up in the air while obviously trying to hold his laughter.

You looked up from your meal and wanted to bring up the topic of being nice or the devil in general, when your eyes met JB who secretly put his finger over his mouth, telling you not to do it yet. You sighed and returned to the food.

“Come on now Gin, you obviously can’t eat by yourself now that you’re injured,” Hoya tried again.

“I hit my knee not my hands…” you said as a matter of fact. 

“Jin Ah, pass the basket of bread,” Amber slightly poked you with her elbow. You did as told and when you turned to look her way you saw Yongguk in the background.

He was sitting and eating in the corner of the table with Zelo beside him. The two of them, together with some of Zico’s friends, chatted while eating and stuffing their mouths full with food.

For a split second, Yongguk looked up and immediately met eyes with yours. This is one of the thousand of times that the two of you locked eyes, but this is also the first time where no mocking and teasing was involved. His eyes were pretty neutral and his chewing slowed down a bit while he looked at you. How much you even tried to just forget it and not think about it, you really couldn’t help but constantly remind yourself that Yongguk had a very caring side too.

You didn’t know why but you hated that fact. You hated realizing that he can be nice too because that makes everything even worse. Yes, you were attracted to him and everything but it’s his personality that reminded you to stay away from him emotionally. And you liked it that way. Now when he helped you in different situations, it just made everything into a big mess. But you were strong and not easy to beat. Especially your stubborn personality was a hard shell to break.

“Jin Ah, the napkins are right next to your chair, can you give me one?” JR interrupted your train of thoughts and with that your and Yongguk’s eye contact.

“What?” you turned your attention to him.

“The napkins,” he pointed to the ground.

“Oh…okay. Here,” you picked a bunch of them up and handed them to JR.

“Thanks.”

You just smiled and went back to your food. For the rest of the meal you were silent and didn’t talk so much because the pain in your knee was a bit distracting. You pretty much ignored Hoya because you were more than mad at him even though he tried really hard to get you in better mood.

After the meal, everyone went up and started taking away the dishes and cleaning after them. You tried to go up to help them but the pain in your knee didn’t let you.

“Noona, sit down!” Zelo ran up to you to place you on one of the comfortable chairs that were outside. “We can do this without your help. You just sit here okay?”

Youngjae, who was just walking past the two of you, stopped in his track and turned towards you. “Do you need anything?”

You just shook your head at his question because everything you needed right now was the pain to go away and that isn’t something he can do.

“Okay, just call me if you need anything,” he smiled and continued walking to the cottage.

“Zelo-yah, come here and help me with this grill!” shouted Himchan from afar where he just emptied the grill from the coal.

Zelo looked at him then back at you, “Don’t move!”, and with that he ran away to help Himchan.

You continued on sitting there and watching everyone in action. After a while, everything was clean and the guys brought some drinks out to just sit and chill. The huge group that once sat around one table was spread everywhere. Zico talked with his friends and told them about his cottage and everything about this area. Amber was with Hoya, Daehyun, JB and JR inside. Jongup and Zelo played soccer with an empty bottle little further away while Luna and Himchan sat by the sea.

It was dark outside but thanks to the lamps around it made a nice atmosphere. You sat there and just looked around the area. You actually liked places like this where one can have a nice time and just relax. As hours passed, it got chillier and chillier and you are really sensitive when it came to that. You freeze quickly and you hated that fact. Just when you put your hands on your mouth to blow some hot air, Yongguk and Youngjae came back from the walk they had. You looked at both of them but your eyes stopped on Yongguk. He had his hands in his shorts pockets and a black hoodie on. Youngjae eyed you and walked up to you.

“Do you want me to bring a blanket or a hoodie for you?”

With Yongguk behind him, looking straight at you, your brain didn’t work the fullest and before you even could realize you shook your head as a no.

“You’re strange,” Youngjae gave up and went together with Yongguk inside.

You made a grimace and cursed yourself for being so stupid. Suddenly you saw Luna and Himchan ran up to you and get a grip on your chair. “Hey… Hey, hey!” you shouted after you saw what they were doing.

They lifted your chair up from the ground and slowly carried you to their original place. “Guys, this is so not funny! Put me down!” you continued with your protest but they just ignored you.

When they finally put your chair down on the ground you started waving with your hands on both sides in hope to beat the hell out of them. They just laughed and backed away a step.

“You… You just brought me closer to the water!”

“Calm down Jin Ah, it’s really nice here,” Himchan said and sat down on the ground beside you.

“Nice and cold,” you said through your teeth.

“You’ll survive,” said Luna and imitated Himchan’s action just on the other side.

“What do you want from me in the first place, I don’t want to be here with the two of you… Lovebirds…” you whispered the last part.

You expected them to deny everything and just tell you that they wanted you to be with them but they were unusually silent and smiled like two stupid idiots. You widened your eyes at them. “No way…”

The two of them started giggling like there was no tomorrow but no one said a word.
“Oh come on! Why me?” you asked them instead.

“Listen Jin Ah… The thing is that…” Himchan started off and opened his mouth a couple of times just to close it again.

“The thing is the that Himchan and I kind of… like.. each other. And we wanted to try this out,” Luna completed his sentence.

To be quite honest, you weren’t that shocked because you kind of expected this to happen sooner or later. It’s the fact that you’re the first one to find this out that makes you go nuts.

“Well, guys that is nice to hear but… why the hell-“

“Because we trust you the most,” Himchan interrupted you, sensing where your questions was going.

“We need support now in the beginning and Amber would just judge me if I told her first,” said Luna.

“And the guys will be the last ones to find out. Man, I don’t even want to see their reaction,” Himchan shook his head.

“Why?” you asked him.

“Because I’m one of ‘the players’ and out of nowhere here I am, a guy who fell in love.”

From the corner of your eye you could see Luna smile and hide her face in her hands. You rolled your eyes and sighed deeply.

“Alright I get it,” you said in the end, “I’m happy for you guys, really.”

They both said a ‘thanks’ each and the three of you continued on talking for a while about how they found out about each other’s feelings. After a while the two of them left and went inside the cottage to eat some leftovers from the barbeque. You were still full from before so you sat where you are, regretting that decision right after they left. You were still freezing.

The night was long and nobody wanted to sleep yet. People went inside and came out again. They were everywhere. You on the other hand sat alone by the sea and looked over the water. It was indeed a beautiful view but heck was it cold too. Suddenly you felt something soft and warm land on your lap. It was a blanket. You turned to your left just to be greeted by a tall figure holding lots of blankets.

“I was handing these out and thought that I could give you one as well,” Yongguk said and looked over the water too.

“Thanks..”

“Yeah, because your strange little stubborn didn’t want to ask Youngjae to bring you one,” he arched an eyebrow at you.

You looked up at him again and grimaced, “Apologize.”

“For what?”

“For saying all of that.”

“And what did I say,” he said with a mocking tone in his voice.

“I don’t remember. But it was offensive!”

He laughed through his nose before sitting down beside you. “Keep dreaming. Bang Yongguk never apologizes, unless you’re my mother. Which you aren’t.”

“I might as well be,” you said coldly while fixing the blanket and stuffing yourself in, trying to save every body heat of yours.

“But I don’t want you to be it,” he answered in the same tone as yours.

“Gin!” you heard Hoya behind you, walking towards your direction.

You took a deep breath before turning to him, seeing Amber and Daehyun beside him. “Having a nice time?” he winked.

“Just stop,” you said in English.

“Why?” he asked in the same language.

“Because you’re not funny, that’s why.”

Amber and Daehyun sat beside you and Yongguk while Hoya stood right next to you, tapping your head.

“Okay, I can’t hold it in anymore!” you blured out.

“Calm down, calm down,” you heard Daehyun from beside.

“No and you know why?” you turned to him. “Because my cousin is stupid!”

You saw Yongguk widen his eyes at your last sentence. He totally didn’t expect the two of you to be related. In fact, he hated seeing you with Hoya because he thought that he was a very close guy friend.

You turned towards Hoya again and decided to scold him in English, forgetting that four out of five people right there spoke the same language. “Why did you leave me? You already knew the situation!”

“Hey, relax… I just made you a favor!”

“A favor?! Are you hearing yourself? If you just waited ten more minutes, none of this...” you pointed to your knee and towards Yongguk, “would have happened!”

“Hey,” Yongguk said from beside. “I helped you after all.”

Hoya smiled when he saw that Yongguk could communicate in the same language and crossed his arms, waiting for your reply. You gave him a death glare and turned to Yongguk again.

“Did I ask you to do that?” you asked arrogantly.

“No, but I had to. Considering the fact that we were alone,” he answered coldly and stood up from the ground while brushing of some sand from his shorts.

“You could have left me there.”

“Cause that makes sense,” he arched an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry to say this but I’m with him on this one,” said Amber out of nowhere. You gave her a death glare and she just put her hands up in the air. Daehyun was lost like a little puppy. He didn’t understand a word you were saying but he didn’t want to ask, feeling the situation being loaded with annoyance.

“It makes more sense than your niceness,” you turned back to him.

“My niceness?”

“Hey, hey!” Hoya interrupted the two of you, “Guys, calm down. Everything happens for a reason okay?” he said and motioned Amber and Daehyun to stand up. “I would love to continue on this conversation but it’s time for some sleep. So come on!”

The three of them started walking towards the cottage where everyone gathered to go in and left you alone with Yongguk… again.

“Hoya come back! I’m not done scolding you and you can’t leave me just like that!” you shouted after him but he totally ignored you. You rubbed your temples and looked up at Yongguk who had a smirk glued on his face.

“Just go inside, I will come later,” you said and looked away from him.

“I didn’t even plan on helping you,” he stated.

“Well, good for you then.”

You waited for him to walk away but he just stayed like that, standing still while looking down at you with his hands in his pockets. “I’ll never understand you.”

“Then don’t. Just go now,” you said and waved him off.

He sighed deeply while rolling his eyes, “I don’t want you to blame me if you catch a cold. And the chances to both of these things are very high,” he said and bent down.
He put one hand under your knees and the other behind your back, startling you out of nowhere.

“What are you doing?!”

“Just be still,” he ordered while lifting you up.

“I don’t want you to help me!” you started moving around in his grip.

“Jin Ah, stop it I’ll drop you!” he said firmly with a hint of panic in his voice.

“I said I don-“

You were interrupted by him pushing your body really close to his to prevent you from moving anymore. He started slowly walking towards the house and you could feel every muscle of his. His body heat was more than welcome to your body so you stayed still.

“I don’t understand…”

“What?” he asked while looking forward.

“Why are you always turning into a nice person in the last second?” you looked up and your face was just  inches away from his.

He didn’t look at you nor did he answer the question. Instead he suddenly dropped you gently down and that’s when you realized that you were in front the front door.

“Night,” he said and walked in just like that.

You stood there for a second before following him inside, seeing everyone there preparing for sleep. Everything was a huge mess and this cottage was definitely too small for this group of people. 

This is going to be a long night…

***

Yongguk’s P.O.V

The next morning, after everyone woke up, we decided to head home as early as possible. First of all we didn’t have any food left for breakfast, and secondly everyone wanted to go home and sleep because it wasn’t the best night of our lives with more than twenty people in one small cottage. It was a hell of a night.

After packing and cleaning, everyone headed home right away. This morning wasn’t as lively as the night before and no one talked to anyone. When we reached our neighborhood, everyone went home and so did I.

Since yesterday night, I avoided every contact with Jin Ah. Her question caught me off guard and I really didn’t know what to answer to that. I already said that I need to be nice to her and make her fall in love with me but my mind is playing with me all the time. I really need to control myself.

Instead of being somewhat nice to her I’ll just try to make her miss me now. But firstly, some sleep is needed before I can even think of anything else.

When I went into my house, I left my backpack in the hall and walked in to the living room to greet my mother. When I walked in I saw her sitting on the couch with her phone in one hand and a tissue in the other. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked everything but happy.

“Mom?! What’s wrong?” I walked up to her and took hold of her hands.

She tried to avoid my eyes but I took a grip of her head and turned it to face me. “Did something happen, mom?”

“Gukkie…. Y-your fa-father called.”