***

The afternoon sun rays that burned your skin on your shoulders and legs just added more pressure and even bad mood to the uneasiness among your friends. Watching Yongguk, and even JB, trying their best to win this competition was really nerve-wracking.

Although it seemed like both of them didn’t plan on giving up any time soon, the other contestants were amazing too. One of the guys was the winner of last year’s festival so a lot of people saw him as a rival.

“Man, I love Yongguk and I really do believe in his skills but... Come on guys, it’s so obvious that the one in green is a bit better!”

Everyone turned to look at Himchan with furrowed eyebrows and a judging grimace on their faces. Himchan looked from one face to the other and rolled his eyes while waving everyone away.

“You will see,” he said and turned his attention back to the ramps.

“I think that he will win this thing,” Zelo crossed his arms, “..and when that happens, you will have to treat us all to a meal, Himchan hyung.”

The elder looked at him with a look of disbelief but it changed just seconds later, “Yeah sure, I will treat everyone plus ten more random people,” he agreed determined.

“Himchan!” Luna slapped his shoulder, “You should have at least a little hope…”

“Let him be, Luna,” Amber pulled her away with a smirk, “This is going to be really interesting.”

While your friends discussed different things, you didn’t show any signs of interest in joining them. With your skateboard tightly clenched between your arms and your upper body, you watched every single move that Yongguk made.

There wasn’t any hints of nervousness on his face and that made you nervous instead. He was skating from ramp to ramp and path to path, determined as never before. You watched his tall slim figure stand firmly on his skateboard. He was wearing simple jeans shorts, a white and blue baseball shirt and a blue cap that he wore back to front. What shocked you the most was his rectangular dark shades. You shook your head in disbelief but still smiled from that fact. Skating with shades on… that guy was unbelievable.

***

“This is more tiring than all the previous days together,” Jongup pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s called the great Finale after all,” Youngjae stated as matter of fact.

“I know, I know, but still!”

Two hours later and only one contestant was out. A very skilled guy from France made it all the way to the finale but unfortunately JB eliminated him in the latest round with an one-point-difference. The remaining four finalists, with Yongguk and JB being two of them, gave it all to win this competition.

For each round that they passed, the challenges became harder and more challenging. After some time you realized that it wasn’t just all about how good you can skate, but how smart and fast you are thinking during the ride because each turn or trick you make gives you a specific amount of points.

As the time passed by, the huge skatepark was occupied by people who wanted to watch the four amazing skaters compete again each other. Everyone wanted to see who this year’s winner is and who will get the honor to be called ‘World’s best skater’ for a whole year.

You and your friends were standing closest to the area where they skated, being pushed back and forth by the mass behind you. Suddenly you felt someone put their hands over your eyes from behind, turning you blind in seconds.

“Guess who?”

The familiar warm voice made you smile under the person’s hands.

“JR, you ,” you turned around to look at his already smiling face.

“Well, at least I tried,” he laughed.

“And you failed,” you mocked but your good mood changed once you saw a pair of eyes looking at you from behind JR.

Gyuri gave you the weakest and fakest smile you have seen in your life and turned her attention back to the competition. You rolled your eyes and took a step to the right, closer to Amber, to give JR more space. He was pushed from behind by the not-so-calm audience.

“This needs to end like… right now!” Amber punched the air after seeing a trick that one of the contestants did.

“Wow, that was really good,” JR nodded in agreement.

“Yongguk oppa needs to win this whole thing,” you heard Gyuri comment to herself which earned a glare from both you and JR.

JR looked down at her with cold eyes and shook his head in disappointment, “Thank you for supporting my best friend.”

You looked away and pretended not to listen to them. You actually didn’t even want to listen to her annoying voice but thanks to how close they were standing, you couldn’t help but hear every word they said.

“Don’t give me that look, Jinyoung,” you heard her say coldly to JR, “I have my reasons to why I want him to win, just like you have yours when it comes to JB.”

“Well, my reasons are pretty obvious and understandable, but yours?!”

“Just… shut up and mind your own business.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at the things that left . You felt bad for JR but at the same time couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. What could her reasons possibly be?

The fact that you and Yongguk are a couple now wasn’t really liked by her and you get that. But why is she supporting him all of the sudden? Knowing her well, you knew that something wasn’t right but you decided to stay out of her way for your own good.

***

“What?!”

“No way!”

Not only JR, but the entire group of your friends shouted in disbelief after seeing the results from the last round. The guy in green, last year’s winner, got two more points and with that eliminated JB.

Everyone that was standing behind you, screamed loudly so you had to cover your ears with your hands. Apparently, JB was one of the favorites here and you could see why. He really tried his hardest and you could see that he put his whole soul into this.

“Man that was so close,” Daehyun looked at JR with a sad face.

“I know,” JR shook his head, “I wonder how JB is taking all of this..”

You stood on your toes and looked around in hope to find JB but quickly realized that this wouldn’t help. From the corner of your eyes, you could see Gyuri smile like a retard and you knew that JR didn’t like it but no one could do anything about it.

“Wow, things just got serious,” Zelo commented with a mocking smile on his face as he approached Himchan.

“Hey, nothing’s over yet!” he put his index finger in the air.

“We will see about that,” Zelo smiled and turned back to Jongup.

Just as everyone started discussion the latest round, the judges announced a small break before the last round where Yongguk and the other guy would be competing again each other.

Unfortunately, the two of them weren’t allowed to leave the front and instead had to go backstage to collect some information for the winner. Because of that, you decided to go and find JB and see how he was doing.

“I’m coming with you!” JR followed you when he heard that you were about to meet JB.

“We will be back soon,” you told Amber, who just nodded and did a thumbs up.

***

“Seriously guys, I’m fine,” JB leaned on the wall behind him and took a couple of sips from his bottle of water.

You stood in front of him with JR and silently watched both of them, not knowing what to say. The three of you were standing beside the stage where the judges were sitting, and watched the audience in front of you. It was really crowded but less noisy because of the break.

“Okay, okay. Well, at least you made it into the top three,” JR winked.

You smiled and nodded, “Is there a prize for the third and second place?”

“Actually, there is,” he smiled satisfied and straightened himself. “The third place gets a check of five hundred American dollars.”
Both you and JR widened your eyes at the information you just received.

“That is awesome man!” JR high-fived him.

“And a lot,” you laughed, “Congratulations!” you stepped closer to give him a hug.  

“ please,” he rolled his eyes and waved with his hand like a girl, “No, just kidding. But yeah, it feels great. I’m happy with how far I’ve come and with this whole trip. Almost everything went perfectly.”

“Almost?” JR tilted his head to the side but just seconds later both you and him understood what JB meant.

“Oh shut up,” you shook your head and pushed him slightly.

Right at that moment the judges spoke again, announcing the start of the next and last round. Everyone in the skatepark headed to their original place and so did the three of you.

As you walked through the crowd and looked at your feet so you don’t trip anywhere, you suddenly heard a splash in front of you. You looked up and saw a girl in your age look at her now soaked clothes from a cold drink that she was holding minutes ago. She had a shocked expression on her face but she wasn’t the only one. JB, who was the person who somehow caused this scene by not looking in front of him, had the exact same expression on his face too. Only his was mixed with guilt.

“I-I’m..” he began slowly in English, “I’m so sorry.”

His accent was heavy which caught the girl’s attention. She looked up to see the guilty person and her face changed right away. She smiled and shook her head.

“It’s okay,” she answered in your native language, “You got some too on your clothes,” she then pointed towards JB’s t-shirt whose look mirrored the shirt that the girl was wearing.

“How?” JR, who was behind you, whispered shocked.

“Omo, how did you know..”

“Jaebum Im… couldn’t it be more obvious?” she interrupted him and chuckled cutely.

You were silent and just watched the scene in front of you. She was a natural beauty, which her make-up-less face showed very well. The girl had shoulder long, dark brown hair and beautiful eyes. She was about one inch taller than you and by just looking at her like that you could tell that she was a bright person.

“Oh, stupid of me,” she shook her head while holding her forehead with her left hand. “I’m Choi Jin Ri, but you can call be Sulli,” she held her hand out.

JB looked at her hand, still in astonishment, but you pushed him slightly from behind as a signal to shake her hand. Which he did right away.

“Nice to meet you, Sully.”

“Me too,” she smiled widely, “You were awesome up there by the way,” she commented his skating skills from before.

You could feel JR’s annoying finger that constantly tapped your shoulder and suddenly you got an idea. You grabbed him by his collar and started dragging him after you. You walked up to JB and Sulli, smiled towards her before turning to JB.

You brought your face closer to his ear, “Did you say almost?” and with that, you walked away with poor JR under your grip.

***

“I’m going crazy,” you closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

“Calm down,” Luna hugged your from behind after watching you mentally struggle with your nerves and patience.

Yongguk was doing really well but the guy he was competing against wasn’t giving up. In fact, he was constantly trying to beat Yongguk in every possible way. All you could do was stand there in tension and watch him skate.

“Come on hyung, come on,” Zelo whispered to himself but everyone could hear it.

The last round was over long time ago but it was a tie between them when it came to the scores so now they are doing some freestyle skating and challenging each other in different tricks. The first one to fail a challenge will automatically be out, making the other one the winner.

Yongguk just completed one of the tricks the guy showed him and it was his turn. You noticed that he was looking around the audience, clearly searching for something when suddenly his eyes landed on you. He smiled towards you and winked once before turning his attention back to the ramp.

Startled, you looked at your friends who just shook their head while rubbing their temples.

“How can he be this calm? I seriously don’t understand,” Youngjae questioned Yongguk’s state.

Yongguk on the other side prepared for his move.  He slowly started skating up and down one ramp and just when he was about to skate up to the cope, he bend down and put his hand on the floor. That’s when it hit you. He was about to do your famous bert-slide that he failed the first time you met him.

Your heart started pounding even faster and you needed someone to lean on. JR who was next to you, offered his shoulder and you accepted the offer right away.
You watched Yongguk’s every move and he was now spinning himself 180 degrees with his hand as support on the ramp. You expected him to fail at this point but he surprise not just you, but the whole audience, by lifting his hand up and letting himself roll down the ramp in a nice way.

You widened your eyes and started clapping like a madman. You even shouted after Yongguk, together with the audience. With a satisfied look he looked back at you and did a thumbs up before walking up to the side and allowing the other guy to do the same.

“What the hell, did he just survive the bert-slide?” Himchan watched with an open mouth.

“The hell he did!” Zelo jumped up and down in excitement.

“Okay shut up now, let’s watch that other fella,” Jongup pointed to the ramp.

You were still under shock and couldn’t believe that he accomplished the bert-slide. He managed to hold his balance steady while performing the trick. You were more than impressed and you guessed that he practiced this ever since you owned him the first day.

Too caught up in your thought you didn’t notice that the guy was already on his way down to put his hand on the floor and spin himself. The audience went death silent and nervously watched him. You could see that his legs were a bit shaky when unexpectedly he lost his balance and his back was welcomed by the ramp’s floor.

He was out and with that, Yongguk was the winner.

“He won! Guys, he freaking won!” Zelo shouted from the bottom of his lungs.

“I’m speechless…” Himchan’s eyes were double their original size.

“Chanie, I’m always by your side but this one… this one, you deserve,” Luna tapped his shoulder.

“Wow, he really is amazing,” you said and looked at him with the hugest smile on your face. He mirrored your expression with his warm gummy-smile.

Your boyfriend just won the annual skating festival.

***

You quickly ran to your room and took the first best blanket before running out again.

“Where are you going?” Luna watched you with big eyes as you ran past her in the lobby.

“To meet Yongguk!” you shouted back and ran out of the hotel.

Once outside, you stopped in your track and looked around. It was definitely night time but you were far from tired. Yongguk told you to meet him in front of the hotel after the celebration that you had in one of the restaurants nearby, where Himchan had to treat everyone to a meal.

“There you are,” that dark and y voice you loved to hear spoke from your left.

You looked at his smirking face and couldn’t help but grimace at it. “I got the blanket,” you lifted your arms to show him, “Why did you tell me to bring it?”

“We are going to the beach and just hang out,” he said and approached you.

That’s when you spotted a deck of cards in one of his hands. You eyed it and tilted your head to the side.

“What’s that?”

Instead of answering your question he looked at your clothes. “What are you wearing right now?” he asked and took the blanked from your hands to get a better look. “Perfect,” he smirked after seeing your shorts and plain t-shirt.

The way he looked at you made you a bit insecure about yourself because you knew that he was looking at every inch of your body at the moment, and you didn’t like it at all.

“What are you saying?” you asked coldly which made him look up.

His smirk turned into a smile and he took one of your hands in his.

“We are going to play poker,” he said and started walking towards the beach, dragging you along.

“But I don’t know how to play poker,” you said as matter of fact.

“No worries, I will teach you.”

***

It took you about twenty minutes to understand the basic rules of the game but even then you didn’t really get everything.

“So is the color or the symbol more important?”

“Depends on the situation and the cards that are in front of you,” he pointed at five cards that were facing upwards. “These decides who is winning the current hand.”

You inhaled deeply and looked at the cards again before turning to Yongguk.

“I’m far from an expert in this game but… isn’t poker also a betting game with money?”

The smirk he had on his face from before, slowly crept back again. He nodded while collecting the cards.

“You are totally correct.”

“But we don’t have any money to bet on?”

“And that’s why we are betting something else,” he looked up and straight into your eyes.

You watched him for a couple of seconds before realization hit you.

“I know that smile,” you pointed towards his face, “And I don’t like your idea at all.”

“Come on Jin Ah baby,” he whined.

“I’m not playing strip poker with you,” you whisper yelled and looked around to see that you were the only ones at the beach right now.

“Nobody is here,” he pointed around, “Come on, don’t be such a party pooper.”

You watched him try to act sad and although you knew that it was all fake, which was also obvious, this whole thing did sound like fun. Only if you knew how to play.

“I can’t even play, and it’s not funny if it’s only me who is losing,” you rolled your eyes.

“I will help you.”

“You will cheat,” you gave him a death glare.

“I won’t, I swear!”

You were silent for a moment and just watched him shuffle the cards in his hands. The two of you were alone on your blanket that was located in the middle of the beach. You were quite bored and experiencing a new thing wouldn’t cause any harm. In the worst case, you could just call it off and ran away. Also this whole trip has been fantastic and tonight is the last night here because your flight is scheduled for tomorrow evening.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

“This is why we are dating,” he smiled and started handing out the cards.

You suddenly felt nervous and became doubtful about your decision. You lifted the cards up to take a look and waited for Yongguk to place two cards in the middle.

After seeing your confused face, rather than just looking at your cards and telling you what to do, he explained what the smartest move would be. You listened to his instructions and in no time the first hand was over, with him losing it.

“Wow, this is fun,” you commented as you threw the cards back on the blanket.

Yongguk smirked and motioned with his head to you to pick a piece of clothing that he has to take off.

“Shirt,” you said without hesitation.

“Alright,” he stripped it off in no time and turned back to the cards again.

You couldn’t help but look at his upper body. His flat stomach that hid his abs because of his sitting position, his wide shoulders and not to forget his incredibly y collarbones.

“Stop drooling and pick up your cards,” his voice interrupted your checking out session.

You turned back to your cards and were more than ready to win another hand, just to see him strip off more. It was now that you understood the intention with this game, and you liked it.

“Okay, tell me when you are ready,” he said and waited for you to figure out what move you would make.

He once again explained what the best way would be and you followed his instructions. Unfortunately, he won this hand because he had the same color as you but higher cards that matched the once in front of you.

“Shirt,” he said and started collecting the cards again.

You rolled your eyes and did as told. The moment your shirt was off, his eyes took a couple of glances of your bikini before turning back to the cards.

The next round took a bit more time because of your decisions. You didn’t want to lose it because he would want you to take of your bikini or even your shorts which would leave you half in public.

Lucky you, thanks to Yongguk’s advice you won the latest hand and with that Yongguk had to take of his shorts, leaving him in only boxers.

The sight in front of you became hotter and as much as you hated it, you couldn’t tear your eyes away. You bet your lower lip and tried to keep calm but the hormones inside of your body had other plans. Your heart began beating faster and your body temperature turned really hot.

Your mind made you think all kinds of images of you and Yongguk and you would be lying if you said that you didn’t want it. But you needed to go back to the game so you started helping Yongguk collect the cards and even offered to shuffle them.

That didn’t go very well before Yongguk took hold you your face and connected your lips immediately. You were startled from his sudden action so you landed on your back with him on top of you.

Without waiting anymore, he started kissing you deeply with his tongue exploring every corner of your mouth. You closed your eyes and melted in his hands. Slowly, while kissing, he took your hands and brought them up to his neck while he gently began sliding his own hands down your upper body.

His fingers danced perfectly over your warm and exposed skin and you loved feeling his touches on your body. You ran one of your hands through his soft hair and took a nice and steady grip which he responded with a growl into the kiss.

Yongguk broke the kiss to gasp for some air, which you needed as well, and continued by kissing your jawline and leaving butterfly kisses all over your neck. You arched your back to feel every inch of his skin on yours and that’s when he looked up to meet your eyes which were filled with as much lust as his were.

“My room?” he whispered.

You just nodded and just in matter of seconds he jumped up and lifted you off the ground before heading towards the hotel.
 

A/N: Can you guess what's up next? ;)