~CHAPTER 36~

"E-X-O"

“Oh, it’s you...” T. Jung smiled as she raised Kris’ and her hand together.

*Ouch.* I felt a sharp pinch on my heart. *They’re together now, huh?* I looked at Kris. “Why?” *Why are you going out with her when you don’t even know what her true color is?*

He tightened his grip on her hand. I noticed it. I always notice what he does. He gave me a sorry look.

*Don’t pity me. I felt hurt but you don’t need to do that, Kris. It’s the other way around.* I gave him a weak smile. “Please open your eyes.” I gathered my might and patted his shoulder as I go and leave the two of them together.

*What did she say that to him?!* T. Jung narrowed her eyes. She looked at Kris and smiled. “Let’s go, I want to see the beautiful corals.” She pouted.

Kris stood quiet; not moving an inch.

“Kris?” She snapped her fingers in front of him and he gasped.

“Huh? What did you just say?” Kris looked at her and gave her a confused look.

“I said we should go.” T. Jung sounded annoyed and she dragged him towards the aquarium. *Is he thinking about what she said? I need to move fast or else she might get him first.*

I slowly walked away from Kris and T. Jung. But when I felt that they were very far from me, I started to run somewhere. “I want to get out of here.” I panted as I ran farther. I had mixed feelings; pain, pity, loneliness, anger, disbelief etc.

 “Aahh!” I screamed as I bent down and covered my face. I didn’t care if people were looking at me. This was a very emotional moment for me. “Why is my love life like this? Have I chosen the right person or was I just imagining a cruel fantasy? What’s the truth?” I became confused.

I looked up and saw people heading somewhere. I looked at the building ahead... “Dolphin Show?” I sighed and closed my eyes. “This is a great day of victory, Hana. Why don’t you just leave those emotions for a while and enjoy yourself.” I said to myself as I slapped my face with my two hands.

I was walking towards the empty seat on the bleachers when someone swung his arm on my shoulder. “What the?!” I turned and I saw Kai grinning at me. “Yash!” I was going to hit him but I controlled myself. I shook my head and walked ahead.

“Huh?” Kai scratched his head. “Something’s wrong...” Kai nodded and walked beside me.

Both of us sat side by side. We were sitting in the front row.

“Hey, is something wrong?” Kai tapped my shoulder. I just ignored him. I wasn’t in the mood. Kai pouted and looked around. He placed his arms on the back of the seats and he leaned his back.

“It’s already 4:15 in the afternoon, folks! The Dolphin Show will now begin!” The announcer signaled everyone to clap their hands. “We present our famous dolphin group E-X-O!”

I can hear the children shout in anticipation. “Ei-ra! Xe-non! O-ri-on! EXO! EXO!” *EXO?*

“EXO?” Kai placed his hands behind his head. “Cool name for those dolphins, don’t you think so?” He turned towards me but I was blankly staring at the dolphins.

Kai couldn’t do anything but shake his head in dismay. He looked at the dolphins jumping out of the water until he gasped and pointed somewhere. “Aren’t that Kris and T. Jung?!”

I blinked a couple of times after hearing those names, then I narrowed my eyes and looked at the direction. “What the- Are they trying to provoke me?!” I was annoyed by the fact that they were always together.

“Looks like their chatting happily, don’t they?” Kai smirked while having a mischievously look on his face. “I have something in mind.”

I scrunched my nose and furrowed my eyebrows. *This guy plans something... evil.* “Wh-what is it?”

Kai grinned. “I think it’s time for you to learn how to use the power of water.”

“Mwoh?!” I gave an “are-you-sure-with-this” look.

“Just for fun.” He patted my shoulder. “I wanna see how that fraud reacts.”

I sighed. At some point I had the urge to do this but on the other hand, I think it’s mean. I quietly thought for seconds. “Alright, alright. I’ll do it.”

The dolphins were jumping on the loop 2 meters above. Everyone clapped their hands.

“Amazing!” The children were in awe. “Mommy look at that pink dolphin!” “Mom, isn’t it fascinating!” “I love them!”

I gulped hard and focused on the wavy water. I narrowed my eyes. *Concentrate Hana, concentrate.* I inhaled and when I blinked, without knowing, my eyes glowed with a shade of blue. The water suddenly splashed in front of T. Jung and Kris who were sitting in the front row. *Omo, Kris! I didn’t mean to include you!*

“Aaaahhh!: T. Jung screamed. “Eeeeww!”

Both of them stood up in surprise. Kris was looking at his drenched coat and shirt. His hair was soaked with sea water. He had that annoyed face because his attire was destroyed.

*This is not normal.* Kris looked from side to side to find the “culprit(s). And there we were, laughing our lungs off. He saw us laughing hard across their position. *I’m going to get you when I see you next time.* He narrowed his eyes.

“Kris let’s get out of here! I look horrible!” T. Jung whined as she clung his arm. Kris was shocked by how she looked. Her makeup was ruined and black “smudges” from her eyeliner were dripping on her cheeks. She looked like a mess up clown.

*My wife is not like this.* “Pfft!” Kris touched the lower part of his nose and scoffed.  He hid his reaction.

“Kris...” T. Jung was at the verge of crying due to superb embarrassment. Everyone was looking at them. Some were laughing and some were whispering.  

“Look at that hot guy! He’s 100x hotter when he had that wet look!” Girls squealed. “OMG! Look at that horrible clown! Ewww!” They were mocking her. Kris decided to leave together with T. Jung. But Kris felt that he should stay in that place and hear the praises of those fangirls of his.

While on the other side of the place, Kai and I were dying out of happiness. We couldn’t contain it.

“Hahaha!! Aigoo! I can’t believe I did that!” I was laughing too hard that I was holding onto my stomach. Kai was doing the same.

“But it felt great, doesn’t it?” He winked at me. I shook my head and he gave me a puzzled look.

“It felt Awesome!” I laughed again. We high-fived each other. Everyone was looking at us. When we realized that, we stopped laughing like nothing happened. I covered my head again with my hoodie that fell off while I was laughing. Kai placed his cap on his head and lowered it a bit to hide his face. Both of us were red as tomato. We really tried hard not to laugh while walking away.

It was already 6 pm when all of us arrived at the hotel. We parted ways at the lounge because some students were staying at the campsite. But before that, Ahjussi’s secretary made an announcement.

“For all the students here, please inform the other students about the activity that we will have tomorrow.” She spoke in front of all of us.

“Activity?” We were curious. I guess not everyone listed the events that will be held during these days.

“Yes, activities. Tomorrow afternoon, we will have the dance ball!” She exclaimed.

“Omo! I forgot about that!” “Me too!” “But I love it!” The students shared their feelings.

“So for tomorrow morning, there will be no activities, except you preparing and grooming yourselves. I expect that everyone will be in their best attire. The special hall here will be opened at 4pm so please come at 3:30pm. That’s all and the principal suggest that everyone must bring lighters.” She made gestures.

“Lighters?” “What are we going to do with those?” We were confused by what she said.

“Just follow the orders of the principal.” She placed her one hand on her waist. “And also, for Class 10-b, please come here at 7pm for your dinner reward. That’s all.” She left.

“Dinner reward!” Daeji jumped in front of me. She was usually happy self.

“Yah, you’re really enjoying it when it comes to food, don’t you?” I pinched her cheek. *I miss this cheerful Daeji.*

 She nodded like a child. “That’s because D.O. always cook nood-“

“Ahem. What am I hearing again?” D.O. appeared like a mushroom beside me. Daeji and I gasped out of shock.

Daeji gulped hard. “Oh, I-I was just saying that I anticipate the foods tonight. He-he.” She gave a getaway sentence. *Omo, I don’t want to bully D.O. anymore.*

I shook my head. “Okay, then?” I agreed with her this time. *Tomorrow, the dance ball...and my...* I sighed. *Why does it have to be on the same day?*