Chapter 17

Samantha was taken by surprise. She sure liked to run into him, she thought. Soon, her face started to turn pink. He saw her crying. . “I’ll just go,” she said standing up to leave.

“It’s okay you don’t have to, I was just about to leave,” he said taking note of her puffy eyes and red nose. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. He was convinced otherwise. “Really,” he crossed his arms. “Because you looked like you’ve been crying. Actually, I know you were crying because I heard you come in sobbing.”

“Guilty,” she sniffled, and then couldn’t hide her tears any longer.

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon suddenly became concerned.

She shook her head.

He pulled her close and allowed her to cry on his shoulder. “I’m here now. Talk to me,” he said softly, his voice brushing against her hair.

“I’m just so overwhelmed and stressed out,” she said as she cried. “I feel like I’m getting nowhere with where I’m at right now. The situation I’m in at the moment? It’s supposed to be temporary but it’s going nowhere. I keep telling myself that I’ll leave soon. That’s the plan. Just until I save up enough money then I’ll be out of here. I didn’t know I’d be stuck here managing a bunch of grown as men who act like a bunch of children!” she sobbed.

He pushed away from her, wiping her tears away with his thumb, he held her face in his hand. “What are you talking about?” he asked curiously.

She realized she was ranting to him to which he looked at her in confusion. He didn’t know what was going on, she thought. “Nothing,” she said pushing herself away from him. “Those idiots just stress me out, that’s all.” She sniffled wiping her tears with her hands.

“Oh,” he said awkwardly. “Were you planning on leaving or something?” he asked, obviously upset by her little confession.

She sighed then nodded. “Actually, I haven’t been honest with you guys,” she said finally ready to tell him. “I was supposed—“

She was interrupted by someone coming into the room. “Hey, there you are,” Peniel stopped when he spotted Samantha with Jihoon standing really close to each other. His expression hardened, “I was looking for you.” He said to Samantha. “The guys and I wanted to apologize for what happened back there,” looking away from her.

“What’s going on in there?” someone’s voice rang out from outside behind Peniel.

“I don’t know!” someone muttered. Turns out, the group decided to tag along with Peniel as he looked for their distraught assistant.

“Do I want to know what happened?” Jihoon asked, cocking an eyebrow, and then crossing his arms.

Samantha turned to the tall guy beside her. “I’m just not cut out for this job,” she sighed.

“Look, we said we’re sorry,” Minhyuk entered. “We didn’t know it would get out of hand.”

“Sam…” Sungjae came into the room and went over to her. “We’re sorry for making you cry…” he pouted. “Please forgive us.” He bowed his head down low.

“Yeah, we’re sorry,” Eunkwang chimed in. “I promise I’ll look out for them more.”

Samantha crossed her arms and looked away from them. The memory of what happened in the other room angered her. “Whatever,” she muttered.

Soon, the rest of the guys entered with their heads bowed. “Will you forgive us?” Changseob asked.

She sighed, “I don’t know yet…”

“We can make you forgive us,” Minhyuk gave her a mischievous grin eyeing the other guys. He reminded her so much of Dongwoon, she thought and she didn’t like where this was going.

She challenged them. “I’d like to see you try,” she said with her chin up.

“I’m glad you asked,” Eunkwang also gave her a mischievous grin. “Sungjae, grab her!”

Immediately, Sungjae grabbed her by the waist and soon, Samantha was surrounded by a bunch of hyperactive boys tickling her. “Stop!” she shrieked while laughing hysterically.

Little did she know, Jihoon decided to join in on the fun, “OMG, JIHOON STOP IT!” she exclaimed between giggles.

“Okay, you guys win again!” she decided to give up. “You’re all forgiven! Now get off me!” They followed her command with Jihoon helping her up.

“You’re not mad at us anymore?” Changseob asked sheepishly.

“I find there’s no point in staying mad knowing what you guys are capable of,” she answered straightening out her clothing. “So no, I’m not mad anymore.”

“Can I still teach you how to skateboard?” he asked with a glint in his eyes.

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed immediately.

He pouted then muttered, “I thought I’d ask.”

“Who’s hungry?” Samantha announced that night in the dorm from the kitchen.

“I am!” Sungjae called out from the living room.

“Me too!” Changseob’s voice rang out as well.

“Me three!” this time it was Minhyuk’s voice.

She had decided to do something she hadn’t done in a long time, which was to cook them dinner. Samantha wasn’t much of a cook but the one thing she could actually cook was pasta. Pasta was the easiest thing to cook nevertheless and you could make it any way possible. Carbonara was on the menu that night and the guys were stoked about it since they were used to eating it at a restaurant. For once, Jihoon had the night off so he helped her out in the kitchen while the boys sat in front of the TV playing video games.

“I’m winning!” Eunkwang exclaimed as he was focusing on the video game against Sungjae. It was some soccer game and Samantha could never remember its title.

“What?!” Sungjae hissed. “NO!!!!!!!!!!”

The rest of the guys were chuckling as they watched on. Samantha shook her head and rolled her eyes as she listened from the kitchen. “Good lord,” she mused. “It’s just a freakin’ game!”

“Not necessarily,” Jihoon replied. “It’s a battle for a man’s dignity. As you know, a man’s dignity is his everything.”

Samantha looked up at him as she stirred around the pasta in the pot of boiling water as Jihoon chopped the bacon and onions. “Gosh, you sound like my brother right now.”

He chuckled. “How so?” he asked curiously.

“He said the same thing when my friend was going through a break-up with his girlfriend,” she answered. “I didn’t know what to say at the time but Jason decided to in and say those exact words: ‘A man’s dignity is his everything.’” She went into thought. Thinking of Jason made her miss him more.

Jihoon felt sympathy for Samantha. She must really miss her family. So in turn, he decided to change the subject. Setting the knife aside, he tapped her shoulder prompting her to turn around, “How’s this?” he asked.

She smiled in return, “Looks good. Now I have to drain the pasta and start simmering the bacon and onions. As soon as that’s settled, I’ll heat up the sauce and then toss everything together.” She said then proceeded to do so as Jihoon stood and watched.

Feeling uneasy with his piercing eyes, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You know, if you keep staring at me you’ll burn a hole in my face,” she said teasingly.

“What’s wrong?” he mocked her. “Do you not like it? I’m just a man who likes what he sees.”

Samantha pointed a wooden spoon at him, “You’re gonna make me burn everyone’s dinner,” she said. “Why don’t you go join the others in the living room? I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Gee, I don’t know about that.” He looked up scratching his chin. “I’m worried you might set the kitchen on fire if I leave you unsupervised,” he smirked leaning against the refrigerator.

Samantha rolled her eyes and shook her head. There was no use arguing with the y soloist, she thought as she continued with dinner. Once she tossed everything together, she turned to him. “Since you’re standing there, you may as well help me with the plates,” she suggested.

He did as he was told by grabbing plates for everyone else. “Dinner’s ready,” Samantha called from the kitchen.

Soon, everyone was eating. “Wow, this is really good, Sam!” Changseob exclaimed.

“This is way better than what we get from the restaurants,” Minhyuk agreed.

“You should totally teach us how to make this,” Sungjae said.

“It’s not that hard,” Samantha said matter-of-factly. “I used to make this at home for my siblings all the time. But of course I’d love to teach you guys.”

“You have siblings?” Ilhoon asked suddenly.

Samantha nodded. It slowly started to dawn on her that she didn’t really talk about her family to them. “I have two sisters, one older and one younger, and a younger brother.”

“Are you close with them?” Hyunsik asked.

“Yes, I am actually,” she nodded. “I’m closer to them than I am with my parents, especially the younger ones. The older one has her own life to lead so I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like. She practically raised me.”

“Do they know you’re here?” Eunkwang chimed in.

“Only the younger ones,” she answered. “I made them promise not to tell my parents.”

“Oh,” they all nodded in understanding.

As soon as they were done eating, Samantha decided to help them clear their plates. Eunkwang stopped her. “We’ll take it from here.”

“Wait, why?” she gave him a look of confusion.

“You did all the cooking,” he pointed out. “So the least we can do is clean up.”

“I’ll help you,” Minhyuk said as he helped BTOB’s leader.

Samantha complied nevertheless then joined everyone else in the living room. “So what now?” she asked curiously.

“We’re trying to find a scary movie to watch,” Sungjae answered as he and Peniel were looking through the movie guide.

Samantha’s eyes widened. “What?! I’m NOT watching a scary movie! No freakin’ way!” she exclaimed shaking her head frantically.

“What’s the matter? Are you scared?” Ilhoon smirked.

“What do you think?” Samantha glared at him.

“Sam, it’s no big deal,” Hyunsik assured her. “There’s no need to be scared when you have us here.” He gave her his signature cheeky grin.

“I’ll pass,” she said standing up to leave.

Peniel grabbed her hand. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“My room, where else would I go?” she scoffed.

“Just watch the movie with us,” he whined.

“Seriously?!” she was incredulous. “Anything but a scary movie please!”

“Wait, we’re watching a scary movie?!” Eunkwang shrieked when he entered the living room. “No! I’m NOT watching it!”

“Yes!” Samantha agreed. “Listen to your leader!”

“Hyung, can we watch a scary movie, please?” Sungjae begged with the puppy dog eyes. Who can resist his cute charm?

“Don’t you dare give into him, Eunkwang!” Samantha pointed to him.

“Alright, let’s have a vote,” Eunkwang announced. “Winner gets to watch whatever they want, how many vote on not watching the scary movie?” he raised his hand, along with Samantha. Great, they were going to be outvoted nevertheless.

Jihoon watched the whole scene before him with an amused grin. “I’ll make the popcorn,” he announced then walked into the kitchen to make the popcorn.

Everyone settled on watching Paranormal Activity. Samantha decided to sit in between Eunkwang and Jihoon. The other members thought it would be funny to scare both their leader and Samantha throughout the movie. Both Samantha and Eunkwang were too scared to retaliate but vowed to exact revenge in the future.

Overall, it was a good night. Everyone got to spend time with each other which was a rarity due to their busy schedules. The boys all looked like they were enjoying themselves. They accomplished something Samantha never got to do with Beast, she got to cook for them and actually watch a movie. With Beast, she only spent time with Dongwoon and on some occasions, she would find herself spending quality time with Doojoon. It was different this time and she knew it. It felt peaceful, she thought. Looking around, she smiled to herself though it was a pained smile. The kind of smile that told her all good things must come to an end, remembering her true purpose lie elsewhere. She blinked back tears and decided to savor the moment while it lasted.

Soon, her eyes started to feel heavy and she drifted off to sleep. Her head landed on Jihoon’s shoulder. He looked at her and smiled brushing her hair away from her face. He pulled her closer and proceeded to finish the movie with everyone else.

A/N: Here's another update! The last bit, I got inspired by one of the MTV Diary episodes. For those of you who've seen it, you know what I'm talking about so enjoy! :D