Chapter 22

Soon they were walking down to the 24 hour café and sat at the same table as soon as they got their drinks. “So why did you ask me out for coffee all of a sudden?” Jihoon asked raising a brow.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said.

“Okay, I’m all ears,” he shifted his attention to her.

“I know you’re still upset about me leaving you guys…”

“Upset?” he scoffed. “That’s kind of an understatement when you think about it.”

“Okay, so you’re angry about me leaving you but I would like to tell you why I’m leaving,” she said taking a deep breath. “I booked the wrong flight and landed here in Korea. Initially, my plan was to go to Thailand to see someone.”

“Oh,” he said, alert. “Is he like a boyfriend or something?”

“Not exactly,” Samantha answered. “But I can’t deny that there is something between us. He had left to Thailand without telling me and when he made a promise to talk again I waited but he kept pushing it back. It was to the point where I had to give up but something keeps leading me to him. I think about him a lot. I had to find out from his sister what he was up to. I didn’t ask for it she just told me. So I decided to leave everything behind and book a flight to Thailand in the hopes of seeing him again. Then I landed here and now I’m starting to wonder if I’m making the right decision in leaving…” she met his piercing eyes. She couldn’t deny that every time their eyes met, she felt butterflies.

“So are you trying to get closure with him?” Jihoon asked finally.

“That was the plan,” she nodded.

“And then what?”

Samantha shrugged. “I don’t know,” she sighed.

“Honestly, I think you deserve better, Sam,” he started to say. “If it was up to me and it doesn’t work out, I would like you to return with us. It would make me happy.” He gave a hint of a smile. “But I understand if you can’t.” the pain was evident in his tone.

“This is why I’m questioning my decision to leave you guys,” She said. “You guys have been good to me. I’ll miss you guys.” She gave him a reassuring smile as she reached for his hand.

He looked at her hand over his and relaxed. “Do you wanna take a walk?” he suggested.

Taking a walk around the city in the nighttime was a little more different than walking around in the daytime, but Samantha enjoyed it nevertheless. Jihoon had wanted to spend quality time with her before she had to leave. Samantha had already spent time with BTOB so he felt like he should at least have a turn. He was going to miss her company. She was always so full of life, he thought. She amused him to no end.  As they stopped on a bridge to admire the view of the city, Samantha felt tears b the inner corners of her eyes. “What’s wrong?” Jihoon asked with a tone of concern.

“Nothing,” she gave him an assuring smile. “It’s just, I’m going to miss all of this.” She motioned to the city lights. “I never knew it would be this beautiful at night.” Turning to him, she exhaled. “One other thing, I’m really glad you’re here with me.”

“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than to be here with you, Sam.”

Samantha felt chills run down her spin when Jihoon lifted her chin then leaned down to kiss her. She froze at first but soon relaxed and sunk into him. She had felt as if she’d been floating on a cloud as she kissed him. The kiss felt so right and they did not want to part so they held each other. Negative thoughts soon started to overcome Samantha that she immediately pushed him away gasping. He looked at her in confusion but also realized what had just happened. “I’m sorry…” he looked down and away from her.

“We should get back to the dorm before we’re caught,” she suggested then walked off. He soon followed her.

When they finally got to the dorm, she turned to him. “I’ll go in first,” she said. “If anyone asks, I went to grab something to eat and you went for a run. Whatever you do, do NOT say we saw each other. We did NOT see each other, got it?”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “Right, I went for a run and you were out eating. We didn’t see each other.” He repeated.

“Good,” she said then slowly opened the door to the dorm. Peering inside, it was still relatively dark. Everyone was still asleep much to her relief. She tiptoed her way to her room and shut the door behind her. A moment later, she had heard Jihoon enter then he shut the door to his room.

 Lying in bed that night, Samantha tossed and turned not able to sleep due to what had transpired earlier. She had kissed Cube’s y soloist. The chemistry was always there but she never thought he would act upon it. She was always confused about her feelings whenever he was near. And now she did not know what to do, “It was just a kiss,” she thought. “A kiss doesn’t have to mean anything.” She had to convince herself. He’ll forget about it in the morning and they can move on and pretend it didn’t happen. Only some things were easier said than done. After enough thinking, she soon found herself drifting off to dreamland.

Little did Jihoon and Samantha know, not everyone was asleep as they left the dorm together. Growing suspicious, Peniel had heard them come back from their outing. They were acting weird, he thought as he peaked out of his room. Clenching his fist tightly, the image of what he saw clouded his mind when he went back to sleep.

“So where did you two go last night?” he had decided to ask when everyone gathered for breakfast. BTOB turned their attention to their dorm mates.

Samantha and Jihoon grew tense as they eyed each other. “I went for a jog,” Jihoon answered.

“I got hungry and went for a late night snack,” Samantha chimed in.

“Okay,” Peniel narrowed his eyes at the both of them. “I was sure you two went out together last night. It was probably my imagination or something.”

Samantha gave an awkward laugh. “What? No! We weren’t together last night, no way!” she shook her head. “Right, Jihoon?” she turned to him, eyeing him desperately.

“Right,” the soloist replied nonchalantly. He didn’t like having to lie to everyone but if that’s what Samantha wanted, he had no other choice but to comply with her wishes. He couldn’t deny his feelings for her but his career was on the line and since he was still a rookie, it could ruin his image. He caught on to why Samantha was pushing him away and he had to give her credit for doing so. She was a lot smarter than he had thought.

“Anyways, I’ll see you guys at Cube,” Samantha announced abruptly. “I’m heading there early to take care of a few things. See you guys!” Grabbing her bag, she ran out of the dorm before anyone spoke up. Everyone was left speechless by her departure. Her absence would leave a lasting effect nevertheless and the guys had no choice but to accept it.

A/N: Hello again! This update is kind of short. At least that's what I think. >.< Anyways, to sum a bit of it up, it's Jihoon focused. Samantha did leave him hanging when he asked her on a date so she decided to make it up to him before she's gone. She's aware of the effect he has on her which makes Samantha's decision to leave a lot harder. She really is questioning her feelings for him. I hope you guys enjoy! I'll work on the next chapter. Again, I just typed through this without editing so please don't mind the minor errors. Thanks again!