They had one more day left and after the pleasantness of the previous, neither of them wanted to really leave. The shuttle had brought them back down to the resort and Daehyun pointed at the pool. “Let’s go?”

            “You can swim,” she told him. “I’ll watch.”

            The pool was filled with couples playing with one another and also lots of single young adults, looking for fun. From across her seat, Jinli spied a familiar lanky figure and laughed. “Look,” she pointed, “Junhong’s still here.”

            Daehyun glanced over and smirked. “Well isn’t he having fun?” Junhong was sipping on a cocktail and laughing animatedly with at least three other girls.

            “I never knew he could be such a ladies’ man,” she grinned.

            “Oh, you’d be surprised. Stay here.” And with that, Daehyun dove into the pool.

It gave her much needed time to think on her own. Yes, their relationship was for show but something that had happened yesterday made her think that maybe they could be friends.  She knew deep down that Daehyun would always flip flop and become mean again but there was something there; a basis of friendship that almost made her look forward to the days to come.

            “Hello miss, is this seat taken?”

            Jinli looked up and saw a young man standing around her. He was pointing at the cot next to hers and while she wanted to say yes, she really couldn’t claim property so she shook her head. The man smiled winsomely at her, showing all his perfect teeth.

            “I’m Zach. My friends and I saw you sitting alone and I was wondering if you would like our company.” She smiled again and just tipped her head without saying anything. “It’s okay if I’m bothering you.”

            “Ah no, not at all,” she replied hastily. “You’re definitely free to sit wherever you want.”

            “You have a very beautiful smile,” Zach continued.

            Jinli flushed. “Oh, thank you.” For the first time, she found herself looking for Daehyun. Where the heck was he? Maybe she could catch Junhong’s attention...

            “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?” He was still prompting her.

            “Oh, it’s-”

            “None of your business,” came a curt voice behind her. Her shoulders sagged with relief. Daehyun was here.

            Zach’s eyes flickered up and then back down at her. That was when he saw the ring on her finger. “I beg your pardon,” he bowed. “I didn’t realize.” But there was something almost slightly aggressive about the way he backed away. He gave each of them one last look.

            Daehyun sighed and plopped onto the abandoned cot. He wiped his hair with a towel and shook his head at her. “Ahjumma, how are you still getting the boys at your age?”

            Jinli scowled. Aiming a kick at him, she shuddered. “Kids these days are getting bolder and bolder. Wow. He just came out of nowhere and expected me to tell him what my name was. He’s definitely from abroad with a name like Zach.” Her indignation came out in a flurry. She looked up to see Daehyun with an utterly amused expression staring at her. “What?”

            “Where was this fire when he was actually hitting on you? If you had just yelled at him like this, he’d probably long been gone.”

            Another blush went through her. “I- I didn’t,” unable to finish her words, Jinli covered her face. “Go back to swimming. I’ll be okay. I can fend for myself.”

            “Are you sure?” And she yelped. Daehyun had managed to pull her into standing position without any voluntary movement of her own. “How about we go back to the room and sleep? You’re clearly tired from the hike, and I heard there’s a party tonight. Shall we go?”

            She glanced down where their hands were entwined and grinned. “I suppose we can.”

            Daehyun sat up and watched her as she slept. She was snoring softly, very obviously exhausted, and he smiled. Her hand was curled by her cheek and she looked so very peaceful. He leaned over and grabbed the camera to see the pictures they took yesterday.

            The first picture was her on the rock, band-aid on her arm, scowl very visible. He chuckled. She had taken random pictures of nature but he saw that she had taken one of him leaning down to grab something from the bag. Daehyun’s eyebrows rose as he looked from the picture to her sleeping figure. That was a surprise.

            The crumpled flower in her pocket elicited another laugh from him. The next one was the one in the water and he had taken it when they were bickering with one another. Jinli’s face was scrunched, mid-sentence. He remembered her comment, “Curves you don’t get to appreciate.” He knew that she said it because she was feeling more comfortable with him and that made him happy.

            The waterfall picture was completely impromptu and Daehyun looked closely at their faces, next to one another. He had taken her completely by surprise but the happiness in her eyes was real. The two of them were peering up at the camera and his heart skipped a few beats at her wide smile. If things had been different, he was sure the marriage would have worked.

            The camera indicated that there was one more picture and he clicked it, curious as to what it could be. The sight of it made him feel the sadness even more acutely. She had taken a poorly lit but still visible picture of the two of them. He remembered her final mission and chuckled sadly. She had done it. He traced the curve of her head bent over his and wondered for a second if he was making all the wrong choices. Almost hesitantly, he placed a finger on his lips and wondered just how much pressure she had put. 

            Jinli stirred and Daehyun dropped the camera in his lap. He held his breath but she stopped moving. He got off the bed and went to the computer. If she kept sleeping, he’d be able print out these pictures and hide them away before she could discover that he knew about the last photo.

            He was trying his hardest to cook when she woke up. “Wow,” he heard her say and turned to see her leaning against the doorway, arms crossed and smirking at him. “Jung Daehyun in the kitchen, cooking and not just eating for once.”

            He flipped the eggs in the pan and gave her a cocky look. “I’m a man of surprises,” he grinned.

            Jinli rolled her eyes. “Please. The bottom is already nearly burnt. Move. I got it.”

            He was more than willing to step aside and watched her as she finished the eggs and slid four pieces of toast into the still sizzling oil. She melted mayonnaise on top and then took the bread out. He watched in fascination as she took the tomato slices he had cut and placed them expertly on the bread before adding all the other ingredients for the sandwich he had wanted to make. She drizzled ketchup on the eggs and placed both plates on the table.

            “Ta-dah! If we had waited for you, we’d be starving.”

            Daehyun bit into the sandwich and nodded. “Not bad. Why aren’t you in the kitchen more often? And why aren’t you eating?”

            “I need to lose weight apparently,” she said flippantly. “Yesterday someone was complaining I was too heavy to carry.”

            “Oh don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”    

            She flipped him the finger. “Eat.”

            He chewed and stared at her. “Seriously, why are you not eating?”

            “I need to fit into my dress later,” Jinli smiled sweetly.

            Immediately his eyebrow rose. “Who’re you trying to impress?”

            “Don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s disgusting. When is it?”

            “Do you want to just not go?” Daehyun offered. “We can, I don’t know, stay in and watch a movie?”

            fell slightly in surprise. “What happened to your playboy image? You can’t possibly give up the nightlife just to watch a banal movie.”

            “Up to you. I thought you weren’t into the clubbing scene anyway. I was being considerate,” he retorted.

            “I’d take you up on the offer but I think Junhong would tell your mother we’re not following her plans.”

            Daehyun wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “We can be doing other things.”

            Jinli felt her face become hot. Standing swiftly, she moved towards the room. “You can do the dishes. I need to get ready.”

            Once alone in the room, she fanned herself and leaned her cheek on the cool dressing table. This was Daehyun. Not the love-of-her-life-Daehyun but Hyosung’s Daehyun. And even though they had spent two days and a night together without her being there, his heart was still with Hyosung. And she didn’t need to fool herself otherwise.

            All this was just between close friends. She took in a deep breath. She had to be okay with that. It was going to be okay. Friends, only friends. Purely just friends. It wasn’t that she was having feelings for Daehyun. Things were more complicated than that. But she knew that if things continued the way they were, feelings would be difficult to suppress. By tomorrow, all this would just be a part of the past and if she continued to think there was some sort of relationship, she would be the silly one.

            “Jinli, you done?” She jumped up and saw Daehyun peering in at her with a bemused expression on his face. “What were you doing? I thought you were getting ready.” She scrambled for an excuse but he shrugged. “If you’re still tired we really don’t need to go.”

            “Oh no I was just thinking about what to wear.”

            He pointed behind her. “Your closet is that way, and it’s not like we packed much. Whatever Junhong brought us is what you’ve got.”

            “Right.” She stood up hurriedly and waved her hand at him. “Out, out.”

            But he walked right in and plopped onto the bed. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned against the headboard, stretching out one leg and smirked at her. “No thanks. Your time’s up. I’m all done and waiting for you.”

            Flustered, Jinli saw a black dress hanging and took it off the hanger and held it to herself. “I’m going to the bathroom. See you later.”

            She hated how purposely friendly he was being. As someone who hated change, this total flip flop was setting her on her guard even more. She slipped on the dress, adjusted the front and crossed her arms, hoping he wouldn’t notice how low it was. Whoever packed her bag had to dig deep for this.

            Jinli tossed her hair to the front and hoped it was long enough to cover everything. She slipped past the bed as quickly as possible to slide down in front of the mirror. Once she put on makeup, she will ignore everything he was saying.

            There came the low whistle the moment she leaned forward to apply the eye shadow. “Mrs. Ahjumma, who are you trying to impress with that dress?”

            She didn’t respond and continued what she was doing. Through the mirror she could see him turning to look at her and then heard him move. Sighing, she leaned back and adjusted her dress before grabbing hold of the eyelash curler.

            Daehyun placed his hand gently on her shoulder and bent down so his voice was by her ear. “Aren’t you worried that I’ll be jealous?”

            “Of what?” she said flippantly as she zig zagged the mascara across her lashes.

            The hand on her slid slowly down right on top of her chest. “Your dress is very low.”

            “No it’s not,” she automatically protested. But even as she said it, her ears were burning.

            He clucked his tongue. “You’re lying.” She sniffed. Luckily, Daehyun straightened. “I’ll show you how I can protect you.”

            Jinli scoffed. “Okay, Daehyun, okay. Whatever you say.”

            He cockily loosened his tie a little. “Just wait and see.”

            The two of them walked into the party and immediately spotted Junhong breaking his moves on the dance floor. Jinli laughed a little shyly and pointed at him. “That boy needs to find himself a girlfriend.”

            Daehyun squeezed her hand and led her to a table. “Let’s worry about yourself first. Do you want a drink?”

            She nodded. “Surprise me.”

            His eyebrows rose and he grinned. “Not bad, not bad. Wait for me.”

            The drinks took a long time and when he turned around, he saw that his spot at the table was taken. It was dark but he recognized the gelled up hair and could guess who it was. Daehyun walked up to them and saw Jinli smiling awkwardly at the intruder.

            The male was running his finger over the rim of a glass before he pushed it over to her. “I had the bartender specially make this for you. I think it would suit your palate.”

            “I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” Daehyun spoke up.

            Jinli whose hand was already nearing the stem of the glass drew away. Zach looked up and frowned. “I’m sorry, why not?”

            Daehyun placed his drink in front of Jinli. “I saw the powder you were slipping in there. I would dump that drink out and stop harassing a married woman if I were you. Or else I will call the bodyguard over and have you kicked out of the entire resort. Now that would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”

            Zach took a deep breath and stood. “Or I can always sue you for slander.”

            Daehyun shrugged and waited until the brat was out of the way before sitting down next to Jinli. He sighed at her. “I thought I told you to be careful?”

            “Thanks,” she smiled at him. “I honestly am really bad at rejecting people.”

            He stared at her for a moment. “I know,” he replied simply. There was a loaded silence afterwards and Jinli knew that by tomorrow, reality would set in. It was already coming. He was acknowledging that everything that had happened between the two of them was something that shouldn’t be happening, and she was too kind to even allow it.

            To break the impending awkwardness, Jinli stood up and held out her hand. “Come dance with me?”

            Daehyun seemed surprised before grinning. “Alright. But don’t let go of my hand. I’m not letting anyone come near you.”

AJDGHADJHGADJGHDA

I'M SO SORRY I'M ON MINI HIATUS

But I've been writing this slowly, slowly and I know everyone's going to hate me because yeah, there's so much more coming wahaha

Don't hate me, please. ♥

To everyone taking finals, good luck. Lots of love