3 guys have pinned Nicole, the contestant I met this morning, to the wall of the shed. I watch in horror as they rip off her swimsuit. One of them has placed his large hand over so she can’t scream loudly.

“Just relax,” the one with the bleached blonde hair leers. “We’ll make you feel- oof!”

“Back away from her,” I command coldly, my elbow jammed into the man’s solar plexus, “or I’ll wreck you guys even harder.”

I spin into a crescent kick and hit the second man directly in the crotch. He collapses mid-lunge, wailing in pain.

But when I whirl around to attack the last guy, he rips out a knife from the pockets of his shorts. I freeze.

“Back away now,” he hisses eerily, pressing the blade on Nicole’s neck. Her eyes widen in terror and she shakes furiously, trying to escape the man’s grasp.

. . What do I do?

Keep calm, Sojin. Keep talking.

“Why do you want to do this?” I whisper in a trembling voice, my eyes quivering in pseudo-fear. The man’s eyes are latched on my face. He doesn’t notice me inching slowly towards him.

“Why did you have to meddle?” he shouts. “Just let me have my way with her! If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you and I’ll kill her.”

“B-But sir...,” I bite my lip innocently. “Why did you hit on her? Why not me?”

I’m a foot away from him.

“Huh?” His eyes widen.

“Am I not good enough for you? I want a man.” I give him a pout.

4 inches.

“Don’t worry, baby,” he chuckles, loosening his grip on Nicole. “I’ll do you, too.”

“Like hell you will,” I snarl, and grab his arm, twist my foot around his ankle, and throw him to the ground. He screams in agonized pain, clutching his arm. His shouts attract people from the beach, who come running over to us.

Nicole’s sunk to the sand, a shell-shocked look over her face. Her bikini top’s nearly ripped in half. Quickly grabbing a towel from the shed, I wrap it over Nicole’s shoulders.

“Are you alright?” I ask softly.

Nicole stares at me for 2, 4, 6 seconds before bursting into sobs and wrapping her arms around me.

“Oh my god,” she bawls. “I w-was so scared. Th-they were go-going to-,”

“Shhh.” I gently pat her on the back. “It’s alright now. No one’s going to mess with you.”

“What’s going on here?” Federico, the guy from earlier, is sprinting towards us. Chanyeol, Yuna, Luna, Amber, Sulli, Victoria, and Krystal are hot on his heels. When Federico sees Nicole crying in my arms his jaw drops.

“Nicole,” he whispers, scooping her up into his arms. “What happened? Nicole, talk to me. Please.”

“You should take her home,” I tell him quietly. “She’s been through a lot.”

Federico wraps me into a one-armed hug as he supports Nicole with his other arm. “Thank you,” he says sincerely. He looks nothing like the obnoxious, flirty man he was acting as earlier today.

He must truly care about Nicole.

I watch as they both walk off into the sunset, heading off the beach.

“Sojin?” Luna whispers, breaking the silence. “What... happened?”

Slowly, I explain to them the nerve-wracking events that took place with Nicole and those horrible men. Before I’ve even finished speaking Chanyeol has gripped me into a tight embrace.

“Why did you do that?” he moans. “You could’ve been hurt.”

“I couldn’t just stand there and watch them do that to her.”

“Excuse me?” I feel a tap on my arm. An elderly looking man is beaming up at me. A crowd of people is standing behind him.

“We heard what happened, ma’am. You are a truly hero.” The man shakes my hand.

“It was my pleasure.” I smile, and the people in the crowd begin whooping and chanting my name. “Park So-jin! Park So-jin!”

“How do they know my name?” I wonder curiously.

Sulli points over to the Miss Guam Beach Contest banner. “You’re a contestant. They announced your name and all, remember?”

I feel a wave of euphoria travel over me as people continue thanking me. Now I can understand why Chanyeol loves volunteering and helping others so much. This one act that I committed has made me feel so happy about myself and Nicole. I saved her! She’s not hurt!

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a slim figure make her way through the throng of people towards me.

“Stop stealing my spotlight, Park Sojin.” Yuna says. Her voice is missing its usual bite. “I won Miss Guam Beach, see?”

She points up to a large crown sitting on her head.

I give her a nod. “Good for you.”

Yuna looks at me for a moment, and then sighs. “Hey... that was a really good thing you did just now. With Nicole and all.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “What?”

“I’m not repeating myself. You heard what I said. I'm leaving.”

And Yuna flashes me a tiny, almost imperceptible smile before strutting away.  

I am still reeling from the shock of Oh Yuna not being a to me once in her life when I hear a tinny voice say, “Excuse me, Miss Park Sojin?”

I whirl around. One of the judges from the Miss Guam Beach competition is standing behind me.

“Yes, sir?” I say.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve been disqualified from the competition.” He coughs awkwardly. “Our rules state explicitly that violence of any form is not allowed. Considering the heroic feat you just performed, I’m very sorry for this. But rules are rules.”

“What?!” Krystal shrieks. “That’s BS! Total BS!”

“Yeah!” the crowd roars in assent. “That’s not fair!”

I shake my head, motioning to them to stop shouting. “That’s.... okay. I’m leaving now, if you don’t mind.”

“Yes.” The judge pats me on the back. “Good work. You did well.”

“Hey, Amber,” I say, something dawning on my mind as we’re walking back to our hotel. The sun has set upon the magnificent ocean, tinting its cerulean waters with an orange glow. “Who won Mr. Guam Beach?”

My friends’ downcast looks tell me it all. I stop walking. My body feel like it’s been pulverized.

“Kai,” Victoria informs me tonelessly. “Kai got first.”

My stomach sinks all the way to hell.

Kai beat me.

Which means I’ll have to do what he wants tonight.

"I lost again," I whisper.