Chapter 37

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The plans for the night were shaping nicely. Chaewon and Eun-Kyung, the two managers that went out to get the groceries, came back from the store smiling warmly at us as they started bringing in the ingredients we needed. It was when they brought in two wooden crates, each holding nine tall green bottles, that my mood began to take a different path.

I sighed deeply. Wine. They brought wine, and a lot of it. At first I chose to keep myself busy. I stationed myself in the kitchen doing prep work for the food. Jin took over manning the stove in the kitchen. Yoongi was in charge of the grill outside. I chose to start acting as a liaison between the kitchen and the grill outside.

Every time I passed those crates, sitting in a corner in the kitchen, I would attempt to avert my eyes. Pretend as if they weren't there. We decided to all eat outside at the long table near the grill. Jimin ushered past me to grab a couple of the bottles of wine and a corkscrew to open them with. Tae, Jungkook, and Joon started grabbing goblets from the cabinets. I sighed again. This time debating with myself. I can either let this happen; let them start drinking, pretending that I am completely in charge of my emotions at the moment, or I can instead speak up about why the idea of them potentially becoming intoxicated bothers the crap out of me. Explain to them why this idea haunts me.

Yes, at that moment I know that I need to speak up. I know that working through these emotions, and keeping that line of communication open is the only way this will work between us. So, before Jimin uses the corkscrew I reach out and stop his hand. He arches his eyebrows at me but when he realizes I want to say something he simply let's me take the floor.

I bite my lip first though, because it's hard to admit this. I'm afraid they will think that I don't want them to drink at all, and that's not it. That's not the problem. "Before you all start sampling the wine I think I should... No, I think I need to express something."

Joon stands up and comes over and stands next to me. One of his arms loosely around my back at the waist. "What is it?"

"Um..." How to begin? "I don't want you to keep yourselves from having fun, and I'm not opposed to a goblet of wine with a meal. I think you should know though, that I can't be completely supportive of the idea of becoming belligerently drunk. Um...I told you all my parents were in a horrible accident that took their lives. What I didn't tell you was that it was a car accident, and that the other driver had been drinking."

They take a minute to absorb that information. Some of them muttering things in Korean aloud. I'm assuming they are trying to work out how to respond. I'm not surprised that it's Joon that responds first. "First of all, none of us have ever got behind the wheel of a car after even having an ounce of alcohol. So, you will never have to worry about that with us. Secondly, you know how our schedule can be. So, because of that I hope you can understand that when we do drink in excess it is exceptionally rare and only a way for us to wind down. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we will never ever push you to join us if that's not what you want to do."

I nod. "I was just afraid that you might misconstrue what I was saying. That you might think that I was telling you that I didn't want you to drink, when that's not the case at all. I do have the occasional glass of wine with a meal myself, but outside of that I personally can't get behind the idea of drinking for fun."

I notice a few of them glancing at their empty goblets. I can only guess they are considering abstaining from drinking for the rest of tonight, but I won't let them when they had already chosen to use this night to unwind. It was basically their first night free for a week after all. They deserved to relax and have fun. "Please don't refrain on my account."

The meal ends up just as delicious as it sounded when we were planning it. In fact the dishes were completely empty, no leftovers remaining, despite the amount of food we actually ended up cooking. Tae and Joon ended up being the ones to clean the dishes tonight. I spoke up about the fact that Tae was doing the dishes a lot, and he said something about it being his traditional chore, and that he really didn't mind.

We all switched into our bathing suits and ended up in the pool again. I took turns spending a bit of time with each of my guys while I was in the water.

I sat with Yoongi on the steps leading in. He was a step higher than me, and I was sitting in the space between his legs, my head resting against him. He was one of the majority that still chose to wear a t-shirt in the water, and while I was mildly annoyed by its presence, I chose to instead be relieved for the wet fabric separating us. I shifted myself so I could turn around and look at him. I mouthed 'bear' at him which had him responding with his traditional gummy smile. He leaned over and pecked my lips which was when Hobi came over and literally peeled me away.

He pulled me from Yoongi's embrace and cloistered us off in our own little corner for a few minutes. "Hi there, Petal." He grinned dangerously at me, and I found myself gulping nervously.

Being trapped between his body and the wall of the pool was only making me revisit those heated memories when we were alone. I was somewhat relieved when I heard Jimin call his name. While his attention was averted I snuck past him and launched myself onto Jin's back.

Like Yoongi, he too was wearing a t-shirt, but underneath my hands I could still feel the manly width of his shoulders. The definition of them underneath my fingertips made me only slightly apprehensive. Do they all have an underlying layer of muscle tone? "I thought Jimin was the Koala of the group." He expressed playfully.

Despite his tone I found myself frowning slightly. "Do you mind? I can move if you want."

He shook his head. So, I stayed where I was. Pressing my chin against his shoulder and peeking over him to the others while we observed. I didn't end up staying like that long because Jungkook chose to peel me away.

He carried me in a princess hold and the back of my arm and side swept against the panel of his bare well defined abs. I knew being this close to him was going to be trouble, and it was only reaffirmed when the temperature of my blood seemed to skyrocket in my veins. "Wanna race the length of the pool?" He grinned that bunny smile at me. I chose the opportunity as a way to rapidly jump out of his arms. I didn't win, but then again I honestly didn't expect to.

When I appeared winded after the race Joon picked me up wrapping me around his front like a monkey. He chose to forego a t-shirt also this time around and if my heart wasn't already beating wildly it would have probably taken the opportunity to jump from my chest. We stayed like that silently while I regained the ability to breathe at a normal speed. I only climbed out of his arms after a few minutes of relaxing against him.

Tae and Jimin chose to share my time equally between them this time. I was exceptionally relieved that, at least tonight, they both were wearing tees. The two 95s both had consumed a little more alcohol than the others, and it was quite obvious by how enhanced their silliness was. They crowded me in a sandwiched hug that was both lovingly comfortable and set my pulse racing. Tae kept making up lyrics with the nickname he had for me, singing softly in my ear about being his angel while he crowded me from behind. Jimin just kept smiling at me with his beautiful smile. His eyes disappearing into the slanted crescents that I was honestly growing to love. Their excessive silliness was honestly charming, despite the copious amount of wine they had consumed. It made me a bit more mentally lenient to the thought of them drinking like this. But, it didn't mean I would become so belligerent with them anytime soon, if at all.

Soon enough I was beginning to feel water logged. Once I got out the others, unsurprisingly, decided to follow. "I'm not ready to go to bed yet!" Jimin announced.

"So, what should we do instead?" I found myself asking.

"Play games." Tae offered.

"Um, I did look up some games not too long ago. I can see if I can find something suitable from the list I suppose." So, we all separated for a few minutes to get rinsed off and changed.



We all sat around the living area space while I scrolled through my phone to list the games on my list. They all insisted that 'wink murder' sounded fun, only Jimin spoke up against it. "I can't wink."

"So how about this then? We all hold out a finger heart in front of us. The murderer will squeeze the heart together when they pick out their victim." Joon suggests.

"So, killing them with fiercely excessive love." I comment, smirking at myself. There is no reason for the hearts to have a negative connotation so might as well spin it that way.

"It will probably add an extra element of challenge to the game, too. The murder having to be more covert with the action." Jin things out aloud pensively.

"I'm not sure we have the room to play this here." Jin points out. He's right too. The room is great for sitting together but there is next to no floor space.

We all end up back outside, only this time we go out front. We haven't spent much time out on this side of the building, but we didn't want to risk someone unintentionally falling into the pool. Plus there is definitely more than enough room to navigate here. We just have to work around the foliage.

We draw rolls by drawing a piece of paper from a jar. Most of them are blank of course. Only a solitary one has a covert red dot in the middle to indicate they are the chosen murderer. Only one other has a covert blue dot to indicate they are the detective.

The first game Jin ends up being the detective. I'm quite thankful not to be the murderer this round, but when Hobi kills me I experience a mixed bag of shock by how covert he is and annoyance because he targeted me first.

After posing dead for a few seconds I scoot to watch on the sidelines while everyone starts getting picked off. Hobi ends up killing five of us before Jin figures out it's him.

The second round Joon ends up the detective. Unfortunately because Tae is still kind of tipsy he gets caught pretty fast. He ended up killing two before he was unmasked.

We all decide the next round will be the last game. This time Jungkook is the detective. Which sucks for me because I'm the murderer. Since Hobi went after me first in the first round I decide that he would be my first victim. It's easy to 'kill' him because he is already looking my way. I almost feel violent when I squish the finger heart. Hobi goes full ham by making his death as dramatic as possible.

Jungkook looks around the others nearby Hobi's body. I'm actually about 4 feet away, and he isn't really focused on me. So, I take the opportunity and kill off one of the others nearby while his back is turned on me. Jimin also hams up his death, and a part of me is almost feeling guilty for 'killing' off him when he frowns.

Jungkook whips his head around the remaining faces in that cloister. I choose a different tactic this time. I turn and talk to Joon, who is behind me. I smile manically before squeezing the heart. I even feign innocence by pretending to mourn his 'dead' body.

It's only Tae, Yoongi, Jin, and myself remaining. I know that from here on out it will be more difficult to be covert. Jungkook isn't being very vocal with his suspicions but he keeps glancing at Yoongi. That's when the game gets strange, because even though he's supposed to be an innocent he squeezes a heart at Jin and kills him off.

When Jungkook voices his accusation and he's wrong the others are confused on what the rules would be that follows. "I think that means Jk lost." Jin mutters.

"But, I watched him kill Jin." He quickly refutes.

"Yeah, but I wasn't the murderer." Yoongi smirks.

"Then that means I won. Right?" I attempt a manic evil laugh that really doesn't go over well when I start coughing and choking on it. "Okay never attempting that sound again."

We all say goodnight. Hobi coming into my room to borrow the bathroom for his nightly ritual. He doesn't hang around long this time. I can see the lethargy growing in his expression. He kisses me softly goodnight. I smile as the door shuts.

I'm honestly still wired from the game so despite the fact I probably shouldn't I decide to take a shower. I don't expect more visitors so when I come back in a towel and find not one person in my bed but two I am a cocktail of shocked and embarrassed. The 95s don't waste a second perusing the bared flesh dappled with water droplets. I attempt to dislodge my heart from my throat and grab my pajamas. Without a word I run to the bathroom and get changed. I'm still feeling flustered and shy when I come back out.

Tae grabs my brush and pulls it gently through my hair. Jimin not wanting to be left out decides to pamper me by massaging my feet. "Just be sure not to tickle me. I really don't want to kick you in the face." He laughs, but honestly I'm not kidding. I am seriously that ticklish on the feet.

Tae skillfully braids my hair. I don't question how he knows how to do it. I know he has a younger sister. So, I imagine he has braided her hair in the past.

The two tuck around me in the bed. Jimin at my back, and Tae at my front. Before I can suggest they go back to their rooms my eyes drift close. The sounds of their synchronized breathing pulling me deeply into slumber.

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