c h a p t e r 19

"Is it hot?" Hyunjin smirked.

I flushed deeper, knowing that he was teasing me. "Yes." I turned away.

"You were freezing earlier."

"Well, obviously not anymore." I trudged away.

His laugh echoed throughout the mountains, easily jogging up next to me. Thankfully, he did not make any more comments as we walked together in silence. I bit the insides of my mouth as I discretely put some space between us.

Having Hyunjin next to me, the way back suddenly felt longer than it was. I sneaked a peek at him as I pursed my lips, seeing how casually he walked. With his hands inside his pockets and a calm demeanour, I concluded that he was a naturally affectionate person. I mentally choked myself for fumbling so much when the blonde next to me was completely unbothered by what had happened.

I sighed just as we reached the sleeping quarters. Hyunjin stepped ahead to open the doors. I waited behind him as he tugged on it. And tugged. And tugged. "Uh."

"What the hell?" I whispered.

Hyunjin turned to face me with his eyes wide open. "Why did you lock it?" He accused.

"I didn't lock it!" I shrieked defensively.

"Well, it's locked!"

"Move." I stepped up and tried to pull on the door as well but to no avail. I tugged on it a few more times before groaning in frustration.

"Well?" Hyunjin prompted.

"It's locked!" I hissed.

"Really?" He drawled out sarcastically to which I replied with a glare. He cast a look at his watch before snapping his fingers. "That's right! They said that the doors lock at 10 PM!" He gasped.

It was 10:20 PM.

"Call the teachers or something!" I waved my hand around.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket before giving me a sheepish smile. "It's dead." He showed me the phone which refused to turn on. "Where's your phone?" He asked.

I frowned. "I left it inside the room."

"Nice going, genius."

"You're one to talk! Who brings a dead phone around, anyway?" I shot back, my lips curling.

He scoffed. "If you must know, I was on a phone cal-"

Our conversation was cut short when it started drizzling. Great. What use was the umbrella that I had brought if it's snugged inside the comfort of my warm and dry bag? Jerk.

My hands instinctively went up to cover my head.

"Yeah, like that would do anything." Hyunjin sassed with a roll of his eyes.

I clicked my tongue but brought my hands down anyway, seeing his point. Before I could snap back at him, he took my hands in his before dragging me away. I realized that he was jogging towards the building where we took our meals.

To my surprise, the door clicked open. We scrambled inside with a huff. We collapsed on the floor since the jog was a little more difficult to do with the rain and wet soil.

"Why would they keep this place unlocked?" I asked aloud, scanning the area to see if there was anyone inside. I blindly reach for the walls to feel the light switch. I flicked it on only to be still drowned in darkness.

"I think they turned off the electricity." Under the moonlight, which was our only source of light, I could make out that Hyunjin had combed up his damp hair with his left hand. "I'm never going to the mountains ever again." He ruffled his hair, sprinkling water everywhere.

I flinched from the droplets. "Quit it, dog."

He turned to me with a smirk. "Call me a 'good boy'."

I glared at him in return. I only noticed our still intertwined hands when he tugged on it, causing me to lean closer towards him.

His smirk grew wider as I felt his gaze go over from my eyes to my lips. Paralyzed, my eyes blinked several times as my heartbeat doubled. Having him up close made me conscious of how I looked. He was the epitome of perfection. Even in the darkness, he still glowed. Hannah Montana or whoever said that nobody's perfect was clearly wrong. The boy in front of me was living proof. My breath got caught in my throat as he leaned impossibly closer.

Then there was thunder.

I jumped away, letting my whole body fall on the tiled floors. "Damn marbles." I let my hands graze over the floors. I did not care anymore if it was unsanitary. All I wanted was to get away from the dangerous man next to me which was Hyunjin.

I heard him chuckle silently. I quickly got up to my feet as I dusted my pants. "What are we gonna do?" I asked, still flustered, walking towards the benches. Partly to take a proper seat and partly to get away from the blonde.

Now that we had a bit of distance between us, I could only look at his figure in the dark. He shrugged casually, crossing his stretched legs over each other. "It seems that we're gonna be sleeping here for the night and wait for the doors to open in the morning."

I sighed turning my back against him to face the table. I propped my chin on my arms with a frown. This certainly wasn't what I was expecting for a school trip.

The bench creaks when Hyunjin sat down next to me. I slide a little further away to give him space. I rested the side of my head on the table, facing him. "Why am I always getting stuck with you?" I thought aloud.

He mimicked my position. We faced each other, one with a small smile and the other with a frown.

"I don't know and I'm not complaining." I let him tuck the stray hair from my face.

I turned the opposite way, avoiding his eyes. "Would you stop it?" My teeth gritted involuntarily.

"Stop what?"

"That."

"What?"

"Quit playing dumb." I scoffed. "You know what you're doing." I found myself muttering.

He did not talk after that. We sat there in silence as the hours flew by. My eyelids slowly started falling. My breathing became even as I felt myself drifting off to sleep. After a while, I felt the back of my head being caressed.

He whispered something right when I fell asleep, causing me to miss it.

(a/n: happy 440 reads ㅠㅅㅠ)