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The thought that she might be slapped publicly in front of all these people...
Jiyu started to feel a bit sorry for Steve—no, Steven.
[Please, I won't even contact you, so could you just give me your number? I'll delete it as soon as the bet is over.]
After pondering for a moment with a troubled expression, she shrugged.
[Alright. But make sure you delete it when the bet is over.]
[Yes!]
He pumped his fist in the air and held out his phone to Jiyu. She quickly typed in her number.
[Thanks so much! Uh... by the way, Olivia. Do you have a boyfriend? If not, can I text you?]
Steven asked abruptly, his face flushing red.
So suddenly?
Until now, not a single boy had approached her with romantic interest. Flustered and not knowing how to answer, she froze stiffly, her lips merely parting and closing, when a loud commotion erupted from the direction of the ping-pong table.
Jiyu craned her neck and looked over Steven's shoulder toward the table. It seemed Hunter's opponent had scored; they were making a racket, triumphantly giving each other high-fives.
Yet, for some reason, she had the illusion that Hunter was glaring at her with a menacing expression.
Jiyu flinched and quickly straightened her head, hiding herself using Steven as a shield. She didn't even know why she was hiding when she hadn't done anything wrong.
[Then, I'll be in touch.]
Despite her efforts to hide, Steven waved the phone in his hand and headed back to his friends. Jiyu pretended to be preoccupied for a moment, taking a small mirror and strawberry-scented lip gloss out of her bag. She deliberately avoided looking toward the ping-pong table.
Why is Chloe taking so long?
As she looked into the mirror and applied the glossy tint to her lips, another person's face appeared in the reflection. Eyes of different colors glinted eerily under the laser lights.
[Wah!]
Startled by the loud noise in her ear, Jiyu let out a shriek. The red-tinted lip gloss smeared across her cheek. She heard a snickering laugh from behind.
Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Jiyu spun around and glared at Rex. Rex, who had grown nearly as tall as Hunter, looked like a lean, lanky runway model, as if every nutrient he consumed went straight to his height. His slightly long hair, which reached his jawline, added to the effect.
[You scared me, Rex!]
[Sorry, Liv. How've you been? But your cheek...]
He smiled and traced a line next to his own lips with a finger.
When Jiyu rubbed her cheek, the sticky, slippery lip gloss came off.
[It smeared more. Wipe it here.]
He chuckled and poked the center of her cheek this time. Jiyu swatted his hand away and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
[It's because of you.]
[Whoa... it's total chaos over there.]
Rex's gaze wandered somewhere past the crown of her head.
[Huh?]
[Don't look back!]
Rex grabbed her face with both hands to stop her from turning around.
[What are you doing? Let go!]
[I'll let go, but you absolutely cannot look back. Got it?]
His eyes were brimming with mischief, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a wicked grin.
[I get it, so let go already. Everyone is watching!]
Jiyu pounded on his arm. However, the moment Rex released her face, he suddenly pulled her into a tight hug.
[Yep. That's exactly who I want people to see.]
So shocked, Jiyu froze, unable to push him away. His upper body seemed to vibrate, and she could hear him stifling laughter. Only then did Jiyu snap out of it and pound his back with her fists.
[Why are you doing this! Did you drink? Or did you smoke something...?]
There was a rumor that one of the kids Rex hung out with—the son of a famous Hollywood actor—was a serious 'stoner.'
[Hehe, just a little alcohol.]
He answered with a laugh.
[Ugh... get it together, Rex.]
In principle, alcohol was strictly forbidden at these parties. However, she had heard that the popular kids would sneak alcohol in and share it among themselves.
There was even a legendary story about someone pouring two magnum bottles of vodka into a non-alcoholic cocktail dispenser, leaving dozens of people wasted and chaotic.
Releasing the hug, Rex placed a hand on her shoulder and tilted his head at a strange angle. Then, he burst into loud laughter.
What kind of trouble is he planning now?
She glared at Rex with suspicion and let out a sigh of resignation. Through long experience, she had learned that when he smiled with that look in his eyes, it was better not to know.
[Crazy. He's getting the Triple Penalty. Wow, damn, this is too obvious. See, I told you.]
[Rex, what on earth are you plotting! Please don't drag me into this.]
[Wait, shit, shit, shit! He's coming this way!]
Rex looked past the top of her head and cackled like a madman, clutching his stomach.
[Coming? Who? You're playing another weird prank, aren't you?]
[Who else? Hunter Hamilton. Ha, it's been a while since I've seen something this entertaining.]
[Hunter? Why is he—]
Rex, who had been laughing heartily with his head tilted back, hugged her again with a mysterious expression.
[Alexander de Lafayette, what is wrong with you!]
When Jiyu yelled, calling him by his full name, he patted her back as if to soothe her.
[Sorry, sorry. Just bear with it for a second, almost there. Five seconds before the volcano erupts.]
Rex began a countdown in an excited voice.
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Boom! Hey, Triple. What brings you here?]
✾ ✾ ✾
He already knew Jiyu was coming to the party. Since she had told him herself last week on a rainy day that she was going to the Spring Fling, it wasn't surprising.
He had also thought that he should attend a party like this at least once, so he had simply canceled his Friday practice to come here.
Tomorrow's tournament was a low-level practice match to raise his score, so as long as he played at his usual level, there would be no problem.
What he hadn't expected was that Jiyu would show up wearing... clothes like that. He hadn't even recognized her at first glance.
Recognizing Jiyu's best friend first, he looked around for the other half of the pair, as they were always together like twin popsicles with two sticks. Then, feeling a sudden chill, he quickly shifted his gaze.
Chloe, was it? The tall, slender woman standing next to her, who had been rummaging through her bag, looked up at that moment.
She was wearing a short black dress that revealed her figure, with makeup that emphasized her eyes and lips, and long, wavy hair cascading over her bare shoulders.
Even after realizing it was Jiyu, Hunter couldn't believe it. The discrepancy between her and the scrawny 'Jewel Parker' in his head was so great that his brain refused to accept the information his eyes were inputting.
Until he saw the dimple appear as she smiled brightly at Chloe.
Usually, she wore a quiet nerd style—either a school uniform or an oversized sweatshirt that reached her thighs—so he had never even imagined she could hide such a look underneath. No, there had been no reason to imagine it.
He knew her legs were long and slender beneath her school skirt because he had noticed it once or twice recently—completely without intention, just by chance—but that was all.
Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that she strangely overlapped with the woman he had kissed in his dream. His heart leaped as if a defibrillator had been pressed to his chest.
'Am I crazy? Does this even make sense?'
His friends pulled on Hunter, who was standing there dazed by the shock. He calmed his mind by recalling the conversation he'd had with his father before coming here.
It's natural. You're at an age where you react just by seeing a photo of a woman in a bikini in a magazine. It's just a trick of hormones. It's nothing.
Boys glanced at Jiyu as they passed by.
'Anyway, is she sane? What on earth was she thinking wearing that...'
The thought that these animal bastards, governed by hormones just like him, were seeing her in such an unbelievable state made a surge of irritation rise within him. He wanted to scrap the party and everything else.
After forcing himself to look away from Jiyu, he looked around again and felt awkward. It was because the other girls were dressed not much differently from Jiyu.
Why hadn't he noticed? Seeing that Jewel Parker wasn't the only one wearing strange clothes and that everyone was like that, she didn't actually stand out that much.
Hunter turned his head again and followed Jiyu with his eyes. She was stuck right back to Chloe like a twin popsicle, leaving no room for anyone to wedge themselves in.
The way she wandered along the edge of the party, looking amazed and giggling at small things, made her look like a country mouse who had just arrived in the city. Only then did he feel like she had returned to the Jewel Parker he knew.
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