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Zzzzip. Hunter closed the knee-length curtain at the entrance with a roughness that looked as if he might rip it off. Then, he turned around slowly.
From outside the booth, a suggestive wolf whistle was followed by a loud roar of cheers. Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” and the crowd joined in in unison.
Jiyu stepped backward. Before she could even take a single step, her back hit the corner. Hunter’s massive presence filled the narrow photo booth.
[I asked if you were dating Alexander de Lafayette.]
He spat out Rex’s full name as he glared at her.
[Why aren't you answering? Since when have you been doing this behind my back... Does that bastard know you're my Jinx? That you've kissed my hand dozens of times?]
He stepped closer. He was so close their bodies were almost touching. Cornered, Jiyu had nowhere left to retreat.
His broad shoulders blocked her view, making her feel trapped by him. She looked up at him with trembling eyes.
[What are you suddenly—]
[Answer me, Jewel Parker. Are you dating him!]
Hunter pressed in close, interrogating her with a menacing expression as if she had committed some heinous crime.
Jiyu felt wronged. Of all the things to misunderstand, why this?
[No! I told you no, you idiot!]
Jiyu shouted back indignantly. She was so unused to raising her voice that her own tone sounded foreign to her. The infuriating Hunter Hamilton had a knack for dragging out the small amount of temper hidden inside her.
She lowered her voice slightly and glared at him.
[Stop talking nonsense. Why would I be with Rex? We're just... friends.]
Hunter snorted and gave a mocking sneer.
‘Just friends, yet they hug and kiss in front of everyone? Jewel Parker, were you ever the type of girl capable of that?’
His chest felt tight. It felt as if someone had poured gasoline down his throat and tossed in a lighter. He felt an unpleasant agitation, as if his insides were being scorched black. A violent urge boiled up within him, a desire to grab someone by the collar and beat them into a pulp.
[Is that so? Then it'll be easy. If you can kiss a bastard who's "just a friend," then there's no reason I can't do it too, right?]
[...What?]
Jiyu asked back, her eyes widening in shock.
Fuck. Who does he think is the idiot? I saw her kissing Rex with my own eyes.
Hunter tilted his chin up and spoke coldly.
[Kiss or slap.]
[Why are you doing the penalty with me—]
[Who else would I do it with?]
[......]
Jiyu was visibly shaken. Her large eyes wavered, and her eyelashes fluttered rapidly. Then, she bit her lip as if to hide its trembling.
It wasn't that there were no girls she knew in here. There were frequent exchanges between schools, and some faces were familiar through family connections. But among them, there wasn't a single girl she wanted to kiss.
‘Then, what about Jewel Parker? Does he want to do it with her?’
The caustic question gnawed at the back of his mind.
Hunter grit his teeth. He didn't want to admit it. The sense of self-loathing was immense. It was irritating and absurd. Yet, his body kept reacting on its own, making it impossible to fake his way through.
His reason pulled at his shoulders, telling him he shouldn't do this, but something beyond his conscious control kept urging him to move closer to her.
Hunter recalled the conversation he had with Jerard just before coming to the party.
‘Is this what my father called adolescent hormones, desire... or something like that?’
Hunter observed Jiyu without blinking. A reddish hue slowly crept up her cheeks. It was a sight that always fascinated him. His hands itched to touch it.
Perhaps because it was a confined space, his chest felt a bit tight. His breathing seemed to have grown a bit heavier.
Jiyu, with her head lowered, stole a glance upward. When their eyes met, her face turned bright red all the way to her ears; she avoided his gaze and chewed her lip.
It's permission!
Having known Jiyu since they were children, Hunter read her body language, and his heart gave a heavy thud.
[Huu.]
With a short exhale, he lifted her chin slightly. Their eyes met once more. The bright lights of the photo booth were embedded in her large brown eyes like round moons, shining white.
Jiyu lowered her gaze to hide her expression. His gaze traveled over the straight, elegant bridge of her nose, lingered briefly on her flushed cheeks, and finally stopped at her transparent, glossy red lips.
He took a deep breath. A sweet strawberry scent wafted from Jiyu's lips. The fingertips holding her chin trembled slightly. Swallowing the saliva pooling in his mouth, he tilted his head. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Lowering his lips, he murmured.
[If you don't want to, just hit me.]
The voice, sounding as if it had been scraped through a rough throat, sounded strange even to his own ears.
The moment their lips overlapped, both held their breath simultaneously.
Skinny Jewel Parker's lips were softer, more supple, and... slicker than he had expected. Pressing against her lips, Hunter blinked a few times before slowly pulling away.
Both exhaled the breath they had been holding at the same time.
The sweet strawberry scent had transferred to Hunter's lips. He moistened his lips with his tongue. A faint sweetness lingered on the tip of his tongue.
Just a little more.
He lowered his head again. Jiyu, slowly opening her eyes, blinked through a blur, and just before his lips touched hers, she covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
[We... we just did it.]
[That was the penalty. This is the Jinx. There's a tournament.]
Though not a particularly important tournament.
He took her hand and pulled it down. Holding one of her hands in his, he lowered his head again. His breathing was heavier than before.
Their lips locked again. From Jiyu's lips, which parted slightly as if she were suffocating, a tremor was transmitted along with her shallow breaths.
Ha. I can't stand it.
Hunter leaned his upper body in a bit deeper than before. Jiyu, her head tilted back as far as it could go, staggered and braced herself against the monitor once more.
Ding, ting. The machine chimed several times, but neither of them heard it.
Jiyu's knees lost their strength. The small photo booth felt as if it were floating on the ocean, the ground beneath her feet undulating. She felt dizzy, nauseous, and trembled violently.
It hurt a little because Hunter was pressing into her lips. The rough and clumsy kiss was as persistent and willful as his personality.
The kiss, which began with a slight lick as if tasting lip gloss, moved into her mouth. It turned into a game of hide-and-seek, searching for and pulling at her as she tried to flee and hide.
Ah... this feeling is strange...
As if there were a time bomb inside, her heart beat violently, as if it would burst in a moment. Every nerve in her body focused on Hunter, who was rummaging through her mouth as if it were his own home.
Her first kiss was dizzying, chaotic, and breathless.
[Your photo is ready!]
Whir, clack. A cheerful mechanical voice spoke along with the sound of the photo sliding out of the dispenser. Their touching foreheads froze simultaneously, as if they had been drenched in ice water.
Jiyu, recovering her senses first, pushed Hunter away slightly. He slowly detached his lips and lifted his head. The surrounding noise returned all at once, like taking off noise-canceling headphones.
They had merely pressed their lips together and played hide-and-seek, yet both panted as if they had undergone intense exercise.
Hunter's blue eyes sank deep with a color he had never seen before. He half-closed his eyes and lowered his head again.
This time, Jiyu blocked his lips with her hand. A question swirled in her clouded mind.
Why does Hunter keep trying to kiss me when he doesn't even like me?
[We did the penalty, and we did the Jinx. What's the reason for this now...?]
[......]
Hunter seemed speechless and couldn't answer.
Just then, the conversation from outside the booth drifted in.
[I think they kissed, right?]
[They did, they did. For sure. Should we peek?]
The curtain fluttered slightly.
[Hey, don't interfere!]
The last voice was Rex's. As if they were thinking the same thing, Hunter's face crumpled menacingly.
Suddenly, a strange question occurred to Jiyu.
Why did he get angry and ask if she was dating Rex, and say those absurd things about kissing a friend?
She tilted her head.
[Um, Hunter? Are you perhaps jealous of Rex? Earlier—]
[What kind of bullshit is that? Why would I be jealous of that bastard? Jewel Parker, are you crazy?]
Hunter cut her off with a murderous expression.
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