High Teen Society

Chapter 16: The New Chairman

"Can I turn around now?" Jake asked, smiling from ear to ear as his hands enfolded his eyes. Nobody told him to do that, but he always knew how to make things more exciting for himself.

"Hold on. Sit." I hissed at one of the dogs. "Okay, you can look now."

He spun around, a hand immediately flying to his mouth. "You didn't!"

"Oh but I did." I said, letting go of the leash so they could all run to him. "Happy birthday, Jake hyung!"

Jake knelt down, basking in the kisses of a dozen golden retrievers as the other guests in the superyacht began to sing him a happy birthday. 

"Is he going to keep all of those?" Nishimura Riki asked from my left.

"No. This is his equivalent of receiving flying doves in weddings." I told the younger. "It's just for celebration purposes." 

"Aren't you scared the dogs will jump over the yacht?" Sunghoon asked from my right.

"They're trained dogs. They'll be fine." I watched as the birthday boy got up from the ground to approach his birthday cake. I followed suit, grabbing my own plate. 

Jake helped himself to a slice, still smiling from playing with the dogs. "You want one, too?" He asked me. I nodded. Jake slid me the cake he'd already sliced for himself and went to get another. "Have you cleared the air between you and Jay yet?"

"Yes. No. Maybe." I answered childishly, attacking the strawberry first. 

Upon professing their feelings for each other, Jungwon and Jay came to a compromise. They talked out the extremes in their personalities and decided to meet halfway. Jungwon promised to be more accepting of help and Jay promised not to be unnecessarily generous as it made the younger uncomfortable. Jungwon gave Jay the go signal to pay for all of his grandma's hospital utilities. Granted, he'll pay all of it back in time.

"They're not together." Jake said, taking a bite. "But they're not not together either."

I grimaced. "What?"

"You know what I mean!"

Click.

I whirled around sharply towards the crowd behind me. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Jake asked absently, taking another bite of his birthday cake.

"I don't know. There was a weird, clicking sound. Like someone taking pictures." I said, still looking around. "It's probably just....nothing."

After finishing the cake I decided to join Heeseung in the cockpit. He was busy taking pictures with his phone, the sea breeze blowing his black hair. He turned the phone towards me and began to take pictures as well. I struck a few poses just so he wouldn't have any unsightly footage of me on his phone. 

"Why are you here?" Heeseung asked, putting his phone down. "I thought you hated my guts."

"I do. But I've nowhere to go. I don't like it over there." I replied. "Too many people."

"It is a 'bit weird to see you without Jay now." 

"What you did.... I don't like it. But I can acknowledge it forced me to face the truth head on. It's still not something I'd thank you for, though."

"You know, if you're lonely... you can always use me." He offered, a sly smile on his face.

"Yeah, right. And get attached over a silly little one night stand again?" I declined, rolling my eyes.

"I'm not as nice as Jay." said Heeseung. "You won't find yourself attached to me anytime soon even if you tried."

"What will you do?" I asked him.