-In 2023, not all parents hold their children to traditional standards for love and marriage, but modern lifestyles are still not always accepted. Especially not when your younger sibling is getting married first and your parents are practically jum...
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The following evening, Saturday night, you and your friends decide to make your way down the strip of public beach looking for some kind of fun. Kotonoha suggested it was the best way to find an environment all three of us are looking for.
After about ten minutes of walking, Faye stops in her tracks. She takes a few steps backward and faces the land side. "Is that a bar on the beach?!" she gasps with excitement.
"You guys want to check it out?" you ask the other two, equally as curious as Faye.
"Sure, let's give it a go," Kotonoha nods.
So the three of you make your way toward a small, round, bamboo bar. You all sit underneath the tented area where Faye calls for the bartender.
After you order your drinks, the three of you sit there sipping and chatting for awhile.
"I'm so glad we decided to come here. It's like a tropical getaway without the airplane," Faye smiles.
"I didn't mind the three-hour drive for this," you agree.
"Are you sure, Y/N? Even though you get carsick? And you get those mean headaches?" Kotonoha asks.
"I'd endure it all to come back here again," you smile. "Besides, the headaches aren't as bad as the ones I get when I'm hungover."
"Shit, if we keep going at this rate we'll all be screwed in the morning," Kotonoha laughs.
About an hour into your drinking and laughing, you feel the full effects of your choices. Your brain is a bit fuzzy, but you stay alert since you're in unfamiliar surroundings.
"So what's the plan if one of us meets someone?" Faye grins as she looks between the two of you.
"What do you mean?" Kotonoha asks, swallowing down a lump in her throat.
Faye then nods to the seat beside you. A handsome man, tanned with a face sculpted by the gods, sits to your right. You must be so blind for not even realizing him before. But at the same time, you admittedly feel a bit guilty. If you were to go off with someone, you'd be leaving your friends in the middle of a girls' trip. Besides, even the drunk version of you isn't so great at talking to hot strangers. The exception being Hinata, of course.
But just then, the man turns his head toward you and smiles. "Hi," you hum, trying your best not to look like some creep who has been staring him down.
"Hi," he responds kindly before nodding over at your friends. "How's your night going, ladies?"
"Can't complain," Kotonoha shrugs. "But my friend and I were just going to make our way over to the sand. Looks like there's some kind of dance party going on. C'mon," she nods to Faye.
As Faye stands up, Kotonoha smiles and takes her hand. The two of them walk off, whispering and giggling quietly.
"Do you like to dance?" the man then asks you.
"Occasionally," you shrug. "Do you?"
"I guess you'll just have to find out," he tells you just before finishing off his drink. "Care to join me?"
You hesitate for a moment, knowing where things could go from here. But you're a long way from home. You'll never see this guy again. Who cares about one little dance? Besides, you'd be doing Kotonoha a favor.
So when the stranger puts out his hand toward you, you accept it and walk in the same direction where your friends had disappeared.
The man brings you over to where you hear loud music playing and see a huge bonfire burst into the sky. There, he turns around to face you.
"I'm glad you agreed to come over, Miss-"
"Y/N," you nearly shout over the music.
"Adam," he replies. "You're very beautiful, Y/N. I do hope you know that."
"I have my days," you respond honestly.
"Good thing I'm here to remind you then," he smiles.
When you smile back, Adam takes a step closer to you and pulls you toward him. You're taken aback at first, not really used to being this close to someone. The last time you've genuinely been intimate with someone was probably six months ago. And you can't even remember the last time you dated someone.
"Good thing," you whisper, already at a loss of words from staring into his eyes.
"Can I kiss you?" he then asks softly. You can hardly hear him because of the music, but you'd recognize the word kiss from anyone's lips. Except, when his words finally do ring in your ears, it's not his voice you hear.
"Yes," you whisper breathlessly.
When his lips touch yours, flowers grow from the pit of your stomach. Somehow, you feel nervous and confident at the same time. And happy. Especially when you close your eyes and reach your hand up into his hair. Picturing soft, orange hair. Pretending it's someone else's lips against yours.
As his tongue mingles with yours, all you can think about is the man you met in the coffee shop just after work. You've only met him twice- once more than the man who stands before you- but he's all you can think about now.
You feel absolutely lost in time while you kiss the stranger before you. Almost as though you're stuck in a trance until you're ripped away.
"Y/N!" Kotonoha shouts as she grabs onto your arm and pulls you away from your daydream and the man you were kissing. "Fuck, I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Sorry," you shake your head, not really sure about what's going on.
"It's two a.m. Time to go," she tells you as she waves her hand in front of your face. "Say goodbye."
The glossy look in your eyes fades when you look back at the man you were kissing. You finally realize it wasn't Hinata. Just some stranger you were using to fill the time.
"I've got to go," you tell him. "I'm sorry. Have a nice night."
"Same to you," he waves. "Get home safe!"
The two of you then walk through the crowd together, walking away from your fling.
"Didn't know you liked him that much," Kotonoha teases. "Jesus, you literally spent all night with him."
"I did?" you respond, trying to think of anything that happened after he brought you to dance. "I'm sorry. Are you and Faye feeling alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Faye's in bed already. I'm ready to pass out, too," she tells you.
"Me too," you sigh as you put your head down on her shoulder.
"Long night of making out, huh?"
"Yeah," you nod.
"Think you'll see him again?" she smirks as she looks down at you on her shoulder.
"No. Besides, his name is Adam," you chuckle to yourself.
"Shut up. Like Adam as in Faye's ex's name?" she gasps. "I can't wait until she finds out about that. She'll die. I bet you she'd actually be speechless!"
"Probably," you smile to yourself. "But make sure I'm there too when you tell her."
