THE BET 🦋

XXVII.

When I woke up in the morning, I knew there would be a lot of explaining to do. Bitna wasn't in the tent, so I assumed she slept at Gyun-hyuk's place. Anyway, it was time to pack as our trip was coming to an end. I'm not going to lie, I was quite happy because with all the drama that happened here, I had enough for the year ahead.
I packed mine and Bitna's things. She'll have to thank me for that later, because I've never seen the amount of junk she brought with her. As I started to set up our tent, I felt arms wrap around my waist as I felt lips on my neck.
"Don't you need help?" Jae-eon whispered in my ear.
"I really do, but what you're doing right now isn't helping me." I said wistfully.
He laughed because he knew exactly what he was doing and he was aware of the effect he was having on me.
He started helping me fold the tent. I looked around to see who all saw this little scene of ours. It seemed like quite a few people. Some even stood up as if they couldn't believe their eyes. So much for the fact that I don't want to cause more commotion than I have caused so far.
Jae-eon followed my gaze.
"Do you mind if they see us together?" he asked inquisitively.
I thought about the answer for a while, but finally said "I don't mind. I'm just not used to all the attention." I said and smiled.
I saw how he relaxed his shoulders. Apparently, he still somehow couldn't believe that I hadn't changed my decision. I knew she didn't have to worry about that because I had already made up my mind and I was glad for my decision.
The only thing I was worried about was that this news would reach Bitna before I told her myself. It was very likely as this news spreads like wildfire. But I probably won't do anything with it.

We finished packing and that's when Bitna appeared. She had a neutral expression on her face and I didn't know what to think.
"I'll give you two some privacy," Jae-eon said, walking away.
Bitna's lips spread into a wide smile as she jumped up to me and began to rejoice.
"Tell me everything to the smallest detail, you mustn't leave anything out," she squeaked.
I couldn't help but smile and told her everything. Of course I left out some details because I don't think she needed to know everything about our kiss and the fact that it almost didn't stop there.
"I knew it," she cried excitedly, "otherwise it couldn't have ended."
"I'm happy, don't get me wrong, but it must have hurt Tae-jin a lot. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't see him anywhere. Do you happen to know where he is?"
"Nabi, I think he left early in the morning."
"Oh come on," I sighed. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk to me. I wanted to at least explain to him why I decided the way I did.
Bitna seemed to read my mind, she said "Nabi, you don't have to explain anything to anyone. It's your decision and your life, no one should stand in the way of your happiness. Don't worry about what they think, you chose with your heart and that's it it just had to be."
"You mean?" I asked uncertainly.
"No, I know," she said with an encouraging smile and squeezed my hand.

We gradually threw our things into the bus. When it was already half full, I also went to sit down. When I saw Bitna enter, I pointed to the empty seat next to me. However, she only smiled discreetly and walked past me to the back of the bus. I didn't understand what was happening until Jae-eon sat next to me and smiled at me with his disarming smile.
"What..?" I did not understand.
"Your friend was so sweet to let me have this seat next to you," he said, "Aren't you happy? I can easily switch back with her," he said, slowly getting up.
I quickly grabbed his sleeve.
"Of course I'm happy, don't go anywhere," I said and laughed.
So you sat back and made yourself comfortable with your head resting on my shoulder. I rested my head on his and relaxed. I would stay like this forever. At this moment, we didn't even care about the looks of the passers-by, because I was perfectly happy. There were many unspoken things between us, we hurt each other many times, but I believe that we will work on it over time. There's nothing we can't solve if we both try.
With that feeling, I closed my eyes and left them like that for the rest of the trip.