The Love Scandal ♪ Nishimura Riki

27 ♪ i'd jump

Chapter twenty-seven

The following day comes soon. The blazing sun sets just below the shingled roof of the lively beach house. It marks the third day of the club being in Busan with one awaiting day left before they return back to their dreadful university, and then the club would be stagnant and almost no more until the next school year starts, that's how it goes.

Jihyun stands at the clear glass window to watch the calm beach just ahead. The group had just returned from a small commute to a little diner nearby, where they enjoyed different meals of their choice for lunch.

"I'm guessing you've rarely seen a beach," Riki murmurs as he wraps a lean arm around Jihyun's narrow shoulders. She jabs him in his side, but Riki barely budges at the faint prod. "I don't blame you, it's pretty. But you're–"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

Riki chuckles and brings her closer with a momentary pull.

Jihyun exhales with a tense sigh that makes her chest heave. "What is going to happen with your company?"

"Oh. Kinda forgot about that."

The girl facepalms at his heedless frivolity.

"There's not much I can do. The guy–Mr. Lim–is the one controlling decisions. Everything is still on halt so–"

"Not about that, Riki," Jihyun says. "I mean about us."

"They'll just have to take whatever I say."

A thought. "Oh, that reminds me–"

"Of what?" Riki asks.

Jihyun mulls over whether or not she should mention what she was thinking of, riddled with uncertainty. Would it work? Was it even a good idea? Surely, though, Nara must know something given that she knew Mr. Lim on some familiar level, it may work.

"This may sound stupid and I understand if it does, but you should pretend to leave the company."

A puzzle-pated expression masks Riki's countenance. "What?"

"You're their biggest artist. They value you the most, if you told them you were going to leave they'd try to find a way to keep you because they wouldn't want to lose their main source of income."

His feelings were indistinct and Jihyun was unsure if she should press him further. Riki's arm slowly falls from her shoulders as he stuffs his hands into his pant pockets. Jihyun's stomach feels like a stormy mess. "I can't. Not during the hiatus, they wouldn't...they wouldn't let me."

"You just have to pretend to," Jihyun says in a rushed attempt to make it sound better. "If you can't or don't want to then that's fine, it's a big thing so I understand why. Sorry." She awkwardly crosses her arms. "Anyway, the trip is almost over so is there anything else you want to do?"

He hesitates to hold her hand to ward off the palpable tension but keeps away from doing so. "I don't know. I kind of want to go back already."

"To that lame company?"

"To my friends," He clarifies with a brief snicker.

"I haven't met them before," Jihyun abruptly mentions.

He places his careful palm on the smooth surface of the table in front of them and leans forward to catch a clearer glimpse of the stunning girl before him. "Do you want to meet them?"

Jihyun doesn't fret from his glance, meeting his gaze. "I wouldn't mind it."

"I'll introduce them to you when we get back then." At that, Jihyun smiles softly.