The look of disgust in his eyes that was directed at her made hers start to water with unshed tears.
She never thought that something like this would ever happen to her, but one thing she already knew was that there was no way she could win him ba...
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Chapter 5
AS YUMIN STEPPED out to the patio in the garden, the courage she mustered up fled her body as she saw how effortlessly good-looking others looked around her.
The clothes she wore weren't fitting her well, or maybe the style just looked better on Ray and Harin since they were clad in similar outfits to hers. She felt like a little boy compared to them.
Why was she like this? She tried hard not to compare herself to others most of the time, but it was a continuous battle. Moving off to the side she went to look for the nearest seat to Jaesung, trying to rid her mind of negative energy.
Ray and Harin conversed privately as they were busy manning the meat they were cooking on the grill. Her staff as well as Y5k's were immersed in board games to get to know each other.
Since Ray had tried to make it a more relaxed environment, she had one of her staff members suggest ways on what they could do to not get bored with each other. Eventually, some of the Y5k boys saw how much fun everyone was having and joined in out of temptation, removing themselves from the small circle they formed on the lounging chairs by the pool.
It seemed as though Jaesung was the only antisocial one at the moment though, with wired earphones in his ears and a portable gaming console in his hands. His facial expression was ever so nonchalant and unreadable.
Ray could also see that Yumin had arrived and was currently walking in the direction where Jaesung was, sitting around him but not necessarily close to him.
Ray knew what she was trying to do and hoped that she would not ignore the rules they had given out to her when the show started, because right now was making it pretty obvious who she liked in the group. Her small action of choosing to sit by Jaesung, pretending to be on her phone, instead of going to have fun with everyone else was a big indication.
Harin snapped Ray out of her thoughts by pulling her hand slightly. She also looked at where Ray's gaze was directed and shook her head to communicate that this matter is better to be let go and not be escalated as of yet.
" I know what you're thinking, Sunshine. Let us leave it as the show has not started yet. We can warn her again later if she acts up", she said as she moved her hand from Ray's wrist to around her shoulder.
" Instead of focusing on them, why don't you finish telling me about what you Australians call a 'Barbie'? I'm interested in why you would name a barbecue after a doll, bro", Harin continued.
This got Ray to laugh as Harin had hoped.
"I don't know why you keep trying to give me countless nicknames, but it's whatever bro. The reason why we call it a 'Barbie' is because...", Ray droned on and on, wondering how she could have met someone that would be interested in her long rants. She knew that she was lucky to have met a friend who was both caring and pretty. That was a dangerous combination.
Even a blind person could see that the two treated each other as more than employee and employer and their bond could not be shaken, no matter how short it was that they had known each other.
Beyond the different skin colour and cultural differences, they viewed each other as soul sisters and felt like they were a match made in heaven. It was rare to find someone to lean on when it had nothing to do with romance and lust.
Time seemed endless with the fun that everyone was having with each other. The staff of the boys had almost forgotten what the purpose of their stay there was, it felt like a vacation and for once it was nice for them to be considered and included in the fun. A feeling of warmth was being passed around and no one wished for it to end even as the sky started to darken.
Dinner had soon passed and the ever anti-social Jaesung was the first to leave the large glass table that was set up on the patio for eating. Almost everyone was too engrossed in what they were eating or talking to their seatmate next to them to notice his silent exit. The only people that managed to notice were Yumin and Harin.
Yumin was still trying her mightiest to be as close as possible to Jaesung, but it seemed that he had been ignoring her the whole day. Did they not stop pretending when they got off-screen? It looked like his personality was the same way as it was portrayed on TV, instead of being a facade that was given to him by his company.
Cold. Rude. Arrogant. He took all those words as an art form.
At eighteen, Park Jaesung was a force to be dealt with. With his large and fierce cat eyes, slightly bushy but well-shaped eyebrows, heart-shaped lips with a plump lower lip which made him look like he was always pouting at some bad news, tall figure and the same hair as Jiho just with the typical male idol middle part, he was an eye-catcher.
He knew he had all the females swooning for him and used it to his advantage when interacting with his fans online or in in-person fan meetings, even though he was never interested in them.
Sure there were beautiful and genuine girls he had come across, but none of them caught his attention in the way he wanted them to. Besides, it was an unspoken rule among everyone to never date your fan, so he never even tried to look at them in that way. To him, they were just people that were obsessed with him.
As Jaesung, or Jay as he preferred to be called, entered his room he felt better that he got to get away from all the ruckus that was outside. He wished that he would have not attended, but at the same time knew that he had to make an appearance to not appear as rude.
Jay let out a small laugh at this thought as he lounged on a gaming chair that was situated by a study table in a corner of the room. He knew that his presence earlier did not help him with his reputation as he was quite the introvert when he was outside with everyone.
Not only did he refuse to do any games with them but he also did not speak to anyone at all, not even his members. He did not even like them anyway so it was not like it was anything new to them. But he knew that he could have pulled a better act.
After a few minutes of scrolling on his phone, he grew bored and tired as that had been the only thing he had been doing all day. Standing up, he put the phone given to him in his sweatpants pocket and took off his hoodie to leave his white baggy t-shirt on- it was time for him to lay down and get some rest.
As he laid down on the bed after finishing his night skincare routine and washing his hair, he fell face flat onto the bed and almost moaned out at the incredibly soft bed. All the chat he could think about before sleep enveloped him was about asking his manager if they could take this heavenly mattress back home.
The other four also went to their designated rooms a bit after Ray had dismissed everybody after dinner and told them that they were free to do what they wanted, but still advised them to go to get some rest.
The boys were more than relieved to have their own rooms. It was nice to have their peace and tranquillity without having to share with another. Even Rio, who wanted to spend as much time with his members as possible, sighed in happiness when he saw that he could have the big bed all to himself.
That night, Yumin laid in her cloud-like bed coming up with all sorts of stories and plans in her head on how she would approach Jaesung. She knew that she might breach the contract she signed if she was not careful, but she knew that this was a once-lifetime opportunity to get close to who she felt was her love.
After thinking about it for a while, she gaslit herself into believing that abruptly changing her priorities from looking for networking opportunities to trying to get with Jaesung was a better idea.
She would go all in for her goal to date him. To be damned with all the consequences.
------- Hey everyone! This week I was in the writing mood and uploaded two whole chapters! Proud of myself lol :) Anyways, thank you for reading my book. ____________ NEXT CHAPTER RELEASE: 07/05/2024
