𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 [𝙴𝙽- 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙼]

Chapter 106

Even in a place like this, they behaved normally like any other day. And what was normal for them if not games? Hide and Seek was what they came up with. Allowing everyone to explore the place in a fun manner. I admit that I did not want to play Hide and Seek. The sharp 'no' that had spilled out of my mouth made Niki flinch. I winced at his reaction.

It took them a lot of persuasion and assurance that it was closed private property. They had checked it earlier before my arrival and there was no one around. And I reluctantly agreed to put my paranoia behind me only when Jake offered to pair up for the game.

That brought us to two under this table in the kitchen area. This was the third or fourth round I guess. Jake was really competitive and being paired up with him meant being dragged into unusual places. When Jake pushed me beneath the staircase, I couldn't help but giggle along with him. We had practically roamed around the whole place. Everything gave off the same cottage vibes.

What I realized is that no one being here meant no employees either. Sure they were guards outside the main gates, who had been sent away for a while during our arrival. Some employees were supposed to come later to make and serve dinner. But when we were out and about, there was no one else in sight.

No one, means no one, princess. Not even staff.

Jake and I had navigated our way through the lamp-lit corridors, bursting into the dining area as Jay counted. But unfortunately, Heeseung was already behind the counters. He had shooed us away from him making us take a detour to find another place. As soon we heard Jay finish his counting, Jake pushed me under the kitchen table. The huge tablecloth covered us from the view.

We sat there with a nervous excitement as we strained our ears to hear footsteps. After a beat of silence, I jolted from Sunoo's loud voice and almost hit my head on the table. Except Jake had expected it and already had a hand over my head.

In all the excitement, I hadn't realized how close we were sitting. And all of a sudden, the huge table felt so small. I became hyperaware of our position, of our closeness in the quiet. The little space between us, heated up. I shifted a bit. The change in the air was palpable to not only me but Jake as well. My dress had ridden up a bit in my position. Jake placed a hand on my knee. I locked eyes with him. In the darkness, I couldn't see his expression. But I did feel. I felt his fingers graze my chin. His hand inched up on my thigh. My chest rose and fell rapidly. He bent forward, breath fanning over my face.

Our lips had just brushed together when footsteps approached our table. The tablecloth lifted just in time when Jake drew away. Jay stood there wriggling his eyebrows.

"Gotcha." He said

Jake groaned and got out. He turned to get me out of there as well. Heeseung stood there with a smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Snitch." I muttered.

"Alright. Let's stop here, shall we?" Jay asked me.

I nodded. The next hour was spent in the clubhouse. Even if there was a clubhouse in the hotel in Hyderabad, I had never actually played anything there. This one had a lot of indoor games, names of which I didn't even know. Each of them took it upon themselves to teach me every single one of them. An hour of laughter and bickering later, we had a quick dinner. I hadn't even realized that someone had come and prepared all of it.

Around 10 PM, we were lounging around in the main lobby when Sunghoon spoke.

"Alright. Love, we have something for you." He said.

"Uh-huh. What is it?" I asked him.

"We actually have a surprise segment planned for the concert. And we want you to review it." He said.