Regret Me Not | 김석진

Four

Jin stared back at Victoria with the same bewildered face as the curse fell from her lips.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Her mouth hung open for a second as if she was trying to come up with a response. He couldn't care less what she was about to say, but words wouldn't come from him, either.

He watched as her bright eyes shifted to the camcorder in his hand. "You...you're one of them?" she asked quietly.

Jin furrowed his eyebrows at the vague question. "One of who?"

"Jin Hyung!"

She turned around as Taehyung's voice sounded through the trees. He emerged gingerly and stopped when he saw them, a smirk coming to his face. "Oh, I see. You didn't tell us you had a girlfriend, Hyung."

"She's not my girlfriend," Jin seethed, much to the chagrin of Victoria.

She stood there uncomfortably, her gaze shifting from Taehyung to Jin. The younger boy only looked between them with confusion.

Jin scratched the back of his head. "This is my coworker."

"Hi, Coworker. Nice to meet you." Taehyung extended his hand with a goofy smile.

Victoria laughed, a bit relieved, and took it. "I'm Victoria."

"Taehyu—wait." He furrowed his eyebrows and took his hand away. "Victoria? From work?" His eyes widened as he looked between her and Jin again. "Oh!"

She whipped around to glare at Jin. "So you talked about me."

Taehyung looked back toward the pool. "The guys are over there waiting, Hyung."

"Yeah," Jin replied awkwardly. "Bye." He left Victoria behind, stunned, and rushed out of the trees to the pool where his group of boys were talking to a girl who looked about Jungkook's age.

Jungkook was the one talking to her—which was strange, because he was normally very nervous by and avoidant around girls. The boys greeted him as he jumped down into the empty pool, and it was then that he realized that Taehyung hadn't followed. He was about to go back for him when Jungkook spoke.

"Hyung, this is my friend from school. Iseul."

Jin's eyes wandered over the young girl before him. She looked about the same age as Jungkook, and had a carefree air about her. He offered a small smile before extending his hand. "I'm Jin. It's nice to meet you."

Iseul took his hand briefly and smiled back. "Yep." She looked around, clearly confused. "I actually came here to meet my friend...have you seen a girl here? Twenty-two, half-white, about yay-high," she explained, holding her hand level with her ear to show the height difference.

Jin drew in his eyebrows. "Oh, no. Don't tell me—"

"Iseul!"

Victoria's voice behind Jin sent a shiver down his spine. Iseul perked up.

"Unnie! There you are."

Jin turned around reluctantly to watch Taehyung escort Victoria to them. He shot him a look, but Taehyung was too oblivious to notice.

The other boys looked to the newcomer and then to Taehyung for an introduction. Victoria's eyes scanned them, and stopped once she recognized him. He was staring straight at her.

"Namjoon?" she questioned with a smile just as he said her name as well.

Jin squeezed his eyes shut, trying to convince himself that it was all a nightmare.