Jealousy | Wen Junhui [EDITING]

Chapter 48

What could have been a momentous celebration turned out be a mistake I would greatly regret. One of a freshly severed spirit, and reopened scars.

"Hey, everyone! Let's go to Masterpiece! We need a proper celebration!" Mingyu suggested as he made sure that the adults were gone.

"No, Mingyu, we're not going to a club! Besides we're underaged," Joshua prohibited.

"That's not a problem." Jeonghan retired Joshua's protest. "My uncle owns the karaoke place, he can get us in."

"Um, guys? What about our parents? They'll never let us," Soonyoung apprised.

"Oh, they'll never know," Dokyeom dismissed.

I uneasily looked at Jennie, then Ash, and finally at Winter, who had a glint of eagerness in her dark brown eyes. I had never done anything of that sort back in Canada; though half my home resided in South Korea, all that seemed awfully foreign to me.

"Seokmin, you're in this too?" I inquired.

"Come on, it'll be fun! But I'm not letting Chan go with us," Seungcheol added.

"Whatever, I'd rather go out to eat. Hansol, are you with me?" Chan invited.

"Totally, but after that we go to an arcade," the addressed male responded.

As soon as I left backstage to walk and have some time to think, I rolled up the sleeves of the jacket I was wearing since the weather was scorching. I heard chatter from a group of teenagers, oblivious to the fact that I could hear and understand them clearly.

"For a white girl, she's so tan."

"What is she trying to be? Burnt toast?"

I raised my eyebrow at them when we locked faces. "Didn't anyone tell you that it's rude to make insensitive comments about someone's natural skin when they're right there? Or should I just assume no one did from your too-white foundation?"

Though what they said bothered me, the stunned silence of the girls put me in some satisfaction of my words. I displayed my usual smile, though this time laced with evident eerieness.

I continued my walk along the park, shaking away the encounter and trying to let bygones be bygones. I stopped abruptly upon hearing the holler of my name. Recognizing the owner of the voice, I immidiately initiated a jog to drive further away from the owner. I kept going until the voice that called my name was right behind me and pulled me to a halt.

"Why are you avoiding me? Tori, tell me what's going on!" He firmly gripped my shoulders after he turned me around.

"Vernon, you'll draw us attention," I deadpanned, showing him an impassive façade.

"Barely anyone's here," he seethed."Ever since the day I took you home,why have you been avoiding me?"

"I told you before: I can't tell you the details," I whispered. "Personal things happened, okay?"

Frustration glossed his eyes as he glared at me, attempting to demolish my fort that hid my thoughts and memories. His bullets only ricocheted when I glared back warningly.

"You can't tell me, huh? What happened to our cousin code?" Vernon implored. "We promised to tell each other everything as if we were actual siblings!"

"Quiet down, people are looking!" I hissed.

"So what? Let them look! All they care about is your pretty face, isn't it?" he taunted in resentment. "That's all they'll see, and that's all you'll let anyone see. The pretty face that lies and hides things from her own family. The pretty face that breaks close bonds but pretends that everything is under control. Just prance around in smiles and all your problems are fixed, right?