first. | Ateez San

Part VII

"I can't believe you invited her," Ji-hye spat as the three of us waited by the trains on our way to their grandparent's house. San and I ignored her. In fact, we were avoiding each other as well.

"If you're sitting with her, then I'm moving to the other side of the train," Ji-hye continued on even though we were both unresponsive. It was too early to be arguing but she made it too easy to pick a fight.

"Yeah, you should probably steer clear just in case I fuck your cousin in the seats. Wouldn't want you to get hit with anything in the splash zone," I sneered.

"You are so vulgar," she scoffed.

"Don't worry about her, Ji-hye. She never follows through with her words anyway," San said while staring me down. All I did was laugh in response. The train had finally arrived and Ji-hye kept her promise by staying as far away from us as possible. Although hesitant, San sat right next to me but kept his primary focus on his phone.

"Look, if you think I'm going to ruin your trip then I should just leave before it's too late," I said trying to get his attention. He sighed before stuffing his phone back in his pocket and then turned to face me.

"Do you really think I want you to leave?" He looked me directly in the eye and I felt a little nervous seeing his stare. But, I still smiled back.

"I'm actually kind of excited to visit the countryside. I've never been there before," I said, genuinely. 

"Yeah, I was excited last night too before you completely bailed on me."

"But, you didn't even want to do it in the first place."

"Yet, you kept on pressuring me."

"I'm sorry." This time, I really did apologize with sincerity. 

"Rejecting a guy just because he's a virgin is really humiliating, you know?" His mood seemed to lighten.

"I just want your first time to be special."

"It would've been special if it was with you."

I intertwined our fingers and looked at him seriously.

"That's the problem."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until his phone vibrated. When he checked his screen, I saw a little smile appear on his face.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Eunji. She's just some girl from my class."

I nodded. After that, San became too engrossed with his phone to talk to me for the rest of the ride.

When we got to our destination, San and Ji-hye's grandparents stood outside, waving as we wheeled in our luggage. Their house was essentially in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a vast amount of land. They greeted us all with a warm smile, even me who they were unfamiliar with. I wasn't used to such affection.

"Who's this?" his grandmother asked politely.

"Jee Sun Hee, a really close friend I made from school," San replied.

"She's also an awful person," Ji-hye added.

"Ji-hye, please use kind words," she threatened before turning to face me. "You are quite beautiful, Sun Hee." We both smiled at each other. Their grandfather helped me carry my bags to the guest room and I thanked him on his way out. Ji-hye and I were originally supposed to share a room until she threw a tantrum, so I had it all to myself. I heard a knock on my door before the door slowly creaked open.

"What's the point of knocking if you're just going to come in?"

"Wow, they gave you the bigger one," San said while scanning the room and ignoring my question.