bOY!§H\bRĄŦŧY pRīŋĈꧺ
MEETS
SņobBIšH\pŁĄyboY pRīŋĈę
Summary:
Mikan Sakura, a boyish rich girl and Natsume Hyuuga, a playboy rich guy has to work together to get what they want. Can they succeed even if they always clash? But if freedom and fame means tying the knot, will they do it?
Previously… on BBP meets SPP…^^
"Do you even know who saved you when you fainted last time?" Hotaru asked.
"I don't know. I woke up at the hospital, remember?" She frowned at her friends. "Didn't you guys make the emergency call?" Anna and Nonoko shook their heads while Hotaru just raised a brow at her. "Don't tell me…" She said as she looked at Natsume who was happily joking with his buddies. "…HIM?" I asked my friends, wide eyed.
"….separate tours for the candidates from the rest of the students…."
"I guess this'll be the perfect opportunity for you to thank your savior." Hotaru mocked Mikan.
"What did he just say? We'll have a separate trip from you guys? No way!" Mikan said.
This is going to be a long long week…-_- Mikan thought.
Chapter 10:
Day 1: Touring Jeju Island~ Part 1
While walking towards their cottage — well, after Mikan has calmed down about the very GOOD NEWS that had hit her — she noticed that her bag was awfully heavier than how she remembers it.
"I thought you were going to have your things sent to you from Tokyo? Why does it seem that your bag is heavy?" Nonoko asked as she was looking around for some boys. "I wonder who I should go with." She mumbled.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked as she followed Nonoko's eyes wandering around the place.
"Looking for a date whom I could go with, so that I could make that Yome suffer for one week."
"And why do you think anyone would go with you?" Hotaru raised a brow at her.
"Oh, come on. I still belong to that stupid TU Goddesses fan club and PBG (Pretty/Beautiful/Gorgeous) 4 fan club. Why wouldn't they go with me?" Nonoko raised a brow back.
"Maybe because of this?" Hotaru threw her phone in Nonoko's direction.
Nonoko caught it, and then asked… "What's this?" Nonoko motioned the phone.
"It's a cell phone, duh." Hotaru answered cynically.
"I know it's a cell phone. I'm not stupid, you know." Nonoko looked sharply at Hotaru.
"Read the tweet."
Nonoko viewed the phone in landscape form so that the screen was bigger. It was the page of yOuR4everCasanova548. Nonoko's eye brow automatically rose. "Who the hell is yOuR4everCasanova548?"
"Your soul mate." Hotaru answered.
"What soul mate? More like 'I-want-him-to-die mate'." Nonoko saw the name of the owner of the twitter account, in capital letters. KOKORO YOME. No wonder the name was like that. "Well, the name suits him well." She rolled her eyes. "What do you want to show me?"
"She told you to read it." Mikan said as she adjusted her bag again. "What the hell is wrong with this stupid bag?"
Nonoko read the latest tweet from Koko. And when she read it, she almost threw Hotaru's phone. "What the hell is this?" She said in a raged voice.
"It's a tweet." Hotaru grabbed her phone from Nonoko.
"Does he really want to die?" She said in fuming anger.
"Why? What does it say?" Anna took the phone from Hotaru and read the tweet aloud so that the four of them could hear.
"│Yo guys. It's ur man Koko hir. I know I haven't been able to reply to ur tweets for a long time. Two words. (cont) /sdfkjh.│" Anna clicked on the link.
[note: the link is just random letters..XD]
"Now, let's continue." They were now near their cottage. │…2 busy and also 2 many tweets 2 reply 2. Anyway, der's a big problem. I want to warn u about a little hybrid woman who has been gettin' on my nerves lately. She might ask u 2 D ball this coming Friday. DO NOT ACCEPT. I'm warning U. Her name is Ogasawara Nonoko. Hir's her pic… /4kab1n. BEWARE: She may act ol cutesy wen she comes near, but truth be told. She's LESBIAN. She also has BAD BREATH. U wudn't want 2 get near her. So I suggest that u shud ignore her once she approaches u. Well, dat's just it. After dis wik, let's have an all-guys party at my house, with hot girls and BEER. That's all… Have a nice week.:] │" Anna chuckled. "He really doesn't want any chance of you winning." Anna shook her head.
[a/n: The pic is just some random link… ]
"That Yome is so going to suffer!" Nonoko muttered an unprintable curse. "I'll show him." She went near a guy wearing an Opening Ceremony Hooded Pullover Jacket and French Connection Checked Cargo Shorts. When the guy saw her, he changed his direction and came to a group of males and they hurriedly scurried off… somewhere far away from her.
Nonoko took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Kokoro Yome… You are going DOWN! She thought and tried to compose herself. She went back to her friends who had hidden grins in their faces. "Go ahead. Laugh." She said grumpily and hurriedly went towards their cottage.
"We weren't saying anything." Mikan said… Trying to suppress her laughter.
"I guess beer and girls are more appealing to most of the guys here." Hotaru commented.
"Whatever." Nonoko went to the terrace and looked at them. "Where's the key?" She asked Anna.
"Coming." Anna took out the key from her pocket, but slipped and the key flew near someone's foot. "So sorry." She apologized before picking up the key and looked up to see that it was Natsume. "Natsume… We're you the other one who reserved the other large cottage?" Anna asked.
Natsume just nodded.
"Aahh." Anna just nodded before going towards their cottage. "Oh… Hi Koko." She smiled at him sweetly. "Nice move using your twitter account." She chuckled when she saw Nonoko going near Koko.
"Ya!" Nonoko yelled at Koko.
"What is it?" Koko asked indifferently.
"What do you mean 'WHAT IS IT'? You're an unfair opponent Yome." Nonoko snarled at him.
"What in the world are you talking about?" He asked innocently.
"Don't you dare ask as if you're so innocent? How dare you use such underhanded tactic to cheat?"
"I don't really know what you are saying, Ms. Ogasawara." He said formally.
"Why you little devil!" She tried to punch him in the face.
But Koko was more alert this time. He caught her fist in the air. Koko grinned. "Nice try. But you can't do the same thing to me twice." He pulled her close to him, causing Nonoko to slam to his chest. "I didn't cheat. You didn't say I couldn't warn my fellow species from a hybrid like you." He released her then headed to their cottage, which is in front of their cottage!
"You'll never win you little sneak!" Nonoko stomped her way to their cottage when Anna opened the door.
Hotaru grinned as she walked pass by the group. She got good shots of the little scene. I'm gonna be rich. She thought as dollar signs appeared in her eyes.
There you go again! Your heart is somersaulting just cause you saw her grin. A certain blonde boy thought to himself and blushed. I really need to stop blushing.
Mikan sighed and shook her head as she looked at the four boys with Luna. Don't tell me she's sleeping with them?
"She's not sleeping with us." Natsume answered as if he read her thoughts.
"Pardon me?" Mikan looked back at him.
"She has a separate cottage from us." He answered.
"Did I ask you anything?" Mikan's eyes narrowed.
"Nope. But I knew what you were thinking." He said proudly.
"Really now? The heir to Hyuuga Corp is now a mind reader. Yipee." She said dryly. "Whatever." She rolled her eyes and shook her head again. "Besides, I'm not as green minded as you are." She adjusted her bag before entering the cottage.
"Bye guys. Bye Luna. May you be comfortable in your cottages." Anna smiled at them and entered the cottage and closed it behind her.
"I will." Koko answered.
"Dream on man." Mochu commented.
"She asked us politely to enjoy our stay. Why shouldn't I?" He asked his cousin.
"Cause she's the daughter of the owner of this hotel. Of course it's her duty to welcome guests." Mochu patted Koko's shoulder. "Life is really bitter. Let's just go score some chicks." He grinned at Koko.
"Let's go." The two dimwits hurriedly raced to their cottage leaving Natsume, Ruka and Luna.
"They always go crazy cause of girls." Luna commented as she smilingly followed the dimwit cousins. "I better tell them not to mess with girls here."
"As if they'd listen to you." Natsume told her.
"There's no harm in trying." Luna shouted to him as she approached the cottage. "Hey you two…"
After a few moments of silence… Well, deafening silence…
"Why were you so defensive earlier?" Ruka asked Natsume. He was talking about how Natsume told Mikan that Luna won't be sharing the same cottage with the four of them.
"It's better than let Sakura have ill thoughts about Luna." Natsume answered.
"Are you sure they're ill thoughts about Luna you're avoiding? Or is it ill thoughts about you that you're avoiding? Cause you sounded like a guy explaining to a girl friend." Ruka raised a brow at him.
"Are you kidding me? I don't care what Sakura would think of me. Besides, don't you know me? I'm a playboy. Of course other people should have ill thoughts about me." He put his arm around his shoulder.
"Yeah, but it's not as if you bed them."
"Look, I'm a playboy through and through. I'm just careful of the girls who I play with. I still have this name I should protect." Natsume emphasized the word.
"Bitter much?" Ruka also put his arm around Natsume's shoulder.
"You wish. I love being a playboy. You want me to teach you some moves on Imai?" Natsume grinned.
"Shut up." Ruka punched him lightly in the side. "I'm the nice guy, remember. I don't want to go down in history as a member of the legendary group of Casanovas." He shook his head.
"Oh come on... I know you wa-" A loud scream interrupted their conversation. The scream came from the cottage in front of theirs… Sakura? Natsume thought.
Natsume and Ruka looked at one another before rushing to the four girls' cottage.
MIKAN'S POV…
"What was that all about?" Nonoko asked heatedly. "Why are you asking them to enjoy their stay here? You should've told Yome to burn in hell!"
"Nonoko." Anna reprimanded. "They're guests. We must tolerate their presence while they're here." She reminded Nonoko.
"Well, I'm a guest too. And that guest is a nuisance to me. Can't you have him move away from us?"
"Sorry. They've already made the reservation." Anna shrugged. "Besides, they're with Natsume."
"What do you mean, they're with Hyuuga?" Mikan asked as she dropped herself in one of the beds and let her bag fall to the floor.
"Don't you know? Hyuuga Corp owns this resort." Anna informed them.
"What?" Mikan rose from the bed. "I never thought Hyuuga Corp would be into resorts too."
"From what I've heard… This resort is a gift to Natsume as his last birthday gift from his parents… before they died." Anna narrated sadly.
"Right… His parents are dead." Mikan nodded lightly. "Maybe that's why he's such a jackss."
"How about Yome then? His parents are still alive… But he's more of a jackss than Hyuuga?" Nonoko asked as she removed her shoes and dropped to another bed.
"Maybe he's just plain crazy." Mikan commented as she picked up her bag and put it on her lap. Why is this thing so heavy?
"Call him crazy… But he's going to make me so much money." Hotaru grinned as she scanned the photos she has taken of Koko and Nonoko.
"What do you mean money?" Nonoko frowned at Hotaru.
"How much do you think will this picture of you two sell?" Hotaru showed them the screen of her camera... with Nonoko and Koko's scene outside.
"Imai Hotaru…" Nonoko warned.
"Don't bother Nonoko. She can't be frightened with anything." For now. She added to herself. Mikan was thinking of when she will use the picture she has taken against her money hungry best friend. Soon. But when?
As she was thinking of the perfect timing as to when to use the picture, she opened her bad to change clothes. She felt sticky due to the bus ride and the other girls' perfume in the bus had stuck to her. She opened the zipper and tried to find where the pouch that contained her undies were and pulled something her hand reached. Weird. Why are the things in my bag messy?
As she was pulling that something, "Don't you have anything against your best friend?" Nonoko asked helplessly.
"Sorry… If I have… I would've shown it." Mikan looked at Nonoko.
"Mikan…" Anna said softly.
"What?" Mikan looked at Anna, who was wide-eyed.
"What the heck are you holding?" Anna pointed to her hand.
Slowly… Mikan raised her hand to see what Anna was pointing to. To her shock, Mikan's eyes grew wide and a scream escaped her mouth.
"What's going on?" Natsume asked them as he burst through the door. His eyes searched around and saw Mikan. When he saw the thing that she was holding, his eyes grew wide with shock, but then he made his face blank again. He looked at her lap and saw the same exact brand and color as his bag. No, it wasn't a replica. It was his bag. "What the hell are doing?" He asked her as he paced towards her and grabbed the brief from her and stuffed it in the bag, before carrying it. "What the hell are you doing with my bag?"
"What do you mean 'what the hell I'm doing with your bag'?" Mikan was still confused with what had happened.
"This…" Natsume wiggled the bag in front of Mikan. "…is my bag. Now, why in the world is my bag with you?" He demanded.
"How should I know that others have the same bag design and color as mine in this trip?" Mikan spat back as she had understood now what had happened. She accidentally picked up the wrong bag. But I won't let him know I've done wrong. There would be bloodshed before I admit I've made this stupid mistake. She thought. "Besides, why would your bag be released by the baggage carousel first than mine? We arrived earlier than you did." She reasoned.
"Don't you have a bag tag to remind you that this isn't your bag?" Natsume put the bag on his shoulder to her lap. "And that, that one is yours?"
Another bull's eye. Mikan noticed it but she just thought that it dropped somewhere. "I thought it had dropped off somewhere."
"Then why didn't you check your things first before leaving the airport?"
"Why would I even dare check my personal belongings at an airport? Besides, if you were so Mr.-I'm-Correct, why didn't you know that you've got the wrong bag yourself?" Nice thinking. Hive five. She thought to herself as she raised a brow at him.
"You know what-" Natsume was cut-off by the announcement.
Attention all Students… Candidates, get ready for the trip in 30 minutes.
"This is pointless. Just get out of here you perverted jerk!" Mikan pushed Natsume out to the door.
"Hey, you can't just-" Natsume started to say, but Mikan slammed the door in his face. "…shove me out." He blew out a gust of wind in frustration.
Shaking his head, he went down the stairs. He was about to head to their cottage, when he remembered that he went to that cursed cottage with his best friend.
Ruka looked around the girls, who were around him when Mikan shove his best friend out the door. When his eyes fell to a certain bob cut haired girl, he automatically blushed. To hide his face, he looked away and tried to compose himself. "Why am I even blushing just by seeing her?" He muttered quietly. "She's using you and your friends' photos and makes money out of them." He added.
"Eherm." Ruka stopped his trail of mutters when someone had said that. It was Mikan. Ruka's thoughts flew back to the time when he first saw her running up the stairs at school. He was awed by her beauty, who wouldn't be? She had that naturally wavy auburn hair with those hazel eyes. He was wondering himself why his attention had been diverted to the woman's money hungry best friend. Maybe because Natsume was interested in her? And because you had an agreement not to take interest in the same girl.
"Are you staying in here?" Hotaru asked out of the blue. She took a picture of the now blushing Ruka.
"Ah... Ah... I... I better get going." Ruka said as he slowly made his way through the door, comically. He was stuttering as he was walking towards the door and was pointing to it. "Sumimasen." He bowed and closed the door.
"He left this." Nonoko pointed to Natsume's bag, which he dropped when Mikan pushed him out the door.
"That little…" Mikan carried the bag then opened the door abruptly. "You left this." She threw the bag in Natsume's direction then slammed the door shut again.
"What's wrong with her?" Ruka asked his best friend when he recovered from his own shock.
"Must've been shocked to see my underwear." Natsume grinned as he remembered Mikan's reaction as she was holding his underwear. "Let's go." He closed the zipper of the bag, before swinging it to his shoulder then put his arm around Ruka's shoulder. They made their way towards their cottage. "Why we're you left there anyway?" He asked Ruka.
"Don't bother reminding me." Ruka shook his head frantically. She talked to ME! He thought to himself.
"Mikan… Why were you so mad?" Anna asked.
"It's because…" Mikan blew out a gust of wind. "Aish!" She muttered an unprintable curse.
"Shocked coz you held a guy's underwear in your hand? Especially Hyuuga's?" Hotaru mocked as she was scanning her camera. "This would really cost a fortune." She grinned.
"Hotaru…" Mikan warned. "Don't tell me…" She said hopelessly.
Hotaru nodded and grinned as she showed the screen to Mikan. "Look how cute you are as you were holding Hyuuga's underwear."
Mikan slapped her forehead with her hand. "Lord… Why do I have a money hungry person as my best friend?"
"It's so that your money will not go to waste." She locked the camera and put it back to her hi-tech bag. "Didn't the announcement say that you only have 30 minutes to change?" She reminded Mikan.
"Oh, right." She hurriedly carried her bag to the bathroom and took a quick shower. As she was washing her body with soap, she remembered how she held Natsume's underwear earlier. Mikan shivered as she rubbed her hands with the soap, as if there was some contagious virus that might infect her from holding Natsume's underwear.
After being satisfied with cleaning her body, she put her bag on the near table and then opened it. She searched for undies then some decent clothing. She took out a plain maroon t-shirt and a pair of jeans, which she had tucked in her bag secretly. The head housekeeper in their house has prohibited her from wearing pants to this trip. Auntie Choi, that's how she addresses their half Korean half Japanese head housekeeper, never agreed to her wearing pants.
"A lady must always wear dresses or skirts." She just rolled her eyes at the thought. "There's no way I'm wearing skirts in this place." She combed her hair in front of the mirror. Her hair was naturally wavy, so she just let her hair down. No makeup is her policy, except when there's special occasions that really needs it. She carried her bag out the door and dropped it back to her bed.
"Mikan, what are you wearing?" Anna asked.
"What?" She asked as she examined herself.
"How come you have jeans?" Hotaru asked.
"Sneaked in some when the old woman wasn't looking." Mikan grinned.
"Can you change clothes, Mikan? Please." Anna begged.
"What's wrong with my clothes? They're decent. It's all that matters." She scanned her bag, as she looked for her ASOS punchout satchel. It is a leather look satchel, featuring a punch out design to the flap opening, with an antique finish twist lock fastening, plaited trim and adjustable cross body strap. "Bye guys, see you later." Mikan waved to her friends.
"Wait!" Anna grabbed hold of Mikan's hand.
"Why?" Mikan asked confused.
"I can't let you out looking like that." Anna smiled at Mikan sweetly, as she looked at Nonoko. The two cousins both held Mikan so that she couldn't escape.
"Sorry Mikan. But I agree with Anna." The cousins pulled Mikan to the bathroom.
"No… wait… WAIT..!"
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Normal POV…^^
The contestants are now gathering at the stage once again, so that they could all go together to their trip destinations. They were now just waiting for the final announcement.
"What other tricks are up their sleeves this time?" Mikan mumbled.
"A little impatient aren't we?" Natsume asked. Mr. Narumi had instructed the contestants to pair up, so no matter how much Mikan or Natsume wanted to be far away from one another as possible, they can't.
"Whatever." Mikan grunted. Standing next to Hyuuga, and after Anna and Nonoko had played with her clothes and hair before allowing her to go out. Instead of wearing her planned clothes, she was now wearing a Nishe sweetheart neck blouse with floral trim, NW3 by Hobbs Pryors peg leg trousers in wool gabardine, and black Supertrash diamonds flat sandals. Her hair was let down, but her a little clip in the left side of her hair. 'So that your pretty face will never be covered.' Anna said as she finished clipping Mikan's hair.
"Still shy after touching my-"
"Shut the hell up!" Mikan said snarled at him, but was still audible to the two of them.
"Still, it was your entire fault." The corner of his lips rose into a lope-sided grin.
'Remember to thank him for saving you last time.' She remembered Anna's words.
'I guess this'll be the perfect opportunity for you to thank your savior.' She remembered Hotaru's words.
'It's your conscience, Mikan.' She remembered Nonoko's words.
"Aish! I'm going to go crazy with all this." She sighed in frustration as her grip tightened in her bag.
"Now, make sure that you're with your partners right now…" Mr. Narumi sidetracked Mikan's thoughts making her listen to him. "Coz this'll be the greatest trip you'll never forget."
Before every contestant knew it, two members of the Student Council had come near the pairs, raised the girls' left hand and the guys' right hand, the other council member, to their shock, had put on specially hand cuffs of their raised hands.
"What the-?" Mikan and Natsume both said at the same time. They both looked at their hands, which was now caught in hand cuffs that have a heart shape at the middle, joining the two cuffs.
"This is insane!" Mikan protested in outrage.
"Yes. I should've been the one cuffed with Natsume-sama." Sumire said as she raised her cuffed hand.
"I'm so sorry guys for the trouble. This competition is not only organized to develop competitiveness among the contestants and sportsmanship, but also to develop good communication among your co-contestants. But the priority is to get every partner to know each other very well." Mr. Narumi smiled sheepishly at the students.
"I am not going through this trip handcuffed to this perv." Mikan said as she tried to remove the handcuff from her hand. She twisted her hand, trying to loosen it, but it was no use.
"If you continue to do that, you'll only hurt yourself." Natsume said calmly. It's as if he doesn't even care if he would go through different places with Mikan.
Mikan frowned at him and was about to say something, but she heard her phone ringing. She tried to open her bag, but when her left hand tried to reach her bag - which was by her right side - she remembered that she was handcuffed to Natsume. She sighed deeply before trying to open her bag with only her right hand, but couldn't get her phone.
"Why don't you use your hand? It's not as if I am pulling your hand." Natsume commented as he offered his cuffed hand, so that Mikan could reach her phone in her bag. She took it out, and then transferred the phone to her right hand.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Miiiikaaaannn." The one on the other line said lovingly.
"What is it Uncle?" She asked grimly.
"That's no way for a niece to greet his loving Uncle." Mikan could imagine her Uncle pouting and eyes like those of a puppy.
Mikan sighed and shook her head while smiling. "Ok...Ok... Why did you call my dear Uncle?" She said sarcastically, but with a small smile in her lips.
"Sarcasm is also not an option." He answered sadly.
"Where are you anyway? And what the hell entered that labyrinth mind of yours that you handcuffed the pairs for the competition?" She said in a low but tone but stress in every word.
"Somewhere. Don't mind me, my dear loving niece. " Mikan couldn't help but chuckle at that. Loving? She thought. "About those handcuffs… Well, as you said, I have a labyrinth mind. But, maybe it's just a whim. By the way... You must follow whatever the teachers in charge instructed. No exemptions, you got that?"
"Do I have any choice?" She asked in a bored tone.
"Nope. So... Ciao! Have fun." The line ended. Mikan could imagine her Uncle grinning from his chair at his office at their school because of his tricks that he had laid out for the students.
"Typical." She shook his head with a small smile.
While Mikan was talking on the phone earlier, little did she know that someone had been staring at her facials expressions as she replied to her Uncle Mouri.
I never thought that Sakura knows how laugh. Well, it's more of a chuckle. WHO CARES ANYWAY? Natsume thought. And he bets all of the money and property they have that Mikan forgot that she was in a public place with other people, that's why she has chuckled freely earlier. But after Mikan had put away her phone, she had returned to being nonchalant, just like him.
Mikan looked at Natsume, who was surprisingly looking intently at her. She raised a brow at him before wiggling their joined arms. Natsume blinked as if he had just come out of a trance.
"Hah! Don't tell me you we're checking me out?" Mikan's shook her head.
Natsume stood straight and looked away before clearing his throat. "You wish." Then he looked at her with a bored look. "As if there's something to check out."
"Why you-!" Mikan said enraged. Who does he think he is to say that she doesn't have any… any… AAAHHH! I'm going to kill this guy! She screamed in her mind. Her face is calm, but the muscles in her jaws moved as she gritted her teeth. She counted to 10 in her mind to calm down.
"Is the SGC heir at loss for words?" Natsume mocked some more.
"No. I'm just not as childish as you are to be angered by such childish taunts." Mikan answered coolly.
Before their conversation starts to heat up some more…"Okay students. Make you've got you phones and money with you, because there would be many souvenir shops along the trip and also, you might get hungry just in case. If there's nothing more you would ask, let's get on to Bus 1." Mr. Narumi said through a mega-phone then they boarded into the bus.
Natsume and Mikan quietly entered the said bus and chose a seat on the right side of the bus, so Mikan was sitting by the window. Mikan just faced the window. There is no way would she look at Natsume. He might think that I like him - which will never happen in this lifetime. Then an evil side of her mind asked. How about in another lifetime? She hurriedly contradicted in her mind. NEVER! Not in any lifetime that I will have. There would be another world war before I will like this guy. Wait, why am I even thinking about HIM? Mikan shook her head frantically and looked out the window. I can do this. I can survive this day, even if there is a perverted jerk handcuffed to me. The driver started the engine and left the entrance gate of the resort. This is going to be a really long day.
After a few minutes of drive, Mr. Narumi stood by the front of the bus and held a microphone in his hand. "Okay, my dear students…" He started. Everyone's eyes were focused on Mr. Narumi, except for 2 people — Mikan and Natsume. "Our first stop is the majestic Manjanggul Lava Cave. It says here that it's part of a larger network of lava tubes on Jeju, which UNESCO has designated as World Heritage Sites. We shall stay there for about 40 minutes before heading to the next stop. I hope you listened to me when high heels are not permitted to the cave. I also hope that you have brought your jackets with you. They say the cave has drips that drops to 10°C ."
"Hai, Sensei." The girls chorused.
Mikan's eyes flew to Mr. Narumi. Jacket? With a hopeless expression on her face, she sighed and shook her head. How could I have forgotten? Damn! It's so cold down there.
A few minutes later, their bus had stopped. One by one, the pairs went down the bus; they crossed the road and headed for the cave entrance. They were by the stairs about to enter when Mr. Narumi noticed that Mikan is not wearing any jacket.
"Mikan, where's your jacket?"
"I forgot my jacket, Mr. Narumi." Mikan said calmly.
"Oh boy." Mr. Narumi sighed and shook his head lightly.
"I don't want to ruin this trip for you, so you should just remove this hand cuffs so that all of you can go in now, and I'll just wait for you here." Mikan recommended. There's no point in entering the cave. She has seen it way too many times. Besides, if she goes down there, she might have an asthma attack if she goes in there without a jacket.
"I'm sorry, Mikan. But the keys are left at the resort. The President had instructed me to leave them so that there is no way the partners are separating." Mr. Narumi sighed again. "If one stays, the other must stay too."
"What? No." Mikan protested. "I mean… Natsume shouldn't suffer not being able to enter the cave just because of me." I don't want to wait here with this guy for freakin' 40 minutes! She protested in her mind.
"We can't risk anyone's health, Mikan, especially yours, because you have asthma." Mr. Narumi pointed out the obvious.
"I know that. So what shall we do?"
"I'll just lend her my jacket." Mikan turned abruptly to the guy next to him.
"What?" Mikan asked again. Unsure of what she just heard.
"I said I'll lend you my jacket." He repeated.
"What? The reason why I can't enter is because of jacket. Now, you're giving me yours. Jug-eullae?" Mikan asked. [a/n: Jug-eullae = You want to die? (It's Korean...XD)]
"I can live. Besides, I want to see the place." Without another word, Natsume unzipped his black ASOS Zip-Through Hoodie, showing his dark blue Diesel sonty contrast bib front shirt. Then moving the jacket towards her through their cuffed hands, he slipped the jacket through her left arm then gave her the other end. But Mikan didn't wear the other side.
"Are you crazy? The temperature drops to 10° down there." Mikan tried to push the jacket back to him.
"Why don't you just accept this jacket, so that we could go in right now?" Natsume bickered back. "Don't tell me you're concerned about me now?" He raised a brow at her.
"Don't think too much Hyuuga. I just don't want to be indebted to you or to anyone for that matter."
"Then don't just think about it as gratitude to me. Think of it as helping others." Natsume pulled Mikan's left hand and pushed the jacket back.
"You know I don't like helping others. I already told you I don't want it." Mikan said grimly as she pushed it back.
"And I told you to take it so that we could go." Natsume said as he eyed the others going inside. Just take it, Polka! Luna must've entered already.
"I know why you're so intent on making me wear this. You want to go inside and guard your girl friend, huh?" Mikan teased when she saw Natsume eye their other schoolmates.
"I told you, she's not my girl friend." Natsume said in a low voice and looked at her with warning in his eyes, but Mikan won't back down. She looked at him sharply, and they ended up having a staring contest. Well, more of a narrow-eyed staring contest.
Mr. Narumi had to put an end to this. "Oookkkaayyy." He said as he pushed the two apart. "Back it up." He smiled at the two of them, but they just won't break the tension, Mr. Narumi sweat dropped. "There's this place called Gimnyeong Maze Park that's 10 - 15 minutes walk from here. The duration for the stay there is about 30 minutes if you could get out of that place so fast. I suggest that you two should go there, until we finish here. The place is not included in our trip, but there's no other choice, not unless you want to wait at the bus for 40 minutes of so." He shrugged and left them to decide. "Just call me on my cell when you've decided."
After Mr. Narumi left, there was deafening silence between the two, and only the chirps of birds can be heard. The school arranged a private tour, so they were the only ones left. Their school mates had already entered together with Mr. Narumi.
"So, what do you want to do now, Hard Headed Girl?" Natsume was the first one to break the silence.
"Beats me. I just don't want to go down there." She shook her head. Bitter childhood memories are trying to seep through her mind, but she's trying her best to prevent them from coming out. She's afraid that once she goes down there, she might not control herself and break down.
"Afraid of the dark?" Natsume asked teasingly.
"Yeah right." She replied sharply back. "As if I' be scared of tiny bats and darkness."
"Then why the determination of not entering?" He raised a questioning brow at her.
"I've been there way too many times. I'm bored with the place." She answered in a bored tone, trying her best not to let Natsume sense the lie in her voice.
"I have been here too. My 6th birthday, before my parents died. This was one of the places we've been to during that day." He said in a soft voice.
"Don't get all soft on me, Hyuuga. Besides, why are you even telling me these? We're not that close, remember?" Mikan grinned at him. She didn't know that behind the playboy and snobbish front is a yearning boy. Just like me. She thought. But then, another side of her mind hurriedly disagreed. He's nothing like me. I will never be on the same page as Hyuuga. Her train of thoughts was disrupted when Natsume spoke.
"We're not that close?" He asked in a teasing tone. "How close do you want to get?" He neared his face to hers. Mikan's eyes widened in shock. For seconds, her stupid mind won't work. Hazel eyes met Crimson ones. They we're just staring at each other. Lost in each other's eyes. Never wanting to look away.
"Have you guys decided?" then Mr. Narumi came running back up the stairs, ruining the moment between the two. They hurriedly parted from one another. They looked at opposite directions. Standing back to back. Mr. Narumi sweat dropped and looked from Mikan to Natsume then back. Mr. Narumi cleared his throat. "You two should just go to the maze." He pushed the two. "Have fun! If you haven't finished the maze in the time, we'll just meet you at the Teddy Bear Museum. Take your lunch too before going to the Museum." He winked at the two then smiled, before going back.
Mikan and Natsume had no choice but to walk towards the exit. Both of them still not looking at each other. They just continued to walk and walk as their own train of thoughts continued.
What the hell was that all about? You were supposed to just tease her. Natsume shook his head. He could kick himself for that joke that backfired on him.
What the hell happened? I know he's going to tease me, but why haven't I prepared myself for the onslaught? Mikan thought and shook her head. She wanted to hit her head in the concrete.
The two of them looked bothered as they walked the streets... and well... people are now staring them, especially when they both shook their heads at the same time.
[note: When the sentences starts and ends with (~) means that they are spoken in Korean.
a/n: Why not write in Korean? Well, maybe just a few phrases. But long sentences are in English. It would be difficult for you to read the story with so much translations...:)]
"~ Honey, look at them. They look so gwiyeobda.~" They both heard a woman said that, in Korean of course. [gwiyeobda = cute]
Cute? Who's cute? They both thought to themselves. It couldn't be... They looked at each other then abruptly turned away.
"~Jeogiyo... Uhm... Where did you two get those cute looking bracelets?~" A woman nearby clinging to a boy friend went near them. The couple must be 5 to 6 years older than them. [Jeogiyo = excuse me]
So that's how they look like to others. Natsume thought as he sweat dropped.
You are so wrong Miss. Mikan thought and smiled awkwardly at the couple.
Don't tell me we look like a couple? They both thought and groaned inwardly.
"Oh... Joesonghabnida. You might not be able to understand me.~" She looked at them apologetically and bowed. [Joesonghabnida = I'm sorry. (Formal)]
"~No. We understand what you are saying.~" They both answered at the same time in Korean.
Mikan and Natsume gave each other a questioning look.
How come he knows how to speak Korean? / How come she knows how to speak Korean?
They both thought that it would be better to ask questions later.
"~Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that you didn't understand me. Really sorry.~" She smiled at the two of them. "~I would like to ask you where you bought those bracelets.~"
Mikan looked at Natsume motioning him to answer the question.
"~Uh... Uh...~" Natsume cleared his throat. "~This is just custom made by our school... for couples. Right, Ja gi?" He looked sweetly at her. As sweet as the voice he had used. But his eyes betrayed him as he looked at Mikan. Warning was in his eyes. Telling Mikan to just go with the flow. [Ja gi = darling, honey, sweety]
Mikan smiled sheepishly at the other couple. Other couple? AISH! "~It's a special treat for the couples at our school. You know what? I wasn't supposed to do this thing.~" She said and lightly tapped the girl on her hands. "~But you know how guys can get when they are over protective and possessive. He just doesn't want me out of his sight during this trip, that's why he suggested this.~" She wiggled her cuffed hand and pinched Natsume's cheek as she smiled sweetly at him. "Why did you tell them we're a couple?" She asked in a sweet voice. She spoke in Japanese, so the couple thought that they she was saying mushy stuff to him.
"~They're so sweet.~" She told her boy friend and hugged him. "~You two must never let each other go. I can see the sparkle of love in your eyes.~" She smiled sweetly at them.
Sparkle of LOVE? Mikan and Natsume thought. Mikan almost gagged while Natsume almost laughed. But they controlled themselves and continued acting like a super in love couple. If they were actors, they would've gotten an Oscar award.
"~Well, actually she's the one who made the idea. She's afraid that other girls might steal me from her. But I always assure her that I will always be looking at her.~" He said in sweet tone. "How dare you tell them that this was my plan? I never planned on being stuck with you."
"~Well, having a boy friend who is this handsome can really be troublesome at times, huh?~" The girl asked Mikan.
"~Well, it can be really a pain in the ss sometimes.~" She smiled. This guy? Handsome? Maybe more of a conceited perverted JERK!
"~But having a girl friend this beautiful ... You must be having a hard time keeping the other boys away from her.~" The boy told Natsume.
"~They just can't keep their hands away from her.~" He held her left hand with his right hand and wiggled it in the air.
"~Oh my god! Forgive me for being rude. We haven't even introduced ourselves. Hi, my name is Go Hye Mi.~" She bowed and smiled at the two of them and shook their hands.
"~Annyeonghaseyo. I'm Song Sam Dong.~" He bowed and smiled then shook their hands too. [Annyeonghaseyo = Hello (formal)]
"~Hi. I'm..." Mikan started. Should I tell them my real name? She asked herself and looked at Natsume. He got the message and spoke.
"~I'm Hyuuga, Natsume.~"
"~I'm Sakura, Mikan.~" She smiled at the couple. A genuine smile. This is the first time she had truly smiled in front of strangers. She really likes the couple, except for their assumption that Natsume and her were a couple.
"~You are Japanese right?~" The two of them nodded to the guy named Song Sam Dong's question. "I thought you said you're on a trip? Why can't I see any of your school mates?~"
Natsume patiently told them about how they were supposed to go to Manjanggul cave and how Mikan forgot her jacket. Of course, their bickering about the jacket earlier was a bit edited so that it may seem sweet to the other couple. Other couple? Natsume thought and shook his head mentally. And now, they end up going to the maze park.
"~Aah. That's so sweet of you two. When the other stays, the other must stay too.~" Go Hye Mi said with dreamy eyes. Of course, she hadn't known that the reason why they can't be separated is because there was no key.
"~It's nothing. But, could you please tell us the direction to the maze?" Mikan asked.
The couple was all too willing to tell them the direction. Not long after, they were saying goodbyes to one another.
"~Take care.~" The Korean couple waved good bye as they continued on their way towards the park.
"How come you know how to speak Korean?" They both asked at the same time.
"Ladies first." Natsume said.
"Don't you think that chauvinistic attitude of you guys should be scratched out of your dictionary?" Mikan looked at him sharply.
"It's called being a gentleman, not chauvinism." He looked mockingly at her.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Back to the question. How come you know how to speak Korean?"
"Being the heir to the GREAT Fujiwara Hyuuga's empire, I had to learn different languages for business transactions with other countries. Spending countless hours, locked up in a library with a tutor, teaching me the customs, traditions and languages of foreign countries. You see, as a kid, I never had the chance to play all the time with other kids." He said with wry amusement. "How about you?"
Should I tell him? Mikan thought as she doubted whether she would tell him. Actually, she wasn't like him. She was allowed to play as a child, have all the fun she could. Her Oniichan was the one responsible for running their family's business empire. Well, that's before he... he died. After that, there were drastic changes in Mikan's young life. She was put to training at once.
Her grandfather almost died of heart attack due to his loss. Her father had been in complete loss due to what happened to his son and almost lost his father and wasn't able to run the company smoothly, that's why her mother had to take over, with the help for the board of directors and the company lawyers. It was a good thing that the members of the board of directors were trustworthy family friends, that's why there was no treachery during that time. But since then, things hadn't been the same. Mikan's grandfather and father were still the same sweet and most important men in her life, but her mother had started being cold to her and was the one who had told her to grow up and face life as it is.
There had been a time, one year after her Oniichan's death, when nagging her mother to go to the park with her, and Yuka just broke down due to stress and her still grieving for her lost son. She blamed Mikan for Minami's death. She shouted at her and told her to go to her room. For an 8 year old kid, those were the most hurtful words she could hear coming from her own mother.
From then on, she had never been the same. Gone was the sweet old Mikan, and now there was a controlled little girl, who never smiles, cries and laughs. Although she doesn't boss their house helps around, she was always detached from them and everything was never the same again.
Mikan's train of thoughts was abruptly interrupted when Natsume pulled her towards him, felt his protective arms around her and heard a car driver curse. Mikan snapped out of her trance and looked confusedly at Natsume. When she looked around them, they were by the pedestrian lane, and were waiting to cross the street. But Mikan was having her train of thoughts that's why she hadn't realized that she had stepped by the gutter and down to the road, where the traffic was still moving.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Natsume hissed at her. His arms still around her.
Mikan's heart hammered fast from their closeness. "Y-y-you can let me go now." She stammered and slowly Natsume let her go. "I was just thinking." She answered softly to his question. She felt comfortable and safe in his arms… which is bad… REAL BAD.
"You were idling." He said as a matter of factly. "You could've been run over by that car." He blew out a gust of wind in frustration. "Aish!" He cursed silently.
"Sorry." Mikan apologized softly. Wait! Why am I even apologizing to him. MIKAN! You can't be soft to this man. NO… NO… NO! Her mind contradicted. "Can't a person think about things once in a while?" She snapped at him.
"There you go again, you bratty princess." Natsume sneered and shook his head. "Look, if we're gonna be stuck together for the whole afternoon, we must come to a truce."
"I'm not a brat! And not that truce again, Hyuuga. I don't believe in your word of honor." She said wryly.
"Okay. Fine. Just for today, I'll try my best not to tease you." He raised his left hand.
"You're not going to do it. You're raising your left hand." She raised a brow.
"I'm cuffed, remember?" Then he raised his right hand, raising her left hand with his. "I promise not to tease Sakura Mikan for the whole afternoon. Your turn."
"What will I say?" She asked.
"Promise that you would try your best not to bicker with me. Let's try to get along." He suggested.
"Fine." She shrugged.
"Raise your right hand and say it."
"Fine." She raised her right hand. "I promise not to bicker with you for the whole after noon." She said.
"Let's go." He smiled that lope sided grin again then grabbed her left hand. Mikan noticed that there were girls around them who were gawking at Natsume.
Mikan chuckled a bit.
"What's wrong?" Natsume asked.
"Nothing. Just girls wanting to have a photo with you." She said and then shrugged.
"Let's go." Natsume said then they ran towards the maze. Their hands clasped together.
BY THE ENTRABNCE TO THE MAZE...
They had already paid for the entrance, and now they were about to enter.
"I am warning you. I have no sense of direction." Mikan said.
"Direction. There's no fun if you won't get lost." He said then walked inside. Mikan was pulled by her left hand. "So that it would be fair, ff there are two routes to take, we'll each take turns in deciding which route to take."
"Hey... It doesn't mean that we have a truce, I will follow your orders." Mikan started to bicker.
"No bickering, remember?" He raised a brow at her.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes.
They started walking and by the entrance, there were already two routes to choose from. Natsume looked at her.
"Left." She said.
Then went on to the left. Then there was another 2-way route.
"Straight." Natsume said.
Their journey went on. There were not much routes to take so they just continued walking. There wasn't much to see, only people passing by and hedges. There was an old couple who had commented too in their bracelets and how sweet they look. Actually, they weren't doing anything. They were just walking. But to other people, they look like a cute couple. They were walking when they heard that there were people running as they excused loudly.
"~Jamsimanyo..! Jamsimanyo..! We're in a hurry. Sorry~" They passed by the people ahead of them. Mikan and Natsume looked behind them and saw those running people. The maze is kind of narrow so only about two or three people can pass by. [Jamsimanyo = Excuse me (when passing by)]
Without a word Natsume grabbed Mikan's left hand then pulled her to him and encircled her into his arms. His left hand held her head to his chest. Now Mikan was between the wall of the hedge and Natsume's body.
WHOA! That was so weird. WWEEE..! So sorry for the late late late update. This chapter is SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO long. It's already 30+ pages, and I'm still not finished. So I guess I'll just make it two parts. I hope. Hehehe. Well, thanks for reading. Please R&R. Sorry for some misinformation for some of the locations. I haven't really gone to Jeju Island or Korea. So the information I've mentioned are all from the internet. Ja ne.:)
I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter... Thank you so much again...:)
Hello Everyone,
BTW. Thanks for all the reviews and readers… I can't cite all of them… you know who you are… without all your comments wanting to read more, I would have stopped writing this story… hands down…^^ Thank you very much again! Arigatou!
PS: Please read "Natsume Hyuuga Must Die". It is also by me. Another unfinished work, but I'll try to work on it. Also, try to write comments/reviews in it...^^ Flames accepted.
BYE! Thanks for reading...^^ Ja-ne.
-fierce_writer- a.k.a. Fatima008