(A/N: This is getting longer than expected. I hope nobody minds.)
Soft music drifted across the evening air, which was redolent with the scent of lush tropical flowers. While the terrace was lit all around by gleaming sconces, and mini lights sparkled in the greenery above, it was just dark enough to create an intimate atmosphere.
In the distance, the slowly fading sunset was still spectacular, with the horizon awash in a blend of deep blue, purple, and crimson colors, angry clouds the only reminder that it had been raining that day.
Yi Jung, who had the artist's eye for beauty, noted all this with dispassion. He had a crystal glass of wine on the table in front of him, and a girl sitting to his left, but he wasn't paying attention to either of these things.
He ran a finger around the rim of the glass rather absently, his thoughts going back to earlier in the day. In retrospect, it had, at least, been fairly entertaining. All the irritation he'd felt when Ga Eul disappeared without any warning had evaporated on discovering that she was safe. And even though she'd seemed determined to keep on annoying him with her innocently saucy remarks, it had been worth it when he'd realized how uncomfortable she was with riding behind him on the jet ski back to the beach.
(Though that had been a bit of an aggravation, towards the end; Jan Di making an inordinate amount of fuss over her friend the minute they stepped onto solid ground and both Woo Bin and Jun Pyo had had a couple of wisecracks to make about their respective drenched states.)
Yi Jung had assumed Ga Eul would hide in the cabins this night once they knew about the dinner and dancing Jun Pyo had informed them would be on the schedule; but he had to give her credit, she'd showed up right on time for dinner and had even come over to him and greeted him properly, looked him right in the eye, even. He couldn't find fault with her manners. Or with her appearance. Glancing across the terrace at the girl who'd been the focus of his day, Yi Jung had to admit that she cleaned up pretty well. Not that her clothes and styling could compete with any other girls he ever hung out with, but she wore her simple outfit well and there was a freshness to her face, and tonight a stubbornness, that he found entertaining.
Appealing, even.
It had been almost an hour since dinner and Jun Pyo was leading a reluctant Jan Di onto the floor to dance, in the far corner of the terrace. Ji Hoo was playing a haphazard accompaniment to the music with his violin, and looked lost in it, as he usually did. Yi Jung, looking around for Woo Bin, realized that his friend had just pulled out a chair and sat down, in his easy manner that somehow managed to be both casual and polite, opposite Ga Eul, across the terrace. Ga Eul sat up a little straighter, but Yi Jung, watching her expression closely, didn't think she looked displeased at Woo Bin's arrival.
".....didn't we?" He caught just the last bit of whatever the girl...what was her name, Melissa, or Melody, or something was asking him, and gave her his I'm-listening-to-you smile, even though he hadn't been, not really.
Woo Bin appeared to be asking Ga Eul if she wanted to dance. She demurred. Yi Jung relaxed a little; she had some sense, then, she had no business dancing with Woo Bin, or anybody else for that matter. But then she looked across the terrace at him, met his gaze, held it for a few heartbeats, looked back up at Woo Bin and smiled.
Now what's that child playing at? Yi Jung wondered, with a vague sense of displeasure. He took a long drink from his as yet untouched glass of wine, but the expensive liquid was wasted on him, as he barely noticed its taste, exquisite though it was.
"We should dance," said his table partner, following his gaze to the two other couples.
He rose and said, dismissively, "Maybe later." With the wine settling, warm and emboldening, in his stomach, he strolled over to Woo Bin and Ga Eul.
The pair were moving around the floor, Woo Bin leading casually; he was holding Ga Eul at a respectful distance, at least. She was following him rather awkwardly, with the occasional muted giggle when she made a misstep, but there was a subtle, comfortable camaraderie to their interaction that Yi Jung was happy to interrupt.
"Hey," he said, materializing near his friend's elbow, and giving him a once-over. "What are you two doing?"
"Dancing," Woo Bin replied in his droll way, taking Ga Eul's arm and raising it above her head to turn her around. She did so, but her eyes sought Yi Jung's, uncertainly, when she came back to face him.
Yi Jung made a sound of scorn. "Dancing. You look like children."
"Well," Woo Bin said, refusing to take offense, and his tone suggesting that he was amused, "you could probably do better...eh?"
Neither of them missed the look of alarm that crossed Ga Eul's face.
"Of course I could," Yi Jung said, "even while sleeping."
Though Ga Eul started to protest, Woo Bin took her hand that had been on his shoulder and placed it in Yi Jung's. Then, giving them both a paternal smile, he said, "Bless you, my children," and drifted away.
Ga Eul tried, unobtrusively, to withdraw her hand from his, yet he did not allow it. It might have been the look of apprehension she had on her face but he had no intention of letting her go.