Seokjin felt unsure as he stood at the door to Luisa's room. He purposely pretended he felt sick and had to go to the restroom so that Emily would leave without him. He shouldn't have done that, but Luisa was drawing him like a magnet. He had no will to resist. His eyes drank in the vision as she turned toward him.

"Aahh." She jumped and pulled her coverup tighter around her body. "I didn't know you were still here. I thought everyone had left."

He saw her body silhouetted against the light from the large window and breathed. "Uh. They have. May I...may I come in?"

"Uh, sure, I suppose," she replied.

He wondered why she sounded nervous. In a few strides, he was standing in front of her.

"Lu," he repeated again in a husky voice. He took hold of her shoulders. "I didn't know you were going to be here. I wish I'd known." He pulled her into a hug.

Luisa let herself get lost in the sensations for a moment, but her reason came back quickly, and she pushed him away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm hugging you," he replied. His only thought was to pull her back into his arms.

"O-Okay." She took several steps back. "You're here with someone. Is she your girlfriend?"

Seokjin grimaced. "Sort of."

Luisa scoffed. "Sort of? I'll take that as a yes. Now answer me this: why the hell are you here hugging me when you have a girlfriend?"

He was taken aback by her tone. His face registered shock. He didn't want to believe that Luisa did not feel anything other than friendship for him, but the look on her face relayed her annoyance.

"I'm not here asking for sex, Lu," he replied when he finally found his tongue. "Is that what you thought? I'm just greeting you. Don't worry."

"I wasn't thinking that." She moved farther away from him. "And I wasn't worried. I mean, does she...does she know?"

"Know?" he asked, confused. "Ah, you mean about us?" He shrugged with a boyish smile. "She doesn't need to know."

"If you say so." She took a few steps back and sat on the bed. "So, how is she a sort of girlfriend?"

He leaned his hip against the dresser and crossed his arms. "Because I'm sort of not sure if she wants to get serious with me."

"Why wouldn't she?"

Seokjin chuckled. "Exactly. Why wouldn't she? I mean, look at me. Regardless of what you think, I'm quite a catch."

Luisa scoffed. "Don't be conceited."

He bit his lip and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not being conceited if I'm being truthful. All of this," he glanced down at his body, "could've been yours." He laughed again. "Actually, it has been."

"Stop that," she responded. "That's...ancient history."

"If you say so," he repeated her words from earlier.

Luisa inhaled. "Are you serious about her?"

He twisted his lips. "The truth is that her father's some rich corporate higher-up, and I'm just a lowly grunt in the company. Girls like that don't get serious about guys like me. But what do you think? Should I ask her?" His eyes searched her own, hoping that she'd dissuade him.

After a while, she averted her eyes and shrugged. "Oh. I don't know. It's not up to me. She obviously likes you if she came to meet your friends. The question is do you like her back?"

"Hm. Then I guess it doesn't matter," he said, his voice low.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" she asked.

"Never mind. By the way, how's, uh, your...boyfriend?" He changed the subject.

"My boyfriend?"

"Yeah." He gulped. "The guy who called you when we were out to dinner last time. Did it work out?"

"Oh. Him." Luisa wouldn't meet his eyes. "Uh, we're not together, so I guess that's a no." She stood up and reached for her bag. "It wasn't anything."

He smiled, full of elation, glad her back was turned to him. "Sorry. About that. I hope that he wasn't bad to you. If he was, I'll gladly kick his ass." He bit his lip to stop his grinning.

She turned to him and smiled, and he felt relieved to have broken the tension. "No, he wasn't bad to me, so you won't have to kick anybody's ass just yet." She busied herself by fumbling with her beach tote. "So, Emily. How long have you two been...sort of?"

"Not long." He didn't want to talk about Emily. He wanted to find out what Luisa had been up to since he saw her last. He just wanted to hear her voice. "How's teaching coming along? Did you start your master's program?"

"I wanted to, but things got in the way. You know how that goes. You make plans, then you have to change your plans. I might have to wait a while." She glanced at him. "And you? How's your job?"

"Can't complain," he replied. He sat on the edge of the bed. "The firm sends me out to deal with all the stupid little problems between the models and photographers. Not really my field, but I got a raise. They said I'm a natural at dealing with people."

"You are. You were always the most socially adept out of all your friends in college. Everyone always looked to you to handle things and break the ice. You were always the center of attention. The leader of the pack, Kim Seokjin," she said.

He smiled at her fondly. "And you are the smartest and the most beautiful."

She froze for a second. "Uh, what about Emily? What does she do—besides being a rich man's daughter?"

Seokjin shrugged. "She's, uh, a model. That's how I met her. Hey, I'm really hungry. How about we go to that little place a few blocks down for a quick lunch? Just you and me. We can catch up."

Luisa gave a nervous little laugh. "Oh, but everyone's waiting for us. And we're not dressed for a restaurant."

He got to his feet. "Nonsense. No one will miss us for a while, and everyone at that restaurant is guaranteed to be in beach attire. Come on. You're looking a little thin there, Lu. You could use a meal. My treat." Actually, he thought she looked incredible, and he was breaking a sweat trying not to ogle her.

Her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, and he was tempted to hug her again. But he clasped his hands behind his back instead.

"I guess it'll be okay," she murmured. She picked up her beach tote and opened the door. She was startled to see someone standing there.

"Jinnie? You here?" Emily was standing in the hallway. Her glance took in the scene before her, and she frowned. "Oh. Hi, Louise."

"Luisa," Seokjin corrected her. He cleared his throat, unsure of what else to say. It was very clear that they were walking out of Luisa's room.

Luisa saw the question in her eyes. "I was alone, and Seokjin was kind enough to check up on me and suggest lunch at the little place down the street." Her face broke into a forced smile. "You'll join us, won't you? We can go down to the beach from there."

Emily seemed mollified. "I would like that. Let me grab my coverup."

"I'll meet you downstairs," Luisa said softly and left.

Seokjin could only stare after her. It was going to be a rough few days.