"What made BLOSSOM famous?" I pulled out a question from a bowl. We were at the holiday house, and we were all dressed up as we did the shoot first. I had my hair in two buns with two curls framing my face. I had on a blue knee-length fitted dress with knee-length black boots that matched with the black puffer jacket I wore.
Madi sat next to me in a denim skirt that reached just above her knees and a white halter top and a long cream coat. She wore similar boots like mine, except here's weren't loose around the legs. Her hair was styled in beach waves that held a pair of bedazzled sunglasses.
Vic sat next to her, her blonde hair held blue streaks this time. Her hair was gelled back, giving her an edgy look as she was in all black. Her black coat was hanging open, exposing her corset that gave her a lot of cleavage, which she loved, and her leather black pants that were tucked into black ankle boots. Add a gun to her waist and thigh, and she'd look like she came straight out of the Matrix movie.
"Well," I threw the question down, "we gained a lot of subscribers after we covered Beyonce's 'Listen'. Then we went from, what? Two thousand to fifty? Something like that." I nodded to the camera as I gave a thumbs up. The lady behind the camera smiled at that, and a blush rushed up.
"Why is BLOSSOM everywhere?" Madi pulled out a question this time. This was the interview, they'd get questions from the internet that people asked about us and would put at least seventy in a bowl, and we'd answer at least thirty, depending on our time.
"I think it's because we're awesome. No, I'm kidding. We're friends with Le Sserafim, and they're pretty big around the world." She smiled, and I quickly threw a glance at her. Because she forgot to mention Stray Kids.
"What about Stray Kids? Are you friends?" A guy at the back asked, and Madi snapped her fingers at him as if saying she forgot about that.
"Yes. We hung out for videos. But friends? Not actually." She smiled, shrugging as she tossed the paper as if it were a basket ball.
"Do they know you're not friends? They mentioned you on their app to talk to fans, Bubble already?" He asked again, and I almost told him to leave it alone. But Madi shrugged, pulling her face in an awkward smile.
"I mean, yeah. We got a lot of hate from their fans, to the point Elle landed in the hospital from an attack. And that's when they stepped in as much as they could. Nothing serious, just them being kind." The way she said it was as if we had run out of sugar and they borrowed us a cup.
"What? Hospital?" He gasped, and everyone of the staff turned to me. Nodding, I clenched my fists.
"Yep. It was nothing bad. Just, yeah. Moving on." I forced a smile out as Vic quickly reached for the bowl.
"What are BLOSSOMS favorite Le sserafim songs?" She asked, turning to us with a raised brow. "Mine is Impurities and Fearless." She smirked to the camera.
"Fearnot(Between you, me and the lamppost). I'm a sucker for that one. Their vocals are heaven." I answered mine, nodding for Madi to answer.
"I love Antifragile. Oh, and Smart. Love shaking ass to that one." Madi laughed, the lady behind the camera joining her.
"Do you want to do it? The dance?" That lady asked, and I laughed out loud.
"Yes. Madi do it!" I hit her leg as Vic joined in with the peer pressure. Madi got up, flipped her hair, and moved over to a clear area. Someone played the music, and we all laughed when she blushed. Then, as soon as she started, her confidence shot up, and she danced as if she were alone in her room. When she was done, we all cheered and clapped our hands for her.
We continued answering questions, which ended up taking an hour. The crew joined in at some points, asking follow-up questions to what we read down. Like when one was about our height, they asked if it's average height where we came from. The interview was a mix of English and Korean, as it was the Korean branch interviewing us.
After they left and took all their things with them, including the clothing, we sat in our pajamas as we ate a late lunch. We got here at 5am, and as soon as we entered the house, we were rushed to hair and makeup. We then took hours to change outfits and rooms, and now, at four thirty pm, we were done.
"It's warm. You want to swim?" Madi asked a while after we ate.
"I packed in my suit because of the pool." Vic nodded and got up. "Did you?" She asked me, and I gave a bland look. Because of course I did. Even if I wouldn't swim much anymore, I still stood in pools whenever I get a chance. I just stand against the edge, so I know if anything happens, I could just jump out.
"Okay. Then let's go. We don't know when it'll get cold again." Madi look. out the window and sighed as the clowds did in fact start coming in. But it was still warm, so we took what we could get.
Looking through my bag, my smile widened when I pulled out the piece of scrap. Sliding it on, I looked at myself in the mirror and bit my lip. I was in a red one piece that came up high from the hips and low from the top, showing half my boobs. The bruises on my hips have now almost completely faded, but if you look long enough, you can still see them. The hickeys, on the other hand, were both gone.
Shaking my head, I put sun screen on and slipped on my slides. Walking out, I put my phone on the table and walked outside. Music played softly as Madi was already swimming in her navy blue two-piece. Vic came out after me, her purple one piece was similar to mine except not as cut out. She wore shorts over, and when I raised a brow because she only wore shorts when we're with our family, she just shook her head.
An hour later, we were all three floating, Madi the only one on a floaty, we were just talking.
"Have you thought about the whole Max, Yeonjun situation?" I asked, standing next to Vic as she sat on the edge with her feet in the water. I hoped up and sat next to her. Madi turned to us and raised a brow.
"What situation?" She asked, and we quickly filled her in.
"But no. Not really. Max and I talk almost every day and night. And Yeonjun, I don't know him. So I think it's just an attraction I had." She shrugged, kicking her feet in the water.
"Good. Also, when are we meeting Max? When are you meeting him again?" Madi slowly sat up, arms out for balance.
"I don't know. He asked me about it." She trailed off, and I gasped.
"No way? What did you say?"
"I said yes, of course. We'll see when we're available because I'm here and he has work." She smiled, cheeks turning red. Shaking her head, she jumped back and slowly took my hand, guiding me back in. Taking it, we both splashed Madi, and as she dipped to not get water in her face, she toppled over, causing us to howl with laughter.
"I think we should call Leeroy soon. He told me to call him when our song came out, and I totally forgot until Ross said he's talking to him." I scratched my head.
"No work talk this weekend. Just fun and chilling time. We'll call him on Monday." Madi groaned, and Vic nodded with a wide smile.
Then the door opened and we all turned around. Hyunjin walked in first, followed by Leeknow, who held his waist from behind, and then everyone else. All held bags, and Changbin and Jeongin even carried plastic bags.
Turning my confusion to the girls, my stomach dropped when they smiled at me. This wasn't some mistake from the house owners. No, this was planned. Once again without me.
"Whats this? What are you doing here?" I snapped, then cringed at my tone. But also not because they had to know how this angered me. Then Chan walked in, his smile dropping fast when he saw us.
"Elle? Why are you girls here?" He asked, just as confused as me. Great. This was a group mission to get us together.
"We decided you needed to talk your shit out. Both of you are miserable, and it's hard to watch." Leeknow smiled innocently at Chan, avoiding my glare.
"And yes. I want to hurt Chan. Yes, I want to stab you," Madi continued, looking straight at him, causing his eyes to widen, "but you love him still. So you need to make up or end on better terms." She kissed my shoulder and got out of the pool. Reaching for her towel, she wrapped it over her shoulders.
Vic got out then and turned to me. Suddenly her shorts made much sense. Turning back, she offered me a smile, but I didn't return it. "You said you hated him. But you don't. We know you don't. You call for him in your sleep, Elle. This isn't just some random guy we're talking about. You need this as much as him." She whispered, and my eyes widened as my head jerked towards them because she just admitted that in front of everyone.
But then I relaxed a bit when I saw that somehow, they quietly made their way further past the sliding glass doors and were whispering to Chan, who looked as shocked as me.
"I called to him?" I asked, voice shaky, and she nodded, wiping her legs and feet with the towel.
"Every night. Brent and Ally heard it too but didn't ask you because we explained how bad you took it." Madi spoke this time. Turning away from them, I wiped the sudden tears and then got out and quickly wrapped a towel around me.
"Okay fine." I whispered because what else was I supposed to do? They were here. At our holiday house. With food and bags, which meant they planned to stay. I wasn't confident in my driving skills enough to just go home, and unless I lock myself into the room that doesn't lock, what's the point? Unless Chan decides he doesn't want this. It's his choice right now.
As if on cue, he turned to look at me. Eyes not leaving mine, he said something, and Seungmin walked away as Leeknow nodded. They all followed Seungmin to the sofas as Chan walked back out.
"The knives are sharp here." Vic warned, pointing her finger as they walked inside, sliding the door closed, and going to the guys. Chan stared at me. I stared at him. And we stood there for a minute, not saying anything.
"You're swimming?" He pointed to the water, and I nodded. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I tightened my grip on the towel.
"Yeah. I'm still careful. But I'm getting there. They're helping." I nodded to the girls who watched us not so subtly.
"They're watching us. And I don't know how much they can hear, so..." I trailed off, feeling awkward suddenly.
"Wanna swim?" He asked, and I bit my lip. He was in a loose shirt and shorts, and I wasn't sure if he had other clothes to swim in, but I nodded and threw my towel on the table. His eyes lowered, and my body heated at how heavy and heated his stare was. My suit wasn't much, but also it was a bathing suit... It showed everything.
Blushing, I looked to the water and then turned back to see everyone quickly averting their gaze. I wish the door had a curtain to hide us away from them. Wait. Walking inside, I rolled my eyes when everyone turned to me. Looking up, I reached for the rope and pulled it, causing the material to flow down. As I split it to go through, I looked over my shoulder.
"Mind your business." I narrowed my eyes at the girls, not even looking at the guys.
Turning back, my breath caught, and all I could do was stare. Because Chan was shirtless in front of me. His muscles were even more defined than the last time I saw him. His face reddened, and I quickly looked away. Sitting down on the edge, I slid my feet into the water. He did the same.
"Should we go somewhere? Away from here? From them?" He asked, and my mind immediately went to the last time we drove away from them. My stomach dropped almost painfully, and I shook my head.
"I don't want to be alone with you and far from them. Especially considering last time..." He stared at me for a long time, eyes full of sadness and regret. Nodding, he looked around and back to me.
"Then do you want to sit or swim?" He asked, his voice quiet, and I cringed.
"I need help getting in. Usually one of them would just gently pull me in. I can't do it alone." Embarrassment hit me like a truck then because I couldn't do such a simple task, even though I overcame my fear.
He jumped in, brushing his wet hair back, and swam in front of me. He looked even more handsome wet. Like the water added some enhancements to his already otherworldly beauty.
"Can I?" He asked, hands floating in between us. Heart racing, I nodded, and my breath halted when he gently grabbed my waist. "Ready?" I nodded. Pulling me in, he gripped my waist harder when I moved to make sure I didn't slip out of his grip. My hands moved quickly as I reached for his chest, feeling his heart beat just as fast as mine.
"Thank you." I whispered. Looking up, I met his warm brown eyes, and my knees almost buckled. His hands were still on my waist, and mine were still on his chest as we didn't move.
"I really want to kiss you."