ISLA
The truth or dare game proceeded and I was relentless the whole time it was played, the reason I remained silent unless they decided to call my name.
"Wow…" Everyone reacted as they heard Eun-woo's response.
I've never felt so scared and nervous in my life except right now. The way he looked at me as he said all those words in response felt like I was hanging on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall.
"That was so bold of you, Lee Eun-woo," Woo-hyun told him. "I think I know the next question that must be given to you."
"Don't even think about it," Eun-woo responded to him carelessly.
"Alright," Taek-woon said. "Eun-woo, it's your turn to ask the question to the next player."
He spun the virtual wheel and it landed on Mizuki. Almost everyone felt nervous and cautious because of these two people's history.
And… I just hope none of them talk about Chereen.
The tension between the two was clearly seen and felt inside the bus before Eun-woo could even start asking him a question.
"Mizuki," he said. "What is your biggest regret?"
"Biggest regret…" Mizuki let out a sigh.
I couldn't help but secretly cross my fingers while listening and watching them.
"...it's when I blamed you for everything that happened," Mizuki continued. "I was the one who was supposed to be there for her, but you filled that space instead even though it shouldn't be your responsibility in the first place."
The quietness and awkwardness were so real that most of us could only just send glances to each other.
"I'm sorry, Eun-woo."
I looked at my stepbrother and with a lightened facial expression, he nodded at Mizuki as an acknowledgement.
"That's really heartwarming," Nana commented.
"Alright. Mizuki, it'll be your turn to ask the question for our next player," Taek-woon said as he spun the virtual wheel.
It landed on Na-bi.
Mizuki turned his full attention to her as he bombarded her with a slightly insulting question.
"What is your recent and biggest insecurity, Seo Na-bi?"
I noticed that a few couldn't help themselves from the sudden burst of laughter.
"I think I know where this is going," Na-bi sounded triggered as she smirked. "Fine."
"The highlight of the game," Lav commented while looking at her.
"One of my biggest insecurities is when someone steals the spotlight that was meant for me to have," Na-bi said truthfully.
"Whoa," Nana scoffed. "That's just straightforward."
"I mean, let's all be honest. I'm pretty sure most of you have the same insecurity as mine," Na-bi continued. "So, stop pretending."
"Is that the reason why you went to seduce Su-bin when he is in fact in a relationship with Isla?" Min-hyuk suddenly interfered.
"Excuse me?" Na-bi turned to him after being insulted for the second time.
I glanced at him and even called his name. "Min-hyuk–"
"No." He glanced at me, then went back to Na-bi. "I'm not going to keep my mouth shut about what happened."
"Are you trying to make me look like the one who did something wrong?" Na-bi questioned him.
Taek-woon immediately tried to stop us, but Na-bi continued like a total bitch.
"We know who's at fault or not," she said before looking at Su-bin. "Yah, why don't you tell them that it wasn't my fault?"
Since I'm sitting at the back, I'm not able to see what Su-bin's reaction was.
"With that being said, you don't look like you have sincere feelings for Su-bin. You're just obviously using him to steal the spotlight because Isla is way more popular and deserving than you," Lav added.
"Guys," I called her and Min-hyuk. "Stop it."
The two looked at me and even though against their will, they behaved themselves.
"That's right. You should stop because I'm going to start again to clarify my image to everyone on this bus," Na-bi said.
I could hear Nana groan in irritation as she looked away from her. Then, I was caught off guard when Na-bi turned to me and asked me an intriguing question.
"For the next part of this game, I would like to ask three questions to Isla," she continued.
Taek-woon tried to stop her again. "Seo Na-bi, you can't change the rules of the game–"
"Fuck the rules. These people started it, then I might just end the game just like how they wanted it to be." She looked at me again. "Listen to my questions carefully, you bitch."
"Yah!" My attention was caught as Nana yelled at the unbothered Na-bi.
"Have you ever cheated on someone?"
"No–" I'm not sure if I really did.
"When was the last time you lied?" Na-bi continued.
I gulped in nervousness. But, I still manage to answer it normally.
"That is considered to be something private–"
"What is a secret you've never told anyone?" Her last question immediately led me to the fact that I started to have an intimate relationship with my stepbrother which Na-bi admitted knowing.
Everyone is waiting for me to answer. And even though I'm trying to come up with a fake one, I still couldn't help but think of the real one.
"I-I…"
"That's right. Isla happened to cheat on someone and that is Su-bin." We were all surprised to hear Eun-woo speak. "Do you know why? Because he cheated on her with someone like you."
The way Eun-woo sat to look directly at Na-bi tells me that he's going to mess up her life at that certain moment.
"The last time Isla lied was when she cried because of how painful her first love happened to be. She had no idea that bastard Moon Su-bin was just using her to get over you until she finally witnessed the cheating herself," Eun-woo proceeded to explain.
"Liar. You don't know what you're saying, Lee Eun-woo. Where did you even get that false news–"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere," Eun-woo replied.
The way Na-bi glanced at Ji-hoon was really piercing. I glanced at him as well and he was smirking at her before looking out of the window.
"And for your last question," Eun-woo continued before looking at me. "The secret Isla has never told anyone is about the person whom she cheated with."
"Eun-woo, please don–"
"It was me." He looked at everyone again. "I'm in love with Isla."
The awkward atmosphere was replaced by the sudden cheer caused by Nana, Woo-hyun, and Myung-soo who was followed by Lav and Min-hyuk.
They all began congratulating us as if we were officially a couple. If only they knew the truth… which Na-bi might reveal anytime, we are doomed.
Taek-woon eventually ended the game which caused a scandalous response from the players.
An hour passed and I found myself waking up from a nap. I also noticed that my head was lying down on someone else’s shoulder.
At first, I thought it was Eun-woo’s shoulder. But, it turned out to be Ji-hoon’s shoulders.
I quickly got my head up, leaving me to stare at him while he was doing the same. A smirk was left on his face.
“I’m sorry,” I told him.
“What are you sorry for?” He asked before fixing his clothes. “I bet you won’t say that if it happened to be Eun-woo.”
I smiled awkwardly. “It’s not that. I just felt bad for making you my pillow.”
Ji-hoon smiled at me before looking away. Then, the announcement for our arrival in Gangwon-do was heard from the bus speakers.
At the end of the day, we were all sorted based on our genders. Then, we were formed into a group of four that will share the same room.
It happened to be that I get to share the same room with Lav, Nana, and Na-bi. And I don’t think it would be a great idea at all.
“Now that every group is complete–”
Na-bi suddenly raised her hand to get Taek-woon’s attention.
“Yes, Seo Na-bi?” He couldn’t help but address her even though he already knew her problem.
“I’d like to switch groups,” she said. “I feel threatened to belong in such a group that has members who hate me.”
“What the hell?” I heard Lav comment quietly.
“Are you sure about that?” Nana questioned her. “Why don’t you make sure of your claims before making a scene.”
“Oh?” Na-bi raised her eyebrows at Nana.
Taek-woon sighed. “To Na-bi’s groupmates, are you okay with her switching to other groups?”
“I don’t even care,” Nana replied.
“She can do whatever the hell she wants. It’s her life,” Lav said ruthlessly.
Everyone then looked at me since I remained silent for a few seconds after Lav spoke.
“How about you, Isla?” Taek-woon asked me.
I glanced at Na-bi who was just looking somewhere else, trying to avoid interacting with us.
“I’m worried that she won’t be able to converse with the other people in the group where she’ll try to belong,” I replied innocently.
That’s when I saw Na-bi turn to look at me with disbelief seen in her eyes.
“If she stays with us, she might feel threatened but it doesn’t mean we hated her so much that we wanted to even do something bad to her,” I continued.
“Whoa…” Na-bi exclaimed. “Are you trying to make yourself look nice even though you’re really not?”
“Well, you’re the only one who thinks like that towards Isla,” Min-hyuk interfered.
“I second the motion,” Lav smirked.
The statement was followed by the rest of the students there who seemed to know me for unknown reasons. It might be because of those times I happened to interact with some of them.
Eventually, Na-bi ended up staying with us despite being against it that much. As soon as we got inside the room, both Nana and Lav immediately claimed their beds until there was only one bed left.
“Isla, you can have this bed right next to me!” Lav said excitedly as she pointed at it.
Before I could say anything, I glanced at Na-bi who was just ignoring us all while standing by the door.
“Actually, I think Na-bi should take the bed,” I said, loud enough to get her attention, which was a success.
Na-bi scoffed at me. “What the hell are you up to?”
“Well, I mean I can handle sleeping on the floor. How about you?” I asked her nicely.
She sighed irritatedly before rolling her eyes away from me. Then, she walked toward the bed I was referring to.
“Now that you have given me this bed, don’t ever tell me to give it back to you once you feel trouble sleeping on the dirty floor,” she told me.
“I don’t understand your mindset, Seo Na-bi.” Our attention went to Nana who was just watching us.
“What’s your deal?” Na-bi questioned her.
“Not me, but you. Seriously,” Nana replied. “Isla is being genuinely kind to you despite you stealing her boyfriend. And all you did was to insult her.”
“For real. What’s wrong with you?” Lav continued asking her.
Their straightforward questions made Na-bi speechless for a moment. As I look at her, I can see she might be having trouble becoming like that towards her, but she just needs to.
I looked at Nana and Lav. “That’s enough. Na-bi already said earlier that she feels threatened by staying with us, so don’t make her experience it for real.”
They all looked at me.
“Why don’t we just go out now? They might be starting an activity,” I suggested.
“Good idea. I don’t even like staying inside a room that suffocates me,” Nana said as she got out of her bed.
Together with Lav, they both went out first. I turned around to look at Na-bi who was just stunned in the same place she was standing.
"Aren't you going?" I asked her nicely.
She remained quiet while looking somewhere else and not at me.
"Fine. You can just stay here if you like," I replied to her as I started to walk away going to the door.
"Why?"
I halted as I heard her voice.
"After everything, I did to you," she continued. "Why are you still being nice?"
I glanced at her, innocently. "What?"
She looked at me, her face full of anger and jealousy.
"Will you stop pretending that you're okay with what I did to you?!" She raised her voice to me.
"I'm… not pretend–"
"LIAR!"
As soon as she yelled at me, she suddenly ran toward me, pushed me out of her way, and got out of the room.
I decided to run after her, but I encountered Mizuki walking along the walking path across our room. Our eyes met, the reason I wasn't able to avoid having a conversation with him and we ended up staying in a quiet area.
"Did you shoot Na-bi with pure kindness, that's why she stormed out of the room just like a brat?" Mizuki asked me, jokingly.
I looked at him before smiling with guilt. "I didn't mean to upset her with kindness. I just don't like the feeling of hating someone and someone hating me."
Mizuki breathed out and I watched him as he looked around the place, only his head moving.
"You're really awesome, Isla. Ever since the beginning, you are a great person," he complimented.
"Don't say that…" I turned my head down in shyness.
"Why? You should be proud of yourself for being such a great person," he continued. "Not everyone can be like that."
I just smiled at him as a response.
"I'm glad to have met someone like you," Mizuki said as he smiled at me too.
A few hours earlier, Taek-woon announced that we will be having a bonfire. Because it was a sudden suggestion from the other field trip moderators, nothing was planned.
In the end, I was one of the students he asked for help. He asked me to go buy some meat at the nearest market which I agreed to.
"Just make sure not to talk to strangers," Taek-woon even teased me.
I smiled at him. "Don't say that as if I'm a kid."
"I'm just kidding."
"I'll be going now," I told him after giving me cash to buy the meat.
I was about to walk away when I encountered Eun-woo. Then, I even heard Ji-hoon suddenly speak to Taek-woon. And both my stepbrothers asked the same question.
"Where are you going?"
I glanced at them back and forth until Taek-woon was the one who told them about what was going on.
"Oh really?" Eun-woo asked. "Then, I'll come with Isla."
I was surprised to hear him say that. "Ah, no. You don't have to–"
"I'll come with her too." I turned to look at Ji-hoon with another shocked expression.
In the end, I had no choice but to let myself get accompanied by my childish stepbrothers. We went to a famous market with the locals for cheap prices.
It was so awkward to be with both of them honestly because I know they won't be willing to be together in the same place if it's only them.
"I'm sorry if I wasn't able to hang out that much with you two," I told them as we walked further inside the marketplace.
"You don't have to be sorry for being busy," Ji-hoon said.
"Maturity starts with great understanding that people won't always have free time to deal with everybody's bullshit," Eun-woo added.
"But you know what? I think this field trip in Gangwon-do is just what I need to relax from everything," I said.
"Were you tired already? Su-bin just broke up with you," Eun-woo said.
I frowned at him. "You. Can you at least be considerate of your stepsister here? Plus, Su-bin and I have not yet broken up."
"What are you still waiting for?" Ji-hoon asked me.
Eun-woo and I surprisingly glanced at Ji-hoon while he was looking at us innocently.
"What?"
"It's nothing. I'm just kind of surprised with your statement." I shook my head and looked away.
"As I expected. You have changed, Ji-hoon." I looked at Eun-woo since it was the first time for me to hear him actually say his name.
"What does that have to mean?" Ji-hoon asked him with a slightly awkward tone.
"Nothing."
We proceeded to walk continuously before Ji-hoon spoke again.
"Well, I support break up," he said.
We all arrived at the butcher shop and found fresh, good-looking meat. I was the one that approached the seller and asked for a few kilograms of pork belly and beef.
"What else should we buy?" Ji-hoon asked me.
I looked at him. "TA said to buy ingredients for samgyetang. I don't even know what kind of dish it was."
"It's a ginseng chicken soup," Eun-woo explained.
"Oh. Okay!"
"Well then, I'll go find the soup ingredients as well as the chicken meat," Ji-hoon said. "Let's meet at the exit area after."
He immediately left me and Eun-woo which made me feel a little awkward.
Eun-woo cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you need to buy? I can go and get it so that it'll be faster."
"TA also asked for sweet potatoes to roast. Then, spring onions and other side dishes that go well with the dishes for tonight," I explained. "Maybe a tofu as well."
"Okay. I'll be back here, wait for me."
"Can I just walk around and wait for you guys near the exit?" I asked him.
"If that would work, sure." Eun-woo agreed as he walked away from where I was.
After successfully buying the meat, I roam around the rest of the market area. I could see familiar dishes being cooked and it was making my mouth water so bad. I wanted to buy some, but I couldn't. I might get full and won't be able to eat dinner later.
In the middle of walking around, I surprisingly encountered Na-bi together with Minerva and Troy's gang. I'm not sure why they are there, but what I'm sure about is that Taek-woon doesn't know about it.
When I got a little closer, I overheard them bullying and humiliating Na-bi in public. And from how I see it, Na-bi was about to cry. Her expression was far different from how she is acting toward me.
I decided to ignore them and turn around to walk away. However, it felt like I should do something. So, I immediately step in between Na-bi and Minerva by pulling her away from them, making her stay behind me.
"What the?" Minerva smirked unbelievably. "Isla, the bitch?"
"What are you doing here? Did TA know you are here?" I asked them.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Troy asked me. "Do you think we're like you? Trying to get permission from other people."
They started laughing like crazy people even though some of the locals there were witnessing the scene.
"Let go of Na-bi or else you'll regret it," Minerva warned me.
"No."
"Isla, just let go–"
I turned to look at Na-bi who was trying to pull her arms off of my grip.
"I told you no!" I raised my voice at her and she almost got teary.
I was shocked when Minerva approached us and forcefully tried to grab Na-bi before pulling her away from me. But, I didn't let go of her.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Minerva yelled at me.
"I WON'T LET YOU BULLY SOMEONE AGAIN LIKE HOW YOU BULLIED SU-BIN BEFORE!"
Minerva's hand suddenly flew right onto my left cheek which made me realize that I just got slapped by her. Almost everyone witnessing the scene got speechless.
A few seconds after reality hits, I could hear some of the female sellers from every stall yelling at Minerva and the others. I couldn't understand a thing since they are speaking their native language.
I knew they were distracted so I took the opportunity to grab Na-bi's hand again and went for a run. But, someone grabbed me by my clothes from behind and pulled me back.
It was Troy and he was about to hit me despite being scolded by the old women in the market. But, before he could do that, Eun-woo suddenly arrived and charged at him, followed by Ji-hoon. They literally knocked him out then Ji-hoon immediately went to me for protection.
"Are you okay?" He asked me.
I nodded at him nervously. Then, we started to hear someone whistling and saw a local police officer running toward the assailants. The sellers pointed out the suspects, the reason we were not bothered by the police.
"What the hell was that?" Eun-woo questioned me after approaching us.
"I–"
"You shouldn't have done it." I glanced at Na-bi and she was about to cry, for real.
"Isla just saved your ass," Ji-hoon told her.
Na-bi glanced at me. "I don't need anyone to save me!"
"Oh really? Then, next time we won't." Eun-woo raised his voice at her. "You should have at least been grateful that the person you did wrong still decided to help you from those people!"
"Minerva is my friend. They all are," Na-bi exclaimed.
"Friend?!" I couldn't help but express my disappointment toward her. "Are you fucking stupid?"
"What?"
"If she considers you a friend, she will not be humiliating you like that. Because a real friend loves you. And love means family," I told her. "Think about it, Seo Na-bi. Does your family humiliate you in public?"
"Just stop. I don't want your help, Isla." After saying that, she eventually walked away from us.
I'm not sure if she's coming to a realization, but I hope she does. It's for her own good.