Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Samantha sauntered towards them and when they noticed her, both of them suddenly froze; they have just talked about the girl that they were not supposed to talk about and they were both feeling very guilty.

"Where were you guys? I was looking for you.", Samantha asked as soon as she was in front of them.

Hannah and Seo Joon looked at each other and spoke, "Uhh… we were outside.", she gulped guiltily as if they have done something very wrong.

Samantha was puzzled, "What were you doing outside?"

It was Seo Joon this time who answered, "We just went out for some fresh air."

He stood up from his seat, "d.a.m.n, I"m hungry! Han, Let"s go grab some food.", he suggested and as soon as he said that, Hannah automatically stood up as well as if by nature and the both of them walked towards the food table leaving Samantha baffled by their awkward behavior.

"Okayyy…", she muttered as she watched her best friend and her brother walk away from her. She just shrugged and brushed it off.

When Hannah and Seo Joon were near the table, Hannah nervously looked back to check if Samantha was out of earshot. That"s when she released her breath that she didn"t know she was holding, "Did you think she noticed?"

"If you"re gonna act like you"re hiding a dead body and feeling very guilty about it, she"ll definitely notice something is off."

"What dead body?! Joon, you make it sound like I murdered someone.", Hannah complained.

Seo Joon guffawed, "Who says anything about murder? I was just saying "hiding a dead body", no one said anything about killing. You"re too imaginative."

Getting some food from the table, Hannah glared at the man who was laughing at her, "Well you said dead body and the only thing that came to mind was someone getting murdered. The dead body wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown into the ocean."

Seo Joon stopped and looked at her, he was trying to a.n.a.lyze the woman who had been talking carelessly, "Wow Hannah Chu, I didn"t know you were a fan of Dexter. You sure have a very vivid imagination. I don"t wanna mess with you.", he spoke as he raised both of his hands as if he surrendered.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Ugh."

Seo Joon and Hannah stood beside the food table as they munched some food and chatted from time to time.

When Samantha and Daniel danced on the dance floor, Seo Joon attempted to invite Hannah to dance with him as well when he noticed that she was swaying to the melody but his first and second invites failed. The slow Hannah thought that he was asking for some Hershey"s kisses so she kept on putting one on his extended hand.

"What is wrong with this guy?", she thought as she found it annoying that he kept on asking chocolates from her when he can clearly get some for himself from the table just beside them.

"You can get your own chocolates, you know? There"s a lot on the table!", she complained but she put a piece on his waiting hand anyway.

He wanted to tease her but then changed his mind. He sighed and spoke as he held out his hand one more time, "Your hand, you dummy! We"re dancing!"

As soon as Seo Joon clarified what he meant, Hannah"s heart raced. She looked at him while she was dumbfounded, "Oh." she managed to utter.

Placing her hand on his, they walked towards the center of the room. Both of them kept silent the entire time that they moved from side to side with the music. It was the first time that they danced together like this and Hannah was clearly unsure of what she was supposed to feel. Her bestfriend"s brother is dancing with her… was she supposed to be calm as if it was something natural? Or was she supposed to freak out because it was it seemed natural?

With those thoughts in mind, Hannah awkwardly danced with him. When the music died down, Hannah looked around and noticed that Samantha and Daniel were gone.

"Would you like to drink?", Seo Joon asked.

"Huh?", she didn"t hear his question as she was trying to find her best friend.

"I asked if you wanted to drink, I was going to get one for myself."

She looked at him and thought about it for a second, "Sure, why not."

Nodding his head, Seo Joon revealed a smile, "Okay… let"s go."

They walked towards the open bar and ordered their own drinks. Seo Joon noticed that Samantha was only drinking a Dry Vermouth Buck which is a c.o.c.ktail made of a shot of Dry Vermouth, lemon and ginger ale; it"s a low-ABV c.o.c.ktail (low - alcohol by volume).

"How come you"re drinking that?", he asked.

"What do you mean? Why can"t I drink this? I like it."

"You come to Zero Gravity and order hard drinks every time but you"re suddenly switching to something so mellow?", he questioned.

"I don"t know… it was something that came to mind. What should I drink then?", she asked innocently, little did she know that she would regret Seo Joon"s drink suggestion.

He looked at the bar and contemplated for a second, "Instead of dry vermouth, how about a Negroni? It has gin and sweet vermouth. It"s can be very strong though… I forgot about that, you know what... Never mind."

"No… wait, I haven"t tried that one yet and I heard that it"s delicious, I"d like to try one.", she decided.

Seo Joon looked at her as if he was trying to see if Hannah could handle it.

"Come on, you were the one who suggested it first. I"d like to try…", Hannah smiled brightly.

"Well… I guess one serving is fine.", he turned to the bartender and ordered Hannah"s drink. "One Negroni for my beautiful date please.", he smiled as he glanced at Hannah who became excited for her c.o.c.ktail.

When her drink was made, she received it from the bartender and took a sip to taste it. Her brows raised as she was surprised by the new taste, "Wow… um… What is this?" she felt the drink with her tongue as she critiqued it. "I can taste orange… and was that egg?"

Smiling brightly, Seo Joon complimented her, "I"m impressed! You have great taste buds. You could be a great bartender. Hmmm… a barista and a bartender. Not bad, Hannah Chu."

Hannah laughed at his comments. They continued to chat about anything that they could think of and without realizing, Hannah and Seo Joon have already drunk gla.s.ses after gla.s.ses of alcohol.
They were laughing as they went back outside by the pool.

They were laughing because they just saw a guest from the party who was stealing food from the table and sneakily putting them inside his coat as he looked around afraid that someone would see him.

As they reached the deck, Hannah leaned on the rail and breathed in. Seo Joon stood beside her, "Ahh.. fresh air.", she exhaled.

Hannah tried to climb up the lower bar of the railing but Seo Joon stopped her, "Hey, don"t do that. You"ll fall."

"No no no… I"ll be careful.", she attempted once again but her heel slipped even before she managed to step. She lost her balance and fell on the right but Seo Joon managed to catch her in time.

"d.a.m.n it, Chu!", he sneered.

Hannah laughed and balanced herself to face him gingerly. But when she turned to Seo Joon, their bodies were so close as he was trying to hold her up.

They stared into each other"s eyes and Seo Joon gulped. "When did she look like this?"

Hannah who was already intoxicated felt very brave. She propped herself up and tiptoed to kiss Seo Joon on the lips. Her kiss was brief as she pulled back very quickly.

Seo Joon"s eyes widened, surprised by her sudden action.

Hannah looked at him and on the next second, she gagged... and then puked all over hers and Seo Joon"s clothes before she fainted.

"d.a.m.n it, Hannah Chu!"