I reached again.
He pulled it back.
The guys started chuckling to themselves.
Finally, Rae took pity, grabbing the shot from Kai and holding it out. “You don’t know the rules, do you?”
“Of drinking alcohol?” I glanced around at all their amused, beautiful faces. “You guys have… rules?”
Kai and Lucas started saying something without the app, making me want to glare, but they didn’t seem to be making fun of me, just… waiting for something.
What were they waiting for?
Rae held the shot out with both hands. “You take it with both hands, or it is insulting, and you have to finish the entire shot…”
I reached out again.
He pulled it back.
I hung my head. “What else?”
“How old are you again?”
“Twenty-two.” Seriously, what did that have to do with anything?
Rae grinned. “So, if Lucas’s glass is ever empty, you have to pour him more with both hands. Same goes for me since we’re both technically your seniors.”
“And Kai, Jay, or Sookie?”
“Your juniors.” He shrugged. “Not a ton of rules there, though they may need to make sure your shot’s always full.”
“Ummm… always full?”
“Always full.”
“But you have to finish it.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I’m not the best at math, despite what Kevin says, but that can be a lot of alcohol.” I looked around the guys. “What’s the alcohol percentage?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Jay finally chimed in. “It’s way lower than vodka.”
“Oh.” I relaxed instantly. “Oh good, you guys had me worried.”
I reached for the shot with both hands and drank all of it. I must have looked surprised because they all started laughing.
“Good?” Jay’s grin looked evil for some reason.
“Amazing! It doesn’t even taste like alcohol!” I was so damn proud of myself that I didn’t realize when Kai poured me another shot, and another, and another.
Finally.
We were bonding.
And all because we nearly went to jail.
I was gonna nail this internship.
I just knew it.
Part Two
The Lie.
Chapter Sixteen
“The beginning of our end…”
Lucas
“Fuck, she’s heavy,” I grumbled as we made our way down the stairs toward the van. “Why do I have to carry her?”
“Careful, you’re speaking English—she might hear you.” Jay laughed.
The guy needed to be shoved off a cliff. I wasn’t in the mood.
How much did she weigh?
How much did she drink?
“Trust me.” I heaved her up on my back more since she’d been sliding down. At this point, I was ready to let her roll the rest of the way. “She can’t hear shit.”
“He cusses more with her around,” Jay said to himself, earning a laugh from Kai, who gave me an intrigued look like he wanted to ask but knew I’d probably lie about it anyway.
She was annoying.
Loud.
And while I’d been born in Seoul, I lived in the States until my freshman year of high school, before moving permanently back to Seoul and becoming a trainee… I found that I liked quieter girls, cute girls, girls who didn’t have attitude—or were at least afraid to show it right away.
Damn, she had zero filter, zero respect—she didn’t even take her shoes off!
I shuddered.
“Want me to take a turn?” Rae was already reaching for her.
“No.” Her body jerked down my back again. And here I thought I was in good shape. Clearly not when I put some crazy American on my back who couldn’t hold her alcohol. She was complete dead weight.
“No way!” Her head popped up briefly. I stopped walking, heart hammering against my chest. She’d heard me speaking English.
The ruse was up.
Really, I just didn’t want to waste any words with her, and I found her being flustered extremely entertaining. I’d needed that after the scandal… after things went dark.
“I can understand Korean!” she announced proudly from her position on my back. “You hear that, world? It’s a soju miracle!” And then she was out again, her head lolling against my shoulder.
“Is she snoring?” Jay asked.
“She’s so loud,” I complained again. “Is this our punishment from management?”
Sookie switched to Korean. “She’s cute.”
“Of course, she’s cute,” I said back. “Like the puppy you buy at the store but return when it won’t stop whining.”
He shrugged. “Well, I think she’s nice.”
“She’s something.” Kai joined in. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone pass out so fast from drinking soju.”
“Well, Rae did tell her she had to finish every shot,” Jay pointed out.
Rae didn’t even look guilty. “She knows nothing about her own culture. It was an educational moment.”
She groaned.
“Yeah, great job, Rae. You could have killed her.”
“She’s fine,” he said, wincing when she suddenly jerked away from me and looked at all of us, then collapsed against my back again. “See? She’s even breathing normally.”
“Well, in that case,” I muttered.
“Stop complaining,” Rae said. “We’re already here.”
“True,” I said in English.
“Knew it,” she moaned from my back, then wrapped her arms around my neck so tight it was hard to breathe. “See, you’re speaking Korean, and I understands you…”
I shot a death glare at Rae.