"This is more fun than I had initially thought it could be" Woojin huffed after sitting beside me. He just finished singing 3 songs in a row and now Beomgyu was belting out a rock song.
He is a good singer.
"I told you, not all of them are snobs. Some are nice" I shrug and take a sip of the coke I have.
I opted out of drinking because I felt like tonight someone had to be in their right mind to navigate everything properly.
It is not like I didn't trust Beomgyu or Yeonjun... Well, I didn't but the thing is I didn't want one exchange of words or just a snap of something and a big fight or something.
I may be overreacting but one thing I have learned from being in Royals High is that things do not take time to be unpredictable.
I wanted Woojin to have fun around them and I wanted them to have fun around Woojin and San. I did not want to feel like I was leading two different lives.
Till now, tonight has been smooth sailing. A little bumps and creaks here and there but that is normal. I hope that we can continue this and end the night on a high note.
"You know I always thought of Royals High as this intimidating place and even when it was my dream school, I was scared of going there. Even though I could not, I am happy that two of my closest friends could" Woojin side hugs both of us.
"It is not all gold. There are definitely downsides to the school so trust me you are not missing much. However, I am waiting for you to tell us something. Something that I heard from my mom that she heard from your mom" San looks pointedly at Woojin.
Woojin gives a sheepish smile and looks down.
I look at both of them in confusion. It feels like I am missing a link.
"I was going to tell you guys on the night at Hill but everything didn't go as planned. And then, I felt like it is not that big of a deal" Woojin murmurs and San slaps the back of his head.
"Of course, it is a big deal. Come on, you're the first one among us to get accepted into a college" San tuts and I spring up from my seat.
"Wait, what? Did you get into a college? What? How did I not know about this? How can you guys keep this from me!" I was yelling.
Beomgyu stopped singing and both Saehi and Yeonjun were staring at me.
"It is not a college. Technically. I was applying to different programs. I have always been interested in marine life and it is not like I was expecting to be selected because they only select 25 people from the world for the apprenticeship -"
"Woojin, I swear if you don't get to the point in the next two lines, I will shove a chip up your nose" Saehi cuts Woojin and he lets out a nervous laugh.
"Well I applied to the student apprenticeship program of the Norwegian School of Marine Biology which is kind of a pre-college course and got selected" Woojin announced and I screamed, jumping up and down.
I pull him from his seat and tightly hug him.
"Oh my god. I am so proud of you! This is one of your dream colleges and you get to go there early. Oh my god! There is so much to do before you go. Have you started packing? Do you have all the documents required? When do you leave? We have so much to do before you go -"
"Okay Mama Bear, step aside for a minute and breathe" Beomgyu holds me by the shoulder pushes me out of the way, and goes to high-five Woojin.
I am smiling brightly and I am welling up with tears.
I am so happy for Woojin.
San and I share a look and I know he is very happy for Woojin as well.
This night was good.
I let out a content sigh and sat back in my place while Saehi, San, and Beomgyu congratulated Woojin and made him drink shots.
My eyes wander around the room to meet Yeonjun's eyes across the room.
He is sitting casually with his arms folded and his eyes trained on me.
If I am not mistaken, I would say he has a smile on his face.
Or is it a smirk?
His hair is falling on his forehead and his eyes have an intensity that I cannot escape.
It feels like we're having a staring contest but I can't look away even if I want to. And he doesn't seem to look away either.
He gets up from his seat, pats Woojin's back with a simple congratulations, and opens the main door of the room.
"Where are you going?" I can't stop myself from asking.
He is tall and I have to crane my neck to look at him from my seat. He tilts his head to the side, studying me for a moment before one corner of his lips turns up.
A signature smirk.
"The same thing I did during the swim competition" He winks and closes the door behind him.
I was too stunned to speak after that and even though I wanted to follow him outside, I already almost got caught the last time. I don't want to get into trouble again.
"This calls for a song. Come on!" Saehi drags Woojin to the stage and hands him a mic. Both of them are sloshed and start singing random songs off key.
"You can drink if you want, nobody will snitch" A half-drunk Beomgyu slurred his words and sat down beside me.
"It is okay. I am not much of a drinker. This is not normally my scene" I take chips from the open packet on the table and munch on it.
"Then what is your scene, Park Yuri? I want to know" Beomgyu put his hands under his face and stared at me with a smile.
"Not this. Loud music, drinks, a whole lot of noise" I shrug and Beomgyu nods.
"I wanted to ease the tension a bit at first. And what better way to do that if not alcohol? And then it turned into this happy thing and what better way to celebrate than alcohol?"
"So you can read the room. Here I was thinking that you just had a block of ice from brains and eyes for decoration" I retort and he smirks.
"I do have beautiful eyes," he says and I give him a look.
"Sometimes it is better to be oblivious. And it is not like anything else is expected of me. I like this image of mine. It helps me ease out of a lot of situations" Beomgyu sighs and takes a shot of soju.
"I know I know I act like I don't know what is going on it is better that way" he looks at the stage and winces at the sound.
Right now Woojin and Saehi were on the podium belting out an emotional song completely off-key.
Woojin and Saehi were both drunk but Saehi had many more drinks compared to Woojin. Now that I was looking at them on the stage, it looked like Woojin was drunker than Saehi.
"They are both going to have sore throats in the morning" Beomgyu shakes his head as if disappointed in their lack of maturity.
I want to remind him that it was his idea to come to this karaoke and his idea to drink.
"You are wrong to think nothing else is expected of you. And you chose to put this image of you out there and you can change it as well" I suggest and Beomgyu smiles drunkenly at me.
"You think so. Others don't" he slurs and sighs.
"It doesn't matter what others think. It doesn't matter what I think. It is you who is going to have to decide whether you want to continue this narrative or want to change it" I explain.
"I can understand why they like you," he says more to himself than to me.
I look at him quizically waiting for him to explain but my patience wears thin and he doesn't seem to be too eager to explain I ask him.
"What do you mean by that?" he just smiles wider at my confusion.
"You remind them of their young selves. The boys they were when they thought they could believe in themselves even when the world was against them" he ruffles my hair like you do to a child.
"What are you talking about?" Beomgyu is really drunk. I don't think even he knows what he is talking about.
"Your words hold more powers than you think. You have a way that influences people" I think he means it as a compliment.
"I hope you mean it as a compliment or else you're just calling me a manipulative witch in diplomatic terms" I laugh and Beomgyu shakes his head.
"You could be a manipulative bitch you wanted to be but I know you are not going to be that. You're too good and want to be the one to take the right step. But you have to understand that the real world is very different" He speaks in a solemn voice.
"Here, anyone and everyone will resort to any possible measures to get ahead. You are an outsider in the group of Royals. You have a lot of eyes on your back. Sometimes it is better to be a bitch than keep quiet" he patted my knees in reassurance.
I was too stunned to speak and I wasn't sure which question to ask him so I just excused myself to go out and get some air.
"I'll be back. I need to get some air" I say and get up from my seat. I needed to breathe.
Beomgyu gives me two thumbs up and I leave the room.
A/n: Update!!!! I have not been writing much for the past week because I am on vacation. I came home after one whole year so spending time with the fam right now. However I will try to update at least once a week till maybe 10th Feb. After that I will try to update 2-3 times a week because this story will probably take me 3 years to complete if I don't.
Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter. A lot of things happened here.
And Idk what is up with Wattpad cause I have to update and publish the chapters twice to make it appear in the notifications. Any tips to help me out will be great.
Also, ik this is becoming long but I see so many people adding Royals to their reading lists and I want to tell y'all I luv ya â¤ï¸ Welcome to the family of Royals. I hope you like the story as much as I do.