takes place in chapter 50-51

Ae-ri huffed, currently sitting in a wheelchair as her stupid boss and colleagues went to the seaside. She looked around, the waves crashing and her current friends bickering over why Hobin stalked Bomi to the seaside. "Go put laxatives in Yeonu's drink or something...!" She heard Hobin beg, making her scrunch her nose slightly.

Everyone was busy with their own stuff, and once again, it felt like Ae-ri didn't belong here. Her thighs were practically squished by how tight her bandages were, but she was making a good recovery. So she got up from her wheelchair, pushing it down to the sea and walking off to explore.

A certain black haired boy with round rimmed glasses noticed her leaving, his expression unwavering as he simply watched her leave. "Hey, quit yapping and show me the way to the hotel." Taehoon demanded, indifferent to the whole situation as he pulled his giant suitcase along with him.

Everyone was settling in, the breeze light and the sand soft yet crunchy. How did they know? Hobin ate some for the reason of 'testing.' Gaeul and Rumi messed around, splashing cool water at each other. "Hey, Ae-ri! You can dip your feet in..." Gaeul paused, her eyes staring at the desolate wheelchair soaked in salty water and dusted with sand.

"Hey, Hobin, Snapper!" Rumi called out, "Where's Ae-ri?!" Snapper and Hobin both turned to the empty wheelchair in sync. "Oh crap." Hobin muttered.

The sun was setting and everyone had yet to find Ae-ri. Eventually, they made a conclusion that she would return though there was a sense of uneasiness.

Ae-ri on the other hand, trailed along random paths and roads, her memory a little cloudy. It wasn't long before she ended up at a B&B, where the others stayed. All she had to do was find their room, but she had no idea how too. So she went around the building and to an alleyway instead, only to see Taehoon bullying some... Nerd?

"Did you just laugh at me?" Taehoon was firm on knowing, his hand grabbing the nerds hair. "Y-you're..." Before the nerd could even reply, Taehoon had already interrupted him. "Hey. I asked if you laughed at me." He pulled the nerds hair, "Answer me."

Ae-ri groaned at the sight, going over and pulling Taehoon's sleeve. "Taehoon..." She huffed, seeing how the nerd looked surprised. Let alone his airpods he had on max volume. She wondered how he wasn't deaf yet. Taehoon pulled his arm away from Ae-ri's hand, "Oh... I'm sorry..." The nerd apologized.

"You're telling me that you laughed even though you had these on?" Taehun picked his airpod up, the music practically blasting out the tiny speakers. "How's that possible when you had the volume up this high?" Ae-ri clicked her tongue at Taehoon's harsh antics, subtly prying his hand off the nerd's hair.

"Why'd you apologize?" Taehoon was very visibly, not pleased. "What do you mean? You said that I laughed..." Ae-ri raised a brow as did Taehoon. "So of course I had to apologize." The nerd spoke, as if it was a casual matter to him, a sheepish smile on his face.

Taehoon gritted his teeth, his brows furrowing as he leaned nearer. "Who even thinks like that?" He hissed, making Ae-ri kiss her teeth and pull him away by brute force. Taehoon moved back, his eyes widening slightly at her actions. "Wait until we get back to the hotel." Taehoon glared at her.

"Hey weirdo," Taehoon rolled the airpod in his finger tips before turning around. "I'm taking this." He stated simply and walked off. Ae-ri glanced at the nerd. " You look familiar." She spoke. " Like that... Yoojin guy I think."

" I-I'm Yeonu." Yeonu retorted, seeing her blink twice. " I'll try to remember." She gave a small nod to him and slowly limped off. Yeonu stared at her shrinking figure, thinking about the name she said.

" Yoojin... That's the name of my school building owner..." He muttered, " But it is a common name..." In the end, he dismissed the matter.

Taehoon tucked his hands in his pockets still irritated over the previous incident while the sound of sandals brushing against the cracked and rough concrete floor kept ringing in his ears. " Hey, can you shut up?" He turned around to see Ae-ri still limping and trailing behind him.

She stared at him, "You bully." She stated, scowling at him. " What?" He scoffed, his shoulders relaxing. She scratched the back of her neck, shaking her head. "Nothing." Taehoon's eyes followed her as she continued walking.

"... Crippled." He remarked, making his way past her, his steps slowly down very slightly. It was almost unnoticeable at all. Ae-ri stopped following him, turning to another alleyway and going down the random street. It was dark and dirty, but she knew her way.

"Hey crippled," Taehoon called out, receiving no reply. He turned around, seeing the place where she once was now empty. He frowned but left it like that. It's not like they were close or even knew each other. Either way, she wasn't his concern.

Yeah. She wasn't supposed to be his concern. But he hesitantly chose to turn back and search for her. Because she was Dowoons friend... And he knew she wasn't average at all, anyone could make a move.

"Rumi! Gaeul!" Ae-ri called out, still limping as she took a shorter route back to them, seeing them sitting by the stairs. "Ae-ri! Geez, you knucklehead, where did you go?" Gaeul crossed her arms as Ae-ri gave a small smile. "I wanted to explore." Ae-ri said truthfully.

"Well, we could have accompanied you." Gaeul pouted again, seeing Ae-ri's smile slowly drop. "Why would you? You were having fun and I didn't want to disturb." She spoke, her voice filled with genuine curiosity.

The three girls flinched. "Because... " Gaeul started, unsure of what to say. " Because you're our new employee. We are technically friends and would help you adjust! " Rumi reasoned, giving her a closed-eye smile. Ae-ri blinked twice. "Employee... The... HNH..." Ae-ri groaned at her hazey memories.

"HNH?" Bomi asked, making Ae-ri shake her head. "It's nothing. Sorry, who are you?" She forced a smile at the pretty female. "Oh, I'm Bomi! Bomi Choi." She smiled politely, a very beautiful face indeed. Ae-ri smiled back, her eye still feeling a little sore under the bandage.

They continued to talk amongst themselves, Ae-ri feeling strange yet having a sense of warmth. She never really experienced being friends with females or having many friends at all. "By the way, I think you're like, really pretty." Rumi spoke with Bomi.

"No way, really? I didn't want to make an effort today! Guess it didn't work." Bomi replied, pulling her knees to her chest. "Shes right. You're really pretty." Bomi turned to the side, seeing Ae-ri leaning back to avoid the strange three guys.

"Are you ladies here with friends or is it just the four of you?" A blondie with a bowl cut haired and tattoos spoke. "There's actually seven of us!" Gaeul perked up, eager to speak. Bomi tugged her sleeve, " G-Gaeul wait..."

Rumi seemed troubled too, to the point where the situation was just tense and awkward. Ae-ri glanced once until another guy with chestnut colored hair approached her. "You know, I can tell you are very pretty even with that bandage." Ae-ri grimaced at his pickup line.

" What's with your eye, huh?" The guy asked, making Ae-ri turn away. The guy seemed to eye their body, "You sure could've fooled me with that body, mines fully developed too." She heard the guy speak once more, making Rumi get up and splash a cup of soda in his face.

"What a damn creep!" Rumi shouted, the situation growing bigger before decreasing and calming down. Eventually, the guys left, cursing some vulgar words and turning away. Ae-ri bit down on her lower lip. "You're smart, Rumi." She spoke.

"I know, right? He totally deserved it!" Rumi huffed, sweeping her hair back. "No. You saved his life." They froze, slowly turning to her. "I would have ended him..." She mumbled, to which Bomi laughed off and diverted the subject.

"Hey!" They heard Snapper's voice, turning to see him and Hobin looking like total fools in a yellow rubber ducky and chicken floatie. "What happened?!" Snapper quickly asked, "Did someone try to pick a fight with you?!" Hobin seemed to be looking even stupider than usual.

Ae-ri let out a small sigh at what had just happened, because so far, she was not enjoying this random trip.

bonus: Taehun and Ae-ri's relationship right now is just because they knew each other before and they can't even be considered friends as of now 😚