"Welcome back, Ice Princess," Gigi teased with a smirk. "Knowing you, I thought you'd bailed for good, but here you are."
What. The. Fudge.
I shot a look at Ari, utterly betrayed, but all she gave me in return was an innocent, sweet smile that rendered me completely useless. I was screaming in my head how much of a gorgeous traitor she was.
"On second thought, it's already late, and I need to sleep," I said, scooting backward and preparing my escape. "You guys have fun."
But before I could flee, Ari gently grasped my hand.
"You said you'd play," she said softly. Oh no—there they are. The puppy eyes. The gorgeous, weaponized puppy eyes. "Please, just one round, Yuu?"
The way she said my name, so sweet and cute, made my knees feel like jell—No. Temptation, begone!
As I observed her closely, I noticed her cheeks were flushed. Was she… tipsy? She must've had a few drinks, and somehow, that realization made her even harder to resist.
I turned my glare to Gigi, who was sitting there like the smug devil she is. She just smirked back at me, clearly proud of herself. She definitely did this to Ari.
"What did they do to you?" I asked, directing my question at Ari. "How many shots did you have?"
Ari leaned into my touch as I felt her temple, humming softly. "Not too many," she replied with a dorky smile.
"You're hot," I said instinctively, referring to her temperature. The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to bury myself six feet under ground.
"Thanks," Ari replied with a charming smirk, her tone playful.
I blushed furiously, completely tongue-tied and unable to come up with a retort.
"Okay, lovebirds," Gigi's voice broke through, snapping both of us out of the moment. I whipped my head around to find everyone staring at us with amused, knowing looks. Giggles rippled through the circle, and the sheer level of embarrassment I felt was absolutely unbearable.
"As much as I love how adorable you two are right now," Gigi continued with a smirk, "we have a game to finish." She dramatically splashed a deck of cards onto the floor for effect.
Before I could even attempt another escape, Ari pulled me back down to sit beside her.
And, once again, I didn't have much of a choice.
"Gather around, nerds," Gigi declared dramatically, shuffling the cards in her hands with the kind of exaggerated flair only she could pull off.
"We are going to play a game of Dare or Drink," she announced mischievously, her grin practically screaming trouble.
Gigi and her obsession with American pop culture, honestly. I would have bolted right then and there after she said that. The idea of playing that kind of game with strangers—especially men—was not exactly my idea of fun.
It's not like I have a grudge against men or anything. I'm just… gay. You get the picture. I don't need to explain.
But thank the heavens, all the guys had already left, leaving just six of us in the circle: Gigi at 12 o'clock, Somi and Yujin on my right, and Ari and Jisoo, the girl who'd spoken to me earlier, on my left.
Oh, I already knew this was going to end in disaster.
The last time I played this game, it was with Jennifer, Gigi's American cousin. Let's just say it didn't end well, and I still have flashbacks of that nightmare up until this day.
Well, I guess I just have to survive this because, let's face it—I'm too much of a simp to fight back.
Fifteen minutes into the game, and I was already questioning every life choice that led me here.
I swear to Saint Jesus, whoever created the questions for this game probably had a raging boner while brainstorming them.
Just look at them: Do a body shot of the person in the room you find attractive. Give a hickey to the player on your right. Lick whipped cream off someone's body part of their choice.
Seriously. What is wrong with these questions?
Thankfully, some of the more ridiculous dares were turned down, as most people in the group opted to drink instead of following through. How… demure of them. Thank God.
"Name a body part you find attractive on the person sitting to your left," Gigi read aloud, her mischievous gaze landing squarely on Somi.
And guess who was sitting to Somi's left?
Me.
"You don't have to answer that, Somi," I reassured her quickly, trying to diffuse the situation. "You can just drink."
But with her cheeks already flushed from two previous shots, Somi giggled and waved me off. "No, I think I want to answer this one."
Oh, great.
She turned to me, her expression earnest yet tipsy, and said, "Your eyes. They're really pretty."
"Thank you," I replied, feeling my cheeks heat up. I wasn't used to being complimented like this—especially not by girls.
Somi gave me a casual, cool nod, but the rest of the circle broke into whistles and cheers.
I rolled my eyes, groaning internally.
Somi spun the bottle, and, as if my luck had completely abandoned me, it landed squarely on me for the first time.
I groaned audibly, reluctantly picking up a card. The moment I read the question, my eyes widened in horror.
"What is it?" Gigi asked, her excitement barely contained.
I was still frozen, staring at the card, when I felt Ari lean over my shoulder to read it herself. Her voice was soft but clear as she read aloud, "Name the person in this room you find the most attractive."
As if on instinct, my eyes darted to her face.
Big mistake.
She was so close—her face mere inches from mine. My breath hitched as I felt my cheeks flush a deep red.
I swear, it felt like the entire world had stopped spinning. For a brief, panic-filled moment, all I could focus on was just how unfairly gorgeous she looked up close.
It was utterly distracting, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.