CHEAP TEQUILA | knj

15TH SHOT

GISELA'S HAND CAME up to block the lens of the camera, an embarrassed laugh left her lips. "namjoon, stop!" she turned her face away. lowering his hands, he looked at her over the camera. "but you said you needed to take pictures." he blinked.

"yes, but i wasn't talking about me." she chuckled, letting her hand drop back to her side. "huh?" his brows knitted in a confused frown. "then who?" he questioned cutely. "of the bakery café, silly." she reached out and flicked his nose.

he smiled softly and she returned the gesture. his eyes stayed on hers, the two holding each other's gazes for longer than would have been deemed necessary. gisela looked away first, turning around, she cleared her throat. "so what would you like?" she asked, not looking at him. he could see her tan cheeks had taken on a flushed hue. it made him smile a bit.

his eyes drifted to the menu, scanning the options. "the lemon meringue?" his gaze moved back to her. "nice choice." she glanced at him before turning to the attendant. "one lemon meringue, one strawberry shortcake and two caramel milkshakes, please." she smiled warmly. "coming right up." the bubbly girl behind the counter chimed. "thank you."

gisela turned back to namjoon who was busy taking pictures of the place. "let's go take a seat." she rested a hand on his arm to get his attention. he twisted around to shoot her a dimpled smile. "okay," he mumbled out, lowering the camera in his hands.

they sat at one of the tables for two in the cozy café. she reached for the camera he still held in his large hands. "let me see the pictures you took." her fingers brushed against his lightly. he nearly dropped the camera in reaction, feeling warm tingles crawl up his skin. "here," his voice came out as a whisper.

she didn't seem to notice his reaction to her as she stared at the screen. "wow, namjoon these are great. i don't think i've ever taken any pictures this good." her eyes moved up to look at him. "thanks, i picked up a few pointers from kore." his voice tapered off at the mention of the girl he hadn't seen in months.

gisela's gaze softened when the words left his lips. she reached out to grab his hand, giving it a light squeeze. "you okay?" her voice was sweet, concerned. a full smile was sent her way as he nodded. "very. being around you makes me happy." he confessed, catching how her cheeks and the tips of her ears instantly reddened.

a waitress appeared with their orders then, a smile plastered on her pretty face. "you two are a really cute couple." she remarked glancing between the two. namjoon and gisela's lips parted to correct her but she cut them off before they could even begin, "enjoy!" she chirped before whirling around and leaving.

lips parted, the two stared at each other until gisela burst out laughing. "i guess we're a cute couple. i can't really blame her for saying that. i mean if i saw us, i'd probably think the same. we are really comfortable around each other. or maybe she meant i'm cute and so are you like in appearance. or maybe she was just trying to be nice. i'm not really sure what she was going for."

namjoon's smile grew into a full blown grin as she continued to babble, making him realise that the waitress's comment had made the girl sat across him nervous. he became aware that he found that quality of hers more endearing each time.

he chuckled, reaching out to tap his fingers against the back of her hand softly. "you're doing it again." he commented quietly and she pressed her lips together. "oh, sorry." she let out an embarrassed breathy chuckle. "no, it's okay." he assured her.

"gisela?" the smile she had fell off and her face paled at the sound of the familiar voice. slowly, they both looked up to see eli standing there, his arm wrapped around kore's middle. kore avoided namjoon's gaze, eyes casted down at her feet. "e-eli?" gisela stuttered. namjoon instinctively reached for her hand, wrapping his larger one around it, squeezing lightly. gisela smiled a little, taking a deep breath.

he noticed his ex-girlfriend's gaze on their intertwined hands. "hi, kore." he let out, voice surprisingly steady even as he felt a slight smarting pain in his chest. she shot him that blindingly bright smile he used to love so much. "hey, namjoon."

"so you two, huh?" eli gestured with his free hand. "and you two! you official now?" gisela responded in a too enthusiastic voice. namjoon gave her hand another squeeze and she cleared her throat in response.

"you could say that." eli's gaze shot to the the girl next to him with the ghost of a smile. "that's great to hear." namjoon interjected before gisela could say anything, feeling her slightly jittery hand and well aware that she might begin to ramble. "well, it was nice to see you two." he added as an afterthought in a bid to to get them to leave.

kore seemed to get the message he was trying to send. her expression was awkward as she lightly tugged on the sleeve of eli's shirt, a forced smile on her face. "it was nice seeing you again as well." she let out through her strained smile. "we have to be going. i think our order is ready." eli chimed in.

"bye," namjoon waved. "see you around?" kore asked. it was all he could do not to let his frown show. "sure, yeah." gisela answered for him. he looked away, eyes shifting from their cakes to gisela's face.

he glanced up momentarily when he heard their receding footsteps. his eyes shot back to the girl in front of him, lacing his fingers through hers. he didn't look up long enough to notice kore's lingering gaze on him.

☀️☀️☀️

unedited.

i'll be going on a hiatus soon to be able to focus on school so i might not be able to finish this story as early as i'd initially thought. but i'll try to find time in between studying to get the story done.