Juliet In Distress : F4 THAILAND

Four.

Ren's POV -

Chapter 4 : Double taps and crushes.

My evening was cruising along quite peacefully, with a laptop in front of me and a steaming bowl of noodles at my side. I had a date with my favorite Thai drama lined up on Netflix, and the world was good. That is, until I made the colossal mistake of deciding to casually browse Instagram.

There she was, Jia Kingston, in all her radiant glory, her profile filled with breathtaking pictures that made my heart do gymnastics. I couldn't help but stare at a particularly stunning photo, and just as I did, in walked my three best friends - Thyme, Kavin, and MJ.

Thyme, always the one to seize any opportunity for chaos, was the first to notice my Instagram adventure. He let out a wolf whistle and said, "Ren, my man, what are you up to? Scoping out some fine ladies, are we?"

Kavin chimed in, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. "Looks like Ren's found a new muse for his art. Care to share, buddy?"

MJ, who was usually the voice of reason in our group, joined in the teasing. "Come on, Ren, you can tell us. We're your bros. Who's the lucky lady?"

I was about to come up with a great excuse when Thyme suddenly jumped on me and started tickling me. The other joined in too, making me gasp for air. Duffers.

Panicking under the merciless barrage of innuendos and tickles, I finally blurted out, "It's just someone I met on a flight, okay? Nothing more."

But my troubles were far from over. Just as I tried to escape their tickling grasp, my finger accidentally hit the heart button on one of Jia's photos.

"Fuck."

"Shit."

"Is it too late to pretend I never existed ?"

"Or maybe I could just move to Italy, change my name to Lola and run a mafia. I'm sure MJ could help."

"Ren, buddy, it's just a double-tap," Thyme said, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Are you sure you don't like her ?" MJ suddenly asked.

"Naah, I don't. Trust me." I don't. Right ?

Kavin, however, decided to take it up a notch. "Hey, if you're not interested, Ren, I can always follow her and slide into her DMs."

My heart pounded as I exclaimed, "No, Kavin, don't! That's... that's not necessary."

MJ, ever the voice of reason, smacked Kavin's head. "Dude, you have a girlfriend!"

Renewed laughter filled the room, and I finally managed to catch my breath. "Look, guys, it's not like that. We just had a nice chat on the plane. That's all."

The three of them exchanged incredulous glances before bursting into laughter again. Thyme was the first to speak, his tone dripping with amusement. "Well, well, Ren, seven years of radio silence, and now you're chatting up girls on planes? We're proud of you, buddy."

Kavin and MJ nodded in agreement, their teasing transformed into genuine happiness for me. And as the chaos settled down, I realized that, for the first time in seven years, I had looked at a girl and felt a flutter in my heart. It was a feeling that both scared and excited me, and as I tried to deny having a crush, I couldn't help but wonder if this was the start of something beautifully chaotic in my life.

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