46 It's the Climb

And neither did Gael. He certainly did not expect that after listening to her horror story, he would land on her lips. If it were any other time, he'd probably praise himself for getting a perfect score. He could certainly pass as a pilot.

Her eyes blinked. His eyes widened. Both were obviously surprised and within one second after the accidental kiss, they quickly thought: Should they break away? Should they lean in?

In the end, the two of them pulled away and swiftly sat up on the bed.

"That…" Angela averted her gaze, her ears reddening by the second as she wondered what the hell just happened.

"I didn't mean that…" Gael muttered, rubbing his nape and silently cursing himself—as to why he cursed himself, he wasn't sure either. It could be for landing that kiss or pulling away.

"You…"

"I was startled and turned… and you were there…"

She cleared her throat. "That didn't mean anything," she uneasily blurted as if to remind him—or perhaps to convince herself.

"Right. Just an accident," he agreed.

Turning her head to him, she met his gaze and in almost a whisper, she said, "It won't happen again."

"Definitely."

Quickly, Gael swung his legs out of the bed and got up. "I need to smoke."

And as if by nature, Angela followed and rolled out of bed as well. "I need to pee."

The two adults dispersed—he headed out of the room in long strides while she scurried towards the bathroom.

It wasn't their first kiss. Definitely not their first kiss to each other too. But there was something indescribable about what just happened that neither of them could explain. Gael didn't plan on hooking up with Angela and the latter wasn't planning on it either. Perhaps that was why they were so flustered?

As soon as he left the room, he took out his cigarette and lit it up in front of the no-smoking sign. Who in the world would call him out right now? He took a long drag and puffed it out, the smoke quickly dissipated in the air.

He had been with women before, and he had certainly kissed her three years ago. So he couldn't understand why he reacted the way he did. Unknowingly, he brought a hand up to his chest where his heart should be and the image of him kissing Angela flashed in his mind. His heart raced like he was a fûcking teenager who just held hands with his crush. Only in this case, the teen kissed his crush. What the hell? Crush? He scoffed.

…

Leaning against the door, her thoughts brought her back to the scene that happened just a minute ago. She raised her hand up and her fingers brushed her lips ever so gently as though she was trying to remember how it felt like. Just like Gael, she couldn't understand why she panicked.

It's not like she hadn't kissed him before. She could certainly still remember how it was three years ago even though she was drunk. Her vivid memory could paint the scenes that unfolded that night as if it happened just recently.

But what happened just now wasn't the same. They weren't drunk. His lips didn't taste like liquor. And if she could be honest with herself—even if it was an accident, she didn't hate it.

After doing her business with so much difficulty, she managed to find the sink and washed her hands. Just as she finished, a flash of lightning cast from the sky outside and she looked up at the mirror only to find a reflection of a silhouette of a white figure that's standing behind her. The figure wore a long veil and the sight of it freaked her out that the blood in her face drained the instant she saw it. It was just like the ghost she told Gael a while ago!

Angela rushed out of the bathroom screaming her lungs out—a loud, harsh, piercing cry accompanied her heart ramming against her ribcage from the fright.

The door to the suite burst open and in came Gael, looking alarmed and worried hearing her scream. "What's wrong?!"

The moment she saw him appear in front of her, she dashed forward and without second thoughts, she climbed on him like there's no tomorrow—her arms encircled his neck and her legs locked around his waist. "There's a ghost in your bathroom!!!" she cried against his shoulder.