TWENTY-THREE

She had to act like he wasn't there, like his presence didn't bother her. They were still filming and there was nothing she could do but keep doing what she had been doing, grilling the meat. However, she felt as Jun watched her. And no one there seemed to mind his presence despite the water park having been closed to the public. In fact, Adam's manager was talking to him but they were too far for her to be able to hear what they were saying. She only hoped that Jun wasn't ratting on Cain for "dating". It didn't look like that was the case though since the manager seemed far too happy for that.

Abby was still looking in their direction when she felt someone sneak up behind her, it was Seth. 

"What do you think they're talking about? Nothing bad, right?" 

By "nothing bad", Abby knew that he meant what she had been thinking at first. 

"Don't think so unless our manager usually smiles when he's mad..." 

As she had only been a member of Adam for a while, she did not yet know the manager well enough but she had never met anyone before that smiled when they were angry. 

"I swear I didn't say anything." 

Joel appeared right behind them. It seemed like he too had noticed Jun's presence. 

"I know. I believe you. I think he's just trying to intimidate us by being here."

At least that's what she hoped.

"Hyung, I'm sorry to say this but I think your novia's ex is trying to get back with her." 

Abby was surprised to hear Eli say a word in Spanish. Novia meant girlfriend in Spanish. She suspected he used the word so none of the staff would know what they were talking about. He was also talking to her in English despite Cain not being one of the English speaking members in the group. Cain did understand basic English though, at least enough that he would have understood what Eli had just said. 

"I don't think so. The bastard was the one that left her and she hates him too much for that." 

"Woah mate, your English has improved." 

Joel patted her on the back. She had responded to Eli in English since he had talked to her in that language. Abby however hadn't realized that her English sounded way too good for it to sound like Cain. Whenever he spoke English, he spoke it with an accent while she had no accent at all since English was one of her native languages.

"Cain, could you come over here for a sec?" 

It was the manager. He had stopped talking to Jun but he was still standing next to him. He was motioning for her to join them. She looked back at all the guys before leaving to the manager's side. The members looked just as worried as she was. 

"I'll like you to meet Lee Jun. He is the nephew of the CEO of eLee's Cosmetics." 

She already knew that and she already knew who Jun was. eLee Cosmetics was the name of Mrs. Lee's company, the company Jun was meant to succeed from his aunt. Abby heard Jun clear his throat. 

"Actually, I AM the CEO and shouldn't you be bowing little boy?" 

Bowing to Jun was the last thing she wanted to do. But that's what the manager expected from her and not wanting to get Cain in trouble, Abby did just as Jun wanted and bowed. Once she was up from her bow, she could see that Jun was smiling. He was enjoying this. Had the manager not been there, she would have most likely flipped him off.

His smug smile annoyed her and she wished she could wipe it off by kicking him where it hurts just like Cain had done at the café. She had forgotten all about Cain but he was most likely still there at the water park since makeup artists usually didn't leave until the artists did. She had to warn him about Jun. He had to hide. If he didn't then Jun would most likely end up bothering him just like he was bothering her and Abby didn't want that.

She was about to take out her phone to text Cain but the manager spoke up just then.

"Cain, how would you like to be the next model for eLee Cosmetics?" 

She couldn't believe that was the only reason Jun was there. It wasn't like him to make such a proposal to someone he didn't seem to like and it was more than obvious that he didn't like Cain. Abby was sure he had something up his sleeves. She looked to Jun and then back at the manager.

"Could I perhaps talk this out with Mr. Lee? In private please." 

She needed to be alone with him so she could find out what he was up to. Jun was never really the nice type that he would do something like hiring his ex's boyfriend as a model. He was never the nice type period. Abby had always wondered what she had even seen in him. He had probably ended up doing her a favor by having left her.

"Mr. Lee?" 

The manager looked at Jun for approval. 

"Yea. Ok. I'll speak privately with him. I was meaning to make a special proposal to him after all."

The manager left and it was just the two of them alone. Abby could see that Jun was about to speak but she decided to cut him off before he did by putting her hand out at him to stop him. 

"Hold on just a sec. There's something I have to do." 

She needed to send that text to warn Cain. Having her phone already in hand, she started typing.

"You're texting her, aren't you? I already know she's here. I saw her trying to hide behind a pillar when she saw me. I think she was eavesdropping on my phone conversation. Don't you think it's a little too risky for her to work at the same company as you? I had no idea that Abby even had such a talent as being a makeup artist. eLee Cosmetics could hire her. I'm sure my aunt will be more than happy to have her work with us."

"What do you want from her? And what exactly is it that you want from me? I know you're not just here to offer me a job as a model." 

Fed up with Jun, she just wanted to know what exactly it was that he wanted and his purpose in bothering Cain. It just didn't make sense. It almost seemed like Jun was bothered by the fact she and Cain were "dating". But Jun had chosen to leave her, he was the one that walked out of her life. It was none of his business if she had started dating again and he had no right to bother whoever she chose to date. It wasn't like she had ever bothered him whenever she heard from his aunt that he had started dating someone new. And according to his aunt, Jun had had a bunch of girlfriends after her. She could only assume that the reason why was because none of his relationships had lasted. The girls he dated had all probably left him as soon as they got to know the real him.

"I can see that you're smart. Must be why Abby chose to date you. She does like smart guys after all, take me for example. I bet I'm probably smarter than you though idol boy. Is that why you chose to be an idol? Cuz you're not smart enough to be anything else?" 

She felt like slapping him but it would have seemed too girly coming from Cain. And since she had all his strength, it would have been a shame not to use it. So instead of a slap, she ended up punching him. Right in the eye just like she had done the day at the cafe.

"You think I'm not smart enough to be anything else other than an idol? Well how about my strength? Do you think I'm strong enough to be a boxer?"

Abby could see that his eye had started to swell despite him trying to cover it up with one of his hands.

"I would hit you back but I don't hit children." 

Cain's age was only an excuse. She knew Jun not hitting her back was only because he was weak. He liked to act like an alpha male since he had all that money but in reality he couldn't throw a punch even if his life depended on it. Her own female body was probably stronger than his. She remembered a time when they were both still university students and a guy had beat Jun up for having accidentally scratched his car with a metal ruler that was sticking out of his backpack. The guy ended up throwing several punches at him but Jun hadn't even been able to throw a single punch back. Abby had to be the one to punch the guy just so that she could get him to stop hitting Jun.

"Now answer my questions before I punch you again." 

Intimidating him wasn't a hard thing to do considering how weak he was. And Abby was willing to do whatever it took to get the truth out of him. She had been lucky that they had gone a bit further out so they could talk and that meant that no one had been around to see her punch Jun. The cameras could have caught it but she didn't think the security there would be as daring as to release such violent footage from an artist that was supposed to be promoting their water park.

"Fine. Here's the deal. You break up with Abby, maybe even hurt her enough so that she'll come running to me. And if you do that, eLee Cosmetics will make a three year modeling contract with you. Normally modeling contracts for cosmetic companies aren't that long. They are usually only made for a single season or a year at most. eLee is just the same in wanting to get new faces to endorse their products every so often but as the CEO, I'll be able to do anything I want and that includes a three year contract."

Out of everything Jun had said there was just one thing Abby didn't understand, why would he want Cain to break up with her? There was no relationship to begin with but he didn't know that. To Jun, she and Cain were a couple. And it angered her that he would even suggest such a thing as hurting her to Cain and for what? So that she could go back running to him? There was no way in hell she was ever going to do such a thing. 

Jun was the type of person that always got what he wanted but he wasn't going to get whatever it was he was now after, she wasn't going to let him. Not only was he trying to mess with Cain's life but with hers as well. Of course a 3 year modeling contract would have been great for Cain's career but at what cost? She may love Cain as a friend but there was no way that she was going to sacrifice herself, not in that way.

"Why don't you just go fuck yourself and leave both me and Abby alone! She'll never get back together with you! She's moved on and you'll have to learn to do so as well!" 

She turned to leave but saw Cain standing there, only a few feet away from them. 

"I was hiding but then I thought that perhaps my boyfriend might end up needing me." 

Cain went over to Abby's side and grabbed onto her hand but she noticed that his touch felt odd. She looked down and saw that he had latex gloves on. Cain had put them on just so that he could touch her. 

"What are you doing here? Do you perhaps want Jun to end up causing a scene?" 

Abby whispered to him. She appreciated Cain being there but at the same time she wished that he were still hiding.

"You probably haven't noticed but Abel is hiding behind that bush over there right now. He texted me and told me I should come." 

Cain motioned his head towards a nearby bush. Abby looked where he motioned to and saw a little bit of gray hair sticking out in between the leaves, it was definitely Abel. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him there and felt somewhat embarrassed to know that he had probably been there to hear everything.

"Can't even hold each other's hands without gloves on? How pathetic." 

Jun had gone over to Cain and pulled his hand out from Abby's just to snatch his glove off. 

"If you think we're so pathetic then why do you want to get back together with me—I mean with Abby?" 

She had to quickly correct herself and hoped that Jun hadn't notice the slip up. She had meant to ask him the question but it wasn't like it had really mattered. Whatever his reasons were there was no way she was going to get back together with him.

"It's not so much that I want to get back together with my freak of an ex but I do want that CEO position and my aunt is not letting me officially have it until I get married. Of course it'll be easy for me to find someone that will want to marry me but the problem is that it has to be someone my aunt approves of. And so far none of the girls I've dated have been worthy enough for her. She keeps insisting I should either get back with Abby or find someone like her so here I am. It's not like I'll be able to find another freak like her."

"Wow. Way to win over a girl's heart. Fuckin jerk!" 

Just then Abel came out from behind the bush. 

"Well too bad for you that she's moved on. She has a boyfriend now and not only that but she has someone else that also likes her, me. So if she ends up breaking up with him, it'll be me she runs to and not you." 

It appeared that Abel had heard everything after all. Abby felt like she could die from embarrassment. 

"Well I need a wife and I need a model, that's what I came for and that's what I'm going to get. So you're coming with me little freak. You should consider yourself lucky that for some odd reason my aunt likes you."

Jun had grabbed onto Cain's hand, the same one he had taken the glove off from and started to pull him. Not only was he rude but he was inconsiderate. He knew her condition and yet he still grabbed onto a part of her body like that. 

There was no way Cain was going to let someone treat Abby like that, even if it was him that was being treated in that way at the moment. Jun had been disrespectful to Abby and that was something he could not forgive. He stomped on Jun's feet as hard as he could and then spit on his face as he crouched down in pain.

"Fuckin bitch! You're going to rue having done that! It's not like either one of these fools are going to want to marry you! They are way too young for that and I know your parents are expecting you to start a family soon! So you'll either have to marry me or find yourself someone older but I doubt anyone else is going to want to marry a freak like you!" 

Cain couldn't take it anymore and neither could Abel. They both might have been love rivals but the first thing they were going to have to do before trying to win Abby over was to get rid of her toxic ex. Since Abel was the one with the stronger body at the moment, he held Jun down while Cain started beating him. 

"Call—me—a—freak—one—more—time—and—I'll—destroy—every—organ—in—your—body." 

Cain gave Jun a kick after each word, which totaled up to 15 kicks. Abby had been counting as she stood back and watched. Normally she was the type to break up a fight but she wasn't going to this time. Jun deserved every kick and more.

"Omg! You guys! Are you seriously beating up a CEO right now?!" 

Joel had arrived at the scene and ran to Jun to help him up. He had been sent out to look for Cain and Abel since the losing team had finished cooking their food. Both Lucas and Simon were just waiting for their other two team members so they could start eating. 

"We have our reasons." 

Cain kicked Jun one last time. It wasn't like he was all that strong now that he was in a woman's body so he doubted he had really ended up doing much damage. But if Jun still didn't leave Abby alone once he was in his own body, he was going to make sure to finish him off. He was going to have Jun begging at him to stop but he wouldn't, not until he was at the point that he would need to be sent out in a hospital bed.

Jun had gone to the water park that day expecting to leave with at least a signed contract with a model but instead he left with nothing but an aching body and bruises. It served him right. The damn guy deserved a lesson and that lesson was one that he was never going to be able to forget. Because if he messed with Abby then that meant he was also messing with both Cain and Abel. Neither of them planned on leaving Abby alone when it came time to handling her ex.

Living as an Agoraphobe for the last few years had made Abby feel alone most of the time. But ever since she switched bodies with Cain, there had not been a single second where she had felt alone. And it wasn't simply because she had lived with both Cain and Abel but because they were also always there for her when she most needed them.

"Thanks you two. I don't know what I would have done without you two there."

Most likely she would have ended up crying but she wasn't going to say that thought aloud because doing so would be like letting Jun win and there was no way she was ever going to let that happen.

"So why were you guys beating him up? I mean, I could understand why Abby would but Abel...why would you help her with holding him down? And Cain, why were you just standing there watching? She's your girlfriend, you're supposed to be the one helping her." 

Joel was as confused as could be. He hadn't been there to watch the whole thing unfold so of course everything was going to be confusing to him, especially since he didn't know that who he thought was Cain was really Abby. 

"I was helping her because I like her." 

Abel blurted out.

"Well okay..."

Joel looked at Abby and then at Cain, expecting a reaction from either one of them. Abby already knew about Abel liking her as did Cain so what Abel had said hadn't really been a surprise to either of them. But since to Joel the two were dating, at least one of them had to react like he expected.

"Dude! You should have seen your face! We totally got you! Abel was only joking, right Abe?" 

Abby had put her foot on top of Abel's as a way of threatening him to go along with what she was saying. Abel noticed this and started laughing as well. He was going to go along with it either way but not because he was actually scared of getting his foot stomped on but because he didn't want to upset or anger her. 

"It was a joke dude! Can't believe you actually fell for it! I mean, Abby is really pretty but I wouldn't try to steal a friend's girlfriend!" 

Joel laughed at this. It looked like he had actually believed it was a joke.

Cain had to stay behind as Abby went ahead to the filming site with Abel and Joel. He wished he could have gone with her but he knew that wasn't possible and that she would still be able to have Abel by her side. It had been thanks to him that she was able to cook her own food. And not only that but he had made sure that she didn't have to get on any of the rides. Abel had taken care of her more than enough, much more than he could have done so himself.

The reason why Cain had agreed to go work at the water park had been because he had hoped he would be able to help Abby somehow. Yet it was almost the end of the day and he hadn't been able to do much for her. It didn't matter that they both worked at the same place, he was still limited in what he could do. And he could never do the things Abel could do for her because unlike him, Abel could actually stay by her side.

He would do anything just to be able to switch places with Abel. Cain had never before felt envious of someone else but he did so now. He had thought he had been lucky to be the one that had been at the clinic that day when Abby fell from the tree but had it been Abel there instead of him, he would have been the one by Abby's side.

Abby was sitting with the guys as they were eating but instead of eating she was looking towards the direction where Cain was. She had a look of longing since she wished he could join them instead of him having to be out there alone. The members had however confused the look for something else. They thought she was a lovesick boyfriend who yearned for his girlfriend's company. They had even started to whisper amongst themselves. The only ones that were left out of their little circle were Abby and Abel since they both seemed to be in their own little world. Abby watching Cain and Abel watching Abby.

"I thought you said you were just kidding. Why are you staring at Cain's girlfriend right now?" 

Having been somewhat withdrawn from the other guys, Joel had been able to notice Abel who had been looking in the direction Cain was. But it was really Abby whom he was staring at, she just so happened to be sitting ahead of him. And since Abby was looking in Cain's direction, it made sense that it would seem like he too was looking in that direction.

"Would it make any difference if I liked her? It's not like she likes me either way." 

Abel looked away and turned to Joel.

"Hyung you're the oldest, got any advice you can give me? But don't think of it as me liking a friend's girlfriend, think of it as me liking someone that cannot even like someone to begin with." 

He couldn't believe he was even asking Joel for this kind of advice, not because his group leader wasn't reliable but because he had never thought he would have this kind of problem.

"Well what do you mean by not being able to like someone to begin with? Why can't she like someone?" 

"I think it's because someone in her past hurt her. Do you think it could have to do with trust? Should I first try making her trust me instead of making her just like me?" 

Abel had always wondered what exactly happened between Abby and her ex but he had been too afraid to ask. He knew that it could be too painful for her to talk about and he didn't want to make Abby go through any pain simply because he was curious.

Joel had been munching on his sandwich while he tried to come up with an answer for Abel. The losing team had been given sandwiches instead of beef which the winning team had been given. Abel felt bad for Joel so he grabbed a piece of beef from his plate and put it inside his sandwich.

"Would you like some gochujang as well?"

Abel passed him the sauce that was in front of him. He knew that Joel was able to think better when he ate and that's what he needed, for him to think up a solution for him because he wasn't able to think of one himself.

"I think you should definitely get her to trust you first. Because in order to be able to love someone, you first have to trust that person. Of course you'll still have to get her to like you but if she ends up trusting you then that means she likes you. Perhaps it won't be the kind of like you're hoping for but it's a start. Because love is like a seed that you plant and then once it grows, you harvest it. You've seen how simple buds grow bigger and then eventually bloom into beautiful flowers, haven't you? Well whatever it is that you have with this girl now, no matter how difficult it may seem, it has that potential of blooming into something as beautiful as love."

"Wow. That was deep. Never knew you were the romantic type. But you're right. Thanks hyung." 

Abel hugged Joel and then went to where Abby was. He felt more confident since he had spoken to someone about his feelings. 

"Hey. I like the food you made me." 

Abby had made him a plate of food especially for him, she called it "Mexicanized Korean food" because she had cooked it in a similar style as Mexican food. By changing a few simple ingredients she had been able to achieve a fusion of both Korean and Mexican flavors. It had been somewhat hard to do since there weren't really all that many ingredients to choose from but she had asked if it was possible to get a few more ingredients and the manager had agreed. 

Abby had wanted to go buy the ingredients herself but instead a staff member had been sent to get them. Had she been allowed and had they been closer to Seoul, she would have even gone to her parents restaurant for some ingredients. Abby however had the hope that she would someday be able to take Abel to her parents restaurant. Because only then would he be able to try real authentic Mexican food and not the imitation she had tried to make for him. But she was happy to hear that he had liked her food.

"Really? Do you think it came out alright? I made another plate and was thinking about perhaps giving it to Cain. I'm just not sure if that's going to be possible right now...Do you think I should wrap it up for him?" 

It explained to Abel why Abby had been looking at Cain's direction the whole time. She had wanted to give him a plate of food but the staff rarely ever ate anything the idols ate. They all usually just ate fast food as he could see Cain was doing at the moment, he was shoving a bunch of fries inside his mouth. It wasn't very ladylike and that made Abel want to go tell him to stop eating like a pig because he was only making Abby look bad but since he couldn't actually go up to him, he decided to text him.

<Stop eating like a pig! And Abby wants to know if she should wrap up some of the food she made for you. What should I tell her?>

Cain had been too busy eating that he hadn't even noticed that both Abel and Abby had been watching him. He was usually self conscious when he ate. There was a drop of ketchup on his jeans though and that only meant that he had indeed been eating sloppy. He was going to have to buy Abby a new pair of jeans.

<Tell her yes. Also ask her where she buys her jeans.>

Cain already knew her size, she was a size 2. And he had also somewhat figured out what her style in clothes was, all he had to know was where she bought her clothes from.

<You ask her. I don't want to ask her something weird like that.>

<Fine.>

Abby had been waiting for Abel's response but instead she saw him texting someone. She tried to take a peek to see who he was texting but just then Abel's head went up and they ended up hitting each other's forehead. They both rubbed their foreheads at the same time.

"Sorry. I was just trying to see who you were texting since you weren't answering me." 

"Sorry about that. I just had to text Cain to tell him to stop eating like a pig. Did you not notice the way he was eating?" 

His question was rhetorical because of course she had, Abel had seen the way Abby had been looking at Cain the whole time. He wondered if perhaps the way Cain had been eating had been a turn off for her, he could only hope it was.

"Aww. Why did you tell him that? I thought he was eating cute." 

"You call that cute?! Well then I guess I should start eating like that too then." 

Trying to imitate the way Cain had been eating, Abel started shoving some of the food from his plate into his mouth.

"You and Cain should really stop trying to be like the other. You are both your own person and you should never try to change the way you are just so that you can be more like someone else. I like both of you just the way you are."

Abel didn't know what Abby meant by Cain trying to be like him but she was right, he shouldn't try to change the way he was. Because if he wanted Abby to like him, he wanted her to like him for who he really was. And if he tried to be more like Cain and she ended up liking him for it, then that would only mean that Abby liked qualities that Cain had and not ones that were his. He still had to ask her what she meant by Cain trying to be like him though.

"What do you mean by that? Cain is trying to be like me?" 

"Cain had asked me earlier if he should try putting freckles on himself and all because I told him your freckles made you look more handsome. But I told him the same thing I'm telling you now, you two are already perfect the way you are and there is no need for you to change yourselves."

"Speaking of Cain, I know this is going to be out of topic but...I noticed earlier back when we were with Jun that Cain had been wearing latex gloves and he was holding your hand. You seemed fine with it so...what if I were to wear latex gloves? Would you hold my hand then?"

Abel took out a pair of latex gloves he had gotten from the supplies that were used to cook their food. He put them on and extended a hand out to Abby.

"Will you please hold my hand? There's something I want to show you." 

She had no idea what he could possibly show her by holding his hand but she took it anyways. Abel then intertwined his fingers with hers and realized just then that he should have done this once Abby was back in her own body. He was really only holding hands with Cain's hand and his hands were bigger than hers. It wasn't going to work out for what it was that he wanted to say but he had to make do.

"I would have much rather done this with your actual hands but...you remembered how you said that love and you were like two puzzle pieces that wouldn't fit? Well...you're Cain right now but...if you were in your own body, you're hands would be smaller, right? Closer to the size of my hands? Maybe even the same? Cuz my hands are pretty small, don't you think?" 

Abby kept nodding to everything Abel was saying. 

"Well...just imagine that we're holding hands with your actual hands. Close your eyes if it will help you imagine." 

Abby did and Abel squeezed her hand just then.

"So just REALLY imagine your hands are smaller right now. They are your own hands and not Cain's. Don't you think our hands would fit well together? Almost like they were meant for each other just like you and I are meant for each other."

Abby opened her eyes just then, shocked by what Abel had just told her. If she were still the same girl she used to be...the girl without all the defects that she had now...the one that wasn't a freak...she would have thought of it as a romantic confession. Heck her heart probably still thought it since it had started racing faster but her mind was telling her the opposite, she could not love or be loved.

"Abel...that's so sweet but...I don't think that you really like me..."

No one could because no one would like a freak. 

"Why do you say that? Don't you think I know my own feelings? Because I do and I can feel it in my heart, I like you. I like you so much that I think this feeling could perhaps even turn to love. And all I want is for you to give me a chance. A chance is all I need. But if you need time, I can wait. However much time you need, I'll wait. Because that's how much I like you."

Just then both Abby and Abel heard glass shattering behind them. They pulled their hands apart as they turned around and saw Josiah standing there. It looked like he had dropped something he was carrying and it also looked like he had just heard what Abel had said. No one else had been around, not even cameras. They had all left along with the guys who had finished eating a while back. Most likely they had been allowed to roam the place. But just one member having been there to see and hear what had just occurred was bad enough. 

It didn't seem like Josiah had been there when they were talking about the body switch. But he had arrived at the worst possible time and now he was going to think wrongly of them. The last thing they needed was to have to put up another charade just like the one Abby and Cain had been putting on, especially one that ended up making both Abel and Cain into a gay couple.