TWENTY

They ended up in Gangwon Province in Ocean World, a water park. To any person such a place would be fun but not to Abby. Out of all the places they could have gone to, a water theme park was probably the worst place for her. Amusement parks were already bad enough but one where pretty much all the rides involved water, water that a bunch of people swam in, that was the worst. Just the thought of swimming in water where many others had was disgusting to her. She knew these places tended to have filters and were often cleaned but people weren't always clean. It is also a well known fact that kids tend to pee in such places and sometimes even adults. No one would really notice if they did since they would be wet from the water either way. It was gross to say the least.

Cain not being part of the group but just another employee at EVE had been told where they were going. He had not however wanted to tell Abby because he knew if he did then that would only mean she would get anxious ahead of time and her anxiety would just be worse. He had also been told that the whole water park was going to be closed especially for Adam's filming. So it wasn't like the place was going to be crowded, it was just going to be the group members, a few theme park employees, cameramen and some other EVE employees such as himself. He thought Abby could handle that many people. What he wasn't sure she was going to be able to handle was the fact that she would have to get in the water and touch things there.

Abel noticed Abby tense up as soon as they arrived. They hadn't even gotten down the van yet and she already seemed to be nervous. He didn't know much about either Agoraphobia or Mysophobia but from what little he did know, he could tell that this wasn't a good situation for her. It wouldn't surprise him if she were wishing she had pretended to be sick and stayed back at the dorms. He just wished that their leader would have picked a different place. But of course Joel had no idea about Abby and Cain having switched bodies. Everybody in Adam except for him and Cain weren't aware that one of their group members was really a girl and that she was an Agoraphobic Germaphobe. If only the rest of the members would believe them then things would be much easier for Abby.

"Hyung what are we supposed to do? I think all of the members are wearing jeans right now. Cain is even wearing a hoodie. How can we be in a water park when we're not even wearing proper attire? You should have at least told us so we could have come prepared." 

Lucas might have seemed whiny but he had a point. None of them were wearing the kind of attire that would be best for a water park. 

"I know but that's why I came prepared. You guys may not have noticed but I was able to get clothes out of everyone's dressers and closets just for this occasion, they are all in another car that should be arriving soon along with the makeup artist." 

Abby's heart fluttered at the mention of a makeup artist, it was Cain. She wondered if Joel even knew who the makeup artist was. 

"Now everyone get down. The cameramen have arrived." 

Joel motioned for everyone to get out of the van. 

"We still have to get our makeup done though. They're not going to start recording us now, are they?" 

Lucas checked himself in the rearview mirror and fixed his hair. 

"Dude you look as gorgeous as always." 

It had slipped out of Abby's mouth before she knew it. She felt embarrassed for having said such a thing out loud and her face had reddened.

"I know right." 

Lucas looked back and winked at her. The wink almost felt like an arrow that had shot through her heart. Pretty boys had always been her weakness and Lucas was as pretty as they came, he almost even made Abby forget all about the water park. Almost.

She came back to her senses as soon as Lucas was out of the van. Abel was still sitting next to her though and that made her feel a bit better. He had actually stayed behind in the van because he was worried about her.

There was a knock on the window just as Abel was about to ask if she was okay.

"Guys! What's taking so long?! We have to pick our groups of four!" 

Abby could see Joel holding up what seemed to be two changes of clothing, she could only assume it was what she and Abel were supposed to wear. A t-shirt and shorts. She hadn't dressed in clothes like those in such a long time, not when she was going out at least. Having more skin exposed only meant exposing yourself to more germs and having less to protect you.

"Agoraphobia, that means you're afraid of large crowds, right?" 

She was surprised by Abel's sudden question. He hadn't really asked her much about her Agoraphobia or Mysophobia before so she wondered why he was asking her at that moment when they had just been told to hurry but she nodded nonetheless.

"You may have looked around already but have you noticed that there are no other cars or people other than the ones that are with us?" 

He was right, she had looked around to see where they were but she hadn't realized that the water park's parking lot was practically empty except for a few cars. There also didn't seem to be any crowds of people like there usually would be at such a place. The only ones that seemed to be there were Adam members, EVE employees and the water park employees.

"Does this mean the park has been closed just for us?" 

Abel nodded in response.

It really shouldn't have surprised her that a whole place had been closed just for them, she'd seen it happen before for other Kpop groups. It was done so that groups could film without the disturbance from passersby. 

Having realized this, she was finally able to get out from the van. Abel followed after her and they walked over to join the six other members that had been gathered at the entrance of the water park. Abby knew that there was still the possibility that she would need to get in the water but that was something she had to try to not worry about it ahead of time because it would only make her anxiety worse.

"The restrooms are over there. You guys can go get changed and then get your makeup done." 

The manager pointed to where the restrooms were. Abby hated public restrooms just as much as she hated crowded places. Having to share a bathroom with seven guys had already been bad enough for her but to actually be expected to use restrooms that hundreds and perhaps even thousands of people used everyday was just horrendous to her. She would much rather change outside but she knew that would only be considered to be barbaric and one thing Cain was not was that. So having no other choice, she followed after the guys.

Knowing that she was going to be able to see Cain after having changed clothes was the only reason that she even dared walk inside the restrooms. But once inside she was able to see that they really weren't all that bad. From the looks of it she presumed that a janitor had just been in there. There was no visible mess and it even smelled like it had been recently cleaned. She knew however that germs could not be seen, at least not with the naked eye.

There could have been thousands of germs where she was standing. She needed to be VERY careful not to touch anything with her bare skin. Whatever she did have to touch such as the restrooms stall door, she planned out alternatives such as pushing the stalls door open with her foot. And then once inside locking the door using a bunch of toilet paper.

There ended up being no toilet paper in the stall she went in and since she didn't have anything to lock the door with, she had to get out. But with there only being eight stalls and all the other members already occupying those stalls, she needed to wait.

The first one to come out from a stall was Joel but he wasn't wearing a shirt, only shorts. Abby couldn't get her eyes off his six pack. She had to fan herself just to cool herself down. Joel was hot, really hot. He was the oldest in the group and was therefore probably the sexiest since he had a more mature aura to him. And not only did he have a nice six pack but nice biceps as well. It was obvious that he worked out, for he had a perfectly sculpted body.

Abby watched as he fixed his hair while looking in the mirror. He was wetting it with water from the sink and that made him look more than hot, it made him look sexy. She couldn't even imagine how much sexier he would look once his whole body was wet. Not too long ago she would have quickly looked away in embarrassment but she was hypnotized by all those muscles. Even his back looked nice. 

"You're drooling." 

Abel who had caught Abby staring leaned in to her and whispered.

She felt embarrassed to have been caught and she felt as her face got even hotter than it had been just a few seconds ago.

"A mop! We need a mop in here! There's drool all over the floor!" 

Abel had gone out of the restroom to yell. 

"Where?! Where?! I don't see anything." 

A janitor had rushed in with a mop. She couldn't believe Abel had done that. The poor janitor had rushed in for nothing. And the fact that the janitor had even believed such a thing only made her feel more embarrassed, she wished the floor would just open up and eat her right there and then.

"What are you talking about Abel? There is nothing here." 

Joel who had finally stopped looking at himself in the mirror had looked down at the floor and inspected the tiles. Abby couldn't believe Abel had even caused the leader to look around for the nonexistent drool.

"Abel was only joking, right Abe?" 

"Right." 

He winked straight at her. 

"Sorry Mr. Janitor. I was only making a joke." 

He bowed at the janitor as he walked out with mop in hand.

"Should I take off my shirt so you can stare at me like that too? I bet my six pack is nicer than his."

Abel whispered to her as he started lifting up his shirt. She had no choice but to grab the end of his shirt and pull it back down. Him being so close and whispering as seductively as he did only reminded her of the dream she had with him. She could even feel herself blushing and she didn't want to be read like an open book if he ended up taking off his shirt. Besides, she was sure she was going to be able to get a peek of his six pack if he ended up getting wet. He was wearing a white t-shirt after all.

"Cain you're still not changed?"

Joel had walked up to her as he noticed she was still in her regular clothes. He was shorter than her since Cain was tall but he was still standing close enough that she had to avert her eyes in order for her not to blush. He was still shirtless after all.

Just then two more stalls opened and out came Lucas and Simon. Abby took the opportunity and quickly walked into one of the stalls before the door ended up closing. Trying to avoid touching things or being touched felt almost like a game to her sometimes. It was sort of like how some people with OCD would try to avoid walking on cracks. Because in a way Mysophobia was also considered to be OCD since it wasn't just the fear of germs she had but also the lengths she would go to avoid those germs, the obsessive compulsiveness there was to her actions. But all those actions were what made her feel safe and it's why she kept doing them. 

Walking out changed from the stall Abby saw that she was the last one there. And that meant there was nothing stopping her from what she planned to do next. Because as soon as she had walked into those restrooms and saw the four sinks there, they had excited her. Four was her favorite number after all. She had been missing the double sinks she had back at her apartment since the guys only had one sink in their bathroom. But if there was anything good about public restrooms was that they often had more than just one sink and in this case there were four. She was going to wash her hands in every one of them.

Abby's eyes practically sparkled as soon as she saw the hand soap in her hands, she was finally going to wash them. It had been the moment she had been waiting for ever since they had left the dorms.

The soap dispenser was able to sense movement underneath and because of this there had been no need for her to even touch it. The sink faucets were the same in that way, they sensed her hands as soon as she put them there and the water started running. A contact free hand washing experience, one she had dreamed of ever since becoming a Germaphobe. Even the hand dryer has sensors and therefore she was able to wash both her hands and dry them without even having to worry about touching a thing.

"What's taking so long hyung? We have to pick our teams." 

Josiah almost ended up bumping into Abby as she was on her way out but Abel who was right behind him was able to pull him away just in the nick of time. It had been a close call. Had he actually bumped into her she would have probably wanted to go back to wash herself and possibly even change clothes. 

Abby whispered a thank you to Abel as they walked out to where the other guys were. Just then she saw Cain who was doing the makeup on Lucas.

"Did you know he was going to be here?" 

Abel who was walking next to her had noticed where her gaze had gone to. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. And it wasn't just because she was simply looking at Cain but because she was smiling while doing so.

"Oh did I not tell you? He texted me while we were on our way here. He's replacing Adam's makeup artist who had called in sick for the day." 

"So he's a makeup artist now?" 

It was a rhetorical question since it was obvious he was. What Abel had really wanted to ask was if it meant that she was going to be seeing Cain more. He had already felt confident since he had the advantage of being around Abby more but it looked like things were about to start to even out between the two love rivals.

Abel had really just acted cool about the situation in his text message with Cain when he told him that he liked Abby but that was only because he thought he wasn't going to be much of a rival. It wasn't like Abby was going to be around Cain enough to fall in love with him. But if Cain was going to start working as a makeup artist for EVE then that was going to change everything. He still had one advantage over Cain though, his own body. 

"He looks prettier as you, don't you think?" 

He had to remind Abby that who she was looking at was really herself and not Cain. He knew he was playing dirty but as one of his favorite sayings went, all's fair in love and war. He had to do whatever he could to get Abby's attention away from Cain and he knew just the perfect way to do that. 

"Hey. Could you perhaps count how many freckles I have? I always wanted to know how many I have but I always end up losing count." 

He didn't think Cain had noticed Abby yet since he seemed to be too concentrated in his task of applying makeup on Lucas. That was how Cain was, once he was doing something he would stay focused on what it was he was doing. Abel only hoped that he would end up seeing both him and Abby being close to one another just like his plan would make it seem.

He knew that Cain's eyesight wasn't all that good and that he needed contacts but hadn't gotten around to getting them. So if he made Abby count his freckles, she would have to get really close in order to be able to count them well. 

"Huh? Count your freckles? Why would you want to know how many freckles you have?"

Abby found his request to be odd. She had never before heard of anyone wanting to count their own freckles.

"It's just that they have to apply concealer to correct blemishes on my skin and because of this my freckles get covered as well. But a lot of fans like to see my freckles so I would like it if the makeup artists recreated my freckles once the concealer has been applied."

He had never made such a request before but he thought that there was no better time than to ask for such a thing now that Cain would be the one applying his makeup. Because if Cain took more time to do his makeup, it would give him less time to do Abby's and that meant less time for the two of them to be together. 

"So you want freckles to be done over your actual freckles?" 

"Yup. Exactly that."

It didn't make much sense to her since Abel's skin looked perfect to her. She had seen how many skin care products he had in their room so it wasn't really a surprise that he had nice skin. He probably didn't even need makeup and could just go with a natural look and fans would love it, she knew she did. She always thought he looked best when he woke up in the mornings.

"You have nice skin though. Why would you even apply makeup to begin with?" 

"It may be nice but it's not perfect. I still have pores I want covered. So what do you say? Will you count my freckles please?"

He knew his excuse was a poor one but it was the only excuse he could use to get Abby to appear close to him. Abel had already seen Cain looking their way. 

"Fine."

Abby went on to count his freckles. He had never actually tried counting them before so he wondered if it was even possible to do so. It wouldn't surprise him if she were to end up losing count but if she did then it only meant that she would have to be looking close at him longer. And he hoped that it would be enough to end up making Cain jealous.

Abby kept finding herself needing to get closer to Abel just to be able to focus her eyesight. She hadn't realized how bad Cain's eyesight was until she kept seeing Abel's freckles blur. It was probably when she was halfway through counting the ones on his right side when she ended up losing count. It all happened when she looked into his eyes. She thought that his eyes were really pretty that they ended up distracting her and she had to start all over.

The second time around she got to count all of his freckles on his right side and even the ones on his nose but then once she started counting the ones on his left side, she was interrupted by Cain. He had cleared his throat to get both their attention.

Abby pulled away from Abel as soon as she saw Cain there. 

"Lucas and Simon are going to be in the same team as you guys. I already finished doing their makeup and Joel said I should do you two next so that your team can start recording while the other team gets their makeup done."

"Oh. Ok. Sorry I wasn't able to finish counting your freckles Abel. Maybe some other time?" 

"Sure. Anytime."

"So who should I do first?" 

Cain looked at Abby and then at Abel but then back at Abby. He really just wanted to be able to talk to her and see how she was doing. Abel noticed Cain looking at Abby and he knew that she would eventually have to be with him to get her makeup done. But if he went first, he could make Cain take a long time time doing his makeup and that would give him less time to do Abby's. There were four other members after all and the director already seemed like he wanted to start filming.

"I'll go first." 

He stepped up before Abby got a say.

"Did you really make her count your freckles?" 

Cain asked this as he began to apply primer on Abel. He sounded jealous and somewhat outraged. It wasn't like him and Abby were actually dating so Abel didn't really see why he would be acting in such a way. 

"Yea but only because I wanted you to draw on some freckles over my makeup." 

"You never even care if your freckles are covered, why do you care now?"

"Abby said she likes my freckles."

It wasn't actually a lie. Abby had really told him that when she was counting his freckles. She had lost count at some point and had to start all over but she told him that she liked his freckles. She said she thought they made him look cute. Of course he would have much rather preferred to have been called hot but cute was better than nothing.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" 

Cain had just started drawing the freckles on Abel. 

"Doing what on purpose?" 

Abel knew what Cain was referring to but he preferred to act like he didn't know. 

"Making me draw you freckles. If you really wanted to show your freckles so badly then you would have just not gotten your makeup done. But you're doing this on purpose so that I'll have less time with Abby." 

It seemed like Cain was able to see right through him but he was going to play innocent till the end. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

Abel looked at himself in the mirror as soon as Cain was finished.

"You did a great job. Perhaps you should keep being a makeup artist instead of an idol." 

Abel winked at Cain as he got up his chair. The wink only made Cain more mad. He and Abel had always gotten along well but it didn't seem like they were going to now that they both liked the same girl.

Abby was sitting on the chair that Cain had just sprayed with disinfectant spray, he had done it while she was looking so that she would feel comfortable sitting down. He also washed his hands thoroughly in front of her along with washing all the brushes he had been using to apply the makeup. It was probably going to be the only chance he really got of touching her and he wanted her to feel comfortable while he did so.

"You did a good job on Abel's makeup. Those freckles you drew on him look almost the same as his real freckles. It sort of makes me want some freckles drawn on me too." 

Normally he would have felt good being complimented by Abby but she was only complimenting him for making another guy look good.

"So you like his freckles then? And I mean his real freckles?" 

He thought that perhaps Abel had been lying just to make him jealous. 

"Of course. It's one of the things that make him look more handsome." 

She was practically gushing. 

"Do you think I would look good with freckles?" 

If Abby liked guys with freckles then it was as easy as him drawing some on himself. But he wasn't himself at the moment, Abby was. He could however draw some freckles on her just so that she could see how good he would look with them. He had never actually tried to draw freckles on himself but if he did, there was a chance they could end up looking better on him than on Abel. 

"You already look good as yourself, you don't need freckles."

Abby admired Cain's reflection because it was really him whom she was seeing when she looked at the mirror. She didn't think it would have been possible but Cain had done an even better job on her than he did on Abel and he even took less time with her since he had to rush towards the end. He said he would have done more things on her had he more time but the next group was up and she needed to go with her group so they could start recording. 

She didn't know exactly what they were going to record but the only way to find out was to go with the others. Her anxiety had calmed while she was with Cain but now that she had to leave his side, she started feeling her anxiety coming back. She didn't know why Cain had that affect on her but because he had that effect, she wished she could spend more time with him.