I exhale slowly, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I looked nice, I admit. I'm sure a lot of other girls would look even more incredible and be going full out for tonight's prom, but I had no reason to. It was just a night that I'd enjoy with my friends. I was indeed looking forward to it, but I wasn't my typical, over-cheerful self.

After a few hours of watching YouTube makeup tutorials, I ended up settling for a soft smoky-eye look with crimson red lipstick. I do admit that it took me multiple attempts to get it right, but once I did finally make the eye shadow look somewhat acceptable, I was satisfied.

My normally-straight hair was curled and fell down my back in twirly locks. I had YouTube to thank for that, too. I had YouTube to thank for most of what I enhanced tonight, truthfully. I definitely did not look how I usually would.

I'm dressed in a crimson-red, singlet-sleeved dress that is fitted tightly to my body. The hem of the dress brushes my knees slightly and a small triangle is cut out in the fabric; centring my stomach. For shoes, I'm wearing plain heels. Chunky heels, not stiletto because I'm clumsy and would most likely fall in them 500 times and eventually sprain my ankle. Last of all, I have a clutch which matches the color of my heels.

I walk downstairs to see my Mom and Dad already awaiting my arrival. They looked so excited and happy for me. I felt a little bad that I wasn't nearly as excited as they were.

I grin at them, "I'm all ready!" I enthuse, lifting my arms.

"Darling, you look beautiful," my mom gushes, skipping up to me excitedly and admiring my dress. Her eyes avert to my face and she smiles, "I have such a beautiful daughter. What did I do to deserve this?"

"Obviously something very bad," I answer, and she smiles quietly, her eyes beginning to cloud with tears of joy. It made me happy that she was happy, even if it was over something as small as prom. She turns back to my Dad.

"I love our daughter," she sniffles.

"Same," My dad responds.

"Gee dad, thanks so much. I'm touched. Seriously, I'm so humbled by your deep, loving words. I can tell you really had to dig deep to come up with such-"

A car horn from outside interrupts my speech, and I know who it is instantly. Dara and Seungri were here to pick me up.

I look at my parents and grin, "That's my ride."

"Oh, but what about the photos?" my mom whines, presenting to me her camera. "I'd love a photo of you three."

"A photo of me third-wheeling?" I clarify.

"Let the children leave. There's always prom next year," my dad replies, and I give him a thankful smile as I hurry over to the front door.

"No," my mom protests, "I'm taking some photos of you Bom. Whether you like it or not!" I can hear her hurrying towards me.

"Bye! I love you!" I call over my shoulder, before jogging over to the car in my awkward heels. I slide into the backseat and wriggle over to the middle seat, putting on my seatbelt, "Drive. Drive!" I click on my seatbelt and frown when I receive no response.

I then glance up to find Dara and Seungri making out, clearly unaware of my presence. I lean forward and cheekily move closer to them with a grin, "Geez guys, save it for later tonight," I comment amusedly, which makes them jump apart. I wriggle my eyebrows suggestively and Dara sends me a hard glare.

That hard glare quickly disappears, however, when her eyes trace down my body before returning back to my face. "Holy , Bom. You look amazing."

"As do you, gorgeous girl," I smile back at her, glancing down at her outfit. I was very happy that she decided on the green dress since it very much suits her. She looks stunning, as she always does.

Seungri smiles at me politely. He's dressed in a proper, clean suit which I still need to get used to on him, "You look very pretty Bom. Jiyong will be so-"

We all jump when we hear a knocking on the window.

I sigh sadly when I turn to see mom standing outside with a camera in hand. "It's good you guys came half an hour early," I comment as we all evacuate the car reluctantly.

My mom then proceeds to take photos of us all. Individual shots, ones with Dara and I, ones with Dara and Seungri, ones with Seungri and I, ones with my parents and I and lastly, ones with my parents and Seungri (Seungri insisted). Eventually after what seemed like hours, three of us are able to escape and make our way into the car.

"You weren't kidding when you told us to come half an hour early - though I think next time make it an hour early. We're an hour late!" Seungri pants, "I thought we'd just take a photo and go, but no! There's at least a 100 copies of the same photo on that camera."

Dara and I chuckle since we both were familiar to the nature of my mom.

As Dara's laughter dies down, she slaps the car dashboard urgently, "Now drive, panda, we're gonna be late."

"Who are you calling a panda?" Seungri mutters rhetorically as he revs up the engine.

"You, obviously," she scoffs.

"But you love me."

She rolls her eyes, smiling, "Unfortunately.'

▲ ▲ ▲

Jiyong wasn't here.

That was the first thing I noticed when I arrived at prom. Not the 100s of balloons that swayed on the floor or the streamers that decorated the walls, or even the brightly lit-up stage where a DJ was set up; strobe and colorful lights illuminating the school gymnasium.

It was the fact that Jiyong wasn't here.

When I entered the prom and noticed his absence, a wave of sadness crashed over me. I was really hoping to see him, and since he wasn't even here when it's an hour into the party, I considered that maybe he wasn't coming. He said that he would when we had our small argument, but he could've changed his mind within a day.

I've been here for two hours now, yet he still hasn't arrived. I try not to let it affect me too much, so I dance with Dara and Seungri for some time, eat food, and also talk to a few friends from classes and social justice group throughout the night. "I'm gonna take a break," I tell Dara, panting.

"Okay, but come back soon!" she exclaims.

I nod with a smile and make my way over to the buffet table. I was actually having quite a lot of fun. Dara and Seungri were a lot of fun to dance with.

"Hey Bom!" Biblee greets me as she joins me at the buffet table. She looks stunning; dressed in a blue dress that matches her bright blue eyes, and makes the blonde color of her hair stand out even more.

"Hey Biblee, you look stunning," I smile at her warmly and she looks away with a humble laugh.

"Thank you," she smiles before waving her hand at me, "But look at you! You look amazing, Bom!"

I thank her, before continuing the conversation, "So how long have you been here? We came here late unfortunately. My mom was so eager to take photos that it was almost impossible to get away," I chuckle lightly.

"Well I was on prom committee so I came before the party even started to get everything ready and ," she informs me, "Don't worry that you were late though. Nothing much happened at the start because everyone arrives late anyway. The party only really starts at the after-party. It's gonna be wild. I can't ing wait. Whose are you going to? I know Top is having the biggest one, but you probably wouldn't want to go because he's a -fa