[title song: crazy boy - aoa]
[7k w]

CHAPTER 3

Choi Yuna frowns at Yoojin as they slump back in their seats, just as the bus starts to pick up speed on the highway. The ride from Seoul back to their little college town is supposed to take another hour and then there’s another twenty minutes on another bus, since their dorm is on the other side of town and they have to sit through multiple stops every block or so. Yoojin’s just glad they’re finally able to sit down after shopping around the city for so long, sighing as she stretches out her hands, their shopping bags nestled between them and under their seats.

“I’m glad you got a day off today.” Yuna states, dropping her head back against her seat as she stares sideways at Yoojin, still frowning. “You seriously work way too much.”

“It’s the least my manager could do after ditching me in Burger Hell.” Yoojin grumbles, irritation bubbling up in her chest as she remembers the feeling of realizing that Junmyeon’s left her alone with the scary Burger King Manager and his minions.

Yuna actually cracks a grin at that, chuckling softly. “I cannot believe Jongdae actually put bath bombs in their kitchen.” Yuna covers with her hand, laughing even louder, attracting the attention of a few passengers, some of whom eye Yuna for much longer than necessary before turning away. “And then your manager ran for it.”

“It’s not funny.” Yoojin wrinkles her nose, whining a little as Yuna keeps cackling, “I was afraid for my life.”

“You have to admit that it’s a little funny.” Yuna says, grinning widely as she makes a gesture with her fingers, leaving a little space between her pointer finger and thumb to emphasize a little.

Yoojin pouts and Yuna keeps grinning, waving her fingers around in the air as if to emphasize a little until Yoojin cracks the tiniest bit, smiling slight. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“A lot!” Yuna corrects Yoojin, giggling.

Yoojin shoots her a half-hearted glare, “No way.”

“You know,” Yuna sighs, turning her body towards Yoojin as she drops her head sideways against the back of her chair, eyeing Yoojin with a sly sort of look, the same look Yuna had given Yoojin that one time Yuna’s boyfriend had cheated on her so Yuna decidedly had with her boyfriend’s best friend and roommate in revenge. Basically, Yuna looks like she’s having Very Evil thoughts and Yoojin learned a long, long time ago (the hard way) that she should avoid Yuna’s schemes at all costs. “That flop guy you’re always complaining about is really hot.”

Yoojin groans, loudly, “Oh, God. Not you, too.”

“What?”

“Chanyeol won’t stop telling me about how hot and thick he is.” Yoojin makes a face, grimace so ugly that an old lady a few aisles down appears disapproving. “I don’t see it.”

“His name is Jackson.” Yuna says, nonchalantly, a small smile dripping from her lips. “Wang Jackson.”

“Flopson Flop-Wang, you mean.” Yoojin mutters, crossing her arms and huffing.

“You’re so petty.” Yuna says, without any sort of conviction or venom, giggling loudly at Yoojin’s expression.

“How do you even know that?” Yoojin asks, suddenly, blinking at Yuna, scrutinizing her for a moment. Yuna’s smile falters for a moment as she pushes a strand of her short black hair behind her ears and Yoojin narrows her eyes.

“I did a bit of research.” Yuna says vaguely, shrugging as she grows a sudden interest in the hem of shirt.

“You went to Burger King, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t—”

Yoojin interrupts Yuna’s word with a loud, dramatic gasp that has Yuna snapping shut and her eyes widening in surprise at the sudden noise. Yoojin puts both hands over her chest and stares at Yuna with wide, hurt eyes, “Oh, my God, you did! I can’t believe you’d betray me like this. Me? Your best friend? Your roommate who willingly cleans the bathroom because you don’t like to? The light of your life?? Me?!”

“Okay,” Yuna rolls her eyes this time, “Now, you’re just being really dramatic. You hate your job.”

“But you betrayed me for Flopson. My evil arch-nemesis.” Yoojin, admittedly, whines this time around and Yuna lifts her leg just to kick at Yoojin’s thigh, making her topple over onto the bus seats next to her, Yoojin squealing loudly and dramatically, which earns the both of them more disapproving looks from the old lady a few aisles down, as well as the other people on the bus.

(The old lady, however, reminds Yoojin of her grandmother and Yoojin feels a little bad, as well as rebellious, just like she always does around her stuffy grandmother her parents always used to leave her with when she was a kid.)

“You didn’t even know his name! How is he your arch-nemesis?” Yuna groans, shoving at Yoojin again.

Yoojin grabs Yuna’s arm and gives her a very serious look, “Sometimes, you just know.”

“Does he even know?” Yuna raises a brow.

Yoojin shrugs, “Who cares? As long as I know, it’s fine.”

Yuna looks like she’s about to kick Yoojin again, turned down into a frown, “God, you’re so—”

Yuna’s (frankly rude) words get cut off by a sudden loud popping sound, followed by a screech. The bus suddenly jerks sideways and Yoojin shrieks, clutching at Yuna’s arm tightly this time as the bus jerks and their shopping bags slide across the floor and into the seats across from them, since they’re seated in the seats that are facing the windows rather than the front. The other passengers are screaming, too, and Yoojin’s heart lodges in as Yuna buries her head against Yoojin’s shoulder, clutching at her tightly. Then the bus jerks back, as if the driver has slammed on the break, and everything, the sounds of metal against asphalt, the terrifying jerking movements that make Yoojin queasy, the feeling of the bus tipping back and forth like an object situated just at the edge of a table, comes to stop and Yuna is still clutching at Yoojin the same way Yoojin is clutching at Yuna.

“Oh, my God.” Yuna whispers, just as Yoojin opens her eyes and glances around, the sudden silence surrounding them making her heart pound harder, lodging itself right, smack-dab, in the middle of . She can’t respond when the driver wobbles around the wall cutting him off from the passengers, his hat practically falling off his head as he takes a deep, deep breath and asks everyone if they’re okay.

His words echo in the silence for a moment until the silence breaks, so suddenly that Yoojin feels like she’s being back to reality, like her eardrums have just popped and suddenly she can hear the world ten thousand times clearer than before. Everyone around them is asking questions, shouting it really, frantic questions to the driver, to the passengers around them, are you okays and what the hell was that mixing into incoherent sentences that only seem to overwhelm the driver. At least until he whistles, loudly, sharply, and everyone quiets down. Yoojin exchanges a look with Yuna and Yuna looks pale beyond belief, her fingers still wrapped tightly around Yoojin’s arm, so tight she’ll probably find finger-shaped bruises there soon.

“It seems one of the tires popped. I am very sorry for the scare, though I’ll ask one more time: is anyone hurt?” The driver’s voice echoes throughout the room, loud and booming. When everyone murmurs a no and the driver nods, satisfied, he continues, “I don’t know how long it’ll take to get it fixed, but we’re right outside of town.” He jabs a finger at the Welcome sign looming behind where Yuna and Yoojin sit. “Please be patient while I try to get this fixed and I’m truly sorry for this.” And then the driver bows apologetically and disappears out the door, the top of his head visible through the windows as he pulls of his head and seems to sigh at the sight of the busted tire.

Yoojin can still feel her heart pumping in her chest, even as she slowly untangles Yuna’s fingers from her arm and quickly drags their shopping bags back to them, watching as the other passengers slowly begin to shuffle out of the bus, probably to examine the damage themselves. Yuna is trembling a bit against the seat and Yoojin stares at her best friend a little helplessly, because Yoojin is absolute at comforting people.

(Especially a best friend person who lost her father in a car accident when she was a kid, a car accident that she herself had been in, survived, and still had nightmares about. Yoojin remembers how unsure she had felt with what exactly she was supposed to say other than sorry when Yuna had first told her about it, the week they met, because she could tell, from the way Yuna had watched her, with guarded eyes and a downturned mouth, that pity wasn’t something Yuna particularly wanted. From the way Yuna had eyed her, shadows falling over her expression, Yoojin felt like absolute because she had no idea what Yuna wanted to hear or what she was supposed to say to get that glassy look out of her eyes.

And then Yoojin’s mouth had run on autopilot and she had whispered, “That’s ing ty.”

And Yuna had given her a funny look, the kind that made Yoojin snap shut in realization at the words that left , waiting with bated breath for Choi Yuna to knock her out with that baseball bat she liked to keep in the hall and leave her body in a ditch somewhere. But then Yuna had snorted, giggling a little roughly, her eyes still glassy, though there was a small twinkle there, even as she downed her glass of soju and poured the two of them a new one.

Bonding, they would later brand it.

But sometime that night, Yuna had muttered something against Yoojin’s shoulder about how cool it was that they were bonding over their daddy issues so well and Yoojin thinks maybe, under normal sober circumstances, Yoojin would have responded with a very intelligent what the and a punch to the face, but she had giggled instead, Yuna joining her until they were both doubled over in laughter in their living room, Yoojin stumbling over her words as she gasped out our daddy issues are on two entirely different sides of the spectrum, Choi and Yuna replied with a true, still cool though, ed up, but totally rad and Yoojin had beamed as Yuna did the same. The next morning they ended up nursing the worst hangovers they’ve had in a long while as well as hazy, half-made memories. They had come out of the incident as best friends, though Yoojin thinks most of it had to do with Yuna proclaiming Yoojin’s hangover soup the best she’s ever tasted, and Yoojin promptly claiming Yuna as the best friend she’s ever had. Sometimes Yoojin wonders how exactly their first conversation could have been so horribly morbid. And hazy.)

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Yoojin says, a little too loudly, reaching down to gather the shopping bags together, stuffing the smaller ones into the bigger ones until there’s two bulging plastic bags left. Then she reaches for Yuna’s hand and practically drags her out of the bus, the two of them stumbling out of the bus. The other passengers look distressed, eyeing the busted tire in annoyance as the driver speaks hurriedly on his cell phone.

They stand there for a long, long time, the sun beginning to set, before Yuna sighs loudly next to Yoojin. Yoojin glances over at her and Yuna still looks pale, though there’s a bit of color returning to her cheeks. “We might as well just walk home.” Yuna says, sighing as she taps her toes against the asphalt. “This is taking forever.”

Yoojin pouts, “Walking’s going to take at least an hour.”

And then another puff of smoke comes out from the end of the bus and Yoojin watches in surprise and horror as the other bus tire goes flat, too. The driver groans, crouching in his spot as he watches the disaster take place, and Yuna looks the tiniest bit queasy. “Yeah, hell no. I am not taking this bus again.” Yuna says, adamantly, an edge to her voice that makes Yoojin give in immediately.

“I guess we can walk then.” Yoojin mumbles, rolling her eyes as they both edge past the smoking bus cautiously, a few other passengers following their example.

~.~.~.~.~

Yoojin should have known that her day off wouldn’t mean much to whoever’s running the world up there. Because while Yuna and Yoojin are trudging through the already dark streets, Yoojin grumbling while Yuna tells her to it up repeatedly, they hear faint music drifting towards them, the sound of a pumping bass carrying through the wind and that’s where it all starts to go really downhill.

The more they walk, the louder the music gets until suddenly they’re right in front of a little townhouse filled to the brim with people and pounding bass and voices drifting out to the sidewalk. There are people scattered across the lawn, holding red cups as they sway in place, talking to each other animatedly. When Yoojin looks closely, she realizes that she recognizes a few of them hanging out on the lawn, like the grad student from a few of her dance classes, Ga In, who mentioned something about teaching summer classes this year.

Yoojin glances at Yuna, who seems to recognize more people than Yoojin does, which makes sense really, because Yoojin’s always wrapped up in her studies, practicing her off, while Yuna, as a Journalism major, has more time to socialize than Yoojin has ever had or allowed herself to have, what with classes and work and paying off bills on time and trying her best to prove her father (and sometimes, on bad days, even herself) wrong about her skills.

And then someone seems to notice them, since they’ve been lingering on the sidewalk in front of the lawn of the house, and suddenly there are two people stumbling over to them before they come to a sudden halt right in front of Yuna and Yoojin. Yoojin doesn’t recognize the two girls, both of them clinging to each other as they grin widely at the two of them. They’re both pretty, with long hair falling down their backs in waves. The girl on the left has long dark hair and big eyes, the color of her eyes a strange mix of brown and green that Yoojin figures is the work of colored contacts. The girl on the right has long red hair and chocolatey brown eyes and she can’t seem to stop smiling. Yuna does seem to recognize them, however, because she straightens up beside Yoojin, lighting up like a damn Christmas tree, before she cheerfully exclaims, “Hani! Solji! What are you guys doing here?”

Yoojin vaguely recognizes the names, but then the redhead speaks up, stumbling over her words, her voice loud, “What do you mean by that? I thought you said you couldn’t come?”

The dark haired one glances downwards and asks in a soft, raspy voice, “What’s up with the bags?”

Yuna blushes right up to the tip of her ears when the dark haired girl looks up at her with owlish eyes, curiosity filling them to the brim. Yoojin watches as Yuna explains the situation they were in, complete with wild hand gestures, and Yoojin sure as hell doesn’t miss the way Yuna cheeks seem to remain bright red as she speaks, especially when the dark haired girl pats Yuna’s arm consolingly (missing Yuna’s arm the first time around because, well, the two girls are ridiculously drunk and it’s ridiculously obvious), the dark haired girl’s large eyes filling with concern for Yuna. Yoojin doesn’t even think she’s seen a tomato redder than Yuna is at that very moment and Yoojin has to stop herself from laughing out loud, even when Yuna introduces her to the girls and they gush over her drunkenly for a moment.

Then the redheaded girl exclaims, “You know what? You two have been through hell and I feel like for both of you. So how about you come in and unwind for a bit. You can—you can leave your bags in the basement. Jinyoung’s got it locked up so no one tries to get laid in his man pad, as he likes to call it. Hani can get in there.” The redheaded girl snorts at the term man pad before gesturing towards the dark haired girl—Hani, Yoojin assumes—before she makes a grand gesture towards the house, pouting before she reaches for Yoojin and pulls her towards the house. Hani does the same to Yuna and Yuna’s face looks like it’s on fire.

Next thing they know, they’re being dragged towards the house by two girls who are much stronger than they look and Yoojin pulls at Yuna’s shirt, “Are we really going to do this?” Yoojin asks, frowning up at the house as she stumbles behind Solji, trying to keep up with her pace.

Yuna’s just staring at the back of Hani’s head with googly eyes and a dumbstruck expression, one that honestly makes Yoojin feel a bit queasy, but also very happy for her best friend. So, naturally, Yoojin smacks Yuna’s arm, jolting her out of her thoughts in the best way Yoojin can think of. Yuna squeaks, nearly tripping into Hani, and swivels sideways, still walking forwards as she glares at Yoojin. “What was that for?” Yuna asks.

Yoojin frowns at her, clearly peeved, “You’re planning on staying, aren’t you?”

They’re dragged through the front door and Hani and Solji turn on them, Solji grinning a bit maniacally while Hani reaches for the bags in Yoojin and Yuna’s hands. Hani leans real close, eyes unfocused as she blinks up at Yuna, and smiles a very sweet smile, “C’mon, let’s put your bags away and then I’ll get you a drink and some snacks. Jinyoung bought Tostitos!”

Yoojin can’t even pretend that it’s not totally obvious that Hani seems to be speaking to Yuna in particular and, next thing Yoojin knows, Yuna’s disappearing further into the jam-packed house with their shopping bags in one hand and Hani’s elbow in the other, throwing an apologetic shrug back at Yoojin before she responds to something Hani says, turning away. Then they’re swallowed up by the crowd and Yoojin groans to herself because all she wants to do is go home and sleep. Her feet hurt. She’s suffering so why does Yuna get to hang out with her crush, which Yoojin had no idea about in the first place, while Yoojin’s so exhausted that she’s seriously contemplating taking a nap in the empty ottoman tucked into the corner across the room.

She pouts and Solji giggles from beside Yoojin, a gleaming glint in her eyes she’s seen enough of from Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae to recognize right off the bat, before Solji drapes an arm over Yoojin’s shoulders and squeezes it gently.

“Have fun!” She whispers, grinning. Then she runs off and Yoojin is standing in the middle of a house party filled with people she’s never seen before and a blister or two blooming on her feet from walking all damn day in a pair of very impracticable black flats.

So Yoojin sighs, defeated, and trudges over to the empty, unassuming ottoman shoved into the corner of the house and slumps down into it, sending a quick prayer up to the big man Himself that Yuna does not get laid tonight, grumbling about best friends and crappy tires as she drops her head against the wall, watching people grind up on each other and drink themselves into oblivion with another heavy sigh.

~.~.~.~.~

“Someone’s having a bad day.”

“More like a bad week.” Yoojin grumps back without looking up at the boy, his low voice echoing next to her, surprisingly loud in lieu of the pounding music. His Korean is the slightest bit slurred, not enough where it’d be easy to catch, but Yoojin can pick it up and for a moment she wonders why she can hear that slight difference. Then she wonders why a boy who’s clearly just starting to get drunk is talking to her. She’s hardly the life of the party at the moment.

“Moping in the corner’s not gonna fix that, but I know what can.” And then her eyes widen and she jolts in her seat because she puts two and two together and realizes that the only reason she can catch the minimal drunken lilt to his Korean is because he’s ing whispering in her ear like a creep and she’s only just noticed.

She spins in her seat, glaring, opening to tell the guy to off maybe when she pauses, mouth hanging open, as she actually processes his face. His beautiful face.

She immediately drops the glare, frowning instead, and rubs her ear absentmindedly, “Please don’t whisper in my ear like that. I don’t even know you.”

The man smiles at her, a lopsided thing that makes her mind go blank for a moment because really, honestly, how can someone be so utterly adorable and handsome? He has a chiseled jaw, fair skin, and a cute eye smile that makes her heart melt a bit, despite the fact that his lips are quirked into a little smirk and he’s dressed in a leather jacket and dark jeans that make him look like he’s privy to a lot of horrible, dark secrets that would scar her for the rest of her life. He just looks like he’s up to something, the cuteness in him almost managing to mask that mischievousness Yoojin picks up on a little belatedly, since she’s kind of staring at him and nearly forgets to breathe.

“Sorry about that.” He says, tilting his head as he smiles down at her, his eyes twinkling slightly, and she smiles, hesitantly. That’s when he gestures at her, “But, really. You looked bored as over here and no guest of mine is allowed to be bored tonight.” Then he grins, eyes curling up into little crescent moons, “Especially not Burger Girl.”

“Oh, god.” Yoojin groans, her face heating up. The boy laughs, throwing his head back in a way that clearly shows that he’s drunk a bit too much, and she just grows redder and redder. The boy keeps laughing so she pushes herself to her aching feet, hands on her hips and decidedly exclaims, “You know what. You’re right. I need a drink.”

And the boy grins cutely, hooking his arm through her elbow before he drags her off towards the kitchen before she can even think about changing her mind. “My friend has just the drink to help you forget all about Burger Girl.” He says, reassuringly, giving her a quick smile as he maneuvers them around two boys sauntering out of the kitchen.

“How about a drink that makes everyone else forgets about Burger Girl, too, while you’re at it?” Yoojin grumbles, earning herself a snicker from the boy.

They push past a swarm of sweaty, warm bodies, the boy holding her tightly so not to lose her in the crowd of people gathered in front of the makeshift bar, before they tumble out onto the other side of the bar, which she supposes is the behind the counter and off-limits to most of the party-goers.

She takes a moment to catch her bearings when a very familiar voice calls out, “Who’s that?”

She looks up at the question and freezes in her spot immediately, just as the cute boy who had dragged her over here shoves a red cup into her hands, patting her elbow after he does it.

Arch Nemesis—aka Flopson aka Wang Jackson—stares back at her in confusion, hand frozen above the giant jungle juice bowl. “Dude.” He whispers, though only Chanyeol would consider that a whisper and that’s not saying much. “Dude.” He repeats, glancing repeatedly at the cute boy that had brought her back here (as well as the person leaning against the counter by his side—Mark with the dazzling smile and a surprising knowledge of bath bombs), his eyebrows furrowed and lips downturned.

This time Yoojin rolls her eyes, drink sloshing in her cup as she jabs the hand holding it in his direction. His eyes dart down to her hand and his frown just deepens, if that’s even possible. She opens to tell him to shut up because clearly he’s dude-ing her and she’s not blind about his obvious lamentation with her appearance at a party his friend is the host of. But then the cute boy that had started all this speaks up, grinning slyly. She thinks he looks just like a fox and it’s one of the most unsettling things she’s ever seen. “What?” He asks, raising a brow, eyes glinting. He continues without waiting for a response, “You’ve been talking about Burger Girl so much, I thought it was time you two were formally introduced.”

“We were formally introduced.” Yoojin interrupts drily, throwing Wang Flopson a withering look in emphasis. The Cute Boy giggles, waving a hand dismissively. “Right, Flop?”

Leave it to her arch nemesis to return her withering look with a withering look of his own that’s clearly ten times better and more withering than the one she had thrown at him.

She glares.

He glares harder.

She imagines stuffing him into one of the cupboards and she swears his expression morphs into one that’s imagining the same thing about her.

Jesus Christ.

“I see you’re both getting along.” The Cute Boy grins, “My job here is done.” And then he skips off, like a fairy in a field of flowers, and Yoojin decides that that boy is evil; even as Mark chuckles all by himself in the corner like this is the funniest thing he’s seen all week. Wang Flopson shouts out a wait! Jinyoung! Get back here! Jinyoung!!! that nearly breaks Yoojin’s eardrums but only seems to get lost in the chaotic noises around them, never reaching the Cute Boy’s—Jinyoung’s—ears, though she swears his lip twitches in the distance before he rounds the corner and disappears completely from sight.

They stare at each other for a long moment and the more seconds tick by, the more amused Mark seems to get as he leans back on the counter and grins to himself, all sharp canines and sparkling eyes. Yoojin decides he’s weird.

Finally, finally, Wang Jackson opens his mouth to speak, but before a single word comes out she realizes she really doesn’t give a .

So she rubs her ear, scowling at her arch-nemesis, before she cuts him off with a, “I’m leaving.” And swivels on her heels, weaving through the crowd.

~.~.~.~.~

Yoojin decides she wants to go home, but that would mean finding the shopping bags or Yuna somewhere in this mess, and she’s pretty sure Yuna’s real busy (eating that Hani girl’s face off) at the moment (if her not answering any texts means anything) so Yoojin figures she should just find the shopping bags and maybe figure out a way to get home (and then send Yuna a cab when she wants to get home, too).

Finding the shopping bags, however, is an entirely different adventure, one that Yoojin thinks should really not be this hard, but really why does this Jinyoung kid have such a giant house? She finds the stairs, but it takes her to the second level instead of the basement and when she decides to check it out for a moment, she realizes it’s like a maze of corridors and the first two doors she tries ends up scarring her for life.

(She’s never seen so many butts and s in such a short period of time in a long, long while. Not since she decided to binge watch Game of Thrones because of Junmyeon’s shaky, out-of-focus, but strangely attention grabbing Snap Stories about it.)

Eventually she slumps against the wall of the hallway and takes a seat, crossing her legs, and takes a sip from the drink in her hand. She knows she probably shouldn’t, especially when the jungle juice barely tastes like it has any juice in it in the first place, the burn of all kinds of different alcohol sliding down making her wrinkle her nose. But she has nothing to do, Yuna’s not answering her texts, and the second floor of Jinyoung’s home is awfully quiet, save for a few random thumps against the wall that Yoojin tries her best not to dwell on (because disgusting). The bass of the music from downstairs still pounds throughout the house, vibrating even the top floor, and she can hear shouts and giggles and chug chug chug drifting up from the stairs straight down the hall, but the amount of walking she’s done and the general fact that she’s been working so much lately makes her yawn, dropping her head back against the wall as she takes a sip at the drink in her hand. She scrolls through her phone, until she realizes that her phone is at five percent battery life and her eyes keep drooping, before she jolts herself out of almost falling asleep, and she’s already downed three quarters of the red solo cup in an attempt to keep herself awake. Oh, no.

And then there’s a figure at the very top of the stairs and, for a moment, she gets nervous, especially when the figure glances down the hall and their gaze clearly settles on her, making them pause for a long while right there. Then they step forward, one step, two steps, and the third step makes Yoojin downs the rest of her cup before she pulls herself up to her feet, the sudden movement coupled with the amount of mixed alcohol in her cup hitting her like a ton of bricks really suddenly, her vision swimming a little as she sways in her spot, placing a hand on the wall next to her to steady herself.

(Later, she’ll definitely regret that decision because there’s a reason why she had sworn off of the jungle juice, mostly because last time she had gone overboard on it she woke up in the middle of a park in a very ill-fitting Captain America costume that she sure as hell hadn’t worn to the Halloween party, with a homeless man trying to pry her purse out of her clenched hands. The minute she opened her eyes the homeless man had scrambled out the park, a few joggers giving her strange looks as they passed by, and later she found out that she wasn’t even in the same city as the party she had gone to. In short, it had been a mess and she never wants a repeat of that.)

And then they’re in her line of sight and she blinks rapidly at the person, because they’re exactly the person she didn’t expect to pop up in the hallway where she’s sure she looked like an absolute loser, trying not to fall asleep as she sips at a drink all by herself, while a giant party’s being held just downstairs. But then again, he seems to be friends with the kid who’s throwing this party so maybe she should have expected him. Maybe she should expect the entire Burger King crew to show up, too.

Jackson Wang blinks at her, a bit owlishly, before he reaches for his snapback, pulling it off before he drags a hand through his hair and places his snapback backwards on his head again. “What are you doing up here?” He asks and Yoojin knows she’s imagining the slightest bit of concern coloring his tone because it’s Flopson and the boy tried to kill her (Baekhyun’s insisted it as a fact enough times where Yoojin is really starting to believe it).

Usually, if Yoojin were feeling generous and nice like she would be when she’s the tiniest bit tipsy, she’d start to giggle or maybe talk his ear off or challenge him to a dance off right then and there to determine who really won a couple weeks ago, but Yoojin isn’t feeling generous or nice. She just feels absolutely exhausted and not in the mood to party at all. She wants to sleep for ten days and maybe get a foot massage somewhere because no one should have to walk so much on one of their only days off.

So she just shrugs, using her hands to emphasize the shrug and Jackson Wang stares at her like she’s the one being weird, as if Jackson Wang appearing on the second floor of the house where she just so happens to be resting isn’t weird. Especially since he’s blocking the only way off the landing, aside from jumping out any windows (if she ever manages to find a room without being scarred for life yet again).

(A voice at the back of her head that sounds awfully like Baekhyun’s whispers, He’s here to kill you. There’s no way for you to escape, this is perfect for him. Run, Yoojin, run! and Yoojin wonders why and when her brain decided to appoint Baekhyun as the apparent voice of reason in her head. He’s not even being reasonable in real life, let alone her head.)

Jackson Wang keeps staring at her and she grimaces before she blurts out, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” though half of her words slur together into a garbled mess.

He seems to understand what she’s just said because he just arches a brow and responds, in a strangely amused voice, “You’re weird.”

She bristles at that. “Excuse me?”

Then he pauses and tilts his head and mutters something under his breath she doesn’t quite catch. She assumes it’s another insult and she narrows her eyes, swaying unsteadily because of the alcohol in her system as she puts her hands on her hips. His grin just widens, deceptively sweet, “You heard me.”

She opens to rip him a new one when he interrupts her, “I mean, if you were tired you could have just said something to Jinyoung.” Jackson Wang eyes her funnily, “He could have gotten you a cab or something.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to impose on him. I don’t know him like that.”

Jackson Wang raises a brow, seemingly unbelieving, “Then you could have asked me.”

“I don’t know you like that.” Yoojin makes a face, giving him a pointed look that makes him rub the back of his neck, despite that permanent upwards quirk to his lips. Yoojin sighs, then. “Besides, I came here with a friend. I can’t just leave her. I think she’s with a girl named Hani.”

Jackson Wang cackles then, straight up cackles, and Yoojin jumps at the sudden burst of sound in the otherwise quiet hallway. “If your friend is with Hani then you’re going to be here for a while.”

The alcohol and exhaustion must be getting to her because she can’t think of anything to respond with, settling with a slightly horrified, “Oh.”

Jackson Wang nods rather solemnly.

Then Jackson Wang holds out a hand, beckoning her towards him, “C’mon, there’s a nice soft couch in the basement.” She stares at his hand, brows furrowed, so he continues speaking, listing off all the selling points of said nice soft couch, “It reclines and Jinyoung likes to spray it down with his favorite cotton freshener all the damn time so it smells pretty damn good. And it’s leather.” There’s a pause before he adds, “It’s quiet down there, too. Only a few of us are allowed in there.”

Yoojin perks up at that, so much so that she bets the reason why he flashes a wide grin at her is because she probably lit up like a Christmas tree at his words.

Still. He’s her arch-nemesis and even though he’s being strangely nice to her at the moment, she’s really not sure if she wants to subject herself to his company just for a comfortable place to rest until Yuna’s done with whatever she’s doing.

But then there’s a loud thump followed by a loud high-pitched moan from the room right next to her that makes the silence between them become incredibly awkward immediately, both Yoojin and Jackson Wang reddening as they glance at everything but each other.

So that’s why Yoojin decides that she might as well follow Jackson Wang to the basement. He doesn’t wait for her, walking ahead of her, leading the way as she stares at his broad back (which only makes her wonder how many of her he can deadlift without breaking a sweat, because really no one should appear so muscle-y, especially not her Arch-Nemesis).

They make their way down to the basement easily enough, the cool air making her shiver as they step down the stairs. The basement itself is one giant room with a few doors leading into other rooms in the far right corner, farthest from the stairs. There’s a television and a stack of videos games on the shelf beneath the flat screen television, though the video game console seems to be hidden from sight, probably because of the party. Jackson Wang wasn’t lying about the nice, soft looking couch (Yoojin was expecting it to be an exaggeration).

So, without asking for permission, she ignores observing anything else in the room and bounds off the last step of the stairs before making herself comfortable on the couch, sighing softly because her feet hurt.

Then there’s a cough and Yoojin glances to her side, only to find the very, very tall twelve year old grinning at her, sitting on the opposite end of the couch while that horribly rude high-school-looking kid from earlier stands beside the very, very tall twelve year old—Bambam—with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

She doesn’t think it a coincidence that three of the Burger King employees happen to be down at the basement, the same basement that Jackson Wang said only certain people have access to.

“Okay.” Yoojin slurs, stumbling over her words in her alcohol induced state (that only seems to get worse as the alcohol settles into her body) as she glances back and forth from the rude high school-looking kid to Bambam to Jackson Wang and back again, glancing between the three until she starts to feel dizzy. Slowly, she pushes herself off the couch, frowning. “Are you all here to really kill me or something?”

And then Jackson Wang grins and a voice in her head that sounds horribly like Baekhyun whispers, you should have run when I told you to and all she can think about is why the hell her last moments in this world has to consist of Flopson’s face (though it’s not too bad to look at, if she squints and tilts her head backwards a whole lot) and Baekhyun’s smug voice echoing in her head.

a/n: SORRY I DISAPPEARED!! It's summer break and I had to catch up w a lot of people and relax! i hope you guys are finding time to relax too??

I'm gonna try updating this weekly rather than every two weeks, seeing as I might as well since it's summer! I wanna make this story move along quickly, esp since updates are significantly shorter than what I usually write (but that's because the update gap is shorter u kno?)

ANYWAYS!! let me know what you think!! this is mostly a relationship building/backstory/build up chapter tbh.

also jinyoung is TOTALLY oberon he's always Up To Something and also a fairy king

as always, thank you for your support! I can't believe you all think this is good you make me so blush-y omg!!! please remember to leave any comments/thoughts below and subscribe/upvote if you like it! thank you!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO I NEED MORE WACKY MCDONALD'S SIGNS PLS HOOK A GIRL UP

xoxo