Taking a break from the whole mess of alien mojo spying action last night, it’s finally party time on Friday night.

Seolhyun readjusted the thin black straps for the third time and finally gave up. No matter how many times she tugged on it, the neckline of the dress wasn’t coming up any higher. She couldn’t believe it fit her. Aw hell, it fit a little too well, emphasizing the vast difference between Mina’s body and her. Her s just might come out and say hello.

She kind of looked hot.

Thank God her mom had already left for work (she’d either took out camera or applaud the dress. Either one would’ve been embarrassing). Seolhyun headed down the hallway, nervous and nauseous. What if she did something stupid? Like lift a TV in front of an entire house full of classmates?

Just then there was a knock on the door. Taking a deep breath, she backtracked to the front door and swung it open.

“Hey!” Jimin stepped in. Her eyes drifted over Seolhyun. “Whoa, you look really great.”

Blushing, giddiness swept through Seolhyun. “Thank you, and you look really nice, too.”

Jimin moved forward, her gaze dipped and she reached out, picking up the silver chain. Her knuckles brushed the swell of Seolhyun’s chest. “Interesting necklace! What kind of stone is this?”

“Volcanic,” she told her. “A friend gave it to me.”

“It’s really different.” Jimin let it drop. “It’s cool. No shop would ever sell this.”

“Thanks.” Seolhyun placed her fingers on it, trying to push away the images of Hyejeong it brought along with it. “Are you ready to go over?”

“Sure,” Jimin said. “But I kind of have some bad news. I can only stay for half an hour tops. We have some family coming in last minute. I’m really sorry.”

“No,” Seolhyun said, hoping the disappointment wasn’t audible. “It’s okay.”

“Are you sure? I feel like shame.”

“Of course. And no, don't be.”

Jimin grinned. “Well, I want to make it up to you. Can you do dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Seolhyun shook her head. “I can’t tomorrow. Spending the day with my mom.”

“How about Monday?” Jimin asked.

”Uhm, okay.”

“Good. There’s this little restaurant I saw in town.” Jimin inched closer. There was a slight exotic scent of flower. She smelled so good. “You in?”

“Sure thing.” Seolhyun glanced around, biting her lip. “You ready to head over now?”

“Yep, if you do one thing.”

“Which is?”

“Well, two things.” Another step closer and Jimin’s pointy shoes were touching Seolhyun’s. She had to tip her head back to meet her eyes. “Then we can go over.”

“What are the two things?”

“You’ve got to give me your hand. If this is a speed date, we’ve got to make it believable.” Jimin dipped her head, still holding onto Seolhyun’s gaze. “And a kiss.”

“A kiss?” Seolhyun whispered.

Her breath slowed in her lungs. Curiosity filled her. Would kissing Jimin be like kissing Hyejeong? Would the world burn or just simmer? She wanted to find out, needed to discover if she could forget the girl next door in a simple kiss.

“So? Is it a deal?”

“Deal,” she murmured.

Jimin’s hand found her cheek, and Seolhyun closed her eyes. opened, but there were no words to be spoken. There was just anticipation and the need to lose herself. At first, her lips brushed across Seolhyun’s lightly, testing her response, and the gentle nature of the kiss was disarming. Seolhyun placed her hands on Jimin’s low shoulders, and they tightened when she swept her lips over Seolhyun’s again.

Her kiss deepened, and Seolhyun felt like she was swimming in raw emotions. It was elating and yet confusing at the same time. She kissed her back, and her hands dropped to her waist, pulling Jimin closer. Then all at once, she felt frustration, anger, and sadness, which were nothing she was searching for.

Seolhyun lowered her chin, blinking. Nothing had been wrong with that kiss, other than it was lacking something. It had to be herself. Stress. With everything happening, she was thinking too much into things. And kissing Jimin was just too fast. A stirring of sour guilt poked at her, telling her that her heart hadn’t been in that kiss because of someone else.

“Just one more thing,” Jimin said, and her hand found Seolhyun’s. “Ready?”

Am I? Confliction tore through her. Maybe if Hyejeong saw her happy with Jimin, she wouldn’t feel compelled to pursue their unreal connection. She felt sick. “Yes. I’m ready.”

Outside, there were numerous cars lining the driveway and all the way down to the empty house at the beginning of their road. “Holy crap, I thought this was supposed to be a little party?”

Mina had really outdone herself. She’d dug up numerous paper lanterns and strung them along the porch. Through their windows, thick candles spread throughout flickered softly. A warm, pleasant cider-and-spice smell floated outside and tickled Seolhyun’s nose.

People were everywhere inside, packed on the couch, surrounding two guys in a PlayStation death match. Several familiar faces were crowding the staircase, laughing as they drank from red plastic cups. Jimin and Seolhyun couldn’t go two feet without bumping into someone.

Mina weaved in and out of the crowd, playing the hostess. She looked beautiful in her delicate white dress that highlighted the darkness of her hair and the gray color of her eyes. When she saw Seolhyun and Jimin’s hands joined together, she barely hid her surprise... or disappointment?

Feeling like she was doing something wrong, she pulled free and gave Mina a tight hug. “Wow. The house looks great.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Mina looked over Seolhyun’s shoulder. “Mmm Seolhyun?”

Seolhyun’s cheeks burned. “She’s my–”

“Date,” Jimin inserted, catching and squeezing Seolhyun’s hand. “I have to bail soon, but I wanted to her to the party.”

“ her?” Mina glanced at Jimin, then back to Seolhyun. “Okay. Well, I’ll go... check on some stuff. Yeah.” Then she floated away, back stiff.

Wild giggles came from the kitchen. They turned just in time to see Jieqiong rush from the room, an annoyed look on her face as she bolted to where Mina was in the doorway. “Mina, your friends are crazy.”

“They’re your friends, too,” Doyeon commented dryly, coming up behind Mina. She saw Jimin and Seolhyun and came to a stop. “And you two like siblings, honestly. But still cute.”

Anyway, Jimin made a lot of friends quickly. This filled Seolhyun with an obscene amount of glee. She leaned into Jimin’s arm, mostly for show, and then she stayed there. Jimin didn’t seem to mind. “I really wish I were staying.”

Seolhyun turned her head, smiling. “Me, too.”

“We still on for dinner?” Jimin asked.

“You bet. I’m actually–” Seolhyun’s back was to the stairs, but she still knew the second this certain person came down. The air changed, grew heavier and warm. The nape of her neck tingled.

Jimin frowned. “You’re actually... what?”

Seolhyun’s heart sped up. “I’m... I’m looking forward to it.”

Jimin started to smile, and then she glanced up. Her eyes widened slightly, and Seolhyun knew Hyejeong was there. She didn’t want to turn around, but it seemed unnatural not to.

And it was like being struck by lightning. Seolhyun hated Hyejeong’s effect on her, but at the same time it thrilled her. Nothing was easy about it.

Hyejeong was dressed casually compared to the rest of them but still looked better than anyone in the room. She had on a pair of old, distressed blue jeans and a shirt that bore some long-forgotten band name. She absently tucked a strand of dark hair behind her left ear and flashed a wolfish grin at something someone said. Those magnetic eyes shimmered under the dim light of the candles.

Hyejeong had this effect on others, no matter their gender. It was obvious that people wanted to be around her, but at the same time, it seemed like they were afraid to come too close. They were drawn to her, like Seolhyun was, whether they liked it or not. People approached but stopped just a few feet from her. But the whole time, she had her eyes fixed on Seolhyun.

In that second, Seolhyun completely forgot the petite girl with her hand on her waist.

Hyejeong stopped in front of them. “Hey there...”

Jimin looked up. “I don’t think we got the chance to introduce ourselves. My name is Shin Jimin.” She offered her free hand.

Hyejeong glanced at Jimin’s hand before returning her gaze to Seolhyun. “I know who you are.”

Oh, God. Seolhyun twisted toward Jimin. “This is Shin Hyejeong.”

Jimin’s smile faltered. “Yeah, I know who she is, too.”

Laughing under her breath, Hyejeong straightened. At her full, dominating height, she was a mountain taller than Jimin. “It’s always nice to meet another fan.”

Yeah, Jimin had no idea what to say to that. She shook her head slightly and faced Seolhyun. “Well, I need to get going.”

Seolhyun smiled. “All right. Thanks for... everything.”

Jimin smiled a little as she leaned in, wrapping her arms loosely around Seolhyun. Acutely aware of Hyejeong’s intense stare, Seolhyun placed her hands on Jimin’s back and leaned down, pressing her lips against Jimin’s smooth cheek.

Hyejeong cleared .

Jimin laughed softly in Seolhyun’s ear. “I’ll call you!” With one last grin tossed in Hyejeong’s direction, Jimin sauntered out the door.

Seolhyun faced Hyejeong, scowling as she started fiddling with the Culpa pendant around her neck. “You know, you couldn’t have been much more of a jerk if you tried.”

Hyejeong arched a brow. “Thought I told you not to hang out with tiny itty bitty creature?”

“Thought I explained that just because you say I can’t doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“You did?” Hyejeong’s gaze followed the Culpa, and then she lowered her head. “You look really nice tonight, Seolhyun.”

Her stomach hollowed. Must ignore, must ignore. “I think Mina has her hands full, but she did a great job decorating the house.”

“Don’t let her fool you into believing she did all of this herself. She recruited me.”

“Oh.” Surprise shot through Seolhyun. She couldn’t picture Hyejeong stringing paper lanterns without lighting them on fire and then throwing them. “You both did a great job.”

Hyejeong’s gaze dipped again, and Seolhyun shivered under her intense scrutiny. “Where did you get this dress?” she asked.

“Your sister,” Seolhyun told her blandly.

Hyejeong frowned. “I don’t even know what to say about that.”

“Say about what, babe?”

Hyejeong stiffened. Tearing Seolhyun’s gaze from her, her eyes locked with Chaeyeon’s. Holding her stare, Chaeyeon smiled sweetly and wrapped a thin arm around Hyejeong’s narrow waist. She leaned into her, as if she were all too familiar with the lines of her body.

Oh, this was fabulous. Jimin left, Chaeyeon came. Irony was such a .

Chaeyeon smirked, but then turned her attention back to Hyejeong. “Babe, you rushed off so fast. I had to search the entire upstairs for you. Why don’t we go back to your room and finish what we started?”

The punched-in-the-gut feeling nearly doubled Seolhyun over. She had no idea where it was coming from or why she felt that way. It wasn’t reasonable. She didn’t like Hyejeong, she didn’t. She could make out with Chaeyeon for all she cared, and she herself had just kissed Jimin. But that hot feeling was there, stealing through her veins.

Seolhyun couldn’t figure out what was going on. There was no way she was jealous. That so wasn’t what she was feeling. And she had a date coming up with a bubbly, normal human girl. There was no way she cared that Hyejeong and Chaeyeon were doing whatever.

Stepping down the porch, it struck her. Oh my God, she did care. Her head spun. Images of Chaeyeon kissing Hyejeong the air out of her lungs. What was wrong with her?

Dazed, Seolhyun started walking. At some point, she kicked off her heels and tossed them aside. Sh