[CONTENTID1]scream[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Thirty One[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Baekhyun had not intended to get this drunk. He had only planned on drinking three of the shots he had purchased, and give the other three to Jakyung, but she had taken too long to get there. And since he was already at the bar, he had Aecha mix him up a couple of other things. As usual with him and alcohol, it crept up slowly. So by the time Jakyung did arrive and he spotted her at the bar, he was quite comfortable in his inebriation.

After pulling her to the dance floor, he wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her flush against his own body. She laughed and responded by laying her head on his shoulder.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were jealous,” she joked. She felt his body shake from laughter. “Ah, such a heartbreaker I am.”

“So you finally admit it,” he said. “Whew. Good to know. I’ll have to warn all the men in this room.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Yixing,” Jakyung pointed out, observing Yixing and his bartender boyfriend grinding on the dance floor not too far away. “He seems to be otherwise preoccupied.” Baekhyun snorted and spun her so that her back was against his front. He bent down to whisper in her ear.

“We could be otherwise preoccupied.” There was a dangerously seductive lilt to his voice, and it made Jakyung smirk. She rolled her hips against him and slid his hands down her hips.

“Ah, ah, ah, Byuntae Baek,” she chided. “I know your type. You like to love ‘em and leave ’em; you’re worse than I am.”

Baekhyun threw his head back in a throaty laugh and gave her hips a light squeeze before letting go and dancing backwards into the crowd.

“Well, let’s just see if a few more drinks will get you to change your mind.” He slipped between a pair of people making out as if it was the end of the world, and Jakyung decided to keep dancing. When Baekhyun returned a few moments later, he found her back to back with a scantily clad girl who looked like she’d had a little more than just alcohol in her system. He handed Jakyung a highball glass filled with a strong smelling citrus drink. She finished the glass in a few long gulps.

“Tasty. What was it?” Jakyung asked, handing the empty glass to her dance partner (who was in such a drug and alcohol induced haze she just grinned raised the glass in an imaginary toast). She and Baekhyun navigated the crowd until they were near the doors to the balcony.

“Something Aecha calls Pirates Booty. It’s not bad.” he explained, taking a taste of his own drink. He noticed the bags under her eyes and reached up to poke her face. “You could pack yourself up in th bags under your eyes.”

Jakyung shrugged. “Didn’t sleep well last night and my stomach has been in a riot all day, so I’ll let you have that one. Alcohol isn’t going to help, but at least I’m having fun.”

The defeated tone of her voice set red flags off in his mind. This was the Jakyung that worried him. That drew him in and scared him away at the same time. It could have been the alcohol in his system or it could have been his desire to avoid that tricky boundary between lust and fear. Whatever it was, he just needed to be away from her for a moment. He shoved his drink into her hands and dove back into the crowd.

“I have to pee!” He shouted over his shoulder at her. Jakyung just rolled her eyes and walked out onto the balcony, closing the door behind her.

In the bathroom in his room, Baekhyun splashed cold water on his face for the tenth time. He had been there for well over ten minutes trying to get a grip on himself. He looked in the mirror at his flushed red cheeks and mussed hair. He was past the point of merely buzzed and was way into the realm of drunk, on the edge of a potential blackout. He sighed. He knew this was going to happen. It always happened when it came to Jakyung. She pulled his emotions in all sorts of directions, and while he had taken a first step and admitted that he may have had teensy crush on her, he wasn’t going to go full on straight jacket and throw out the L word. That was a word reserved for poets and puberty-ridden teenagers. He took another long hard look at himself before giving each cheek a firm slap and heading back downstairs.

He bumped into Kai on his way down. Kai looked peeved and seemed to be searching for someone, barely noticing Baekhyun had matched his steps.

“Looking for someone?” Baekhyun asked. Kai didn’t cease scanning the crowd but nodded his head affirmatively.

“I got word from one of my sources that there were going to be party crashers tonight,” Kai said. “I have names and I know what they look like. I know they’re here, but every time I think I spot one, they slip away. Keep an eye on Jakyung will you? She looked like she was going to pass out last time I saw her.” Kai slipped into the crowd and Baekhyun circumnavigated the room until he was in front of the set of balcony doors he was sure he’d left Jakyung at. Funny, she wasn’t there.

He opened the door to the balcony and peered around. She wasn’t there either. He frowned, until he realized she must’ve gotten tired of waiting and headed back to the bar. When he arrived, he was dismayed to find it crowded with a bunch of people, but still no Jakyung.

“Hey Baekhyun,” Aecha said over the crowd, her deft hands keeping pace with mixing drinks as she talked to him. “If you’re looking for Jakyung, she was headed towards the gardens.” Baekhyun thanked her and shoved his way through the swell of drunken partiers. He was halfway through when a bloodcurdling scream rose above the music.

Silence fell across the crowd, and even the music seemed to decrease in volume as people began to surge towards the front of the house. Baekhyun fought against the sudden rush, frantically still searching for Jakyung and trying not to get trampled in the building stampede. As he got closer to the epicenter of the chaos, he felt his heart jump into his throat.

There in the middle of the dance floor, with a pool of blood spreading rapidly around it was a body.

Ten Minutes Earlier

While the view from the balcony was pretty, Jakyung was already tired of waiting for Baekhyun to return. She drained the last of his drink and brought the glass inside with her. She stopped by the bar and set it down with a brief thanks to Aecha and headed towards the back gardens. She had only been there a few times with Kyungsoo, but she liked them well enough and it would allow her to continue her break from the lively party.

She kicked off her shoes near the door and relished in the feeling of cool grass between her toes. Thankfully, there were only a few people outside, but they were either passed out or making out. It didn’t matter to Jakyung; she headed towards a small, secluded area Kyungsoo had shown her.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Minho said as Jakyung came into view. He smirked at her, and she gave a weak shrug. He patted the empty space on the stone bench next to him. She opted sitting on the grass directly opposi