Chapter 1- Party Night

“Hyung…you can’t be serious…” Hansol stared at Wonwoo, his mouth agape.

“Why? What’s wrong? Do I look terrible in this jacket? Or is it the jeans?” Wonwoo asked, styling his hair while looking into the mirror, not sparing Hansol a single look.

“You’re going to a party. On a school night.” Hansol scoffed.

“Erm. Yeah? I’m still sober so obviously I know that. Your point here kid?” Wonwoo asked, turning around to see the younger lying flat on his beanbag in their shared room.

“You have classes tomorrow hyung. You’re going to die in class with your god damn hangover.” Hansol said, giving Wonwoo his look of disbelief.

“Ah…you see Hansol. That’s why Advil was created.” Wonwoo grinned, making his final touches on his hair, placing his wallet into his back pocket and held his phone in hand.

“Seriously hyung. You’ll die from taking so much Advil! And all that alcohol…” Hansol nagged before he got cut off by Wonwoo, who covered the younger’s mouth with his hand.

“Aish…I’m going to kick you out of our house one day if you continue nagging…” Wonwoo joked, but apparently the younger took his words for real.

“Granny Jeon! Wonwoo hyung is threatening me again! He says he’s going to kick me out! Stop him!” Hansol whined, dashing out of their room to hide behind an old lady in her 70s.

Oh. Wonwoo lived with his paternal grandma ever since he was born, and he only hears from his parents once a year. He barely even remembers what they look like or sound like. Not that he really gives a . And he has a younger brother who lives with his parents in Canada. Why Wonwoo isn’t there with them? That’s a story for another time. Hansol prefers to call Wonwoo’s grandma, granny Jeon. He says that it sounds friendlier. Granny Jeon had a head of dark brown hair, dyed personally by Jeon Wonwoo. She also owned a pair of sharp eyes which resembled Wonwoo’s. He must have gotten them from her. She was also pretty tall, standing at 169cm. Whenever she smiled, her nose would crease a little, eyes turning into little slits.

Hansol met Wonwoo when they were in middle school, and when the older found out that Hansol was living in a dorm where he was terrorized every day, he immediately invited Hansol to live in his house. Without asking his grandma. The day Hansol moved in with his luggage, granny Jeon almost had a heart attack. But seeing how Wonwoo begged and the sad look Hansol had on his face, she took the boy in and that was how the three of them lived together. They lived in this small 2 roomed house that Wonwoo’s grandfather bought when he married granny Jeon. Wonwoo’s father actually grew up in this house, and it was still standing strong till this day. It may seem a little small, but to Wonwoo, it was the coziest and warmest house. If you were wondering, what about Wonwoo’s grandpa? Well…he passed away from a heart attack a few years back. Wonwoo, granny Jeon and Hansol practically fell into a slump. Grandpa Jeon was the sole breadwinner for their household and he was the one who had hope, bringing laughter and joy. The 3 of them acted like zombies for months, before granny Jeon finally pulled out of her slump state, deciding that she still had 2 kids to take care of. It was easy and simple to help Hansol out of the slump. That kid just needed someone to talk him out and give him a little hope. But Wonwoo. The kid who had no hope from the start. She had to spend 4 months talking him out, encouraging him. When she finally had the last straw, cursing at Wonwoo, did he finally make a move. They never brought up the things they said to each other after that very day.

“You brat. Get back here!” Wonwoo called out, signalling Hansol to come back.

“You are the brat. How dare you treat my Hansol like that! I’ll kick you out of this house before you even kick him out!” Granny Jeon threatened, raising her fist at Wonwoo’s direction. Hansol snickered from behind, sticking his tongue out at Wonwoo.

“Your highness, this kid here is getting outrageous because you spoil him so much! He has no manners for his elders…” Wonwoo grumbled as he put on his shoes by the door.

“He deserves to be spoiled. Unlike you! Where are you going you brat! It’s already so late!” Granny Jeon scolded. Wonwoo pretended like he didn’t hear a question, as he took one last look at his reflection in the mirror by the door. Perfect.

“Granny Jeon! He’s going to another party!” Hansol betrayed Wonwoo blatantly, crouching behind the old lady, who was fuming mad now.

“Yah! Jeon Wonwoo! Party again?! I don’t want to watch another guy drag your bloody drunk home! YAH! YOU BRAT! GET BACK IN HERE!” Granny Jeon shouted but Wonwoo had already dashed out of the house.

“Don’t worry your highness! I’ll try to come home in one piece! I love you too!” Wonwoo laughed as he ran down the streets, getting to where the bustop was.

Wonwoo knew his grandma too well. She would never abandon him or kick him out of the house. She was the only one who accepted him and took good care of him. Wonwoo may seem like a rebellious kid, but he truly loved his grandma to bits. He just loved to , calling her “your highness”, saying that she deserves to be treated like royalty. To which his grandma would retort with “Living with you is a torture. Royalty don’t get that.” Their relationship was a fun and loving one. Jokes were common and Wonwoo’s grandma was a really open-minded lady.

A familiar ringtone sounded, phone vibrating. Wonwoo picked up the call, placing it next to his ear before regretting this decision almost immediately.

“YAH! Jeon Wonwoo! Where the are you?! You’re so ing late!” Jihoon hollered over the phone. Jihoon was notorious for his flaming temper amongst his friends, and no one dares to make the short boy angry.

“I’m on the bus. I don’t own a ing car like you rich boys. God damn this world. Give me 30 minutes and I’ll be there.” Wonwoo retorted before pressing the ‘end call’ button. He was so going to get it from Jihoon when he arrives. But he still hopes. Hope that the short boy would get drunk within the 30 minutes. So drunk and dead to the world that he would forget about teaching Wonwoo a lesson. But since when was hope a thing for Wonwoo? He had gradually lost his belief in hope over the years. Wonwoo alighted from the bus, walking further down to get to his destination. The party was held in the richer districts of Seoul, where the houses were at least 20 times bigger than Wonwoo’s. He could already hear the loud music a few houses away. He was ready. Ready to get all drunk and wasted to forget all his miseries. If he was lucky, he could just black out and never wake up again. Leaving Hansol and granny Jeon behind. They would have a tough time moving on without Wonwoo, but eventually they would.

“Ah…hyung! I told you that I wasn’t going to party tonight! It’s a freaking school night!” Mingyu exclaimed pulling his arm away from Soonyoung. Mingyu had initially planned to get some fresh air but his roommates insisted he walked them to the party which was a few streets away from their dorm. He wanted to get back to their dorm to continue mugging.

“Come on Mingyuuuuu! Don’t be such a killjoy! Who knows? You might get laid tonight if you’re lucky! Weren’t you complaining about how Prof Lee is such an ? Drink as much as you like and forget everything he said!” Soonyoung swayed from side to side. Soonyoung had actually drank some in their dorm before coming out.

“Nooooooo Soonyoung hyungggggggg~Let me go before Jeonghan-” Before Mingyu could even finish his sentence, he saw a guy with shoulder length hair walking out of the house where the party was hosted.

“Hey! Mingyu! So you decided to come huh? Wise choice. Lots of hot guys in there for you!” Jeonghan laughed, swinging an arm around Mingyu. The younger took a sniff of the older’s shirt, and he was definitely drunk.

What was such a studious student like Mingyu doing, hanging around these kids who seemed like alcoholics? Trust me. They aren’t like this normally. They’re all pretty much like Mingyu, nerds who seem like they have no social life. But it was a special night. It was Soonyoung’s 1st month anniversary with Seokmin and Jeonghan’s 1st year anniversary with Jisoo. Mingyu was the only loner in their group, alongside Seungkwan, who still hadn’t graduated from high school. Mingyu and Seungkwan were neighbours, so when the younger found out that Mingyu was studying in his future school, he started to hang out with Mingyu and his friends, wanting to have a ‘headstart’. Mingyu knew Seokmin from high school, and the two enrolled in the same university, thus deciding to become roommates. But because they were slightly short on cash, they decided to find another roommate, who turned out to be Soonyoung. And then we have the entire ‘fall in love at first sight’ cliché, and Soon