◎    ◉    ◎

Despite having been back in Korea for almost a month, I had yet to have a physical reunion with Anna. She’d been so busy with album preparations that only those living or working with her got the chance to see her. So basically, the only actual artists who saw her were her dormmates, but even Chun Hwa mentioned that she hadn't had much interaction with the girl lately. She came home late and left early, basic hellos and short conversation serving as all they got.

But that was a sacrifice of the job. It was just hard to settle with only seeing the person I had fresh, new feelings for on a screen or briefly in the distance. It was embarrassing to admit it but I longed for her. Even as strictly a friend, I longed for her.

So, when she sent out a bulk text to our entire group inviting us all over to her dorm for a mini-album release party, I was stoked. I knew the five day wait in the meantime would drag by slowly so I kept myself even busier than I already was. But my anticipation for the party was strong.

I wasn’t the only one who felt it either. I could tell the upcoming party had put quite a few of us in better moods. Not only was it a chance for us all to reconnect with Anna, but it was a chance for us to let loose together for one night. Anna only further encouraged such when asked about the party’s dress code.

“Personally, I was thinking pajamas,” she suggested in our massive messaging group, pleasing me with her laziness. That was my girl. “You know, as long as you’re all okay with that.”

She had hardly even sent the added message when a flood of approvals came in. It seemed like we were all up for an excuse to dress comfortably for an event, even if said event was just a dorm party.

“Alright, pajamas it is,” she confirmed, humored. “But I wanna see some real, high quality pajamas. No basic sweatpants and t-shirt combo from any of you boys.”

“You might as well address Jungkook by name,” Jin messaged in return, opening up the floor to a whole lot of “ㅋ”’s.

“What are you talking about hyung, I always wear those flannel pants!”

More laughter ensued, including a long message “ㅋ”’s from Anna.

Said girl re-stated the time everyone could start coming by for good measure, assuring everyone that they could come late or not at all if it got in the way of their own schedules.

Oh, Anna. Always so selfless.

But it seemed that such redeeming qualities of hers were enough to motivate everyone to go the distance for her. Those who knew they had to come late promised they’d stay until the end, despite the chances of the end being considerably late into the night or morning depending on how the party played out. Those who had a smaller on-campus conflict, like a practice or training slot, convinced her to let them cancel for her party. Everyone wanted to be in on her celebration, whether in genuine support of her album or just to have a fun night in her company. And Kakao couldn’t quite convey her gratefulness.

No sooner had I picked out what pajamas would be most acceptable to show up at Anna’s dorm in did the day of said party finally arrive. I had hoped I’d maybe bump into her at some point in the meantime but such hopes were never met. But there was no avoiding her at her own party so my excitement for the event only grew with each passing day without her.

After deciding against showing up at the girls’ dorm alone, I thought I’d patiently wait for J-Hope to get ready and go with him. I hadn’t realized how patient I’d have to be.

“Hoseok, let’s go! We’re literally wearing pajamas, what could possibly be taking you so long?” I whined loudly so he’d hear me from the bathroom.

“My hair isn’t coming out right,” he called back, as if that were a good excuse.

“Jung Hoseok. It’s basically a pajama party. And at Anna’s dorm, nonetheless,” I deadpanned, lifting my wrist to check the time. “We’re over a half an hour late already, hurry the hell up!”

Not even a minute later did I hear the rattling of keys outside our door. I looked over in its direction just in time to see Jimin let himself inside, stepping back in surprise at the sight of me.

“You guys are still here?” He questioned with raised eyebrows as he kicked off his shoes. “You scared me, I thought you’d both be over there by now.”

“I thought so, too,” I agreed before pointing in our bathroom’s direction. “J-Hope isn’t ready yet.”

“He’s not ready?” Jimin repeated in confusion. I could tell he had the same thought as me- how much primping was needed to wear pajamas?

“No, he’s not,” I answered grumpily, the patience I prepared myself to have drawn very thin.

At the sound of a new voice, Hoseok popped his head out of the bathroom. “Is that Jimin I hear?”

“Yah! Your hair looks fine!” I accused at the sight of him. I didn’t waste a breath.

“Well, yeah, now it does,” he emphasized, shutting off the bathroom light as he stepped out. “Only after all the time I spent making it look this way. Such a pain.”

“Yeah, a pain,” I rolled my eyes. “But I hope you realize that we’re about to show up late with a man who had already warned Anna that scheduling conflicts would make him late.”

“So?”

“So, Jimin’s going to show up late with a real, pre-explained reason. We’re just going to look like s,” I concluded, still as grumpy as ever, if not more.

J-Hope paused. That seemed to finally catch his attention. But it was a little late to be responsible, if you asked me. He then snapped his fingers, having thought of what he considered to be a genius idea.

“Jimin, what was it that you had tonight?” He pointed at the boy enthusiastically, already assuming his plan to be foolproof.

“A commercial,” he answered with a smirk, completely aware of what his hyung was getting at. “I don’t think you’ll get away with claiming you were involved in any way. She’ll see you’re not in it when it airs so you’d look like an even bigger .”

J-Hope immediately deflated. I snorted. A plan couldn’t be foolproof if it was made by a fool, it seemed. Without anything else to do, said fool immediately gathered up his things and looked at me expectantly.

“Well, what are you waiting for hyung? Jimin’s still got to change, we can make it there before him.”

I heaved a deep sigh as I pulled myself up to my feet. What a headache. But still, I called over to the bathroom to tell Jimin we’d see him in a bit. He responded with something I couldn’t quite hear as I followed Hobi out the front door.

The security guard in the lobby of the girls’ residence hall, notified of our invitations in advance, passed us through the front doors and from there, we knew where we were going. The two residential buildings buildings were twins, their layouts almost identical to a T. Up three floors we went and down the hallway to dorm 310, where faint music spilling out from the crack beneath the door indicated we were at the right place. Anna’s most recent message to us all told us to let ourselves in so thanks to the unlocked door, we did.

If we hadn’t already been completely aware of our tardiness before, we certainly would’ve learned of it then. It seemed everyone was there already, minus Jimin, who was sure to show up any minute anyway.

“Hyungs!” My head snapped over in Jungkook’s direction, who was looking at the two of us from across the room with a wide grin. I wasn’t sure whether it was from the sight of us or the effect social events had on him. Excusing himself from a large group conversation, he sauntered over to us. “What took you guys so long?”

“Ask your other hyung over here,” I said, throwing a thumb in Hoseok’s direction. But if I thought Jungkook would disapprove of his Hoseok's priorities as much as I did, I was wrong.

“Hair problems?”

“Hair problems,” Hoseok confirmed with a solemn nod. I felt betrayed and judgmental all at once. “Unfortunately, I’m not blessed in that area.”

“Both of you are ridiculous,” I concluded, not once doubting that this was one of many dumb and useless topics of conversations exchanged between the two. “Where’s Anna?”

“Jumping straight to it, I see,” the youngest of my best friends smirked. He was lucky we cherished him. I pushed at his forehead with my finger.

“Quiet,” I reprimanded, making the two chuckle. “Really, where is she?”

“Where’s who?” I flinched at Chun Hwa’s sudden appearance, as if she’d apparated like some Harry Potter character. She gave me an innocent smile. “Hi, Yoongi-oppa. Hobi-oppa.”

Both of us gave her our own greetings, Hoseok’s a little more cheerful than my own. “He was looking for Anna.”

“Ah, I should’ve known,” she nodded, quite knowingly in fact. I glanced at her skeptically, afraid of what she did in fact know and how she knew it. “She’s in the kitchen with Yuju and Junhong. I think they went to get some food, if you’re hungry.”

I wasn’t liking the subliminal message I thought I might've caught her sneaking in there. But I was a little hungry, to be honest. So killing multiple birds with one stone, I dismissed myself to escape to the kitchen, multiple eyes lingering on my back.

The three I had my eye out for weren’t the only ones snacking in the kitchen but they were certainly the only ones I paid any mind to. Through Eunha, I was pretty friendly with Yuju but Junhong was someone I typically avoided. It was nothing against him personally, he seemed like a fun enough kid, he was just too tall for my much shorter tastes. And that much was especially clear as he towered over Anna, her eyes casted significantly upwards as she talked to him. Even Yuju, too, who had at least an inch or two over Anna.

Her smile in response to something the boy had said sparked a feeling in me that thankfully wasn’t jealousy. I didn’t want to be one of those guys before we even became anything. It was longing- a stronger longing than I’d felt for anyone before.

I missed her smile so much.

She must’ve sensed my admiring eyes on her as her own landed on me. The grin that spread on her face sent my feelings into a frenzy.

“Yoongi,” she muttered unconsciously, making her two friends follow her line of sight curiously.

“Oh, Suga-oppa!” Yuju chimed in pleasant surprise, giving me a fresh smile. I politely bowed my head her way as a silent hello, returning a smile. Junghong, just as young and respectful as the girls beside him, stepped forward with an outstretched hand.

“Suga-hyung,” he greeted as I shook his head. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has,” I agreed. “How’s Yongguk these days?”

He and Junhong were a rap duo at SKEES so there was no better person to ask that question. They were a great pair, I genuinely enjoyed their stages at family concerts and I especially respected Yongguk as a fellow music-producing artist.

“Yongguk-hyung has been well. Busy, but well.”

“Aren’t we all,” I mused, entertaining us both. Junhong opened his mouth to say something when a voice interjected.

“Hey, stop stealing my friends away.”

My eyes flickered down to a height more suitable for my own, coming face to face with the girl of honor once more. For a moment, I was speechless. I couldn’t piece together anything cool or coherent to say to someone I’d been so cruelly deprived of.

“They beat you to me, maybe you shouldn’t have been so slow,” I managed to come up with.

Not bad, Min Yoongi, not bad.

I knew I was successful when she broke out into a wide grin, eye sparkle and all, and reached out to wrap her arms around my neck. With mine securely fastened around her waist, we clung onto each other, feeling the effects of lost time. I breathed her in, clueless to the fact that she had been doing the same, her head buried deep into my shoulder.

“I’ve missed you,” she admitted in a nearly inaudible whisper. But I couldn’t miss it with the way she always had me hanging on her every word.

“You’re just too busy for me now,” I teased lightly, wishing I wasn’t saddened by the truth of those words. “I don’t think I’m cool enough for you anymore.”

She chuckled. “I don’t think cool will ever be the right word to describe me or anyone that hangs out with me.”

I pretended to think about it for a moment before humming. “Yeah, you’re right.”

She pulled away just so she could smack me in the arm. I rubbed a hand over the spot, hoping she’d think I was faking it. In all honestly, that actually hurt. Thankfully, she said nothing. She just smiled at me, as if appreciating that the reunion was actually happening. You know, as I was.

She opened to say something that I’d never hear thanks to the impeccable timing of yet another roommate of hers.

“Miss Annabelle!” Anna recognized Dina’s singsong voice. “You promised me a dance party ages ago, where you at?”

Despite my English not being the best, the words I caught told me the gist of what she wanted. I stepped back slightly from Anna as the older girl sauntered into the sub-room, slightly intoxicated from the bottle of soju she had in hand. It was probably one of many. When her eyes landed on the scene she had just interrupted, she not-so-subtly froze in her tracks. I held back a smile. It was interesting to see such a typically put-together woman so loosened up.

“Oh, Suga,” she stuttered in surprise. “And Anna.”

“Yes, Suga and Anna, whom you’ve just drunkenly interrupted,” Anna retorted. As light-hearted as she sounded, internally, she was slightly irritated for reasons Dina would understand when sober.

“It’s okay,” I chuckled, not paying too much attention to Dina and her current state. Not when someone as blinding as Anna was in the room. “You guys go have fun. We have the whole night ahead of us to catch up.”

The sight of Anna’s little pout had me feeling a number of ways but I let her go regardless. Despite being ruthlessly dragged away by her dorm-mate, I knew Anna better than to pass up a dance party. I’d gladly let her have fun and continue later. The night was young, after all.

◎    ◉    ◎

Well, the night was young once. Hours laters, the dance party Dina and Anna started was still in full-swing. People had come in and out, joined in and called it quits. Hoseok had been one of the first to jump in with Anna, as expected, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the two of them fool around. Her eyes danced as enthusiastically as her body, finding fun in every person who danced by her side. I, on the ther hand, was perfectly happy observing and chatting on the side, taking slow, well-handled sips of my alcohol. A few of us had to be adults there, right?

I distracted myself for a while in various conversations, catching up with a few friends. Anna wasn’t the only one I hadn’t talked to in a while. It was only when a couple people drifted off that I looked towards the small gathering of dancing bodies and noticed Anna was no longer one of them. I slipped away in search for her, knowing I’d have no trouble in a home of that size.

Well, that was when I didn’t assume she’d snuck off to her bedroom. When I came to that realization, I got awkward. A girl’s bedroom was off-limits, wasn’t it?

Regardless, I knocked on the door, just to confirm whether or not she was even in there. When I heard her voice from the inside telling me to come in, I was apprehensive. Was she giving me that permission because she was assuming I was one of her roommates? Or was she really that lenient?

I decided to just go for it, finding a certain inclination to hang out somewhere as private as her bedroom. I rarely got time with her, just us two, so it was a perfect opportunity.

“Hey, it’s me,” I informed her as I stepped inside, closing the door behind me to return it to how she’d left it before I found her. She glanced over her shoulder at me from where she stood inside her closet and gave me a smile.

“I'd hoped it would be,” she admitted, her face back in her clothes. I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t flatter me too much. I might get the wrong idea,” I teased, stopping to lean against the frame of her and Chun Hwa’s bunk bed.

“Who’s to say it’d be wrong?” She returned, still not turning away from her rummaging. I was grateful for that, otherwise she would’ve seen my furiously blushing cheeks. Still, I smirked at her out-spoken nature.

“Are you drunk?”

“I don’t know, maybe. I’ve never been good with alcohol,” she said nonchalantly. Before I could argue with American stereotypes, she pulled the article of clothing she must’ve been looking for off of a hanger. “There it is!”

“A hoodie?” I asked and she nodded, not catching onto my judgmental tone. “Why didn’t you just grab the first one you saw? I can see a bunch even from here.”

“Because,” she dragged out before holding up the hoodie for me to see that it was no ordinary hoodie. At least not in her eyes. “I bought this specifically for tonight and I’ll probably never wear it again. So I’d be dammed if I ended up wearing just some other hoodie.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I pushed myself away from the bed and walked over to her. “Wow, I couldn’t imagine why you’d never wear this gem again,” I commented as I took the item into my hands, sarcasm oozing off the ends of my words. “It’s so stylish.”

She tried to snatch the hoodie back with no avail, suppressing her laughter at the same time. “Leave me alone!”

I ignored her whines. “Come on, I’m sure it looks even better on!”

“You’d find out if you gave it back to me,” she pointed out, taking another swipe at it but failing yet again. “Yoongi!”

“I don’t think someone who wears something like this is capable of dressing themselves,” I continued to tease, pulling down on the zipper and opening the hoodie up for her like a kindergarten school teacher. “Okay, Anna! Arms out!”

She did the complete opposite and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at me like I was crazy. “Min Yoongi, you are an . I’m not a child, I’m completely capable of putting this on myself.”

But I wouldn’t budge. And it may have taken her a few seconds but she eventually realized it. With a long and dramatic scowl, she stomped over to me and did as she was told. I circled around her as I slipped the fuzzy hoodie over her shoulders, purposely guiding her arms into the sleeves as you would with a child. She glared at me the whole time, even as I rounded to stand in front of her. I tugged on the zipper ends to make sure she was all tightly snug.

“Proud of yourself, are you?” She grumbled.

“I don’t know, do I look smug enough to you?”

“More than enough.”

I steppd back to admire my handy work. When I did, I broke out into shameless laughter.

“You look like a cotton ball,” I cackled, much to her momentary dismay. Then, she couldn’t resist anymore. A smile broke free on her lips before laughter of her own escaped them.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything,” she challenged. When I raised a brow at her, she reached behind her and pulled the hood over her head. That was really when I started laughing.

“Okay, now you’re the fluffiest polar bear I’ve ever seen,” I laughed, this time at the ears sprouting from the hood.

“And you’re lucky that I haven’t killed you by now,” she shot back playfully. “The other girls have worn cute like this more than once. Why can’t I be cute, too?”

“Well, for starters, you just said ‘cute ’ like the hard- girl you are,” I pointed out smartly. She narrowed her eyes at me, though I knew she caught my drift.

“Alright, then I’ll just ask the other guys what they think. I’m sure they’ll tell me I’m cute,” she declared stubbornly, proudly striding over to the door. I continued to laugh at her childishness as I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me.

“Fine, fine,” I gave in. “You look cute. Happy now?”

She scrunched her face in exaggerated thought. That by itself was cuter than the hoodie could ever be. “Hm, no. I don’t think you mean it.”

“Alright, think what you want. I made my case,” I settled, beginning to pull away from her when she decided to be the one to clutch onto me this time.

“Yoongi,” she whined, making me give in to her once more. I gently took hold of her waist, so caught up in our unintentional flirting that I couldn’t be surprised by my forward actions.

“Jeez, you’re a whiny drunk.”

“I’m not drunk,” she pouted. If things hadn’t somehow gotten so intimate, I would’ve reminded her of her earlier words regarding her lack of drinking abilities. But she was so close. So damn close.

"You sure about that?" I asked, my voice betraying me. By the look on her face, it seemed she was suddenly aware of our situation as well. A tense speechlessness hung over us both. 

I mean, I tried. I tried to ignore the fact that Anna had continously been submitting herself to me. I tried to ignore the feeling in my chest every time she looked up at me with those big brown eyes of hers. But I could only hold out for so long and that time was up. I craved her so intensely already and having her with me like this wasn’t helping.

And suddenly, it was that night in front of this very building all over again.

Feeling a little ballsier than usual with alcohol in my system and encouraged by the events leading up to this moment, I took the chance to lean in and kiss her. But like just nearly two months earlier, she leaned away. Only this time, I actually believed for a moment she was going to let it happen. I froze where I was, glancing up at her hesitant expression.

“Are you scared or something? Or do you really just not want to kiss me?” I joked lightly, masking the sting of rejection.

“I’m scared,” she admitted quietly, her gaze never leaving mine. Her revelation tweaked at my heartstrings but confused me all the same. I leaned back away from her, though refused to release her from my arms.

“What are you scared of?”

“Of everything,” she sighed, giving a single, nervous laugh. “I’m scared of how this album will do, how Korea is gonna like me. Hell, just throwing myself out there in a completely foreign country still scares the hell out of me. I’m different from you all and it’s hard standing out like that.”

I listened to her intently, surely looking at her with sad eyes as she continued with a small shake of her head. “There hasn’t been a day since I got here that I haven’t felt fear.”

“You know, it’s okay to be afraid. This isn’t some small thing you’ve gotten yourself into,” I asurred her, tightening my hold on her. “You just don’t have to be afraid with me.”

“I’m not,” she shook her head again, this time with confidence. “I’ve never felt afraid with you. You’ve never given me a reason to feel anything but the complete opposite.”

“So why do you keep leaning away?” I questioned her gently, more rehtorically than literally. I wasn’t expecting an answer, I wanted her to find it for herself. But after what she had said, she couldn’t.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, her conflicted eyes flitting between mine, then to my lips and back.
 

That was enough to make me believe she was truly reconsidering. So I took the chance again, promising myself that if she were to dodge me again, I’d give up on my attempts.

But she didn’t. I found myself unknowingly passing through the barricade she had previously put up until my lips finally pressed against her. It was only when I opened my eyes slightly that I came to terms with the truth.

I was kissing Anna. And my God, did it feel so right.

But I could still feel her hesitancy. It reflected in the stiffness of her body, in the way she kissed. She wasn’t completely comfortable yet but this was a step in the right direction.

I parted from her, parted from the blissful feeling of lips upon lips, and looked at her gently. “Really though, what’s wrong?” I asked her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as a leeway into cupping her face in my hand. She unconsciously leaned into it.

“I just… I don’t want fans to turn against us for this. I'm already at such a high risk of getting scrutinized just for being white,” she admitted quietly, as if she were embarrassed about it. "If they’re going to be unhappy with us, I’d prefer it be over something we’ve done musically, not personally."

Air puffed out of my nose as I smiled down at her. “Nobody has to know about anything. Whatever this becomes can stay between us and us alone,” I assured her, giving her body a small squeeze. She stared up at me for a few moments, probably contemplating her options.

“We’d have to tell our inner circle, though. I don’t think they’d be very happy with us if we kept anything from them.”

Her sheepish smile made me grin. She was giving in. “Of course. They’re our personal cheerleaders, after all.”

She chuckled. “They are, aren’t they?”

I hummed. “And I’m sure they’d all back me on the fact that not every SKEES relationship goes public. We deserve our privacy, too, sometimes. And if staying under the radar is what it takes to make you comfortable, I’m all for it. I’d actually prefer it, really.”

Her eyes brightened as she looked up at me. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I’m not about the public flaunting like that. I'd much rather have you all to myself.”

I watched as she blushed furiously at my newfound confidence. I’d no doubt flustered her before but never like this. One of the perks of the new territory, I guess. Not that I’d complain about it.

“Excuse me, miss, but I believe you’re blushing,” I pointed out obnoxiously, making her duck her head into my shoulder in embarrassment. It was another reaction I was happy to induce.

“ you,” she groaned, making me chuckle. She loved the way my laughter reverberated from where she was. She glanced up at me with those eyes. “Is it cute, at least?”

“You know, my opinion is going to be incredibly biased,” I told her but she didn’t seem to be moved at all. “Yes, it was very cute.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh, so you’ll admit that now.”

I groaned, the smile on my face unchangeable. “Must you always challenge me like this?”

“Yes,” she answered without missing a beat, her hands pulling away from where they were holding onto my shirt to loop around my waist.

She then looked at me expectantly. I immediately knew what she wanted and you couldn’t have paid me to keep it from her. I leaned down to connect our lips again, the difference in her reaction quite clear. She excitedly kissed me back, our mouths moving in harmony at a comfortable pace. My thumbs rubbed at her cheeks, sending the best kind of chills down her spine.

We stayed like that for quite some time, never once getting tired of the repetitive action. We continuously found new things to cherish in our new expression of affection- the way our noses would gently bump against each other, the small sighs we’d involuntarily release between kisses, the feeling of an occasional smile on the other person’s lips. There was something so new and exciting about all of it that we never wanted it to end.

But unfortunately, we couldn’t stay that way forever. I was sure the others were suspicious of our absences but neither of us wanted to be away for so long that they’d start suspecting weird things. They’d hound us enough for finally kissing, we didn’t want to hear anything else. Anna also commented quietly that she wasn’t being the best host holed up in her bedroom with me, to which I playfully clung onto her.

“I’m sure they’d all be in support of the reason behind your absence,” I teased, purposely giving her little room to breathe. I thrived in the sound of her giggles from within my embrace.

“Min Yoongi! When’d you get so touchy?” She inquired as she half-heartedly tried to free herself.

“I can be touchy when I want to be. I’ve just had a great amount of self-control around you,” I explained proudly. “Don’t act like you don’t love it.”

“Ah, there’s the Yoongi I now,” she grinned, finally escaping from my clutches. But she was one to talk about touchy when she immediately hopped back to peck my cheek. Then she took hold of my hand and pulled me along behind her. “Come on.”

She led us right out of her room, where her roommates whisked her away as soon as she stepped outside, eager for details on what had just gone on in her bedroom. I should’ve expected no less. I knew then that my own idiots weren’t going to be too far off. I was proven correct as the whole group of six came to surround me and look at me expectantly. I, of course, gave them nothing.

“So,” Hobi spoke up first. Shocker. “Did you and Anna make up for lost time?”

The way he kept wiggling his eyebrows had me so uncomfortable I almost walked away. But I still had to string them along in typical Min Yoongi fashion. It was my duty. “Yes, we did actually.”

Three of the four of my dongsaengs’ faces immediately did a 180, none of them looking too smug anymore.

That’s right, boys. Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you?

“So, it’s finally happening then?” Namjoon asked, impressed and proud of his longest friend at SKEES. The Yoongi he first knew never would’ve found the motivation to go after any girl he liked, nevermind one like Anna.

“Yeah, I mean, are you you guys, like, dating now?” Jimin questioned curiously, the only one of my dongsaengs that didn’t turn into a fool at my revelation. I could tell he was just impressed as well.

“No, we’re not dating,” I clarified for them all. It momentarily seemed like a let-down. “But it’s safe to say we know how each other feel.”

Six heads snapped to Hoseok as he released a long, whiney groan. I started at him like he was nuts, which he typically was.

“Come on, hyung. Don’t be so vague,” he complained. “I want details.”

“This guy,” I scoffed but at the same time, I couldn’t entirely keep the events to myself. I glanced over to where the girls were crowded around Anna across the room, waiting on her words with bated breath. I wondered whether she was getting the same interrogation I was. “We kissed.”

“Like… actually kissed?” Jungkook prodded further. Last time he’d heard that, it wasn’t entirely what it seemed. “On the lips?”

“Yes, on the lips. No cheek-kissing like last time,” I clarified.

“Just once?”

“No way,” Jimin answered Taehyung before I could. “They weren’t in there for all that time because of just one kiss.”

Hoseok was giddy to agree. “Plus, think of all the there was between them. There’s no way one kiss would’ve been enough-”

“Alright, knock it off, you three,” I snapped at them. They stepped out of their little gossip circles but failed to wipe the guilty smirks off their faces. I’d get them one day. “Listen, I’m just as excited about this as the next guy but can’t we be cool about this?”

I felt like a broken record. Hadn’t we been through this already? Were they really that forgetful or were they just that annoying?

“Things will probably simmer down once we get used to this, hyung. Any one of us getting involved in a romantic relationship is a pretty new and exciting thing. Give us some leway,” Namjoon stepped in on behalf of his younger brothers, thinking logically about the situation as usual- hence why he and I were so close. Jin nodded in agreement.

“I know, I know. And I appreciate the support, I do. But Anna and I want to keep our relationship to ourselves so it’d be nice if we could generally keep it on the D.L. That goes for you especially, Hoseok- Hoseok?” It was only then that I noticed the sudden absence of our energetic friend. “Where’d he go?”

“You didn’t notice him head over to Anna?”

I immediately felt a need to face palm myself into oblivion. With one quick glance, I was indeed met with the sight of Hoseok schmoozing his way into Anna’s details. He had his arm slung around her, pulling her snugly into his side and saying something to her that made her giggle behind her hand. I knew at that moment that he was going to get everything he wanted.

Anna was just too soft. I’d help her with that for her sake.

“Let him be,” Jin nudged me, his eyes on the scene as well. “He just loves you guys.”

“A bit too much, if you ask me,” I mumbled, making him chuckle. He patted my shoulder once before announcing his desire to get another drink from the kitchen. He extended the invitation to us all, which was accepted by all but Jimin and Jungkook, who decided to follow Hoseok’s lead. 

There was no doubt that I really needed that drink right about then.

◎    ◉    ◎

The party didn’t last too much longer after that. It had already been late at that point so add an hour or two and you had a collection of tired and/or drunk entertainers, all of whom were about ready to call it a night. That, or they had a friend telling them so.

My body was slung lazily across the couch as Anna stopped everyone individually at the front door on their ways out. She handed each of them physical copies of her mini-album with personal notes on the inside as thanks for their attendance.

“I couldn’t have a release party without giving you all free copies,” she claimed, flashing each person the most charming of smiles. She leaned over to Chun Hwa once, who had decided to keep her best friend company.

“I feel like Oprah,” she said lowly to her, making them both laugh. It was an American joke that not many seemed to get.

I decided to wait it out until the party drained out a little more. I gazed at her quietly, a small smile playing on my lips as I fought the heaviness of my eyelids. Beside me sat Jimin, who like Chun Hwa for Anna, agreed to keep me company. The only difference between him and her was that he was fast asleep. So when the last of the party-goers stumbled out into the hallway, graciously thanking the girls for their hospitality and congratulating Anna on her achievement like everyone else, I gave him a nice, hard smack on the chest.

“Huh? What?” He mumbled, squinting around at his surroundings in confusion.

“And everyone says I’m the sleepy one,” I commented to myself before giving his leg a softer pat. “Come on. Party’s over, time to go.”

“Where’s… hyung?” He slurred. I wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or pure drowsiness. I also had no idea which hyung he was talking about as I pulled him to his feet.

“They all left ahead of us. You volunteered to wait with me, remember?”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “Oh yeah, that’s right,” he recalled, coming back to his senses.

Relieved that I wouldn’t have to drag an entirely useless lump of a human back to our dorm, I slung a brotherly arm around his shoulder and guided him over to the front door. The two American girls were saying their goodbyes to a group who had insisted on cleaning a mess they had made, Junhong being one of them. I hadn’t bumped into him since the whole kitchen moment. When he noticed me approach them, he gave me a polite smile.

“It was good to see you again, hyung,” he bowed, making me smile. 

“See you around, Junhong,” I told him just as kindly. With that, he and his friends took their leave, leaving just Jimin and me.

“You look like you’re in love,” Anna commented on my interaction with Junhong before I could say anything. I side-eyed her.

“I like him, he's a good kid. I didn’t realize you guys were friends.”

“Yeah, Hoseok introduced me to him,” she told me brightly.

“Of course, he did,” I chuckled. She did as well.

We exchanged stares for a moment before her senses seemed to return to her. That made one of us. She twisted around to reach into the box resting on the table next to their front door and pulled out two albums. She glanced inside each one before handing one to Jimin and then myself.

“Couldn’t give you guys the wrong ones,” she explained, referring to the messages she’d written special for us. I had a feeling that was especially true with my album. We each thanked her, Jimin purposely returning to what he had been saying to Chun Hwa to offer us the best privacy he could.

That was a good boy.

“So, was it a successful party?” Anna asked me. I easily caught onto her subliminal message.

“I’d say so,” I told her knowingly, making her grin and even blush slightly. She'd been doing a lot of that that night, and I was happy that it wasn't just from the effects of the alcohol. I brought our attention to the neatly-packaged CD in my hand. “It sounded really good when you played it before. Everyone seemed to be impressed, too. I think it’ll do really well.”

“I hope so,” she said, not too convinced just yet. “I’m surprised you didn’t comment on the changes we made when you were gone.”

I hummed, thinking said changes over. “Well, I’d admit that they ended up being strong decisions if that didn’t mean I couldn’t bug you about it.”

She scoffed and gave me a playful shove, which I took with a chuckle. I then took my opportunity to pull her in for a parting hug, leaving a kiss on her temple as subtly as I could. And as I’d hoped, although our two friends gave us cheeky looks when we pulled away from each other, I don’t think they actually noticed the kiss.

I shot Anna a victorious wink, to which she giggled, before I bid her and Chun Hwa farewell for the night. Jimin gave both girls sweet waves as he followed me out but as soon as their door closed, innocent Jimin was out the window. He leaped on me from behind, clutching tightly onto my upper body.

“That was cute, hyung,” he chimed.

“Satisfied, are you?” I retorted, though I couldn’t resist from smiling. And my happiness was hard for him to ignore.

“Very.”

______________________________________________

Hello!! First off, I want to give a big welcome to the literal hundreds of you new subscribers who came after I got this story advertised. Yay, marketing! I talked to a bunch of you and you all were incredibly sweet and encouraging so I thank you all! And to those of you who I haven't talked to (yet), thank you as well just for subscribing and I hope to talk to you guys soon!

Secondly, I got real-life Annabelle to write another song for this story!! YAY! For those of you who don't know, Anna is based off of an up-and-coming popstar who became an internet friend of mine a few years ago after she'd read an original piece I had posted on a blog I used to have. She's such an interesting human being that I couldn't help but mold my OC off her (like, if you were to ever meet her in person, you'd feel like you've already known her after reading this story. She's really just as amazing as Anna in the story.). 

Anyway, Anna's been very supportive of this story and already previously wrote and recorded a theme song for it (which is in the Foreword, for any of you who didn't see) and now she's written another, inspired by this chapter! Thankfully, she's admitted she's been on a bit of a hiatus after her first single became a major success so she's had time to collaborate with me a little bit. She's already given me access to unreleased photoshoot images for me to use as visuals but I'm hoping I can continue to work with her on making more content for this story in the future so keep your eyes peeled!

In the meantime, feel free to bombard her with comments and/or messages on Instagram (@annalepetri) or her website (www.annalepetri.com) so she'll feel more inclined to work with this story hehehehe >:) 

Thanks everyone!! -Aria