Junghwa looked down at her half empty cup of fruit punch and sighed a silent sigh that seemed to dig into her most inner core as she looked away from the awkward swaying of the party goers and speechlessly watched the murky pink juice slosh around the red plastic cup. She continued to spin it around in small jerky movements out of mild curiosity until it gradually started to turn into a miniature tornado as it bounced off the walls of the cup and spilled onto the arm and legs of the person next to her. The girl in turn screamed in surprise and stood up out of fright only to watch the pink liquid slide down even more onto her sky blue jeans, leaving a dark wet stain behind and a fruity smell to permeate the atmosphere that once only held the scent of booze and sweat just a few minutes before.

“What the f*** are you doing? Didn’t your parents ever teach you to not mess with the things you shove in your mouth,” the nameless girl seethed as she tried her best to wipe the mess off only to allow the stain to increasingly grow onto her crotch area, making it look like she just had had an embarrassing accident. “I-I’m sorry,” Junghwa stuttered out in embarrassment as she quietly tried to reach out to give a helping hand only to be smacked away by the irritated girl. “Don’t bother, I’ve had enough of your help, just stay away from me all day today, or else, things won’t look good for you,” stated the girl with a final huff and a swing of her long black hair as she disappeared back into the crowd of gyrating bodies.

Junghwa looked at her dissolving silhouette and sighed in mortification as she leaned back onto the overstuffed couch that always seemed to smell of too many cigarettes. She looked up at the strobing colorful lights that decorated the ceiling of another large house that she currently sat in again. It was like this every single year when it came to house parties and her best friend Hyerin’s obsession with them. For every time she was invited to one, Hyerin always felt the need to drag Junghwa along claiming she needed her for moral support and a save from fashion disasters. Which In Junghwa’s opinion was absolutely not necessary, considering how Hyerin was the one who had a very outgoing personality and loved it when she was brought into the center of attention. While on the other hand, Junghwa was a self proclaimed homebody who loved to just sit at home and watch her daily soap dramas every single day while working on her assignments.

However, with that personality in mind, it prevented her from any social interaction with the people around her and simply allowed her to only make a maximum of four friends throughout her entire fleeting high school life. But Junghwa didn’t mind, she actually liked the fact that albeit small, she had in return built some of the greatest bonds she had obtained in life and didn’t mind if it wasn’t a large quantity. For it was quality that truly mattered to her. And that is what she had once told a very dubious Hyerin who had one day blew up at her asking why she wouldn’t bother going out more to socialize and told her that she was very concerned for her.  And when Junghwa relayed her reasoning, Hyerin’s only response was a simple quirk of her eyebrow and a small knowing smirk as she continued to ask the same question her mother had only done so a few days before. “Oh really now? Then tell me child, how are you planning to find a life partner with that concept in mind? Is your dream man just going to pop out of the television that you always watch? Or are you just going to fall into his arms like in all those dramas you love watching over and over again? Tell me, how do you plan to ever get married?”

And with that question left in the air, Hyerin had immediately taken her leave claiming she had to meet up with a guy named Hope and that she expected to hear the answer later on. With the thought in mind, Junghwa then really thought about how she was planning to ever get married if she never really bothered to talk with the opposite nor did she ever really give a glance their way. But it wasn’t her fault, she had then reasoned to herself. For the guys she had interacted with during her high school years were people that never really stood out to her much. They weren’t like the male leads in her favorite dramas who shared their love and emotions through their eyes. Nor were they similar to the male protagonists in her favorite stories who would do anything for the girl they loved. The boys here were what all boys were like, sweaty, stinky, and all of them were really really short.

They all had an ego that desperately needed to be brought down a notch and an inability to understand what she really wanted and needed when it came to understanding her feelings. And that is why Junghwa failed to see the hype girls got over a popular guy in their school or why dating was so important. It was just a useless waste of emotions over a dumb guy who could never really understand a proper woman. However now that the topic of marriage has been brought up a lot amongst her peers and friends ever since she started to regularly attend college, Junghwa couldn’t help but think about herself ten years from now and whether she was going to live a life with many cats like the way her other friend Hyojin had predicted. But no matter how much she thought about it, Junghwa couldn’t help but not want to interact with the male population as she sat at home watching the type of guys she knew didn’t exist. And besides it's not like she was completely against the idea of blind dates and wouldn’t really care if she was forced to go on one.

And that is exactly what she had told Hyerin the next day at a coffee shop only to have her gasp in horror in return and immediately grab her phone and start typing away claiming that she didn’t want to have a spinster for a friend nor a divorcee. Hyerin continued to rant on about making plans and going to more parties as she slightly bit her thumb, a habit that she had picked up as a toddler and did it whenever she was worried or preoccupied. And once done typing, she immediately broke into her usual bright smile and told Junghwa to get ready cause they had a party to go to.

So that where they were now, or more like Hyerin was off somewhere being the social butterfly that she was and Junghwa was left all alone hoping that the day would come to a close as soon as possible. She wished that no one would ever bother her at all tonight especially after what happened just now. But luck didn’t seem to be on her side as she felt a slight dip in the couch next to her and a scent of strong chanel perfume that she knew a certain person loved to wear waft into the air. “What happened to YunMi?” asked Hyerin questioningly once settled comfortably onto the small couch. Junghwa picked her head up in confusion as to ask who the hell YunMi was only to watch Hyerin sift through her black bob in order to make her green highlights shine through from the bottom. “Who is Yun Mi?” asked Junghwa distractedly as she went on to stare in amazement as Hyerin continued to prep herself by reapplying her makeup and straightening out her silver sequined top. Junghwa always found it fascinating as to how Hyerin had the confidence to do anything in public without feeling any unnecessary embarrassment that always seem to plague Junghwa every where she went.

“Oh you know the girl that was nex-,” trailed off Hyerin as she looked around the room to see no sight of the girl she had originally sent in to help her friend out when it came to small talk. However fearing the worst, Hyerin immediately decided to not question as to where the girl might have disappeared and instead focused on what she originally came down the stairs to do. “Ok so you know my friend J-Hope?” questioned Hyerin with an over enthusiastic brightness that Junghwa found to be too blinding on such a boring festive occasion. “Yeah the guy with the red hair that you always hang out with right?” “Yes, well his hair is brown now, you should know, we saw him three days ago. Anyways he and his friends are doing this cool game called spin the bottle upstairs in one of the guys rooms and I want you to come along,” stated Hyerin with a firm nod of her head as if to say there was no other answer but yes and that Junghwa was going to come along either way, whether she liked it or not.

And Junghwa being as perceptive as she was with her friends immediately understood her gesture and only sighed as she got off the couch and asked Hyerin to lead the way. Which Hyerin indeed enthusiastically do as she grabbed onto Junghwa’s small wrists and pulled her along through the crowd of sweaty bodies and headed straight up the winding staircase and down a hall. She immediately came to a stop at a door that looked the same as all the others except for the fact that it held a simple keep out sign hanging on its door knob. Junghwa silently rolled her eyes at the childishness of it all and walked in once Hyerin had told the person on the other side that it was her.

Once they had entered Junghwa immediately took notice of how bare the room was in a way that it reminded her of how a monk would have lived his life if he were to be deep up in the mountains. The walls were stark white with its futon and covers being of the same color. Junghwa also took notice  that rather than being in the center of the room, the futon was pushed up against the wall with no other personal belongings hanging about except for a small picture frame on a cramped table top that was also shoved up against the far corner of the wall at the end of the futon. After that there was nothing else to see except for the small group of people as they sat next to each other in a full circle in the middle of the room.

Once noticing the quietness of the area compared to the ongoing heavy base sound she had spent all night listening to, Junghwa shyly looked around  the group and was surprised to take in some familiar faces she hadn’t seen in a while as well as some never before seen people she knew she was going to be afraid of getting to know. She first took notice of J-Hope who indeed did dye his hair back to his regular brown hair color finally look up from his focused view point of the spinning bottle and rested his eyes upon Hyerin. He slowly smiled a bright smile that seemed to reach up to his ears  as he silently ushered the two of them over to sit next to him.

Hyerin smiled back and immediately hopped over to his side whilst pulling onto Junghwa’s arm and took a seat next to him. Junghwa in return awkwardly looked about and tried her best to squeeze in her rather tall frame into the small space that was left over and gazed upon the rest of the crowd that seemed to stare back at the new on coming guests. There were a lot of faces Junghwa couldn’t exactly pinpoint as to which was familiar and shyly gave each one of them her brightest smile she could manage at the moment. That is until her gaze rested upon the person who sat in the center of the group as she gave Junghwa the same stink eye she had given her earlier.

Junghwa stared back in slight surprise and horror as she noticed the same jet black hair and mean stare of the girl who just moments ago had yelled at her. Except this time her blue jeans were swapped out with a pair of chic black leather pants that made her legs a lot slimmer and look  extraordinarily longer than what Junghwa had recalled seeing her in. Remembering the girl’s earlier threats of future unknown punishments she didn’t want to delve on nor experience, Junghwa immediately lowered her gaze and looked on to the rest of the group until her gaze finally came to rest on the last person who sat on the other side of J-Hope.

He sat with one hand on his knee almost in a bored like fashion as if he couldn’t give a damn as to what was happening in the room. His silver hair was wind swept and parted in an effortless style as if the only movement it ever received were from his own fingers as he swept it  back from his face. Junghwa looked down at his lips as she recalled how in the past they were a bit on the more plump side, always either in a bright sweet smile or in a forever unmoving natural pout that she knew belonged to him even during their high school days. However his jaw line had changed over the years and had lost its chubbiness with time as Junghwa noticed the strength of it as she watched him visibly swallow. Embarrassed as to where her vision was leading her, Junghwa immediately looked up past his big lips, his high cheekbones, his aristocratic nose, and finally rested on the piercing dark gaze of Park Jimin as he stared right back at her.

Ashamed of being caught in the act, Junghwa flushed a bright red blush and immediately lowered her gaze as she watched J-Hope pick up the spinning bottle and stare out at the rest of the group with a bright smile. “Ok! Now that we have the remaining members of the game, should we start?” The group silently nodded in agreement and J-Hope went on as to explaining the rules of the game. Apparently him and Jimin had picked up this game when they had been traveling in the United States over the summer and thought it was fun to play it. He explained how it was both a combination of a truth or dare game and another game called 7 minutes in heaven. When Hyerin had questioned as to what 7 minutes in heaven entailed. J-Hope in return had looked at her with slightly pink ears as he explained that the game required two people chosen by the bottle to be locked up in a dark closet and make out with each other. When met with the shocked stare of both Hyerin and Junghwa he quickly amended that it was only an option to be chosen if the bottle had chosen you in the beginning. However, once you choose the option, your partner in return can deny you and you can be left embarrassed and your partner a chicken or you both stick it out till the end.

Once the explanation had finished Junghwa looked around the room and noticed the outward excitement the boys expressed as they actively leaned forward and checked out all the females in the group. While on the other hand the girls showed a more of a restrained response although they still looked pleased as they subtly fixed their attire and discretely tried to correct their makeup. Junghwa leaned back in slight disgust as she looked on at a mating game she knew she didn’t want to be a part of. This was the reason why romance was dead to the world and love had only become matters of symbolism. Where was the first sweet kiss that was supposed to happen after the first date in front of one’s door steps? What happened to confession letters and sweet words that were first told to the other before anything got physical? Apparently that was long buried and pure ual needs only thrived in the world now.

And Junghwa got the slight hint of it as she watched the girl from before stare at J-Hope’s way with a strange dark look in her eyes as she actively ran her tongue over her glossed lips. Junghwa followed her gaze as to where she could be staring at only to allow her eyes to settle upon the cloudy stare of Jimin’s as he continued to quietly stare at her with a puzzled expression. Junghwa frowned in confusion as to ask him of his reasoning as to why he was still staring, only to have him give her a small smirk and actively turn away from her in order to pay all of his attention on J-Hope. Junghwa’s frown deepened even more out of annoyance and wished that she wouldn’t have to actively interact with him at all today.

“Now before the game officially starts I ask once again is there anyone who wants to chicken out right now because later on in the game there will be no such thing,” J-Hope announced whilst he swung the bottle from one hand to the other until Jimin took it from him out of pure irritation. Junghwa looked up to Hyerin for permission once hearing the announcement of quitting only to have Hyerin look down at her sadly and deny her the ticket to freedom as she held onto her hand instead. “No One? Ok now let the games begin,” chuckled J-Hope as he laughingly added that he always wanted to announce that ever since he watched The Hunger Games.

The first round then started without a hitch as the bottle was spun in the middle of the group of strangers as each one diligently starred in excitement as to see who would be the first one to get caught within its trap. While Junghwa on the other hand couldn't help herself but cover half of her face with her hands as she stared at the greenes of the bottle through her fingers. Thankfully the bottle did not land on her and landed on a guy named  SeJun instead as he proudly chose to do a dare before the question was even asked. He was dared to the soles of his shoes and continue to stay like that throughout the whole game without washing his mouth. He did just that. However hesitantly, and looked a bit downcasted as all the girls sent him wary looks his way and scooted away from him.

And that is how the rounds continued as each person took their turn to spin the bottle and in return asked for horrifying truths or outrageous dares. However, everyone seemed to shy away from the 7 minute in heaven option out of either being a play on innocence from the girls side or a lack of confidence from the guys. Junghwa took this as a positive aspect and squealed in excitement on the inside in hopes that the game would stay  that way and that she would never be called upon to do any of the options. But soon those thoughts were turned sour as the dark haired girl who J-Hope and Hyerin had earlier called YunMi, chose the option of picking seven minutes in heaven. Most of the guys oohed at her in awe while she on the other hand flicked her hair back and tried to directly catch an unexpected glance from an uninterested looking Jimin.

When she failed to do that too, YunMi gave a little huff in annoyance and quickly spun the bottle on the ground with a cat like pose as she reached forward to the center. The bottle continued to spin as all the men watched it in hopes of being chosen as the lucky one who got the chance to be locked up with the y dark haired beauty for seven minutes straight. But when the bottle stopped spinning the only person who was left with the sense of giddiness was SeJun who immediately had leaped up in the air out of excitement only to be brought down from his high once he saw the horrified face of YunMi. “I want a rema-,” called out YunMi in annoyance only to be interrupted by a soft husky voice of Jimin’s as he slowly picked up the bottle and looked at her with mild amusement and continuous boredom. “Well it seems like your partner has been picked. Are you planning to back out of the game now,” asked Jimin with a slight quirk of his eyebrow.

Flustered beyond belief at being called out for possible cowardice from a person like Jimin had YunMi immediately grabbing onto the collars of SeJun and dragging him to a dark closet that J-Hope had pointed out earlier. Minutes later the same closet door burst open and came out a silent red faced SeJun and an infuriated Yunmi as they both mutely sat on the other sides of the circle from each other. No one asked a single question and neither did anyone bother to make any type of noize as they carefully watched YunMi slam the bottle onto the ground and gave it a harsh spin. Junghwa this time observed the bottle with even more dread building up inside her as she hoped against all hopes that this time again she wasn’t chosen by the bottle either. For if she was to be chosen, then it would be up to YunMi to decide on her punishment simply because it was she who spun the bottle before Junghwa and got the right to ask her the questions. And neither was she particularly extatic either to feel the brunt of all the anger that YunMi had probably bottled up since their unfaithful meeting on the couch downstairs. However, today seemed to be her most luckiest  day since this whole ongoing year so far as the bottle gradually passed by her and slowly came to a stop on a person next to J-Hope.

Jimin in return looked at the bottle reservedly and then looked up with silent indifference as he watched YunMi slowly come out of her dazed stupor of surprise and ask him whether he wanted to do truth or dare. “Hmm,” came his casual reply, “it seems that I feel like starting it out easy, so it will be truth for me,” said Jimin as he leaned back on his hands and continued his unwavering gaze ahead. YunMi held his stare and gave him a smile that she knew would get all of the boys on their knees for her as she thought of the question she had been itching to ask him ever since the game had begun. “Well since you chose truth and you can say nothing but the truth, some of us would like to know if you have any girl in mind when it comes to playing the 7 minutes in heaven game?” Many of the boys snickered at Jimin for the daring question while the girls on the other hand anticipatedly leaned forward in order to hear whatever came out of those plump lips of his. “For someone like you, I expected a harder question,” said Jimin with a sigh. “But yes, as a matter a fact I do have only one particular person in mind,” commented Jimin as he gave a casual cursor over the group. Soon after, quiet twitters came over the band of people as each girl whispered to the other in question as to who they thought would be the lucky girl that he wanted to choose. Many girls tried to humbly choose their partner instead and gave them encouragement on their unforeseen future ahead when in reality each wished a downfall on the other and silently pleaded that he wanted her to be the chosen one and be locked up with him.

Junghwa looked on at this silently and then glanced at Jimin as he quietly sat back and watched the rivalry ensue with a smug look on his face. She bristled at the thought of how big his ego probably was now and wanted to smack the smugness right off of his face. But instead she did exactly what she had been doing all day today as she bottled up her  emotions even more and just watched on as Jimin picked up the bottle and gave his wrist a sharp snap as it spun around quickly and uncontrollably until it finally landed right at the foot of a wavy haired girl who had unconsciously leaned back against Hyerin in hopes of not being chosen. Jeonghwa peeked her head from behind Hyerin’s shoulder as she looked down at the green abomination as it’s pointed end stared right back at her in a mocking humor. She silently gasped amongst the quiet hush of the group, as she picked up her head only to catch the dark mischievous gaze of Jimin’s as he stared right back at her and smirked.

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finally Updated! Yaaaay! This story has been something that I have been working on for quite a while now. And let me just say I wasn't very diligent in keeping a set schedule on writing it either. But just know that a lof of it had to do with the fact thaI didn't know where I wanted to end the first chapter. So that had a huge play in the lateness of this story. However because there were already a few subscribers already to this story (I was quite surprised and happy to see that!) that I decided I needed to stop treating my subscribers so badly lol. So I uploaded! And a long chapter at that too! So please do read this and tell me how you like it. I always love to hear back from you all. Also for those of you who love my eclipsed story, I will be uploading a chapter pretty soon so keep your eyes open for that too. (Although I can't make any promises as of right now but just know that I have not dropped the story at all so dont worry!!)