Jihyun hesitated in attending Jongdae's birthday mainly because she's not a party type of girl. But she realized once she says no again this time, she’d get roasted by Sehun and Jongin and they’d probably unfriend her.

Jihyun walked inside Kim’s residence, immediately feeling nauseous from the smell of cigarette smoke. Thankfully, the music wasn't as loud as she expected it to be. She saw Jongdae sitting at the makeshift bar. She then slowly approached him, hesitating because he was busy talking to someone but he saw her first, gesturing her to come near him.

“Happy birthday! Here's your gift,” Jihyun greeted as she handed him a paper bag, inside was a pair of cute socks. Jongin had told them Jongdae had been collecting cute socks lately.

“You didn't have to but thank you for this,” Jongdae said, engulfing Jihyun in a hug.

“Anything for my favorite Kim.” Jihyun grinned.

“I know I can trust you, Jihyun.” Jongdae laughed then continued speaking, “Jongin, Sehun and Seulgi are there.” He pointed at a group of people near the pool, a long rectangular table and monobloc chairs were there. “Some of my friends are there too. Get wasted tonight, Jihyun. You don’t have work tomorrow.” Jongdae grinned. 

“Let’s see...” Jihyun faked a smile, excusing herself and walking to where her uni best friends were.

The chair beside Jongin was empty so she sat there, attacking him with a side hug. Surprised by the sudden action, Jongin tilted his head, speaking when he finally saw who it was, “Who are you?”

Sehun also looked at the mini commotion and said, “Why are you here?”

Jihyun stood up, placing a hand on her chest, feigning that she was hurt. She walked towards Seulgi, sat beside her and side hugged her, exclaiming, “Babe!”

“Hi, babe.” The girls greeted each other, kissing each other on the cheeks. Sehun then playfully pulled Seulgi away from Jihyun.

“I hate you guys. Why aren’t you welcoming me?” Jihyun pouted.

“We don't even know you,” Jongin said coldly.

“Jongin,” Seulgi warned.

The boys, Sehun and Jongin, have done nothing but complain on their group chat about Jihyun not going out with them anymore, it was either she's having overtime at the office or she's out of town or out of the country due to her work. Seulgi had been defending Jihyun from the two whiny boys.

“How are you?” Seulgi asked.

“Tired and currently contemplating on quitting my job.”

“Nam Jihyun quitting her job? In one sentence?” Sehun scoffed.

“Oh Sehun.” Seulgi saying Sehun’s complete name shut him up. “Don't mind them, babe. They're just being whiny because they miss you,” Seulgi continued, side-eyeing Sehun and Jongin.

“I know. And I miss you all too. Do you want me to send you a 3-page essay about how sorry I am for not having time for you guys? Or should I just kneel in front of you now and say sorry until you forgive me?”

“We're not mad at you,” Jongin said, approaching Jihyun and sitting beside her. Instantly, she linked her arm with his, leaning her head on his shoulder. She missed being thi intimate with her guy best friend. “We're just sad because you don't hang out with us as much as before you got promoted on your job. You're working too much, and too much of something is bad, Jihyun. Last I heard from your bestfriend, you almost got hospitalized because your migraine got bad.”

“Wait... you’re texting my bestfriend?” Jihyun lifted her head, seeing Jongin pout. Although, she already knew about the two texting each other, she wanted confirmation from Jongin and ask for his side of the story.

“Yes,” he replied curtly, shrugging his shoulders.
 
“And?” She looked at expectantly, her eyes full of mirth.

“Nothing. I just asked her if we could be friends.”

“And you’re okay with being friends with her? Jongin, you can do better than that!” Jihyun grinned, teasing Jongin. 

“Why are we talking about me? Let’s talk about you, Miss Workaholic.”

Jihyun rolled her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, okay? I promise, I’ll be hanging out with you as much as I can. Just make sure it would be in the evening on weekends.”

“You better keep that promise, Miss Workaholic,” Sehun said, making Jihyun scowl at the new nickname given to her, it used to be Miss Disloyal. “Jongin, we better get to work now.” 

“What work?” Jihyun asked, brows furrowed.

“I promised Jongin I’d help him find a girl tonight.”

Jihyun shook his head, frowning when Jongin stood up. “What about Soojung, Jongin?”

“What about her?”

“Sort everything out with her before you go around flirt with other girls.”

“There's nothing to sort out, Jihyun. We’re just friends.” Jihyun huffed in frustration. She wanted to intervene but she also wanted Jongin to realize things himself.

Their slightly heated argument ended. They turned to look at Sehun giving a peck on Seulgi's lips saying, “I'll be back, baby.”

Jihyun scrunched her nose in disgust, still not used to the couple getting lovey-dovey in public. Sehun didn't miss the way Jihyun reacted so he roasted her again, “Maybe if you weren’t so busy with work, then you would've found a man now.”

“I don’t need a man, Sehun.”

“That’s not what you said to Seulgi.”

Jihyun looked at Seulgi who was smiling at her apologetically. “Sorry, babe. You know I tell him everything, right?”

Right. So Sehun already knows how ually frustrated I am. Great.

After the boys had left, Seulgi reached for the liquor on the table, pouring it on a glass, handing it to Jihyun. She drank it swiftly, realizing it had been a while since she last drank hard liquor, it was an