Sehun's not sure why he's so surprised to see her here. She and Junmyeon are close. It makes sense that he would have invited her. He probably just didn't expect her to celebrate the New Year over here in Seoul instead of back home - be that Ansan or Gimpo or Paju. Surely that's where most of her friends and family are.

But then again, Seulgi has never had much trouble making friends absolutely everywhere she goes. And he's not about to judge her for being here. He could've stayed up north with his parents or taken his cousin Yoona up on the offer of spending New Year's Eve with her and her friends. Instead he's here at Junmyeon’s, rubbing elbows with people he's mostly never met before and staring across the room at where Seulgi and Joohyun are giggling over something on either of their phones.

It's not like Sehun could have forgotten, what with her face being plastered over enough magazine covers and billboards, but she's still just as gorgeous as she's always been. Her hair is shorter, her lipstick more red and the wingtips of her eyeliner almost lethal, but she has the same open laugh, the same genuine joy in her monolid eyes and the same expressive hands. He regrets it sometimes, how they fell apart so quickly and easily, but on the other hand he's learned a lot about the person he wants to be by being and not being with her so he doesn't think he'd actually change anything, even if he could.

Junmyeon pops up next to Joohyun then, wraps an arm around her waist and snuggles close. Seulgi beams at them with the same fondness Sehun’s pretty sure it’s written all over his own face as well. Junmyeon says something to them that has them both laughing and then Seulgi puts her phone back into her clutch purse and shoos them away.

For a moment, with her drink in hand and no one to talk to, she looks isolated, as if a spot light's singling her out and setting her apart from everyone else at the party. Then she looks up and catches Sehun's eye. He startles, feels a bit like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't, but smiles at her, raises his glass, and inclines his head in a salute. She laughs and ducks her head, then looks back up at him, raising an eyebrow. He shrugs.

When she makes her way through the crowd over to him, he straightens up automaticall. They clink and drain their glasses and when he sets his down, he looks down at her high heeled possibly platform-ed ankle booties and grins to himself.

"Something funny?" she asks, her own lips curled in a smile as well. He shrugs again.

"You've changed," he says. She laughs, knows that he means to compliment rather than insult her.

"So have you," she says.

He smiles at her and then offers to get them drinks from the bar. She seems a little surprised that he wants to prolong their encounter but agrees easily. Seulgi accepts her drink and giggles into the back of her hand. A few people are looking at them. Sehun decides to ignore them and turns his attention back to her to clink their glasses together once more. She takes a sip from hers and laughs again as she sets her glass down.

"Well, there go all my chances of a midnight kiss," she says. She's still grinning and a cheeky retort sits on the tip of Sehun's tongue, but he's not sure they're there yet, at that place where they can joke about things like that. Anyway, with the way the light is bouncing off her hair he's a little afraid it'd come out as though he meant it.

"The night's still young," he says instead. It's not so young anymore really, inching close to eleven, but the last hour till midnight still seems to fly past a lot faster than he'd have guessed, the two of them chatting away about anything and everything. Coming here he definitely hadn't planned spending a good chunk of the evening talking to his ex-girlfriend, but he's always enjoyed talking to her. He thinks she's probably only got funnier over the last two years, her tone dryer and bolder and he completely forgets to even check for the time. Going by her startled expression when Joohyun bounds up to her and tells them to join Junmyeon and her outside as it's close to midnight, she hasn't realised how long they had been standing here either.

They smile at each other while Joohyun babbles about fireworks and grabs for Seulgi's hand to drag her outside. Sehun feels a bit weird just following behind them, but not following would definitely be weirder, especially given that Seulgi looks back over her shoulder and smiles at him. Joohyun wraps herself around Junmyeon, cuddling up underneath his arm when they get outside.

"Why is winter so cold," she whines, pushing her hands under Junmyeon’s hoodie and making him jump a bit at the sensation.

"I think that's just how winter works," Seulgi says, shivering a bit herself, courtesy of the side cutouts in her mini dress, wrapping her arms around herself to cover the exposed skin. Sehun's only in a shirt himself and he's not about to take it off. He doesn't think offering to snuggle would be all that appropriate either, but he takes a step closer in a probably futile attempt to share a little body heat. She notices and smiles a little and then the chanting countdown starts up around them, drawing their attention. Sehun joins in, always gets swept up in excitement easily and laughs heartily when Junmyeon and Joohyun wrap them both up in a group hug, shouting in their faces and wishing them a happy new year before pulling back and going for a snog.

He laughs and turns away automatically, meaning to give them privacy and catches Seulgi's eye again. She's grinning but her teeth are chattering and, well. He holds out his arm in an invitation and she steps in, fits herself against his body. The skin on her arms is cold and she laughs a little when he wraps both arms around her and rubs at her arms.

"Sorry about your midnight kiss," he says then, because it's just popped back into his head and his brain-to-mouth filter seems to have ed off. She laughs and shakes her head a little and then- leans in and presses a warm kiss against his cheek and – shivers violently underneath his hands.

"You should really get back inside," he says, instead of commenting on the other thing. She nods and takes a step back, and he automatically takes a step after her, following her without really meaning to.

"I think there's mulled wine on the stove," he says, pulling away from her a little when they get back inside. He's not sure if he's cold from outside or because her kiss has thrown him more than he thought it would, had he thought about it happening at all. There are fewer people inside now, only a few people wrapped up in quiet conversations and the kitchen is completely empty when they step into it. Sehun only knows Seulgi's still here because he can hear her heels clicking on the floor behind him, but he busies himself with turning on the stove and fishing two mugs out of the cabinet, stirring the mulled wine even though there's no reason for it just because he has no idea what else to do.

In all fairness, Seulgi's not striking up a conversation either.

"Thanks," she mumbles, when he hands her a mug ten minutes of agonising silence later. He hasn't even asked her if she wanted any, but she sips at the steaming liquid anyway. He does the same, brings the mug up to his mouth and sips at it carefully, the taste of wine and spices off his lips when he lowers the mug again. Her eyes flit down to his mouth at the movement and then she looks off to the side, flush a little more pronounced in her cheeks. She looks back at him, smiles a bit thinly and he does it again, lets his tongue dart out because surely-?

Her eyes fall down again and this time she's definitely blushing.

He doesn't think about it, just sets his mug down on the counter behind himself and takes the two steps he has to, to hover in front of her, gives her a moment's time to realise what he'll do and then reaches out. Places one hand on the side of her face and one on her waist, tilts his chin up just a bit to kiss her.

It zings down his spine like electricity, blows up in his stomach and bleeds heat out all through his veins, thumping in his heart and flushing his neck with a dizzying strength. Her lips are hot and moving against his, kissing him back. He lets his thumb graze over the skin revealed by the open side of her dress and shivers when he feels her body react to it, the little shudder she gives. He presses closer still, the mug she's still holding a focal point of warmth against his chest and hers as well, probably, but not enough to distract him from the heat revealed by when she opens it to his. He wants to feel her legs wrap around him and taste more of the wine on her. He wants--

He pulls back. They're both breathing heavily and she shakes her head and laughs tonelessly and then presses her forehead to his.

"God, you're so-- I still--" she says and breaks off. He stares down at her red lips, the lipstick smudged around them. She looks debauched and he knows he looks it as well, that the mirror image of that lipstick is all over his own lips.

"Me too," he says. He doesn't know what it is exactly that he wants, just that she's never very far from his mind. They breathe each other in for a bit longer until she presses the mug into his chest harder, pushes him away.

"We should get cleaned up," she says.

"Yeah, alright," he says and grabs his own mug before he follows her out of the kitchen. Without her close he suddenly feels cold.

He's not sure what it is that's still left between them and whether now is the time to find out, but he knows that whatever it is, it's not entirely finished yet.