“Yujin, I’m begging you, come with me tomorrow,” Yena asked while being down on her knees, looking up at Yujin who’s been ignoring her for the past hour.

With all the annoyance that’s pent up inside of her, Yujin let out a loud groan. She looked down on Yena’s pleading eyes, “I said no. I don’t want to go to this stupid little party that you want to go to. Besides, I have a lot of work to do.” Yujin said.

“But it’s required to bring a plus-one. Otherwise, I can’t get in.” Yena answered with a whiny tone.

“Then don’t go” Yujin answered back. The younger girl then attempted to look back to her work on the computer monitor in front of her but Yena firmly pulled Yujin’s hand back towards her, refusing to let Yujin’s attention stray away from her after trying to get it for the past hour.

“But Yuri will be performing there and this will be my first time to see her perform live,” Yena started, “Yujin, please help me out. I’ll treat you to lunch for a whole month if you agree, just… please, help me.” Yena tried one last time, giving all of her “cuteness” powers into it, hoping that the younger girl would finally agree on being her plus-one.

Yujin stared at Yena’s face trying to process what the older girl said. Not gonna lie, that lunch offer was so tempting. But Yujin isn’t a social butterfly to start with. She prefers quiet places and alone times. Her social battery runs out fast on a normal day, what more when she attends a party? “Why don’t you go ask Wonyoung instead? That girl’s not busy at all, she does nothing here but check and forward emails.” Yujin said as she and Yena peeped out of Yujin’s cubicle to look at their team’s maknae. And they weren’t wrong, Wonyoung sure does have a lot of free time because if not, she wouldn’t be at her desk just playing some kind of online game.

They went back to their latter positions and shook their heads. How come Wonyoung gets the easier jobs while the two of them almost break their backs every day on doing their assigned individual works. “She can’t. I already asked her the first time you denied me, she said that she has a dentist appointment tomorrow to remove her braces.” Yena said.

With closed eyes and cheek propped up on her right palm, Yujin was rigorously weighing the pros and cons of Yena’s offer. She doesn’t want to go somewhere that’s full of people that she doesn’t even know and try to interact with them, but saving lunch money for a month can be a great little financial help for her, the saved money can add up to her savings so she can buy the new PS5 by next month and buy some new toys for her dog, Azzo. 

The younger girl heaved out a deep sigh before looking at Yena straight in the eye.

“Fine, I’ll go with you,” Yujin started, “If you buy me lunch for two months,” she said, trying to convince the older girl to agree so that she can save more money in less than no time.

Yena’s eyes lit up with excitement and her lips formed a cheeky grin before grabbing Yujin’s hand and began shaking it, “It’s a deal.”

---

The next day, Yujin was furiously tapping her foot and looking at her wristwatch while waiting for Yena. The older girl asked Yujin to wait by the convenience store near the younger girl’s apartment to fetch her before going to the party downtown.

It’s been 18 minutes past the time that the two had agreed on, yet the older girl’s car is still nowhere to be seen. The younger stood under the hot sun just beside the said convenience store, impatiently fanning herself with her right hand.

She’s starting to get dizzy because of the scorching heat so she headed to go inside of the store. She was about to feel the comforting coolness from inside of the mart when she was suddenly bumped by a pink-haired girl running out of the shop.

If Yujin’s hand wasn’t holding the door’s handle, she would’ve been knocked off and lying on the ground by now. She turned around ready to confront the girl, but as Yujin looked behind, she saw the pink-haired girl already riding on a sleek, black motorcycle and in the process of wearing her white helmet. The girl the bike’s engine and zoomed off.

Dazed. Yujin was dazed, with the sweet, vanilla scent of the girl’s perfume still lingering around her, Yujin stood beside the big glass door, frozen. She managed to see a little bit of the girl’s side profile, making Yujin believe that love, well maybe just adoration, at first sight, does exist.

A loud honk brought back Yujin from daydreaming land to Earth. She looked in front and saw Yena’s head peeking out of the window of her yellow Chevrolet Camaro.

“Get in, loser!” Yena shouted, even louder than the sound the car made a while ago, which made all the other people walking in the street look in their direction.

Feeling embarrassed because of the older girl’s antics, Yujin bowed to the people in the street, silently apologizing for the silliness of the other girl. Yujin then jogged quickly to the other side of the car and opened its door swiftly before seating down on the car’s shotgun seat.

After finally taking a seat inside the vehicle, Yujin jokingly glared at Yena, “Stop humiliating me. Gosh, you’re just like your sister, Chaewon. When she was my senior back in high school, it’s not even the first subject yet and I’m already exhausted.”

“Try living with her then. You haven’t even woken up yet and you’re already dead tired.” Yena snorted, joking back before starting the engine of the car and started driving.

“Why were you late anyway?” Yujin asked, eyes on her phone while scrolling through her social media account.

“I had a hard time picking a good outfit,” Yena answered still concentrated on the road ahead of her.

“Trying to impress Yuri so bad, huh?” Yujin said.

“Shut up.” Yena started, “You know what? You should start looking for your special someone too. You told me that the last person you dated was back when you were in junior high school. Man, that’s almost 10 years ago. I brought you as my plus-one today, but maybe you’ll get to find your own plus-one later.” Yena looked at Yujin which was also looking back at her and winked which made the latter frown in disgust.

Yujin looked away from the older girl and leaned her head on the car door’s window before deciding to doze off.

---

After she parked, Yena looked at the younger girl who’s sleeping beside her and saw how her deep dimples are still showing even if she’s not awake. Yena chuckled at the cute action and poked Yujin’s them, trying to wake the latter up – where she succeeded.

Yujin slowly fluttered her eyes open, curiously scanning the surroundings outside of the car. Down a little bit north of their vehicle, she saw a big, white mansion with blinding party lights and loud inaudible music playing. Since they were parked a little far from the venue the two would have to walk down the street to get to the place.

They got off of the car and started walking side by side. Yujin noticed that Yena’s acting a little bit panicky and is trying to fix her clothes every now and then even though she looks good already – but Yujin won’t tell that to Yena. Yujin couldn’t help but laugh at the older girl beside her who’s constantly checking her polo shirt for creases, “Can you chill down a bit? Don’t worry, you look…” Yujin said before eyeing Yena from head to toe making Yena look at her with wide eyes, waiting for her to continue, “Decent enough” Yujin continued before snorting and laughing at Yena making the older girl punch her shoulders lightly as they continue walking towards to where the party’s being held.

As they get nearer and nearer to the white mansion, the music becomes louder and Yujin can already see the ocean of people inside and around the outside of the venue which made her very anxious. She unconsciously tucked her hands inside her pocket and bowed her head, making her silky blue hair cover her face while Yena presented their invitations to the guards by the door of the grand house.

As they entered, Yena tapped Yujin’s shoulder which made the latter look up at her, brushing up the strand of hair on her face to have a clearer view, waiting for Yena to speak up. But the older girl just offered her a cheeky grin which made Yujin tilt her head in confusion, “What?” she asked.

“You’re trying so hard to not gain any attention,” Yena chuckled, “Yet, all eyes are on you.” The older girl continued which made Yujin freeze on her spot. She carefully looked around and alas, a lot of people are looking at her indeed. Some eyed her with awe, some with curiosity - and a pair with familiarity.

She looked back at Yena with almost glossy, pleading eyes, trying to convey a message. The older girl nodded, understanding what she’s trying to say, and tugged her out of the crowded area and towards a calmer part of the venue, where fewer people are hanging out.

Yena’s phone rang and vibrated harshly inside from the inside pocket of her coat her which made the older girl almost jump in surprise. She fished up the device from her pocket and read the caller’s ID before looking back up at Yujin, “Hey, is it okay if I go out for a while? Maybe get yourselves some drink down at the bar first?” Yena said while pointing to the mini-bar in one of the corners of the hall.

Yujin looked at the small bar designed with neon and fairly lights, which to be honest, doesn’t match and doesn’t really look that good. But the good part of it? It has no people who are drinking at the moment, which means Yujin can have a peaceful time away from people. So Yujin looked back at Yena and nodded in agreement. Yena tiptoed and patted Yujin’s head, “I’ll be fast. If someone bothers you, call me asap, okay?”

“Yeah yeah” Yujin answered before playfully rolling her eyes, “Go. Yuri’s probably waiting for you” the younger girl gave the other girl a playful grin which made Yena’s face turn to a shade of red. Yujin gently pushed Yena away and gave her a thumbs up trying to reassure the older girl that she will be fine with being alone for some time. Yena sighed then answered back by forming an ‘okay’ sign with her hand before walking out of the big hall to move to the other one.

---

Yujin walked towards the minibar and sat down on one of the three stools provided by the counter. She was approached by the sole bartender and handed her a mini menu card, “You’re my first customer for the night, Miss,” The bartender started as he went back on arranging the various liquor displayed on the shelf on the side of the mini-bar, “So I’ll give whatever the drink you order to you for free.” He said as he looked back at Yujin and gave her a small smile before turning back to the shelf in front of him.

Yujin wasn’t dumb. When she and Yena entered the hall a while ago, she saw two women leaving the mini-bar. And even though Yujin doesn’t want to think about it, she knows that she’s gorgeous. So she knew that the bartender was just probably trying to smooth talk to hit on her. But who was she to decline an offer about free drinks? That was probably one of the perks of her beautiful face that she was kinda thankful for.

She coughed trying to grab the bartender’s attention, “Just one blue iced tea, please.” Yujin said as soon as the bartender turned to face her. The bartender nodded and went on to make the drink.

While Yujin was waiting for her drink to be prepared, she got her phone out from her coat’s pocket and started scrolling through her feed once again to kill some time. The bartender gave her a drink and Yujin thanked him before bringing back her attention to her phone. When the bartender already went back to the back part of the mini-bar, Yujin used this opportunity to check her drink. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. After confirming that the drink was safe, she took a sip out from it and went back to scrolling through her phone while waiting for Yena to come back.

Her legs started to feel numb because of sitting for a long amount of time, so she grabbed her drink and stood up, planning to walk a bit around the hall.

As she turned her body around, she felt something hard collide with her which made her be taken aback. And as if everything went by in a flash in front of her eyes, Yujin suddenly saw a woman sitting down on the floor with a white dress which is now drenched in blue liquid.

Then the realization hit her.

With wide eyes, she looked at the glass in her hand, which is now empty, and back to the girl who’s down on the floor. She quickly placed the glass back on the minibar’s counter and crouched down to help the other girl.

The other girl didn’t move even an inch and stayed on the floor with her hair covering her face