Despite the fact that Haneul was a million dollar prestigious school, Soojung didn't appreciate the fact that they didn't have the decency to separate girls from boys. She appreciated it even less that they had virtually no air conditioning system anywhere but the headmaster's office (and she could still remember that glorious cold breeze that brushed across her face when the old geezer opened the door and shoved a contract in her hands). You can afford the gold arches at the entrance halls but can't ensure your students don't suffocate to death in the middle of the night, Soojung huffed an angered sigh as she turned her pillow to the (somewhat) cool side for the thirteenth time that night, and it still didn't stop her neck from getting all clammy. She hated when her hair got wet, not just because it was gross but because it meant she was obligated to wash it in the morning, which wasn't good for colour-treated hair.

Jongin, on the other hand, having lived in the school for quite a while, had a miniature fan perched up on his nightstand, blowing away at his face. Soojung's envy grew the more she lay there listening to the sound of his fan humming away in the room nextdoor. She wondered if she could make away with his fan if she could be quiet enough to snatch it while he was sleeping. After hours of tossing and turning, she knew there was no way she would make it out of bed the next morning. In a state of desperation, she quietly pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the other room where she could see that the door was just slightly open. Her eyes turned to Jongin, who had turned over in his bed facing away from the fan, before slowly pushing the door back, cursing under her breath when it made a high squeek, but Jongin didn't seem to notice.

It was when she reached the outlet to pull out the fan that Jongin turned back around, still asleep. “Jesus Christ,” she muttered, her heart racing. When she pulled the plug out, it was as if she had also pulled the plug on Jongin's sleeping mode because his eyes shot open so fast she swore she had only seen it in horror movies. 

“What the are you doing?”

And just like that, she grabbed the fan into her arms and made a dash for her room. She could hear the sound of a pissed off Jongin wriggling out of bed (and stumbling over on the floor in his half-asleep state whilst growling a string of curses at her) but by the time he reached her room, she had already closed and locked the door. “You snooze, you lose.”

The last thing she could hear from him before he grumpily returned to his room was an exasperated “ you.”

The next morning wasn't fun for either of them - Soojung having lost about four hours of sleep from the humidity and Jongin having chosen to stay awake all night after Soojung had stolen his fan. The morning after found Soojung waiting (and yelling) outside the bathroom door because Jongin was taking forever, and in actuality, Jongin was sitting on the toilet waiting for just the right amount of time to ensure that he made it to school on time but she would not. He wasn't one to seek revenge but given his dislike for this one, it was worth it. In the end, his plan worked out and Soojung was singled out the moment she arrived twenty minutes late for History, but given that it was still the first week, Mr. Hwa let her off easy. 

“Such a ,” Soojung moaned in her sleep during last period. 

“Maybe you should try getting along with him better.” And there Jinri was off again, with her maybes and her what ifs that she knew would never seep through Soojung's skull but still attempts in hopes that one day it will.

“Maybe you should have signed my dormmate agreement.”

“Soojung, you're only making life hard for yourself.”

“No, I'm trying to make it easy. You're making it hard.”

“Soojung.”

“Jinri.”

Jinri pressed her fingers to her forehead, silently praying for Soojung to finally realize that she's the cause of the majority of her problems. The bell rang soon after and Jinri watched as Soojung tiredly dragged herself out of her seat with a half-smile on her face because she was looking forward to the longest nap of her life when she got back to her dorm. “Soojung, wait,” Jinri called out before Soojung turned to leave, “are you coming to commencement night?” 

Soojung shot Jinri a look that she recognized as her the is that? face (the same one she made when Joonmyun came home one day with a croquembouche for their aunt's wedding). Jinri handed her a flyer with a picture of the school's rainbow bird symbol and a flashy title that said Commencement Night: Form Bonds That Will Last Forever. “It's on Saturday, all the freshman, new students and some seniors will be there. It's like a formal getting-to-know everybody dance.”

“You want me to spend my Saturday at some crappy dance?”

Jinri frowned, the kind of frown that Soojung knew was soon followed by a pout, and not just any pout - Jinri's pout, the one that got Soojung to say yes to letting her cut her hair (which, as expected, ended up being a complete disaster that made 2009 the year Soojung refuses to acknowledge ever happened). “Pleeeease,” Jinri pouted, “I literally don't know anyone there but Chanyeol. I need a right-hand woman.”

“Alright, alright,” Soojung murmured, at this point just wanting to get back to her dorm to pass out on her bed.

She tried not to smile as she heard Jinri squealing when she walked out of the classroom.

“That makeup isn't gonna make you look any better,” Baekhyun glared at his dormmate from the couch as she applied foundation, glaring back at him for a second before returning to the mirror.

“You're lucky I didn't press any charges against you,” she replied.

And Baekhyun was lucky that Chanyeol was able to convince her (once she had regained consciousness) not to press any charges or report him to the headmaster. 

“I'm really sorry about my friend, he's just a little out of control at times. He's really sorry about what happened and he swears on his life,” Chanyeol looked over at Baekhyun, “it'll never happen again.”

She had an ice pack held firmly against the swelling area on her head and a cup of herbal tea (that Chanyeol had said was great for headaches when in fact it was an ordinary cup of herbal tea but he had hoped the placebo would kick in). The apologetic smile on Chanyeol's face came through to her before his formal apology had, and she half-reluctantly accepted it.

“What's your name again?”

“Park Sunyoung.”

“My name's Park Chanyeol. It's nice to meet you. I saw your audition the other day, your voice was fantastic!”

“Really? I didn't think it was that big of a deal.”

“No, really. It was incredible. It was like, like...” Chanyeol looked up, “like watching a human transform into a werewolf in the moonlight.”

Sunyoung sat with slightly agape, unsure whether or not to feel complimented at Chanyeol's unusual comment. “Thank you...?”

“Well, I have to get going now. My dormmate still has a lot to unpack. I'll see you around, Luna.”

She smiled a little at the nickname - Luna.

Baekhyun didn't understand what it was about Chanyeol that made people like him so much. Aside from his smile that everyone thought was just oh so cute, he wasn't as talented as Baekhyun or as good looking. Then again, Baekhyun could never really see the appeal of anyone. What irritated him most was that Sunyoung hadn't stopped smiling since the encounter with his giant childhood friend and it was starting to creep him the out. 

Before he could make a remark about how she obviously had a crush on Chanyeol but no chance on Earth with him, she snapped her lipstick closed and made her way to the door. “I'm willing to put this all behind us. I don't think you are but I don't really care,” she tossed her hair back, and with that, left the dorm.

She was walking slower than usual, partly because she was insanely tired (because her body was not built to survive on four hours of sleep) and partly because of her ongoing mental rant about why combining academics and idol training was a stupid idea. Vocal training started tomorrow and with her luck, she'll probably end up sounding like a donkey.

“Are you coming to commencement?”

Soojung jolted upwards when the voice caught her by surprise. In her drowsy state, she didn't have the energy to turn around and smack Baekhyun (again) over the head so she proceeded to walk faster in a futile attempt to lose him. As expected, he increased his pace to match hers, smiling at her when she briefly looked to her left to meet his annoying grinny face. 

“Come on, Soojung,” he pouted, and Soojung inwardly cringed because his was like a pathetic version of Jinri's. “I know we didn't get off to a good start but I want to be friends. And I never want to be friends with anyone.”

“Then don't start now.”

Baekhyun grinned - it was time to pull out the big guns. He reached into his front pocket, pulling out a wad of familiar yellow papers that caught Soojung's eye almost immediately. “That's too bad,” Baekhyun shrugged, “because I only take my friends out for ramyun.”

Soojung tried not to stare at the coupons he was waving around in his hands but they were, without a doubt, coupons to her favourite ramyun place in the world. Paldo Namja. She closed her eyes, refusing to allow herself to be bribed like a cheap stripper. Cheap stripper? She needed some sleep. But the closer he got to her, the more she could almost sense the coupons swerving around between his fingertips. She hadn't eaten since she had last slept and right about now she was in the mood for a steaming bowl of noodles with vegetables and cheese and boiled eggs and—

“Hello, friend!” she forced an overjoyed smile on her face and took Baekhyun into a friendlier-than-she'd-like embrace.

“There it is!” Baekhyun beamed expectantly.

Soojung knew she would regret this later but now was not later and later would be when she had scarfed down so much ramyun it would knock her out cold.

At the Ramyun shop, Baekhyun watched her as she slurped down her (third) bowl of ramyun that he had gladly paid for since she was his new friend and all. He eventually became aware of the fact that he hadn't stopped grinning the entire time and came to the conclusion that he had probably picked it up from Chanyeol. He hadn't said a word since they arrived there other than “what will it be?” referring to the menu, then having the head chef turn to him and tell him that that was his job. On a brighter note, Soojung looked a lot less grumpy than she had initially been when he bumped into her on her way to her dorm.

He attempted to break the ice, asking her what her favourite genre of music was only to have her turn to him with cheeks stuffed with ramyun (he found that adorable) and mutter what he assumed was punk. He wasn't a huge fan of punk but he did own a few copies of Nirvana. They were punk, right? He shrugged, close enough. “So, how was school?” He almost punched himself in the face for sounding like her dad.

“,” she replied after slurping down the last bit of soup in her bowl, “I hate this place so much.” She momentarily looked over at the chef who looked a tad bit offended before correcting, “not you, my school. Your place is the best,” she gave a genuine smile and wink, earning one in return.

“Then why did you audition?”

She had joined because Suzy and Jinri had, and if she hadn't, she would have been stuck by herself at their old school since she wasn't exactly the social butterfly that everyone else was. But there was no way she'd tell this weirdo that, and so she didn't, and Baekhyun didn't bother to further question her about it because as hard as it was to believe, he had a thing for respecting boundaries. 

Perhaps it was because Jinri was feeling a bit homesick that she decided to call her brother the moment she got out of class, but the moment he picked up the phone, she didn't have much to say other than she missed him. Somewhere between them talking about her job as a café maid and her academic work, she brought up her excitement for commencement night because Jinri had never attended a dance before (mostly because Joonmyun wouldn't allow her), and Joonmyun's excited reaction was unexpected. 

“But don't get drunk or anything,” Joonmyun warned over the phone.

“It's still an educational envrionment, I don't think they'd have alcohol in the first place.”

Jinri heard Joonmyun laugh a little before replying, “well, I trust that you'll be able to handle yourself,” a response that she swore would never have come from him when she left. 

“I thought you said I couldn't handle myself.”

“I know, but I thought it over. And I remembered watching you grow up and I realized that you were a lot more mature than I thought. I guess I was just in denial about that for a while because you're my little sister.”

She couldn't help but grin at the sound of her brother being as lame but sweet as always. He was pretty much the only family she had left, and leaving him gave her a sort of guilt that she never thought she'd feel (after all, Soojung had spent years blabbering on about the freedoms of living the life of a lone wolf). She almost thought he had it together before she heard the sound of muffled sobs from the other line. “Joonmyun? Are you... are you crying?”

“No,” he tried to say with a neutral voice but the tremble in his tone made Jinri shrivel with guilt. “I have to go now. Have fun at the dance, don't wear anythin too flashy and don't touch boys,” he said all in one breath before hanging up. Jinri could already imagine what came next, but decided to let it go and call him on Sunday when she knew he wasn't busy.

On her way to the library, Jinri stopped abruptly upon hearing the sound of what she thought was whispering that stopped within a few seconds of her noticing. She shook her head, am I hearing things? She decided to ignore it because her first History test of the semester had just been assigned and with the upcoming dance, getting started on studying now would be a good call. The library was a lot less quiet than libraries normally were - back at her old school, the librarian would have snapped at anyone who went an octave higher than she allowed. But seeing as it was a huge library that you could cram hundreds of students in at once, she assumed getting everyone to quiet down would be impossible. She made a quick mental note not to ever try to study in the library before pacing towards the shelves to find Mr. Hwa's recommended book.

“Are you sure he's even in here?”

“I swear to God I saw him run inside here. No doubt about it.”

She blinked, kicking her feet in the direction the whispers were coming from. It wasn't her imagination after all. When she turned back around, she could see two girls crouching in her aisle. The first thing she noticed was that neither were wearing the Haneul black uniforms, and the second was that both were holding tape recorders and clutching their cellphones so tightly that her inner technology-loving self wanted to speak up and tell them that Apple products are not only costly but fragile (which was why she was the proud owner of a sturdy plastic Android phone). But Jinri didn't have time to waste on playing detective and interrogating these two girls who were obviously not students, and so she proceeded to walk swiftly behind them to go check out her book.

At the checkout counter, she was pleased to find that it was a self checkout like in those public libraries. No more lineups for the librarian, she thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a fallen book on the other side of the counter that someone probably wanted to put in the dropoff slot but either missed or didn't bother to go the extra way to bend over. She walked over to the other side, seeing as there were no rules saying she couldn't, and kneeled down to pick it up, but what she didn't expect was the sudden feeling of someone else's hand around her wrist, pulling her back down as she tried to get up.

She would have screamed at the top of her lungs (like Joonmyun had told her countless times to do if she was in danger) if a hand hadn't covered and craned her head to face the attacker. Her frantic breathing slowed down when her eyes met a pair of gentle brown ones followed by a soft apology. 

“Very sorry about that,” the golden-headed boy apologized again, peering up over the counter once and then sliding back down to her level, “you saw them, right?”

She knew he was referring to her encounter with the two strange girls between the bookshelves earlier and gave a small nod. “So it was you.”

He nodded, huffing a tired sigh. “It's great having fans but sometimes it just gets out of hand. I found one in the locker room today after P.E and she stole my used towel before running out. It was freaking creepy.”

“Ah,” she smiled knowingly, “I remember now. You're one of the famous three.”

His face flushed a bit at her choice of title for them. “Unfortunately,” he laughed, “I don't remember when exactly we became famous but it sure got dull real quick. I really miss the days when I could just walk down the hallways casually with my two best friends without having a sea of screaming girls engulf us. Back in the day I was just Taemin, or better known as 'that geek that spends all his time in the library that clearly has no shot at fame.'” He paused for a second then turned to Jinri with his hand out, “my name is Taemin by the way. Welcome to Haneul.”

She took his hand, noting the fact that they were softer than any hand she has ever touched in her life. “Thanks, I'm Jinri. I just came here to get a book for History.”

“Ah, I hated that class,” he chuckled, thinking back to the days he used to get scolded by Mr. Hwa for turning in clearly last minute bullted essays and how he always had his nose buried in a book but could never ace a History test. His grin grew wider when he saw Jinri's mouth widen, clearly offended.

“History is the BEST class.”

“Most boring class in my opinion,” he shrugged, teasingly raising both his hands when Jinri shoots him another you did not just go there look and before she could rebuke him with a long rant about how History is the most relevant subject, he changed the topic. “So what area are you best at?”

“Well, as you can see, I'm a student of history—”

“No, no,” he interrupted, “talent-wise. Are you a singer? A dancer?”

“I'm a choir singer.” She crinkled her nose a bit when Taemin gave a little laugh at her response.

“Choir singer,” he repeated, “never heard of a choir singer that tried to become a Korean popstar.”

“Well what about you? What do you do?”

“I'm mostly a dancer. I sing too but I'm realy nothing compared to my band.”

Her eyes widened, “you've debuted?”

He shook his head, pulling up a photo on his phone. “We're only a trainee group. We do gigs here and there, hence why we have a fanbase that stalks us everywhere. We haven't found a record label to sign us yet. This here is me,” he pointed to himself in the photo, and Jinri smiled at the very dorky pose he had made, “and the rest of them are irrelevant compared to me but their names are Myungsoo, Sehun and Luhan. Sehun is the youngest, Luhan already graduated and Myungsoo is about the same age as I am.”

Jinri recognized all but Luhan from the café. She noticed one more member in the photo that Taemin had not pointed out - the boy with his black hair slicked back. He looked sort of enigmatic, full of charisma. “And who's this?”

“Jongin. He was part of our band but he quit for some reason. He wouldn't tell me why,” Taemin bit his lip, “and that's strange because Jongin tells me everything.” 

Saturday.

As expected, Jinri showed up exactly two hours earlier than she said she would because excitement always got the best of her but Soojung let her in anyway because she couldn't stand being alone with her dormmate. Soojung cringed when she got a look at the dress Jinri had gotten her. It was black like she wanted but it had a lacey back that Jinri thought would look adorable on her but Soojung immediately rejected the idea of having her back exposed to the draft of the ballroom. “Nope.”

“But Soojungie,” Jinri whined, “do you know how expensive this was? And how much thought I put into buying it? Come on, at least try it.”

Soojung groaned, flopping over on the couch that smelled of the doritos Jongin had been snacking on the night she woke him up. After heaving a sigh of defeat, she lifted up an arm and heard Jinri give another squeak of excitement before tossing the dress into her hand. “But know that I'll be spending the entire  night pressed against the wall.” She shot Jinri a look that she had learned to ignore before stripping off her clothes to try on the dress. She and Jinri had seen each other a countless number of times - living together made that inevitable and they both got used to it. 

Having forgotten that Jongin was also in the dorm, her face flushed when he walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle, not bothering to look in her direction. She dropped to the ground, chest pressed against the floor. Jinri sat still in her seat, eyes darting towards Jongin who didn't seem to notice she was there until he turned from the fridge, momentarily making eye contact with her before noticing Soojung on the ground with her face buried into the carpet.

On the floor, she half-expected him to chuckle and make some rude comment, but instead, he headed right back to his room with a cold water bottle in hand. “So that's the famous Kim Jongin,” said Jinri with a fascinated smirk, “is it true what they say about him?”

“What?” Soojung got up from the floor, pulling her dress down, “that he's an absolute douchebag? Yes.”

“That he never smiles.”

And come to think of it, Soojung couldn't remember the last time she's seen his lips curl upwards. Granted, she's only lived with him for a week now and she doesn't like looking at his face so maybe a smile has slipped past her here and there. Either way, she didn't really care whether or not the son of a was capable of feeling happiness because he was a that she didn't want to concern herself with. She stood up, dusting off the dress and turning to show Jinri who loved it just a little too much.

“Do you have a date?” Jinri looked up at her as she tied the bow at the back.

“Yeah. His name is Wall and I'll be up against him all night with my righthand man, iPhone.”

The ballroom was full of confused freshmen, transfer students that had already formed their own cliques within the first week and seniors who were there to serve as experienced guides to both. They were fortunate enough to have hired security guards to stand outside the only entrance to the ballroom to ensure that all guests were in fact students and not obsessed fans trying to sneak photos of the senior students.

Chanyeol could already spot Baekhyun standing in a corner with his handheld mirror out, checking his eyeliner again. He wanted to make sure that he stood out even though Baekhyun already assured him that he would with his noticeable white suit compared to every other guy's black suits and his very strong smelling cologne that was far closer to a perfume-scent. “Trying to look nice for Soojung, eh?” he teased. Baekhyun ignored him and continued to tease his hair up with his fingers. “Do you even know if she's coming?”

“She is,” he replied whilst flipping his mirror closed and shoving it into his pocket, “I saw that Jinri girl walking into her dorm holding a black dress.”

“So? How do you know it wasn't Jinri's?”

“Chanyeol, please,” Baekhyun scoffed, “you and I both know that black is not that girl's colour.”

Moments later, Jinri and Soojung arrive. Jinri frowned when Soojung pulled out her phone (kept discreetly in her bra because for 's sake why don't dresses have pockets?) but there was really nothing she could do about it. Soojung didn't want to come in the first place, but Jinri couldn't help but want her best friend to have a good time. She could already see Chanyeol and Baekhyun on the other side of the ballroom, seemingly arguing over something again (last time it was over which Avenger likely nailed Black Widow, a conversation that Jinri gladly took no part in). 

She started to wonder about two things. One being why she dragged Soojung along when with or without her, it wouldn't really make a different. And the other being, where the heck was Suzy? Suzy guaranteed she would be present at the dance but as of the current time being, she was nowhere to be seen. Jinri sighed, “should I get us some fruit punch?”

Soojung gave her an offhanded sure, not bothering to look up from her phone. As Jinri walked off, the sound of Soojung's game of Angry Birds soon got drowned out by the sound of gossip and laughing - more people were starting to show up and somehow it felt exciting even though Jinri literally knew none of them. She caught sight of a very familiar pair of eyes and a memorable smile from the other day at the food table. 

“Floral, nice,” was the first thing he said with a gentle smile. 

“I don't know, I'm starting to think it's a bit too childish,” Jinri replied.

Taemin shook his head in disagreement, “I think it looks really nice. It definitely looks better than all the tight red dresses I've seen so far.”

“Thanks.”

He noted the way she looked a little down as she reached for the fruit punch bowl and scooped the drink into two cups for her and Soojung. “Something got you down, there?” he tried to ask with a smile but his expression came out as more concerned than anything due to the fact that he was overly sympathetic.

“I don't know,” she sighed, “I know it sounds really lame and typical but I just thought tonight would be more exciting. I'm just really crap at making friends.”

“Says the girl to the friend she made just a few days ago,” Taemin retorted.

Jinri smiled and shot back, “I don't recall befriending you.”

Taemin jokingly hissed, “ouch.”

Jinri laughed, and Taemin moved closer to her with a drink in hand. “Do you think I can earn your friendship by making this the best night of your life?”

“You can try.”

“I don't try, I do,” he said confidently, gulping down the last drop of his punch before grabbing her hand and leading her to the dancefloor.

Soojung grew suspicious when Jinri didn't return with their drinks. After several failed rounds of Angry Birds, she stuffed the phone back into her bra and looked around for the food table that was a lot further than she remembered. She used her arms to squish through the sea of people crowding the way, a few cursing at her but it wasn't like she cared. It was when she finally reached the end of the crowd that one decided to trip her, and her face would have come in contact with the floor if a pair of arms hadn't swooped down underneath her to lift her back up.

Soojung wasn't one to openly express her gratitude for anyone, and before she could give some half-assed thanks to the person who saved her from breaking her face, she made eye contact with the oh so familiar face that made her freeze in her tracks. The person smiled at her, his face so smooth looking that Soojung wanted to bury herself under a rock. “You alright?” 

She knew that the moment she opened she would spit out some incomprehensible sentence that she would regret for the rest of her life, so she nodded, and from the twinkle in his eyes, she could tell that he definitely remembered her. “I didn't know you attended this school,” he said, “didn't expect to see napkin girl at Haneul.”

Napkin girl. Soojung's face flushed. Normally, she would make some clever remark or comeback, but for some reason just the mere presence of this guy was enough to make swell up and her knees weak. Jung Soojung, weak at the sight of angel-faced boys. 

“What's your name again?”

Soojung took a breath, “J-Jung Soojung.” She squeezed her eyes closed. You stuttered, why the did you stutter? Stuttering is lame! 

“Ah,” he nodded. Soojung didn't like the way the smirk that was dancing on his face was so clearly mocking her. She couldn't insult him if she wanted to - he was physically flawless. “I'm Kim Myungsoo. Senior. I'll see you around J-Jung Soojung,” he smiled, and walked away, leaving Soojung both angry and confused and not sure which feeling she hated more.

Her brief encounter with the arrogant pretty-faced senior almost made the sight of Baekhyun coming her way with an almost unnoticeable bruise on his face seem relieving. She didn't bother question where the bruise came from because knowing him, he probably got one everyday for saying something stupid. He waved at her the entire way and frowned when she didn't wave back.

Taemin tapped the microphone twice, murmuring something along the lines of check one, check two, check—alright it works then turning to wink at Jinri at the bottom of the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen of Haneul, I'd like to welcome all to the seventy-eighth annual commencement night where seniors can spend their last year at Haneul getting to know and help out the future generations of students and guide them to success.” He held up his plastic red cup and the other students followed suit, some whispering about how damn this school is older than my parents. Taemin took a breath before continuing, “my name is Lee Taemin and you all probably know me now that fame has completely prevented me from maintaining a private life,” he tried to say in nonchalantly but sounded a little more irritated than he intended, but nonetheless sparked laughter from the audience. “I hope that one day, as cheesy and overly used as it sounds, achieve your dreams. And remember that having an academic career should always come before fame, because you never know where life will take you. Because the world is always changing and people, even more so. Remember this saying: yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift so I hope we all enjoy tonight, and have a wonderful and productive school year. Thank you, and please don't pee in the fruit punch, we don't need another incident.”

“You're late.”

“You sound surprised.”

Sehun chuckled when Myungsoo punched him square in the arm because he knew the guy had probably been standing by all night waiting for him because no matter how many friends he had, Sehun was his primary partner in crime. Myungsoo's scowl didn't last because he could see a rectangular buldge in Sehun's front pocket and whenever he had that, there was no way Myungsoo could hold a grudge against him. Sehun gladly handed over the box of cancer sticks - he never smoked them himself but he was always able to get a great deal on them and it just so happened that his friend was an addict. 

“Not too much though,” Sehun warned, “that stuff still kills you and if you get caught with it, I'm not bailing you out.”

Myungsoo wore a smug expression as he stuffed the box into his blazer pocket because he and Sehun both knew that he would be the first one running at two in the morning if the police called saying he was thrown in jail for some like hiring a e, and as Myungsoo left to light one Sehun's eyes fell upon a certain beauty in a floral dress at the food table. Being late wasn't so bad after all. What was her name again? Jinhee? Sehun decided to approach her anyway.

Sehun was anything but shy, but he was also anything but smooth. He decided hey princess wasn't appropriate if he was going to make a good first impression so he started with “how are you liking commencement?”

“A lot of fun,” she replied with a hint of exhaustion since she had been dancing all night, “what about you?”

In truth, he had just arrived but for the sake of holding a conversation, he went on about how insane the night had been and how he got hit on by at least ten of the freshmen and how his friends purposely snuck in some alcohol but being the clean guy he was, he refused. He smiled when she laughed at that, unsure of whether it was because he was funny or sounded completely out of his mind but he didn't really care because her smile was contagious and he liked that. 

“You're Oh Sehun, right? I've heard a lot about you.”

“From who?” Sehun knew it was either Taemin or Myungsoo but seeing as Myungsoo usually ended up dating the girls he chose to talk to, it was probably Taemin.

“Taemin.” Right on the money.

“Yeah, well Taemin usually lies about us to make him sound cool.”

“That's funny,” she laughed, “because that's exactly what he said about you.”

“I need to pee,” Baekhyun announced eight drinks later, and Soojung's grimace almost made him pee himself laughing. The realization that the closest bathroom was two flights of stairs down made Baekhyun realize why there had been so many 'incidents' in the past. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Soojung furrowed her brows in disgust, “go pee by yourself.”

“No,” Baekhyun chortled, stuffing his hand into his front pocket and pulling out a red cigarette match that made Soojung's eyes squint with suspicion, “I mean get out of here.” 

“I don't smoke if that's what you're implying.”

Baekhyun shook his head and pointed at the balcony. “Come with me.”

Chanyeol heaved the longest sigh of the night as he watched the people around him, gossiping and dancing and having the greatest time of their lives and wondered why he even came. Baekhyun vanished the moment Soojung came into view and Jinri seemed to be occupied herself so he didn't bother to approach her. He was bored, and a bored Chanyeol always ended up doing stupid things and when that happened there was usually an equally bored Baekhyun by his side, but tonight was not that kind of night. 

He stood in the corner of the ballroom for another good five minutes before making a turn for the door, deciding that maybe prom would be better, but he didn't make it far because a hand suddenly reached out to meet his and he turned to find a smiling girl in a pink dress who seemed to be just as lonely as he was. “Hey,” was all she said, and it was all he could say back. “Do you... want to dance?” she asked.

He couldn't say no, it would be rude, but he also knew that he didn't have much experience with the waltz because that was exactly the kind of song that came on the moment she appeared in front of him. He wondered for a moment if she had been waiting for this song in particular to come on but nonetheless, took her hand and followed her to the dancefloor.

“How's your head?” he finally broke the silence after several minutes of dancing, because he hated awkward silences.

“It's getting better,” she replied, “he's a small guy but he hits pretty hard.”

Chanyeol chuckled with her then responded, “well he was MVP of the baseball team. I'm always cautious when he has a bat in his hands.” His laughing came to a halt when she suddenly rested her head on his chest and held him close. He noted the way she smelled of lavender (like the sheets he helped her clean the blood off of) and tried to keep himself for sniffing her because as Baekhyun had told him many times, that's not normal, Chanyeol. He wasn't sure whether to stand there just swaying back and forth to the beat of the music or embrace her like he felt obligated to. He didn't need to think about it much because after a few seconds of the thought entering his mind, she held him tighter and so his arms naturally did the same. Her embrace also made him wary of the way his bladder was full and that tight pants plus tight arms would not end well. “Sunyoung.”

“Luna.”

“What?”

“I like that name,” she murmured into his chest.

He smiled, “Luna, I think we should—” and before he could make some socially acceptable excuse to separate from her, an absurdly loud alarm went off, causing every student to look around, confused and a bit concerned. It was when the sprinklers came on from the ceiling that everyone began screaming and running towards the emergency exits. Chanyeol broke away from Sunyoung, instinctively grabbing hold of her hand and making a run for the emergency exit.

Before leaving the ballroom, Chanyeol swore that from the corner of his eye, he could see Baekhyun and Soojung highfiving on the balcony.

A/N: Longer update than intended. Hope you liked it. Next chapter may or may not come soon.  Also, happy fourth of July for any Americans reading this!