So sorry for being absent for the past few days! We've been working really hard on this looooong and crazy chapter, so hopefully it makes up for our lack of updates. This chapter is part one of the account of the events of Homecoming Night, and the next one will finish up the night. It will be epic! Thanks for sticking with us this far, and enjoy!

It was the night of Homecoming, and you were nothing but nerves. You didn’t know if you and Jonghyun would be able to pull this off, even with the added help from your friends. Right now, Key was styling Jonghyun’s wig to match your own hair, and you were just trying to keep your mind off of what would happen if you failed somehow.

“Thanks again, Key, for helping us out so much,” you said. Just having him here was calming your nerves a little bit.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” he sighed. “I don’t have anything better to do anyway. It’s not like I have a date,” he muttered.

You looked at him quizzically. “You and Amber aren’t going with each other?”

“Amber?” He gave you a questioning look, which you returned.

“I just assumed that—“

He paused from spraying hairspray on Jonghyun’s hair to laugh at your assumption. “You’re way off the mark with that one, honey.”

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“Let’s just say we’re not compatible,” he answered.

This confused you. They seemed to get along just fine to you. “But you’re friends, and… I just thought—“

“Maybe if I put it this way,” he interrupted. “She’s not my type, and I’m pretty sure I’m not her type either.”

“Oh,” you mumbled, still unclear on the situation, but not wanting to press the matter. “So does Amber have a date then?”

“She does,” Key answered. “Someone from her fourth hour class.” He began applying makeup to your brother’s face, when he paused with an amused glint in his eye. “Actually, you know her date.”

“I do?” you asked.

“Yeah. You run in the same circles,” Key said. “You even eat at the same lunch table.”

You pondered this. “…Minho?”

Key barked a laugh. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to solve the mystery,” he said, and you decided to forget about it.

The dance started at 8pm. Donghae picked up Jonghyun for dinner at 6, and you were momentarily jealous of your brother because Donghae was such a classy date. Himchan wasn’t taking you anywhere before the dance.

Once your brother had left, Key sighed. “No reason for me to stick around,” he muttered. “I’ll be waiting for you at the front doors,” he reminded you. “Just to keep an eye on you and Himchan. Amber and I will make sure you guys don’t accidentally run into the wrong dates or each other or something.” With a small smile in your direction, he left.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. You really hoped nothing would go horribly wrong tonight.

It was 8 when Himchan texted you that he was outside your house. You looked out your window and saw Himchan sitting on his motorcycle in the circular drive. You pouted. Donghae came up to the front door to pick Jonghyun up. Why couldn’t Himchan be the same way?

You texted him back to say you would be right out, and then almost climbed out the window out of habit before realizing that that would be stupid as , and proceeded to exit your house through the front door. Himchan met you with a characteristic smirk.

“You seem nervous,” he said.

You blew air from your cheeks in response. “How long are we going to keep up this charade?” you asked him.

His jaw tightened visibly and he didn’t answer. He just revved up the motorcycle and took off, forcing you to wrap your arms tightly around him so you didn’t fall off.

Key said he would be waiting for you by the front doors when you arrived at the dance. With this in mind, you kept your eyes open for him as you walked through those doors in the entryway. He was easy for you to spot, his multicolored hairstreaks catching your eye, and he nodded in your direction when you made eye contact.

Feeling a bit more secure, you turned to Himchan. “Do you want to get some punch or something?” you asked him. You weren’t quite ready to jump into the fray of the dance floor yet.

Himchan smirked and nodded. “Whatever strikes your fancy,” he replied.

You were halfway there when you heard someone hissing in your ear. “What are you doing?” Key whispered. “Your brother and Donghae are at the refreshments table.”

Oh , you didn’t know that! Key was really on top of things. Good thing you had him around to help you.

“On second thought, let’s dance!” you blurted out, grabbing Himchan by the arm and dragging him sideways onto the dance floor. He let out a small noise of bemusement, but otherwise he didn’t protest.

 “Mary Sue!” Sunny squealed when she saw the two of you. She broke away from Sungmin and grabbed your hands, hopping up and down excitedly. Sungmin and Himchan greeted each other as well. When Sunny had calmed down, she smiled widely at you and said, “I’m so glad you came!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” you asked, trying to keep your energy up so you didn’t seem so nervous.

“Well, I was afraid you might not want to go,” she explained. “Because of the rumors.” You looked down anxiously at the mention of this, but Sunny’s smile was bright and couldn’t be erased. “What was I thinking?” she said cheerily. “No silly rumors would keep the great and awesome Mary Sue from enjoying her Homecoming! Besides,” she mused, “everyone can see that you’re here with Himchan. Coming here with him proves that you’re not cheating on him!” She giggled happily and you smiled and let out a nervous chuckle.

“Yeah,” you said. “Of course. I’m here with Himchan. How could I possibly be with Donghae?”

Jonghyun happily sipped his punch as Donghae wrapped a friendly arm around his waist. Already, he was having such a great time. Donghae was the best date a guy could ask for. Girl. Best date a girl could ask for. Jonghyun may have been getting too comfortable in his role as Donghae’s fiancé. But Donghae made it very easy to be comfortable. He took Jonghyun to dinner at a really fancy restaurant, one that had a reservation list that was five years long, but that Donghae was able to get them in easily because his second cousin owned the place or something.

They had just arrived at the dance a few minutes ago, so for the moment, the two of them were just mingling over the punch table with Amber and her date Krystal. At first, Jonghyun was surprised to see that Amber had come to Homecoming with another girl. After all, girls can’t love each other. But then he figured they had come as friends because neither of them had dates to go with. He had heard of girls doing that before.

Krystal kept giving Jonghyun suggestive glances that he really didn’t understand. She shuffled up next to him and whispered, “I knew you could get a guy like Donghae if you wanted.”

Jonghyun didn’t really know how to respond, so he just nodded and smiled nervously and sipped his punch some more to occupy himself.

Krystal went over to Amber and started tugging on her hand. “I want to dance,” she said smiling.

Amber looked at her. “You do?” she asked. Jonghyun noticed her scan the crowd for a moment before answering, “Alright. Let’s dance.”

The two girls started for the dance floor, but suddenly Krystal grabbed Jonghyun’s hand too, and said, “Mary Sue, please come dance with us.”

He grabbed for Donghae’s hand as well, and they were both dragged into the crowd of people.

As soon as the crowd offered her some cover, Amber brought her wrist up to and spoke into the small communication device. “We’re moving to the dance floor,” she said. “Jonghyun and Donghae are with us.”

“Got it, thanks,” she heard Key say.

For the moment, Amber thought that they just might be able to pull this off.

“I see the rumors are false.” Nichkhun tossed you a smirk and a wink when he saw you dancing with Himchan. You chuckled nervously again. Every time another one of Himchan’s posse commented on the rumors or congratulated you for coming with Himchan and proving everyone wrong about being a cheater and fixing your reputation, you felt even more anxious and questioned whether you could keep up this charade for the rest of the night.

You gave the group another fake smile before you turned away to scan the crowd and to hide your apprehension. You spotted Key a few feet away, his hand held up to his face. He nodded and then approached your group, but he was looking right over your head.

“Refreshments. Now,” he muttered in your ear as he stared somewhere to your right.

That must’ve meant that Jonghyun and Donghae had left the refreshments table and were headed to the dance floor. Trusting Key, you took hold of Himchan’s arm.

“I think I’d like that punch now,” you said and began leading him to the edge of the dance floor. You had taken about four steps toward the refreshments table when Key’s voice was in your ear again

“Not that way!” he hissed. “Go the long way!” He pushed you in a different direction, causing you to stumble into Himchan, who steadied you and gave you a slightly concerned, very amused look.

You straightened up again and cleared your throat. Himchan extended an arm. “If you’re capable of it—“ you rolled your eyes at this—“shall we go?”

You smiled and took his arm again. “Let’s go this way,” you said, dragging him in the direction Key had shoved you as you took the long way around the dance floor and to the refreshment table. You ignored Himchan’s confused expression and acted as if you were dead set on taking this route, even though you had no clear motive for it.

A few people seemed to be staring at you as you approached the table and got yourself some punch. You figured it was just your imagination though. You were probably being paranoid.

The night continued on in this manner. Every once in a while, Key would alert you to Jonghyun’s and Donghae’s whereabouts by shoving you off to another part of the building to avoid them, and you would have to make up some excuse for why you wanted to get more punch or stand by the windows or dance on the other side of the dance floor.

You also began to realize that you weren’t just imagining those stares. As the night progressed, more and more people were giving you strange looks and whispering to each other as they pointed or nodded in your direction. Eventually you started to pick up what some of them were saying, catching bits and pieces like “cheating ” and “two-timer” and “being in two places at once.”

It was really wearing you down, knowing that everyone believed you were cheating on Himchan with Donghae, and you cursed mentally. It was really stupid of you to think that you could pull this one off. Of course they would all see you with Himchan and Jonghyun with Donghae and think you had come with two different people. You even felt like a two-timer, even though you had been attached to Himchan the entire night.

You looked around at all the horribly dirty looks directed at you, and then you looked at Himchan. He had begun to notice how everyone was staring at you as well, and his brow was furrowed in concern and confusion. You couldn’t take this anymore. You had to detach yourself from him for just a little while, enough to drop the charade and clear your head. You made up some quick excuse and left Himchan alone for the first time that night and rushed to the bathroom.

Key stopped you just outside the door. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

“Bathroom,” you said, annoyed and visibly stressed.

He gave you a disbelieving look. You sighed.

“Look, I just need to clear my head. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Fine.” He gave in and stepped aside.

You entered the bathroom, relieved to see that it appeared empty. You leaned over one of the sinks and looked at your reflection. What were you doing? How did you find yourself in this mess?

Just then, Amber’s reflection came up behind yours. Key must have told her where you were.

“Hey,” she said, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder.

You inhaled a shaky breath and tried to smile, but it came out weak.

“I know you’re having a hard time,” she said. “But we’re all still here for you. We’re still in this.” She gave you a friendly half hug. “We can still pull this off.”

“It’s not working,” you blurted out. “We can’t pull this off, Amber. People have seen me with Himchan and with Donghae. There was no way we could have prevented that.” You brought a hand up to your eyes to try and stop yourself from crying. You didn’t want to ruin your makeup. “I don’t know why I thought we could fool the entire school.”

Suddenly, one of the bathroom stalls burst open. You and Amber both jumped, and your heart sank even further as you saw who had been listening to every word you said. CL stalked up behind the two of you and sent a burning glare at your reflection.

“I knew you were a filthy two-timing !” she spat. “And now I’ve heard it with my own ears. Wait until Himchan finds out about this.” She smiled evilly. “Or I could just announce it to the entire school! Wouldn’t that be great?”

“There’s something you don’t know about it, CL,” Amber tried to explain, glaring at the twenty-one-year-old.

CL narrowed her eyes at the two of you. “What’s not to know? This two-timer’s been going between Himchan and Donghae all night.” She cocked her head in thought. “I don’t know how you were able to be in two places at once before, but there’s no way you can be in one place at once with two people. You’ve been scrambling around all night haven’t you?”

Well she wasn’t too far off the mark with that assumption. She wasn’t done talking yet though.

“Now what would be the best way to break the news?” she wondered aloud, tapping her finger on her chin. “Ah! I know!” Her eyes were alight with devious glee. “How about when I’m elected Homecoming Queen! Then I’ll have everyone’s attention!”

“You don’t know you’ll be elected,” Amber cut in.

CL let out an arrogant laugh. “I’ve been Homecoming Queen four years running. What makes this year any different?”

Amber smirked and put an arm around you. “Mary Sue wasn’t here for the past four years,” she answered.

“Please! Who ever heard of the new girl changing the status quo?”

She had a point there. You had never heard of such a thing. You really felt like your whole world was ending. There was no way you would be able to finish this night with your reputation or your self-respect intact.

CL walked right up to you and jabbed a well-manicured finger into your chest. “I will destroy you for what you did to Himchan,” she snarled. “And tonight,” she pointed to the door, “they’re all gonna know what a low-life two-timing social climber you really are.” With a final grin, she left the bathroom.

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding in and turned back to lean over the sink. Amber started your hair comfortingly.

“It’s okay,” she said. “We won’t let her tell anyone—“

“She doesn’t need to tell anyone!” you cried. “Everyone already knows! Who hasn’t seen me with two different dates tonight?”

Amber seemed at a loss. You sighed, your heart sunk.

“I need some fresh air,” you muttered, and straightened up to head for the door.

Amber gaped after you. “What? You—no—you can’t leave! What about Him—“ She tried to stop you, but the bathroom door opened and she cut herself off. Krystal walked through it and smiled when she saw the two of you.

“Hi Mary Sue!” she said. “You’re not leaving are you?”

“No,” you assured her. “I’m just stepping outside for a bit to get some fresh air.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Well don’t take too long, okay?”

“Yeah,” you answered and hurried out the door, unaware of the concerned looks exchanged between Krystal and Amber. You just needed to get outside, away from this stifling chaos. You burst through the front doors and were met with crisp cool air.

Amber hurried out of the bathroom and found Key on the edge of the dance floor. “Mary Sue is outside,” she informed him.

“What?! I thought she was just in the bathroom, what is she doing outside?” He was getting frantic, the stress of keeping everybody separate clearly getting to him.

“She won’t be too long,” Amber tried to reconcile.

“You were supposed to make sure she didn’t do something stupid,” Key yelled. He turned, furious, and held his hands up to his head like he was trying to figure out what to do.

“You know, this isn’t exactly easy for the rest of us,” Amber shouted angrily back. “Especially Mary Sue. How do you think it feels to have everybody gossiping about you like you’re in the tabloids?!”

“Go get her!” Key shouted, pointing towards the doors.

“Excuse me?”

“Go get her, and bring her back here,” he said again.

Amber shook her head in disbelief, clenching her jaw. “No,” she answered. “I’m done with this. I am going to dance with my date and have a good time.” She started for the dance floor, but Key grabbed her arm to stop her. “What!”

“Give me your ear piece,” Key ordered.

Amber took out her earpiece and angrily shoved it into Key’s open hand. She then stalked off toward the dance floor to find Krystal again.

Jonghyun was having the best time of his life. He and Donghae were at the front by the DJ dancing, and he couldn’t believe how well things were going tonight. Suddenly, a slow song came on. Jonghyun watched the crowd nervously as couples paired off and started dancing more intimately. He suddenly felt very anxious.

Donghae reached a hand out toward his date, which Jonghyun took, and the latter followed the former’s lead in a slow swaying dance.

Was it hotter in here than it was before? Jonghyun suddenly felt really hot. He felt Donghae move closer to him, sending his heart rate up too. He chanced a look up to Donghae’s face and was met with a warm smile, and Jonghyun couldn’t help but smile back.

Yeah. This night was going well.

Then Key appeared out of nowhere and tapped Donghae on the shoulder, breaking the moment. “Mind if I cut in?” he asked.

Being the gentleman he was, Donghae allowed for Key to take his date away from him for this dance, to which Jonghyun reluctantly complied, figuring that whatever the reason Key had for taking him away from Donghae, it was probably somewhat important, so he had better follow.

Key danced Jonghyun a short distance away from Donghae, moving himself closer so that he could speak in Jonghyun’s ear. “Mary Sue is going to be out for a while,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I don’t know how long, but you need to cover for her while she’s gone.” He made to put some of Jonghyun’s hair behind his ear, which made him blush in momentary confusion, and put something around his ear instead. “That’s an ear piece,” Key explained. “So I can talk to you directly. Amber’s not helping us anymore, so it’s up to us now.”

Key danced them in the direction of the refreshments table.

“What are you--?”

“Himchan’s waiting for Mary Sue to come back from the bathroom,” Key explained. “You need to pretend to be her, and I’ll keep on the look out for Donghae for you. We’ll just have to keep going back and forth between Himchan and Donghae until Mary Sue gets back.” He pushed Jonghyun suddenly in the direction of the table, where Himchan was standing looking rather upset.

Jonghyun turned back around, but Key had suddenly disappeared into the crowd.

“Don’t worry,” he heard Key’s voice say in his ear. “I’m with you.”

With that meek confidence boost, Jonghyun turned back to Himchan. He noticed Himchan’s eyes narrow as he approached.

“What took you so long?” he asked, jaw slightly clenched.

Jonghyun had to make up an excuse. “Uh…” He really wasn’t good at improvising. “There was a line at the bathroom,” he said. “I had to wait a long time.”

Himchan considered this for a moment as Jonghyun waited tensely for his reaction. He seemed to relax a little bit though, thankfully. “Okay,” he said, allowing himself to smile a little bit. “Let’s dance, then.” He took Jonghyun by the arm and pulled him toward the dance floor again.

You gulped down a shuddering breath of the cool night air. This night had really taken a toll on you. You leaned back against the wall of the building and slid down, bringing your knees up and folding your arms over them. You put your head in your arms and let the tears fall.

“You shouldn’t cry,” said a familiar deep voice to your right. Startled, you snapped your head up to look at the person it belonged to. He was leaning against a tree, shrouded in darkness, so you couldn’t see his face, but something about him set you on edge.

“Who’s there?” you called out.

He responded with a low chuckle. “Crying doesn’t suit you,” he growled, stepping out of the shadows. Orange light from a street lamp fell over him and illuminated his face.

Your breath hitched in your throat. It was the man who had attacked you the night you were dress shopping. You gulped, your heart racing, as you stood up slowly, ready to make a break for it.

You steeled yourself and took a running step to your left. You screamed and stumbled backward when you were met with the dark pools of his almond-shaped eyes directly in front of your face. He was inches away from you now, and you were backed up against the wall. He leered at you. You were trapped.

“Oh no!” Jonghyun exclaimed, bringing his hand to his open mouth and faking a distressed expression.

Himchan’s eyebrows drew together. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think I left something in the bathroom earlier,” Jonghyun answered.

Himchan clenched his jaw, annoyed. “Is it important?”

Jonghyun fought for words. “I-it—I just need to go get it real quick,” he said. “It’ll only be a minute!”

With that, he quickly left Himchan and returned to Donghae at the refreshments table.

He had been running back and forth for a while now, and boy was it tiring! Every time Key’s voice told him to return to his other date or warned him that someone was coming that shouldn’t see him with one or the other, he had to make up some excuse and leave. He had already used the “I have to go to the bathroom to freshen up” excuse twice, had abused the hell out of the “I forgot something over there” excuse, and had even tried the “I want to see my other friends” excuse once. He was running out of excuses! Several times, he had just left without one, leaving Himchan or Donghae standing alone and slightly confused, wondering where he had gone off to.

“Are you okay?” Donghae asked.

Jonghyun laughed nervously. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Donghae sighed. “It’s just,” he brushed a strand of hair from Jonghyun’s face. “You seem a bit… frantic,” he concluded.

Jonghyun tried to relax a little then and gave Donghae a reassuring smile. “I’m fine,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be more relaxed from now on.”

Just then, Jonghyun noticed Himchan walking angrily in their direction. Oh no, he really hoped Himchan couldn’t see Donghae with him, but by the look on his face, that wasn’t likely. He had to get Donghae away from here, but how? What could he do? He was so bad at improvising!

Thinking quickly, he ladled himself of cup of punch and then immediately spilled it all over Donghae, because spilling beverages always seemed to get him out of tight situations. Donghae stepped back in surprise.

“I’m so sorry,” Jonghyun said quickly.

“It’s okay,” Donghae said, holding up his hands and rejecting Jonghyun’s help. “I’ll just go clean it up in the bathroom,” he said, and then headed off toward the exit.

Jonghyun felt really bad about that. Donghae had looked so confused in that instant, almost hurt. But he couldn’t dwell on it for long, because Himchan grabbed his arm and forcefully turned Jonghyun to look at him.

“Forgot something in the bathroom, huh?” he asked angrily.

Jonghyun’s mouth opened and closed as he grasped for an explanation. “Y-yeah,” he stuttered. “I found it though.”

“Why did I just see you talking with Lee Donghae?” Himchan demanded. “Did you forget who you came here with?”

“No,” Jonghyun responded. “Of course not. I just…” He looked around, thinking quickly. “H-he said something insulting, so I…poured punch on him.” He finished his story meekly.

For a moment, he was afraid Himchan wouldn’t believe him and accuse him of cheating on him or something. But then Himchan’s smirk was back on his face and his eyes lit up in amusement.

“Did you really?” he chuckled. Jonghyun nodded. “I’m impressed,” Himchan admitted. Jonghyun let out a breath of relief before he was dragged back to the dance floor by Himchan.

How much longer did he have to keep up this charade? What could Mary Sue possibly be doing that was more important than this?

“You know,” breathed the tall man as he loomed over you, “I never did get the chance to introduce myself before.” He cocked his head as he tried to meet your gaze, but you were looking down in fear. “You asked me for my name, didn’t you?”

Unable to speak, you merely nodded.

“Seunghyun,” he answered you softly. “But I go by TOP.” He grinned, and his teeth gleamed in the moonlight. “Nobody uses their original names in the clan. Once we’re reborn, we’re given a new one.”

You briefly met his penetrating stare before your eyes snapped down again. “C-clan?” you asked.

He chuckled, a deep low sound in his throat. “You know what I am, don’t you?”

You looked up at him again, and this time you didn’t look away from his face. He raised an eyebrow at you and his smile widened, and suddenly your eyes flickered to his mouth, where two extremely sharp canines had been revealed. You gasped.

“You’re…you’re—“

“Vampire,” he whispered.

You couldn’t believe it. You kept staring at those teeth, so sharp and gleaming white, your mind flashing back to that night. How close those teeth had been to sinking into your throat. You had felt them graze against your skin.

“Are you going to kill me?” you whispered.

He chuckled again, but he seemed less amused. “No,” he growled. “Not that I’m not tempted…But alas,” his fingers left the wall beside your head to trail down your neck and you shivered. “You have a new trinket, I see.”

He took hold of the chain holding the Phoenix Talisman around your neck, which you had made a habit of wearing every day ever since the night it was given to you.

“I hadn’t prepared for you to have this,” he muttered regretfully.

You were relieved to know the talisman’s protection worked. At least you weren’t about to die in a few seconds. You took a moment to calm down before the vampire’s voice brought your heart rate back up again.

“No matter,” he said. “You’ll still die tonight.”

Donghae walked out of the bathroom after cleaning as much of the punch off of himself as he could. Something was up with Mary Sue tonight, and he was a little worried for her. She had never acted quite like this before. And when she poured punch on him, it had seemed so deliberate. He just didn’t know what to think.

He was about to go back to the gym when he chanced a glance out a window and was met with a shocking sight. He found himself running outside into the cool air instead.

“Mary Sue?” Oh no.

You looked to see Donghae in front of the doors he had just run through. You could see the progression of his thoughts as his expression changed, his eyes shifting from your face to TOP to TOP’s arms resting against the wall on either side of you.

“What’s going on?” he asked, and his tone made it seem as though he just didn’t know what to think anymore.

You wanted to call out to him, to tell him to run back inside and be far away from this, or maybe even explain that this isn’t at all what it looks like, but no words would come out.

You noticed TOP’s expression change from an amused grin to slightly terse when he saw Donghae. He exhaled through his nose and brought one hand up in the air. Then he simply snapped his fingers.

Immediately, three others, presumably vampires from the same clan as TOP, surrounded the three of you. Two of them appeared on either side of Donghae. He looked around, completely startled and confused, before he collapsed to the ground; one of them had knocked him out.

“Donghae!” you cried out, finally finding your voice. You tried to run to him, taking two steps away from the wall, before you felt a blow to the back of your head and the world went black.

Key was freaking out. He had just seen Donghae go outside. He must have seen Mary Sue out there or something. But it was the wrong Mary Sue! He sought out Amber and found her in the middle of the dance mob. He pulled her away from her date, and she tore her arm angrily from his grip.

“Donghae’s outside!” he yelled over the loud music.

She gave him an annoyed look. “So?”

“So, he’s out with Mary Sue, while Jonghyun’s in here with Himchan! They’re with the wrong dates!” He emphasized that last bit with flailing hands.

Amber rolled her eyes in response. “What does it matter?” she said. “As long as they’re in two different places instead of one place at the same time, doesn’t that make things a lot easier?”

Key just gave her a terrified look. This didn’t make things easier at all. They didn’t know how to act around each other’s dates, and Himchan and Donghae would both become really suspicious, and Key was sure that this whole charade would all come crashing down on them, and then where would they be? All of his hard work for nothing.

Amber didn’t wait for a response from Key and turned back to Krystal, intent on getting as much enjoyment out of this night as she possibly could. Maybe Key should just follow her example. He couldn’t take anymore of this Midsummer Night’s Dream . It was just too much.

He made his way to the refreshments and got himself a cup of punch, hoping to God that it had been spiked. But alas, he was met with disappointment. So he ventured to his locker where he kept a bottle of vodka, in case of emergencies. He figured now was an appropriate occasion.

Sorry Jonghyun, he thought, and then took a swig from the bottle. Guess you’re on your own now.

Jonghyun had never felt so alone. He hadn’t heard from Key in he didn’t know how long, and he hadn’t seen Donghae since he spilled punch on him. He still felt really bad about that. What was worse, though, was that he had to stay with Himchan since then, and Himchan kept telling all his friends about how his girlfriend poured punch on that stuck-up jerk Donghae and put him in his place just like how she did with CL. Jonghyun wanted to say that Donghae wasn’t a stuck up jerk, he was the nicest most genuine guy he had ever met, and Himchan was the real jerk. But he knew he couldn’t do that.

Augh! This was not the reality he wanted!

If only Mary Sue would come back. What could she possibly be doing that she couldn’t come back to Homecoming to spend time with her date? What kind of person didn’t attend Homecoming with their own date?

“Excuse me,” said a loud voice over the speakers. The music had stopped and everyone’s attention turned to the front. “Do I have everyone’s attention?” The girl holding the microphone giggled when the room went silent. “Good! It’s time to announce the Homecoming King and Queen!”

Jonghyun had forgotten this part of the ceremony. He had been so caught up in frantically running back and forth between two dates that he didn’t even think about the King and Queen elections.

The girl spent some time listing off the names of Homecoming court, but Jonghyun didn’t pay any attention, instead scanning the crowd for Key or Amber or Mary Sue, anyone who could help him out with this whole ordeal.

“And now to announce the King!” said the girl with the microphone. She opened up the envelope in her hand and read off the name on the slip of paper inside. “This year’s Homecoming King is…Kim Himchan!”

The student body erupted in applause. Himchan smirked and left Jonghyun’s side to accept his crown, and he stood there in front of the room, gazing out as his subjects. Jonghyun rolled his eyes. That guy was seriously arrogant. What a jerk!

“And your Homecoming Queen…” The girl in the front opened another envelope. Jonghyun went back to scanning the crowd. Maybe during the King and Queen’s dance, he would be able to get away from Himchan while he was distracted and find Donghae and apologize for spilling punch on him.

The tension was building in the room as everyone waited in anticipation to hear who would be this year’s Queen. Jonghyun noticed a girl edging up toward the stage, and recognized CL, her face twisted into a devious smile.

“Mary Sue!”

Come again?

Everyone’s eyes locked onto Jonghyun, and he felt himself heating up in embarrassment. Himchan’s smirk bore down on him from above. CL’s shriek could be heard echoing through the vast room.

“What?!”