I walked into a small, empty room that seemed to be Woohyun’s pantry and shut the door behind me. I needed quiet in order to do this, but I could still hear a lot of people talking over each other and a distinct scream that could have only come from Sungyeol. My brain was telling me that the logical thing to do was to call my aunt. I had to do it, even though I didn’t want to. I could put off calling her for a while, but how long would it take for her to realize I wasn’t coming home?

I toyed with my cellphone, twirling it between my fingers. I flipped it open and outlined the number pad, not daring to press any button.

 I started to dial the number. Why was this so difficult to do? I guess the guilt had finally set in, and I was only making things worse by staying the night at a random boy’s house.

I imagined what my aunt would think once I told her where I was. She’d probably run over here, bat in hand, ready to beat the living crap out of any boy she saw. What was I to tell her then?

I quickly deleted all of the numbers on the screen and reflected on what to do when the door slowly creaked open, and Woohyun slid in.

“Having trouble?” he asked, quietly closing the door.

“I can’t do it…” I sighed, tossing him the phone. He caught it between his hands and flipped it open. “Want me to talk to her?” he offered, half-jokingly.

“If you have a spot-on impression of a teenage girl, sure.”

…

For the next five minutes, Woohyun tried to speak to my aunt in what sounded like falsetto. According to Woohy- I mean, ‘SunMi’, I was spending the night at her house so we could spend some quality ‘girl time’ together. Based on what I was hearing on the other end of the line, auntie was buying it.  When the time came for me to speak, Woohyun nervously passed me my cellphone and mouthed “act natural”.

“… Auntie?” I spoke quietly.

“HANA,” she practically screamed into the phone. “I was worried sick, do you know what time it is? I’m so happy you found someone who shares similar interests but please… Please call me before you disappear like that.”

Suddenly I felt like something was caught in my throat. Was I feeling guilty for lying to her? “… Yes, auntie. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Goodnight.”

I ended the call and slipped the phone into my pants pocket, turning to face Woohyun. “Did you really name yourself SunMi?” I asked, amused.

“That’s what I want to name my firstborn daughter,” he answered simply.

“Good luck with that, and… thanks.” I got on my tiptoes to ruffle his hair.

“I’m supposed to be the one messing up your hair, not the other way around… ” he said with a bit of irritation in his voice. I shrugged and turned away from him but he patted my head anyway.

 I opened the door and both of us left the cramped room. The brightness of his dining room made me squint a bit and I had to wait a few seconds until my eyes adjusted to the light and it seems he was adjusting, too.

Suddenly a ton of bodies came rushing towards us and everyone started speaking at once.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING IN THERE?”
“I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL FRIENDS OVER HERE!”
“COULDN’T YOU HAVE WAITED UNTIL THE REST OF US LEFT BEFORE YOU GOT ALL ROMANTIC?!”

All of the sudden accusations startled me and I stepped away from them the loud noise instinctively.

Woohyun stepped out in front of me. “What the hell are you people talking about?”

“HYUNG~” Sungyeol whined, “I asked Myungsoo where Hana was and he told me she was calling someone, so I went to check up on you like the gentleman I am and suddenly YOU walked in there after her!” Sungyeol slipped over his words a few times. “You two kept whispering in there, and then ten minutes later you come out with your hair all over the place, and—“

Sungyeol didn’t get to finish his sentence. In one moment, the cool and tough exterior I once had crumbled in front of everyone. I started giggling at his ridiculous detective ‘skills’ and soon that giggle turned into a chuckle, and then a full-blown laugh. By the time I was done cackling, the rest of the boys could only stare.

I took a minute to compose myself and realized that I had just laughed for the first time since, well, I can’t even remember the last time I laughed.

“You’re all ridiculous.” I snorted before pushing past everyone and making my way out of the dining room.

“… Idiots.”