Seunghyun spread all his clothes out on his bed. He tried to mix and match them to make the coolest combination. He really couldn’t decide. He could feel the stress eating at him. This was a really big deal. Not only was it a party but it was one with a bunch of people who were probably really cool. Don’t even begin to mention that Jiyong would be there, introducing these people to him as his friends. He groaned and sat down on the floor in a ball.

“More and more curious…” Hye Yoon mused from his doorway.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than stare at me?” Seunghyun grumbled.

“I’m just musing over your strange new habits, Seunghyun.” She said slyly.

“Ugh. Noona. Can you just help me? I am really stuck.” He pleaded.

“Hmmm…well, what kind of image are you aiming for?” She asked looking at the mass of jean at the food of his bed.

“I want to look cool. Like, cool to a bunch of serious hip hoppers. I want to look like I am a serious underground rapper but in an attractive way.” He explained. He looked over at her hair and it seemed to shine more than it used to. Dammit. He knew switching her body wash and shampoo into each other’s bottles wasn’t strong enough revenge.

She raised her eyebrow at him. “Oh really? I’m surprised you couldn’t figure that out for yourself Mr. Buckwild.” She teased.

“You heard it?” He sat up, surprised.

“Yeah. I heard someone at work mentioned the name Tempo and I jumped into the conversation. I was surprised you actually put yourself out there.” She said, moving onto his t-shirts.

“Yeah. It was a goal of mine to become huge but it may be too late for that.” He said grimly.

“You wouldn’t happen to have some sunglasses, would you?” She asked, obviously in a world of her own.

“I should somewhere.” He mused.

She sighed exasperatedly, opening desk drawers looking for some. Seunghyun stood up pacing the room. The party was in 3 hours but he really couldn’t settle his nerves. He didn’t even feel his hunger pangs like he has been having. His noona got her first check today. She paid part of the rent to ease the tension with the landlord but that didn’t leave any money for anything else until next week.

“What is this?” She asked picking up the last things he wanted her touching.

“Noona! Get out!” He yelled as she uncrumpled the old note.

He grabbed it from her hand hastily and shoved her out while her jaw hung low in shock. He slammed the door and locked it. He tried to get his heart under control. He knew that was harsh but that was his business and not anyone else’s. She definitely didn’t have any right to be reading his notes.

He looked down and picked up on the basic idea she was going for. He nodded his head in slight approval. He couldn’t believe he didn’t see it earlier. Dark baggy jeans, high top Nikes, a large black t-shirt that said in large blue block letters “Get Rich or Die Trying”. It was a total knockoff shirt but the 50 Cent reference would definitely give him props and a conversation starter. He looked through his stack of shirts until he found an couple undershirts. If he was going to wear short sleeves he needed some form of security.

The week had gone by really slowly. He wanted to text Jiyong but he didn’t know what to say so he just tried to communicate with him by reading his notebooks instead. The more he read them and the further he went back in time, the more he saw his pain. There were a lot of angry raps and painfully depressing ballads. He wanted to talk to him, to ease his pain. He didn’t want to sound arrogant but he had a very strong feeling it was because of him. Now he was going to this party and he wanted to make it up to him. He didn’t know how though.

He showed up at the address half hour after the start time. He hoped that was casually late enough. He kept staring at his clock for hours counting the minutes until he should leave. He rode the bus full of nerves, looking cool but suspicious with sunglasses on so late. He was so nervous he almost missed his stop. Now he was at the door wiping his palms on his jeans and hoping this would turn out better than he hoped.

He opened the door to the sound of pounding bass and loud chatter within. It was mostly guys who looked about his age mixed in with several flirty looking girls. That made him feel a little better. No elders rubbing their success in his face or dongsaeng wondering why he wasn’t ahead of them career wise. The only thing to make him feel unworthy was his pudgy body. He slipped his sunglasses up to disappear into his black hair before slipping in and grabbing a plastic cup of something that smelled strong.

He looked through the sea of people for Jiyong. That was no easy feat when Jiyong blended in height wise. Everyone looked really attractive. He caught several people’s eyes before looking away embarrassed that he had been caught checking out their bodies.

Soon, he found who he was looking for. Jiyong was wearing a white baggy t-shirt that hung on him like a sheet and black pants that clung to him tightly. He felt his heart condense at the sight so much that it hurt. Jiyong smiled and touched the guy’s shoulder he was talking to. The recipient looked rather shy and uncomfortable and chose to drink and nod his head while Jiyong rambled. He was rather short. His hair was to this middle of his neck and he wore a large cross necklace around his neck. He knew he shouldn’t but he felt a twinge of jealousy.

“Hyung!” Jiyong shouted walking quickly up to him and pulling him into a hug.

He could have melted, right then and there. He knew Jiyong was touchy when he drank from past experience but it didn’t mean he didn’t feel happy from the affection.

“Hyung! Oh my god! I love your shirt!” He said withdrawing from the hug.

He smiled. Thank you, 50 Cent. This could be his ticket tonight.

“Thanks. Nice party.” He said before taking a sip of the contents of his cup.

“Yeah, it’s my friend Seungho’s place. Pretty nice, huh? His parents are out of town this weekend so you know the drill.” He explained before taking a large drink.

He nodded like he went to parties like this every weekend. He had been to a few parties but mostly he was the type to like the quiet drink with his friends as opposed to something so extravagant.

“Oh my gosh! I have so many people to introduce you to. First of all, this is my friend and fellow YG trainee, Dong Youngbae. Youngbae, this is Choi Seunghyun.” He said, indicating the shy boy from before.

“Hey. Nice to meet you, man.” Youngbae said holding out his hand and sliding his into a fist bump.

This would take some getting used to again. He and his hyungs had their standard handshakes but outside of that he was clueless as to which handshake to do.

“Yeah. So, how long have you known Jiyong?” Seunghyun asked like he was asking for a magic password.

“Huh? Oh, Ji here? We have known each other almost 4 years now. I was a trainee longer than that but I always did my training in the morning before school and he worked during the night.” Youngbae explained.

Seunghyun looked over at Jiyong who was looking everywhere but at them. He smiled and waved at a few people across the room. He had heard though because his eyes shifted to them and back to the crowd around them. Was there something going on here with Jiyong and Youngbae? He felt bitterness and drank again to wash it down with something a little sweeter than he felt.

He turned around when he felt a pair of eyes boring into him. He found a girl with a little extra curves to her clutching a glass with both hands. He caught her eyes and they bulged, her cheeks blushing a little. She looked a little older than everyone else but still attractive enough to be at this party, unlike him. He blinked though and she was gone. He felt puzzled but turned around when he heard a voice calling a familiar name.

“Jiyong!” Seunghyun heard from a voice migrating from across the room.

He perked up to see yet another handsome face approach them. Being around this many good-looking people made him want to hide in the bathroom but he was pretty sure someone would be making out in there.

“Hyunjong!” Jiyong called back, his arms raised in the air. They exchanged a man hug and Hyunjong looked over at Seunghyun and Youngbae with a giant doofy grin on his face.

“Hey, Bae! How have you been?” He asked pulling him into a hug as well before turning to Seunghyun. So, this guy knew Jiyong’s friends. He felt the jealousy rising again.

“Now who is this?” Hyunjong asked, ignoring Youngbae’s soft answer, to turn towards Seunghyun. He felt a strange twinge of sympathy for him. He was had been in his shoes many times before.

“Be nice, Hyunjong. This is my old friend Choi Seunghyun.” He explained.

“Choi, huh? You wouldn’t happen to be related to Dongwook would you?” He asked.

“I don’t think so…” Seunghyun said cautiously, wondering if this was a test of some kind.

“Hyunjong, does he look anything like Dongwook?” Jiyong asked him questioningly.

“Well, if you squint your eyes a little bit and maybe stand on your head.” He said, tilting his head.

“God! You’re such a ing moron.” Jiyong said playfully, smacking his arm before giving him a look like ‘you know who I am talking about’.

“Aah! That hurt!” He said rubbing the spot.

“So, Seunghyun, since this is your first party with us, you’ll need to pass a test.” Hyunjong said with an evil smirk.

Seunghyun felt dread fill his system. This was a cult? Jiyong didn’t seem like the type but who knows maybe it happened when he met that suspicious Youngbae kid.

“Lee Hyunjong! I told you to be nice. You are scaring the out of him.” Jiyong snapped at him.

“Fine, fine. I’ll be nice. You want to come along?” Hyunjong asked him.

“Nah. I still have a lot of mingling to do. I trust you but I swear, if I find him dead, injured, or forbid, still here, in the morning, I will kick your so hard, my foot will be knocking your teeth out from your throat.” Jiyong explained with a glare forming towards the end.

“Arasso, arasso! No need to get your Gucci in a twist.” He said winking at Jiyong before grabbing Seunghyun’s hand and dragging him across the room before he could protest.