"Sunggyu hurry up! We're waiting on you!"

"I'm going!" he answered as he took his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He ran out of his room to meet up with his sister downstairs. Yeunja was invited as well and while she was uncertain at first (she heard from Sunggyu that the invitation was extended to the soccer team too), she ended up agreeing.

"Have fun kids! Yeunja, take care of your brother, okay?" their mom yelled playfully from the living room.

The rest of their siblings were with her as well. They were skipping out on family night to go to the party after all.

"Mom!" Sunggyu groaned, feeling his face getting hot.

Haneul, Yeunja and Dongwoo's laughter was heard loud and clear

"Dongwoo you better look after my kids, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am!" he answered before he was pushed out of the house.

"Don't worry, Gyu. I got your back," Yeunja giggled before barely escaping Sunggyu's swat to her back.

He rolled his eyes at the two that were whispering among themselves before climbing down the porch. He could see the Nam brothers and Hoya waiting for them, each of them carrying a bag of their own. They figured it was a good idea to take a change of clothes so that they wouldn’t have to walk home soaked.

“D’you think there will be a lot of people?” Sunggyu asked as they caught up to them before finally heading to Jinki’s house.

“He said he invited the soccer team too right? You’ll know everyone except Junho’s friends,” Dongwoo re-assured.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I hope it’s not just guys. That won’t be fun,” Hoya said, as he scrunched up his nose.

“I’m not a guy,” Yeunja supplied helpfully.

“Yeah… but you’re practically my younger sister.”

“Yeah, yeah. At least there’ll be lots of eye candy,” she said happily, secretly nudging Dongwoo.

The blond haired male shook his head. He was glad they were walking towards the back of the group. Sunggyu rolled his eyes at his sister’s comment. Not a few hours ago she was depressed over the news that Hoya’s team would be there, but he was glad that she was capable of jumping back on her own. Being sad and depressed just didn’t suit her at all.

“Hey, if any one of them even looks at you funny, I’m gonna hurt him,” Hoya said seriously.

“Howon, don’t be ridiculous,” she waved him off.

There were some muffled snickers as Hoya registered what he just heard.

“Did you just…?” he turned to face her and began walking backwards, before turning to Dongwoo who was right beside her, “Did she just say my name so casually?”

“Of course not elder brother,” she answered sweetly.

The rest of the group cringed at the formality but Yeunja laughed happily. She just left Hoya speechless, twice now. She laughed even harder when he turned around with that confused look still on his face. The conversation picked up again soon after but there was something that she was curious about recently.

“Have you guys had your first love? Or… rather, is it possible to really end up marrying your first love?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Dongwoo asked.

“You still believe in that?” Hoya inquired.

The way he said it sounded a little condescending to Sunggyu’s ears.

“What do you mean? Are you saying it’s stupid?” Yeunja asked feeling insulted.

“No, I’m saying it’s unrealistic.”

“Speaking from experience?” Sunggyu spoke up, wondering why he would answer so negatively.

They were about a block or so away from reaching their destination. It was only 6 pm but the sun was dipped low in the sky, giving way to the late afternoon rays that cast across everything in sight, stretching the shadows to their peak.

“…”

“What? Hoya had his first love?” Woohyun asked, slightly amused.

The soccer player sighed unintentionally. He wasn’t able to hold it in, “Haven’t you, playboy?”

Woohyun tsked, “Playboy?!”

“Woohyun’s never dated,” Myungsoo supplied helpfully.

“Hey! Neither have you!”

“Aww,” Hoya pretended to coo as he swung an arm around his neck, “I bet you haven’t had your first kiss either.”

“I think,” Woohyun said as he pried the older teen’s arm off of him, “the most shocking thing here is that you’ve had your first love. Who was it?” he asked curiously.

“Are you seriously saying you haven’t?” Hoya asked, avoiding the question completely.

“I haven’t,” Sunggyu spoke up.

“Me neither,” Woohyun said right after.

Sunggyu wasn’t sure how he felt upon hearing that piece of information.

“Same,” Myungsoo added simply.

“How do you even know?” Woohyun decided to ask.

Sunggyu smiled a bit. While it was true he’d never fallen in love, he was witness to the effects of it. His two older sisters experienced it and a younger one that recently got her heart broken, not to mention his best friend. He was surrounded by it at different intervals of his life, and he was sure he knew what to expect when that fated first love would come to be. He’d definitely be prepared. He held such a vivid picture of how it would all go… but he may have been blinded by that same thing he was expecting.

“You just do,” Dongwoo replied.

“The problem with your question,” Hoya finally decided to answer, “is that you’re implying you’re also that other person’s first love. And usually that’s not the case.”

“Oh my God, you’re right...” Yeunja agreed as she also came to that realization.

“So you weren’t her first love, huh?” Woohyun asked.

“I was not,” he answered matter-of-factly, putting that nagging curiosity to rest.

It was already rowdy enough by the time they got to the house. There were quite a number of cars pulled into the driveway and parked out on the street. Sunggyu quickly recognized Junho’s black car. It was parked out on the curb.

They barely reached the house and the sounds of the party filled the air. There was some yelling and splashing penetrated the sound of the music that was playing loudly. Hoya led the way through the back. Jinki was a friend of the three eldest males. They weren’t as close as Sunggyu was to him but they did spend time together in the past.

“Aye,” Hoya greeted the first person that saw him walk in.

“Yooo~!”

The one who greeted him was Gikwang, a teammate of his, before announcing it to Jonghyun who was close by.

The pool sat off center towards the right side as they walked in. The concrete deck was light beige and extended from the house to about 5 meters from the edge of the pool in all directions. There were a number of chaise lounge chairs lining the length of the pool, five on each side. Despite the huge size of the pool, there was still plenty of room for the beautiful wooden deck that extended a few meters from the house. Jinki’s house was as grand as he remembered.

They were all greeted happily before Junho made his way towards them.

“I was wondering if you guys were coming at all,” he said as he pulled them further in, towards the deck.

“Hey it’s still early!” Yeunja pouted.

“Do you guys need to change or anything?” Junho asked. He didn’t even get a chance to greet them properly before he was dragged off to tend to the grill by Jinki.

Sunggyu watched in amusement as the younger of the two looked back at him apologetically but his attention was diverted as they were led to a free table by someone from the dance team. The dark haired male recognized him from before.

“You’re Chansung, right?”

“Ah, yeah, you remember me?”

“Of course, it’s nice to see you again…are you supposed to be a waiter?”

“Uhh, more like a busboy?” he wasn’t sure himself but it caused the older male to laugh.

They ate soon after, Yeunja deciding to skip doing so in order to go talk with some friends she saw as soon as they came in. She didn’t know if she’d see anyone she recognized but the spacious backyard was full of people from school, not to mention her best friend promised to be there and she spotted her the moment they walked in.

Sunggyu looked around for a little bit and realized that Dojoon was definitely there but he didn’t see the snake that coiled herself around him. He wondered if he finally dumped her. His attention was soon stolen away when Jonghyun took a seat on the empty chair Yeunja left.

“Hey, what do you guys say to some pool volleyball?”

Sunggyu watched as his friends agreed quickly.

“Great! Nam,” he pointed to Woohyun, “You’re on my team. Hoya…,” he seemed to think about it for a bit before speaking, “yeah I guess you too.”

Hoya gaped for a second. He couldn’t believe his ears but his surprise only caused the people at the table a fit of laughter.

“I’m just kidding, but I think we should have some taller players too,” Jonghyun stated as he looked around.

“You guys are definitely on the furthest end of that,” Sunggyu mumbled, causing Myungsoo, who was close enough to hear him, laugh, his attempt at covering up his laughter a complete failure as they all turned to look at him questioningly.

“Isn’t Dongwoon pretty tall?” Sunggyu decided to ask, moving their attention to him.

“Oh right… let me go ask,” Jonghyun quickly jumped from his seat, heading to a table that was a little ways away.

Sunggyu couldn’t help the glance he stole towards Junho who was still tending the grill. It looked like he was finishing up.

“Hey Hoya! Come help us out here!” the dark haired senior wasn’t sure who it was that called out to his friend but he watched as Hoya stood, dragging Woohyun along with him across the wooden deck.

They were setting up the volleyball net and were having some trouble. Most of the guys were gathered around the odd looking tanks that were supposed to serve as a base for the net poles. Sunggyu followed along too, wondering why it was becoming complicated for them.

“Aren’t you supposed to pour water in here? Isn’t that why it’s not staying up?” Hoya asked as he leaned over to inspect the odd shaped thing.

Sunggyu’s lips stretched into a mischievous smirk as he nudged Woohyun. It only took one look from the senior for the younger male to understand exactly what he was implying.

“Where?” Woohyun asked.

“Right here,” he looked again, making sure he was pointing at the right thing before he was pushed head first into the pool.

Sunggyu didn’t start laughing until his friend surfaced, sputtering and gasping for breath. He escaped from there before anyone got a chance to point fingers at Hoya’s demand to know who did it, deciding to head far away from the commotion. He wore a big smile on his face as he reached Junho, giving away his mischief.

“Did you do that?” he asked, returning the male’s smile.

“Of course not! I have people do the dirty work for me,” he said playfully before turning his attention to what he was doing, “So is the party a punishment for the younger guys in the dance crew?”

Junho chuckled, “This is our sad fate but,” he said as he closed the grill and covered all the vents, “I’m done!”

“Did you eat already?” Sunggyu asked as he watched the male head to the table a little ways away that held the food out on display.

“Yeah, as I was cooking.”

Sunggyu didn’t say anything as he went to help the male cover the food to keep the insects from getting to it. They finished rather quickly and simply stood there, leaning against the table as they watched the net finally get assembled properly.

“Does it really not hurt anymore?” Sunggyu finally asked.

He reached up, slipping his fingers into the brown strands of hair to feel the little lump he acquired.

“No, just don’t—ow!” he complained when he felt the senior press down on it a little too hard.

Sunggyu quickly withdrew his hand in slight shock, “I’m sorry!”

“It only hurts when there’s too much pressure on it,” he clarified as he tried to soothe the pain away.

“I’m sorry,” the dark haired male chuckled.

They spoke for a little longer before Junho decided to take him to sit on one of the chaise lounges that were against the fence as the rowdy bunch of guys began to get into the pool, claiming sides and deciding who would play first.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Sunggyu asked once they settled on the dark brown colored chaise chairs, each occupying a different one to face each other.

“Yeah… but I guess it’s not so bad. The backflip I’m supposed to do, the guys decided it was best to leave it out since I failed to do it properly Monday.”

“I’m glad, it’s better than riski—” his sentence was cut off as he felt something heavy and wet hit his stomach and land on his lap, surprising him.

He quickly turned to look at the culprit and glared at his friend. It was Hoya.

“Damn, I missed… I was trying to get your face.”

“What the hell for?”

“I know it was you that pushed me in!”

“It wasn’t me!” he yelled as he threw the shirt as far away from him as possible, making Hoya yell in annoyance as he quickly climbed out of the pool to go retrieve it.

“Jerk,” Sunggyu muttered as he looked down at his clothes. His whole front was wet and he was still wearing his regular clothes since he didn’t change into his trunks yet.

He huffed in annoyance as he stood. Junho followed suit, “I’ll take you to the restroom. We can throw your clothes in the dryer while we’re at it.”

Sunggyu agreed, shooting one last glare at Hoya who jumped back into the pool.

By the time Sunggyu, Dongwoo and Yeunja emerged from the house (Dongwoo and Yeunja needed to change as well) a game of volleyball was already underway. There were a few guys messing with the speakers by the entrance way too, setting something up. The volleyball game held a mixture of girls and guys on both sides and a lot of organized chaos.

The three teens made their way to the lounge chairs that Sunggyu and Junho were occupying beforehand, deciding to watch the noisy match from there. Myungsoo, Woohyun, Hoya and Junho were all in the water, divided evenly between both teams. He could see Yeunja’s friend in the water as well, along with some other girls and guys from both the soccer and dance team – in which the majority were shirtless (with very good reason to be).

Yeunja couldn’t keep her comments to herself. She kept pointing out who looked better and who didn’t, asking her brother and Dongwoo for feedback before teasing them and comparing them with their current boy interests. His sister just loved flustering them for no reason. They managed to waste away some time that way before they heard a voice cut in thru the splashing and yelling.

“Who hasn’t gone in the pool yet? Everyone was told it was a pool party right?” the sound came through the speakers that were playing music.

There was an agreement that was shouted back.

“Sunggyu is still dry!” Hoya yelled back at Jinki.

“Kibum is still dry!” and more similar shouts started to pick up soon after.

“Oh no,” Sunggyu didn’t like where the situation was heading.

“I’ve got Kibum!” Jonghyun yelled.

The three teenagers didn’t have a chance to see the male’s fate as they saw their own friends climb out of the pool to throw them in mercilessly as well. It was all too obvious as to who was going after whom. Hoya wore a predatory smile on his face as he headed towards Sunggyu.