She led the way over to a jumble of rocks on the edge of the cliff. In the middle of a boulder a deep step had been cut. Sehun peered over Yuri's shoulder to see a steep stairway plunging down the side of the cliff. In the moonlight, he could make out a stretch of pale sand below.

'Looks dangerous,' he said.

Yuri shot him an amused look. 'Sometime dangerous is worth it,' she said.

They don't do euphemisms. But do they do double entendres? Sehun wondered. Was Yuri trying to tell him something? He shoved the thought out of his head and followed her.

She skipped down the steps as if she'd done it a million times. She probably had, Sehun knew. Chanyeol had told him that Yuri and Luhan had been together since they were freshmen. She must've spent a lot of time at his place.

When they reached the beach, Yuri slipped out of her sandals and took off across the sand barefoot. Sehun pulled off his Tevas and left them in a pile of other shoes at the foot of the steps. He looked around at the soft white sand, and the ocean - black in the darkness, except for where silver moonlight rippled across the surface. It took his breath away.

He turned his attention to a giant bonfire that had been built about twenty feet out from the base of the cliff. He hadn't seen it from the top. He got it now. This was where the real party was. A bunch of kids from school ranged along the beach, some swimming a few playing Frisbee. But most of them were just sitting in groups and couples around the fire, drinking beer.

'Think fast!' Yuri tossed him a bottle from the row of huge coolers set up away from the heat of the fire. he caught it easily but didn't open it. For one thing, it might explode from being shaken up by her throw. For another, he didn't plan to drink tonight; he had to drive Luna and Sunny home.

'Come meet my best friend, Hyoyeon.' Yuri tugged him over to a shorter girl with long blonde hair. Sehun's skin tingled where Yuri's fingers touched him. 'Hyoyeon, this is the new guy,' Yuri said.

Sehun nodded at her. He vaguely recalled Chanyeol saying something about Hyoyeon in his rundown of DeVere High hierarchy. But he's been too distracted by Yuri to pay attention.

'You didn't tell me he was an Absolut cutie,' Hyoyeon purred. She smiled at Sehun.

Now here's a girl who seems friendly, Sehun thought. And she herself is a cutie. She had her hair tousled around her face, and skin that gleamed in the moonlight. Her brown eyes were bright with intelligence and playfulness. Sehun felt that this was a girl he should want to get to know better. But that electricity - that snap he got from Yuri - it just wasn't there with Yuri.

'Absolut is a word that you can only use once in a while,' Yuri answered. She flicked her eyes from the top of Sehun's head to his bare toes. 'but I guess he's worth it.'

With Yuri, the electricity was never far away. As she gave him her seal of approval, Sehun immediately got a rush. Okay, not everything happens instantaneously, he told himself firmly. Give Hyoyeon, like, five minutes, wouldya?

He turned to Hyoyeon and looked her up and down, in he hoped was a not-obvious way. She didn't have Yuri's curves, but her body was thin and athletic, and she moved with the grace of a dancer. He noticed a diamond sparkling from a ring in her belly button, and smiled. It was y.

'Did that hurt?' he asked, with a nod at Hyoyeon's navel.

'God, yes.' Hyoyeon ran one finger over her piercing. 'I wish someone had told me that before I got it! Do you like it?'

'Yeah,' he said honestly.

'Good,' Hyoyeon murmured. Somehow she'd gotten so close he could practically kiss her.

'Hey! Back off, loser,' a harsh voice interrupted.

Sehun turned in surprise. A lean guy with brown hair was glaring at him, his dark eyes boring into Sehun's.

'Excuse me?' Sehun said.

'You heard me. Back off.' The dude stepped closer - close enough for Sehun to smell his extreme beer breath. Then, weirdly, he began to giggle. 'Check it out! I totally freaked the new guy!' He slapped Sehun on the back in what was supposed to be a friendly way, but the blow was just a little too hard. 'Relax, man.'

'Who are you?' Sehun asked.

'Eunhyuk. Hyoyeon's boyfriend,' the guy said, his words slurring a tiny bit. 'Didn't she tell you about me?' He dropped his arm across Hyoyeon's shoulders and gave her a drunken kiss.

'Her boyfriend?' Sehun couldn't hide the astonishment in his voice. The guy looked way too moody to be with the beautiful, bubbly Hyoyeon.

'Yeah.' Eunhyuk looked Sehun up and down, his eyes hard even though the smile stayed on his face. 'What's so weird about that?'

'Nothing,' Sehun said quickly, trying to cover his surprise. 'I just didn't know.'

'Hyuk, let's go sit by the fire,' Hyoyeon suggested. 'You're wasted.'

'So what? ' he demanded. 'It's a party.'

Hyoyeon pulled him by the hand. 'Let's just go sit.' She gave Sehun a lingering smile as they slowly walked off.

Sehun shook his head. 'Let me guess. It's a prerequisite for every girl in the Heights to have a boyfriend?' he asked Yuri.

'Well, DeVere's a small school. And we are all the seniors,' Yuri pointed out. 'We've had plenty of time to hook up with one another. But you never know what might happen.'

Sehun gazed at her thoughtfully. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

'Stay away from Hyoyeon, though. Eunhyuk's the jealous type. And you're already on his bad side.'

Sehun gaped at her. 'I just met the guy. Why would I be on his bad side?'

'Because you were standing within a hundred yards of his woman,' Yuri said, rolling her eyes. 'Just ignore him.'

'The new boy has clearly hit his stride early. Look at him hanging with the most flammable girl at the party.' Chanyeol appeared in front of them, filming and narrating as usual. 'Unfortunately he's in for a disappointment. The lovely Yuri is as untouchable as she is irresistible,' Chanyeol continued.

'You're going to give me a copy of that tape, right?' Luhan asked, coming up behind Chanyeol. He plucked the camcorder from Chanyeol's grasp in one easy movement and turned it on the film junkie. 'Let's take a look behind the camera,' he said, imitating Chanyeol's narrator voice. 'Who is the mysterious voyeur that sneaks into our parties and films our every move?'

'I didn't sneak in,' Chanyeol said. 'I came with Sehun. Right?'

Sehun blinked in surprise. Chanyeol was crashing? He hadn't known that. Still, the guy was his first California friend. He had to back him up. 'Absolutely.'

Luhan had turned off the camera and handed it back to Chanyeol. 'I'm just kidding,' he said. 'The police chief's son is always welcome. It'll keep us from getting busted for underage drinking.'

'I'm flattered,' Chanyeol said dryly.

'What the hell are you thinking?' a guy shouted. 'I could kill you, loser!'

They all spun toward the bonfire. A bunch of kids were rushing to get away from the commotion, and for a moment Sehun couldn't see what was happening. Then the way cleared, leaving Eunhyuk and another guy alone in front of the fire. The guy towered over Eunhyuk. He looked like a football player. This was not going to be pretty.

'I'll kill you,' Eunhyuk shouted drunkenly. 'That's my girlfriend you're mauling.'

Sehun shot a look at Hyoyeon, who stood off to one side. She didn't seem particularly bothered by the scene. But Eunhyuk was almost apoplectic. He shoved the big guy in the chest.

'Hey, man, she asked me if I wanted to do a body shot,' the guy snapped. 'Why don't you yell at her?'

Eunhyuk didn't answer. He just charged at the bigger guy, ramming his head into the guy's stomach. Sehun expected him to bounce right off the shelf of muscle, but instead the big guy went down, crumpling to the sand as if he'd been stabbed in the gut.

Eunhyuk fell on top of him and began beating on the guy, punching him with both fists, moving faster than Sehun would've though possible. The mountain of flesh groaned and tried to push him off, but Eunhyuk didn't budge.

Sehun shook his head. The guy was twice as big as Eunhyuk, but Eunhyuk was going to beat him unconscious. Or worse. Sehun was running across the sand before he'd even made a conscious decision. He hit Eunhyuk from the side, using his own momentum to bear the other guy to the ground. They both fell hard, but Eunhyuk didn't seem to feel it. He has squirmed out from beneath Sehun in a second.

He turned and straddled Sehun's chest, eyes burning with rage. Lightning-fast, his hand shot out and grabbed Sehun's neck, squeezing with unbelievable strength.

Get him off you!  a voice screamed in Sehun's head. he forced his mind to remember to ju-jitsu training he'd had as a kid back in Michigan. Sehun knew that just because an opponent was stronger didn't mean you couldn't beat him. He simply had to out-think Eunhyuk. He concentrated on his own movements, forcing himself to ignore the crushing pain in his windpipe. Then he reached up and stabbed his thumbs into pressure points on either side of Eunhyuk's neck, just above his collarbones.

Eunhyuk's body went slack. Only for an instant, but it was enough. Sehun scrambled away and got to his feet, turning back to face his opponent. Amazingly, Eunhyuk was already on his feet already. He glared at Sehun, his dark eyes crazed. He's going to charge me, Sehun realized. Luckily all the ju-jitsu training came flooding back, and Sehun dropped into a fighting stance, ready for Eunhyuk's attack.

But just then, Luhan grabbed Eunhyuk in a headlock. He gave Sehun a grim smile. 'I'll take it from here.'

Sehun nodded, and stumbled away from the fight. But he could feel Eunhyuk's eyes on him. Filled with hate.

*Note - Now isn't Hyoyeon the little flirt huh? So much tension with Eunhyuk, her very jealous boyfriend. Careful Sehun, you might have a target on your back with Eunhyuk hating you~