** WARNING!! IMPLIED SCENES!!! YOU NO LIKE, YOU NO READ!! We good? Good.**

Emma's POV

It's so much easier when I'm asleep. In my dreams,  there's never any anger. I like it better in my dreams for that reason. I also like it better in dreams because I'm never sad.

Dreams are much less confusing than real life too, I find. In dreams, I'm never lost trying to navigate the river of life against the current of my emotions and between the banks of my thoughts. I'm never trying to figure out why I'm mad at someone, because I'm never mad!

In dreams, I have the perfect family. Mommy and Daddy love eachother, I have the sister I always wanted, and Youngbae and I never argue. Mommy and Daddy are proud of me, and everything is perfect, like how it was for the other kids at school!

Suddenly, visions of the times me and Billy spent together flash in front of my eyes. I squint, shake my head, and do anything else to wake up. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, in real life, and I cling to it, letting the constant, repetitive noise yank me out of sleep.

I open my eyes, and groggily fumble for my phone. It's a text from Minhyun.

Hey, I just left, I'll be there in fifteen!

I respond with a K and a ;).

I get dressed by the light of my phone, but my makeup has to be done in the bathroom with maximum light. I make a few quick fixes to my outfit, and then, I'm faced with a problem. How to leave? A few seconds of quiet reveal the gentle murmer of the television with the volume almost muted. So at least one of the guys is still up. That makes it a bit more complicated, doesn't it?

I look one last time at my reflection, making sure everything looks good. I look good, if I do say so myself.

I turn off the light, and open the door to my room. How the hell am I going to leave, if the guys are still awake?

I feel myself starting to panic. Cool air! Yes, that's what I need, cool air to clear my head! I clip-clop quietly in my heels to the windows. I open the windows, and face palm myself.

The ing blacony! I'd completely forgotten! I step out onto the balcony, really feeling the below freezing air on my bare legs, and look over the edge. Are those stairs? My eyes follow the blurry shape, and I find that they are, in fact, stairs. Specifically, they are emergency fire stairs. God, I think to myself as I begin to climb down the stairs, there may be hope for us yet!

I check my phone when I reach the ground. I have five minutes to make it to the street corner. That's plenty of time!

I walk at the shadows near my house til I reach the street. From there, I walk up the street back to the street corner. I walk as fast as possible in my heels. It is beyond freezing!

Anyway, to make a long story short, when I make it to Minhyun's car, my teeth are chattering, I'm pretty sure I got frostbite in my fingers, and my heart is trying to pound it's way out of my chest.

"Hey beautiful!" Minhyun greets me as I slide into the car. "You ready?"

I smile at him, working to stop my chattering teeth. "Of course!"

"Good! Leggo!" With that, Minhyun floors it, and we're off to his house. Minhyun blasted the radio, and we spent the ride singing along to a mix of Western and Korean pop.

I could hear the music from a block away. It sounded like a remix of 2NE1's I Am The Best. We pulled up to the house at five past the hour. The music is way louder here, but I don't mind. I plan on being way to drunk to even tell that there's music by the end of the hour, so it should all work out.

Minhyun smiles at me as he takes the key out of the ignition. He gets out, and walks over to my side, opening the door like a gentleman. "Shall we?"

"We shall!" I answer him, climbing out of the car and letting Minhyun me to the door.

... ... ...

No one's POV

Minhyun and Emma walked into the main room of the house, which was being used as a dance floor. Every man in the room noticed Emma, but only a few were stupid enough to flat out stare. Well, gawk was a better word. Minhyun made a mental note to have the gawkers booted.

Minhyun wanted to dance right away, but Emma was always self conscious about her dancing. She needed a drink or two until she would think that dancing was a good idea. So she looked pointedly at the bar in the kitchen. Minhyun got the hint.

"Stay here, alright?!" Minhyun shouted over the music to Emma as he led her away from the crowd to an almost quiet corner. "I'll be right back with the drinks!" Emma nodded, and watched as Minhyun walked away.

While she waited, Emma observed the people in the room, trying to figure out who, if anyone, was the most likely to remain semi-sober, and therefore be able to help her should she need it. She also kept an eye out for any exits.

When Emma had back up plans for her back up plans for her back up plans, she resigned herself to finding patterns in the wallpaper. Emma hated being a wallflower!

After Emma examined every single wall in her sight, she didn't know what to do. Minhyun was taking a long long long time! How long does it take to get a couple a' beers?! Emma thought to herself as she looked around for Minhyun. There he is! He was working his way through the crowd, holding two beers above the people's swaying arms.

Emma sighed in relief, both because of Minhyun's return, and because of the prospect of anxiety-reducing alchohol.

"Hey!" Emma shouted to Minhyun, taking a beer and checking to make sure it was still sealed tight.

"Miss me?" Minhyun asked, sliding close and putting an arm around Emma's waist. Little warning bells went off in Emma's head, but she repressed them, and took a sip of beer.

"I was beginning to get worried!" Emma replied, taking another sip of beer. It smelled funny and burned on the way down, but Emma didn't care much.

After a few more sips, Emma's confidence returned, and she gleefully dragged Minhyun out onto the dance floor. A few minutes into the dancing, Minhyun started getting a bit touchy, and more warning bells went off in Emma's head, but she convinced herself it was just the music.

Troublemaker's Now came on, and if Emma thought Minhyun was getting touchy before... After the song ended, Minhyun led Emma to the side for a breather, though Emma was sure that the breather was more for her benifit than his, because Minhyun had barely broken a sweat.

While Minhyun and Emma were talking, Minhyun was slowly dropping hints and flirty touches. By now, the warning bells in Emma's head were screeching, banging on Emma's head, demanding to be acknowledged. A sip of Minhyun's beer helped, since Emma had finished her own. And Emma wanted this.

Emma knew what Minhyun wanted, she had known it all along, and the alchohol had not made her forget. And Emma wanted the same thing. Emma wanted someone to touch her, and love her, and make her feel good. She wanted someone to call her y, and she wanted Minhyun.

So when Minhyun said, "Hey, babe, wanna get outta here?" Emma didn't hesitate to agree, following him up the steps to his room.

______________________________________

It's official.
When I introduced Minhyun, I thought, "Ok, he's not that much older than Emma, I wouldn't feel too uncomfortable writing romance for those two."
But then I wrote this chapter, and I'm like, "Ok, it's official. No romance. I want hate and anger in this story." So, this leads up to the hate and anger, even more than there already was!
I'm thinking of just having this be the story of how Emma learns to forgive and forget so to speak. But the whole forgivness thing won't come til later. Much later. Same for the whole forget thing.
Oh, right! I haven't really explained what Emma needs to forget in order to move past this phase of her life! That will come later. I promise.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and Happy New Year's!!