“Tarian.” Eunji is wearing that sickeningly sweet smile that means she wants something when she confronts Tarian in the hallway between classes on Friday.

Tarian smiles an exasperated sort of smile. “What do you want, Eunji?”

Her friend pouts, pink-painted lips puckering into a frown. “Why do I have to want something?” she demands.

“Oh, so you weren’t going to ask me for a favor?” Tarian laughs, putting her change into the vending machine and selecting a bottle of water.

Eunji hesitates. “Well, it’s not so much of a favor as…a request?”

Tarian laughs. “Okay, okay. What is it?”

“My aunt has to have emergency surgery so my parents are going to be with her, which means they’ll be gone tonight,” Eunji explains. “I hate staying home by myself. Please say you’ll spend the night.”

“Spending the night is no problem,” Tarian answers easily; this is a request she doesn’t mind agreeing to. “But you won’t be alone. Daehyun will be there, right? He lives there too, after all.”

Eunji rolls her eyes. “Who knows when the hell he’ll be home and when he’ll be out. He doesn’t have a normal schedule like most people. Anyway, it’s Friday so he’ll probably be out doing illegal things that I don’t even want to think about. But you’ll come stay with me?”

“Sure,” Tarian agrees. “We’ll just have to run to my house after school so I can grab some clothes and let Daeho know where I’ll be.”

Eunji grins. “Thanks, Tarian! You’re the best!”

Like Eunji had predicted, Daehyun is gone when they get back to the Jungs’ house. Tarian doesn’t complain about this; Daehyun’s absence means that the rest of the B.A.P. are also happily gone. Eunji orders them a pizza and they curl up on the sofa to watch a drama that Eunji owns the box set of.

It’s a little past eleven when the doorbell rings.

Eunji pauses the show, looking confused. “Who on earth can that be?” she demands, checking the time on her phone as if to confirm that it’s way too late for any visitors. “God, if Daehyun has told some of his scummy friends where we live, I’m going to kill him.”

“Maybe it’s the cops bringing him back in handcuffs,” Tarian suggests.

Eunji barks out a laugh. “That honestly wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

The two of them go to the door together; it’s late and, if it actually is somebody that knows Daehyun, Tarian’s ability to break noses could come in quite handy.

Fortunately, when they pull open the door, they find none other than Minhyuk, Yonghwa, Jungshin, and Jonghyun.

Eunji squeals excitedly and throws her arms around her boyfriend’s neck. “What are you guys doing here?” she demands, peppering his face with kisses.

“Your parents are out of town, so we wanted to keep you guys company,” Minhyuk grins, arms slipping automatically around his girlfriend’s waist. “We figured you’d feel more comfortable with a bunch of guys here to protect you.”

Yonghwa holds up a plastic bag from the convenience store down the street. “And we brought booze,” he adds with a grin.

Tarian can’t help but laugh. “Well, sounds like we have ourselves a little party.”

They settle around the coffee table in the living room, the drama turned off and put away. Eunji produces shot glasses from somewhere in the kitchen and Jungshin pours them all liberal shots of the soju Yonghwa takes out of the plastic bag.

“To friends,” Jonghyun toasts.

“And boyfriends,” Eunji adds with a meaningful look at Tarian.

“And boyfriends,” Jonghyun amends with a laugh.

They clink their glasses and toss back the shot. The first of many during the next several hours.

It’s close to dawn by the time they finish off the seventh – and last – bottle of soju. Eunji has fallen asleep in her boyfriend’s arms, Minhyuk snoozing against the couch. Jonghyun is also asleep, curled up in a little ball at the far end of the sofa.

“So, should we watch a movie?” Yonghwa suggests, crawling forward on his hands and knees to check out the collection of DVDs. Tarian pointedly tries not to look at the way his tight jeans stretch across  his – he’s got one hell of a nice .

“Something scary,” Jungshin suggests, but then his phone goes off. He glances at the caller ID and then groans. “Ugh, this could take a while. I’ll be back in a bit.” And he goes into the kitchen to answer the phone.

Tarian is left alone with Yonghwa, and it’s strangely awkward. It’s the first time she’s been this drunk around him, and she figures anything could happen in a situation like this.

“So,” Yonghwa drawls, and it’s obvious he’s as nervous about the situation as Tarian is – probably even more so. “Do you want to watch a scary movie?”

“Okay,” Tarian agrees. She’s honestly really tired – it is nearly dawn by now, after all – and she knows she’ll probably fall asleep no matter what movie is on.

Yonghwa seems to sense this, and he gives her a gentle sort of smile before reaching up and brushing back a lone strand of blonde hair. “You’re tired,” he says. “You should go to sleep.”

She smiles ruefully. “Am I that obvious?”

“A little,” he chuckles. “But it’s okay. It’s late and we’ve had a lot to drink. I’m already dreading the hangover that’s going to come in a few hours. The sooner we go to bed, the easier the hangover will be.”

“Fair enough,” she agrees, getting to her feet and stretching. “I’m going to sleep upstairs in Eunji’s room, though. I don’t do the sleeping on the floor thing.”

“I’ll walk you,” he offers, also climbing to his feet.

She laughs but allows him to lace their fingers together anyway. “Are you afraid I’m going to get lost on the way upstairs?”

“No, I’m just being a gentleman,” he tosses back with a smile.

Tarian loves the easy relationship the two of them have, she thinks as they climb the stairs to the second floor. They’re comfortable enough with one another to joke around, but she still manages to get little butterflies in his stomach when he’s near – something that doesn’t happen often for Tarian.

He stops in the doorway, being ever the gentleman and not crossing the threshold into a girl’s room. “Well, I guess I’ll bid you a goodnight here,” he says, sounding for all the world like he’d rather stay up and watch the sun rise with her.

Tarian hesitates. “You know, the bed is really big and it’s not like Eunji is going to be sleeping in it tonight. You can sleep here. You know, instead of sleeping on the floor downstairs.”

Yonghwa hesitates. “That wouldn’t make you uncomfortable or anything?”

Tarian laughs. “Please, you’re such a gentleman that I don’t think you’ll try anything until I ask you to.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agrees with a bashful chuckle.

“So come on,” she offers, pulling back the covers and patting the spot in the bed beside her. “It sure as hell beats sleeping on the floor.”

So Yonghwa gives in and comes into the room, climbing under the covers fully dressed. Tarian turns off the light and bids him a sleepy goodnight. In the dark, he reaches for her hand, and she falls asleep with their fingers laced together.

She is woken by Eunji a few hours later, who is both speechless and filled with a million questions when she finds Tarian and Yonghwa in bed together.

“You…him…bed…what?” she splutters, her hair all sticking up on one side and her makeup smeared beyond repair.

Tarian takes that as her cue to peace out. “Tell everyone bye for me,” she says, searching for her overnight bag. “I need a shower.”

“You can’t leave now,” Eunji says in a whisper that’s easily loud enough to wake up the whole house. “What is Yonghwa going to say when he wakes up and you’re gone? Did you sleep with him? In my bed?”

Tarian ignores the latter two questions, which don’t really merit an answer in her opinion. “I promised my sister we’d do something today,” she lies. “So I’ll see you later.”

Naeun is having lunch in the kitchen when Tarian comes into the apartment half an hour later. “Wow, you look…like you had a good time last night,” her sister says by way of greeting.

“I know I look like hell,” Tarian groans. “I drank too much and then I ran away because I woke up in bed with Yonghwa.”

Naeun knocks her plate off the floor, sending what’s left of her sandwich sliding across the wood. “You what?” she repeats incredulously, eyes easily the size of saucers.

Tarian rolls her eyes. “God, you sound like Eunji. No, I didn’t have with him. We just slept in the same bed. That’s all.”

Naeun clutches her chest as if she’s recovering from a heart attack. “Jeez, unnie, you’re so brave!”

“Stupid is more like it,” Tarian replies wearily, sinking into the chair opposite her sister. “Anyway, I told Eunji that I had plans with you today so I could bail. Want to do something together so I’m not a liar?”

Naeun laughs, kneeling down to clean up the remnants of her lunch that she’d spilled. “Sure. What should we do?”

Tarian has to think about it. Without any spending money between the two of them, their choices of activities are fairly limited. Plus, since it’s a Saturday, everywhere they go will be super crowded and, as hung over as she is, Tarian doesn’t really want to deal with crowds. In fact, the pounding behind her eyeballs is sort of suggesting that she doesn’t do anything.

“How about I take a shower and then sleep until it’s dark, and then we do out dancing?” Tarian suggests.

Naeun looks shocked at once. “D-dancing?” she repeats. “Like, at a club? But, unnie, I’m not old enough!”

“That never stops anyone,” Tarian answers, getting laboriously to her feet. “We’ll go out tonight and have loads of fun. But for now, I’m going to take a shower. I can smell the alcohol on myself, so I know it’s bad.”

One shower and a quick video chat date with her best friend Althea back in Wales, Tarian falls asleep in her own bed. It’s much later when she wakes up, and, when she checks her phone, she sees that she has a missed call from Yonghwa and two texts from him. The first one is asking where she’d run off to so quickly without saying goodbye, and the second one is apologizing for sounding needy or pushy in his last text. Tarian has to laugh, because only Yonghwa would worry about things like that.

She shoots him a message back explaining that she’d gone home because she had plans with her sister and then she’d fallen asleep and so she hadn’t heard her phone. Yonghwa replies almost instantaneously, assuring her that he understands and suggesting that they have another rehearsal for the talent show soon.

Daeho is home when Tarian finally wanders out of her bedroom, dressed in baggy sweatpants and a tank top. She’s always a little surprised when she runs into her father; he’s home so infrequently since he works so much that she sometimes forgets he lives there too.

“Tarian,” he greets her warmly, bringing plates of steaming pasta to the tiny table, already crowded with utensils and drinks. “You’re just in time for dinner! I was about to send Naeun to wake you.”

“Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night so I sort of crashed today,” she admits, looking over the meal spread out on the table. “This looks delicious.”

“I remember you saying how much you liked pasta, so I thought you’d like this,” Naeun admits with a shy little smile, and Tarian is reminded yet again that having a ltitle sister isn’t all that bad.

The table is too crowded when the three of them squeeze in with their plates and all their side dishes, but Tarian doesn’t mind it as much now as when she’d first arrived. Maybe she is finally starting to settle in, she thinks to herself.

“Oh, Daddy,” Naeun says, as if remembering an afterthought. “Unnie and I are going out tonight, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.” Daeho beams as if he couldn’t be happier that his daughters are hanging out together willingly. “What are you going to do?”

Tarian quickly kicks Naeun under the table to shut her up before she can answer. She likes her sister – she does – but Naeun is a bit naïve and Tarian seriously doubts if Daeho will be okay with them going to a club. Technically they’re both underage, so it’s probably for the best if he doesn’t know exactly where they’re going.

“One of my friends is throwing a party,” Tarian explains. “It’s nothing big, just some girls getting together to watch movies and gossip and stuff. But we’ll be out pretty late.”

“Just be careful,” Daeho replies, accepting the story without a second thought. Although, Tarian thinks wryly, Naeun has probably never lied to him in her entire life, so of course he wouldn’t hesitate to take her story at face value. “And have a good time.”

Thankfully Naeun isn’t a complete idiot, because she doesn’t ask Tarian about the little white lie. She just dutifully puts on a cute little skirt and a frilly pink blouse and the two of them head out together just after midnight.

“I’ve never been dancing at a club before,” she admits a little nervously, twisting her necklace around and around her finger.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Tarian answers. “Just drink what guys buy for you but don’t let them touch you. Easy enough to remember.”

“Y-yeah,” Naeun agrees, but she looks even more nervous now.

The club they end up going to isn’t that crowded when they arrive, but it’s in Gangnam so Tarian knows it’ll be packed so tightly that they’ll barely be able to move in a few hours. Tarian – who is never asked for her ID because she’s a foreigner – is admitted without comment, and they only hesitate for a second over Naeun before letting her in as well. Then they’re inside and buying drinks from the bar – something fruity and not that strong for Naeun, a beer for Tarian.

“So, what now?” Naeun asks uncertainly, sipping at her drink. The music is so loud that she has to shout.

“Drink up and let’s go dance,” Tarian suggests. “But together, so guys don’t bother us.”

“Good plan,” Naeun agrees.

So, once they’ve finished their drinks, they find their way out onto the dance floor. Everyone gives them a wide berth – being a foreigner in a place where there aren’t that many foreigners tends to do that at first – and then the boys close in to try and dance with them. Naeun dutifully clings to Tarian and so the two refuse to get separated, even when several guys ask for a dance – mostly in broken English.

It’s probably close to three o’clock in the morning when the two are interrupted – this time by a girl rather than a guy. She’s tall, shapely, and downright gorgeous. She’s wearing intense black eyeliner and her light-colored hair is done up expertly. She’s sort of a goddess, and Tarian has no idea why she’s planted herself directly between Naeun and herself.

“Can I help you?” Tarian asks. She’s had enough to drink that whatever manners she has have pretty much flown out the window. “We’re dancing here, in case you didn’t notice.”

The girl with the supermodel face doesn’t look amused, nor does she acknowledge Tarian’s question. “You’re Tarian, right?”

To say Tarian is surprised is something of an understatement. “Uh, yeah?”

“That’s what I thought.” The girl gives her a onceover with a smirk that clearly states how unimpressed she is with what she sees. “You’re an ugly little thing, aren’t you?”

“Hey!” Naeun exclaims indignantly. “That’s not very nice!” Her cheeks are red and it’s way past her bedtime and it’s obvious that she’s had more than enough to drink.

Tarian puts up a hand to stop her half-sister. “Do I know you or something?” she demands. “Or do you have a thing for going around insulting strangers?”

“Here’s the thing,” the girl drawls, and they’re attracting something of an audience by this point. “You’re not really a stranger. Everyone is talking about you.”

“Oh, is that so?” Tarian replies, quirking an eyebrow in amusement. “Well, I can’t really control what other people are saying, you know. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to hanging out with my friend.”

The girl’s hand on Tarian’s arm stops her from brushing past, long bejeweled nails digging into her flesh. “Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart,” she says, and her voice is like acid. “Whatever you think you might have with Yongguk, you need to think again. He’s just using you.”

Tarian stares at the girl in genuine confusion for a moment. “Yongguk?” she repeats. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The girl sneers, and she’s not nearly so pretty with such an ugly expression on her face. “Don’t play dumb,” she laughs bitterly. “You clearly think that you and Yongguk are dating, but he’s not interested in a stupid little thing like you.”

Tarian jerks her arm away with her own little laugh. “And you are clearly incredibly mistaken. I don’t think I’m dating Yongguk. I don’t even ing like the guy.”

The girl smirks. “Good. Because you don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. You’ll stay away from him if you know what’s good for you.”

Tarian figures she’s managed to stay fairly calm throughout the majority of this – absolutely ridiculous – conversation, but this last comment pisses her off. “Excuse me,” she says. “But are you threatening me?”

The girl shrugs, seeming pleased to have finally gotten a rise out of Tarian. “Take it however you want,” she says casually.

“Well let me just tell you something,” Tarian replies. Her tone is casual but there’s a dangerous lilt to it that any sane person would know to fear. “You can’t tell me what to do. You don’t even ing know me. So bring your worst, . I’ll kick your any day of the week.”

Apparently that’s enough to set the other girl off. With a wild sort of squeal, she lunges forward, talon-like fingers tangling in Tarian’s hair. Before Tarian can get more than one good punch in, though, strong arms are wrapping around her waist and dragging her away from the pretty girl who is now sporting a busted lip. Somewhere in the background she vaguely registers that Naeun is screaming.

“What the , CL?” Yongguk’s voice sounds in Tarian’s ear, and she realizes with dismay that it’s Yongguk who has pulled her away. Jongup had a firm grip on the other girl, who looks furious that she’s currently bleeding from her split lip. “You starting fights in clubs now? That’s a new low, even for you.”

“ off,” the girl, CL, snarls, shaking Jongup off her. “Are you dating this or what? Because she’s going around telling everyone that she is.”

“What the hell!” Tarian exclaims, and it’s probably a good thing that Yongguk still has a good grip on her or else she’d be throwing more punches. “I haven’t said any such thing. I told you I wasn’t dating him!”

“Yeah, everyone knows that Bunny denies everything even though she’s spent the night with hyung before and everyone thinks they’re dating,” Jongup chirps happily.

Tarian groans. She sort of wants to punch Jongup in the face as well because he is definitely not making the situation better.

“Unnie is dating Jung Yonghwa,” Naeun speaks up bravely from where she’s standing beside Daehyun.

The girl, CL, doesn’t look placated by this information. In fact, she still sort of looks like she wants to rip Tarian’s eyeballs out with her too-long nails.

“And what’s it to you?” Yongguk demands, looking at the girl with disgust. “We broke up, CL. Whether I’m dating her or not isn’t any of your business.”

“Don’t be like that, baby,” CL says, changing tact immediately. “I know you didn’t really mean those things you said. We can pretend like nothing happened. We were so good together.”

“It’s been four months since you broke up,” Daehyun points out, flicking the girl in the forehead with a grimace. “Get over it already, CL.” 

“ you, Daehyun,” CL hisses.

“No thanks,” he replies without hesitation. “I don’t feel like slumming it any time soon.”

Yongguk rolls his eyes at the childish exchange taking place. “Get over it, CL. We’re over, so peace out and quit harassing people.”

CL’s lower lip trembles like she might be on the verge of tears – quite an impressive array of emotions, Tarian thinks. “You’re not really dating her, are you? Yongguk, you can’t seriously be dating her.”

“Who I do and don’t date is none of your business,” Yongguk replied with an incredulous little chuckle, as if he can’t believe that this roundabout conversation is still happening. “I broke up with you. You’re old news.”

The girl’s eyes flash dangerously. “You can’t date her,” she replies stubbornly.

Apparently Yongguk hates being told what he can and cannot do almost as much as Tarian does because, as soon as the words leave CL’s mouth, he grabs Tarian and kisses her, hard. Not an innocent kiss either, but the kind that one feels all the way down to their toes, the kind where lips meet seamlessly and tongues tease someone else’s teeth. And Tarian has had enough to drink that she does nothing to stop it.

CL storms away before Yongguk pulls away, knocking a whole tray of empty beer bottles over in her anger.

It isn’t until Daehyun makes a gagging sound that Tarian comes back to her senses.

“,” she growls, slapping Yongguk. If the scene before wasn’t enough to attract attention, the resounding slap certainly is. They now have the undivided attention of everyone who has a clear view of what’s going on.

Then, grabbing Naeun by the hand, she storms out of the club, dragging her sister behind her.

For the record, I love CL. Just so everyone knows.