Chapter 9 - Crowded

I started to play with my hair. Seokjin however, took that habit of me as an attempt to flirt with him since he would flirt back. He kept complimenting me while giving his friends this knowing look I couldn’t explain. It resulted in them smirking at me. I wasn’t really comfortable with it, besides I didn’t take compliments from guys well at all. I just gave him this awkward smile while ruining my hair further.

I’ve known Seokjin since the beginning of high school. He had been in my class after all. We had talked a little but most of the time it was about school and homework. He would ask me what was assigned if he didn’t pay any attention to what had been said – which was often I noticed. During PE I was often teamed up with him whenever we would play a team sport. I noticed how he always tried to prove himself when around certain - popular - people, just as Soojin had observed. He was doing that now too.

Sometimes he would make complimenting jokes whenever somebody in our class would mention me. I remember this one time I got 100 points for this English test and a classmate had wondered out loud how it was even possible for somebody to get such a score. Seokjin had looked at me back then before saying: ‘’Smart and pretty, you got the whole package.’’ Of course it had been a joke, everyone had laughed which had resulted in a happy Seokjin. He did make those jokes more than once though.

Seokjin interrupted my thoughts: ‘’But seriously, I always thought you were pretty but now… now you just, wow… you look-‘’

I kept my eyes on the crowd inside the residence while he was talking to me. Fortunately I spotted Chaerin and Jea. They looked like they lost something, like they lost me. I quickly gave Seokjin a small smile while interrupting his sentence: ‘’Thanks, I’m going to head inside. I will catch you later or something.’’

And off I was. I was almost running inside that’s how fast I went. I squirmed towards Chaerin and Jea before I would lose sight of them again. I did feel a little bad for leaving Seokjin so abruptly, but I got uncomfortable from his constant gaze on me. His friends weren’t exactly helping with their smirks.

‘’Aerin!’’ Jea half yelled when the distance between us closed. Chaerin followed after her.

‘’Where were you?’’ Chaerin asked worried.

‘’I… was just chatting with Seokjin,’’ I replied casually. I left the part of him halting me and his flirting out, for no particular reason. She eyed me suspiciously but shrugged it off. Her eyes narrowed when she looked at my hair.

‘’Is it bad?’’ I asked worried. I was glad we were able to hear each other over the music, it wasn’t too soft nor too loud.

She shrugged, ‘’See for yourself.’’ The way she had shrugged told me that it had to be bad and it had been my own fault.

‘’it’s not that bad,’’ Jea comforted.

‘’I’m going to the bathroom, stay here and don’t move!’’ I ordered before walking away from them.

I walked a little around the crowded house but the house was just too big so I got lost. At some point I was at the stairs but doubted if I was allowed to go up. I saw some people hanging on the stairs and in the hallway above however so I assumed it would be okay to do so. When I got there I spotted this queue at this door. That must have been the bathroom, I reasoned. I waited a while before it was my time to go in. There was a big mirror fortunately. My hair wasn’t all that bad, typical Chaerin to make a big deal out of nothing. I still decided to comb it straight though because I was tired of worrying over it. I did it quickly and tied it in a loose ponytail. When I exited the bathroom I met Choi Yuna. Her cheeks were slightly reddened.

‘’Aerin!’’ She greeted excitedly. Had she been drinking? Most likely.

‘’Yuna,’’ I greeted back with a small smile.

‘’Are you having fun?’’ She almost yelled. I flinched. The music wasn’t that loud, especially not upstairs, so I don’t know why she was half yelling.

‘’I just got here… but I guess it’s nice,’’ I replied awkwardly.

‘’Oh,’’ was all she said before a silence fell upon us. ‘’I’m sorry about that incident with Daehyun by the way,’’ she continued, trying to keep a serious face. She was obviously tipsy, to say the least.

‘’What incident?’’ I tried to recall an incident but didn’t know what she was talking about at all.

‘’You know… asking you to give him a ride,’’ she answered. She called that an incident? It was a weird request but not to the extent she had to apologize for it, especially not at a party like this one.

‘’It’s okay, it was-‘’ I tried to reassure her before she interrupted me and began to babble further.

‘’I was supposed to accompany him to the restaurant. I work there you know and my shift would start anyway. But when we checked the bus schedule on his phone it said that the bus would arrive within ten minutes or something! We would never make it if we had to walk! And… otherwise he had to wait for a whole hour and he hates waiting. Seriously he gets sooo grumpy when he has to wait! And then I saw you… with your funny bike and I thought I would just ask you… sorry,’’ she hiccupped.

What was so funny about my bike? It was a normal bike. I figured she was out of it and therefore saying nonsense. She wasn’t tipsy but definitely drunk, I concluded.

‘’It's okay,’’ I only said with a fake smile. I really wanted to get away, Jea and Chaerin were waiting for me. Yuna, however, kept chatting about nonsense. 

‘’I’m searching for Daehyun actually… have you seen him?’’ She asked at some point. I shook my head while answering her a no.

She nodded. ‘’I’m going to search for him in the backyard… if… if you find him can you tell him to come see me?’’ She asked with a goofy smile. She didn’t even give me a chance to answer her, since she was already walking towards the stairs. I stared at her back and realized that only girls like Choi Yuna could still look amazing when being absolutely drunk. I worried for her though, would she be okay?

I shook that worry away because I had problems of my own. That little chat session with Yuna took some minutes so when I came downstairs I couldn’t find Jea nor Chaerin. I searched for them but it was just too crowded. I didn’t search all of the rooms I must admit, but that was because I got hopeless from the crowd anyway and I figured I wouldn’t find them any time soon. It didn’t help that the house was huge, they could be anywhere.

I sighed again and walked towards the table with drinks. I got myself something and headed upstairs again. It was more peaceful there and the crowd downstairs was giving me a headache. Some people were making out in the hall, not having a care in the world. I just wanted to get away from people like them so I walked towards this random room. It was the room the furthest away from the stairs, so I figured there must be a balcony there. Which rich house wouldn’t have a balcony after all? It was quite insolent of me to intrude rooms but at this point I didn’t really care. I felt relieved when I found out I was right about the balcony. It wasn’t really a balcony, because it was roofed and had a glass wall where normally the handrail would be. You could see it as this indoor balcony.

The relief I felt just now was gone rather quickly when I spotted  Daehyun. He was looking through the glass, a drink in his hand, his back facing me but his head slightly turned which caused me to recognize him immediately. He hadn’t noticed me yet so I tried to escape before he would actually see me. He turned around just in time to spot me however. He had this frown on his face but it disappeared when he noticed me. Now that he stood before me I noticed his appearance. His hair was styled up and he wore a white button up with black jeans and white sneakers. It was casual and chic all at once and I must say he looked good, very good.

‘’It’s you, bike girl,’’ he said while scanning my whole appearance. I felt self-conscious again, just like I did the first time I met him. I found it unbelievable how he referred to me as bike girl. Actually I was a little offended. Was I, and my name, not memorable enough? I gave him a small quick smile and was about to leave when he stopped me by grabbing my wrist. I looked at his hand on my wrist with wide eyes before I looked at him, puzzled.

‘’Stay Aerin,’’ he simply requested before letting go.

It seemed like he did know my name after all. 

‘’Um… okay,’’ I gave in. Why did I always give in to him?

Some company wouldn’t be bad and the chance of me actually finding my friends again were slim, I reasoned. What else was I supposed to do at this party, search for them while making a fool out of myself? I sat down on one of the sunbeds and sipped my drink. It was definitely liquor and it was quite strong too but it tasted pretty good.

He sat down too, his eyes never leaving me. I got nervous because of those eyes, they were so intense I felt like he could see through my soul or something. I tried to grab a lock of my hair only to be reminded that it was tied now. Therefore my little habit couldn’t ease my nervousness.

‘’Yuna is looking for you,’’ I said to break the tension that apparently only I felt whenever I was with him. ‘’She said she would wait for you in the backyard.’’

He seemed irritated for a couple of seconds and even rolled his eyes. It was weird, I thought they got along well. He took a big gulp from his red cup, almost like a shot, before answering.

‘’Let her look then,’’ he shrugged.

‘’Meanie,’’ I joked after a couple of seconds of silence. He started to laugh that nice laugh of his and I started to smile. I don’t know why I always felt awkward whenever I would see him. He was always rather nice. I relaxed more - which I always did, when we would actually start to talk - before sipping my drink again, the strong taste lingered in my mouth.

‘’She can be quite annoying when drunk,'' he stated.

‘’I noticed,’’ I replied almost too quickly.

‘’You did?’’ He asked amused.

‘’Yea she was just… you know saying stuff that didn’t make sense. She was suddenly apologizing to me because of that ride I gave you. It was quite random if you ask me since it wasn’t really a burden,’’ I answered casually.

‘’Yea you actually liked holding on to my waist for that brief moment, didn’t you?’’ He asked in a teasing way. This guy sure had some nerve, but it was charming in a way so I just laughed and went along with him.

‘’Yea sure,’’ I answered before gulping my drink again. It was a rather big gulp this time.

‘’You don’t have to drink because you’re getting nervous around me, you know. I won’t bite, unless you want me to.’’ He had said it with a smirk and it made me wonder if Jung Daehyun was always this playful or if he was just affected by the alcohol.

I said nothing and just stared at him with narrowed eyes. He bursted out in laughter when he saw my expression.

‘’I’m joking, can’t you take a joke?’’ He asked, still laughing.

‘’Can’t take a joke? I was just thinking about where you should bite me.’’ I teased back.

I was surprised I said such a thing. Was this considered jokingly flirting? It was very unlike me to act so playful towards a guy. Maybe it was because he looked so goddamn good today - or always actually. I felt myself getting more relaxed and carefree around him and I didn’t know whether that was because of the alcohol or because of him, but a big part of my mind was telling me to stop thinking about every little thing and just go with the flow. He scooted closer to me, our knees were touching now. I noticed a faint smell of alcohol on him, since he was so close. He pointed towards my lip.

‘’How about here?’’ He asked with a smirk. I pressed my hands against his chest to push him away, scared of the sudden proximity. He backed down and sat in his original spot.

‘’Are you always this playful towards girls?’’ I asked while chuckling.

He shrugged. ‘’Only towards pretty ones.’’ He had said it like it was the most natural thing to say. I, however, was at a loss of words. What does one say to that anyway?

‘’You don’t take compliments very well,’’ he noted at my lack of speech.

‘’I don’t take pretty lies very well,’’ I answered honestly. Compliments from somebody like Jung Daehyun felt out of place, somehow. He tilted his head to have a good look at me, he seemed serious.

‘’I’m not the type of person to lie. What is with girls denying a compliment? You want me to say it again to convince you that you’re pretty? Is it to boost your self-esteem more or something?’’ He said bluntly.

I must say I was pretty offended at his comment. He was basically implying I acted like I knew I was pretty but I wanted to hear it again and therefore denied it. Girls like that were known as attention seekers. I kept quiet because I honestly didn’t know what to say. Daehyun was watching me carefully like he wanted to read me. I tried to keep a poker face, acting like I wasn’t offended while I actually was.

He was about to open his mouth when I cut him off. ‘’I think you should search for Yuna.’’ I said coldly, trying to change the subject. I didn’t mean to sound cold because I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of letting him know he could affect my mood in the slightest way, but it didn’t work anyway. I tried to stay positive however and added a fake smile after my statement.

‘’I think we should stay here and have our own party,’’ he replied casually.

This guy was truly unbelievable, indirectly insulting me and then act like nothing had happened. It was then that I started to question myself however, was I overreaction about his comment? I shrugged it off and tried to keep my nice act. I shouldn’t be offended by his words, they were just mere words after all.

‘’How do you want to do that?’’ I asked suppressing my irritation.

‘’We will play a game,’’ he answered simply.

‘’A game? We don’t have anything to play with here,’’ I said with a frown.

‘’Of course we do, we have you, me and our imagination,’’ he said with a smirk - he smirked a lot I’ve noticed. What was this guy even saying? What type of games - other then erted ones - needed those three things.

He saw the crease between my eyebrows and started to laugh. ‘’Don’t worry, it’s a fun game,’’ he reassured with a boyish smile.

‘’Well what is it then?’’ I asked impatiently.

‘’The random game, you know it?’’

I’ve never heard of such game before so I shook my head.

‘’You say a word and I reply to that with a random word. That word has to be linked to the word you said, somehow. How it’s linked is up to your imagination. For example I say… movie and you say cinema. That is a pretty obvious one though but it could also be… movie and then whatever random thing comes to your mind, like… car.’’ I frowned, this game seemed pretty lame.

‘’Car?’’ I asked.

‘’Yea, because in the States you have those movies you watch in a car, right? It can be random like that,’’ he tried to explain so I would understand.

‘’How can such a game be fun?’’ I asked him, my frown still visible on my face.

‘’It just is,’’ he shrugged before walking towards the door post, ‘’especially with some more drinks.’’ His smirk reappeared. ‘’Wait here, I’ll get us some.’’

He probably saw the hesitant look in my eyes because he started to speak up again. ‘’Only two mixed cups for the both of us,’’ he reassured. I still looked hesitant. ‘’I will never talk to you again if I come back and you’re not here anymore,’’ he warned before he left me alone.

This was crazy, was he trying to get me drunk? I thought about leaving but somehow Daehyun’s threat got to me. I wasn’t prepared to never talk to him again. He had brought some refreshment in my life somehow. I decided to stay.

After waiting for some minutes I got my phone  from my clutch to kill some time until he would be back. I had a message from Jea. And that's when I realized I could have texted them all along. How stupid to forget about my phone. I never forgot about my phone...

I opened Jea's message:

Jea: Where r u?

Jea: ?????

Jea: Aerin??

I was about to reply when Daehyun walked in with two cups in his hand. I put my phone back into my clutch and instantly forgot about the message. He grinned before handing one cup to me.

‘’Are you trying to get me drunk?’’ I asked with a frown.

‘’Depends, will it work on you?’’ He answered with a grin.

‘’Probably not,’’ I said while shrugging. I had a high tolerance and I wasn’t really the type to drink lots just for fun, I never saw the fun in that anyway. I would most likely embarrass myself and feel miserable at the end of the night, or the morning after. A girl has to know her limits. Besides I wasn't Choi Yuna: I wouldn't look amazing while being drunk.

Daehyun took a big gulp of his drink, almost finishing the cup in one go. He was a pro at this apparently because the cups were rather big and I, for example, couldn’t do such a thing without puking. I was the type to take little sips once in a while.

‘’Okay, I’ll start,’’ he said while thinking very hard. A good twenty seconds passed and he was still thinking.

‘’You’re obviously troubled, I’ll start,’’ I interrupted his thinking. I looked around but there wasn’t really anything on this balcony to inspire me. I thought about my arrival here and somehow a random word popped up. A very random one, that is.

‘’Bike,’’ I started.

‘’Park Aerin,’’ he said. His reply made me frown. Apparently everything was allowed to say, even names. Well, it was 'the random game' after all.

‘’Very nice.’’ I chose to compliment myself.

He smirked before replying: ‘’Jung Daehyun.’’ He had done the same.

I thought for a good couple of seconds. There were so much things to say right now, I played on safe though.

‘’Shoes,’’ I replied before downing my drink.

‘’Really?’’ He interrupted the game. ‘’You got nothing better to think about when you think of me?’’ His smile was getting wider and wider, probably because he was getting - at least - a little tipsy by now.

‘’You mentioned me when I started with bike!’’ I laughed. ‘’You got nothing better to think about when you think of me?’’ I mimicked him in a mocking way.

He only smiled, ‘’Nice on, Park, clever…’’

We continued the game for some minutes. It was indeed a lame game but it had been fun. Maybe because of the alcohol, maybe because I was spending time with someone so bold and carefree as Daehyun. Honestly I didn’t know at the moment. All I knew was that it felt good. We laughed throughout the whole game like we were stoned, while we were just a little bit tipsy in reality. Daehyun would come up with the most random answers. I wondered where he got it from. In this moment I almost forgot about Chaerin and Jea.

Daehyun stood up abruptly when our game had ended and walked towards the glass, staring into the distance. I followed him and stood beside him.

‘’What are you looking at?’’ I asked.

‘’You can see the whole backyard from here,’’ he said as he pointing in its direction. I looked through the glass. The backyard was big. It was especially apparant from up here since you had a clear view. I spotted some students chatting, some dancing to the music which couldn’t really be heard from this indoor balcony. My eyes widened when I spotted Chaerin, she was laughing happily with none other than Bang Yongguk.

‘’She really did it,’’ I muttered to myself.

‘’What did you say?’’ Daehyun asked while trying to follow my gaze. At some point he figured where I was looking at. He began to smirk.

‘’Does she like him?’’ He asked while we were both looking at the two of them.

I shrugged pretending like I didn’t know a thing, you weren’t supposed to tell on your friends. It was this code and the little amount of alcohol in my system couldn’t change anything about that. Especially not in this case, since Yongguk was Daehyun’s friend.

‘’Hyung likes her though,’’ he blurted. Apparently this code didn’t exist for guys or he was just bolder when he drank some alcohol.

Both our eyes widened at his statement. ‘’,’’ he cursed while looking away. ‘’Please don’t tell.’’ He had said it casually though: he wasn’t even pleading me to keep this a secret.

I looked at him, amused. ‘’Make me.’’

‘’I thought we were friends. Friends do things for each other out of kindness right?’’ He asked with a smile.

‘’Oh… so we are friends now?’’ I asked amused.

‘’Yes we are, unless you want to be more,’’ he teased while closing the distance between us.

‘’Don’t get ahead of yourself. Being friends is cool,’’ I said while pushing him away playfully.

‘’Are you friendzoning me, Park Aerin?’’ He asked, faking his astonishment.

‘’Yes, I am,’’ I chuckled.

Apparently we were friends now.

______________________________