Jackson’s hands held tightly onto MinHee’s hips. “Dance with me.” He whispered, and MinHee’s eyes widened. She’d told herself, when the Minwoo incident happened, that she didn’t need him, and she didn’t need to hide anymore. That she didn’t need to shy away from men because she was afraid to be hurt again. But that wasn’t why she wanted to shy away from Jackson.

The music shifted to a beat that thrummed hard in MinHee’s core, making her unsure if her stomach was turning or if it was just the music slamming into her. If she danced with him, would she regret it later? Would he hate her later, when she ran away from him again?

She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. His eyes widened, as if he’d really and truly expected her to run away from him. They moved together, dancing in absolute silence as the music blared around them, and bodies collided all around. MinHee stared at his chest, or his neck, anywhere but his eyes. Jackson watched her intently, as if waiting for any signal that he needed to stop and let her go.

He took a chance and spun her, throwing her out and pulling her back in. He smiled, and MinHee found her lips twitching up. Jackson’s eyes searched hers and he leaned forward, making MinHee nervous. His cheek brushed hers and his breath stirred her hair. “Let me know,” He whispered in her ear, making her shiver. “If you need to get out of here, okay?” She nodded and he brushed her hair behind her ear.

MinHee in a breath and looked down at his chest again, not wanting to make eye contact, for fear the if she did, she might not know what to do with herself. Jackson’s hands shifted from the curves of her sides to her hips. MinHee gasped and pulled back, shuddering and taking deep breaths. He was just a boy, he was just a boy she kept repeating to herself. This was nothing. Everyone danced with boys they liked, right?

“Okay.” Jackson sighed and grabbed her hand. She moved to pull away, but he was quick to whisk her out of the crowd with him. He turned, as the moved out of the bodies, and wrapped his free hand around her waist, releasing her hand, and leading her towards the booth, where Mark and Cora were laughing loudly. “She needs to take a breather.” Jackson announced, ushering her to sit. “I’ll go get you a drink… or something.” He muttered, before turning and disappearing.

Cora sat up, shrugging Mark’s arm off her shoulder. “Uh, Mark, could you get me something to drink too?” She asked, turning and giving him a look. He immediately crawled out of the booth and chased after Jackson. “Do I need to get you out here?” She asked, reaching across from MinHee’s hand.

MinHee shook her head and her chin trembled. She pulled her hand from Cora’s and signed to her quickly. “I danced with him.”

“Are we talking hokey pokey?” Cora signed back. It was easier with the music blaring.

MinHee hesitated and shook her head. “No. I danced on him. And I don’t think I regret it.” She said, pulling her legs to her chest. “Cora, I don’t know what I was thinking! I can’t. It just-”

“It’s hard.” Cora signed, nodding her head. “Yeah, I get it. But you need to throw him a bone. Jackson really, really likes you. He doesn’t even… like talk to you that often and somehow you’ve still got him all strung up.” MinHee wrapped her arms around her knees. “Just don’t make it seem like dancing with him was a mistake, okay? Don’t hurt him because someone hurt you.”

Those words hit MinHee hard. Don’t hurt him because someone hurt you. She was absolutely right. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Jackson, she liked him plenty. That was the issue. As if on cue, the boys returned. Mark passed Cora a drink and slid into the booth beside her. Cora grabbed his shoulder and leaned into him, whispering something into his ear. Mark stared down at the table and nodded his head. Jackson placed a drink in front of MinHee and didn’t sit.

MinHee stared up at him, he looked to the side. Carefully, she reached out and tapped his arm. When he looked back to her, she tapped the seat, gesturing for him to sit. He took a moment, pursing his lips and thinking about it, but he sat stiffly beside her.

“So I saw Yoon Ri,” Cora started, breaking the awkward silence. “And she was dancing with Seungsshi.” Cora winked at MinHee. “I told you it would happened.” MinHee laughed and shook her head, trying not to come off as too tense. “Anyways, it was crazy because just the other day, she was-”

“Was what, Cora?” Yoon Ri’s voice echoed as she moved to the end of the table. Cora looked up at her and frowned. “Love the costumes! You look so authentic.” She looked to Mark and gave a cat-like grin. “You must be the closet buddy. Sorry I interrupted your wall banging yesterday-”

“Okay,” Cora drawled out the word and stood, moving the table inside of the booth closer to Jackson and MinHee which, in turn, sent some of MinHee’s drink spilling across the table. “Let’s, uh, go check out the DJ booth Yoon Ri.” She said, leaping out and grabbing Yoon Ri’s arm. She dragged her away from the table, leaving the group to look completely confused.

Mark cleared his throat and stood. “I’ll go get some napkins.” He declared, hurrying away from the table.

Jackson turned to MinHee, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise. “I think-” MinHee nodded her head. “Definitely saw that one coming.” He sighed, sitting back against the booth.

After Mark cleared the spill on the table, and Cora returned, saying something a