I eyed the very top of my book, shifting my eyes just a little upward to focus on the figure behind the novel.

 

I was in the kitchen sitting at the dining table, waiting for Hankyung to finish cooking. I unconsciously loosened my grip as a comfortable atmosphere settled in the kitchen. Hankyung moved with ease around the kitchen, handling pots and pans with obvious expertise. A smile was seemingly etched on his face as the stove sizzled. I watched him sigh, stepping away from the stove and towards me.

 

“You know, you read too much.” Hankyung plopped into the seat next to me, resting his chin on both his hands. I stared at him and back at my book. I wonder if he even realized that I was reading the same line over and over. I closed the book and pushed it to the middle of the table.

 

“Eh…” 

 

“You seem distracted recently.” He stated. I waited for him to go on, but he just left it there. I shrugged slightly and rested the side of my face on the dining table.

 

“No…I’m just tired.” He mimicked my position and placed his cheek on the table next to me.

 

“Too tired to go to the party?” I sat up straight, watching a grin spread across his face. 

 

I had completely forgotten about the party with all the troubles going on in my head. I returned a grin of my own and glanced slyly at him.

 

“There’s no such thing as being too tired to go to a party.” He chuckled and returned to his original position with his chin resting on his palm. His mouth started moving around syllables, but none of the words got through to me.

 

Something about this whole situation was making me feel more relaxed than I’ve ever been, and it honestly kind of scared me. With the temperature starting to warm up in the kitchen from the food, and with the comforting sounds emitting from the stove, it almost seemed as if…it was family. 

 

Everything just felt so…natural with him sitting across from me, chatting as if nothing was wrong. I even let myself believe that he belonged here for a mere second before I caught myself. No…it was dangerous to think that way. It didn’t even make sense for me to think that way.

 

He suddenly jumped up and scrambled to the stove, making me jump as well.

 

“Oh! My God, I completely forgot that I was cooking something.” He laughed, making quick movements and placing the fish on a large plate, sliding it smoothly to the center of the table. As he went to his seat again, eating a bit of fish with chopsticks, I tried not to think about how naturally he moved around my house.

 

“Eat. Then we can go to the party.” He smiled and pushed a plate towards me. I stared at his lingering hand, a wave of sudden nostalgia washing over me. He wasn’t supposed to…act this natural. He wasn’t supposed to fit in this easily into my life like this.

 

“Is there something wrong? You really do seem distracted lately.” I closed my eyes, his slight accent easing away my troubles temporarily. I shook my head and ate a large bite of fish to prevent myself from saying more. He gave me a long look and returned to his plate of food. When he looked down, I stole another glance at him.

 

I’ve been depending on him more and more lately. What was going to happen when he left? Even worse…what was going to happen when I forget him? I sighed and leaned back in my chair, averting my gaze. What ever happened to not caring about him?

 

After dinner, I came to one realization; I still wasn’t used to teleportation. When I was pulled into that dizzying portal, I briefly wondered how many times one had to teleport before they got over the strange sense of ecstasy.

 

When I felt my feet touch ground again, I let out a sigh I didn’t know was holding. Hankyung pulled out his hand from the inside of mine and pointed directly at the building in front of us.

 

“That’s the one.” He said cheerfully. It looked simple and a little run-down. It was almost like a club, only it didn’t really have the same, crazy party-like atmosphere. As I was busy examining the building, something warm was fitted snugly on my head. I figured Hankyung saw the confused look on my face when he smiled at me.

 

“Just to make things easier.” He said. I raised an eyebrow.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Just to avoid questioning, say that you’re one of us.” Hankyung grinned, retracting his hands and walked towards the building. I picked up my pace a little and fell into Hankyung’s easy walk. I was going to question him about it, but he suddenly took my hand and teleported me inside without warning.

 

I was going to pretend that that my heart didn’t leap into my throat the moment his fingers twirled around mine.

 

“Okay,” I swayed a little, trying to get out of that mesmerizing state. “Can you at least warn me when you do that?” Hankyung laughed and pulled me forward through the hallway.

 

“Maybe I like your reaction when I do it.”

 

“Reaction?” I chuckled. He nodded and tilted his head to the side innocently.

 

“You seem helpless whenever I do it. I guess it gives me a sense of…control.”

 

“Control.” I said disbelievingly. He let go of my hand, a smirk ghosting across his face before disappearing. I raised an eyebrow. I must have imagined the flirtatious wink he sent my way. I shook my head to clear my mind and laughed softly to myself. I was thinking weirdly already without the alcohol.

 

“Come on.” He said, opening a door. Before he could say anything or even step inside, a lithe but familiar figure ran through the doorway and pounced on to me, forcing my back to hit against the wall.

 

“Siwon hyung!” A high voice cooed. I laughed and held Ryeowook out at arm length.

 

“Ryeowook…it’s nice to see you again.” He looked up at me with a lazy grin on his face, his eyes glazed over. I raised an eyebrow. He was already drinking, and already just a little tipsy.

 

“I missed you!” His words were long and drawled out, his arms stretching to the side. It was almost funny to see him in such a laid back state. Hankyung came over and placed a hand on his shoulder, pointing inside the room.

 

“I heard that Henry arrived five minutes ago Ryeo-”

 

“Henli!” He cried happily, bouncing inside the room again. I chuckled, listening to the whoops and cheers from inside. Han Geng motioned me inside, an unreadable smile on his face. I stood up from leaning against the wall and hesitantly walked inside, staying close to Hankyung.

 

Someone bumped into me and unsteadily regained balance in front of me. The man raised his head and smiled, revealing himself to be Kyuhyun.

 

“Hey hey!” He pushed a cup of wine into my hands, taking me by surprise.

 

“Relax and have fun Siwon. Get drunk while you’re at it too!” He laughed, more to himself than anything, and was soon joined by Zhou Mi. Unlike Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, he didn’t seem to be influenced by alcohol at all. He grinned brightly at me and waved.

 

“Sorry…everyone’s just trying to relax right now. We’ve all just been distraught and tired. But Kyu’s right,” Zhou Mi said, motioning at the drink in my hands. “Relax and have fun. Get drunk. It’s what we’ll all do.” 

 

“Zhou Mi, where’s the food?” Kyuhyun asked with a tilt of his head. Zhou Mi placed a hand on his back and started leading him elsewhere, starting to say something about him staying away from the drinks.

 

I slowly set down the glass of wine on a table, sliding my hands into my pockets again. When Hankyung shot a questioning glance at me, I simply smiled sheepishly.

 

“I…think I’m going to stay away from the drinks for now.” Hankyung disappeared and reappeared in a split second, holding a glass of light red liquid.

 

“Then have some punch.”

 

Something seemed suspicious about the grin on his face, but I took the glass nonetheless and drank. Hankyung smiled wider and took hold of my wrist, forcing me to follow him to wherever he was going. We passed by a group of both men and women sitting and drinking at a table.

 

“Hey, at least you don’t have a whiny teenager as a client. Those customers are the worst.” I heard a man exclaim. Some of them turned heads as we walked by, a few of them greeting Hankyung. I didn’t really pay much notice to them until I heard a cat whistle.

 

“Private rooms are the other way Hankyung!” When laughter erupted, I surprisingly didn’t feel a hint of embarrassment. In fact, I felt compelled to answer.

 

“Who said we needed a room?” I called out, a smug delight beginning to form as the man’s face showed surprise while the others howled in more laughter. Hankyung’s hand tightened around my wrist and all of a sudden I was jerked forward out of that room and into another. 

 

The current room we were in was different than the previous, but still just as rowdy. Hankyung turned around with a helpless smile, shaking his head.

 

“I was worried you might stand out here, but you fit in just fine.”

 

“Does that mean you all are a bunch of witty erts?” I chuckled, stepping slightly closer to him. In the dark lights of this large room, he looked so much more mysterious in his black clothes, giving off an almost…sultry feel.

 

“Oh, why yes, yes it does.” He smirked at me, the dim colored lights dancing across his skin. I quickly downed the rest of my drink as Henry came over to us.

 

“Hankyung! Jessica needs to talk to you.” Hankyung nodded once, glancing at me before making his way towards a woman across the room. Henry motioned me towards the bar and I followed, the both of us sitting down when we got there.

 

“I swear, she grabs any chance just to flirt with him.” I raised a brow at that little piece of information.

 

“Oh?” I wondered out loud. Henry nodded, shooting a look at them.

 

“She’s been crushing on him for who knows how long.” I turned around in my chair, stealing a glance at the both of them. They were sitting on two stools, facing each other, talking. The first thing I noticed was Jessica’s blonde hair, and how it was twirling idly around and around her finger. She said something, moving her hand over Hankyung’s. I almost snorted when he nonchalantly slipped his hand out from under hers, using it to drink from a nearby cup. I turned around again towards Henry.

 

“Doesn’t seem like he likes her very much.” Henry shot me a look, drinking from a wine glass.

 

“He doesn’t. I asked him about her just a day ago. He said he liked somebody else.” I turned away again, missing Henry’s knowing look.

 

“She does have nice legs though…a lot of people are jealous of him for having a girl like her liking him.” Henry added. My eyes were instinctively drawn to her legs at his words. I saw her hand resting on her thigh, casually moving towards Hankyung’s knee, scratching lightly at the fabric before pulling away. I noticed her hand pull away, but I couldn’t stop staring at his legs; his mile long legs. The light danced across his dark pants, showing how the fabric curved around his legs just right and –

 

I cleared my throat, turning around stiffly in my seat.

 

“Yeah…nice legs…” I murmured. Henry pointed to the empty cup in my hand with a raised eyebrow.

 

“…Were you drinking punch?” I glanced at the cup and back at him.

 

“…Yes. Why?” I said slowly. He chuckled and shook his head.

 

“What?” I asked, irritated.

 

“You do know that the punch is spiked, right?” I widened my eyes and stared at the cup. Spiked? No wonder I was thinking crazy things. Before I could reply, Hankyung appeared next to me, tipping his hat forward as a welcome with a smile. I glared at him a little for giving me a spiked drink.

 

“I’m back. What have you two been talking about?” Henry leaned against the bar with a smirk.

 

“Jessica’s y legs.” Henry teased. I quickly covered his mouth with my hand.

 

“No we weren’t!” Henry removed my hand.

 

“Hey, you agreed with me!”

 

“No I didn’t!” I protested.

 

“Yeah, you did.”

 

“Her legs weren’t the ones I was talking-” I immediately shut my mouth, leaving Henry to raise his eyebrows curiously at me. Hankyung chuckled and slung his arms around our necks.

 

“Alright, forget I asked anything. Come with me Siwon. There’s a lot more to do.” He quickly grabbed hold of my wrist, leading me through a doorway, only to bump into Kyuhyun, who was carrying three wine glasses in his hands. He grinned at us and started heading to the back where Ryeowook was being held back by Donghae. He whined and turned pleadingly to us.

 

“Hyung…help me?” I chuckled when I saw how pitiful. Hankyung left my side and went over to Ryeowook, ruffling his hair. Ryeowook glared at him.

 

“What are they doing now, Wook?”

 

“They’re trying to get me drunk. And I already had enough drinks!”

 

Those simple words had me laughing softly to myself. The thought of Ryeowook getting drunk was a little…absurd. Hankyung saw my slight disbelief and grinned at me.

 

“When Ryeowook gets drunk…it’s pretty amusing.” I raised an eyebrow but let it go when Henry suddenly appeared next to me with two glasses of wine in his hands. He winked at me, drank from the glass, grabbed the front of his dark colored shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. I stared amusedly at them as the people around us rose in whoops and hollers. Ryeowook jerked out of Donghae’s grasp, sputtering and coughing.

 

“You could have just asked me nicely to drink wine instead of forcing it down my throat!” He cried out, wiping his mouth. I blinked while everyone else was still laughing. I officially came to the conclusion that these people had a strange sense of humor. Hankyung gently tugged on my hand again, another cup of the light red liquid in his hand.

 

“Drink more punch, Shi Yuan.” He said, the name rolling off his tongue in a Mandarin accent. It took me a second to realize he was addressing me; I wasn’t at all used to my Mandarin name. I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head.

 

“I know the punch is spiked, Hankyung.” I huffed. He just chuckled, drank a little from the cup, and began advancing towards me, similar to how Henry advanced towards Ryeowook before he transferred the alcohol into his mouth. I widened my eyes and stumbled backwards. He was going to do the same thing to me!

 

I blushed and quickly grabbed the cup of punch. “Alright alright, I’ll drink it! Just don’t…do that.” Hankyung swallowed and grinned in victory. I reluctantly drank the rest of the spiked punch before Hankyung decided to do any other crazy stunts.

 

Everything was going fine at the party – not counting the occasional times where the rowdiness got out of control – until Kyuhyun decided to get me involved in a drinking game. From then on, it was chaos.

 

It was all just a gigantic blur of drunk dancing, boisterous laughter, and many, many things I would regret later but not care about now. Like that moment where I downed five shots of vodka in a row – it would be painful later, but it felt good at the time so who cared? Or that moment when I got myself into a dare. I forgot what that dare actually was, but I remembered wrapping my arms around a familiar and small body, pulling him close to me into a sweet kiss. I remembered leaning my head down with spiked red hair briefly running across my forehead. Who it was, that detail failed to come back into my memory, but it didn’t matter. I was drunk and I was having fun; plus, it was just a dare.

 

No harm in that, right?

 

Sweaty and exhausted, I managed to find myself in an open space where I could catch my breath as I sobered a bit. A dull, annoying thud began occurring in my head, making me hold the side of my head in slight pain. Faint footsteps heading my way began registering in my mind, making me look up.

 

Hankyung was heading my way with a gentle smile on his face. He looked equally as tired. I wonder what he had been doing the whole time. I offered a weak wave when he came to stand by me. We both sank to the ground, sitting in relief.

 

“Tired?” He asked. I nodded and grinned a little. He beamed back. “It was fun!” He began rambling on and on about what he did and what activities happened in the place, but all I could concentrate on was how his lips moved, soft words being formed every time. My eyes trailed up from his mouth to his tan skin that had an almost unnoticeable line of sweat. His eyes sparkled with a happiness that was very attractive when paired with the smile etched on his face.

 

In my drunken haze, I reached out and touched his shoulder, not realizing that my slow movement made him stop talking. I leaned in a little, watching as his dark brown eyes stared back at me, a curious yet mischievous glint shining in his eyes. Everything was so still for a moment that I could feel his gentle heart beat thrum from just touching his shoulder. My hand moved to his neck, feeling the goose bumps that began to form when doing so. 

 

“Shi Yuan…” 

 

His breathy tone made my heart beat quicken as my other hand grabbed hold of the lapels of his shirt. Under the influence of alcohol, it didn’t matter whether this situation was right or wrong. I was just following what felt good…and this was feeling very good.

 

“I want…” The words died as quickly as they left my mouth. His eyes shifted a bit, and I could see a challenge forming in his expression.

 

“Tell me what you want.” It was almost a demand, soft as it was.

 

“I want to kiss you.”

 

Hankyung didn’t move, nor did his facial expression change.

 

“I wouldn’t stop you if you did.”

 

As if that was all the permission I needed, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his, feeling my chest burst in excitement as my mind swam in pleasure. His head tilted back and his hand curled around my waist, making me shiver. I lowered him on to his back and on to the ground, an appreciative moan escaping my lips when he began kissing back. 

 

Deep in the back of my mind, I knew that I was going to have to face the consequences sooner or later, and I was certain that this was going on to the list of “things that I regret doing at the party.”

 

But that could wait until later.