Part I

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun cheers as soon as the door opens. Jongdae smiles grimly as the high pitch noise of human chatter, obnoxious pop music and smell of spiked strawberry punch hits him. It’s like every other frat party at the dorm house. It’s Halloween but Jongdae’s not in the mood to dress up. Coloured figures and people in provocative ual costumes pass by him to get to the food and he grimaces. He is not one for exhibitionism either.

“You didn’t dress up” Baekhyun pouts, a little disoriented. “So the punch is extra hard liquor?” Jongdae asks. Minseok laughs and nods. “Don’t ignore me!” Baekhyun demands. Jongdae rolls his eyes. His Majesty is extra whiny and needy when drunk. “Let me show you how to enjoy a party” Baekhyun says with a conspiratorial wink. “Right” Jongdae says dully. “Come on geek boy!” Baekhyun exclaims and drags him off. Geek boy? Jongdae protests in vain.

“This is Jonghyun” Baekhyun says, introducing him to a boy with brown-black-blonde hair. “Hi Baek” Jonghyun says with a grin. Everyone is wasted at the party already. “Meet my new boy toy Jongdae” Baekhyun introduces Jongdae. “Way to come out of the closet” the guy next to Jonghyun comments. “You have my sympathy” Jonghyun says, stifling his laughter. “I know right? Jongdae is such a geek. But we my friend are going to liven him up tonight” Baekhyun announces. “First of all, I am not a geek. Secondly, that pity was for me” Jongdae points out. “And potatoes potate” Baekhyun adds. Clearly he isn’t the one for sense for tonight.

“Taeyeon is out by the pool if you are looking to offload him” Jonghyun offers. “Thanks bro” Jongdae says. “Let’s go to the pool Baekhyun” he suggests. Drunk Baekhyun can be his girlfriend’s headache tonight. “Let’s go dance by the pool!” Baekhyun cheers. “I always knew you were a party animal.” So Jongdae drags Baekhyun out. They try to make their way against the slowly building crowd. Somewhere in the middle someone who knows Baekhyun calls out for him and Baekhyun responds enthusiastically and Jongdae has to stop him from falling on a girl.

“Hannie! You are here! Perfect! Keep Jongdae from flying away” Baekhyun says, before handing over Jongdae’s arm that he was leaning on to the petite girl he almost trampled. She holds onto it casually till Baekhyun turns around and walks away to the friend who called to him. “He’s always charming isn’t he?” the girl jokes before releasing Jongdae’s arm. “Well he won’t return for the evening so you’re free to fly away Birdie” she tells him with a grin. She turns around and heads for the other door.

“Aren’t you going to stay?” Jongdae asks her. “Too many drunk people. Not my scene” she shrugs. “Not yours either?” she asks knowingly. Jongdae musters up an apologetic smile. “The cafe nearby is open till 2 in the night. Let’s go get coffee” she offers. Jongdae takes her up on it, ecstatic to get away from the and alcohol driven, adrenaline charged frat house.

The Shack is the most popular cafe close to campus because it is the closest to the beach. Jongdae has never seen it deserted, but it is today. Dressed up for Halloween but ultimately the lights have been dimmed. It’s one in the night and there aren’t many people outside who aren’t drunk and passed out or not at some Halloween party or the other. So Jongdae finds it a little odd to be sitting and sharing coffee with a girl he just met. A hot girl who believes in bobbing her head to songs from Postal Service that are playing in the background.

“I doubt cold coffee tastes all that nice when it becomes warm” she comments and Jongdae remembers that he has forgotten to drink his cold coffee. He has been busy admiring his conversational partner. “How come you aren’t dressed up for Halloween?” he asks. “Me? In a ty costume? The party can’t handle that much y” she asserts. Jongdae nearly chokes on his drink as he fights back a laugh at her statement. It explains the ‘You Can’t Handle This Hot Mess’ saying printed in stylised letters on her plain white, off shoulder shirt. “No seriously, all the costumes that the local costume shops had were ty outfits or cute princess outfits which I outgrew in fifth grade. So I didn’t bother dressing up. You aren’t dressed up either. Or are you so subtle I missed the point?” she asks, leaning forward with her face on her palms.

“Not dressed up” Jongdae confesses. “Really? Are you sure you’re not one of those pretty boy band members?” she teases and he laughs shyly. “I wish but no. Just plain simple Jongdae. Math major” he introduces himself. “Haneul. Finance major. I was in your class last semester” she introduces herself as well. “Really? Which one?” Jongdae asks curiously. “Linear Algebra I” Haneul replies taking a bite of her cake. “I slept through most of that” he tells her sheepishly. “I see” she hums with a grin. Jongdae racks his head in order to remember her. He really can’t recall much of his Linear Algebra I class. Meanwhile Haneul perks up at a song in the background.

“Have you ever heard instrumentals by the Album Leaf?” Haneul asks him suddenly. “No” Jongdae tells her. He has never even heard of the band. “Well, close your eyes and listen to this one. It’s called By The Pond” Haneul instructs. She places her hands over Jongdae’s eyes and he tenses up. The music comes to the forefront and he finds himself relaxing. The mellow notes rise and fall gently on the music scale like ripples along the water surface. Jongdae finds it warm. It reminds him of the pond by his family’s summer home and all the time he spent with Jongin playing around on it.

When Haneul’s hand moves away, he finds himself smiling. The song isn’t over but a jarring text message beep on Haneul’s phone ends the moment abruptly. “Well that’s my cue. I need to pick up a drunk best friend” she says with a frown. “I’ll walk you back to the frat party?” he offers. “Nah. It’s cool. Stay if you like” she refuses politely. “I’ll see you on campus sometime Jongdae.” “See you soon Haneul”

It’s only after she leaves and the song ends that Jongdae wonders if he should have asked for her number. Haneul is interesting. Warm and playful like Jongin was. Her confidence reminds him so much of Jongin that it is very hard for him not to remember his high school love. Haneul is pretty interesting.

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