[CONTENTID1]JONGIN'S PARTY PART 2[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOALTE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Suzy couldn’t stop staring at Woobin, more than she intended. Was he always this charismatic? She wanted to slap herself. She hated his greasy way of talking but for some reason, she was speculating Woobin under a different light.

He was tall and muscular, not too stocky but enough built to throw a wrestler over his shoulder. His eyes were scintillating and she wondered if anyone would win a staring contest with him. If he wasn’t so sweet and approachable, he would make one nasty bully in a drama that would star a poor girl chased by a bunch of rich guys.

When he caught her staring, he sent her a smile and a wink that made her roll her eyes.

“Watcha staring at, ramen noodles?” he tittered.

Suzy’s mouth hung open in a comical fashion. “Ramen noodles?” That was a new compliment though she wasn’t sure if it was as appropriate as snicker doodles.

“You and I, ya know,” Woobin said, “We can be Recklessly Affectionate.” She thought he wouldn’t add anymore pick-up lines but he finished with “My bibimbap.”

In the midst of the convulsing dancers, Suzy bumped into a person that sent shivers down her spine. It was Hangeng, Heechul’s friend and his ex-gang member. Seeing him in person made her shrivel with fear and a part of her was guilty and afraid that he would read her mind. What if he found out that she eavesdropped on their conversation?

“H-Hangeng oppa,” she stammered.

He smiled at her; a genial smile. “Suzy, I didn’t know you were the partying type.”

“I-I-I could ask you same question,” she responded with firm boldness.

Hangeng threw his head back and laughed. “I’m actually searching for Heechul. I saw him come in here.”

Suzy was astonished. “Heechul is here?”

Hangeng nodded in affirmation. He patted her on the shoulder before he set off to search for his friend once again. Woobin was about to make a comment but he was pushed aside by Jung Taekwoon-- the bodyguard who Suzy forgot about momentarily. He had asked permission earlier for a nap on a leather couch in her room, but it seemed that the cacophonous music had awoken him.

“Taekwoon,” Suzy acknowledged. He grunted in response.

“Heya.” Woobin waved in his face. “Long time no see, dude. How’ve you been?”

Taekwoon flashed him a rigid look before shrugging his shoulders and grunting again.

“As you can see,” continued the taller man, “Jongin decided to throw a party. I’m surprised he invited me. He’s a swell guy.”

Suzy pursed her lips. She sent him a pejorative glare. Electricity poured through likes volts of rage.

“Don’t compliment him,” she warned, and Woobin’s grin deflated. “That swine isn’t as nice as you think.”

“I’ll get everyone out,” Taekwoon spoke up, his voice barely audible among the noisy screams in the background.

“Look out!”

Out of nowhere, a bottle smashed against the bodyguard’s head, the glass pieces falling to the floor and over his shoulders. Suzy gasped, about to reach out to him but Woobin caught her wrist. Taekwoon merely blinked, his face inexorable. Luckily, no damage was done but there was a foreign spark in the bodyguard’s eyes.

Suzy had only seen this glimmer once before...a long time ago, when she was still in touch with the girls. Her heart twinged in pain at the thought and she found herself longing for the older days.

Taekwoon’s taut lips slowly stretched into a smile, a wide smile that didn’t seem to befit his stony physiognomy. Even Woobin trembled next to Suzy.

“Umh, why is he smiling like that?” the giant questioned her.

“Oh no…” Suzy mumbled as if her worst nightmares had turned to reality. “He’s…”

“Où est les nourritures? J’adore une fête!” The bodyguard began spinning in place, pointing his fingers to the air while jutting his head out and in like a pigeon.

Suzy smacked a palm against her forehead. It was too late. Taekwoon had already attracted the crowd with his synchronising grooves, and she had little time to save him as they were lured by his dance moves like moths to a flame. Woobin drowned within the sea of bodies. Before Suzy was suffocated too, she hurriedly shoved her way out, and found sanctuary inside her room.

Suzy was on the verge of locking her door but when she realised a mousy boy huddled on her bed with her laptop in his hands, she shrieked in horror. The boy gasped, tumbling over and landing in a painful pratfall. He fumbled with the laptop as if trying to smash it shut but Suzy marched across the room and pulled it from him.

She recognised the boy from Busan. She often saw him around when Jongin’s parents were alive. He used to stare through the windows with his binoculars in hand. The boy was none other than Lee Chunji. He was a rather timid creature.

“It’s not nice to take other people’s stuff without asking them,” Suzy told him. She turned to stare at the laptop and her eyes almost fell out of her skull.

Chunji had been reading M-rated fanfiction about a group named EXO. Suzy’s lips stretched into a terse line as she gazed back at him. Chunji let out a nervous chuckle before he scrambled to his feet and dashed out of the room.

Suzy groaned as she deleted the tabs on her laptop. The people in EXO oddly resembled Chanyeol and Baekhyun. She wanted nothing to do with them. All she knew was that she could never look at Chanyeol and Baekhyun the same way ever again.

Rapping at her door, she faced someone who hadn’t seen since two weeks before. It was Luhan, in all his ethereal glory, still donned in his business suit. He cleared his throat, loosened his tie and gifted her a sweet smile that reminded her of a caramel wonderland. For a moment, the noise, the crowded room-- everything dispersed and she was frozen in a moment to admire Luhan’s aura.

“Suzy,” he started, taking a step closer. “Umh…” He ran his fingers through his gleaming curls. “How are you?”

“Luhan,” she said. “Well, I don’t look too good, do I? I’m sorry if all the noise brought you here.”

A ripple of chuckles left his throat. It was enticing. His eyes seemed to sparkle like the starlight as he inched another step closer.

“Yeah, I got a bit concerned,” he admitted. “You’re not really the partying type, are you?”

“No, of course not.”

The same awkward ambiance ensued, the usual thick silence that extinguished any words inside their heads. Luhan’s fingers fumbled with his hair again while Suzy chewed on her bottom lip.

“Umh…”

“Uh…” Luhan sighed. “So, how’s college?”

“Same as ever. I have exams coming up next week.”

“Good.” He swallowed. “Good.”

Suzy was glad when the door burst open. It must have showed on her face because Luhan appeared utterly distraught. Jungkook scampered into the room. He appeared distraught yet there was a puerile gleam in eyes like a child that stole candy from the store furtively. His hand reached for hers but before he could utter a word he tripped over his shoelaces and sprawled across the floor.

Luhan raised a hand to cover his mouth as he chuckled at the petulant sight. Suzy shook her head. She helped Jungkook stand back to his feet.

“You’re wearing shoe-laced shoes again,” she drawled, staring at the unruly laces that slithered like a pair of snakes.

Jungkook’s face bled into a scarlet hue. His feet shuffled in an awkward manner. Suzy wondered if he recalled the time in the train station, just before she set off to Busan to collect Jongin, when Jungkook stood before her in gothic attire and pumps. He was back with his long t-shirts and flaccid shorts. The gothic makeup was scrapped for a more hipster look.

He  nodded at her, and it seemed so sweet to her. It was as if Jungkook himself was a reminder of the past, the better days where the only thing she worried about were boys. To her, it was eons since she last felt secure with happiness yet in reality, it had only been five months. It wasn’t an awful time but it was enough for her to spectate life’s bitterness.

“Here,” she offered as she hunkered and tied the shoelaces into neat knots, unaware of the salient crimson that flared on his cheeks.

“Th-thank you, noona,” the boy stammered.

When she let go, she realised Luhan grinning at her. It surprised Suzy because it was a sly grin, almost as if Luhan held classified information that he wasn’t willing to share.

Jungkook squealed before he gripped his hair. “Noona, I remember why I came here! It’s your bodyguard.”

“Taekwoon?” Suzy’s eyebrows furrowed. “What happened to him?”

“There’s a bunch of girls chasing him, noona. Maybe we should stop them,” the boy exclaimed.

Her heart increased in pace and she thought her insides were set on fire. She had no idea why she felt such livid emotions. Her fists clenched by her sides. The connotation of Taekwoon being the centre of attention annoyed her. A part of her drowned in remorse and warned her that it wasn’t Taekwoon’s fault that his sudden personality change attracted more women than his real side would desire.

However, she didn’t have time to think this through because more visitors were apparent inside her room. It was as if her room was turning into a sanctuary but she later learned that it transmogrified into top-secret headquarters.

In came Hangeng and Heechul. The latter’s lips curled into a sodden frown at the sight of Luhan. He pushed Jungkook out of the way and strode to Suzy’s side.

“You’re cousin is a menace,” he groused. “How does he escape your parents’ supervision?”

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