Chapter Two: Cold Encounters

One and a half months ago - Start of Spring Break:

Five minutes in and Kai was ready to jump off the boat. He was never a fan of parties to begin with and this one in particular is just plain ridiculous. 

Food servers in tacky suits were hired to go around the spacious yacht to offer caviar laden finger food and expensive champagne to the guests, and to the side of the room are two women playing classical music with a violin and a piano. Kai doesn't know if there's anything more pretentious than this.

When senior student Bae Irene was giving out invitations to her party, Kai was all too eager to come despite his initial reservations against loud parties and socializing. He was ready to loosen up and get wasted after a week of stressful exams and the ever-present family drama he has to deal with every ing day.

What he wasn't expecting was this abomination. He was expecting a rave, one where there’s hard liquor and maybe some good weed--- definitely not this boring soiree with equally pretentious guests. But he should have predicted how this party would have ended up becoming, coming from Bae Irene; the kind of girl who seems to literally bathe in money. 

He looks around for actual alcohol but then realizes that Irene is one of those image-conscious goody-two-shoes who would never be caught dead hosting a party that promoted underage drinking. The boat has left the docks and there was no leaving now. 

Most of the guests were graduating seniors of Seoul Prep--- most of which he has never even seen before. And Kai being one of the few sophomores to have been invited by Irene was supposed to mean that he's popular or some other like that. Except, he doesn't really give a --- he just wanted to get drunk, get high or get drunk and get high. Taemin and Kyungsoo opted to stay home and Kai curses them for being right as per usual.

He quietly leaves the poor excuse of a party and wanders off to the secluded outer deck. With the glass doors closed off it was quiet from the chatter inside except for the rustling of the waves. From where he stands, the view from the deck was quite alright; the party yacht has stopped in the middle of the sea, but not far enough to obscure the beautiful city lights off shore. He rests his arms on the cold metal railing and takes in the view for a moment.

"Feeling a bit sentimental tonight?" A female voice sounded from across the deck. It was dark out and he couldn't see much but he'd know that voice anywhere. 

When his eyes refocus he could just see a little bit in the dark and make out Krystal's elegant figure on one of the lounge chairs. 

For starters, he never really liked Krystal Jung. For the past year she has somehow managed to wiggle her way into his circle of friends and even dated one of his best friends albeit for a short while. He actually found her to be a bit materialistic and stuck up--- but in Seoul Prep, who isn't? 

If Kai was being totally honest with himself, he would say that she's actually kind of hot. No, not kind of hot but really ing hot especially in that tight black dress she's currently clad on. 

He vehemently shakes the inappropriate thought away and mutters a " it", deciding that Krystal Jung was a much better company right now than any of those boring people inside. So he strolls towards her and plops down beside the lounge chair she's been occupying. 

He stretches out his long legs before him and crosses his ankles together before giving her a subtle peek. She wasn't looking at him though; her face is blankly trained towards the starless sky as if her mind is miles away. There's something metallic glinting in her hand that caught his eye.

"Is that...?" He asks her, sitting up straighter in interest.

"Yup." She answered, popping the le