As the girls entered the bar, Jonghyun thought he caught a certain Jessica Jung flashing a rare warm smile at her members.

She was stunning. Not that she usually wasn't. It was just nice to see her out of her practice attire for once. He never really noticed those y collarbones that complimented her petite body so well. Or the long brown hair that framed that pretty face so perfectly. More importantly, damn, after all these while, how come he've never noticed those small red lips on her pale face before? Jonghyun wondered as the girls greeted the boys and settled down.

" I thought you were gonna wear what I picked just now " Minho whispered into yuri's ears as she giggled in response. He kept his arms around her waist as she sat down beside him. It didn't matter that she didn't wear what he picked, because as far as he was concerned, what she was wearing was way hotter than what he chose. Onew looked at the couple and smile smugly at his love sick dongseng.

" Hey is this seat taken? " Tiffany asked, pointing to the chair beside him with eagle eyes.
" oh no no.. take a seat please" Onew managed out timidly and turned away almost immediately at the sight of her eye-smile that came along with her 'thank you'. Looks like he wasn't any better than Minho. However the difference was that he wasn't only completely smitten by Tiffany, he was also bad at facing her.

But Tiffany was completely clueless. She never realized that those innocent eye-smiles and thank you hugs always ew into a bunch of walking nerve wreck.

Hyo yeon motioned Jessica to take a seat beside her and she quickly did so. But as soon as she took a seat, the mistake became apparent.

"Good to see you, I like how you look tonight", Jonghyun greeted Jessica with a light kick on her right leg under the table.

" and I like you better with your hair down" , he added with a playful smile

" Honestly, I couldn't care less whether you like how I look or not " Jessica replied, slightly annoyed and kicked him back harder.

" Then don't seat next to me if you don't want me to see what I like " Jonghyun opened the menu and traced his fingers along.

oh my god.This boy is killing me. Jessica was losing her head.

" You okay jess? " Hyo yeon whispered to her friend who was gritting her teeth.

" I swear he's doing this on purpose hyo!! He keeps using the word "like" and "like" he's driving me insane! " Jessica whispered back

"CHICKEN WINGS! " Onew said excitedly as he closed his menu. If there was anything that came close to capturing his heart like Tiffany, it was chicken.

" So what would you LIKE to eat Jessica? " Jonghyun turned to asked Jessica, suppressing his amusement at her reply to hyo yeon (which unfortunately couldn't escape his attentive ears)

By now, Jessica was going crazy. Why won't he stop torturing her?
" Can't you find someone else to irritate?"
" I can, but i'd like it to be you" Jonghyun chuckled.

" I hate you" she muttered under her breath

Jonghyun's heart sank a little when he heard that. He wasn't sure whether it was just a casual remark or her true feelings towards him. But it did hurt a little to hear that. Was he that detestable? To think he thought those stares and glances she made meant something. Guess not jong. He sighed.

" What's the matter? " Jessica asked as she reached out for her glass.

"What?"

" Why did you sigh? It's our celebration, I don't like it if someone's being grumpy, it ruins the mood you know " she replied, trying to hide that tone of concern.
 
Wow. she caught that. He smiled before facing her

" You don't seem to like a lot of things huh? Including me? "

--

" Beer, anyone? " Key asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

For the next 2 hours, everyone were laughing as they talked about their experiences and shared jokes. But by now, with the exception of the maknaes who were sadly restricted to their root beer ( still beer, as minho mentioned) everyone had loosened up a little too much than they expected.

And Onew realized the alcohol must have really taken its effect on everyone, because he found himself staring right into Tiffany's eyes, laughing along with her and casually plucking up his courage to put his arms around her chair every now and then.

Minho, on the other hand, planted kisses on top of yuri's head so very often, simply because he loved being around her. As sooyoung finished another joke, yuri covered as she laughed hard and fell into minho's wam arms once again.

Seeing how Jessica has loosened up, Jonghyun glanced at her and smiled at the rare sight of her smiles and laughters.

" So, what is it about me that can't compare to Jaejoong hyung? I mean, I get all the girls too right?" he asked, as he rested his tilted head on his right arm.

uh-oh. wrong line.

Jessica's smiles now transformed into a frown as she coldly replied,
" That's precisely why you can't be compared to him. He doesn't care about how many girls he can get"

Ouch. Again.

Another 15 minutes passed as Jonghyun reached out for his glass to wash off the beer he's been drinking.
Following, he popped a gum into his mouth and began chewing, eyes fixed on yoona who was telling another one of their dorm stories.

" Give me one" Jessica said

" The gum? "

" yeah "

" That was the last one "

Jessica rolled her eyes and mouthed "nevermind"

Jonghyun watched her and contemplated.