Taeyeon had never liked change.

She still vividly remembered crying in her room for hours when her parents had announced that they were going to move to Texas when she was eight years old.  Back then, she hadn't known much about Texas or America in general, but she'd been sure that it was going to be a whole lot different - in a bad way. The school wouldn't be the same. Her classmates wouldn't be the same. Even the air she breathed in wouldn't be the same.

Looking back on it now, she had ultimately been correct in her assumptions about Texas being terrible for her.

She had struggled to connect with her peers - who, first of all, couldn't even pronounce her name correctly - and for the majority of her time in school, her only real friends were the teacher and the school janitor, who usually ended up seeing her during the lunch break. She'd kept her lack of friends a secret from her parents, afraid that they'd become overly concerned. When they asked about her friends, she'd usually spit out any English-sounding name that she could think of, ranging from 'Amanda' one day to 'Jennifer' the other.

Even without the presence of friends, she'd somehow magically made it throughout elementary school, then middle school, then high school, and finally, she was on her way to college. After nearly 10 years of spending lunch breaks alone in the bathroom and being the only one without a partner during class, it was time for her to confront more change, which was attending a university all the way in California.

She dreaded it. She was afraid. She was unsure of herself and mainly going, because her parents were delighted that she'd made it into such a nice university.

"Don't worry, kid. College is loads better than high school," Jiwoong, her older brother, had assured her, on the day of her flight to San Francisco. She'd nodded at the time, pretending to take his words to heart. But in reality, she knew, that her experience with college was going to be different than Jiwoong's. Jiwoong was a sociable, friendly guy that made friends with everyone, no matter where he went.

On the other hand, she was just...there. 

"Remember to call Tiffany, when you get there," Her mother had informed her, tears glistening in her eyes, as she placed a slip of paper in her hands.

"Tiffany?"

"You probably remember her as Miyoung. She lived just down the block when you were kids."

She could only vaguely remember a girl named Miyoung, but she'd agreed to call the girl when she arrived.

A few days had passed since she'd moved into her dorm room when she finally decided to make the call. Initially, she hadn't planned to, at all, but she'd been cooped up in her rooms for the past few days and she figured it wouldn't be bad to try and make one acquaintance before classes started. 

"Hello?" A bubbly, cheerful voice picked up. She could vaguely hear yelling in the background.

"Hi, um, this is Taeyeon? Is this Tiffany Hwang's number? My mom gave me your number," She said awkwardly, flushing at just how stupid she sounded. 

There was a pause on the other hand, before her ear was filled with a loud squeal. "Taeyeon? Kim Taeyeon? Oh my god! Hold on! Guys, shut up for a second!" 

Her anxiety eased minimally. At least this girl - Tiffany - seemed to remember her a lot more. 

"Hey, sorry about the noise! I'm with my friends," Tiffany giggled. "Anyways, how's it been, Taeyeon? We haven't seen each other in over 10 years! I was so excited when my mom told me you were going to the same university as me." 

"It's been good. I flew in from Texas a few days ago," She replied weakly. "How about you?"

"I've been good too!" Tiffany giggled, before letting out a dramatic gasp. "Actually, why don't you come over here right now? I'm hanging out with my friends at the Starbucks right next to the campus."

Internally, Taeyeon screamed. Outwardly, she just laughed awkwardly. "That's...really nice of you to offer, but your friends would probably feel uncomfortable with me there. Um, and--" 

"Nonsense! They love meeting new people! Besides, I want to catch up with you too!" 

"I-I'm not sure..."

"Oh, c'mon! It'll be fun! I promise, they're cool kids!"

She weighed her options carefully. In all honesty, she desperately wanted to say 'no.' She was terrible at social interactions and at this rate, she'd probably ruin any chance of having a friendship with Tiffany, let alone Tiffany's other friends. But if she said 'no' here, she'd probably lack the confidence to make friends with anyone else during the semester. 

"I-I'll go, then," She responded softly. "You're at the Starbucks next to the campus?"

There was a twinkling laugh on the other end. "Yup! See you there! You'll probably recognize us right away because we're the pack of Asian kids sitting near the window..."

-----------------------------------------------------

After an excruciating 30 minutes on deciding what to wear (it wasn't a date, she didn't know why she felt so nervous), she finally left her dorm room wearing a denim button up shirt and white shorts. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and she applied a minimal amount of make-up, deciding against eyeliner. The last time she'd decided to do her eyeliner was during high school graduation and that had turned out disastrous.

As she walked past the gates, she spotted the Starbucks nearby, It was pretty crowded outside, with it being a Saturday and the last weekend before classes actually started. There was a crowd by the street near the Starbucks, most of them appearing to be college students, just like her. 

"Oh my god, Taeyeon! That's Taeyeon over there!"

A few people turned at the shouting, peering at her obviously. She flared up in embarrassment, as she spotted someone with flowey brown hair in a bright pink hoodie sprinting towards her, arms outstretched and voice loud. Before she could even greet her or say 'hello', she was squashed into a warm hug.

"Um, hi, Tiffany," She greeted, a small smile on her lips. 

Looking at the girl know, she felt she remembered more about their friendship as children. Miyoung, for one, had had a noticeable eye-smile that kept boys confessing to her even at their young age. Tiffany, too, seemed to retain that same eye-smile, beaming at her in delight.

"I guess I forgot you weren't big on skinship," Tiffany giggled playfully, pulling away. "God, it's been so long, Taeyeon! The last time I saw you, we were just little kids!" 

 "If you put it that way, not much has changed," A deep, velvety voice filled her ears, as she spotted a couple of teenagers - presumably 'the friends' - trailing behind Tiffany.

"Shut up, Kris," Tiffany retorted, sticking out her tongue at the tall, lean blond boy who had spoken before.

He smirked. "Aren't you gonna introduce us to your friend?" 

Tiffany clasped her hands together, shooting the boy a glare. "Well, Taeyeon, this jerk in front of you is Kris Wu. He's obsessed with basketball and don't let him influence you in any way. He's a huge idiot." 

Kris smiled cheekily. "No matter how stupid I am, I can't be any worse than you, Tiff." 

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Anyways, moving on, this is Yuri Kwon. Part of the dance team and also my roommate." 

A black-haired girl with silver hoop earrings waved at her excitedly. "Nice to meet you! Taeyeon, right?"

"Yeah," She answered lightly. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Lastly, on Yuri's right is Seunghyun Choi," Tiffany remarked, pointing at a tall boy with dark eyes who simply nodded in greeting. "He doesn't talk much, but he's a nice guy."

Taeyeon smiled. This wasn't so bad. Tiffany, as well as her friends, seemed welcoming for the most part, and even though things were kind of awkward, it didn't seem to be going bad. 

"By the way, who's your roommate?" Tiffany inquired curiously, peering at her. 

Taeyeon blinked, trying to recall the name that had been written on the paper. "Um...I think it was Jessica Jung?"

Tiffany's eyes widened to the size of saucers, a grin spreading across her lips. "No way! You're roommates with Jessi? Good luck with that." 

"I-Is that a bad thing?"

Yuri burst out laughing. "Oh, no. Jessica's part of our group too. Just don't get on her bad side and you should be good." 

A flash of panic ran through her, but she forced a smile nonetheless. 

Tiffany beamed. "I wish I could introduce you to everyone else today, but they're busy."

"There's more?"

"Jiyong and Luhan," Kris replied smoothly. "One's a pain in the and the other is like my own son." 

"Gross," Tiffany remarked, shooting Kris a look. "Sorry about that, Taeyeon. Kris and Luhan have been friends for a long time, and Kris likes to be a creep about it sometimes. In any case, Luhan and Jiyong are pretty chill, so you don't have to worry."

"Just..." Yuri paused. "Just don't get on Jiyong's bad side, I guess. He's kind of like Jessica in that sense."

At Taeyeon's fearful look, Tiffany brushed it off. "Don't scare her, Yuri! Seriously, you have nothing to worry about, Taeyeon. Jiyong's a little peculiar, but he's friendly."

She swallowed, nodding silently. It was easier said than done, but she decided to just accept it for now.

--------------------------------------------------------

It was a quarter past ten o'clock when she got back to her dorm room. She hadn't meant to stay out so late, but Tiffany had insisted that she stay with them for karaoke, and then dinner, which had eventually lead to her staying out past ten. When she'd announced softly that she was going to leave, Tiffany, Yuri, and Kris had all been slightly drunk and whiny, and the only sober one was Seunghyun, who quietly offered to walk her back to her dorm room, since it was dark. 

She'd declined, of course. But thanked him nonetheless for the kind offer.

As she unlocked her room and pulled the door open, she found a thin, pretty blond-haired girl with black gloves on both of her hands sitting on the bed beside hers, pulling clothes out of a luggage bag,  Taking a few seconds to dissolve her surprise, she belatedly registered that this girl, in fact, was Jessica Jung.

She gave a polite smile, glancing at the gloves. "Um, hi. I'm Taeyeon."

The girl remained silent, stacking her clothes beside her. A few seconds passed before she finally spoke.

"Jessica."

"What?"

"I'm Jessica," Jessica clarified, wearing a blank look. "So, I heard that you're childhood friends with Tiffany."

"O-oh yeah. How do you--"

"Tiffany texted me about it," Jessica interrupted. "Told me to take care of you. That you're quite introverted and awkward." 

Oh. So I did seem awkward...

At her crestfallen look, Jessica spoke up quickly. "She didn't mean it in a bad way. Don't take it like that, okay?"

Taeyeon blinked. "...Okay."

A silence fell between them, as Taeyeon took that time to sit down on her own bed, which was directly across from Jessica's. Jessica resumed stacking her clothes, whereas Taeyeon simply stared down at the ground, letting her hands tangle in her lap.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Jessica commented bluntly. 

"Er, no," She responded quietly.

"It's not a bad thing," Jessica replied with a shrug. "When I'm with Yuri and Tiffany, I don't talk much either. They do a lot of it, you know?"

"Yeah," She replied, remembering how boisterous and talkative Yuri and Tiffany had been that afternoon. "It's...nice though. I prefer listening to people talk than doing it myself." 

A hint of a smile crossed Jessica's features. "I get that feeling."

Taeyeon peered at her in surprise, her eyes once again falling on the black gloves on both of her hands. 

"Are you going to ask me about them?" Her gaze snapped up to meet Jessica's eyes, which had hardened into an indescribable expression. 

She paused, glancing from the gloves to the blond girl's face again.

"No," She finally answered. "I'll just wait until you want to tell me."

This time, a look of surprise crossed Jessica's face. She let out a soft, amused chuckle, before replying.

"I think we'll get along just fine." 

---------------------------------------

Taeyeon sat in the lecture hall for her last course of the day. Her first day of college had been uneventful, save for the time she saw Tiffany and Yuri on campus, and they'd all but screamed her name loudly, practically tackling her to the ground. An amused Jessica had trailed behind them, clearly unwilling to get involved.

After the professor finally ended his lecture, the crowd of students exited the lecture hall, murmurs of excitement buzzing around. Taeyeon waited until most of the students had filed out before taking her leave. Walking to her dorm room, which wasn't too far from the lecture hall she'd just come from, she opened the door to find it empty. Jessica wasn't back yet.

Setting her bag down on her desk, she was about to change when her phone beeped with a text from Tiffany.

there's a huge party on friday. wanna go? :)

She blinked, her face twisting up in discomfort, despite knowing very well that she was the only one in the room. She'd never been to a party - let alone, invited to one - and she was pretty sure she was better off not going to one, especially with her personality.

who's going? She texted back, instead of rejecting the offer right away.

tonsss of people! it'll be fun! plus, u'll meet luhan and jiyong there

 The last part didn't help in convincing her whatsoever, and she was about to reply with a 'thanks for the offer but im good', when there was a loud banging on the door, nearly causing her to drop her phone in surprise.

Whoever it was continued to bang the door loudly. She briefly wondered if it was Jessica, before realizing, clearly, that Jessica had a key and full access to the room.

Maybe she got drunk or something? Or maybe she lost her key? Taeyeon thought to herself, slowly walking closer to the door. 

"Jess, I know you're in there!" A rough, male voice called out. 

Taeyeon gulped. So whoever it was knew Jessica. But that didn't clear up any suspicion, after all, who knew? The guy could be a serial killer or a stalker ex that Jessica wanted to get rid of, as far as she was concerned. 

After a few seconds, the banging ceased and there was silence. Taking this period of silence to her advantage, she spoke up timidly. 

"Uh, Jessica isn't here right now. I'm her roommate..."

More silence.

"If you'd like, you can give me your name and I'll tell her that you were here when she gets back later..."

The continued silence was getting kind of scary now.

"Are...have you left?" It was a stupid question, and her cheeks flared up. 

"No."

"Oh," She replied awkwardly. If she had more courage, she would've been more assertive in telling him to leave, but in reality, she was still shaking a little. 

"Can you just open the door for me? I have to get something in there."

She panicked. She didn't know this guy at all and she sure didn't feel comfortable opening the door for him, when Jessica, who he claimed to know, wasn't even here.

"Can't you wait until Jessica's back?" She said in a tiny voice.

"Okay, are you that paranoid that I'm going to hurt you or something?"

Yes, she answered in her head.

"I'm not a serial killer or something. Hello? Are you still listening?"

That's exactly what a serial killer would say. 

There was a loud sigh. "Look, I won't try and convince you to let me into your room. Do you see a black hoodie with white markings on the back anywhere?"

She paused, peered around the room, and spotted it, laid on the back of the chair by Jessica's desk.

"...Yeah."

"That's my hoodie. If you look at the back, it has my initials on it. J.K, right?" 

He was right. The letters J.K. were printed neatly in white on the back of it. Maybe this guy wasn't a stalker, but Jessica's boyfriend or something. 

"Yeah."

"Okay, so, just open the door - a crack! - and stick the hoodie out. I've been trying to get that back for months now. I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'll assure you that I'm just here for that goddamn hoodie."

Grabbing the hoodie, Taeyeon walked back to the door and carefully opened it, just enough so that an arm could fit through. Peeking through the gap, she stuck her arm out. 

A pale, slender arm  with a tattoo that read 'la dolce vita' on it reached out to take the hoodie. She would've mistaken the person for a girl from just seeing his arm, if she hadn't heard his voice already.

 "Uh, thanks."

She blinked, thinking about replying. But she couldn't really find anything to say. Saying 'your welcome' sounded strange, especially since she'd refused to let him in the room.

So, instead, she just remained silent, until she could hear his footsteps, walking away. 

-----------------------------------------------------

It was nearing 1AM when Taeyeon heard banging, again, against the door.

Jessica still hadn't come in, but she'd gotten a text from Yuri stating that Jessica probably wouldn't be back tonight. She didn't think it was her place to ask why (it'd only been a few days since she'd met the girl), even if she was curious, so she'd simply replied with an 'okay' and 'thanks for telling me.'

Climbing out of bed, she rubbed her eyes, letting out a soft yawn at being woken up. 

"Taeyeon? Are you in there?" A high-pitched, feminine voice called out softly. 

Her eyes snapped open as she realized that the voice belonged to Jessica. Sprinting towards the door, she quickly yanked it open, not taking into account that the girl would be leaning against the door. So, naturally, Jessica fell loudly against the wooden floor of their dorm room, her forehead hitting first.

"Oh god," Taeyeon whispered in a panicked voice. "Are you okay? I didn't know you were leaning on the door." 

A gargled groan was her only reply.

Taking a deep breath, Taeyeon pulled one of Jessica's arms around her shoulders, grunting as she heaved the (barely) taller girl up to her feet. She reeked heavily of alcohol and strange smelling cologne, and Taeyeon subconsciously wrinkled her nose. Dragging Jessica into the room, Taeyeon tried to place her as gently as possible on her bed. Unfortunately, it was less gently placing and more like plopping a dead body down.

"God, why'd you drink so much?" Taeyeon remarked quietly, more to herself than anyone else, but Jessica seemed to hear her.

"I miss him so much," Jessica slurred. "I wish he was here."

Taeyeon didn't really know how to reply to that. In fact, she probably didn't have to because Jessica was drunk anyway, but it felt wrong to just ignore her words as drunk babbling and none of her business (though that was exactly what it was). 

She blinked, remembering the guy who had banged on their door just that evening, asking for his hoodie back. 

So...was that guy her ex? 

She shook her head. It wasn't right for her to make assumptions and pry into this. This had nothing to do with her.

Jessica babbled on and on, repeating the same lines about 'missing him' for a few minutes, before she began to snore softly, sprawling her legs and arms out. Taeyeon felt relief seep into her, as she pulled a blanket over the blonde, silently thanking her for falling asleep.

------------------------------------------------

"So I heard Jessica ended up coming back in yesterday," Tiffany remarked, dipping one of her fries into the ketchup. "Did things go alright?"

Taeyeon shrugged. "She fell asleep really quickly, so it was fine."

Taeyeon found that, in the past few days, she'd gotten a lot more comfortable with Tiffany. While it was still a bit awkward with Yuri or Kris, it was a whole lot easier to just talk to Tiffany comfortably. Whether that was due to their friendship in the past or just because Tiffany was so enthusiastic and sociable, Taeyeon was grateful. 

"Oh. She didn't say anything weird?"

Taeyeon glanced up. Tiffany stared back curiously, not a hint of malice in her expression.

"She talked about missing some guy," She finally confessed. 

Tiffany's expression softened into a sympathetic one. "Yeah, her last ex boyfriend, Taecyeon...she dated him for almost three years and they went to high school together too. She was really broken when she found out he wanted to break up with her." 

"Are you allowed to tell me this?" Taeyeon inquired.

"Well, it wouldn't be right if you were the only one in our group that didn't know," Tiffany responded logically. "Just don't mention it to Jessi. She doesn't feel comfortable talking about him still." 

"Oh," Taeyeon said, nodding. "Does he go here?"

Tiffany's expression shifted into a grim one. "Yeah. Only makes it worse for her. They're in different majors, but there's always a chance she'll run into him at a party or at the library." 

No matter how much she thought about it, all signs pointed to this Taecyeon guy - Jessica's ex - being the same person that had banged on their door yesterday. Why else would she have his hoodie? And why else would he want it back that badly?

Mentally, she hit herself. It was none of her business, she repeated to herself, over and over again. Since when had she become such a busybody, trying to stick her nose into someone else's business? She'd spent the entirety of high school minding her own business and not paying attention to whatever rumors spread throughout the school. Was this all just pent up emotions from being so uninvolved in high school?

"Anyways," Tiffany piped up brightly. "Moving onto something brighter - you're coming to the party on Friday, right?"

"No," She answered absentmindedly, avoiding Tiffany's look of disbelief and hurt. "Parties aren't really my thing."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "You can't say that if you haven't been to one."

"I hate loud music and I've never had alcohol before," Taeyeon said honestly. "I'm not going to be any fun at parties."

"There's a first for everything," Tiffany replied knowingly. "Just have one beer and get to know people there. I promise I won't let you do anything stupid."

"My parents would kill me if they ever found out I got drunk at a party," Taeyeon said lamely.

Tiffany laughed it off. "If my parents found out about half of the things I've done, they'd kill me. Just keep it a secret. Your parents are all the way in Texas anyway!" 

Taeyeon remained silent, tilting her head to one side in uncertainty. 

Tiffany beamed at her. "I'll take your silence as a yes! I'll pick you and Jessica up Friday night!" 

-----------------------------------------------------

To Taeyeon's dread, Friday came a lot quicker than she thought it would.

"Want me to curl your hair?" Jessica offered, a genuine smile on her lips. "You look tense."

Jessica had been awfully normal, for lack of a better word, after her one drunken escapade. She'd come back to the room, an hour after Taeyeon everyday, and take a shower, before asking if she wanted to go to the cafeteria with her.

They were becoming friends, but it still wasn't enough for her to ask Jessica what had happened that night and what was going on. She already knew too much, from what Tiffany had told her.

"I don't look good with curled hair," She replied, remembering the ridicule she'd gotten from a couple of senior boys when she'd gone to homecoming sophomore year, with bouncy curls. "Thanks for the offer though."

Jessica wore a soft smile, uncapping one of her lipstick bottles. "Alright then."

There was a beep from her phone and Taeyeon turned to read the text, from Tiffany, reading: im here!! :D

"Tiffany's here," She said aloud, glancing at Jessica, who was patting at her lips, adjusting the final touches of her lipstick. Her glance briefly fell to the black gloves that were still on her hands, before snapping them back up to her face.

"It'll be fun," Jessica assured her, on their way down. 

And even though Jessica probably had way more experience with parties than she did, Taeyeon strangely felt like the blonde was trying to convince herself more than anything of that.

-----------------------------------------

The instant she stepped into the house, it felt akin to a nightmare.

Music blared loudly, to the point where she couldn't even hear Tiffany's voice from beside her, and the entire house reeked of alcohol and most likely, a variety of drugs as well. She'd gotten two steps past the doorway, and narrowly avoided a couple making out fervently, slammed against one of the walls.

"See? Isn't it fun?" Tiffany yelled over the music.

Instead of answering the question honestly, she opted for pretending that she couldn't hear her.

"Kriiiis!" Yuri shouted loudly, waving at the tall blond boy, who raised a hand in greeting, making his way over to them.

Jessica rolled her eyes, speaking up loudly. "Looks like someone got busy before we got here."

Taeyeon blinked in confusion, before noticing, as Kris came closer, that there was a trail of kiss marks on his neck, in clear view.

"Can I at least ask who the unlucky lady is?" Jessica asked.

Kris grinned victoriously. "Jia from my psych class."

Yuri wrinkled her nose. "I went to high school with her. That's just weird."

"Enough of that," Tiffany quickly changed topics. "What about Luhan? And Jiyong? They have to meet Taeyeon."

Kris peered at the crowd, letting out a loud whistle suddenly. "Yo! Luhan! Jiyong! Get your asses over here!"

Taeyeon squinted, looking at the two boys that approached them. One had very soft, pretty features, with large, dark eyes, while the other looked boyish, wearing a playful grin. 

Tiffany pushed her forward. "This is Taeyeon! I told you about her a few days ago."

The boyish one cocked his head to the side. "The name doesn't ring a bell."

The boy beside him flicked his forehead. "Taeyeon Kim. Tiffany's childhood friend and Jessica's roommate."

Tiffany let out a sigh of exasperation. "The idiot over there is Jiyong, and the smart one beside him is Luhan." 

Jiyong rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, you're Jess's roommate? You helped me out on Monday. Thanks for that."

Wait what?

Taeyeon blinked, opening to respond, when Tiffany cut in. "You've met Jiyong before?"

"Yeah, um, he wanted his hoodie back on Monday, so he came to our room," Taeyeon replied absentmindedly, slowly dropping her gaze to Jiyong's arm, which indeed, had the same tattoo on it as the guy on Monday. "I forgot to mention it."

"So that's where your hoodie went," Jessica murmured.

Jiyong shot her a glare. "You take too many of our hoodies. I get that they're comfortable but at least give them back."

Beside him, Kris nodded. "Agreed. I think I've lost half of my hoodies because of you, Jess."

"Hey, I just forget about them!" 

"Excuses."

Tiffany pressed her lips into a thin line. "Okay, guys, are we just going to stand here? Or are we actually going to do something?"

Something about her tone made Taeyeon feel strangely tense, but Yuri piped up in agreement from beside her, and before she could even register what was going on, she was getting dragged by the rest of them towards the drinks.

Before she could decline, a can of beer had been pressed into one of her hands. She watched, in mild horror, as the rest of them began to pop cans open and chug them down. 

"You don't like drinking?" Taeyeon jumped in surprise, as she met eyes with Luhan, who had suddenly taken a place beside her. The beer can in his hand remained untouched.

"I've never actually had alcohol before," Taeyeon replied honestly.

Luhan laughed, but she couldn't feel any malice or teasing in it. "I'm not much better. The most I've had is a can of beer, and that was when I was at Kris's house during summer break."

"You and Kris are really close," She observed, recalling how Kris had described Luhan at their first meeting. 

"Close enough to start rumors about our relationship," Luhan joked good-naturedly. "I was the only Chinese kid in my elementary kid before Kris came along. That probably accounts for us being this close."

Taeyeon nodded, finding his words oddly relatable. "I was one of the only Korean kids in my elementary school too. The kids...couldn't even pronounce my name right."

Luhan chuckled. "Yeah, I get you! My name's the easiest thing to pronounce, but the kids still took a couple of weeks to finally start saying it right."

Conversation ceased between them, and Taeyeon registered a vague stinging against her palm from holding the icy cold beer can for so long. She debated on whether it'd be impolite or strange to put the beer can back. 

Before she could make a decision, Tiffany bounced towards them, clearly drunk already. 

"What are you guys doing here, all by yourselves?" She slurred, a giggle escaping her lips. "Taeng, you haven't even touched your beer yet! You too, Lu!" 

Taeng? Lu? She and Luhan shared a glance, before laughing.

"Someone should watch over her," She remarked, more to herself than anything, but Luhan nodded in agreement.

"I'll take care of her for the rest of the night," Luhan assured her, a smile on his lips. "Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Sure, Luhan seemed like a nice, friendly guy, but he was still a male and in the presence of a very drunk Tiffany...

"Leave her to him." Taeyeon turned around, as Jiyong walked towards them, an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. 

"Luhan's probably the most reliable person out of our group," Jiyong commented. "Don't let anything happen to Hwang or else Yuri and Jessica are going to kick your ."

Luhan grinned. "Don't worry about it. I'll keep an eye on her."

Tiffany began to roam around the room, downing yet another can of beer, and with a look of both weary and amusement, Luhan followed after her.

"Hwang's liked Luhan for about a year now. She probably likes this situation," Jiyong said from beside her, as if sensing her apprehension and confusion. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket.

She stared at him blankly. "Are you going to smoke?"

He raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the cigarette in his mouth with his other hand. "What does it look like?"

The normal Taeyeon would've just stopped there, but the words just tumbled out of without a second thought. "Do you want to die an early death?" 

The edge of his lips curled up slightly in amusement. "Funny. My mom says the same thing to me."

To her surprise, Jiyong actually pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and stuffed it in his pocket, along with the lighter. 

She stared at him in unabashed surprise, whereas he shrugged. "Consider it a present for you entering our group."

She didn't know how to respond to that, so she simply nodded. 

Suddenly, he grabbed the beer can out of her hands.

"Though, if you're not going to drink this, I am. "

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A/N: This is probably the longest first chapter I've written, oop. I'm very excited to write this fic because I love the idea of a loner Taeyeon finally assimiliating into a friend group and learning to just love people. That, and, I've got a lot of plans for the characters. (tho, I'll admit here, that Yuri and Seunghyun will tend to be a bit more minor than the rest of the characters).

I'm actually most excited to reveal details about Tiffany's character because she appears to be a bubbly, sociable airhead on the surface, but I promise there's more to her. 

Pairings will include [ANY that are potentially explored]: GTae, LuTae, LuFany, JiSica, TopYul, Krissica, KrisFany, and minimal TaecSica [since he's an important part of Jessica's life in this story]. 

Thank you sososo much for reading and any comments are extremely appreciated!! Next chapter features: more about the party, the morning after the party, and a whole lot more about Sica, as well as Jiyong, possibly.

ALSO, heads up! This story will feature alcohol, drug use, self-harm, abuse, and implied ual activity (if it ever becomes explicit in a chapter, I will rate them M). If you would feel more comfortable with me upping the story's rating to 'mature' as a whole, please comment below or message me about it, because I'll be sure to do so!<3