'SHOULD I BE WORRIED?' I ASKED UNDER MY breath as my mother danced around the kitchen, putting bowls on to the counter - dumping bags of chips and spooning containers of dip into them. 

'Honestly?' Chanyeol asked from beside me, watching the same spectacle. 

'Of course,' I replied, feeling stressed. 

'Probably.' His honesty made my stomach churn.

'That's what I thought,' I exhaled in defeat. 

'Hi,' EunJi greeted me joyfully as she opened the front door. I turned towards her, covering the worry with a smile.

'Hi,' I responded.

'EunJi!' my mother exclaimed, burshing past me to give EunJi a hug.

'Happy birthday, Mrs.Lee,' EunJi said, hugging her in return while eyeing me in shock over her shoulder. I shrugged in response. 

'I brought you something,' EunJi told her upon being released. She opened her bag and pulled out a neatly wrapped package about the size of a deck of cards. 

'You're so sweet.' My mother opened it without hesitation and removed a necklace from the box. She held the delicate silver chain in front of her. 'It's beautiful. Thank you.'

'You're welcome,' EunJi replied, taking off her jacket.

'EunJi, you must know how to cook,' my mother insisted, fastening the chain around her neck.

'Not really,' EunJi confessed. 'My mother's tried to encourage it, but it hasn't taken yet.'

'What's with you guys?' My mother shook her head. She returned to the kitchen where she proceeded to pull ingredients out of the refrigerator. 'What are you going to do when you go to college?'

There was a knock at the door. Chanyeol went to open it as EunJi and I took the bowls of chips into the living room. Luhan entered carrying a bottle of wine with a bow around it. I stopped short at the sight of it. 

'Well, hello,' my mother greeted him with a smile. 

'Mrs.Lee, this is Luhan,' EunJi said, presenting the bottle to my mother. 

'My favourite,' she gushed, taking the bottle from him. 'Thank you.' 

'Where's Sehun?' I asked, scanning the driveway. When I didn't see any sign of him, I shut the door. 

'He drove separately,' Luhan explained, following after my mother and EunJi towards the kitchen. 'He should be here any second.'

I remained in the foyer, hoping Sehun would arrive soon - and not wanting to go anywhere near the kitchen in fear that I'd be recruited to cook something. 

'Are you friends with Sehun? my mother asked, laying tortillas on a griddle. 

'He's my brother,' Luhan explained, standing in the kitchen doorway. 

'I would have never guessed that,' my mother replied, eyeing his broader frame and blond hair, flipping out around his ears. 'You look as much alike as SooJi and me.' She let out a laugh, making Luhan smile. 'So you must know how to cook.'

'Not at all,' Luhan confessed, glancing at EunJi - obviously not sure what to make of my mother. 'My brother and I are pretty opposite in just about everything. Is there anything else I can do to help?'

'Do you know how to make margaritas?' 

'That I can help with,' Luhan replied, continuing into the kitchen. 

'Great,' I muttered under my breath. 

The door opened with a knock, and Sehun entered with the poker table. 

'Let me help you with that,' Chanyeol offered, appearing from the living room to take the table. Sehun followed him with folding chairs in each hand. 

'Finally!' my mother exclaimed. 'Sehun, please come help me cook these quesadillas. You and I appear to be to be the only ones who have any talent in the kitchen.'

'Luhan has talent,' EunJi said defensively. 'It's just not in the kitchen, that's all.'

'Oh, so what room are we talking about?' my mother smirked. 'The bedroom?'

'We did not just go there,' Luhan blurted in disbelief. looking from my mother to EunJi. EunJi started laughing, and I stared, wide-eyed, in shock at my mother's inappropriate candour - wondering if she'd already started drinking. 

Sehun returned to the kitchen after hanging up his jacket. 'Uh, okay. So, what do you want me to do?' he asked, having no idea what he'd just walked in on. 

'Flip them when they're ready,' she instructed, handing Sehun the spatula. 'Want a drink?'

'I think I might need one,' Luhan interjected. My mother pulled two glasses from the cabinet, filled them with ice and held them out for Luhan to fill with the margarita blend he'd created. 

She handed one glass over and held up hers with a smirk. 'To being talented.'

Luhan raised his eyebrows in shock and clinked her glass. 

'Hey, I want in on this,' EunJi insisted, filling another glass to tap with theirs. I tried to keep from having heart failure as I watched my mother quickly drain half of her glass. I realized I had to prepare myself. This was about to happen. 

'You okay?' Chanyeol asked, passing me as he carried in more folding chairs from the porch and set them around the poker table. 

'Not until tomorrow morning,' I muttered, deciding to follow him to help set up the chairs. 

'SooJi, would you put on some music?' my mother hollered from the kitchen, although there was no need to yell since I could hear every word they were saying. 

'Sure,' I replied. I flipped through the CD collection, not finding anything I would deem party-worthy. 

'Here,' Chanyeol offered, handing me his iPod. 'There's a playlist on there for her party.'

'Thanks,' I said, accepting the iPod and plugging it into the wire attached to the stereo. I scrolled to the Hyun-a's Party playlist. My mother hollered in excitement from the kitchen when the first song came on. 

'Perfect, SooJi,' she praised. 

I was about to explain that it wasn't my selection, when Chanyeol stopped me. 'Just let her think it was you.'

'Okay.' I shrugged, not understanding why it mattered. 

About half an hour later, the door opened and six people let themselves in, carrying brown bags filled with alcohol and snacks. 

'Is this where the party is?' a guy with a tightly trimmed beard asked, peeking into the kitchen. He opened his arms when my mother squealed in excitement and rushed towards him, wrapping his arms around his neck while kissing him on the cheek. 'Happy birthday, Hyun-a,' he said, kissing her cheek in return. She hugged each person, directing them to hang up their coats and instructing them to place their beers in the cooler on the porch. She was so excited. I tried to let the worry go and be happy for her. This was her birthday after all. 

'We brought the other poker table and chairs,' one of the guys announced, popping open  a can of beer after returning from the porch. 

We had to introduce ourselves since my mother was too preoccupied pouring margaritas for the two women she'd dragged into the kitchen. 

'Wow, SooJi,' a woman named Sharon noted upon meeting me. 'I can't believe how much you've grown up.'

'Thanks,' I responded, studying the woman who obviously knew me. Her voice was crackly from too many years of smoking, and her face was etched with lines from a life that had not been kind to her. She wore her curly black hair long over her shoulders. Her dark eyes were heavily lined in black and layered with mascara. 

'You still look just like your dad,' she continued.

'Right?' my mother chimed in from behind Sharon, holding out a glass for her to take. 'I swear she's not mine.' She laughed playfully. 

Sharon cackled. 'You've been trying to get away with that one for years. But I was the one who drove you to the hospital when you were into labour, remember?'

'I couldn't exactly drive myself. my mother huffed. 

'The bottle of wime may have bad something to do with that,' Sharon added, her laugh turning into a cough. I narrowed my eyes and looked from her to my mother. 

'Relax, SooJi-ah,' my mother chuckled. 'She's only joking.' I nodded with an awkward smile. Sharon clamped shut to keep from laughing, causing her to convulse in a coughing fit. 

'Can I smoke?' Sharon asked in a rasp, pulling a pack from her pocket.

'Porch,' my mother instructed. 'I'll come out with you.'

My mother and Sharon disappeared out the front door.

Sehun finally emerged from the kitchen with several platters of quesadillas. Luhan and Chanyeol were helping two of the new arrivals move furniture to make room for the additional poker table. EunJi and I brought in pitchers of margaritas and set them on the coffee table. 

'I know, right?' my mother said to Sharon as they entered from the porch, the smell of cigarette smoke swirling around them. 

'Sehun, you can have a beer,' my mother insisted. 'It's my birthday. Besides, you're staying over, so you don't have to worry about driving.' She smiled and handed him a freshly opened bottle.

'Thanks.' He accepted it and placed his hand on my back, probably sensing my uneven breaths. I watched as my mother poured herself another drink. Closing my eyes, I exhaled quickly, trying to remain calm. 

'You okay?' Sehun bent down to ask in my ear. 

I played down my worried expression. 'I'm not so sure I know what I'm doing with poker.'

'I'll help you,' he assured me. 'I'll give you a cheat sheet so you know what hand beats what.'

'Okay,' I replied, trying to appear relaxed. I met Chanyeol's eye across the room. He looked from my mother to me and shook his head. He was expecting something to happen, and my gut twisted in a knot, knowing it too. I looked away and tried to shake it off. 

'Let's play,' my mother announced, herding everyone into the living room. 

As she drank more and more, my mother played less and less. She finally declared that whatever Chanyeol earned would be her winnings. She hopped from table to table, initiating conversations; then she'd jump up to select songs on the iPod and dance around with whoever she would pull away from the game. 

And I played poker, or at least tried to. I had no idea what I was doing. I kept glancing at Sehun's cheat sheet to decide if my hand was good enough to place a bet. We had to buy chips, so