It was a rite of passage that I knew I would eventually have to undergo, but I couldn't help but wonder whether it was meant to be a torturous event or an innocent affair. I look into the foggy mirror, smoothing down the dress I finally decided to wear to the party. Not too y or short, just the right amount of skin showing to not be labeled a prude.

Clutching the silky black Armani tie in my hands and commence the alien practice of tying it around my neck. I struggle for a few minutes before giving up and deciding not to crinkle what seems like a really expensive piece of fabric.

A knock on the bathroom door startles me and causes me to teeter on my high heels. However, the knock doesn't wait for a reply. The door swings open catching me off-guard.

In the doorway is my roommate, Rian, fully dressed and wearing a bright red lip stain. She looks beautiful, but the tie she's also wearing around her neck clashes with her outfit.  It's Halloween themed with a bright orange pumpkin on it, complete with a dancing skeleton.

She eyes me and the tie I'm holding in my hand with a raised eyebrow. "Are you ready, Yebin?"

I smile sheepishly at her and then down to the tie. "Almost, I'm trying to figure out how to tie this stupid tie. I don't want to ruin it."

She tuts at me with a waggle of a finger, gesturing for me to hand the tie over. "It's not that hard." She pauses to examine the tie. "Woah, this looks really expensive. And it's from Armani?"

I nod, wide-eyed as I watch her dexterously loop the tie in her fingers. The knot is complete and she puts it on over my neck.

"Whoever has your tie is probably going to be hot. Mine on the other hand..." She eyes the orange tie around her own neck with a grimace. "He seems like he'll be a total loser. I mean, it's not even Halloween yet."

"Relax Rian. Whoever has your tie seems like he has a sense of humor." I say as reassuringly as I can. I loosen the knot around my neck and try to think of the person who could be the possible owner of the tie.

You see, at the University of Seoul, it's a tradition for freshman boys and girls to have a mixer party in the Main Hall. Boys are required to send their ties off anonymously to the girl's dorms as a way to socialize this year's freshman class. Girls bring their ties to the party and are paired off with the tie's owner.

According to University lore, some people have met their future husbands and wives due to this event, and that makes me even more nervous to attend.

When we finally leave the dorm and get to the Main hall, the party is almost filled to the brim with other college freshmen already partnered up and chattering to a soundtrack of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. We are fashionably late, probably due to the fact that neither Rian, nor I, can effectively walk on the university's cobble stone paths in our heels.

Rian beelines her way to the bar and grabs two drinks for us. I wonder if she's as nervous as I am. I watch as she gulps down her cocktail. Yup, she's totally nervous.

"You know there isn't any alcohol in there right?" I say to her as I sip my own fizzy drink.

"I know, but I can always pretend." She slams her plastic cup down at the bar and is immediately given a refill by the bartender. "Everyone looks like they've already paired up already". She sounds disappointed, but I am secretly hoping that my date doesn't show up at all.

There were a few false alarms. Since my tie was pretty plain, some guys did come up to me to examine my tie and check if it was theirs. Rian's tie was so unique however, that no one else could possibly mistake it for their own.

Just as I send another boy away, I can see another boy walking towards us. He is wearing a backwards cap with light skinny jeans. He didn't look half bad either. He has a big smile on his face and seems to be coming towards Rian.

"I found you!" He exclaims, eyes glinting with glee and pointing to the tie around Rian's neck.

Rian almost spits out her drink but swallows quickly before outstretching her hand for a hand shake.

"I'm Baekhyun, nice to meet you. My tie made it easy to find you!" He seems pleased with himself. He seems like the type of person who would own a ridiculous tie like that.

"I'm Rian" She takes his hand and they make their way to the dance floor. She looks behind her shoulder at me, blushing furiously with a big smile on her face.

See? I told her not to worry.

I'm relieved to see that Rian has been taken care of, but now I'm awkwardly alone while everyone else had found their partner already. No one else has come to claim my black tie.

I spot one of our next door neighbors in the dorm, Minjung. One of the other students is chatting her up, but she looks bored out of her mind. I push myself away from the bar and begin to weave my way through the crowd of teenagers to where Minjung was standing.

I am within a few feet of reaching her but something, rather, someone is  blocking my path.

"You're late." A deep voice cuts me off.

I looked up to match the voice to the face.  Staring down at me with his piercing dark eyes is a dark haired boy in a loosely buttoned collared shirt. I try to find something to say, anything, but for some reason my voice hitched in my throat. I must have forgotten how to speak in that moment in time.

He looks at me blankly, then sighs. "This", he says pointing to the tie, "Is mine".

Wondering if he was angry, I look up again, but am surprised to find him neither angry nor agitated. He just stares me down, eyebrow arched in slight amusement.

"Oh. Ah. Sorry." I hurry to remove it  from my neck.

"No keep it on" He grasps my wrist gently to keep me from taking it off.  "I'm afraid I might lose you again."

I stop trying to remove the tie, while he holds out a hand for a handshake.

"I'm Sehun."

Oh I knew who he was. Of course, I'd never talked to him in person before, but you'd have to live under a rock not to know. My "blind date" had been none other than Oh Sehun, and I didn't know if I was lucky or cursed.

I took his hand in mine. "I'm Yebin."

SCREEECH.

A sharp sound of feedback from the microphone along with the abrupt halt of music jolted us out of our handshake. I am secretly grateful that Sehun would no longer have to feel how sweaty my hands were. Towards the front of the room was our freshman class representative, Kim Jongdae.

"Are you having a good time?!" He screams into the microphone. The crowd reacts with a roar of cheers. "Good! I hope you all have gotten a chance to know each other because you'll be getting really close tonight." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Oh god.

I wonder what Sehun thinks about all of this, but I refuse to look at the tall boy standing beside me, I'm way too embarrassed.

"We'll be passing out these water balloons for the activity portion of the mixer. You will be facing each other holding the water balloon between you. The goal of the game is to move the balloon up to you partner's head without popping it or dropping it. The first pair to win will get these..."

He brandishes two slips of paper from his sweater pocket.

"Two tickets to SHINee's sold out concert this Saturday!"

As a loud murmur of interest erupts from the crowd, Sehun nonchalantly picks up a water ballon from the basket that was going around.

"You may begin!" Jongdae shouts out again. The music starts up again and everyone races to grab balloons and their partners.

Sehun holds the water balloon close to his stomach, and waits expectantly for me to come closer. I take a nervous step, careful not to slip on the smooth laminated floor. I reluctantly press my body closer to his. Even though I am wearing heels, my forehead only reaches up to his lips. He lightly holds his hands on my waist.

"Do you want me to go first?" He asks cautiously.

When he sees my small nod of approval, he slowly lowers himself down, careful not to let the balloon disconnect with our bodies. He is almost on his knees, his hands are now hovering by my legs. He occasionally touches them to keep his balance, but apologizes each time he does.

Horrified, I look around the event hall. This was definitely beyond the level of appropriate touching. What ever happened the high school chaperone's mantra, "save room for jesus?" Unfortunately, people seem to really want those SHINee tickets and are resorting to the same tactics.

Sehun is currently nudging the balloon up from my belly button with his cheek. I can feel the cold liquid of the water balloon through my dress but my body is flaring up. He is now working his way up, and now I regret agreeing to let him go first.

He stops abruptly before my chest. I can see in his eyes that he's debating on whether or not to continue.

I think I've forgotten how to breathe.

Just then, a body pushes into me from behind. I struggle to regain my balance, but I ultimately fail and end up toppling over and landing right on top of Sehun.

Our noses are practically touching. Sehun's eyes are wide looking into my own, and I can't look away, that is, until I feel the wetness from the broken water balloon spreading between our bodies. I desperately try to get up but our legs are tangled together and my ankle seems to have twisted because my heels are a size too big.

"You're hurting me" He wheezes out when I accidentally jab my knee into his groin.

I can see he's in pain judging by the way his eyebrows are knitted together. When he finally shimmies out from under me, I can catch him cursing under his breath.

When I look up from my position on the floor, everyone seems to be looking at us. Rian and Baekhyun rush over to my side.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Rian gasps. I can see that she's holding the two tickets to the concert in her hands. She must have won.

"Yea," I try to give her a smile but it comes out forced. "I think I sprained my ankle."

"Oh no, we've got to get you to the infirmary" She slings my arm over her shoulder and props me upright while Baekhyun steps in to steady me.

"I'll take her" Sehun is dusting himself off and rolling up his sleeves as he walks towards us.

"Sehun, you don't have to--"I protest, but he's already knelt down on one knee with his back facing me.

"Just get on" He says with a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

I've ruined his tie, gotten his clothes wet, and kneed him in the crotch, the last thing I wanted him to do was force himself to piggyback ride me to the infirmary. I didn't want to cause him any more trouble than I already had.

But here I was, on his back and on the way to the infirmary. My arms are wrapped loosely around his neck. Occasionally he adjusts me on his back, and the cool September air envelops us in it's quiet embrace. I feel a drop of rain on my bare shoulder and pray to God it doesn't pour.