I looked at my black hoodie and the text ‘Rap Monster’ and tilted my head a bit.

We were going to throw a party, but the only thing I had thought about when I left my house earlier, was how I had to buy food for my gluttonous friends and myself. I had just worn plain jeans and a navy colored t-shirt – oh, and of course the hoodie I was now staring intensely at, wondering whether it could be accepted as party attire or if I had to ask Taeyoon for something to borrow. Thinking of Taeyoon’s clothing size I realized I probably wouldn’t be able to fit into her clothes anyways.I sighed as I pulled the hoodie over my head and ran my fingers through my messy hair, trying to untangle it. It hadn’t taken long before a lot of people had arrived at Taeyoon’s place. They were at different stages of drunkenness, some sipping a drink in a corner, while others were staggering about the apartment, mumbling incomprehensible things. I wandered around the apartment alone, trying to find someone I knew.  I found Taeyoon by the kitchen counter mixing some suspicious looking drinks. As I got closer, she noticed me.

“Heeere you go” she grinned and handed me one of the drinks. It was even in a fancy glass. I looked at the contents. The drink had a purple color and one of those small umbrellas was sticking out of the glass. I took a small sip and smiled at Taeyoon. It tasted a bit like a mixture of strawberry and lime.

“He’s good-looking, isn’t he?” Taeyoon suddenly asked.

“Huh?” I muttered. Who was she talking about?

“Taehyung, of course!” She said and pointed towards the group of couches. In front of them were four guys dancing wildly to the music. I recognized the orange-haired guy, who seemed like the craziest out of the four. 

“You really think so? Isn’t he a bit weird though?” I asked, honestly a little surprised. He was indeed good-looking, but he had such a random personality. “How did you get to know him, anyways?” I asked before Taeyoon could answer my other questions.

“He tutors Taeil” Taeyoon said, while watching Taehyung. Taeil was her younger brother, who had always been a smart kid, even back when I lived in Korea.

“Don’t even think about taking Taehyung though, I’ve already claimed him!” Taeyoon quickly added, looking at me with an expression that told me I had better tell her I was not interested in Taehyung.

“I didn’t…” I mumbled as I took another sip of the pink drink, “I’m way too awkward for that kind of thing, you should know that”

Taeyoon smiled at my response and picked up one of the other drinks on the kitchen counter. Her eyes wandered off and soon enough she noticed something or someone and ran off. I leaned against the counter and looked at all the people around me. My attention returned to the four boys dancing in the middle of the living room. How much had they been drinking? I smiled, and then my eyes noticed a thin figure with long, wavy hair standing a few meters in front of me.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” I asked, as I walked up behind Seulgi, who seemed to be immersed in deep thoughts. She jumped a bit. Ah, I forgot about the thing about walking up behind people.

“About the guys with Taehyung” Seulgi replied and nodded towards the guys.

“Oh... I suppose they're Taehyung's friends?” I asked. To me it seemed like Taehyung could easily join a party without knowing anybody and still have lots of fun.

Seulgi nodded as an answer. So they were his friends. I took another sip of my drink, it was almost empty now and I could begin to feel the alcohol affecting my body, a light buzzing working its way through my arms and legs. My head was still completely clear though.

“They're quite funny when drunk, at least Hoseok and Jimin” Seulgi pointed out two guys who, at the moment, were doing a weird dance move, that included the guy named Jimin doing a sweeping motion with his arms while also moving his legs in the same kind of motion. The guy named Hoseok was smiling and doing a move that could not be anything other than some move from the newest girlgroup. The other guy, whom I didn’t know the name of, was just dancing while laughing at other boys. He seemed at bit too young to be at a party like this though. 

“I suppose you know them, then?” I asked Seulgi, wondering if she was hanging out with the people often.

“Sort of, I've met them a couple of times” Seulgi grinned and then began staring at someone. Wasn’t it the third guy, who had also been at the grocery store earlier today? I couldn’t really recall his face, so I wasn’t entirely sure. I hadn’t talked to him at the time; he just sort of was in the background.

Seulgi kept staring and as I looked at her, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about. She suddenly shifted her attention to somewhere else and a smile appeared on her face. I tried to follow her gaze and found its target. Standing at the other side of the room, near the person Seulgi had been looking at moments before, was a tall, blonde guy. He was waving his arm and began walking towards us. As he came closer I could see that it was in fact the guy who had first talked to me in the grocery store. I had hoped not to meet him again, just like I had hoped not to meet Taehyung. Fortunately, Taehyung hadn’t initiated a rap battle, even though I promised him one. But who knew with this one? I lowered my head a bit and cursed myself under my breath. Why had I decided to wear this hoodie at the party? My plain t-shirt would have been fine. If he just didn’t remember my face then …

“Oh, it’s the rap monster” The blonde-haired guy was now standing in front of us, looking directly at me, and he obviously remembered me. Whyyy? I cried in my head. He was grinning, and I couldn’t help but notice dimples appear on both sides of his smile. It was such a nice smile, and I couldn’t help but smile too.

“Hello” I answered, lowering my head in a greeting. He did the same, still looking at me. It almost seemed like he was showing off his dimples. How could they be so deep?

Seulgi and the dimple guy continued to talk, while I was absentmindedly staring at him. I hope I wasn’t too obvious, but I probably was. Suddenly, I felt Seugli’s elbow hit my side. I looked at her and she nodded towards a far off corner, where two people were sitting close. Very close.

“That’s how I found them when I arrived” she said. That explained a lot; why Taehyung had been at Taeyoon’s apartment in the first place, since Taeil obviously hadn’t been home, and it also explained why Taeyoon had made sure I wasn’t interested in him.

“I suddenly understand a lot of things…” dimple-guy grinned. Okay, now would be the perfect time to make my escape. There were a lot of people in the apartment and it should be much easier to slip away than it had been at the grocery store. Just as I turned around to walk away from the two, dimple guy decided to turn his attention to me again.

“So... I think you promised us a rap battle?” he grinned. I looked at him and he winked at me. Did he know I didn’t want to embarrass myself? Really, it seemed like he was teasing me.

“I think I did…” I answered and forced a smile.

If I was going to do this, I was going to do this right. Luckily, I had had that drink because even if it were not enough to make me drunk, it still somehow boosted my confidence.

“Namjoon” Seulgi suddenly started, looking at dimple-guy, “She’s not-“. She didn’t say anything else, as she noticed I had held up my hand in front of her, trying to look as tough as I could.

“I promised” I smiled at her, handing her the now empty glass I had been holding for some time now.

I wiggled my shoulders, looking like a boxer before a big match.

“Let’s get this going...” I said as I rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie. I wasn’t going to go easy on him. My rap was deadly, but most likely not in the way he imagined.

I couldn’t help but grin, my trademark crooked smirk appearing on my lips. My actions and attitude change had had the wanted effect, as Namjoon backed away a bit.

“Ladies first” Namjoon smiled and bowed like a gentleman. In my head I was laughing, but I didn’t let it show. I had better not mess this up now.

I took a fast, deep breath and began:

“Dibidibidis Bling Bling is Jeon sshi,

Dibidibidis our powerful Taeyoon,

Dibidibidis the only leader is Seulgi,

Dibidibidis dap dibidibidis dap,

Our house's almighty and unlocking, Key.

Dibidibidis the Charismatic flame, Mali

Dibidibidis my name is Mali,

Dibidibidis we’re shining thugs

Dibidibidis dap dibidibidis dap

We’re living in a small small town!”

I had remembered it all, just like I had prepared it. Namjoon looked at me with a face that expressed both shock and confusion at the same time. I turned to Seulgi, who was clapping and we high-fived. We had made this rap years ago, imitating a popular boyband. It had been my goal to be able to recite it without failing. I think this was the first time I got it right. Well, as I said, I had been practicing. Suddenly laughter was coming from Namjoon and I couldn’t hold my own laughter back either. Seulgi was laughing too. Wait! I had to keep this cool, not-caring-about-anything attitude. Couldn’t just ruin the illusion, you know? I made the best gangster pose I was capable of and looked at Namjoon.

“Did you want something?” I asked, trying to sound tough. The tall guy, had stopped laughing, but was still smiling like crazy. He looked really cute when he smiled tough. It was the perfect mixture between cute and goofy. I couldn’t but laugh again, totally ruining my tough girl image – if that image had ever existed?

“You’re quite a troll, aren’t you?” Namjoon grinned.

“Maybe?” I answered and spun around myself.

“I'm just amazed you still can remember all of it....” Seulgi said while smiling. Of course I had. As stupid as that rap might seem, it was probably as treasured to me as my ‘rap monster’ hoodie – it was one of the reasons I even had the hoodie too.   

“What was that about?” the guy, whom Seulgi had been staring at before my rap, had quickly moved to our little group. He definitely was the third guy from the grocery store with that light blonde hair. On closer inspection I noticed how pale and slim he was. And he was not very tall either. I couldn’t help but wonder what Seulgi’s relation to him was, since she had been staring at him like that. I faintly noticed how Seulgi began explaining what had just happened to the pale guy.

“She just recited a freaking pop song!” Namjoon exclaimed, still looking a bit confused.

I could feel my cheeks turn red. Really? My body decided to show my embarrassment now, but not when I had actually rapped? I hid my face behind my hands, trying to hide my pink face.

“Well.... I guess it kinda is my own fault since it was I who...” Namjoon began after a while, but both mine and Seulgi’s attention had moved elsewhere. We were both looking at the corner were Taeyoon and Taehyung had been sitting in an embrace just a few minutes ago. Now they were gone, and it wasn’t hard to imagine where they had gone and what they might be doing. I grinned at Seulgi, who was also smiling. The two guys were obviously confused as to why we were looking at each other like that.

“Someone’s getting laid~” Seulgi explained and the confusion in the guys’ faces was replaced with amusement, but also something that looked like concern. Seulgi had to reassure the pale guy how Taeyoon was going to take good care of Taehyung, which just made him look even more concerned and in some way surprised. My eyes soon became restless. Looking around at all the people partying, I suddenly felt like I was way too sober and way too awkward. Time to find another drink.