WARNING : Underage drinking, creepy guys, and angst. :)

/ / /

If high school parties were ranked with its own hierarchy, everyone and their mothers living in the town would crown Dahyun's as the ideal party hoster. Dahyun's house is located in one of the more well off corners of the town, and her house is more like a mansion - wide, her lawn lush and filled with plants and tall trees with lingering scent of citric, a humongous and all-too-blue swimming pool residing in her backyard - and everyone knows her parents are rich enough to be able to keep the police from busting the parties. Nobody knows why her neighbours don't seem to mind, but a kid once told of his theory about Dahyun's family being able to even pay off the neighbours. Nayeon, being one of Dahyun's close friends, knows that's not the truth - the truth is, as Dahyun's parties are open invitation (as long as they're not creeps - creeps are escorted and are never seen again, really) and most of her neighbours are invited, because as Dahyun herself says, why wreck a party when you can join it?

"I swear, I've thought about inviting the local cops to party as well, but I don't think mom and dad would appreciate it," says Dahyun over lunch as Nayeon gobbles down the steak Dahyun's cook has made for the both of them, and Nayeon wryly glances at her friend with the colourful hair. 

"Dahyun, that'd be pretty epic," admits Nayeon, taking a gulp from the goblet of water. Goblets. Rich people - Nayeon doesn't understand them, and it's most likely she never will.

"Right?" Dahyun grins as Nayeon seems to accept her idea, but she doesn't seem to grasp the concept of sarcasm - doesn't make her any less adorable though, Nayeon thinks as she looks at Dahyun's cheeks. Even though the two of them are having lunch, Dahyun's cheeks kind of make Nayeon wants to lean over and squish them. Maybe that's why she's called tofu amongst their ragtag group of friends. "But honestly - I don't get why people blow parties. Why wreck a party when you can join it?" Dahyun flips her hair over her shoulder, and Nayeon shrugs, but she can see her friend's point.

"Not everyone's up to have fun, I guess."

" to be them."

Some time after their conversation, Dahyun hosts a party to celebrate the coming of Christmas, leaving the house astrewn in colourful lights, the scent of gingerbread cookies floating through the air, and the shrub of mistletoes hidden in almost every corner and enclosed spaces - nowhere is safe. Everyone is invited, as most of Dahyun's parties are open to the public (or at least, the high school public), and according to Dahyun, it's going to be her biggest Christmas party yet.

(Dahyun says every year is going to be her biggest party yet, and Nayeon finds it to be pretty damn accurate - Dahyun's parties only get better and better).

"Are you seriously going to the party?" Junhwe asks as he lays on Nayeon's lap, letting the older girl play with his hair. They've slipped into a routine, and neither of them understand why the both of them have gotten touchier lately - sometimes they even kiss in the hallways, and Nayeon tries to not let herself fall any deeper because none of this is probably real to him anyway (but the reminder of their first kiss always echoes in her head, and sometimes she finds herself touching her lips whenever she relives the memory) - but nobody hears anyone complaining. "It's the same thing every year, except it gets even flashier and more annoying."

"No need to be rude," mutters Nayeon as she tugs on Junhwe's hair, trying to figure out how the hell his hair had gotten so soft. Did he change his shampoo or something? "Besides, even if I'm not feeling like I want to party - which I don't, I'm totally the life of the party - Dahyun's my friend and there's this thing called loyalty. Perhaps you've heard of it."

Junhwe snorts. "I've been loyal to you for years, does that count for nothing?"

Heat rises to Nayeon's cheeks upon hearing Junhwe's blunt answer, but she tries to shrug it off and laughs shakily, opting to slip her hand into her pocket and tug out her phone, not answering his statement. Junhwe quirks a brow upon seeing her reaction but stays quiet before closing his eyes, but Nayeon knows better than to think he's sleeping. Junhwe doesn't really sleep before checking the mirror first, which is ridiculously vain of him but Nayeon understands. Junhwe doesn't want to look ugly when he sleeps, probably. Nayeon opens Instagram and waits for the feed to refresh and scrolls down, liking a few of her friends' pictures, but she freezes, blood running cold when she sees Junhwe's latest instagram update.

It's a picture of him with his hand slung over a girl's shoulders - she recognizes the girl in the picture as Yeeun, one of the more popular underclassmen (and despite never having talked to her, Nayeon's heard the girl's pretty great) - flashing a 'V' sign at the camera and a casual smirk on his lips. She takes a deep breath, reminding herself there's no need to be jealous - it's not like her and Junhwe are dating for real anyway, why does she care if he posts pictures of him and a girl on his social media? Maybe she's overreacting. "Yeeun's pretty," comments Nayeon idly, and her gaze shifts towards Junhwe, waiting for a reaction. "Do you think Yeeun's pretty?"

Blinking an eye open, Junhwe's face twists into a small grimace. "Why are you suddenly bringing that up?"

Nayeon shrugs, her voice getting higher as she defends herself. "No reason. Just wondering. Are you guys seeing each other or something?" Nayeon tears her gaze from him and instead opts to click on the comments of the post, some of them commenting about how cute they look, but there are some comments mentioning her name - she restrains a smirk upon seeing those comments, mostly because she can't believe she's getting riled up over a photo she has no context about. 'You're not even with him, Nayeon. Stop being so selfish.'

Junhwe barks out a short laugh, though Nayeon fails to see what's funny - and she's usually good at seeing what's funny. "You checked out Instagram, didn't you?" He prods, and Nayeon sighs, flashing her phone's screen to him - of course, she's exited the comments so he doesn't see she's been reading them - and Junhwe's brows raise in amusement. "Why do you care?"

"I don't care!" Nayeon says defensively, and tugs the phone back, closing the app as she does. "Do whatever you want - you could date her for all I care." Junhwe's face morphs into an expression Nayeon can't quite place, looking somewhere between sadness and disappointment, along with... acceptance? She doesn't know how to read his expression, and before she gets to dwell on it, he's sat up from his position and straightens himself on the couch. 

"I'm not dating her. We're just friends, and if you bothered to read the caption, that was at her birthday party. Plus, I look good in the picture - probably why I posted it," explains Junhwe, a frown curling down his lips. Nayeon doesn't bother to check the app again - she'll save that for later - and the both of them are silent. 

Junhwe is the one who cuts the silence. "Do you really not care?"

'I do, you . You just don't realize it and I don't want to ruin everything.' "Why do you care so much about me not caring?" Nayeon retorts, flinging his question back at him, and immediately regretting it once she sees the anger slowly starting to form on his face. "Sorry, I shouldn't - "

"It's fine." Junhwe cuts her off in the middle of her sentence and he stands up from the couch, grabbing his school bag as he does. "I should go. See you tomorrow."

He leaves without a second glance, and Nayeon's heart constricts painfully in her chest as she watches him leave, the words she wants to say dying at her lips.

/ / /

When Nayeon arrives at Dahyun's house, lights are flashing brightly from inside the house and even as she's still away from the front door, she can already hear the loud music banging through the stereo and leaking past the walls. (And that's saying a lot, seeing as Dahyun's house has thick walls). A remix of a Christmas carol is blasting and even though Nayeon still feels the bitter taste in after her fight with Junhwe earlier, it's hard to not smile at the atmosphere the house exudes. A jolly party for a jolly occasion - and she hates herself for saying that, because who even uses the word jolly?

(Well, her grandmother does, but that's beside the point).

"Nayeon!" Someone shouts upon seeing her enter, and her group of friends bundle towards her, each of them wearing their party clothes. Nayeon finds it amazing how some of them are still able to wear sleeveless dresses or skirts that hang above their ankles despite the biting cold, and she herself is wearing a red dress that stops just slightly past her knees along with a white cardigan to match the theme. A grin forms upon seeing them, and despite the boy troubles, Nayeon thinks as long as she's with her friends, she could get through anything. Even if Junhwe is being stubborn and refuses to answer her calls. (Especially if Junhwe is being stubborn and refuses to answer her calls - or texts).

"Wow, you're looking better than I expected. Junhwe must be rubbing off on you," teases Mo