"Lu?" 

"Yes?" 

"Am I unattractive?" 

Luhan sputtered at his boss' sudden question. He'd noticed that Jongin's head's been in the clouds all day now and while he and Jongin were friends on some levels, Luhan had never received such a question. 

"How am I supposed to answer that?" Luhan replied meekly. 

"Just say what you think." Jongin spun around in his chair, facing the window and overlooking the city. 

"Um... How secure is my job?" 

"Just answer the damn question," Jongin said, annoyed. 

"Um... I think you're an attractive person?" 

Jongin didn't reply, instead spinning around in a flash and sighing, blowing a piece of stray hair out of his eyes. Luhan could see the irritation on his face but he could also see something else; disappointment. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to have anything to do with Luhan, but the shy secretary was still a ball of nerves whenever Jongin was in a mood.

Jongin, on the other hand, was far too preoccupied to notice how nervous and fidgety he was making Luhan. 

After Krystal left him sitting at the bar alone, he had tried to get her attention a few times, but either she didn't hear or she chose to ignore him. He hoped it was the first one. 

When the night ended and Jongin needed to go, he handed a second bartender, a girl with dyed blond hair with green tips a small slip of paper with his number on it and asked her to deliver it to Krystal. The girl kindly agreed with a smile and Jongin felt some relief knowing that he could see her again. 

When Krystal didn't call, Jongin should've just shrugged it off. 

But no, he was disappointed.

He liked to think that Krystal never got his number. Then there was the second possibility that she was ignoring him; playing hard to get.

Now that Jongin thought about it, he didn't hate either possibility. He kind of liked her hard-to-get little game.

He visited the bar several times afterward, but Krystal was nowhere to be found and her over-protective sister refused to pass on any information or anything. He contemplated following the rather cold Jessica home, but Jongin felt like that would be a serious step down for him to stoop down to something so low just so he could see a girl he met only days ago. 

Jongin was also irritated with himself, for letting himself get all hot and bothered by one woman. The first night he saw Krystal in that tight black dress, he could imagine the curves of her perfect slender body and how she would look . Over the last several days, compromising images of her would float their way into his mind and Jongin hated himself for it.  

Jongin motioned for Luhan to leave, as his mind was in the gutter and it would be terribly awkward if his thoughts played out on his face and it didn't help that his secretary was uncannily observant. 

As Luhan quietly closed the door, Jongin started to think hard. Krystal was chipping away at him piece by piece and Jongin needed to figure out why. Did he just need to her and get it out of her system? Or was it more than that?

Either way, he needed to see her again. 

How he would do so was still a mystery to him. 

***

When Hyoyeon handed her the crumpled little piece of paper with Jongin's digits, Soojung had crunched it up in her pocket and pretty much forgotten about it. Hyoyeon was pretty psyched out about it and was curious as to when Jessica's baby sister landed herself such a fine piece of man candy. Soojung didn't really give it a second thought and the idea of calling her didn't even come to her mind. Soon, the little piece of paper sat in a small wad in the pocket of her jeans.

Only this afternoon, three days after her encounter with him at the bar, was she reminded when Sooyeon scolded her for leaving paper snippets in her pockets when she was tossing things into the laundry basket to take to the laundry room. 

"Do I throw this away? Or do you want it?" Sooyeon waves the paper around. "I don't think it will be any use though. It’s so crumpled that you can't even see the writing." 

Soojung shakes her hand and flicks her wrist at her sister, telling her wordlessly to dispose of the piece of garbage. It’s not like she was going to call anyway. True, she had come close to several times, but she didn't. Soojung had heard that some people's voices sound nice in the phone and she wondered if that was the case with Jongin since his velvety voice was nice to listen to anyway, but she shied away from any thought of calling him. 

"You know, that Jongin guy came back every night asking about you," Sooyeon commented as she hitched the white laundry basket up to sit on her hip.

"And?" 

"I didn't say anything. Told him to stop coming by and that I didn't know. He got the message, I think. What does he want from you?" 

"Dunno," Soojung replies absentmindedly with a shrug with her eyes glued to the TV. 

Sooyeon shakes her head as she heads out, muttering along the way. Soojung switches off the TV and yawns, stretching both arms over her head. It’s just a bit past 6 as she checks the clock hanging on the wall. She ponders what she should make for dinner as she ties her hair up into a messy ponytail. Truth be told, Sooyeon cooks a hell of a lot better, but ever since Sooyeon lost her internship, she's been working double shifts at the bar and recently got a job at another bar a bit further away. Needless to say, Soojung knew her sister was exhausted. 

As she dumped the spaghetti sauce into a pan to warm, Soojung's mind flitted off. She was always working, she and her sister and neither ever really got the chance to actually relax and enjoy themselves. Even if they did manage to find the time to go for a stroll in the park or go window shopping, a small part of their brains were always thinking about how to make enough money to pay off all the debts their parents left or how to make their rent. Soojung fooled around a lot more than Sooyeon, but honestly, she took no real joy out of it. It was only a distraction. She wanted to let her hair down and have fun. Just one night of crazy fun, where she could just let go of all the ty things in her life and have a good time. 

The soft intro of Porcelain suddenly started, the gentle sounds of the piano keys alerting Soojung that her phone was ringing. Jongin's face floated into her mind, but she shoved him out. It wouldn't be possible and she was right. Jinri's name was written across the screen and Soojung slid the green button across the screen to answer the call. 

"Yeah?" There wasn't really a need for formalities between them. 

"Guess who’s ready to partaaayyyy?" Jinri sounded really excited. 

"Please tell me you have a point to this phone call." Soojung said as she cradled the phone between her and shoulder. 

"I'm talking me and you crashing a party." 

"Jinri." Soojung said, cautioning her friend to be serious and get to the point as she stirred the spaghetti. 

"Okay, okay. Jiyong's rich college friend's holding a massive cluster of a party and I convinced him to dump his two hookers and take us!" Jinri squealed. "Well, not hookers. Just two of his friends."  

"You're kidding." Soojung deadpanned as she scooped the noodles out of the pot. 

"Certainly not. I don't kid about parties. I haven't been to a good party in ages." 

"I haven't been to any party in ages." Soojung grumbled, dividing the spaghetti and dumping sauce on both dishes. 

"So come on! All the more reason you should come!" Jinri urged. 

"I dunno, Ri. I don't know where it is. I have nothing to wear and--" 

"Girl, you take the fun out of a bathtub full of ." Jinri groused. "You let me worry about all that. Come down to Jiyong's in ten minutes." 

"Uhhhh... Um... Er... Uhhh-" Soojung's lips tugged into a grin. It was almost scary how Jinri called her right when she was feeling down. She stalled a little to get on Jinri's nerves.

"You 'uh' one more time, and I swear I will come through this phone and strangle you to death." Jinri snapped. 

"Haha, sorry. I was just messing with you. I'll be there." 

Hanging up, Soojung quickly ate a few bites of her food, and then covered up both portions of spaghetti with saran wrap. She put her own plate in the fridge and scribbled a quick note to Sooyeon and lay it beside the plate. 

Elation was flowing through Soojung as she almost skipped down the streets to meet with Jinri.

"Quick, quick!" Jinri ushered in through the back door when Soojung knocked. 

"What’s the rush?" Soojung asked as Jinri shoved her into one of the chairs in the change room, where clothes were stuffed into closets along one wall and makeup tables with giant shiny mirrors took up the wall opposite of it.

"Jiyong said that we can come, but if we miss the time, we won't be able to get in. He's running a tight door." Jinri explained as she bustled around in a gray tracksuit, preparing makeup and whatnot. 

Soojung wouldn't really consider herself a true makeup guru. Sure, she could do her own makeup quite nicely and she knew all the tips and tricks to things from contouring to lining, but honestly, she didn't enjoy it. Not like Jinri did. Soojung did it for the sake of looking good and from her own point of view and the points of views of others, she looked good in light makeup. 

"Isn't this a bit too much?" Soojung asked as she turned slowly in the full-length mirror by the door. 

Jinri had put her into a strapless black tube dress that cut just under her . The push-up bra Jinri lent her did its job and pushed up her s and squeezed them together so a generous line of cleavage was showing through the semi-sweetheart neckline of her dress (Soojung had talked Jinri out of putting her into a deep neckline dress). The skirt was far shorter and she was scared how far it would ride up when she walked or bent over slightly. It was also even tighter than any other dress she had ever worn, fitting her like a second skin and she felt a little overexposed, although she did feel content that all those hours spent jogging, doing squats, lunges, and sit-ups did not go to waste. 

When at work, Jinri insisted that Soojung wear darker makeup to somewhat conceal her face to avoid being noticed outside of work. Tonight was no different, with Jinri trying to slather Soojung's face with foundation, concealer, among other things. Her lips were a pink peach color and her cheeks were cream and roses. Jinri was adamant with the eyeliner and mascara, although Soojung held off the mascara. Her hair had been in a braid since this morning when she took a shower and she simply let it fall in waves down her back.

The worst thing about her outfit was her shoes. Whenever she wore heels, they would be at four-inch heels or at most four and a half. After all, she would mostly be sitting when entertaining her guests at work. She had tried five-inch heels when she went to visit Jongin the other day, but despite walking alright in them, they hurt her feet. In spite of her pleading, Jinri still shoved her into a pair of black six inch pumps. Soojung heaved a sigh and started practicing walking, quietly cursing several times when she slipped. 

Jinri had herself ready within record time, her hair in a half up do, pinned with a small silver barrette and wearing a lilac dress with a tight off the shoulder top with a short tiered skirt that cut only smidge longer than Soojung's dress, but was short nonetheless. 

"I can't believe you made yourself look like a princess while I'm here looking like a cheap hooker that gives hummers by fire hydrants for five dollars." Soojung scowled as she and Jinri stood side by side in the full length mirror. 

"That last one was really specific." Jinri glanced at her from the side with a smirk. 

"Shut up. It was an example." 

"Oh lay off me. You look hot, girl!" Jinri laughed as she smacked her friend playfully. 

Soojung grinned, unable to bit it back because, man did she look good.

"We're not bringing anything?" Soojung asked curiously as Jinri towed her out of the room. 

"And risk it getting stolen. Nope." Jinri rolled her eyes. " Oh, before I forget, here's our ID's. Fake of course. We can throw them away once we get inside."

"25 years old? I'm 23." Soojung snarled.

"Relax, I'm 25 too."

"And who came up with these ages?" 

"Jiyong." Jinri shrugged.

Soojung nodded absentmindedly as Jinri shoved her into a taxi behind the alley that she had called beforehand. She closed her eyes when she was settled, smiling. She had a wild night in front of her.

Might as well enjoy it.

***

"Go away, Sehun. I'm busy." Jongin said, exasperated with the mountain of work he had ignored and Sehun coming over to visit wasn't exactly helpful. 

"Loosen up, man. I just wanna take you out for a good time. My old man said we should talk business at that new Italian place, but what the hell." Sehun laughed. 

Jongin didn't reply as his pen flew over the papers, reading about clients and writing up cases, only half listening to Sehun. 

"Look, my brother's old college friend's having a big party at his house. And by house I mean our type of house, with a pool and everything. And pools mean babes in bikinis."

"And you want me to go with you?" Jongin peered up at him, a bit disgusted with Sehun's erted nature and the lack of shame to hide it.

"Yeah." Sehun nodded. 

"Why me?" Jongin asked as he continued working away. 

"Because." Sehun heaved a sigh. "Tao scares chicks too much and most of my friends are out working business deals or on vaca." 

"Hardly my problem." 

"I need a wingman, alright? You seem pretty alright with girls."

"I'd hate to get whiskey on me if you piss off some chick again." 

"Fine, that Krystal girl got away from me. In my defense, I was drunk."

Jongin shook his head. Sehun's ego was enormous beyond comprehension.

"I don't see a single reason why I should go with you."

Jongin's cell phone sounded and he checked the number across the screen. , he didn't want to pick up. He looked at Sehun, who nodded towards the phone. Jongin picked up reluctantly.

"Father." he said stiffly.

"Jongin." came the rigid reply. "I set up a marriage interview for you with CEO Song's daughter. She just returned from Canada. The meeting is at-"

"I'm not going."

"And with what right do refuse me?"

"Er... Sehun and I have plans, remember?" Jongin looked up reluctantly at Sehun, who was raising his eyebrows at him with surprise.

The other line was silent. Jongin could imagine his father sitting at his desk, a crease in his forehead.

"Iguess I forgot. I will reschedule it." his father said and hun