After school, Hyeri walked out of school alone. Suzy and Naeun offered her company, but Hyeri had asked for a little bit of privacy for the remainder of the day. She was planning to catch a glimpse of Jongin and possibly ask him to walk out with her, but when she saw him with Sehun, she decided to leave him alone. After all, he had cheered her up, whether it was intentional or not. It wasn't like she wanted to bother him or anything.

She made her way to a park and walked over to a vending machine. Inserting the coins, she carefully examined each canned drink displayed on the machine. Right when she was about to click on one, she noticed that another finger picked a random drink. She whirled around, furious until she noticed Sehun smiling behind her.

"Thanks for the free drink," Sehun said, smirking.

"Really? You couldn't pay for your own?" Hyeri complained. She inserted more money into the vending machine.

"What? You're rich."

"My dad's rich. I'm not," Hyeri said. She gave him a sour expression. "So I hope you're going to pay back for the drink."

"Why are you so stingy? Consider it as payment."

"For what?"

"For what I'm going to tell you next." Sehun smiled and leaned close. "How about going on a date with me tonight?" She gave him a terrible scrunched-up expression. "Okay, not a real date. A fake date. Just a hang out."

"I don't want your company," Hyeri said.

"Jongin is in."

Hyeri raised an eyebrow. "You got Jongin involved? Oh boy. I hope you're not causing him too much trouble."

"What? He's my best friend. We'll go through everything together." Sehun paused. "Well, almost everything."

"That's not what I'm trying to say. Jongin is a good friend. He's a good guy. I don't want you to hurt him," Hyeri said.

"Well, he won't exactly be hurt. Maybe he'll see something surprising, but…"

"Sehun, I don't like how this sounds already. That's why I'm not going to be part of your little shenanigan—"

"What if I say that you might be able to get revenge on Seulgi?" Sehun asked.

Hyeri glared at him. "You know that she's trouble. You know that I don't want to do anything with her."

"Yeah. So what if we get her into big trouble?"

"This sounds like some sort of alliance or evil plot," Hyeri said, laughing.

"What if I told you that it is?" 

Hyeri stopped laughing. She looked at Sehun, who seemed eager to hear her response. It was clear to her that whether she accepted or rejected Sehun's offer wouldn't matter. The point was that Sehun was giving her the opportunity to strike back.

She laughed bitterly. "I don't think I want that."

She picked up her drink and started walking back home. Sehun sighed and followed behind her.

"Why not? I told you, Jongin is in," Sehun said. "Well, he doesn't really know what's up, but we're hanging out late."

"I had a long day, Sehun. You might've not been there since the beginning, but I'm mentally exhausted. Can't you just give me a break this time? Also, I don't like to hang out late at night," Hyeri said. "You know that."

"I do, but I thought it'd be fun for you to join in," said Sehun, shrugging his shoulders. 

Hyeri kept quiet for a minute before she stopped her tracks. Sehun stopped behind her, but didn't really do anything but wait. She slowly turned her head and gave him a questionable frown, which caused him to immediately fake a grin.

"Why does it feel like you know everything?" Hyeri asked him.

He shrugged again. "I guess I'm the type of guy who people can trust."

It was true. Sehun was quite popular, and people always shared secrets or gossips with him. He claimed that he only listened, but Hyeri never believed in him. Even though she would occasionally spill a secret or two to him, she never believed that he would actually keep it secretive. To her, it was almost as if he was saving up all these information for his own convenience. 

"So are you really not going to come with us tonight?" Sehun asked.

Hyeri sighed. "I can't. My mom…"

He waited, but when he realized that she was trailing off, he nodded. "Fine. If you change your mind, shoot me a text."

Hyeri kept still as she watched Sehun turn around and leave. She didn't look back.

Don't look back, don't look… Her eyes curiously glanced over her shoulders. …back.

She felt a hand touch her other shoulder. She jolted and whirled around, lifting her eyes at Sehun, who gave her a mischievous grin.

"I knew you wouldn't want to miss out," Sehun said.

Hyeri clenched her teeth. "I'm only going for a little bit, okay? So call me only when something interesting is going to happen, okay?"

"Of course," Sehun said, his lips curling upwards. "Besides, I always call you when something interesting is going to happen, right?"

/ / / / /

"You sure it's here?" Seulgi asked, cautiously staring at the abandoned park. "It looks pretty visible. I don't think people from our school would want to come here at this time of the night."

"Yep. This is where Jinri comes to have a drink with Taehyun," said Soojung.

The night was dark, but the street lights lit up the whole street. The only sound in the air were the few cars honking a few streets down in the busy area and the rare songs of the crickets echoing from the dark corners of the park. The playground was empty and so were the benches. 

Seulgi and Soojung hid behind a bush, examining the area. They were hiding behind a rather thick bush standing behind a bench with little lighting. If anyone caught them, people would definitely suspect that they were doing something suspicious.

"How long do we stay here?" Seulgi asked.

"Look over the bush," Soojung said. "Take out your phone. Now."

She did. She looked over while scrambling to take out her phone. She opened up a voice recording application and pressed the button. The next thing she knew, a familiar pair of students in the same uniform sat down at the exact bench Soojung and Seulgi were hiding behind. The boy had a plastic bag carrying heavy alcoholic drinks while the girl slipped out some money.

"Here," Jinri said.

"Didn't I say to pay double if you want more?" Taehyun asked, scowling.

"Cut me some slack for today, okay? My entire day was stressful," Jinri complained. She swiped the bag from his hand and opened it. "Really? Only three bottles?"

"You're not paying. You shouldn't even have three," Taehyun argued.

" you," Jinri cursed, growling.

Seulgi widened her eyes while Soojung remained a neutral expression.

"Whatever. You definitely need to pay me next time, okay? Full price. No discount," Taehyun told her.

"That's not fair!"

"Do you know how difficult it is to get this?" Taehyun retorted. "Especially for my age?"

"Shut up," Jinri grumbled. She messed up her own hair. "God! I ing hate Hyeri! I wish she didn't exist."

"You really believe that she did it?" Taehyun asked.

"Of course she did it. She's just playing innocent. She has Suzy and Naeun wrapped all over her fingers. Poor them. If they weren't so narrow-minded, then they could see that Hyeri did it," Jinri complained. She let out a pitiful sigh and took a drink. Soojung snapped a few photos with her phone.

"What if someone is setting Hyeri up?" Taehyun asked.

Good thing Taehyun is on our side, Soojung thought. She snapped a few photos of him drinking the second bottle. Just incase something comes up, I'll use this.

"No, no. People like Hyeri. No one would do that," Jinri said. "It's definitely her. I know she did it."

"But why would she do it?" Taehyun couldn't quite believe that Hyeri would do something like that. If she ever did, then it was more likely for her to come out clean and say that it was a prank. However, during the morning, Hyeri only denied that she had anything to do with the chain letter.

"She's jealous of Seulgi! I mean, Seunghwan was from our group and she went to Seulgi. Also, Seulgi's weird." Seulgi shot a glare at Jinri, offended. Jinri sighed. "It's so unfair!"

"What does Seulgi have to do with you getting the letter?"

"Taehyun, can you stop asking stupid questions? It's Hyeri! Hyeri's at fault!"

"Okay, but I don't feel like you have good reasons—"

"I don't need good reasons when I know who did it," Jinri said. "It's Hyeri. Don't fall for Hyeri's charm, okay?"

"I got it," Taehyun muttered, quietly taking a sip.

Jinri groaned. "My whole year is ruined. I mean, we only have a couple of months until we graduate. Why couldn't she just hide the fact that she hates me until we graduated? It's not like we're going to the same university."

"I thought you were keen on following Hyeri around."

"I was until she said that she was going to aim for a bunch of scholarships and this prestigious private university. With my grades, there's no way I can keep up with her."

"What about Suzy and Naeun?"

"Naeun is thinking of going to an all-female college. Suzy is going to try to follow Hyeri," Jinri told him. "No idea where Seunghwan went. That just ditched us last minute. Like, geez! Where were Naeun and Suzy when Seunghwan stopped hanging out with us? They refuse to talk to me, but not her? Seunghwan always got special treatment from everyone."

"Yep. I can definitely tell that you're frustrated," murmured Taehyun.

" them and the world!" Jinri shouted, raising her empty bottle of alcohol. She threw her head back with the bottle on her lips. However, when nothing came out of the green bottle, she threw her hand against Taehyun's chest. Taehyun closed his eyes in frustration. "Gimme 'nother one."

"God, please don't tell me you're already drunk," Taehyun said. "You're so weak."

"Shut up," Jinri said. "I'm not drunk. I'm just buzzed."

"Last one," Taehyun said, handing her the last bottle before scrunching up the plastic bag.

"Not fair. You took my drink," Jinri complained.

"Like I said, Jinri," Taehyun continued, "pay me the full amount."

"Wait. Let me drink all of this before you go," Jinri said. "Take me home."

"What? No way! Last time I took you home, you threw up on my favorite shirt!" Taehyun complained.

"I'll pay you tomorrow for taking me home."

"That's what you say every day, but you always pretend that you didn't hang out with me the other night."

Should we start going back home, too? Or do we follow them? Seulgi wondered.

At that moment, she felt someone firmly grab her shoulder. Out of fear, she screamed and whirled around. She lost her balance and fell backwards, appearing from the bush and hitting her head on the back of the bench. Taehyun and Jinri screamed alone with Seulgi as they got up to see what was going on.

Soojung glared at the unexpected guest who had invaded a perfectly good moment. She stopped glaring when she saw Jongin and Hyeri standing behind Sehun, who was squatting at the spot behind where Seulgi was hiding. Seulgi's cheeks flushed red when she saw Jongin's surprised expression. Taehyun quickly swiped Hyeri's alcoholic beverage from her hand and shoved it in the plastic bag along with the two empty bottles. He hid the bag behind his back, hoping that his large coat would hide the drinks.

"Boo," Sehun said, smiling at Seulgi.

What the is he doing here? Seulgi wondered.

"I told you to watch out for me and that I'll do better," Sehun said. He looked at Soojung. "Or did you not get that message from your little pawn?"

Soojung stared at Seulgi furiously while Seulgi's head sunk.

"W-W-What are you guys doing?" Jinri asked.

"Walking," Sehun said.

"At this time of the night?" Soojung inquired. She glanced at Jongin, who flinched and looked away with red ears. "I know that you're out because of Sehun, but…" She looked at Hyeri, who looked back. "Why are you out with them?"

"Sehun said that he wanted to show me something," Hyeri stated vaguely.

Something? Is she talking about this? Soojung wondered. I wish Seulgi had told me that Sehun was going to disrupt everything. I would've came more prepared.

"What about you guys?" Sehun asked, turning to the four. "What are you doing?"

"Talking on the…bench!" Jinri said. She wasn't exactly lying. After all, she was talking to Taehyun on the bench. "But we never came with those two girls…"

"What were you two doing? Spying?" Sehun asked curiously.

"N-No way," Taehyun stammered. "Seulgi wouldn't do that. We're best friends, right? What were you really doing there?"

Seulgi looked at Soojung for help, but Soojung wasn't able to come up with a reasonable answer. She remained silent, hoping that Seulgi could say something that wasn't going to sound entirely stupid.

"We were…" Seulgi's eyes trailed around for a few seconds before it rested on the bathroom. "S-Soojung and I were checking out to see if there were erts going into the girl's restroom!"

Soojung wanted to face-palm herself, but only clenched her teeth. There's no way that I can say anything to add to that.

"erts?" Jongin repeated.

"Y-Yeah!" Seulgi exclaimed. "I mean, have you heard about the dangers for girls to stay here at night? Especially in the park? A-And did you hear about that man who takes pictures of girls in the public restrooms over there?"

"I haven't heard a thing," Sehun blurted, "and I should know. I'm up-to-date with news."

He's not making this easy for me, Seulgi thought, glowering at him. "Well, it's there. On the news."

"No. I can check if you keep insisting on that," Sehun said, taking out his smart phone.

"No need to check!" Soojung exclaimed. She reached for Sehun's hand and clamped it between his phone. He looked at her, surprised that she would actually get a bit physical.

Jongin, on the other hand, felt his heart throb when he noticed how close Soojung was to Sehun. He wasn't aware that Sehun was on friendly terms with his best friend. Sehun was indeed a popular and approachable guy. It would make sense for Soojung to have a close relationship with Sehun, who was much brighter and extroverted than Jongin, who was more on the quiet side.

Hyeri silently took notice of Jongin's crumbling expression.

While Soojung and Sehun were occupied in their little argument, Taehyun gently grabbed Seulgi's sleeve and pulled her back.

In a whisper, he said, "Seulgi, I'm pretty sure that you and your friend saw us drinking."

Ugh. His breath reeks of alcohol, Seulgi thought. She scrunched her nose, but tried to smile. "I don't know what you're talking ab—"

"Please keep it a secret," Taehyun pleaded. There was a different expression on his face. Was it a mixture of fear and guilt? "For me? I know that what we did is wrong, but all I want you to do is keep quiet and understand that we're just teenagers."

. But I'm supposed to blackmail Jinri later, Seulgi thought. "I-I don't know. Um, I—"

"Please?" he begged. Seulgi carefully stared at Jinri, who also looked terrified. Her hands were nervously rubbing against each other as she looked at Seulgi with desperate eyes. 

"O…kay?" Seulgi said, unsure of what to think. A comfortable smile appeared on Jinri's and Taehyun's face.

"Thank you," Taehyun said. "I'll make it up to you right now, okay?"

Ah, Soojung is going to kill me, Seulgi realized. 

"I don't think there's a need to check the news," Taehyun announced, gathering everyone's attention. "I mean, it's dangerous at night, especially at this time. It's just common sense to be a bit more aware of your surrounding at this time, don't you think?"

No one really said anything until Seulgi quickly nodding.

"Yeah, that's right, Sehun!" Seulgi exclaimed. "Safety always comes first!"

"In fact, I think it's a good idea for one of you boys to take them home," Taehyun said. "One each."

"What?" Sehun asked, dumbfounded. He was still smiling, but it was clear that he had no idea what Taehyun was trying to do.

"Jongin, can you take Seulgi home?" Taehyun asked. He gave her a rough push, forcing her to step closer to Jongin. Jongin looked at Seulgi, puzzled, while Seulgi's whole face burned with embarrassment.

"Good idea," Soojung said quickly, hoping to wrap up the situation. "Jongin, take her home for me, okay?"

Jongin nervously blinked his eyes and tried to reach Soojung's hand. "U-Um, I can take you ho—"

Soojung moved away swiftly and walked closer to Taehyun. "Which way are you going?"

Jongin retreated his hand back to his side. He pressed his lips and watched Soojung focus her attention on the other boys.

"I'm going to take Jinri back to her house," Taehyun said, grabbing Jinri's arm. "She's feeling unwell."

"I'll go with you," Soojung said.

Jinri and Taehyun glanced at each other. They weren't too familiar with Soojung. However, it was a bit of an awkward situation for them to reject Soojung's offer. They quietly accepted Soojung to their going-home group.

"Hold up. Wait." Sehun grabbed Seulgi's wrist. Seulgi gasped and widened her eyes as she was pulled closer to Sehun's chest. "I'll take her home."

But I want Jongin to take me home! Seulgi cried out in her head. "T-That's fine. I mean, Jongin already offered, so—" 

She tried to go back to Jongin, but Sehun forcibly pulled her closer to him. She yelped and stared at him with wide eyes. Sehun smiled sweetly.

"Which way is your house?" Sehun asked.

"T-That way," Seulgi said.

"Jongin, you live in the opposite direction, right?" Sehun said. Jongin awkwardly nodded. "Good! I'll take her home."

you, ! Seulgi cursed, shooting a glare.

"Jongin. You take Hyeri back home, okay?" Sehun ordered.

"Sure, I—"

"Wait, no!" Hyeri said quickly, widening her eyes. "If it's like that, then I'll go home by myself!"

Jongin smiled awkwardly. "Why? I've been to your place lots of time—"

"Yeah, when we were kids. I moved and you never been to my house then," Hyeri said. "I-I'm going home first, okay?"

"But—"

"Bye!" Hyeri exclaimed. She rushed off, not wanting to get tangled up into another mess.

Jongin sighed through his nose. "It's dangerous for a girl to be out this late alone…"

Sehun grunted. "Looks like I have to go after her." He looked at Soojung and Seulgi, then back at Jongin. "Jongin, sorry, but can you take them back home? I'll catch up with Hyeri."

"O-Oh," Jongin said. He looked at Soojung for a brief moment. "T-Them? Both of them?" When he looked back, Sehun was already gone. "Um, okay. Sure."

"Great! It's settled! We're leaving," Taehyun said quickly. He and Jinri awkwardly walked backwards until they could find the nearest trashcan in the park. In matter of seconds, he threw away the plastic bags with the empty alcohol bottles before running away with Jinri in a sloppy motion.

Jongin, Soojung, and Seulgi stood in the park gawkily. They weren't really sure what to do or how to get the conversation started. It took them a few minutes, but Jongin finally cleared his throat and pointed towards a random direction.

"S-Should we, uh, go home?" he asked, having trouble looking at Soojung.

Soojung only pushed Seulgi forward, making her do all the talking. Seulgi turned red as she shyly nodded her head.

"S-Sure," she stammered. The three started walking out of the park, heading back home for the night, wondering what to do for the rest of the night.