Junmyeon shifted around in the car’s seat for the hundredth time. It was hard to get comfortable, and no position seemed like the right one. A blindfold was fitted securely over his eyes, preventing him from being able to see where he was being whisked off to. His money was on someplace sinister.

“For sure, I’ll be missing a kidney by the end of the night.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. Maybe even my liver.”

“And what about your heart?”

“I suppose someone on the black market will pay you plenty.”

Lay snorted to himself. He had no plans to harm Junmyeon. At least not physically, anyway. The only thing he was focused on was making sure he had fun on their little trip. “No doubt. I’ll be rich then. Thanks for the idea.”

“Don’t make fun of me. We both know I’m right. If I get out alive, I will make sure your school life is hell.”

“Can’t be any worse than my home life,” Lay said flatly. Junmyeon didn’t know what he meant by that and willed himself not to want to know either. He folded his arms across his chest and huffed in annoyance.

“Are we there yet? This ride might actually be worse than getting my organs removed.

“Almost.”

“You said that an hour ago.” Of course, the drive to their location was only 20 minutes, but the brunette boy felt antsy.

“Just be patient. It will be worth the wait.”

Junmyeon slumped back in his seat with a pout on his face. Even if his eyes were covered, Lay could tell he was shooting daggers in his direction.

“You have my word; you’ll make it back home in one piece in a timely manner.”

“Fine. Just know that I have a tracker on my phone for moments like this. One false move and I can have bodyguards to us quicker than you can even-

“We’re here.” Lay cut him off.

“Oh, thank God.”

Lay paid the driver and led Junmyeon by the forearm into a building.

From what Junmyeon could hear, there was some kind of muffled sound of running water. The air was chilly yet felt a bit stuffy.

“Okay, Kim. You can take off your blindfold now.”

He tugged off the cloth from his eyes. Once he was able to focus his vision, Junmyeon was in awe of his surroundings.

“Oh my… This is amazing!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baekhyun eyed Kyungsoo up and down with a balled fist under his chin, “Looks good. What do you think?”

“Huh.” The other boy tilted his head as he examined himself in the mirror. The dark blue jeans and green V-neck shirt, although simple, were very different from his usual Khaki pants and white button-up tee complemented with an argyle vest. “Simple, but nice.”

“You like?”

“Yeah. I do, actually.”

“Simple, and yet you still look like a hot piece of . I guess it doesn’t take much.”

“Baekhyun, really?”

“What? I would.”

“Baek!”

“Haha, why are you all red-faced for? Did you suddenly develop a crush on me?”

“You wish, you narcissistic -head.”

“Haha, wow, way harsh, Tai.”

“If you can throw it out, you can take it. You have taken worse, I’m sure.”

“True. Well, we better get your cute booty to the party. Your crush must be waiting for you!~” Baekhyun pushed Kyungsoo towards the door and followed close behind.

“Bye, mom, we’re going out now! I don’t know when we will be back. Don’t wait up!”

“Be safe, Honey.” Baekhyun’s mom yelled from the living room, not even looking away from the TV to acknowledge her son and his friend heading out the door.

Kyungsoo wondered if she was always like that: Oblivious to what her son is up to. Or maybe she didn’t care. They could be wheeling a keg past her, and she probably wouldn’t bat an eye away from the screen. It did explain how Baekhyun got away with his shenanigans. They had been friends long enough for him to see that the other boy was always causing trouble with little to no consequence. A far cry from his own parents; both his mom and dad needed to know where he was and what he was up to at all hours of the day. He could barely get out of the house tonight without being interrogated. Baekhyun helped him come up with some alibi about going to the movies and getting some food. They were skeptical and worried but eventually letting him go when they couldn’t find an excuse to hold their 17-year-old son hostage. Not before lecturing him on stranger danger and going into the bad parts of town first, of course.

He wasn’t sure whose parents were worse.

When they walked past the gate guard and up the long driveway to the porch, he looked up at the ginormous three-story manor and debated to himself whether or not if it was bigger than Junmyeon’s. When they stopped at the door, Baekhyun faced his friend and put his hands on both of his shoulders, “Kyungie, my guy, this is your first party. I just want to say how proud I am to see you grow up!”

“Shut up and go in, please.” Kyungsoo deadpanned as he pushed the other kid off him.

The boys were greeted by the sound of noisy kids, loud music, and the smell of beer wafting through the air. The scene was very foreign to Kyungsoo. Almost overwhelming. But he chose to swallow his claustrophobic fear and awkwardness. He had been looking forward all week to meeting up with Jongin, after all.

Throughout the week, he psyched himself out every time he ran through the endless number of scenarios to predict what conversations may come. Sometimes he would be so caught up in the thought that he was scared he had talked to himself out loud in public. It made him feel a bit self-conscious to let his mind drift off too far when he wasn’t in the safe confines of his own bedroom. He concluded that, regardless of what happened, with or without Jongin, he would try his best to use this rare opportunity to mingle and have fun.

Unlike him, Baekhyun, a familiar attendee of the party scene, lit up like a Christmas tree and joined in on the chaos. Kyungsoo followed close behind to not lose his only safety line into the unknown.

“I’m going to look for something to drink!” Baekhyun yelled. Even then, the other boy could barely hear him. “Okay!” They pushed past the crowd and made their way to the kitchen. Kyungsoo almost lost Baekhyun when he briefly stopped in the living room, seeing Jongin hanging out with his friends on the couch laughing and having a good time.

Jongin was undoubtedly different from the usual jock. He wasn’t only into sports but also dance and theater. The range of friends surrounding him varied. He was liked by everyone and seemed to fit in so well. If Kyungsoo hadn’t already felt out of place before, he really felt it then. He ran down the list of personal inadequacies in his head and checked off every mental box when comparing himself to the teen and his friends.

A few people were lingering around the kitchen island. Baekhyun poured them both a cup of beer inside of some red Solo cups. Kyungsoo tried to hold back his chuckle at how stereotypical this was.

“Well?”

He took a swig of the potent beverage before making a face. “Well, it’s definitely bitter.”

Baekhyun laughed, “Once the alcohol works its magic, the taste won’t matter much.”

Kyungsoo looked in the cup with half disgust, “I hope so, cause…”

“BAEKHYUN!”, A schoolmate rushed in and interrupted him.

“What’s up, Mark?” The two boys greeted each other with a hand slap and a quick side hug, “I wasn’t sure you’d come, bro.”

“Why would I miss Taeyong’s party?”

“Because your favorite person is here.” Mark teased.

“Chanyeol?”

“Yeah, I just passed him in the hall. He seemed like he was looking for someone, hahaha.”

“ing great. There goes my night.” Baekhyun took another swig from his cup.

“I can try to sneak you out.”

“Hell no. I’m not leaving. I’m not going to let that win by running away like a scared-y cat. If I want to be here and party, I have every right to be.” Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow at the statement. Baekhyun was rebellious and hardheaded. He hoped the other wouldn’t get himself into more trouble by staying.

“Hey, it’s your funeral. I was just trying to help you get ahead start.”

He chugged the rest of his beer, “I can do whatever I want. He doesn’t control me.” ‘Not even your parents control you.’ Kyungsoo thought.

“Oh, by the way, Mark, this is my friend Kyungsoo.”

“I think we have a class together or something.”

“Math.”

“Right.” He replied promptly before turning back to Baekhyun. “Well, if you aren’t going anywhere, Taemin and the gang are in the back.”

“! Now it’s a real party!”

They made their way through the packed living room to the other side of the house. Jongin wasn’t in the spot he last saw him and looked around to see if he could spot the taller kid amongst the crowd. When they reached their destination, he felt nearly surprised to see the said boy sitting with the group of kids they were heading towards. But at the same time, he wasn’t surprised. He was pretty popular with the general population. Kyungsoo then realized that regardless of how much he prepped himself for the party, he was nowhere near mentally ready to talk to his crush in front of Baekhyun, let alone a crowd of unfamiliar faces.

“You made it.” Kyungsoo froze when Jongin waved for the boys to come over. “I wasn’t sure you would since I’ve never seen you come with Baekhyun to any of the parties we have.”

“Oh, that’s true.” Taeyong threw in, “Neither you nor Kim Junmyeon attends any of our parties. , if I had my choice, I’d love to throw a party at Kim’s house.”

Baekhyun nearly spit out his drink in laughter, “JUNNIE PARTYING!? He is staler than a year’s old piece of toast!” He nearly toppled over, laughing onto the boy sitting next to him while the other kid pushed him off.

“Well, I guess that makes two of us,” Kyungsoo replied.

Jongin shook his head, “Nah, you’re way cooler than him. And cuter.” Kyungsoo felt his body stiffen involuntarily at the unexpected compliment.

“Kyungsoo isn’t cute. This bastard has quite the mouth.”

“Is that so…” Jongin replied, staring directly and unabashfully at Kyungsoo’s mouth. “He seems more innocent than that.” He looked away, pretending not to notice the audacity in Jongin’s insinuation.

“There’s no way Jongin would mean it like that. Quit dreaming, idiot.” Kyungsoo thought, taking a swig of the liquid in his cup. The bitter beer brought his sense back to reality.

“Well, any friend of Baekhyun’s is more than welcome to join us and hang out,” Taeyong replied.

“Thank you. I may just take you up on that offer.”

Kyungsoo adapted to the new environment, becoming acquainted with Baekhyun’s party friends. While he was aware of his flirting abilities through stories told from parties past, this was the first time seeing it up close and personal. Baekhyun got cozy with almost everyone, from random kids dancing in the living room to the Velvet Cheer Squad from school…

Everyone that is, besides Park Chanyeol.

“I think your boyfriend finally spotted you.” The one everyone referred to as “Ten” stated.

Baekhyun whipped his head around and turned back to the group once Chanyeol was spotted making his way towards them.

“Hey, will you be okay?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Don’t worry, Kyungsoo. I have it under control.”

“Princess. I thought I told you never to ignore my texts.”

“Hey , I thought I told you not to call me that.” He swatted Chanyeol away, only to get himself pulled up by the back of the collar. Baekhyun coughed from the indirect choking.

“I’ll call you whatever the I want to. And you will come.”

“Park, leave Baekhyun alone, or I’ll have the guard you off the premises. Honestly, don’t you think fighting with Taehyun yesterday was enough? You shouldn’t be here, to begin with.”

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun whipped ba