It was the final round of the beer pong competition and it was down to Jang Mi and Hoseok against Kihyun and Shownu. They had decided to call a break before the final round started, giving both sides a chance to relax and sober up a little before they started playing. “We can totally win this.” Hoseok said, his cheeks flushed pink. Jang Mi chuckled, “We will! All we need to do is be careful of Shownu, he's wicked fast!” she warned. Hoseok gave her a thumbs up which she returned. She laughed as she turned around to pick up her drink and her eyes caught Do-Jung’s. He smiled at her, lifting his cup up towards her.

Her heart skipped a beat and she whipped back around, putting her back to him. “What’s wrong?” Hoseok asked, noticing her sudden shift in behaviour. “Nothing.” She said quickly as she took a swig of her drink. Hoseok looked over the top of her head and saw Do-Jung looking at her. “Ah, is it because of Do-Jung?” he asked with a knowing smile. “Aigo, your crush on him is so cute.” He teased as he ruffled her hair. She shook her head. “I don’t have a crush on him.” She protested. Hoseok patted the top of her head. “Jang Mi-ah, you don’t need to pretend with me. I’m your best friend. I know when you have a crush on someone and you’ve been in love with Do-Jung since you met him in the summer.”

She violently shook her head “I’m over it, believe me.” she said, refusing to look back in case Do-Jung was still looking at her. She had been too caught up in having a good time that she had completely forgotten that he would be there.  “Honestly Hobi, I don’t have a crush on him anymore.” Hoseok chuckled, “The lady protests too much.” He teased. She rolled her eyes as Kihyun shouted them over to start the final round.

Thanks to her remembering about Shownu’s killer trick shot she managed to block it, resulting in her and Hoseok winning the game. Everyone had burst out into loud cheers at the result. Hoseok wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her clean off the floor and spinning her around to celebrate. “This calls for more drinks!” Hoseok cheered. “Wait here!” he said as he disappeared off into the crowd to grab them more drinks. She smiled, feeling pleasantly buzzed and happy with the outcome of the evening.

She felt someone tap her shoulder, she turned around, expecting it to be Hoseok with their drinks, but instead, Do-Jung stood in front of her. He handed her a drink, a smile on his face. She hesitantly took the cup. “Thanks.” She muttered. “Hey, do you remember me? I’m Do-Jung.” He asked. Oh I remember you… she thought to herself. She gave him a half smile, not able to give him a proper smile. “Yeah, I remember you.” She said, her eyes roaming the crowd for Hoseok. “That was an impressive game.” He said, her eyes flicked back to him, her chest clenching painfully. Even though she was still angry at him for his betrayal, and no matter how much she wanted to deny it, she couldn’t deny that he was still handsome as hell and there was a part of her that still had feelings for him.

“Thanks.” She muttered, hoping that her clipped replies would encourage him to leave and find someone else to chat up. But instead of being put off, he seemed more intrigued to pull her into a conversation. “You know, I've always thought you were really pretty.” He said, hoping the shameless attempt at flattery would make her blush, but it had the opposite effect. Hearing those words from him, with her memories of him, just made her skin crawl. “Ah, someone’s calling on me. Later!” she said as she pushed the untouched cup back into his hand and disappeared into the crowd. He grinned at her as she pushed her way through the crowd. “Playing hard to get, huh?” he chuckled. “I like a challenge.” He said as he drained both of the cups.

Jang Mi pushed through the crowd until she got to the kitchen. She bumped into Shownu who grabbed her arm to steady her. “Hey, you okay?” he asked. She nodded, checking over her shoulder to make sure that Do-Jung wasn’t following her. “Yeah, I’m good. Have you seen Hoseok?” she asked. Shownu pointed behind her where Hoseok was standing with a guilty smile on his face. She thanked Shownu before heading over to Hoseok. “Yah! I was waiting for you!” she whined, punching him on the arm. “What? I sent you a drink, didn’t you get it?” he asked as he rubbed the spot she had hit.

“Wait… you sent Do-Jung to me?” she asked, her eyes widening in shock. He nodded, “Yeah, I was helping you! I know you have a crush on him but I know you too well so I know that you'd never talk to him first so I told him to take you a drink so that you could talk to him! Don’t tell me you did something embarrassing!” he said, a look of mock horror on his face. She groaned and grabbed his drink from his hand, finishing it in one go. “I hate you! I told you, I don’t have any feelings for him! None!” she protested as she gave him back the empty cup. Hoseok frowned at her. “Really? You're not just being shy?” he enquired, a little confused by her sudden change in attitude.

“I mean, just a few days ago you were telling me that you were excited to see what he was gonna be for Halloween.” He said. She cursed quietly under her breath, she had completely forgotten about that conversation. “It was just general curiosity. I wanted to know what everyone was gonna be!” she said, hoping that Hoseok wouldn’t push the issue. He gave her a funny look before shrugging his shoulders, “Okay, well I’m not gonna force you. But if you're just being shy, then get a few shots in you and go talk to him again.” he said with a laugh.

“Did someone say shots?” Jungkook asked as he appeared with a tray of shot glasses, a grin on his face. Hoseok laughed as they each grabbed a shot. They tapped their glasses together, the three of them grimacing from the taste of the strong alcohol. “Ugh, that stuff is vile.” Jang Mi said as she put her glass down behind her. “Blame Namjoon-hyung, he always buys weird stuff.” Jungkook said as he moved along with the tray, offering the shots to everyone he passed. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Jang Mi said, Hoseok giving her a thumbs up as she started moving through the crowd.

When she reached the kitchen door, Do-Jung appeared in front of her. She tried to step around him, but he moved in front of her, a smirk on his face. “You're not trying to avoid me, are you?” he asked. She shook her head, making him chuckle, “Good. I was kinda hoping we could talk some more. Maybe you could give me your numb-“

“Bathroom!” she shouted, interrupting him. “What?” he asked, confused by her sudden outburst. “I need to go to the bathroom, sorry!” she said as she squeezed past him and rushed towards the bathroom. He chuckled as he watched her go for the second time that night. “She’s definitely an interesting one.”

She managed to avoid Do-Jung for the rest of the night, finally at ease whenever she made it back to her apartment. She let out a loud breath as she headed into the bathroom to remove her makeup. “I did it. I saw him and I rejected him.” She said, a proud smile creeping onto her face. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and replied to Hoseok's text to tell him that she was home safely. She spotted her bag from that morning and picked it up, pulling out the pocket watch which she had almost completely forgotten about.

She sat in bed looking at the watch, which had stopped moving. “What happens if I wake up and all this has just been a dream?” she wondered aloud. She carefully put the watch back into the pouch it came in and put it in the drawer of her bedside unit. She wrestled her hair into a braid, out the habit of having to deal with long hair and curled up in bed. “Let’s see what tomorrow brings.” She said as she adjusted her pillow, letting sleep slowly claim her.