I wasn’t much of a people-person; never really preferred being the center of attention or being labeled as the “life of the party”. Hell, I don’t even go to parties that often, and during the times that I do go, it would be due to my best friend persuading me (My weakness was the chocolate cake at the café right across our university and Jongin made good use of that fact).

However, that didn’t mean that I didn’t like being pampered by certain people once in a while. I love it when my sister treats me to spa days, and when Jongin sets up movie nights. I like it when my English Literature professor puts smiley faces on the test papers and quizzes which I get high grades in, and it makes me really giddy when I make hot chocolate for myself.

I guess I appreciate the little things more than anything else? Yeah, that’s it.

Hence, you could imagine my surprise when one of the most popular and sought after female students in my Uni suddenly sent me daggers upon my entry of the school gates.

I was walking with Jongin while nibbling on a chocolate chip muffin. Then, I saw some passersby looking at us and then at someone (or something) behind us, then back at the two of us again. A few more people who passed us did the same thing as well before I finally glanced at whatever the hell was behind my best friend and me.

Two pretty mono lid eyes greeted me, and at first I thought she was mainly sending daggers at Jongin.

 “Uh…Nini did you piss someone off recently?” Jongin coughed up some of the muffin he was eating. He looked at me incredulously before gurgling up a “Don’t call me that in public!” amongst his heaving.

Then, he wiped away some tidbits around his mouth before adding, “And what are you talking about?”

Ignoring his first sentence, I looked behind him again. “It just looks like Kang Seulgi wants to murder you with her eyes. Did you do something?” With the mention of her name, Jongin swiftly looked behind him and I just chuckled. Maybe he did do something to piss off the girl, but then again, why would he–

“She’s glaring at you, not me.” That snapped me out of my thoughts. For the third time, I glanced at Seulgi and looked closer. Jongin was right. She was indeed sending her daggers just at me. My eyes widened at the realization and I unconsciously tilted my head a little, as if silently asking what was wrong. Seulgi just narrowed her eyes at me even more before finally looking away. What just happened?

“Why would she be mad at me?” Did I do something wrong? I haphazardly backtracked all of the things I’ve done in the past few days and couldn’t recall any encounters with her. I tried to remember if we were working together in any of our common classes and realized that there were none. I even did a mental roll-call of all the friends I had in my little circle – thinking maybe she was acquainted with one of them.

But what would that have to do with me?

Realizing that my best friend hasn’t really spoken, I turned to face him. Jongin had an unreadable look on his face, but when he saw that I was gazing at him, his features immediately softened. Then, he nudged my elbow playfully, a gesture which meant comfort. “Maybe she’s just having a bad morning. She was probably glaring at everyone passing by.”

I remembered the passersby’s stares the moment Jongin and I walked in, but maybe that was just me. I meekly nodded in agreement and shook off the odd encounter as much as I could.

“Hey, snap out of it, we have three minutes before Mr. Lee roasts our butts for being late. Come on!”

Kang Seulgi never glared at me again after that, and the incident was soon forgotten. It still kind of irked me that such a thing happened, but I’ve moved on from it already none the less. Maybe Jongin was right and she really did just have a bad morning.

My thoughts on the incident were even more affirmed when Yeri, one of Seulgi’s cherished freshmen friends, approached me at the library and handed me a flier. Before I could say anything, Yeri blurted out a “See you there!” and took off. Once she was gone, I surveyed the flier again. Majority of the paper was red and there was an intricate collage of fruits and random retro things along with a silhouette of a butterfly, making the pubmat an elaborate feast to the eyes. I peered at the bottom part of the paper and found the details to the said party.

MABI 파티

THIS SATURDAY | 8 PM

It was very evident that a lot of thought was put into this party, and with the amount of fliers Yeri was holding when she approached me, it was as if Seulgi and her friends were expecting the whole student body to come. I wasn’t really sure what the occasion was, but I doubt that a lot of the invited people would sit this party out.

“You want to go?” I asked Jongin when he was done with dance practice. “It says here that it’s going to happen at Irene’s place I think, and what does MABI mean?”

Jongin took the flier from me and scanned the whole thing quickly. “I don’t think I’m free that day.” I looked at him skeptically while he continued to read the flier Yeri gave me. Jongin? Turning down a rad party invite? Plus–

“It’s on a Saturday.”

“Exactly. I have a lot of work to catch up on, and we have rehearsals with Kyungsoo hyung the next day. If we show up hungover to him, he’d smack us both in the head.”

“Correction, you have rehearsals for your performance. I’m just tagging along. And Kyungsoo would never smack me.” I gave out a small hmph as if to project my child-like confidence in Kyungsoo’s soft spot for me.

“Hm, true. You’re just too precious.” Jongin mockingly whined out the last part before squishing my cheeks together.

“Aueeuh!” I tried to exclaim, but he was still laughing and grinning like a hyena. When he finally pulled away from my face, I slapped his shoulder and tried to soothe my cheeks.

Jongin was still chuckling as we neared our car in the parking lot. “Let’s just have a pizza night or something on Saturday. My treat.”

I grinned like a little kid, already forgetting about the party, before opening the door to his car’s passenger seat. “Okay!”

He laughed out loud again, and he continued to do so until we drove out of Uni. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m taking care of a 4 year-old when I’m with you.”

“You like pampering me anyway! So the way I am is partly your fault.”

“True, I really do.” Our conversation died there, until I thought I heard him mumble, “More than you’ll ever know.”

English Literature, albeit very challenging, was one of the few subjects that I actually liked in Uni. The need to find meanings and interpretations in a work of prose written by someone from the past almost seems like a fun puzzle or a game of Sudoku to me. It also amazes me how mundane things such as curtains and capes could mean so much to someone. This, however, confuses so many of my friends because such a subject requires complicated thought processes all the time, and that’s the least thing they would expect from someone as dense and simplistic as me.

It also helps (maybe) that Mr. Byun teaches said class. He’s always warm with his students (which proves to be a hefty plus), but there was also a profound aura to him. He makes sure to always keep an open mind when listening to interpretations of the literature we were reading, and he does everything he can to lighten up the mood of the class.

Aaaaaaand he’s also kind of (really really) handsome, but Jongin – or anyone else actually – does not need to know that.

“How are you going to the party this Saturday?” I turn my head to my seatmate, Momi, who was the one who asked the question. “You’re going, right?”

I shook my head at her. “Oh no, I’m not. Sorry, Momi! But I heard Hyein’s going, and she’s bringing her ca–“

“Is…Jongin going?” Her eyes looked hopeful. I knew Momi had a small crush on my best friend since last year. She didn’t really tell me, but her constant questions about him and her lingering stares were enough to convince me. I was actually willing to be supportive, if only Jongin didn’t shake his head and quickly said no when I brought it up.

“She doesn’t like me.” We were watching TV and eating buttered popcorn.

“She does!”

I was about to get some more from the bowl when Jongin pulled it away. “How can you be so sure?”

“Even if I wasn’t, it’s still worth a try, right? She’s a pretty rad person!” I turned back to the show on TV.

“You’re pretty rad, too.”

“Yeah, but like, she’s a different type of rad!” When Jongin didn’t reply, I turned away to look at him, only to find him already staring.

“What are you–“

“Don’t set me up with her. I’m just really not interested right now. Okay?” He brought the bowl of popcorn within reach again.

“He’s skipping it, too. Really sorry!” Momi momentarily deflated before brightening up again. “It’s okay! I was just wondering. Thanks anyway!” She started packing her things up and it was only then that I realized that EngLit period was over.

I could faintly hear Mr. Byun greeting his students that were on their way out while he organized his teaching aids on his desk. I was about to do the same once I passed by him before exiting w