"Riley's coming over tonight." I announced the moment we both got back from school. The routine of me heading over to her house every Saturday since the last three weeks were starting to get the better of me. It got to the point when I returned from the third dinner at her house, I closed the door of the bedroom - scratched my head as I didn't know what to do.

"Okay what's the matter? Spit it out, you look like an ape." Donghyuck had sighed after closing the laptop. 

"You know the feeling when you just have this sudden urge to break the rules?" I had said.

He yawned, "That's me 24/7, so to speak - carry on."

"I can't take this anymore. I go to Riley's house, we do homework and study, her mom comes and serves us some treats - we have dinner, I entertain them by looking like an idiot and I drive back home. Then I do it again the next week. This needs to change."

He seemed to think it wasn't a big deal. "Yeah so your point is?" 

"Someone needs to make another move." I declared. You see, I pictured me and Riley's situation like a game of chess - with two of us being players who refused to make the next move. I could understand why with two reasons, which was 1) Her parents were pleased that the two of us were close friends now, and 2) This could possibly mean this was how they wanted us to remain. But the biggest reason I wanted a shift from this was - it was going to drive me crazy. 

After the long explanation, Donghyuck had frowned at me. "Well, do you like her? I mean really like her for real?"

I slumped onto my bed, "Well I really like being her friend, I'll tell you that."

"Then why don't you two stay this way?"

"I don't want that, not really. I mean-" I looked up at the ceiling of the room, I couldn't even answer that question; to be honest I couldn't even understand myself. "I can't explain it, Donghyuck. It's useless telling you this, but I just want to let it out. There's just these moments in life where this person just makes you feel things you've never felt before. Whenever I see her face I just smile like an idiot, it's ridiculous to the point I just go blank if she stands too close. I'm an idiot, right?"

He was unsure of what to say, I couldn't blame him for listening to me when he would never get it. He seemed lost as he cleared his throat, "Look Lee, I'm the last person you'd pick to get love advice from since I've never been in love and never will. But I've been reading a lot so here's a quote to answer your question, 'If you're doing it in the name of a thing you call love, then break the rules - break all the goddamned rules because it matters more than following them anyway.' Did that help?"

"She's coming over for dinner?" Aunt Tiffany asked while she unpacked the groceries. "Y-you should've told me earlier, Mark. I just got back from work and I wasn't even planning on making dinner tonight, I was only planning on ordering Chinese food. Oh dear..."

That was my cue. 

I got down from the kitchen counter and approached her. "But I can't cancel it now, and her parents already know she's coming over. I know! I could take her out to dinner tonight, I can drive."

She was hesitant, "Well I don't know-"

"Come on, Aunt Tiffany. You've always wanted me to go on a date, and technically having dinner with her parents doesn't make it one - this could be it. You just have to trust me."

She considered for a long time, until she finally gave in and fished out the keys to her car. "Here you go, and not too late okay?"

I scoffed, "Relax, Aunt Tiffany - I know my limits." 

I exited the kitchen, a smug smirk surfacing. 

I knew when it was necessary to surpass the limits.

She looked amazing as always.

It wasn't like she was wearing anything drastically different, she wore her usual blouse (this time it was a traditional red) which trademark was that the sleeves always tended to be flared at the end, her black skirt and Vans. 

"Sorry to make you wait." she said the moment she got into the car. I peered out the window, where her parents were standing at the porch as they waved. It made me even more anxious to think about what I was planning on doing. 

"So...what did your parents say?" I asked.

"Oh they said hi and to have fun - and be sure to be back before eleven." she rolled her eyes. "So your Aunt's at home, I hope she doesn't mind me coming."

I didn't answer her until we reached the traffic lights and it turned red. "Well newsflash, you're not having dinner at my place after all."

She frowned, "Huh?"

"Remember Jeno's party invitation? I asked him if we could, I don't know, save it for another time - and he said yes. So," I took out my phone to show her our conversation to seal the deal. "-coincidentally he's having another party tonight, and looks like we're going."

She seemed to be a little taken back. "But my parents don't know about this, does your aunt know?"

"Er, she knows I'm taking you out for dinner but not anything besides that."

"So we're basically going to a party without anyone's permission?" the way she said was as if I was telling her to drink alcohol (in which I obviously wouldn't.) "Mark, are we really doing this?"

I knew it would be hard to coax her, "Riley, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before - but the deed's been done, so there's no turning back right now. So the plan is we go to the party, we just have some fun - under no circumstances will we drink anything alcoholic, and we'll head back before eleven. How does that sound?"

She seemed unconvinced, "Do you think we can pull it off?"

"If we don't try, we would never know." I replied. 

Rolling her eyes, she punched my arm. It was a playful one though, like when someone could never really get mad. "Well if this is a party we're going to, there better be something worth my time, and games."

I laughed at her comment.

"So glad you two could make it!" Jeno brought us into his lounge in the highest floor. 

I knew Jeno Lee was wealthy, I just wasn't sure about his specific net worth. He gave me the map to his house, which was situated a few blocks from our school - I realized he lived in the richest neighborhood in town. His house - or more specifically mansion - was three storeys high and he told us to spot the marble fountain at the front. 

Even Riley couldn't believe her eyes.

We walked past the outdoor pool, where others were already having a seperate party outside. No one cared if they brought extra clothes, everyone was just soaking wet as they tossed around that one big human hamster ball. Jeno had dyed his hair a temporary platinum blonde, he looked...expensive. Yes, that was the only word I could describe him. 

"Do you always have parties?" Riley suddenly shouted at him while we trudged throught the living room, where there was a game of Dance Revolution. There was even a barrista on duty serving drinks at all times. 

"Once a month at most, my parents are fine with it as long no one breaks anything valuable!" he shouted back with a smile.

"Has anyone broken anything?"

"Besides one of my dad's sculptures, no. That's why I moved them all into the basement before the party!" 

"Where are we going?" I asked when we walked upstairs. "I thought the party was downstairs?"

He grinned, "That's for the juniors and sophmores - besides they're way too loud. Seniors have a separate place to hang out, come on." 

By place, he meant the family lounge. Indeed on the highest floor were the people in our year chatting, playing video games and having a lip-sync battle. I knew a few of the people there, and they waved at me. I did the same and when they saw Riley, they started putting on cheeky smiles. That might have made her uncomfortable because she unknowingly held onto my hand later on. 

She's holding my hand, I thought giddly. What. An. Idiot.

"I thought you wouldn't make it, Mark," Jaemin said as soon as he saw me. "I don't usually see you at parties."

I shrugged, "It's a rare sight, so be sure to treasure my presence." They laughed.

Rebecca giggled, "It's a miracle, actually - since Riley's here too. What do you know, the school's smartest student is here tonight. Now that's a rare sight."

Herin eyed the both of us, "Well duh, these two came together so it's obvious right?"

"No!" Riley and I said at the same time. 

Rebecca giggled even more, "Aw, you two are so adorable." 

"Are you sure you guys aren't a couple?" Renjun joined in on the teasing. "I'm telling you, girls have a way of predicting things especially if they're betting on someone dating. These two here, they're  bloodhounds when it comes to stuff like this."

"Shut up!" they snapped at him. 

Jeno chuckled, "Okay okay, enougn of that - Mark and Riley can deny it however they want. Now," he took a deck of cards out from the drawer. "Who wants to play Cards Against Humanity?"

"She has to be back before eleven? Are you serious?" Rebecca said incredulously, she was starting to act giddy due to the cocktails she had since the last two hours. I kept looking at the clock, and it was forty minutes before the clock struck eleven. I had to get her back on time even though I knew we were both enjoying ourselves more than we expected.

"It's my curfew." Riley shrugged. "Besides, it's getting late."

Jaemin scoffed, "You've been here for like what - two hours? Mark, come on."

"I gotta make sure she's back before her curfew, dude." 

Herin grinned, "It's still cute in a way right? It sounds so princess-esque that she has to be back before the clock strikes eleven, it's kind of romantic too."

"There we go again with the lovey-dovey stuff..." Renjun groaned. "Can't we just move on to Truth or Dare?"

Suddenly Rebecca stood up, "That's a fantastic idea, Renjun. I call dibs, since Jeno handled the last game," she picked up an empty coke bottle and laid it horizontally on the table where we sat on the couches. She flipped her hair, "This game's old-school, I'm guessing all of you know the rules. Bottles points at the person, they get to pick whether they want a truth or a dare."

I turned to Riley, "If you want to go back, you can tell me you know."

She was considering it, "It's just one game, why not?"

And so the bottle spun, landing on almost every person. It revealed each one's deepest darkest secrets, from Jeno revealing his first love was his preschool teacher to Jaemin being dared to kiss the first girl to enter the room while he was being dared. It was playful, but I wasn't used to such scandalous jokes. I always thought kisses were meant for someone important, and not giving them for free to whoever was in the hallway. 

Then the bottle landed on Riley...

"Now this will be interesting," Rebecca teased. "Truth or dare, Riley?"

"Um, truth?"

"Okay, so my question is - how would you rate Mark?" she asked. 

"Er, I think he's a very nice and talented person-"

"Pfft, what I meant was - is he boyfriend material?" 

That made her flustered, "Um, I suppose so. He's polite, sweet and he's considerate. What's not to like?"

Herin smirked, "Do you like him?"

She turned pink and wouldn't look at me, which garnered a wave of 'ooh's and 'ahh's. Rebecca rolled her eyes, "So not a fun question, Rin. Back to mine, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate Mark's kissing skills?"

Riley turned pale, I cleared my throat, "I think that exceeds the question limit, Rebecca. Now can we just move on to the next person?"

Rebecca groaned, "You're no fun. Fine, here we go." and she spun the bottle-

"You're so dead, Mark Lee," Rebecca cackled as soon as the bottle pointed in my direction. Lucky me. Under no circumstances was I going to reveal anything to her, everything she was planning on asking would be far to confidential. She arched her eyebrows, "What's it gonna be? Truth or dare?"

"Dare - but I'm not gonna do it if you dare me to drink or do anything stupid, Rebecca." I warned.

She still maintained her devilish smile, which made me even more nervous. "Okay, I dare you to play a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven."

"What's that?" 

"It's simple. I'll pick a random person within this circle to accompany you into that room over there," she pointed at the room at the far left corner. "-and let's see if you can stand each other in a room that small for seven minutes. Then we'll let you out, how's that?"

I had a feeling she already planned on doing it. "Hang on," I stuttered. "Can I have an option of passing this one-"

"Jeno baby, would you be kind enough to let us use that room to fulfill Cupid's quest?" Rebecca said dramatically.

"Well that's actually me and my brother's closet but sure, knock yourselves out." Jeno agreed swiftly. 

I glared at Jeno, "You're not supposed to let this happen dude-"

"I pick Riley Andrews." Rebecca declared. I looked at Riley, we were both having the same thought. 

She shook her head, "Um, no..."

"Oh?" Rebecca crossed her arms then reapplied her lipgloss. "Well if you're not going in, I could volunteer your spot. I mean, Mark's pretty hot and I've kissed every guy in our year - except him - so this is a pretty good opportunity for me-"

"Wait!" Riley said all of a sudden. She obviously didn't think this through. "Er, it's only seven minutes. How hard can that be?" she blurted. 

"Riley." I warned her. 

Rebecca wore her champion smile, "That's the spirit!" and all of them dragged the two of us into the narrow closet. 

"Enjoy lovebirds!" she said before closing the door.