Ha-In made the last touches to her face. She rarely wore full makeup, and had to recheck it for more times than she would have liked. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of her car and straightened her dress that ended mid-thigh.

 

 

She entered the luxurious mansion with a forced smile on her pretty face. This was not her usual scene. She’d much rather be curled up on her sofa at home with Seohyun babbling about her newest boy-crush or latest scandal with the newbie at work, or maybe bingeing on the newest k-drama. Ugh, damn Jeonghan and Joshua for guilt-tripping her to come to this event!

 

The whole place was decorated with some elegant theme that Ha-In had no knowledge about, Every corner of the first floor had been tastefully modified so that the partygoers could enjoy in style and yet have a lot of young adult fun. Despite the decorations, the music was deafening and everywhere early twenty-somethings were dancing and grinding to their dance partners. Some were making out unabashedly and it was clearly a party that she shouldn’t have stumbled to.

 

To her surprise, a person had spotted her. It was Hansol, or Vernon, as now everyone called him. He scanned her from top to bottom before giving her his signature smirk.

 

 

“Well, well, well, who do we have here? If it isn’t miss uptight herself… What are you doing at a place like this? This isn’t a place for innocent sheeps like you to be. A wolf could just gobble you up in this place.” He enjoyed being cocky and demeaning.

 

Ha-In shot her best scowl in his direction. “What’s it to you?”

 

“Nothing. Frankly, I’m just surprised that Josh would let you go to a place like this without him. Remember the last time he did…?” Ha-In curled her fists tightly, wishing that he could punch his cocky little smirk off his face. She did not want to remember that awful moment when she had a lapse in judgement.

 

And so she did the sensible thing, she left he area where he was sitting at. And only after she couldn’t see him did he wonder about why he was there in the first place, maybe he’s just a friend of Tzuyu or something.

 

Luckily, Ha-In was greeted by Jeonghan a few minutes later, when he spotted her. It was obvious that she didn’t belong here, in a crowd of wealthy college youngsters. She stuck out a bit like a sore thumb with her awkwardness and lack of social skills. “Hi Jeongie.” Ha-In could finally let out a sigh of relief when he’d came to rescue her. He brought her to a secluded corner, where the music had lowered in a soft thud and so that they could talk comfortably.

 

Jeonghan gave her one his charming smiles. “Sorry, Tzuyu had so many demands to be met. You wouldn’t believe how much detail she’d given me to make this the most awesome party ever.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation. Ha-In laughed good-naturedly.

 

They talked a bit before Jeonghan asked where Joshua was. “Oh he’s coming alright, he’s just caught up with that new project that the company’s assigned to him. He’s gonna a little late though.” She frowned a bit. It was Joshua who had insisted that she came to Jeonghan’s sister’s party, now he’s the one who is late.

 

“Oh well, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy yourself, right.” Jeonghan gave her a wink. Ha-In laughed again, and teased his flirty jokes. Jeonghan has always been this flirty with everyone. It was nice to talk with one of her closest friends after a stressful week of work. Jeonghan handed her a drink, and Ha-In rejected it almost immediately. She had almost no tolerance when it came to alcohol, but Jeonghan insisted. He said that it would’ve been a waste to hire a bartender for the party if the guests didn’t want to take the drinks.

 

Jeonghan promised that the drink that he gave her barely had any alcohol in it, and it should be safe for her. And so, Ha-In took it almost sceptically, and took a sip. It was the most delicious fruity drink that she has ever tasted, and took another tentative sip before giving Jeonghan a thumbs-up sign. Jeonghan smiled and excused himself when he heard the sounds of people singing happy birthday. He promised he’d come back in a few minutes.

 

Ha-In finished the whole cup within seconds. And after that moment, she couldn’t recall anything.