Seungwan was no stranger to things blowing up in her face. Relationships, conversations, her cooking on more than one occasion – she blamed unexpectedly small pots. She had more or less learnt to expect it but, unfortunately, was no closer to figuring out how to handle it. Usually she just shrugged, accepted that she was doomed to fail and tried to get it behind her with as much dignity as possible.

But sometimes, things happened that put everything into perspective. Sometimes, Seungwan pondered as she studied Yerim and Sooyoung's hungry expressions and knew she had nowhere to run, something blew up so tremendously that all the previous moments of mortification just felt like slightly off days. Sometimes doom took on a whole new meaning.

“No, no, no, we are not doing that,” she stuttered out desperately, already vaguely aware that it was pointless. “We are doing... something else,” she continued, refusing to accept the reality. “How about more studying? I really like those quiet study evenings, let's do more of that.” Joohyun nodded appreciatively at her words, which was nice and all, but she was really making no effort to change Sooyoung and Yerim's minds, so all her approval was useless to Seungwan.

It wasn't, she held it dear to her heart and would treasure it always. But honestly, she was fighting for her life here, was it too much to ask for a little support? And she really didn't understand how Joohyun could be so in favor of this. It was bad, it was childish, she had ardently avoided it for the entirety of her college experience and she didn't want to experience it now.

Seungwan knew what she was like. She was easily flustered in the best of days. She made an of herself with the regularity of a Swiss watch. She was so full of embarrassing secrets, she was like the world's saddest piñata. Sooyoung and Yerim's idea wasn't just the worst. It was her kryptonite.

“We are absolutely not playing truth or dare.” She tried to sound unshakeable, but it was hard to pull off while squeaking out words in a panic. “You can play that with your college friends,” she added helpfully.

Sooyoung smirked at her, more than pleased with the situation. “Would you prefer spin the bottle?” she suggested in a sultry tone. Apparently Seungwan had two kryptonites. Why were all college games so terrible?

“We're not playing spin the bottle,” Joohyun stated neutrally, her words carrying unquestionable finality.

“But we're playing truth or dare?” Seungwan asked in disbelief, turning to face her.

“It's a good game to get know people,” Joohyun replied simply, apparently unbothered. “As long as we're all reasonable about it.”

Sooyoung and Yerim exchanged glances, then turned their eyes back to Seungwan.

“We're reasonable,” Yerim remarked innocently.

“Super reasonable,” Sooyoung added. “What about you, Seungwan? Will you be reasonable?”

“Yes,” she answered defensively. “I mean, no. I mean, it's irrelevant because I'm not playing.”

The young women turned to Joohyun with sad, innocent expressions, trying to use her against Seungwan. They really stopped at nothing to get their way.

“Seungwan,” Joohyun began, clearly swayed. Seungwan was done for, she knew she was, she should just run for it, she should -

Joohyun looked into her eyes, her full attention on Seungwan as her lips moved to form words and probably a sentence, all of which Seungwan was having trouble decoding because Joohyun's eyes were just so close and fixed on hers and she couldn't look away or think or respond to what was probably a question, now that she thought about it.

Was Joohyun done talking? Was she supposed to say something now?

“I, uh...” she stammered out, fully aware that if she said the wrong thing she'd be dooming herself. “I don't...” she tried, and immediately realized her mistake once the side of the room containing the demon children erupted in cheers. Now that her treacherous brain finally decided to catch up, she could remember Joohyun asking if she truly minded playing truth or dare.

Wonderful. Just superb. Seungwan was about to play truth or dare for the first time in her life with her secret crush and two girls intent on ruining her life. It was pretty much the culmination of her life trajectory.

She sighed and dropped on the sofa. “Okay, let's get this over with,” she said glumly. Joohyun sat by her side and patted her back, but it didn't make up for the betrayal. That would require at least a comforting squeeze of her knee or the brushing of a lock of hair behind her ear.

Yerim quickly claimed first pick, something dark flashing in her eyes. “Sooyoung”, she declared to Seungwan's surprise. They were playing with their prey, getting it nice and scared before sinking their teeth. “Truth or dare?”

Sooyoung turned to face Seungwan. “Dare,” she enunciated slowly, without breaking eye contact. Oh, they weren't playing, they were teaming up against her. She was done for.

“I dare you to... undo a button on someone's shirt,” Yerim finished after some thought. Of course, Seungwan thought, the youngest was the only one not wearing a button-up. So would Sooyoung choose Seungwan, to embarrass her directly, or Joohyun, to have Seungwan flustered for the remainder of the game?

Sooyoung looked around the room thoughtfully, then shrugged and undid her own top button. She winked at Seungwan when she was done, making sure to open the collar wide.

“Joohyun, truth or dare?” she said suddenly, startling Seungwan. She definitely needed to relax a little. It would be a lot easier if they'd just get it over with and attack Seungwan already.

“Dare,” Joohyun replied happily, her carefree tone fully showing her confidence in her friends. Little did she know that a dare for Joohyun was just as much a dare for Seungwan, if the two pests had anything to say about it.

Sooyoung tapped a finger on her lips thoughtfully. She was dragging this out and enjoying it way too much. “I dare you to tell Seungwan something she doesn't know about you. But...” She paused with arched eyebrows. Seungwan hated her and she hated all of this. “You have to whisper it into her ear. Bonus points if you shock her,” she added playfully.

There was a moment of silence while Joohyun scanned her memories for something to share. Yerim took this time to raid the kitchen and return with chips and soft drinks. Finally, Joohyun's face lit up with a happy “Oh!” before she was leaning dangerously close to Seungwan. This was much too sudden. Seungwan felt like she was about to jump out of her skin.

Joohyun carefully brushed Seungwan's hair away from her ear, so close that Seungwan could feel the phantom sensation of lips brushing against skin. When she spoke, her warm breath caused every circuit in Seungwan's brain to shut down. She braced herself for Joohyun's words.

“I once received a ,” she whispered softly, and Seungwan almost lost control of her limbs and rolled off the couch. She clung to reality, gripping the fabric tightly, well aware that her cheeks were on fire. To be fair, her entire body was on fire.

Instead of moving away, Joohyun settled herself more comfortably. “My company was entertaining a foreign client,” she began, still in a whisper. Oh god, was she going to explain the whole story? Seungwan was already struggling for air and the only reason her mind wasn't currently filled with images of Joohyun being slowly ground on while sultry music played in the background was because it was totally and entirely blank. All she could do was blink rapidly and will it to end. Or never end, some small part of her brain weighed in. “And we accompanied him to a... gentleman's club, where a young lady offered me a dance. I thought it might be impolite to decline. She didn't charge me, which was nice.”

As soon as Joohyun stopped talking and at least of one of the stimuli overloading Seungwan’s brain, namely the warmth of Joohyun’s breath against her ear, was removed from the equation, her mind valiantly rallied to make up for lost time. Her vision clouded over. Joohyun. A . A on Joohyun. The logistics. The visuals. The sensations. Joohyun's hand, which had just started squeezing her knee. Joohyun's face, which looked a little worried.

Something collided against her back with startling force. She realized it was Yerim slapping her back. “You were wheezing,” she explained with a bored look. “You told her about the , didn't you?” she asked Joohyun in a recriminating tone.

“I wanted the bonus points,” Joohyun replied defensively. “I'm sorry, Seungwan, I hope my story wasn't too shocking.”

“It's okay,” Seungwan gasped out. “I'm okay now. Everything's fine.” Thankfully, her vision was still too hazy to identify the look on Sooyoung's face, because she couldn't imagine how hard she was being judged right now.

Joohyun studied her dubiously, then decided to take pity on her. “Well then... Yerim, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Yerim said without much thought. She didn't seem very concerned.

“How is school going?” Joohyun asked cheerfully.

That was a nice approach. Couldn't everyone be more like Joohyun? “Fine, I guess, the usual,” Yerim answered with a shrug.

“That's good to know,” Joohyun said with a pleased smile.

“Seungwan,” Yerim declared immediately. Seungwan almost jumped in place. Barely recovered from the previous attack and already they were striking again. What had she even done to deserve this? “Truth or dare?”

Her mind worked quickly. Both options sounded terrible, obviously. But logically, and even if her brain loudly shouted the opposite, Yerim wouldn't just ask her something that exposed her to Joohyun. On the other hand, she would absolutely make her do something horrible and smile innocently about it. Seungwan hated this game so much.

“Truth,” she grumbled.

“What do you even do for a living?” Yerim asked casually.

Sitting beside her, Sooyoung rolled her eyes and muttered “You're so bad at this.”

“What?” Yerim retorted defensively. “It's weird that she's never mentioned it. We're getting to know each other,” she added with a petulant grin as Joohyun nodded in approval.

“I work at a hospital,” Seungwan intervened quickly before it became a whole thing. She hadn't mentioned it and she didn't want to mention it and hopefully things could remain pleasantly vague.

“How specific,” Yerim replied drily. “So are you a doctor, nurse, janitor? Clown for the children's ward?”

Sooyoung snorted. Seungwan ignored her resolutely. “I only had to answer one question,” she attempted.

“And you haven't,” Sooyoung immediately shut her down.

“Ugh, fine. I work at the morgue,” she admitted glumly. She slumped into the couch in defeat and avoided any and all eye contact.

Yerim let out a high-pitched giggle. Seungwan hated truth or dare. “That just... explains so much,” Sooyoung declared dreamily. Seungwan slumped further. She really hated truth or dare.

Joohyun patted her knee reassuringly, but it wasn't enough to cheer her up. “So you touch corpses all day? Gross,” Yerim exclaimed with excitement. “Is it all natural causes or have you had murder corpses?”

“It's mostly just paperwork.” Seungwan let out a sigh. “Now it's my turn, no more questions,” she added desperately. Yerim reluctantly quieted down and Seungwan wondered who she should choose. She had her pick of Joohyun or Sooyoung. She already knew Sooyoung would go for a dare but she had no idea regarding Joohyun.

Of course, if she picked Sooyoung then she couldn't pick her back.

“Sooyoung,” she said at once. Her target perked up.

“Dare, obviously.”

“Sounds like someone with a lot to hide,” she teased as a way to buy herself some time. She couldn't think of a single interesting dare besides ending the game and letting her go home.

“More like someone who's not afraid of any dare you can come up with,” Sooyoung replied, unbothered. Fair enough.

“Ok, uh... I dare you to kiss Yerim on the cheek.”

“See? Weak,” Sooyoung said simply.

“Yeah, but she'll hate it,” Seungwan explained with a grin. Sooyoung snorted in agreement and shifted in her seat until she was facing Yerim. She grabbed her face with both hands then kissed her cheek with a loud smacking sound. Yerim pushed her away immediately, rubbing at the spot.

“Ew, you got spit on my face!” she whined loudly. Sooyoung only waggled her eyebrows in return. Turning to Joohyun, Seungwan could see how she gazed at the two young women with affection, seemingly finding their squabble endearing. They were like a small, happy family, living out a scene of quiet domesticity, or at least as quiet as Sooyoung and Yerim would ever allow it to be.

And also Seungwan was there, she finished with a small inward sigh, feeling a little out of place. Sometimes she wondered if Sooyoung and Yerim’s apparent hostility really was an act to hide their affection or if they actually felt that she was forcing her way into a space where she wasn’t wanted. It was easier with people like Seulgi, who frequently and enthusiastically reiterated that they liked Seungwan and wanted her around. It made it harder to start second-guessing herself.

She noticed that Joohyun’s hand, which still rested on her knee, was now squeezing it gently, and realized that she must have looked far off in thought. She smiled reassuringly at the questioning glance sent her way and settled her attention back on the game just in time for Sooyoung to declare her next victim.

“Joohyun,” she called out.

Once again, her target didn’t seem very worried. “Truth,” she replied with a small smile, and patiently awaited questioning.

Sooyoung didn’t seem happy with the choice. Seungwan didn’t have to wonder why. She considered sending a gloating smirk her way, but decided not to push her luck while she was still trapped in the devil’s game.

Yerim refilled her glass while Sooyoung thought, muttering something that sounded like “by all means, take all day”. Seungwan reached for the bag of chips and took out a handful, which she put in one by one as they waited.

“Ugh, this , you already tell us everything,” Sooyoung finally let out in frustration. “Can’t you just pick dare instead?”

“No take-backs,” Seungwan cut in before Joohyun could respond. Yerim snorted at her word choice, but it just made her choke on her drink so Seungwan felt immediately vindicated. Some quick work on karma’s part.

“Fine. Be boring,” Sooyoung relented with a huff. “Did you enjoy the ?”

Seungwan narrowly avoided inhaling a mouthful of half-chewed chips, an achievement she was particularly proud of given Joohyun’s response. “Yes, it was quite nice. The dancer was very skilled,” she said without hesitation. She gave Seungwan’s knee another squeeze, probably to check that she was alright at the topic being brought up again. Seungwan carefully finished chewing, swallowed, then turned to Joohyun to show she was fine.

Joohyun was looking at her with a small smirk. “Seungwan,” she said at point blank range. For a moment, Seungwan just looked at her in confusion. Obviously she was Seungwan, why was this being pointed out? “Truth or dare?” Joohyun continued after a pause. Oh, right. The dumb game. Seungwan had almost managed to forget it for a blissful second.

This was a dangerous situation. Yerim and Sooyoung, with full knowledge of Seungwan’s feelings, would skirt the issue and ask harmless but nerve-wracking questions. Joohyun, with only a vague idea and too much interest for Seungwan’s peace of mind, was a loose cannon. Truth was out of the question.

“Dare,” she decided out loud, genuinely curious at what Joohyun would come up with. Hopefully nothing involving the other two, no good could come of it.

Joohyun smiled happily. “I dare you to,” she started, then paused for emphasis. It would be cute, if it weren’t a little stressful. “Call the person you are closest to and tell them you were thinking of them,” she finished proudly. That was… A strange one. Next, Seungwan would be calling her parents to tell them she loved them.

She took out her phone as Joohyun elaborated. “Of course, you can’t tell them that you’re doing it as a dare.” She nodded in compliance and picked Seulgi’s contact. On the couch next to her, Yerim was busy groaning and Sooyoung sat with her hand covering most of her face. They seemed particularly frustrated at Joohyun’s underwhelming dare.

Seungwan paced near the sofa as the phone rang for a while with no answer. Of course, Seulgi must be out with friends. She felt a little bad about bothering her friend for no reason like this, but she still hoped Seulgi would pick up, because she didn’t really want to have to leave a voice mail or whatever alternative dare Joohyun might think of.

“Seungwan?” a distorted voice cut through her thoughts. “I thought you were at Joohyun’s tonight, is everything okay?” Seulgi asked, sounding worried. Muffled music sounded in the distance, probably from whatever party she’d just left for Seungwan.

“Hi, Seulgi,” she answered quickly, trying to get this over with so Seulgi could go back to her fun. “Everything’s fine, don’t worry, I’m here with Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yerim.”

“Oh, say hi for me.”

Seungwan pulled the phone away from . “Seulgi says hi,” she declared to the room in general. “She’s my best friend,” she added as an afterthought, after considering that Joohyun might not know she knew about their diner encounter and that Sooyoung and Yerim could genuinely not know who Seulgi was. The three women waved with friendly smiles. “They say hi back,” she related to the phone.

“So, why did you call?”

“Oh, uh… I was just… Thinking about you. So I thought I’d call, see what you’re up to,” she stuttered out awkwardly. It felt weird to be talking in front of an audience like this. Joohyun seemed strangely interested, as though pleased by Seungwan’s display of affection. Meanwhile, Yerim and Sooyoung followed the conversation only casually, more interested in muttering to each other and reaching for chips.

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Seulgi chirped out. “But also kind of weird, did one of them make you do that?” she asked with a giggle.

Seungwan laughed like Seulgi had said something funny. “Yeah, I know, right?”, she replied nonsensically, confident that her friend would catch on.

“You really get bullied a lot on those evenings, Wannie,” Seulgi said, still giggling. “So, did you have to do anything else? Tell me I’m a great friend and I have a pretty smile, maybe?” she continued, teasingly.

“Well, if you want me to,” Seungwan replied quickly, smiling despite herself. “But it’s not mandatory.”

“I don’t know, it would be a nice gesture,” Seulgi pointed out. “The fact that it’s optional makes it even more meaningful.”

“But I’m in front of everyone,” Seungwan complained, her voice taking a whining tone. Her audience turned to her curiously. Right, she was in front of everyone. And had just embarrassed herself, probably.

“Oh, so your love for me can only be shown in private, I see how it is,” Seulgi teased lightly. “I’ll let it slide this time, mostly because I have to go back inside soon, but I want those compliments later.”

“Fine, I’ll call you later. Have fun!”

Seungwan waited for Seulgi’s goodbye, then hung up and shoved her phone back in her pocket. She ignored the redness she could feel creeping up her neck towards her face and sat back down next to Joohyun. Everyone remained silent.

“So, what couldn’t you do in front of everyone?” Yerim finally asked, the amusement clear in her voice. Sooyoung grinned, evidently approving this line of questioning, but didn’t bother looking up from her phone.

Seungwan knew better than to look for support in Joohyun, because she was still just smiling widely, apparently pleased at the execution of her dare. Instead, Seungwan focused on willing away the warmth in her cheeks.

“It was, uh… Seulgi wanted me to say some embarrassing stuff,” she managed, quite aware that it would just make the others more curious. “Personal stuff,” she added firmly, really not interested in further questioning.

Yerim shrugged and Seungwan was honestly surprised at the ease with which she’d got her off her back. “I’ll just ask you on my next turn,” the younger girl said casually. “You’ll have to answer then,” she added with a wicked smirk.

“Can’t we stop playing already?” Seungwan replied with a groan. She was getting really tired of this poor excuse for a game. “I’ve done a truth, I’ve done a dare, I feel like I’ve experienced all the game has to offer.”

Yerim seemed ready to protest, but Joohyun’s voice rose to cut her off. “Alright, Seungwan gave the game a chance and she didn’t enjoy it, I think stopping now would be a good compromise.” Yerim sent a quick glare her way but didn’t try to argue. Sooyoung was still on her phone and didn’t seem very bothered by the decision.

Seungwan sighed in relief, free at last. “Fine, I guess we’ll just talk,” Yerim relented with a shrug. She turned to Seungwan. “So, tell me more about this morgue of yours.”

Fighting off another groan, Seungwan slumped back into the couch, wishing she could be swallowed in between its pillows and rest in cosy nothingness. Were new friends really worth the excruciating experience of making new friends?

Sooyoung finally put her phone away and joined the conversation. “If you’re going to start asking gross corpse questions, I’m leaving,” she remarked casually. Then she looked over at Seungwan with a half-smile that she quickly hid away when Yerim turned to face her.

So maybe making friends wasn’t all bad.