The Sundae was yummy, but so was Wheein as she vanilla ice-cream off her spoon. I couldn’t take my eyes off her lips the entire hour we sat at the cafe. Unfortunately, the girl was in her own dreamland. Enjoying her sundae so much that she didn’t pay much attention to me. She refused to tell me what she had to give Byul for accepting me into the dance class. Well, she said she didn’t owe Byul anything, but I didn’t buy it.

At eight thirty that evening, I picked her up at her door and drove us to Byul’s house in my mother’s car. I had no idea what people wore to those parties, but since it was still over ninety degrees in the evening, I chose a floral tank top with white oversized off shoulder sweater and ripped denim shorts. Judging by the wriggling eyebrows I earned from Wheein, I supposed I had settled on the right clothes.

As we entered the lane of Byul’s mansion, a long queue of cars told me just how big this party was. Wheein appeared unimpressed and I maneuverer into a spot at the corner, but I had a hard time closing my mouth. “How many guests is she expecting?”

“Can’t say. Usually, there are eighty to a hundred. If her parents are gone, the number might as well get up to a hundred twenty.”

Heck, I didn’t even know that many people if I counted all my friends, family, and their pets together. We walked up the drive then climbed the marble steps to the door with the bowed top. The music blasted through the wood so we figured we didn’t need to ring. Wheein jiggled the handle, and it opened easily.

Sean Paul’s She doesn’t mind was blaring from the many speakers as we entered. Bodies bumped and ground against each other in salacious moves I only knew from films. Several boys shouted a conversation over the noise and drank beer from bottles while groping the butts of the girls with them. Some people kissed in the dim light.

What the hell? Are these kids even legal to even drink beers?

I clung to Wheein’s arm. “Oh my God, don’t leave me alone in this place.”

She laughed, or so I thought when her ribcage shook slightly, because I couldn’t really hear her. She grab my hand with her as she pulled me into the mass of people. Not all of them were kids. It seemed Byul had a lot of older friends, too, ranging from eighteen to about thirty.

Oh wait, is that Girl’s Generation’s Yoona? Wow she’s always look stunning in from head to toes. Red tank top with white blazer on top and suit her well.

Woah, holly , I think I saw Apink’s Chorong was happily chatting with a group of girls and boys by the stairs.

A small group of girls from my college gathered in the middle of the room. I recognised one of them immediately. Bae Joo Hyun grabbed my arm when we passed them. I had to lip-read to understand that she wanted me to join them.

“Unnie, I’ll get you something to drink,” Wheein shouted in my ear.

I nodded and watched her walk away with a weird quiver in my stomach. What if she never found her way back to me in this blasted place? The distance she put between us was quickly filled with throngs of strangers. , I shouldn’t have let her go.

Turning back to the girls, I tried to join in the conversation, but mostly I just stood there and nodded, pretending to understand what they said. Joo Hyun handed me a bottle of Corona when Wheein hadn’t come back after ten minutes. Parched by the heat in the room, anything cool was welcome. I wet my lips with the beer then it off. Okay, this stuff wasn’t half bad. I took a real sip. A little acerbic, but quite palatable. I had downed half of the bottle when my head started to feel dizzy.

Across the room I thought I’d spotted Wheein. I waved goodbye at girls and headed off toward the back. The crowd thinned a little there, and I could actually move without rubbing against other people’s sweat. But Wheein was nowhere in sight.

A high arch in the wall connected this room to the kitchen. I headed there and found Byul standing in the doorway, leaning one shoulder against the wall. The sleeves of her black shirt were rolled up to her elbows, and the black skinny jeans she wore were ripped at the knee.

Black was a colour I loathed on Wheein. It made her look way too devilish. She’s a puppy so she has to maintain her cute looks. With Byul it was different. Her two top buttons are undone, revealing the curve of her fine collarbone, the expanse of smooth white skin beneath. Kind of y. Her looking like the devil was cool.

Her gaze flickered my way then stayed as she sipped her beer, watching as I drew closer.

It would have been plain impolite not to say hello to the host, so I stopped before her and lifted my hand in greeting. The music wasn’t as loud back here, and I actually caught her hi.

“You have a nice place. So full of…famous people,” I said, feeling awkward and a little stupid for not knowing how to start a cool conversation.

“Yeah, thanks.” She moved away from the wall and leaned closer to me so I could hear her. “It was about time that Wheein brought you here. She kept you away from this place long enough.”

Huh? I frowned. Wheein was the reason why I hadn’t been invited to any of Byul’s parties yet? That bloody wretch. But then she probably figured I wouldn’t feel comfortable among this drinking lot and with all the noise. I, idiot, proved her point the second we came here by clinging to her arm like a frightened cat.

“Do you know where she is?” I said into Byul’s ear, thankful that I didn’t need to shout and damage my vocal cords even more. As I did, I didn’t fail to notice of how good she smells. I wonder what perfume she is wearing.

“Nope.” She took another swig from her beer.

Sighing, I sipped mine too, not liking it much any longer. I grimaced. Byul suddenly took me by the wrist and pulled me into the kitchen. She placed her beer down on a counter, popped a can of soda, then lifted the bottle out of my palm and replaced it with the Sprite, closing my fingers around it.

“You shouldn’t drink beer,” she said in a stern tone. “Especially not in this place.”

Yeah, I didn’t want to end up someone’s groping puppet, like most of the other drunken girls. Thankful for the Sprite, I washed away the bitter aftertaste of the Corona in my mouth.

“You did well today.” A smile slipped to her lips.

“You don’t need to lie to me. I was hideous. And you know it. I still don’t get why I got accepted.”

Shrugging, she drank from my discarded bottle. “I don’t know. Maybe I just want you there.”

Jeez, the teasing in her voice made the hair on my arms stand on end.

“Do a little endurance practice every day, and you’ll be better.”

I screwed up at athletics. I know dancers need to be fit. I even tried jogging a few mornings at the beginning of this summer to get a better stamina, but it didn’t work for me. Half a mile was the most I could manage before trudging back home, panting and frustrated. “I guess I’m lacking motivation to do that. I’m like a lame at dancing.”

“What you need is a personal trainer.”

That made me laugh. “You want the job?”

Byul pursed her lips and studied me for a moment as though I had just offered her good money for stinking work. She shrugged. “Sure, why not? If you promise to show some enthusiasm, I promise to be there.”

That sounded like an interesting offer. After all, I had to work on my endurance if I wanted to last during an entire dance lesson. And Wheein needed to see I was fit for more than just playing stupid video games with her.

Yeah. Practice, it is.

Strangely enough, the thought of having Byul practicing with me sent a shiver of anticipation through me. I mean she did choreographed dance moves for idols like Mamamoo, Red Velvet, Exo and more big names. I know she’s busy yet she’s still willing to sacrifice her precious time for someone like me. It felt like an honour to personally trained by her, and it sure would lift my status at collage from average to super cool.

“Okay, deal.”

She gave a slow nod. “We’ll start Monday morning.”

Great. That meant suicide was delayed one more day. Her gaze locking with mine promised I wouldn’t entirely regret my decision.

Someone shouted her name behind me. “We’re starting a game of pool. Are you in?”

Byul pushed away from the counter. “Be there in a sec.” Then she ran the cool mouth of her bottle along my cheek. “Enjoy the night. And whatever you do, stay away from the strawberries.”

Dumbstruck, I stood rooted to the spot as she brushed past me and walked away, chuckling.

I swallowed a huge swig of Sprite to cool down. Hani, the girl I meet at the dance audition came in at that moment.

Her face lit up when her gaze fell on me. She rushed over. “Hey unnie, what do you say? Now that you are accepted. And honestly…” She paused, and her eyes darted left then right to make sure we were alone in the room. Her voice dropped a notch, too. “I’ve never seen a prettier house than this. I wanted to come to Byul’s parties for ages, but she never noticed me in class, I think she didn’t even know my name until I told her at the audition.”

“Yeah, me too.” Or so I thought until I found out she actually knew my name way before. “So which university did you go?” I tried to start a convocation with her.

“Kyung Hee’s”

I nodded. So Byul went to Kyung Hee’s, I went to Hankuk, so it’s like twenty minutes away.

Wait why did I even…

“I can’t wait for our first class” Hani cuts me from my thought, she seemed so excited, I couldn’t understand her enthusiasm. Well, if there wasn’t a girl on the team she wanted to recognize her anyway.

I shrugged. But the dance lesson was nothing that really concerned me. “Listen, did you see Wheein anywhere this evening?”

“Not really. Why?”

“Haven’t seen her much. I just wonder where she is.” I threw my empty soda can in the trash and pulled an apologetic face. “Mind if I go looking for her?”

Hani was cool. “Do that. I’ll find you later.”

I went back into the hall and wandered around the ground floor, hoping to find Wheein somewhere. But the shoving and bumping of sweat drenched people soon got on my nerves, and I kept closer to the walls instead. When I reached an arch leading to another room, I peeked inside. No blond caught my eye. My shoulders slumped with disappointment. But then a few guys shifted to the side, and I spotted a pool table and someone leaning over it in an eye-catching way.

By now I was pretty good at recognizing Byul’s long blond hair.

She held the cue low over the green felt, aiming the tip at the white ball. Some coloured balls fanned out on the table too, but as it looked she went for the black eight.

“Come on, Byul, give a friend a chance. You can’t hole the ball just yet.”

I pivoted to the left to see who was pleading with Byul. OMG! Is that BTS’s Jin? The look on his face was hilarious, yet he’s still handsome. One would think his life depended on Byul’s hit or fail.

“What’s your problem, Jin?” Still working on positioning the cue perfectly, Byul grinned. “Afraid, your Mama’s going to find out you’re playing for money?”

Just then I noticed the stack of won bills at the edge of the table. They seemed to have a sum of thousands of won in the pot. My jaw dropped. I didn’t get half as much pocket money in one month.

“My Mama doesn’t give a damn. But I really, really need this Spiderman comic. It’s an original,” Jin whined.

I felt really bad for him. Intrigued how the game would end, I moved around the edge of the wall and stood face to face with Byul across the room.

Narrowed eyes and knitted brows gave away her tension. The cue moved backward just a couple of inches. She’d shoot any moment.

But then her dark brown eyes looked up…and remained fixed on me. Her body froze, only her chest moved with each breath. Heads turned in my direction.

My heart drummed a little faster, and with all the attention, my cheeks warmed uncomfortably.

I grimaced. “Is something wrong?”

Byul didn’t answer, but Jin victory-punched the air as he rushed to my side. He laid his arm around my shoulders, grinning like a loon. “Girl, you just saved my life.”

“Ah…yes.” With a grimace, my gaze switched back to Byul. “And how so?”

She started grinning, too, but didn’t seem as happy as Jin, next to me. More like, she knew crap was about to fall.

“She can’t play when someone is watching her,” Jin almost sang into my ear.

“Totally screws up then.”

“But you all are watching her,” I pointed out.

At the back of the room, someone laughed. “Yeah, but we’re not girls.”

My mouth drew into an O shape. But I still don’t get what’s the big deal. So she only can play better with only boys around not with girls? That’s doesn’t sound right does it?

Chuckling, Byul straightened and chalked the tip of her cue, lips tight, eyes set on me.

Although my being there obviously amused her, I didn’t want to trouble her, especially where money had a hand in the pie.

“Sorry,” I croaked. “I’ll leave you guys alone then.”

“Uh-uh, no way, girl!” Jin’s arm remained firm around my shoulders.

“You’re my insurance to get that comic book. You stay.”

His antics made me laugh, even though I felt like a traitor. I didn’t know he was like this off stage. On stage he was that cool and charming oppa, but off stage he whined like a baby a lot.

Byul, who hadn’t said one word in all that time, slid her tongue over her bottom lip, then the left corner of tilted up. She took a deep breath and leaned over the table once more. Everyone kept silent. Jin crossed his fingers next to my face, no doubt praying for Byul’s miss.

I never thought a single shot could get an entire room this tense. Including me. Byul cleared , her gaze moving back and forth between me and the white ball. Suddenly she dropped her forehead to the edge of the table and laughed. “Take your money, just. I give up.”

The room cheered as though the unthinkable just happened. Jin bear hugged me and hurried to grab the bills. I stood rooted to the spot, staring at Byul, who now braced her palms on the pool table and hung her head. But when she looked up, there was this flash of amusement in her eyes again.

“I’m so sorry,” I mouthed, not even trying to raise my voice over the boys’ celebration.

“You are banned from this room,” she mouthed back, a smirk on her lips. Then she walked around the table, slowly, measuring me with each step she took. I pressed a little harder against the wall, welcoming the coolness seeping through my top.

She stopped right in front of me, the cue in one hand, the other placed against the wall next to my head. “You just cost me two millions won,” she drawled with a smile.

“Yeah, I know.” I put on a poor puppy look. “But he really, really needs this comic book.”

That made her laugh. “Siding with the enemy. I should have known.” With her hand on my shoulders back, she ushered me through the arch in the wall, back into the main hall. “For tonight, this room is off limits for you.”

“Oh why?” Playfully pouting, I glance up at her roguish eyes. “It’s so much fun to watch you…screw up.”

She wouldn’t let her smile slip as she leaned in a little closer. “Off you go, Kim Yongsun.”