I awoke early the next morning, my body exhausted from all the tossing and turning I did, which didn't amount to much sleep. As the rising sun started to scatter sunbeams across the room I could do nothing but lie there, staring at the ceiling, replaying last night's events in my mind. Thinking about what Sehun said to me on the dance floor made me want to touch myself with a fierce quickness. Thinking about what Sam said to me in the hallway just made me want to punch Sehun in the face. Irene, too. What kind of name is Irene, anyway? I rolled over on my stomach and screamed into the pillow. I was beyond frustrated, but I wasn't sure I had any reason to be.

It's not like he's your boyfriend. You two haven't even been on a date. And you never actually asked him if he has a girlfriend. Besides, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe it'll motivate you to get back to New Haven sooner and get a jump-start on the rest of your life.

I just wanted to erase the past 12 hours, but I couldn't. I could go get a pedicure, though.

***

Sitting at Ms. Debbie's Salon was entertaining, to say the least. The funny thing about a small town is that everyone knows everyone else's business. I overheard talk of four affairs, three arrests, two baby mama dramas, and a partridge in a pear tree. Literally. There was a bird picking at the fruit on this woman's tree and she shot at it, only she missed and killed her neighbor's cat. I was trying to keep my attention on my magazine until I heard an obnoxiously high voice.

"Oh, I didn't tell you, I saw Sehun last night. Girl, he looked so good."

Irene. She was on the other side of the partition on the phone, getting her nails done. I desperately wanted to eavesdrop, but her voice had the volume of a parrot on caffeine so I'm sure the whole shop heard her.

"Oh, yeah, of course he wants to get back together...I heard he was there with some young and beautiful, but he left her to talk to me. You know how he is, he runs around to have his fun but he always comes back to me."

I shut my ears off after that, before this young and beautiful jumped across the room and choked her.

I felt embarrassed. And angry. But most of all, my feelings were hurt. My phone buzzed in my purse, momentarily delaying the breakdown I was about to have.

Hey, it's Sam. You free tonight?

I thought about my options. I could go back to Sehun's and cry. I could risk an assault case by punching Bae Irene over there. Or I could go on a date with a nice guy who was actually into me.

I texted him back and focused on what to wear tonight.

***

I was putting the finishing touches on my make-up when I heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, Soojung. Can I come in?"

I was hoping Sam would be here to pick me up before Sehun got home...but then again, it's not like I had anything to hide. "Come in."

He opened the door and was about to say something when he paused. He stood there watching me through the reflection of the full-length mirror where I was getting ready. "Uh...hey. You look...nice." I had chosen a grey scoop neck t-shirt and a denim mini-skirt, which along with the four-inch heels I was sliding on my feet made my 5'5" frame look much taller. "Are you going somewhere?"

I avoided his eyes by pretending to fix my hair. "Yep. Sam asked me to a movie. He'll be here to pick me up any minute."

Sehun crossed his arms and set his mouth in a firm line. "No."

That got me to turn around and finally look at him. "Excuse me?"

"No. You're not going out with him."

"I wasn't aware I needed your permission."

"You don't. Because you're not going."

I balled my hands into tight fists, fighting the urge to scream at him. "I don't know where you get off thinking you get to tell me what to do. Especially when you decided to go off with your little girlfriend last night."

His eyes went wide. "Who? Irene? You mean when I took her outside for twominutes to tell her to stop being a drunk idiot? That hardly counts as 'going off' with her. Last I checked I planned on comin' home with you."

I turned back towards the mirror to put my earrings in. "It doesn't matter, Sehun. I'm not your girlfriend, you can go out with whoever you want. And so can I." I heard a knock downstairs. "And there's my date, so I'll see you later." I plucked my clutch off the bed and started to make my way to the door when