I shouldn’t be here, Junmyeon thought to himself with a taut expression of annoyance written on his face, annoyance he tried to withhold from showing because he didn’t want to be labeled as boring again, not like his isolation from the rest of the dancing boys and girls helped reduce this adjective that seemed to chase him throughout his life.

Honestly, he didn’t believe he was boring; he just preferred a different kind of fun. He admitted, he was a pretty traditional guy, used to the old ways of things and the natural boundaries between girls and boys, which was why he always brought a book whenever he was dragged to the bar with his friends. He knew they were used to his older and traditional ways, so they never bothered to drag him to the dance floor to grind with beautiful girls. They left him back on the bench with his emergency book. He knew they tended to abandon him so he stacked books in his car for when this happened. He was right, now he was alone, miserable, and feeling like he shouldn’t be here.

He was so adamant on drowning himself in self pity that he didn’t even notice the frail, agile body moving swiftly between the heavily crowded people in the dance floor to head towards him with single determination, her honey-bared eyes sat on him, lips pursed into a thin line of concentration. When she sat next to him, he didn’t lift his head from the book, having not noticed her, too immersed with either the book or his own mental party. She scooted closer to him until she could feel the heat of his thighs on hers, and started to talk. However, he didn’t seem like he heard her.

“Who brings a book to a bar?”

Junmyeon, despite her attempts, didn’t notice, and casually flipped his pages around. Undeterred by this, the girl tried again, turning around a little in her seat so her knees lightly brushed against his jeans. Her voice was a little louder this time and he tilted his head sideways to give her a curious look.

He didn’t know or recognize the girl, even though she looked vaguely familiar and his head kept whispering to him that he did know her. However, he ignored this whisper of his and shot her an uninterested look, going back to his book.

“I do.” He didn’t even seem to consider how close she brought herself to him.

“The sound of music too loud for you, so you bring a book to distract yourself?” She asked again, tone dripping with playfulness and amusement. She turned around in the couch to lean her back against it, eyes zeroing on the dancing crowd across her. Junmyeon hummed, paying her no attention, but he wasn’t rude enough to ignore her.

“I don’t exactly listen to the music to begin with. I like to drown it out.” Even he could catch the lazy drawl of disinterest in his tone.

“So why bring a book if you have such a nice super power?”

He gave her another glimpse at this, curious to her attempt to be friendly with him when he didn’t even give her the time of the day or the interest for a conversation. She had a small smirk on her lips, her lips pretty and plump, red as a fresh apple. Seeing her closely, she looked attractive enough to be taking chances with another guy. He didn’t understand how she managed to catch him through the crowd. Simply, he hummed, giving no other verbal response. Sure, she was beautiful, but he didn’t exactly have any space right now for that sort of... commitment. He was last year in university, a graduation year, and he didn’t have time to breathe properly, let along ogle pretty girls.

She, however, seemed to be determined.

“Are the lights too low-burning? How are you able to read in such dimness?” She pointed to his book, showing actual curiosity instead of those attractive smirks of hers. The flash of emotion made him soften.

“It’s not the lights,” He murmured softly, or somewhat lazily, eyes set on his book. “Or the people if you’re going to ask about it next.”

“Well, why bring a book?” She asked, again, and he spared her another glance. Her honey drizzled eyes sparkled with some sort of attraction he couldn’t swallow. She titled her head cheekily, a smile growing on her face. “Did you come here alone or something?”

Something clicked in his head at her question, and he knew who she was then. She was Sehun’s girlfriend’s friend. He wasn’t sure how he suddenly recognized her, but her amusement-filled question intensified his sense of familiarity, and now he could clearly remember her, vague and unclear, but still there in his memories. He didn’t pay enough attention to her but he knew who she was. Oh, so popular, so enticing. What was she doing talking to him? As long as he could remember, it had been close to three weeks since she and her friends suddenly barged through his group of friends, and she never really approached him or talked to him, hence why he couldn’t recognize her.

He also knew exactly who he came with, but she still asked him such question.

“Bar scenes are just not my favorite. I get easily bored so I bring a book to entertain myself.” He entertained her without answering her question, because he knew she knew already.

She hummed.

“Why do you come to begin with?”

“Those idiots need someone to take them home.” He pointed at a group of half-drunk university boys a few meters across them dancing and hollering to the music. His tone was fond and he didn’t mean anything malicious about it; a smile had blossomed on his face as well.

She stayed silent for a little, saying nothing more, and he thought she had finally gave up with his half-assed answers. He snuck a look at her and he was surprised to find her looking at him, a strange intensity in her eyes. It also struck him as odd to see her without a smile or a smirk, eyes set on him like she was trying to engrave a rock or scoop the earth for information. Upon getting caught, she focused her eyes on him, and shot him a smile, and this one appeared as if it was a smirk, too.

“Well,” She lamented breezily, looking ahead of her again and relaxing on the couch, crossing her bare legs and totally claiming the place. “Bars are totally my scene. I like to dance.”

“I know,” Junmyeon found himself mutter despite himself, remembering all those rumors he had heard about her, or the tenacious gushing of his friends who he was sure all had a crush on her. “You’re part of the dance major in university, aren’t you?”

She snapped her head to him quickly, and when he returned the attention, her eyes twinkled. “What? No! I’m a law major.”

Junmyeon felt slightly mortified and embarrassed at wrongly guessing her major, but she chuckled so softly at him that it lessened his awkwardness; it didn’t help that he felt as if those chuckles of hers were rare to elicit, considering all she had been shooting him were playful smirks. He viewed himself to be able to catch the main interest of everyone easily, but he was a little bit shameful, dare he say, at guessing her major wrong.

She didn’t look like she was offended, however, eyes bright, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Why aren’t you dancing now?” He attempted to change the subject.

“I saw you sitting alone.” She gave him one of her sweet smiles, eyes crinkling into pretty crescent moons, and he could feel his throat drying up.

He gave her a strange look. What did that mean?

She smiled sweetly yet again, noticing his confusion. She looked away and stretched her exposed legs ahead of her, her gentle expression slightly distorting into a frown.

“And my legs are sore from all that dancing,” she suddenly pointed at his glass of hard whisky sitting across him. “Do you mind?”

He didn’t do anything to indicate his approval or disapproval, but she went ahead and reached out for it, dunking it down in one single sip. Her face scrunched at the bitter taste after she was done, and placed the cup back on the table in front of him with a grimace.

“Tastes horrible,” she muttered, throat still burning. “Didn’t know you were into such bitter alcohol. I thought you’d be into sweet drinks more, considering..”

No one ever thought of him as a hard liquor fan. He was so normally kept together, so well put and clean looking that no one really could guess he liked his drinks hard. Heck, he’d have been surprised too if the roles were reversed.

“Why drink it at all?” Junmyeon muttered, then as an after that, nervously added. “And considering?”

She didn’t seem to mind. “I was thirsty from all that dancing, and considering you’re always so stiff and quiet. I honestly am taken aback with the strong drink. The children giving you a rough time?” She meant the boys he came with as a chaperone so he could take care of, and that trouble-inducing smile she shot him made him aware that she one hundred percent knew of his struggle.

It was hard to keep his facial features stoic and blank in front of her.

He thought about how she described him. Was he really stiff and quiet? Personally, he thought he was.. normal to say the least, but maybe — okay fine not maybe, but surely — he appeared to be like that to outsiders.

He stayed silent, having felt no need to add anything. He tried to get back to his book but her presence beside him was so big that he couldn’t simply ignore her. He reread the same sentence a few times and the whole content began to blur into each other messily. He was totally not in the mood to read at all, not with her so closely beside him, her body a shadow next to his.

He felt her stand after a few minutes of silence, her warmth disappearing, and he looked up to see her stretching, her black top looked super tiny, and it rose to show a sliver of skin from her stomach when she stretched. She turned to him, her lips curling in a cunning smile, and offered him a hand.

“I’m going to dance. Wanna join?”

He simply stared at her in exasperation, not taking her hand. She didn’t take offense to that at all.

“I guess that’s a no, then.”

She went ahead to dance, but unlike before when she was mixed with the crowd away from his view, she chose a spot where she could be right across him, but not in a way where it was obvious she was trying to watch him watching her. In a way, Junmyeon’s attention was