Yang Eunha sat on the rug of her bedroom as she helped Yang Raeahn stack blocks one on top of the other with a soft smile. As she was about to put the last block on top, Raeahn pushed her hand away. “Umma! I can do it myself!”

Eunha chuckled as she gave the block to her four year old daughter. “Okay, okay, you do it.” Just then, the door to her room opened.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Kim Hanbin popped his head through the door as he gazed at her expectantly, although he already knew what the answer would be.

Eunha shook her head. “You know I don’t really like that type of scene. And I have to watch Raeahn,” she stated, nodding her head at her daughter. Sighing, Hanbin opened the door wider and took a seat next to her on the rug, his eyes on Raeahn. Should I just stay home with them?

“And don’t think about missing it and staying here with us,” Eunha said, focusing her gaze on him. “You go and have fun.” Hanbin still wasn’t used to Eunha always being able to read his mind, and the two had met when they were six. Well, almost all of his mind. There was still one thing she didn’t know, and he’s prefer to keep it that way. The two were family friends, their moms being best friends with one another and the two families were living together.
“
Are you sure? I really don’t mind staying. I always have fun playing with Raeahn,” he stated. And as if to prove his point, Raeahn climbed into his lap just then.

“Yes, go! Didn’t you say this was one of the biggest back to school parties ever? Don’t miss it because of us, go!” As Eunha spoke, she pulled Raeahn off Hanbin’s lap and pushed him out the door towards the direction of his room. “Have fun!”

Closing the door behind her, she found Raeahn had found out how to slide open Eunha’s closet door. As her daughter was growing, she was becoming more capable of doing things on her own. Eunha grinned proudly before she realized what Raeahn was doing. She was fumbling around with the lid of a box that was stashed in the corner. Her heart stopped.

“YAH. Yang Raeahn!”

She raced over immediately and gently pried the box out of her daughter’s hands, replacing it with the nearest toy on the ground. She shoved the box onto the highest shelf of her closet out of her daughter’s possible reach. Before sliding the closet door shut, she gave the box a longing glance.

Ever since she had Raeahn, she hadn’t had the time to go to a party. And to be honest, she really didn’t want to. The last time she was at a party was ages ago… with Youngho. Youngho. Instinctively she reached towards the box, towards the contents inside.

CRASH.

Eunha turned abruptly to see Raeahn had knocked the tower of blocks over and had made a huge mess. Without another glance at the box and her thoughts cleared of Seo Youngho, she slid the closet door shut.
 

“WELCOME BACK, ES!” Seo Jinah proclaimed to her two best friends. Min Hyejoo giggled from the passenger seat, as Ha Yijeong hummed excitedly from the backseat as she looked out the car window, taking in the the familiar city lights of Daepo as the car raced forward. Ah, it was good to be back. Yijeong and Hyejoo had taken a semester abroad in the States and had decided to stay longer into the summer as well. Now that school was about to start, she was back for her last year of college. And the three best friends were reunited again. Oh, how she had missed Korea.

“...party tonight.” Yijeong snapped out of her daze just to hear the last words of the conversation of her two best friends. “Wait. What party?”

“The back to school party tonight! We’re all going!” Jinah exclaimed. Yijeong’s eyes widened.
“But… it’s nighttime already.” She looked at Hyejoo for help, but latter just shrugged. “I missed partying in Korea, I”m down.”

Yijeong tried to protest, but Jinah interrupted her. “You don’t have a choice, we’re already on the way.”

“Okay fine, but can’t we go home first and get ready?” Yijeong knew better than to fight it more, but there was no way she could go in clothes straight off the plane. Her contacts weren’t on, and her makeup wasn’t done except for her brows. What if she saw-

“Jinah thought of that already,” Hyejoo grinned, pointing to a duffle bag on the seat next to Yijeong. “She’s packed all we need in that bag.”

“You wouldn’t think I would let Ha Yijeong, our beautiful campus rep make her huge return from the States looking like a bum right?” Jinah declared, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“And not to mention you reuniting with-”

“OKAY OKAY I GET IT I’M CHANGING!!” Yijeong cut her off as Hyejoo crawled from the passenger seat into the back as the car was still moving to change and get ready. The two girls did as best as they could and it wasn’t soon until Jinah parked along the street of the house where the party was hosted.

Yijeong stepped out of the car, straightening herself up. She had pulled her favorite pair of heels out of her luggage from the back, and admired them on her feet. At that time, Hyejoo and Jinah sidled up to her, each one linking an arm to hers.

“You know Yijeong, today would be the perfect day to confess. The famous Ha Yijeong finally gets cuffed and-”

“Guys for the last time, he doesn’t like me that way!” Before her friends could even think about bringing up the topic again, she pulled them through the doors of the house.

The three four years surveyed the scene. It was already quite crowded, with students of different years occupying different spaces of the large house. The lights were dimmed with LED strips lining the walls. 

Quite a few heads had turned at their entrance, and the name “honeyjewel” could be heard among the murmurs of the crowd. Especially from the corner where most of the freshman had gathered, amazed to have seen her.

She flashed them a quick smile before glancing around the room instinctively. She willed herself to stop, to not try and look, but she couldn't help it. She had to see if he was here... and then there he was, leaning casually against a counter while talking to Jackson Wang.

Right on cue,  her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of him. Yoo Minjun.

Jung Sarang’s arms were crossed as she nestled further back into the couch. She couldn’t believe she was here.

“I can’t believe you guys made me come here,” she repeated outloud to Hwang Hyunjin and Shin Ryujin. A party, when she could be having fun with her brothers. Jung Sarang would never, ever, drink. She had to admit though, seeing Ha Yijeong aka @honeyjewel was pretty cool.

Sarang, along with the other freshman, watched as Yijeong and her friends whispered to one another while staring in the direction of the kitchen counter. At that moment, another trio of girls stepped through the door. One of the girls had bright pink hair, and… no way. Was that Moon Yeolhwa? Their university was lucky, there were so many social media influencers.

All eyes were in that direction now, but who could help it? Yijeong turned in surprise to see Yeolhwa, who slightly ducked her head in a playful bow before the two hugged. After exchanging a few words, the two groups dispersed in two different directions of the house.

Now that the one interesting part of the party was over, Sarang slumped further back in the couch.

“Sarang come on! At least pretend like you’re having fun.” Ryujin poked at Sarang, an easy smile gracing her face as she bopped along to the music.

“No, I’m sick of seeing your faces,” Sarang scrunched her nose up lightly and grumbled. Both Ryujin and Hyunjin laughed.

“We know that’s a lie,” Hyunjin sang, poking Sarang’s cheek repeatedly to force a smile out of her. Sarang began to blush inwardly before she could stop herself.

“Don’t like that!” Ryujin mockingly lectured, playfully swatting Hyunjin’s arm, receiving a michievous smile in return. Sarang averted her gaze elsewhere, pretending not to have seen. She had been noticing the two of them having moments like this a lot lately. And well, let’s just say she didn’t quite like it.

She abruptly got up from the couch, an uneasy feeling had settled in her stomach. “Hey, where are you going?” Both Ryujin and Hyunjin called after her.

“I’m going to see what’s good at this party.” Sarang stated, grabbing a shot from a nearby table and walking straight into the crowd. 

Hana leaned against the wall as Yeolhwa strutted up to her with yet another shot. Hana downed it with ease, plopping the empty cup into the growing stack in her hand. 

"You handle your alcohol pretty well," Yeolhwa remarked, nodding with approval. Hana nodded her head in agreement absentmindedly, her fingers fumbling around with the cup stack in hands. 

Yeolhwa squinted at her. "Yah... are you still thinking about your breakup? How long has it even been?" 

Hana ran a hand through her hair, averting her gaze from Yeolhwa's. "... It's been pretty long," she admitted. But she couldn't help it. Lee Chan held a special place in her heart, no matter what. There just was so much history. 

Yeolhwa took the cup stack out of Hana's hands and tossed them aside onto the ground. 

"Lee Hana, I refuse to see my beautfiul makeup job go to waste." Yeolhwa slightly frowned,  reaching out to fix a misplaced part of Hana's hair. This was Yeolhwa's way of telling Hana please don't be sad. Although the two had just met, Yeolhwa had unusually warmed up to the latter quickly. Perhaps it was giving the makeover or being a mutual friend of Hyeri. Or perhaps it was both. 

Hana could see this and cracked a small smile. "I mean, I do like dancing."

"There we go. Let's go dance then." Yeolhwa nodded and grabbed Hana's hand, pulling her along to the dance floor. She didn't even have to say a word to the crowd as it immediately parted, letting her and Hana go through with ease. Ah, so this was what it was like to be a internet famous. 

At that moment, a blonde haired girl appeared from what seemed like out of nowhere, an undranken shot in her hand and her eyes trained to the ground. Before either could see each other, she walked straight into Yeolhwa. And spilled some of the shot on Yeolhwa's clean, new, and expensive white cropped jacket. Gasps from surrounding party goers could be heard. 

Sarang looked up, her face seemingly unfazed. Yet, inside said differently.  Moon Yeolhwa! And I just... spilled alcohol on her... She bowed repeatedly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, it was an accident-"

Yeolhwa barely glanced at the girl as she calmly took off her jacket with a shrug. Barely acknowledging Sarang, she spoke more to Hana. "It's cool, I'll just buy a new one."

Sarang's eyes slightly widened, breaking her usual pokerface. That jacket had to cost hundreds of dollars. "No really, I'll pay for it! It's no big deal-"

Yeolhwa had already gotten tired of the situation and began to strut away. Hana gaped after her nonchalant housemate before turning to Sarang, who blinked in surprise. 

"I'm sorry about my housemate, she doesn't mean anything bad she's just like that!" Hana rushed to say. Sticking out her hand, she introduced herself. "I'm Lee Hana, I'm a first year but I'm actually a year older than that in age."

Sarang shook her hand back with a smile. "I'm Jung Sarang, I'm a first year too." 

"Wanna dance with us?" Hana asked, gesturing after Yeolhwa. Sarang hesitated before agreeing. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She could deal with Yeolhwa"s attitude, or just talk to Hana. 

As the two girls moved to catch up to Yeolhwa, they made small talk. 

"Yeah, so I actually just met Yeolhwa today! She and my best friend Hyeri-" Hana paused, turning on her heel to survey the room. Wait. Where was Hyeri?
 

Hyeri had stepped into this party ready to get LIT. Yeolhwa had said she would be the designated driver tonight, meaning Hyeri could get bat wasted. Not that she would, she was responsible. Maybe just slightly wasted? She wanted to have fun with her best friend and housemate, but once the three entered the crowd she found that she had been separated from them. 

"Hyeri!" a girl from her major department had spotted her and held out a shot up from her spot. "Shot?" 

"Say less." Hyeri grinned, reaching out and downing the shot. She would find the other two after this. Not. One shot led to another. And another. And another. Next thing she knew, she was on top of one of the tables, dancing along to the beat of the music while everyone cheered her on.  Best. Night. Ever. 

Howon stepped into the party just then, letting out a huff of annoyance. He enjoyed being fashionably late, but this was way too late. Thanks to that pesky ex of his. Did she not understand what break up meant? Come on, it had already been like, four days. 

Jacob spotted Howon from his spot on the couch, his arm already draped around the shoulders of a random girl. "Aye! Howon!" he tossed his best friend a can of beer and Howon caught it with one hand, opening the can and taking a long drink. Okay, forget that annoying girl. It was party time. 

A loud cheering caught his attention from one side of the house and he turned to find the source. And then he saw her. A girl dancing on a table with no care in the world. And she was hot. Bonus. His gaze fixed onto her, he made his way over in her direction. 

He continued to stare her down without a care in the world as the song ended and she came down from the table. She noticed and a little too loudly asked, "what?"

Howon was about to speak when a group of guys stepped in front of him, also wanting to speak to her. Of course. She was hot. But he could wait, he had nothing else to do. 

He was lounging on a couch later on when she plopped down next to him, fanning herself with her hands. "God, it's hot." Her cheeks were pink from the alcohol, but her speech and actions were still very much composed. 

Yeah you are, Howon thought to himself. But he wasn't that dumb. Clearly, this girl was not into lines like that, instead he opted for a more conversational approach to start off with.

And so, they began talking. This girl had very strong opinions and a lot of things to say. Before he knew it, they were caught up in an hour long conversation about real topics, topics of substance. How did the conversation lead from hitting on her to talking about real world issues?Was this happening at a party? Time flew by quickly, and eventually his roommates had found him and it was time for him to leave. The situation was so unusual, he hadn't even realized that he wasn't able to get her number until it was too late.  

Still, his thoughts were occupied. Park Hyeri, second year. Had he not seen her at all before in the previous school year? Could someone be that intelligent? She was so passionate about those topics too, and knew an excessive amount of knowledge. Their conversation, the way she said things, the way she looked. It all echoed in Howon's head as he and his housemates left the party together. Wait what? No Howon. She's just hot, that's it. Just. Hot. Never had a girl lingered in Howon's mind this fast and it was kind of frightening. 

But also, he didn't get anywhere with her. They literally just talked. So it was fine. It was nothing. Forget about it and find a different hot girl tomorrow. It was fate that he wasn't able to get her number. Yes, perfect. 

As he and his housemates piled into the apartment complex's elevator, Jackson and Minjun leaned on him, completely drunk and mumbling nonsense while Jacob snickered from a corner at the sight. Howon sighed in annoyance but held his friends up to stablize them. As the elevator doors began to close, a pounding of footsteps approached the elevator, as a single heel wedged itself in between the elevator doors to keep it from closing. 

Four girls then entered the elevator as well. The owner of the heel walked in first without ooking at the boys at all. Another girl followed after her, her black hair slightly tousled and dragging a blonde girl who looked utterly gone. Then the last girl came in, and she was... Hyeri. Hyeri? Howon unconsciously shoved Jackson and Minjun off of him and straightened up as the two boys fell over and collapsed into Jacob, groaning.

Howon didn't even bat an eye at the commotion he had just made of his housemates. What the was Park Hyeri doing here?