Jinsoul was about to go crazy.

 

Music thundered, being so loud that it made her skin tingle and stomach drop in anxiety. If it were already so loud outside, imagine being inside. She could imagine already—sweaty bodies huddled together in the center of the room, dancing to the beat of the music, unaware of the trampled rug that most probably had already puked on. A headache started to form. Over the roar of music, a distant, hazy chatter could be heard. No words were able to be made out in her head, but laughter abrupted like a volcano from the side of the party house. 

 

Like penguins, there were her friends, all bunched up together in a circle with plastic cups in their hands filled with intoxicating liquid. She could make out a few faces, one being Jiwoo, who was already thrashing her hand in the air with a big smile on her face, shouting out her name. The other being Hyunjin, her eyes averting to where Jiwoo was directed at.

 

“Jinsoul! Jinsoul!”

 

The rest turned their heads around, eyes widened and mouths agape with surprise that Jinsoul actually had the balls to arrive at such a foreign place. She was usually the one to make up excuses about how she was studying — even though she’d be up at 3 am sobbing a whole river at the notebook. Yerim already was up on her feet with such a radiant smile, running towards her while waving her hand. 

 

They clashed bodies, the air being out of Jinsoul’s lungs at just how tight the little kid’s grip can be. Her face buried into the crook of Yerim’s neck, taking in the aroma of cherry blossoms — one that made her nose scrunch up. Her fingers made way towards the back of the girl’s neck, pinching the fat.

 

“OW!” Yerim screamed dramatically, letting go of her.

 

Jinsoul chuckled, shrugging. “I needed air either way. It was like you were going to suffocate me,” she paused, faking a gag “you really need some new perfume as well.”

 

It awarded her a “playful” fist connecting to her shoulder. Jinsoul yelped in pain and her hand immediately made way to the wound. She didn’t remember that someone so bright could be so strong. A loud laugh tore from Yerim, her finger pointing at her in a humiliating way. Thank god most of the attendees were drunk inside the house.

 

Heejin and Jiwoo made their departure from the circle, jogging towards them. Jiwoo whistled, her eyes looking Jinsoul up and down, taking in her figure along with a booming compliment from Heejin. It made her blush, a mad dash of red across her face and painting her cheeks. 

 

“Never knew someone in casual wear could be so..” Heejin’s words halted, her tone adding emphasis to what she was about to say next “—hot.”

 

A flustered laugh was what she let out, her hand reaching up to cover , her lips spread with a smile and her eyes downward out of embarrassment. Jinsoul won’t lie though, she spent an hour in her closet contemplating what to wear and another being her questioning if she really wanted to wear this. It wasn’t like her, she would usually be found in sweatpants and a hoodie, but tonight—

 

Her milky thighs were exposed, denim shorts being far too short for her comfort but it made confidence and doubt surge through her at the stares she was getting from others at the same time. A white off shoulder top revealing her collarbones — which were annoying, since she kept having to adjust the strap of the shirt since it kept falling off to the side of her arm. 

 

Jinsoul was then pulled away by her wrist being seized by a very eager Jiwoo, leading her towards the circle. 

 

“Wow, you really came prepared huh?” That was Haseul.

 

Haseul was beside Hyunjin, a plain black tee tucked into her pants. Her circular glasses were perched on the tip of her nose and she was looking stressed already, the side of her face being cradled by her hand. 

 

She waved off her question with a smile, changing the subject. “When did you all get here?”

 

Sooyoung was quick to reply. “When your fatass was busy in the closet, figuratively and literally.”

 

Giggles were shared, it made Jinsoul’s nerves relax despite a video of her chasing Sooyoung down was posted onto the internet the next morning. The laughter, the smiles, hugs—it was comforting. Yeojin and Yerim were close together, Yerim’s arm wrapped around the other’s waist to keep her close from straying. Jiwoo and Sooyoung exchanging glances at each other and knowing looks, Jiwoo gesturing to the love struck Heejin who really couldn’t be more obvious. Hyunjin was oblivious, of course, focusing on her bread and slapping Haseul’s hand away whenever she asked for some.

 

They saw the funny in everything, bursting in humor which was the sole reason of how they met and grouped together. They knew the times when jokes were not appreciated; loving each other deeply and caring for each other along the way of their adventures. Jinsoul thought the moment was perfect, away from the chaos that ensued inside of the building with the drunk. 

 

Jinsoul felt a hand on her thigh, looking down to see that it belonged to Sooyoung. A furious blush painted her face and she forced her gaze to settle on something else, as Sooyoung didn’t seem to mind her action as she continued to chat with the others.

 

Hyunjin noticed the situation, her eyes straying away from her friends and catching someone in the act. A mischievous grin broke away all the stoicism she had on her face, tapping Jinsoul’s knee to catch their attention.

 

“And would you look at that, a friend of yours.”

 

“Hm? What do you mean?” The pace of her voice slowed, Jinsoul arching an eyebrow, knowing that there was no good waiting for her.

 

Hyunjin jerked her chin to the figure who had their piercing eyes fixed on Jinsoul, almost possessively. 

 

Sooyoung whistled once turning around and catching a glimpse of them, dragging her hand off of Jinsoul’s thigh with a smirk spreading across her face. 

 

“Dang, you shoulda told me sooner!” Sooyoung punched Hyunjin on the shoulder. “She already looks like she’s about to kill me.”

 

Jinsoul was perplexed, shifting her body around, eyes swirling around the area until she concluded that there was nobody. But soon her theory was debunked, her eyes locking with the one person in her life who ruined everything. She regretted turning around.

 

Jiwoo’s expression softened and she let out a sigh of displeasure, hitting herself on the head. “God, how have not figured out that she would be here too? It is Hyejoo’s birthday party, after all!”

 

She couldn’t tear her eyes away. Chatter was drowned out, all she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears. Jinsoul’s brain fried up, her emotions are overwhelming, as they keep switching from cold, anxious, angry, glad, fearful. 

 

There she was. Jungeun, her ex, lounging lazily on the front porch of the house watching her every move. The moonlight shone upon her figure and Jinsoul held her breath unknowingly. Heart slamming violently in her rib cage, Jinsoul could make out all of her features. Jungeun’s brown hair swayed with the incoming breeze as they were outside and below her neatly trimmed eyebrows, her dark eyes glistened in the setting rays of the twinkling silver moon. 

 

Her lips were rosy and full and her nose slim and rounded. A prominent jaw curved gracefully around and her outfit showed her body in all sorts of good ways; from her strong arms, bold thighs and calves, to a firm chest and abdomen. 

 

They were still maintaining eye contact, Jungeun’s stormy eyes lingering on hers. Jinsoul wanted to look away with every fiber of her body yet she couldn’t. 

 

But thank god, for as someone pulled her ex away and back into the crowd. Yet, in Jinsoul’s mind, she kept replaying how Jungeun had a deep smirk on her face before being tugged away, as if she couldn’t get enough of a part in a movie. It was wrong. How she was thinking about someone who she put her heart into only for them to crush it with their bare hands. How she was thinking about someone who ed some random right on their anniversary night. How she was thinking about someone who ditched her countlessly on date nights. How she was thinking about someone who made her fall into a state of depression that took her months to get out of. How she was thinking about someone who she wanted to plan her future with only to be thrown away.

 

It made Jinsoul’s blood boil in anger at herself, for how she was replaying the first time they met in her head so vividly as if it just occurred yesterday.

 

“Come on, loser!” An unfamiliar voice rang.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Jinsoul’s eyes now tore away from her book, glazing over the girl towering over her with her hand reached out. 

 

“—“ The stranger seized her wrist, tugging her off of the bench, Jinsoul’s novel flying off to the side. “—just come on!”

 

Her eyebrows furrowed, breath hesitating as she whipped her head around to find her book sprawled out on the pavement. Jinsoul was irritated—how could someone be so ignorant to just grab someone they don’t even know and have their book tossed to the side? “Hey!”

 

And now they were sprinting, feet kissing the land with every step, breaths audible, eyes searching. Jinsoul’s annoyance subsided, now replaced with pure confusion. The girl was still gripping onto her wrist, her head turning around from time to time to check as if someone were chasing them down. Her movements were hurried.

 

“What are we even running away from?” Jinsoul yelled.

 

“Uhh, the fatass wearing a—“ they jerked their head around again “—all black, thick bangs, triangle lips, yells a lot—“

 

Jinsoul couldn’t even understand her with the condition they were under, the girl’s breaths stumbling over her words. She was starting to get tired. “What?!” Jinsoul yelled.

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”

 

“YEAH, THEM! THE GODZILLA THAT JUST SCREAMED!”

 

The girl’s pace all of a sudden went from hundred to zero, causing Jinsoul to collide with her back. She took a step back, free hand reaching up to her head as if she just spun around thousands of times and was now dizzy. The student in front of her whirled around, face laced with worry, their eyebrows knitting together.

 

“, sorry about that.” Jinsoul could see their chest heaving furiously, rubbing her eye before taking another step back to see their face. “Are you okay?”

 

, is she pretty. Jinsoul couldn’t take a full glimpse of her face, as they were too busy and occupied by running from some “fatass” as the stranger told her. But now that they paused in their tracks, close together, Jinsoul couldn’t help but just stare for a little. Jinsoul couldn’t be older than her, maybe just a year younger. Eyes twinkling with excitement, prominent cheekbones, soft-looking but slightly chapped lips parted—

 

“It’s fine. . . And yes, I am.”

 

The girl still had her eye out, looking around frantically. Now just realizing her surroundings, Jinsoul also could now notice that they were stranded in the middle of the park near their school. Well, not stranded completely, as there were people wandering around, some walking their dogs—but they were completely in the open. The stranger muttered profanities under her breath, her hand grasping onto her wrist again and pulling her towards the nearest building.

 

Which was a restroom.

 

A very stinky one, in fact.

 

Before Jinsoul could even pinch her nose or complain about the scent, the girl pushed her against one of the stall’s doors. The stall was so tiny, barely having enough space for the both of them to spread out. 

 

“Why are we—“

 

The girl clamped her hand onto Jinsoul’s mouth, restraining her from speaking. She put up her finger as a gesture to stay quiet, tapping her index against her lips.

 

Footsteps echoed throughout the restroom, bouncing off the walls. There was a gag followed by a snort, but the pitter patter rhythm of their feet continued. They were walking around the restroom, searching through stalls, a deafening clash of one of the doors being slammed into the wall by what Jinsoul could only assume was a kick.

 

“!” A high pitched voice appeared out of nowhere, scaring the out of the two girls who were hidden in one of the stalls, one already terrified (Jinsoul). “Where the are they?”

 

Their shoes clacked behind them as they started to walk out of the restroom. Their steps suddenly halted. Jinsoul couldn’t tell if her heart was beating out of her because of fear or because of how close the girl in front of her was. Her head was tucked under the other girl’s chin and she was stiff, as if she were paralyzed.

 

The knob that their stall shared started to violently shake and Jinsoul swore her breathing stopped. 

 

“Oh, . Is there someone in there? Sorry!”

 

Thank god they were dumb enough to not notice the two pair of feet in the stall.

 

Their footsteps then continued again. The two of them waited for a couple more seconds, just to make sure the individual wasn't just hiding beside their door. 

 

The girl let go of Jinsoul’s lips and apologized softly. Both of them exposed their breathing, heavy as if they just ran a whole marathon without stopping for breaks. 

 

“I think she’s gone.”

 

Jinsoul could only nod, eyes glued on her shoes.

 

“Wanna get out?”

 

Her voice was barely audible, “sure.”

 

She unlocked the door and both of them bursted out of the stall. It still smelled like .

 

But besides that, Jinsoul still didn’t have a tight grip on what she was doing. Why were they running and hiding? 

 

“Hey, you’re a freshie at BBC High, right?” The girl asked.

 

Jinsoul nodded, following the other who tiptoed (even though it wasn’t necessary) to the door of the restroom.

 

“Oh, that’s cool! That means I’m older than you. I’m a sophomore.” She flashed a cheeky smile.

 

Dang, she should really get to socializing. She was a transfer student, joining the community in the middle of the year due to her father getting a new job. Yeah, yeah, all of that. Even though it may be considered a short time, Jinsoul only knew about 6 people during her first week of the new building and all of them were teachers. 

 

“Hey.”

 

The girl whipped her head around, eyebrow quirking up.

 

“Why are we even running away from that person anyway? Are you playing a game?” Jinsoul questioned, curious.

 

She nodded incessantly, a wide smile spreading across her lips. But before Jinsoul could cherish it more in her head, the girl turned her head around again to check if anyone was near.

 

“What are you playing?”

 

“Tag!”

 

Jinsoul bursted with laughter. The girl whirled around again with a perplexed expression on her face, as if saying ‘what?’. 

 

“Really? Tag?” She thought it was ridiculous, they were high schoolers. “Isn’t that game for kindergarteners?”

 

The stranger nodded once again, but she paused for a second, before a blush tinted her cheeks. She lowered her head in embarrassment, hair flowing from her shoulders and covering her face as she now just realized how childish the game was. But quickly, her composure returned and she faced Jinsoul.

 

She held her hand out.

 

“Well, do you want to be a kindergartner with me. . .” The girl’s voice trailed and Jinsoul was quick to respond.

 

“Jinsoul.”

 

The corners of her lips curled up into a smile and she repeated her question. 

 

“Well, do you want to be a kindergartener with me, Jinsoul?”

 

There was only one answer to that.

 

“Yes.” She breathed.

 

“It’s getting cold out, I wanna go inside!” Whined a Jiwoo snuggled against Sooyoung’s body.

 

“Really? In there? With all of those smelly kids?” Hyunjin frowned. “It reeks of alcohol in there, I bet.”

 

Sooyoung sighed, resting her head on Jinsoul’s shoulder. “That’s literally the reason why we went to this party. Parties mean alcohol, alcohol means a flock of students.”

 

“We went here to get WASTED!” Yeojin screamed.

 

“YEAH!” followed a Yerim.

 

Haseul muttered some curses under her breath, rubbing her temples in irritation.

 

“Look, SHREK.” Yeojin pointed her finger at Haseul. “Before you use the mom card—eventhoughyouarenotmymom—just know that I WILL leave this night by hooking up with some random dude. They always do that in the movies! You get the girl bumping into the guy, blah blah they converse, end up in the bathroom making out!” She shrugged. “Exactly what I’ll do.”

 

“Like they would even notice your 3’5” .”

 

“Don’t even start with me you FURRY. I have been in prison and I can do it again. My friend Paul got the goods in there too—“ Yeojin would sniff intensely. “—the good .”

 

“Don’t call me a furry you ing mi—“

 

Screaming and yells ensued. Jinsoul could only watch in silence.

 

They continued like that for a very concerning long time period before a certain face popped out of nowhere, scaring the out of Yeojin. She lost her balance, tripping on her own foot and falling backwards onto the grass.

 

Chaewon ignored the body sprawled out onto the ground, carefully stepping between her legs with a face of disgust as she got to the group of friends. A smile laced her face and she clasped her hands together. “Are you guys not going to go inside?”

 

“We are, maybe. How many people have barfed already?”

 

The girl standing tapped her finger on her chin, thinking for a few seconds before coming back to them. “Maybe five?”

 

Haseul’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, nodding. “Wow, a lot less than I thought. You literally have that dude Jason in there and he’s known for ing people up.” She spared a glance to Yeojin. “Not literally.”

 

Chaewon shrugged. “It’s honestly whatever, nothing much! But the second floor isn’t so bad, they’re having a super smash bros tournament there! Hyejoo is kicking their asses.”

 

Two heads perked up once hearing ‘super smash bros’ and ‘tournament’ in the same sentence. Yerim and Yeojin got up on their feet, bolting to the doors without a word. The rest of them could hear a faint “HYEJOO MY ” that could only be from Yeojin and a hysterical laugh, of course from Yerim. 

 

Haseul sighed again for what felt like the millionth time.

 

“It’s getting cold too. You six sure on staying out here? The bouncy house is already deflated.”

 

“Ugh, whatever. Sure.”

 

They all were already on their feet, all except for Jinsoul. She was still seated, hugging her knees for warmth.

 

“Hey, Jindori.”

 

She lifted her head to see Sooyoung, her hand out for her to take.

 

“Do you want to go inside with me?”

 

Jinsoul thought about it for a moment, but it was quick as she just realized that the rest of them were going as well.

 

“Yes.”