--ONE--

As they stand in the spacious elevator, a piano piece merrily playing in the background, Park Chaeyoung reaffirms to herself once more that she absolutely doesn’t want to go to this party.

But democracy is unequivocally dead.

It's BamBam's birthday and Lisa pleaded with huge puppy dog eyes that he somehow absolutely insisted that they should all come, so he could ‘hang out with all of them more’. He really wants to, she had whined in a high-pitched voice as lovely to the ears as nails scratching a blackboard.

Jennie had scoffed, wondering why he wanted to hang out with them ‘more’ since he really just talks to Lisa whenever they encounter him. Lisa had babbled on about how he's her childhood friend and they're her closest friends, and he just needs to get to know them better and what better opportunity than his birthday.

None of them believed his excuses, but Lisa refused to listen to their arguments, firmly on his side. Sure she’s known him longer, but the dancer should put a little more trust in the members with whom she’s spent the most of the 24 hours of hers days for more than seven years.

Not that the girls dislike BamBam, or think he doesn’t like them. He just tends to forget about their existence if Lisa is around.

And Lisa is oblivious to it all.

Their usual friends won’t even be there. Chaeyoung received a text earlier from Twice's Chaeyoung saying that she couldn’t come, Red Velvet are busy with a fan meeting so they also can't attend, and her own close friends don’t run with this particular circle.

At least Jisoo knows Jinyoung with whom she kept a solid friendship since their emceeing days.

Chaeyoung is so awkward at gatherings where she knows no one so she’s prepared herself mentally for a very long, probably boring, night. At least, she'll have her other members at her side for company, her only consolation.

So here they stand, at the entrance of the hotel suite. Because yes, BamBam is throwing his party at one of the most luxurious hotels in Seoul, in its grand suite.

"Why a hotel suite?" Chaeyoung had asked as Lisa told them the location earlier.

"So he can get laid, after or maybe even during?" Jennie had answered with a snicker, thankfully out of Lisa's earshot who would've surely jumped at the defense of her childhood friend.

“At least it’s not the honeymoon suite,” Jisoo had added and they all giggled until Lisa whipped her head at them with a suspicious glare.

The room, sleek and modern in design with a black and white theme, is full of idols and celebrities, chatting in circles with drinks in hands or dancing in the spacious living room to the music blasting from the huge TV screen hanging between two floor-to-ceiling windows.

BamBam greets them all with a smile and thanks them for coming before whisking Lisa away so he can introduce her to some of his friends.

Wants to hang out with us all my , Chaeyoung thinks as she watches Lisa bowing to BamBam's friends with a huge smile.

"So am I the only one who thinks BamBam has a huge crush on Lisa?" Jisoo asks, slinging her arms over the shoulders of her two members, as the three of them stand near the room’s entrance, eyes on the youngest.

Chaeyoung isn't sure how to answer. Lisa talks all the time about BamBam, but never in a way that implies romantic interest. Maybe he's in a one-sided love?

When she's met with complete silence from her two members, Jisoo sighs dramatically. "I know you both didn't want to come, but we're here, so let's all enjoy it, huh? I’ll go mingle, you should do the same. Don’t just keep to yourselves, make some new friends,” she scolds in that motherly tone that demands immediate obeisance before approaching a random group of people and introducing herself.

She makes it look so easy, Chaeyoung thinks with a tiny hint of jealousy, wishing she could act the same when in reality she’s more tempted to run for the door and stop only when she’s back in their dorm.

Jennie rolls her eyes at Jisoo’s back as an answer, already bored. She links her arm with Chaeyoung's. "C'mon, let's go drink something."

It’s a bad idea as they are banned from drinking but Chaeyoung follows Jennie nonetheless and gulps down the brown liquid she gives her. They told their managers they were going to a girls' night out, so they wouldn't worry, but Chaeyoung still doesn't like lying to them.

Hopefully, they won't get caught. They definitively won’t enjoy the consequences their managers would unload on them.

"He should've just invited Lisa instead of pulling that silly excuse out of his ," Jennie mumbles as she empties her cup in a gulp.

"Maybe he thought we would've felt insulted at being left behind?"

"Well, he would've thought wrong."

Chaeyoung silently agrees with Jennie but saying it out loud would only propel her member in a tirade against BamBam which would only make Jennie sound like a jealous ex-girlfriend. The thought brings chuckles out of her, but she immediately hides her lower face behind her cup before Jennie notices. She decides to concentrate on her drink instead, which isn't half bad.

Three cups later, she feels a nice buzz through her body. She turns to ask Jennie the name of the drink, but Jennie isn't standing next to her anymore.

Sober, Chaeyoung would've cared about being left alone at a party full of people she only crosses path with once in a blue moon.

Now? She just feels bummed she won't know the name of the drink.

She grabs a fourth cup instead. It seriously tastes so good.

<><><>

The first thing that welcomes her awakening is a monstrous headache like she's never had before. It throbs inside her skull so painfully, banging her head against the wall hard enough for a coma to claim her sounds tempting.

She blinks a couple of times, gently massaging her aching temple with her hand.

As her vision clears, she stares at her ceiling, her sleepy brain slowly starting to wake up. She frowns slightly. She vaguely remembers BamBam's birthday party. By vaguely, she means she remembers their arrival and drinking a few cups with Jennie. That's about it?

Yeah, she definitively drank too much last night.

Her frown deepens. Something is not quite right. Her headache slows her ability to think, so it takes her a while to realize that she's really warm. Unusually warm.

Did I turn the heater on to the max when I went to sleep last night?

It’s possible, but...

No, that’s not it.

Her thoughts might be hazy, but she knows something is different, and it’s not the heater and it’s not because of the blankets.

There's someone lying next to her in her bed...

She can feel the person's body heat, so close to hers. And by feeling the body lying next to her she realizes that she's under the covers.

Chaeyoung tightly shuts her eyes, hoping she's stuck in a nightmare and will wake up soon. But no, her headache is very real.

There really is someone else in her bed.

"Oh god, Park Chaeyoung. What did you do?" she whispers to herself, pulling her hair in distress. She's seriously freaking out by now with no hopes o