Tonight, is the night.

Mino is having a party at his castle-like mansion which is a to drive because it’s a 45 minutes’ drive-away, that’s what Sehun thought. But this is probably the perfect opportunity to break everyone about his (fake) relationship.

Jaein is going to be there, so Sehun is going to be testing waters tonight. If she’s jealous, then good. If she doesn’t care, he’s going to try harder and shove this (fake) relationship into her face.

If there’s one thing good about Jaein is that she wears her heart on her sleeves. Just the same as Hyesoo; only when she’s throwing her temper or when she’s happy.

When Hyesoo is happy, her smile reaches her eyes.

But Hyesoo hides well when she’s not okay. Like yesterday in the garden, when he put an expiration date on their contract; the lights in her eyes dim like the streetlights outside his street. And they never texted after that. It felt weird AF.

But his inbox sprung back to life when Hyesoo bombarded him all the sunshine texts and status on what she’s doing at the moment in the morning. Then, she texted about how she’s excited for this party. It’s her first time attending a college party.

Sehun was in shock. He made a mental note to take her out to more parties, to socialise. Just like back in school.

He could never figure out what’s in her damn mind. It’s like figuring out why his tomato plant produces one yellow tomato while the rest is red.

Thinking of her like that brought an amused smile to his face which was caught by Chanyeol as the boy starts teasing Sehun about it.

“Who you thinking about? Hyesoo?” Chanyeol chuckles, wriggling his eyebrows.

Sehun grunted to his question. He should’ve let him drive by himself instead of picking him up. Chanyeol said he’s going to get drunk tonight.

Good luck to you, mate.

Sehun thought quietly. No way Surin is getting his drunk, she’ll beat the crap out of him.

Chanyeol is the first person Sehun told when he and Hyesoo agrees to this (fake) relationship. He could say a part of Chanyeol was relief because he doesn’t want to break up with Surin (he begs-cries to Sehun not to say or do any stupid things to piss Hyesoo off), another part is that he genuinely looks happy. Like his whole-self radiates happiness.

“She’s really what you need. She could save you.”

That’s what he said to Sehun when he told Chanyeol about this relationship.

And that got him thinking; save him from what?

From his stupid reckless love towards Jaein? From putting his friendship on the line with Jongin? From his broken self? From getting used to Hyesoo and her crazy antics?

Before he left the house, he sneaked onto his Instagram and glimpsed into her stories and the video played of her and Surin, her best friend (and Chanyeol’s girl) twirling side to side in front of the mirror; one things he notices right away (and he hates it) how big her smile is.

He remembered how she said she was really excited to attend this party and gets to spend time with her friends. He swears he could feel her beaming through his phone screen. She radiates sunshine.

Is this what he meant when Chanyeol said he needs Hyesoo and could save him?

She’s the peeking sunlight into his storming gloomy life?

Sehun parked his car sideways outside of her house. Her garden was decorated with different types of flowers, just like the garden in their campus. No wonder she’s crazy about flower gardens.

Sehun jerks his head from the window to the steering wheel then back to the window again, undeciding whether to just text and wait for her in the car or go and greet her (and Surin) at the door, risk of her dad swinging his baseball bat at him (again).

He screws his eyes shut and decided to just wait for her at her door. Even though it’s not in the contract, he thinks it’s his best manner at least to greet her parents.

He stood in the middle of walkway among the pots of flowers along the side (the gate wasn’t lock to his surprise), dfeciding not stood not at the door like a creep.

Hyesoo must’ve saw him from her window because he caught a glimpse of her silhouette, then a commotion in the house with yelps and squeals of girls. Or is it her sister or Joohyun? The girls in the Han household must be from another planet because every single little thing excites them.

The one who opens the door is her dad, his former teacher with a baseball bat under his grip, again.

The thought of her father breathing fire and giving a very hard time to the boys gave him the shudders. Even though he didn’t create any trouble (maybe once or twice, but with reasons), he’s still scared of the man. He’s not called the ‘Bull of Seoul High’ for no reason. He comes charging at you, fast and hard.

He even sends his daughters to Jiu-jitsu classes. He wonders if Hyesoo still continues.

Still, he was his favourite student. Maybe until yesterday, when he (fake) dates their youngest daughter.

His face remains stoic and strict as he gave Sehun a curt nod.

Her mum appears right next to him, beaming at him with a friendly smile that reaches her eyes. Her mum is small; just like her – a carbon copy, only older.

Han Hyesoo is 100% her dad’s personality, 100% her mum’s appearance. Definitely.

Hyesoo’s mum miniature height reminded Sehun about his late mother. She was also the same – but just thinner, worn out from her sickness, tired from going in and out the hospital throughout the years. There were better days, there were days where they thought his mum is not going make it.

Sehun curled his fingers into a fist, stopping the memory in his brain. He’s not going to cry in front of her parents, in front of Hyesoo to dampen her mood. She is ecstatic about spending more time with her friends.

Sehun took a brisk walk towards the door so that he could greet her parents properly but Hyesoo and Surin has already jump out the door, grinning at her parents.

“I promise I’ll take good care of her.” Sehun gives his word to her parents, he means it. If anything happens to Hyesoo, he would die in the hands of the Bull.

Her parents just briefly nod their heads, “Curfew at 12am. Sharp.” Her father says to her, and also included Sehun. There’s a tone in his voice hinting that if he didn’t send her back before 12, he’s going to hunt him down.

“Boy, take care of my baby. If anything happens to her, I’m coming after your , got it?” her dad added, parking the bat in front of him.

Sehun gulps at threat and he knows her father really means it as Mr Han shoots him a menacing look at him as Sehun nods timidly at him

Hyesoo only laughs and then grins at her dad, “Appa, I’m not a kid anymore, I can take care of myself.”

She then glances at her watch, “Oops, time to go!” returning her eyes towards Sehun as she hooks her arms around his elbow, dragging him towards to his car.

“Have lots fun, rosie cheeks!” her mum hollers at the door as Hyesoo waves her hand without facing her parents.

Sehun could hear a faint of bantering from her father, “don’t tell her that!” which his wife replied that he’s a party pooper and the bantering continues on.

Tonight is going to be a long night.

*

The whole ride is extremely enjoyable with Chanyeol and Surin bantering at the back seat and then occasionally does the same with Sehun and me as well.

We don’t talk much – Sehun and I. We didn’t really talk much in the car. In fact, we don’t really talk much either nor text with each other a lot. Sometimes, I would text happy things I wanted to share just for him to reply me with only a word or nothing at all. At least one ing emoji from him is better than those.

I kind of like not talking in the car while he drives, in case he’s distracted from driving and I wouldn’t want to kick the bucket at a tender age of 22. I mean it’s a comfortable silence with just the two of us with the music from the radio. But there’s something gnawing inside my chest that needs to talk.

I want to talk. This is like a second chance given from God to know my friend (fake boyfriend, crush, classmate, whatever) all over again.

“Hey, is most of our high school classmates going to be there?” I lean myself on the seat and turn my whole body facing him so that I could see his expressions better.

Sehun glances at me briefly, and nods his head, “Yeah, almost everyone we know from high school.” He paused, his voice drops to a soothing whisper, “you’re nervous?”

“A little.”

We’re basically whispering to each other right now and damn to be honest, it’s so peaceful that I wanted to take a short nap. My eyelids are feeling a little heavy but I don’t want to miss this moment as we are passing by the sea and the sun is setting, painting the sky into purple, pink and orange hues. I can begin to see the lunar moon peaking behind the clouds.

“I’ll make sure to include you in.” he smiles a little, “Just like old times. The way you like it.”

*

To say Mino’s mansion or villa is exquisite is an understatement because there are no words to describe his place. The Mediterranean villa sits on top of a hill prettily, the place is like a crown jewel among this neighbourhood.

I marvelled in the villa as Sehun drives into the driveway and park by the side. The place is already filled with people. Groups of girls and the boys huddle with each other and enter the mansion, there’s excitement buzzing through the air and I could the faint music playing from the back of the villa.

I was still gawking when Sehun took my hand in his. I know Mino’s family is rich but I never knew they were this rich. I wasn’t invited to his parties back in high school even. Before we go in, Sehun pulls me to side of the villa where there’s bougainvillea creeping around the wall, no one can barely see us.

“Remember our story: We had a blind date. We hang out and we liked each other. Got it?”

I grin at him, “Can I add that you practically beg for me to be your girlfriend?”

He scowls, and denies “I did not beg!”

I quirk my eyebrows as he gives out a defeated sigh and run his fingers through his hair, “Whatever, I don’t really care. As long as Jaein buys this fake .”

Fake ? Wow. Doesn’t he need a reminder that he’s being a douchebag right now?

I scoff as I brush through him, leaving his behind, “let’s go and sell this fake then huh?” I gritted my teeth.

“Wait.”

Sehun grabs my wrist gently and pull me in front as I am extra annoyed now. His fake ticks me off right now that I’m about to blow up in his face like an active volcano.

He then fluffs my hair and hold up his phone, “Say cheese!”

Wait, what?

Before I could even digest what has happened, Sehun leans against the wall, grinning at his phone screen and then he shows it to me.

“Cute.”

I scoot closer and lock his hand with mine so that he wouldn’t jerk away. I wince as I saw the picture because that’s not cute at all. Me scowling with my arms folded across my chest, looking like a mobster. My face is ugly as hell!

“It’s not cute at all!” my fingers proceed to delete the photo but Sehun’s reflex is faster than mine as he held his phone high up above our heads while I jump helplessly like a frog, tugging his sleeve of his denim jacket.

“It is, trust me.” He gives me a playful grin, “I’ll make this as my wallpaper in case anyone ask.”

I stare at him with a straight face and roll my eyes, “Okay, fine.”

“But I got a few rules here,” I held up my fingers, “1: Don’t get drunk. 2: Don’t start flirting with Jaein,” and then I jab his chest with my finger pushing him against the wall,

“and three…”

I had to look away, anywhere else except his eyes because he’s looking at me intensely like at the cherry blossom park and my heart doesn’t like one bit as I let out a shaky breath.

“don’t let Jaein get to you, got it?”

Sehun doesn’t give me any replies but his eyes already answer to me that he’s saying yes.

He then flashes me a boyish grin, “you’re really interesting, Hyesoo.” I rolled my eyes as I tug his arm and walk towards the entrance of the villa as Sehun just let me do that.

My cheeks felt hot as I could feel his grin right behind my head. Ugh, tonight is really going to be a long night for us.

*

What I could even say about the party?

It’s just one of your typical college parties with people dancing next to the pool, people jumping into the pool, everyone holding a red Solo cup, couples making out at some corner. Heck, I’m not surprise if there are anyone upstairs having a blast in one of the bedrooms.

I stay by Sehun’s side for most of the time. He’s doing a great job at keeping his promise to Appa (or rather his threat?). If I want to go the bathroom, he would always ask Surin to accompany me, not that I don’t know about.

But the bright side is that every group we encounter or mingle around with, he would declare that we’re dating (yeah that fake ). Most reaction I got from are his friends happy for him. Mino even give us a teasing grin before he resumes to check at his guests to make sure they don’t break anything valuable in his villa.

The only thing is I don’t see Jaein and Jongin yet. The later the hour, the more people pouring into his villa, making the place super pack with people and the atmosphere at the dance floor is getting super high when Jennifer Lopaz blast through the speaker and some other Latin pops. I guess the design of the house fits the vibe and being just near to the beach, might as well think we’re at Ibiza.

“Yo!”

Mino waves at us, bringing two Solo cups in his hand, strutting towards us. He hands me one cup that I secretly sniff and surprise it doesn’t have those strong liquor smell but instead it’s fruity and sweet. I’ve been drinking orange juice this whole evening because I have a low tolerance of alcohol and I’m not planning on getting drunk and embarrass myself with Sehun around.

“What’s this?” I had to shout at Mino.

Mino gives me a grin, “It’s fruit punch!”

“It’s okay! I didn’t put anything funny inside! This party is a drug-free party!”

I must have gave him a questioning (or suspicious) look on my face. But that doesn’t even make me feel it’s safe to drink so I dump some into Sehun’s cup as he stares at me blankly.

“Mino gave me a drink!”

“And?” he cocked his eyebrows as I sigh, “I’m just being careful!”

Mino puts his hand over his heart and feign if as I’m hurting him. “I can’t believe you don’t believe in me!”

“I don’t believe in men!” I retorted back, grinning at him.

Mino sends me a playful punch my arm, “I got the whole place check! No funny drugs or else, I’ll call the police.”

I gave him a sweet smile, “That’s really responsible of you, Mino.” And I really mean it. FYI, I’m not flirting with him. It’s just the way I am. When someone does something nice, something humane, I would gush like an idiot because I appreciate kind souls. But I’m not a Mary Sue. I’m not someone perfect, no one is.

If someone being genuine kind is called fake, well, off.

“So, you and Sehun, huh?” he motions his fingers at us as Sehun steers away from the conversations he had with his other friends.

To make our fake relationship more believable, I lean myself against his shoulder as I hug my arms around his waist in a very affection way in which I have learn from watching those happy-sappy movies and dramas I’ve been boringly binging on Netflix as I smile sweetly at Mino (just to show I’m happy with Sehun!)

I could feel Sehun stiffen under my hug which I pinches his waist subtly, telling him to stop acting daft and get on acting like a cute little boyfriend to sell on how real how our relationship is. When I feel like he got the memo I’m sending, he quickly wraps his arm around my waist and flashing a cocky smile as if he won a prize.

There’s a glint in his eyes and suddenly he unwraps my arms around his waist and then pulls me in front of him, and hugs me against his chest, my arms locking with his as his chin resting on top of my head. His whole demeanour changes nearly made my heart jumps out from my chest as my breath hitch up in my throat. Like this is his way of telling me to stop dictating him and show me that he could sell our fake . He’s taking control.

“You guys finally hook-up after all those years in school.”

I blinked slowly at him. What does he mean by finally?

Mino arches his eyebrows at us as we give the same confusion eyes at our eccentric friend, “I mean, you guys gives off that ‘beyond friends-but not-couple vibe’ along our years in high school.”

He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket and light it up, puffing out the smoke as the cloud slowly swirls above his head, “Well, until that summer of senior year one. Everyone thought you guys would end up before graduation.”

“No way man, we are just friends.” Sehun clarifies, as he doesn’t believe he felt that way about us back in school. Well, I agree with what Sehun said. Even though I had a little (massive!) crush on him back then, I was very careful not to show my feelings and he didn’t show me any other feelings than just friends.

Mino chuckled and shakes his head as he claps his hand on Sehun’s shoulder, “Your eyes back then tell us otherwise.”

Mino just throws the both of us into a whirlpool of confusion. When is Mino this poetic though? And when he’s this observant? I remember him flunking literature class which always make Madam Kim mad at him.

And just in cue, Jaein and Jongin waltz into the party like a couple on a red carpet, all the lights and the glam onto them as our eyes locked together. This is my first time seeing her in 5 years and she grew more beautiful than she was back then. She was a rose in full bloom – elegant, graceful, sophisticated.

Her dark eyes looms over Sehun and I and I could swear I could spot a threatening scowl etches on her face before they return into a sweet and lovely angel which she used to fool everyone.

But both of us know deep down that she’s no angel.

And by the looks of it, she doesn’t like one bit of Sehun and I am hugging so close.

Well, .

It’s high time you pay for using Sehun’s feeling and I’m here to protect his heart from getting smash.

It took me quite a long time for me to write this. Whew. I've been reading lots of NA romance books and so far, L.J. Shen's books are my favourite! Highly recommend her books!

A fact: I've never been to parties. if you count youth church christmas gathering as a party or attending your 3 years old niece birthday as a party.

IDK, hitting up parties with your friends hit differently than your family.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy reading it and stay safe!

Ciao!