"Don't you think this is too much? I mean, this is just a normal party… right?"

"Nonsense! Jisoo never held an ordinary party! This will be huge!" said Rose excitedly.

After running around the mall yesterday, they finally got their own dresses for the party. They decided to dress up in Jennie's house because her house is not that far from Jisoo's. All the preparation starting from makeup, hairstyles, dresses, and shoes were now ready. Jennie, Rose, and Irene really looked beautiful.

Just minutes ago, Irene was about to ruin her make up by using her rounded glasses on her face which got Jennie annoyed. Without those round glasses, Irene looked much more beautiful, as if she were a goddess. Jennie and Rose were sure many men would come up to Irene later. 

Finally after years of being single, tonight, Irene would meet someone that would catch her eyes! They have been begging Irene to find someone for herself. Rose had Lisa while Jennie had Jisoo. Why guys? Well, Irene had never been on a date before so they assumed that Irene liked guys. 

"I mean this dress… I can catch a cold with my back widely open like this, no?"

"Irene, you need to relax, okay. You look beautiful." said Jennie trying to calm Irene down while keeping her eyes focused on the road.

"I'm so embarrassed right now."

"Gosh, Irene. Relax! It's just a party." said Rose.

The road to Jisoo's house went by without silence. Rose the DJ came up with a long playlist and played it in the car and was jamming together with Jennie. Meanwhile, Irene couldn’t help but to feel anxious, since this would be her first time going to a party, and wearing something quite fancy with a large opening on her back and contact lenses.

She doesn't know if anybody would recognize her later or not because people knew her as the nerd in her signature round glasses in her usual attire of a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and hair tied up in a ponytail with a backpack. But today, she was wearing the complete opposite from usual.

She was wearing a Miumiu dress bought by Jennie. A black one that went down before her knees and with a wide open back which showed off her beautiful creamy skin. Then Rose styled her hair with light waves and lastly, she wore some jewelry around her neck and her fingers.

All of this was too new for her. She was worried, anxious, and scared at the same time. Because this is just not her. Wearing fancy brands with make up on and high heels. She couldn’t walk in high heels. But both Jennie and Rose insisted she wore them for the party. Guess she will suffer for the whole night with them.

~~~

"You're wearing that?" 

Wendy was checking out Seulgi from the bottom to the top. Seeing her best friend wearing her black leather jacket with a white crop top, black pants with black boots, she couldn't deny that Seulgi surely looked hot. She looked so charismatic and strong despite the visible scars on her stomach. They were  tight and diagonal from the center of her abdomen up to her chest.

She must have gotten it from one of her fights. Sunmi did a really good job treating her wound as the stitches looked tidy and neat. Surely, Seulgi got good help from the professional. 

"Yeah. Don't have any actual clothing though."

"You have plenty, Seulgi."

Seulgi was too lazy to argue with her best friend so at the end she shrugged it off before leaving her house with Wendy. The blonde haired girl took a seat behind the wheel while the monolid girl sat next to the driver seat. Seulgi was too lazy to do anything today because she was still feeling tired after yesterday's fight.

Usually she fought during the weekend but all of a sudden, her step father made an arrangement for her without her notice. She couldn't deny the offer though because she needed the money. More like it was an excuse. She went to the fight because she was bored and was missing the adrenaline even after having a fight only last weekend.

As the car drove off from Seulgi's apartment, the monolid girl had her head rest on the car window with her eyes closed. Wendy could see Seulgi from the corner of her eyes, knowing how tired her best friend was. Usually it took only a few days for Seulgi to recover but during these times, Seulgi was always by herself, lying on her bed playing only with her phone, never coming out from her room.

Which was quite unhealthy for her. So Wendy decided to invite Seulgi to Jisoo's party since she said she doesn't have any fights this weekend. The invitation was for all of the student body in the college. Surely, Jisoo came from a wealthy family to hold this big party and even though she knew how her best friend hated parties, Wendy knew she needed it to release some stress.

"What's the purpose of the party anyway?" Seulgi asked, still resting her head on the window with her eyes shut.

"I don't know. Maybe she’s just a generous and outgoing partying person?" 

"Or a who wants to show off." 

"Oh come on Seul. Don't be so skeptical." 

"I'm just saying."

"And it's unlike you to think like that."

"I know. I'm sorry." 

The Canadian girl took a peak beside her and felt a little worried towards Seulgi. Lately, Seulgi has been overthinking about her life, and in general her surroundings. Fighting, dancing, singing. So many hobbies yet none of them held her interest anymore. It felt like something was missing and she didn't know what. 

Moreover, her problem with her step father never found its end. Seulgi wanted to stay away from her step father but he was too powerful and watched her wherever she went. She was helpless without him.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that bull, Seulgi. You and I know you're like an open book to me." 

Well, she's not wrong. For Wendy, Seulgi is like an open book. She can read her mind if anything is bothering the monolid girl. So clearly, Seulgi can't hide anything from Wendy.

"Sunmi told me to get out of that place.”

Wendy listened carefully, “well, she's right." 

"I know, Wendy. It’s just..." 

"Hey. All you need is time. You will soon find a way out of that lifestyle. I know you will." 

"Yeah, I know. But I wish it could end sooner than I hope for." 

The blonde girl knows what Seulgi had been through. She was there when no one else was. Wendy reached for Seulgi's hand and squeezed it as encouragement. Seulgi didn’t deserve all of this that was happening in her life. She deserved more than this. 

The monolid girl opened her eyes, with her head still resting on the window and took a glance at Wendy who gave her a smile. Seulgi gave a small smile back.

After a while, they finally arrived at Jisoo's house. Well, not a house but more like a mansion with a round fountain in the center of the front yard garden. Wendy had to drive from the entrance door, go through the road that led them to the fountain they saw and to the front of the enormous house. There were lights shimmering along the house’s walls and they hung above the dozens of partygoers outside.

"You said she wasn’t showing off?”

"I'm starting to doubt that," said Wendy.

~~~

"Irene, Jennie, Rose! You made it!" said the girl with bangs covering her forehead.

"Oh, Lisa. Stop being fake in front of us," Jennie said before giving Lisa a hug.

"What? It's just me being me, Jennie. Oh my god, Irene! What happened to you?!"

"Y-Ya! Y-you're overacting!" 

Lisa had open with her hand covering it. She was completely surprised to see the changes that had been done to Irene. She vividly remembered the girl always wearing long sleeve clothing every second of every day, despite the weather. But now, the girl with the rounded glasses was a new person.

She couldn’t help but be amazed by Irene's beauty. Surely, the girl didn't know she was pretty, she was just too blind to see it. Jennie and Rose really did a great job with Irene. 

"You're beautiful, Irene," said Lisa, which earned a hit on her shoulder from her girlfriend.

"Where is Jisoo?"

"Oh, she's in the backyard. Come on. I’ll lead you guys to her." 

The mansion was clearly full of college students. The loud music could be heard clearly and some of the students were dancing in the living room which had been completely emptied of the furniture. Jisoo probably had her couch moved away since she loved it and doesn't want any stranger to sit there or do anything worse on it.

Irene could vividly see the bottles upon bottles of alcohol in Jisoo's large kitchen. Some students were already drunk due to their low tolerance of alcohol while some still managed to stay sane even after drinking five bottles.

The party was worse than what Irene had thought before. She knew alcohol would be included in every party but she never imagined it to this extent. She had never seen so many drunk people and this was now her first time. She didn’t like the smell and clearly, didn’t want to stay too close to them.

They went to the backyard which consisted of a swimming pool and a mini house which Jisoo had changed it into a mini bar. There was a couch and bar full of more  alcohol drinks. Lisa led them to Jisoo who was talking to some of her friends. Irene knew one of them as Nayeon since she was one of the popular cheerleaders as she was the captain.

"Guys! You made it!" Jisoo excitedly said, giving Jennie a kiss on her lips and Rose a hug.

Looking from Rose's shoulder, Jisoo had her eyes wide open, surprised to see the girl standing behind Rose. Looking all so gorgeous and beautiful with the black dress she was wearing. The dress surely looked like it was for formal events however it still looked incredible on Irene, despite the surrounding setting. This was a party after all. No one really cared about what you were wearing.

But she couldn’t help to think that Jennie and Rose did too much for Irene. 

"Irene! You look amazing!" said Jisoo and gave her a hug. “But don't you think this is a little too much?" 

"No! Of course not, you look gorgeous!" 

Yeah. Irene already knew what her best friend would say.

"So this is your first party, right?" Jisoo asked and Irene nodded.

"Well have yourself a little fun. Just do everything you want but make sure to stay safe, okay?" 

Irene clearly knew what Jisoo meant and she nodded eagerly. 

And for the rest of the time, Irene spent most of her time sitting closely to her best friends, who kept them busy talking to someone Irene didn't know and didn't even bother to introduce herself to. She was too shy and embarrassed with the clothing she was wearing.

Jennie offered her a drink but Irene declined the offer. She didn’t like the taste of alcohol and she surely never wanted to get drunk. As a law student, scratch that, as a functioning human adult, she clearly knew the consequences of being drunk. She could get into an accident or ruin someone else's privacy and end up being in jail for privacy matters.

Oh well, Irene was just a typical straight A student who overthought too much for such a small matter. 

As time went by, Irene got bored. She decided to go inside of Jisoo's house to get some water. She could feel scratch from being a little dry.She went straight to the kitchen inside and thankfully found a normal bottle of water.

A pure water bottle. Finally, something Irene could drink and once she did, she could feel jumping through happiness after being so dry for almost an hour. Feeling so relieved, she couldn’t help but to feel so happy that she didn't notice a guy standing beside her, watching her closely with a smirk on his face.

"Hi," said the guy which surprised Irene.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you. Are you okay?" asked the guy offering a tissue which was on the kitchen table next to Irene, seeing she had spilt some water on herself.

"Thanks." said Irene shortly after taking the tissue.

"I'm Suho. I've been watching you." casually said the guy while Irene just nodded, paying almost no attention to the stranger.

While Irene kept herself busy wiping her clothes with the tissue Suho gave, she didn't realize what happened around her. When she finally felt satisfied enough with her cleaning, she took her half empty water bottle.

She was about to drink it when someone took it from her hand. She was about to protest but was cut off by a girl standing in between her and Suho.

"I've been looking all over for you. Come on."

Irene let herself be dragged by the stranger with a black leather jacket and white crop beneath it. For a while, Irene kept her mind busy thinking of who this girl was. She had never seen her around the campus. Certainly not a law student too and not a dancing student. So who the hell was she and why the hell was she dragging her away?

Then she realized the girl had been holding her hand which never in her life has she let anyone do to her. Holding hands like that made Irene uncomfortable and even awkward sometimes. But with this girl… she doesn't have that feeling. They finally arrived in front of the large estate and the girl finally let go of her hand.

Irene then realized the girl had been stepping into the line of her privacy, by holding her hand without her permission. That's when Irene burst out in anger.

"Ya! Why did you hold my hand without my permission? I don’t even know who you are!" Irene raised her voice.

Irene was finally able to see the girl's face. There were some bruises and scars on her face scattered around her tan skin and some of them were hidden behind bandages and plasters. However, Irene could see her face clearly. The girl had two beautiful monolid eyes widely open due to Irene’s reaction.

"I was saving your life from that guy! He drugged your drink! If I wasn't there, you’d probably be in a room with him by now with him doing who knows what to you!”

Now, it was Irene's turn to widen her eyes. Did the guy really want to drug her? This party was way worse than Irene had ever thought. How could she be so clumsy and not pay attention to her surroundings? She was a law student! She had to get the hell out of here.

On the other hand, the girl in black leather jacket looked a bit worried towards Irene. Seeing how pale her face had become and the way her body was frozen from shock. This girl had probably never been to a party like this, let alone a sociable outing. Just by looking at her body language and the way she isolated herself, Seulgi could make quick assumptions about her.

Irene looked stiff and out of place inside. Considering that, she was also probably not aware of the illegal drugs that floated around from hand to cup in places like these. For the girl in black leather jacket, she surely knew everything about this cruel world. 

"Hey, you alright?" 

Before Irene could answer, someone called her name and ran towards them.

"Irene!"

"Oh my god! I heard about everything that happened." Jennie quickly rambled, eyes looking worryingly at Irene.

"J-Jennie..." Irene mumbled with a scratchy voice.

Her body was trembling and she could feel her knees become weak. Jennie immediately caught Irene’s body, and soon, Rose, Lisa and Jisoo came over to help Jennie carry Irene's weak body away.

~~~

"Ya, Seulgi. I heard a girl was almost drugged by Suho. He was kicked out of the party after that. " Wendy said, who had found Seulgi standing by the fountain after she called her best friend.

"Yeah. I helped the girl. Seems like she wasn't aware that she was almost drugged and when I told her that, she almost fainted."

"Oh my god, I hope she’s alright."

"I heard her name is Irene."

"Oh? The Bae Irene?" 

Seulgi narrowed her eyes at Wendy. How could her best friend know her? Is she famous? For what Seulgi could remember, she had never heard that name in her major and around the college.

"You know her?"

"Well, she is kind of famous actually. People called her a goddess nerd. Both beautiful and smart. Good grades. She has that nice girl image."

Hmm...Bae Irene. Never heard of her.

Wendy nudged Seulgi's shoulder to get her attention.

"What?"

"You said you wanted to go home?" 

"Yeah, sorry. Let’s go."