You absolutely loathe loud parties. Yes, you'll excuse gatherings with a few of your friends, drinking, having fun. But the whole batch inside one freaking house, with ear-splitting music and beer spilled everywhere, what's to enjoy in that? You're here because you're in college. This is kind of like the rite of passage for every freshman, or so Hyewon says. 

So you lean against a counter, sipping on a drink Hyewon made for you (horribly, if you may add), watching a few of your friends dance sultrily on top of a wide table. Boy, if Sakura just knew what Chaeyeon was up to now she'd be dragging your friend home by the ear. 

Chaeyeon sees you, clumsily going down the table, and stumbles towards you. Ew. The unmistakable smell of cheap tequila invades your nose as she gets closer. She looks at you with a sloppy smile on her face and pulls on your arm. "Dance with us," she slurs, her fingers pulling you weakly. "You've been sipping on the same cup for hours, don't tell me you've become a lightweight?"

You shrug her off, raising an eyebrow at her. "First of all, you know how much I hate these kinds of parties, I'd rather be home right now," you reply, but she doesn't even seem to be listening. "Second, this drink tastes like . Third, your girlfriend will be pissed if something happens to you. I have to look out for you."

Her eyes widen. "! I told Sakura I'd be home at like twelve..." she pulls out her phone, scrambling when she sees that it's almost one. "I've gotta go right now. She's gonna kill me so bad. Yena, tell Hyewon and the others I've already went ahead. , I'm so drunk..." she pats your shoulder almost too hard and before you can say goodbye, she runs off downstairs. 

You lean against the counter again. In the corner, you see Hyewon and Eunbi playing beer pong along with some guys who you barely even know. How do they even make friends that fast? Must be the alcohol. 

Everywhere you look, something different is happening. Near the stairs, there's a couple each other's faces off, and you vaguely recognize the girl from one of your classes. You're never seeing her the same way again. There's a bunch of guys on the couch, playing some video games on the TV, clearly drunk with the way they play. Sakura would frown on them. 

Yep. And you're here, completely out of place. You're barely even tipsy. You should probably go home, but what about your friends? You set down your red cup—

"Please pretend you know me so I can drive this guy away."

What is this girl doing, pressing her lips against your ear? And more importantly, who the hell is she? Her hot breath sends shivers down to your spine, and she smells like beer. Oh no. Another one of those drunk girls who guys want to take advantage of. 

You turn to look at her, and holy — you have to admit that she's really pretty. Her bangs are sticking to her sweaty forehead, and her blonde hair looks a bit like a mess right now, but her lips are pink, and her eyes are glowing under the neon lights. She's shorter than you, and she kinda looks too young to be in here. Wait. You have to focus. 

"Yuri!" A tall guy approaches us, his eyes glazed and his voice slurred. Not to mention, his bleached hair is all over the place. He probably needs to check in with a hairdresser soon. "Aw, come on, we were just starting to have fun!"

Ah, so her name's Yuri. 

Yuri suddenly clings to your arm, and you kinda feel flustered. Your friends aren't exactly the touchy type, so when this girl goes all up your personal space, of course you're not used to it. 

Definitely not the fact that she's super pretty. Nope. 

"No thanks, Chan!" She yells over the loud- music, still holding on to you. You don't know what to do. Are you supposed to say something? What if he starts swinging? Hey, you never know with drunk college men. 

One thing's for sure, you aren't going to let him take her. 

"Come with me, Yuri," he says, holding out his arm towards her. "Let's dance or something, or get a drink if you want. Come on."

" off."

You step foward, pushing Yuri behind you. Truth is, you're scared less. Chan's a pretty muscular guy, and you're sure that he could knock you into oblivion. But you can't let him get away with his this. If something happens to Yuri, it's gonna eat your conscience. 

"Move it." His voice is impatient, plus he's drunk. 

You keep your place. You feel Yuri's presence behind you. Somehow, that calms you down. "N-no."

"I said, move it, ."

? Did he just call you a ? No one ever calls you a . Maybe Hyewon. You'd be fine with your best friend calling you that. But not some fried-hair, drunk boy you've never met before. 

"I said no. Yuri's staying with me," you reply, a little more confident. You like the way her name rolls off your tongue. You wonder if he can hear it. You don't care. You need to get out of here. 

You feel Yuri squeeze both of your shoulders and her front pressing against you. You hope she doesn't feel your heartbeat speeding up, because God knows how much of a panicked lesbian you are. 

Chan rolls his eyes, a cocky smirk on his lips. "You think you're so tough, huh? Who the even are you?" He spits, stepping closer. Oh. He's not even that tall. 

Before you can even think about it, you pull Yuri by the arm, escaping through the crowd of people who are grinding on each other. You can hear Chan's loud yells, but you ignore it. You feel sick. The house smells like weed and alcohol and vomit. You need fresh air. 

You're very well aware that you're still holding on to her wrist, but you keep pulling until you reach the backyard, which is at least less crowded and more open. You can finally breathe properly. 

You feel Yuri tugging her wrist back, and that's when you realize you're still holding on to her. You release her with wide eyes and she giggles. 

"Thank you for everything." 

"It was nothing. I needed to get out of there too." 

She looks at you, her brown eyes peeking through her lashes, and you think that there's no one prettier than her. "What's your name?" She asks, and you look at her properly.

"Yena. I'm Yena. I'm taking up Architecture." 

"I'm Yuri, but I'm sure you know my name already," she replies, breaking into a wide smile. Her makeup is kind of smudged, her hair's a mess, and her clothes look like they've been through a lot. "I'm a Law major."

Despite that, she looks beautiful, you think. 

It's been only a few minutes that you've been in the backyard but Yuri's already been handed a drink. She must be one of the popular girls. You should've figured.

"You don't look like you're having fun," she comments, sipping on her red cup and grimacing right after. "Jesus, this tastes like ga