Eleonor opens the door and sees the girl wearing a grunge oversized flannel and dark skinny jeans, standing on the porch.

“Is Seulgi in?” The Asian girl asks.

“She's upstairs, she'll be down soon. Come in,” She leads her into the living room. “You're Giselle Uchinaga, right?”

“Yes, I am. Are you Seulgi's…” Giselle pauses and observes before saying anything. She thinks Eleonor looks like in her early thirties, gorgeously beautiful, and definitely hot. But she’s not Asian, perhaps, half-sister? “…sister?” She continues.

Eleonor gestures to her to sit down. “I’m her step-mom,” She caught Giselle’s surprise reaction and found it funny. “Do you want any drinks?”

“No, I'm good, M-missis Kang. I'll just wait for Seulgi to come down.”

Not a minute long, they hear Seulgi come down from the stairs. She wears a tucked-in plain orange shirt, light blue jeans, and an off-white high-cut Converse. “Oh, Giselle, did you wait for too long?”

“No, I just arrived a minute ago,” Giselle stands up and walks to the front door where Seulgi was standing.

Before they could go out, Eleonor calls them. “Girls, I know about partying and stuff, just be responsible out there, okay?” She gives them condoms for safety. Seulgi and Giselle are looking at each other, awkward and baffled at the same time. “Seulgi, don't drink too much and don't forget to call me when you come home,” She touches her cheeks. “Giselle, sweety, please keep an eye on Seulgi, will you?”

“Sure do, Mrs. Kang.”

Seulgi can feel her cheeks burning. She puts down Eleonor's hand and squeezes them. Surprisingly, Eleonor handed them condoms. Seulgi and Giselle weren’t expecting that. “D-don't worry. I'll be fine,” Seulgi beams a smile to reassure Eleonor.

Eleonor can't help but get worried about Seulgi. She heard this is Seulgi's first time going to a party. She's concerned that Seulgi might get overwhelmed by an American party since being a teenager is the age of exploration. She just hopes that Seulgi will be responsible enough for her actions. Also, she doesn’t see Seulgi as the type to do crazy things but she just wants her to be ready and be safe at all cost. Finally, she waves at them when the two leave the house.

“Damn Seulgi, I didn't know you have a hot step-mom,” Giselle shows her the that Eleonor gave them. “It’s funny she gave us this,” She laughs. They won’t be needing any condoms.

Seulgi shrugs, she doesn’t know how to react to the but she agrees to Giselle's statement that Eleonor is hot. It's just strange to her that she is her step-mom but she still can't grasp the idea yet. She sees her as just, Eleonor. She ponders for a while, she sometimes forgets that she is her father's wife. Then she thought of Elena, her half-sister, she can grasp that but not Eleonor.

“Let's call an Uber, I don't want to walk to James Garcia's house,” Giselle tells her.

“Who's James Garcia? Is that another person's party?” She puts the in her pocket.

“What?”

“You said we're going to Eishan James, I told them we're going there.”

“We are.”

“Then, who's James Garcia?”

Giselle is wheezing at Seulgi. Usually, she'd tell stupid people, stupid. But not Seulgi, she's just a cute dummy.

Seulgi is baffled why Giselle is hysterically laughing at her. “W-why?”

“Ah, you cute little dummy. Asian James is James Garcia, y'know, 'cause he's Asian!”

Seulgi biggins to process it. She thought Eishan is the name and James is the last name. “Oh, Asian...” She purses her lips in realization.

Giselle had enough laughing, she doesn’t want Irene to wait for a long time or else, she’ll get a death-glare from her. She taps her app to call an Uber. A little while, around a quarter to nine, they arrive at the place. There were familiar faces from their school. Giselle sees Irene standing outside the lawn, resting her arms, looking pissed. She hollers Irene to call her attention. Irene flinches when she sees Seulgi with Giselle. Irene didn’t expect Seulgi would be there too. She curses in her mind, thinking what Giselle is plotting.

“Irene! There you are. As I thought, I know you'd come,” Giselle grins as she pulls Seulgi who is behind her. “Why didn't you tell me you have a childhood friend?” She asks in a teasing manner.

“Hi,” Seulgi greets first, trying her best not to crack a smile. She’s awkward but excited to see her.

“Hi…” Irene says nonchalantly. If she can punch Giselle right now, she would, without hesitation.

Irene and Seulgi didn't talk. They can't even look at each other, avoiding eye contact. Their silence is nerve-racking, the music from the house can be heard even if they are outside. Every time some people are coming in and out of the house, the music lyrics become audible. Giselle was expecting them to catch up but she feels the cold tension between the two like they aren't on good terms. “Well,” She claps her hands. “Awesome! That was nice catching up. Let's get some drinks inside,” She initiates to clear off the awkward tension between them. She pulls Seulgi's hand and leads her inside while Irene follows behind them.

When they walk inside the house they see some of their classmates, their underclassmen, and some are unfamiliar faces; they are drinking, eating, dancing to the music, and chit-chatting.

Who the hell chit-chats in a loud party? – Giselle thought. Partying is for fun and games and she's expecting she'll get a free hash from someone. But she can't do it if Irene is around, she promised her she'd stop, but she never said when exactly. So technically, there's no deadline. She's been itching to get one since it's been a while. If not for her conscience telling her not to do it since she tagged Seulgi and Irene along, she’d probably have it by now. They are there for fun, being a teenager is all about parties and sh*t. They should enjoy their youth while it lasts. Also, she promised Seulgi's hot step-mom that she would bring Seulgi back safe and sober. Well, they're in a party, so she'll crush out the sober-promise on the list, at least, she'll just return her safe and alive. She looks around and sees the beer pong table with three people playing in the backyard; two boys are playing while a girl is just spectating. “Can we join?” Giselle asks them. They agree so she beckons Seulgi and Irene to come closer. “How about we play three-on-three?”

“Sure,” The guy says and changes position. He asks the other girl who was just spectating to join, she accepts then.

“So, since it's a three-on-three, what kind of rule do you want it to be played?” The other guy asks.

Seulgi is just looking at Giselle, it's her first time playing a beer pong game. She'll just follow whatever they'll do while Irene is just crossing her arms and listening and being pretty at the side.

“Each of us takes turns and if one of us misses the shot, everyone in the group drinks,” Giselle says.

Irene's brow arches. “Jesus Christ, it's still 10:00 PM,” She looks at her wristwatch. “Do you want to get drunk so badly? I'm not carrying you,” She says firmly.

Seulgi is just observing Irene and Giselle talking like she doesn't have any idea what was going on. She's just a follower.

“Chill, we ain't gonna lose, gurl,” Giselle winks at Irene who has a sour expression on her face, and then she looks at Seulgi who has a baffled expression. “Just follow my lead, okay?” She taps Seulgi's shoulder, confused, Seulgi just nods. “Okay, we're ready. Which team is going first?” Giselle asks them.

“Since you're all girls, why don't you go first?” The guy wants to be a gentleman.

“Well, thank you,” Giselle bows. Irene is by her right while Seulgi is by her left. Giselle concentrates her target and starts to shoot the ping-pong ball, and it lands in the cup. “BOOYAH!” She shouts and celebrates with the two. The other team drank the cup. The game goes on and on. It’s an 11 – 17 match in which Giselle's team is on the lead. Seulgi is really enjoying the game, not knowing her alcohol tolerance but she feels that winging vibration in her head. Irene is also enjoying it but she doesn't want to go past her limit, she is almost tipsy. She wants to stop playing. Luckily the girl from the other team throws up. Apparently, it’s her limit since she's been drinking before the game started. Giselle's team celebrates their win. She hugs Irene and Seulgi.

The distance makes Irene uncomfortable when she’s too close to Seulgi, so she slowly pulls herself away from Giselle's hug. She looks at Seulgi and Giselle still celebrating their win. She notices Seulgi's red face. “Seulgi, don't drink too much. Know your limitations,” Irene reminds her. Seulgi looks at Irene, happy that Irene still cares for her; Seulgi nods in response.

“Oooh, Ms. childhood-friend is concerned,” Giselle teases.

“That goes for you too!” Irene tells Giselle. Irene gets embarrassed when she sees Seulgi who’s grinning. She rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue. “Whatever, I'll go to the comfort room,” Then she goes back to the house.

“Sometimes I could never understand what runs in her mind,” Giselle comments and then looks at Seulgi who is smiling sheepishly. Her face is red and her eyes are turning crescents. Giselle tries to avert her eyes; she couldn't resist Seulgi's cuteness. She has never thought Seulgi is cuter in a closer view. Giselle clears . “Seulgi, let's go inside.”

Seulgi nods and follows Giselle back to the house; they walk through the people who are there. The DJ is playing popular music remixed. James Garcia tells his friend to turn the volume down of the music and announces to everyone to drink until they're wasted because his parents won't be back until next week. He tells them that his parents are visiting their relatives in the Philippines, so he threw a party to celebrate his freedom. He tells his DJ friend to blast the music back. And when he drops the beat, everyone dances to it.

A little far from the dancing drunk teenagers, there’s a minibar where strong shots and mixed drinks are served, Giselle asks the bartender for a tequila shot and gives it to Seulgi. She instructs her to drink it in one shot and eat the sliced lemon. Seulgi nods and does what she was instructed, and when she drinks it her body shivers, and her face turns sour. She puffs her breath. “This is so strong.”

“Give it a time to drink another shot because it will you up,” Giselle gets a different drink. “Try this Vodka,” She tells Seulgi and the latter just accepts it. Giselle makes her try all sorts of drinks so Seulgi will be familiar with them.

James Garcia is talking with his guy friends about guy stuff until Irene approaches him and asks him if she can talk to him for a minute. His friends are teasing them. It's so unusual for Irene to talk to guys first, so they are thinking something is going on between them. They give him thumbs up when the two leave. James leads Irene up to his room to talk.

On the other hand, Giselle tells Seulgi to not entertain anyone who's a guy while she goes somewhere to talk to someone who she just saw, a familiar face from her past. “Remember if it's a guy. Just say no, and if it's a girl, a pretty one. Don't question her motives, ask for her number instead, and give it to me later.”

“Why would I ask for a girl's number?” Seulgi questions, she rubs her red nose. She couldn’t understand why she would ask one and give it to Giselle. For what purpose?

Giselle notices Seulgi's dumb expression on her face and it’s becoming redder. “I'm kidding! Just don't go anywhere okay? I'll be back,” She walks away and shouts to Seulgi. “And no more drinking!”

Seulgi gets confused but she has to follow what Giselle told her. A fat guy greeted her and without a second thought she tells him “NO.” The guy gets intimidated by the rejection and just walks away. Seulgi bops her head to the music and sees a beverage dispenser that has juice in it. She feels a little thirsty. She picks up a plastic cup beside it and fills it with juice. It tasted funny but she didn't mind it, she’s quite hungry so she picks up whatever is on the table. There are cookies, chips, nachos, fries, nuggets, and spring rolls. They look appetizing, so she eats them but what she likes the best is the orange-looking spring roll.

“I guess you like that, huh,” The Asian girl says, holding a plastic cup and drinks from it.

Seulgi observes the girl; she looks pretty in her floral dress. “What's this?” She asks her curiously.

“It's called Lumpia,” The Asian girl in floral dress tells her.

“What kind of dish is this?”

“A Philippine dish,” She drinks again from her cup. She looks at Seulgi who’s chewing the Lumpia and refills her drink from the beverage dispenser. “Are you from Archangel Raguel High School?”

“Mmm,” Seulgi nods.

The Asian girl slowly lessens the gap between them since the music is so loud. “Why haven't I seen you before?”

Seulgi swallows the food before she could reply. “I'm a new transferee,” She answers and drinks the juice from the cup, and when she finishes it, she refills the cup again.

“Are you that thirsty?” The Asian girl asks. She watches Seulgi who just looks at her, squinting. She knew Seulgi was drunk when the latter's cup was already full and dripping. “Be careful!” She immediately helps her turn-off the beverage dispenser's tap.

“Oh, I'm wasting the juice. It's dripping. Sorry,” Seulgi smiles sheepishly, her face is red. Her head is already spinning. She feels there’s something in the juice because it doesn't taste sweet but she keeps drinking it because is kinda dry.

“Do you know it's not just pure juice, right?” She looks at Seulgi who has a dumb expression on her face. Clearly, the latter doesn’t know what’s in it. “It has alcohol in it,” She informs her.

“Oh,” Seulgi didn't know. “Hmm. No wonder it tasted...” She drinks from her cup and nom-noms her tongue to figure out the taste. “...different," She continues and still empties her cup. “I want more!” She says.

“Drink slowly, that beverage dispenser won't run away.”

Seulgi grins and somehow the Asian girl finds her cute. She approaches Seulgi to refill her cup too. “I'm sorry for not introducing myself. Mina.”

“Seulgi,” She doesn't look at her cup that is almost full again.

“Your cup!” Mina turns-off the tap again for her.

“Oops, sorry. My bad,” Seulgi apologizes and proceeds to pick another Lumpia on the table. “I don't like the taste of the nuggets. They are hard. They tasted like the brick from Walmart,” She says casually.

Mina finds her funny, she turns off the tap after refilling her cup. “That's a weird way of describing it. Have you tasted a brick from Walmart before?”

“No, I have not." She gestures cheers to Mina, the latter returns the gesture. “I just feel it tasted like that.”

Suddenly a couple of jocks pass by and one guy accidentally bumps on Mina, spilling her drinks on Seulgi's orange shirt. The guy says sorry but he isn't very apologetic at all. Mina puts her half-filled cup on the table and gets a paper napkin to dry Seulgi's shirt.

Seulgi is too drunk to have the right reaction for the moment. “You spilled your juice,” She looks down at her shirt and to Mina who is wiping it. “I'm wet,” She grins like a fool.

“Those jerks,” Mina says, she shakes her head, pissed.

Seulgi smells her. “You smell… sweet.” She holds Mina’s hand, squinting, she’s trying her best to clear her vision but everything around her is rocking like she's on a boat. “I'm dizzy, the room is shaking.”

“Let's stop drinking, okay?” Concerned, Mina sets aside Seulgi's cup on the table. Seulgi doesn't have the energy and almost staggers but she clings onto Mina who helps her balance.

“I'm not kidding, you really smell sweet, like chocolate or something. Not like everyone here. They stink. They smell like citrus.”

Mina knows Seulgi is drunk, so she doesn’t mind what Seulgi was saying. “Can you walk?” She asks Seulgi but the latter could only nod. “Let's go upstairs and borrow some clothes, okay?" She helps her walk going upstairs. James' sister happens to pass by them, she asks her if she can borrow a shirt for Seulgi. James' sister doesn't mind and tells Mina she can get any shirt from her closet. Mina is struggling to lead Seulgi upstairs, she tells her to hold onto the handrail to keep her balance until they reach the bedroom safely without stumbling. The room is quite messy. There are books, clothes, and missing pairs of shoes on the floor. Mina's impression isn't good, she thinks of James' sister as an untidy person. She lets Seulgi sit on the bed while she’s searching for an oversized shirt, so Seulgi can move freely. While she’s at it, she tells Seulgi to take off her shirt and Seulgi obeys; she even folds her orange shirt, blinking a lot, trying to focus her vision. Although her folding isn't proper since she's drunk, she still manages to set aside her folded shirt on the bed. When Mina finds a perfect shirt for Seulgi, she turns around and sees her, shirtless, only her bra. “Are you alright?” She asks in concern. “Your body has red spots, it must've been an allergic reaction to the drinks.”

“It's my first time drinking.”

“It is?” Mina sighs. “Well, don't drink too much next time,” She walks towards Seulgi to hand the oversized black T-shirt to her.

Seulgi stands up to receive it, all of a sudden, Mina trips on a shoe that was untidily laid on the floor. She falls towards Seulgi who’s about to catch her but since she's drunk, she staggers and both of them fall on the bed. Seulgi feels her body is hot, she feels dizzy from the fall. She groans and closes her eyes. Her head is spinning and throbbing.

Mina is top of Seulgi, she feels bad for worsening her condition. She tries to get up, she realizes that she too is dizzy from the fall because the alcohol is starting to kick-in. She uses her right arm to support her weight, so she won't be too heavy on Seulgi. “How are you feeling?” She asks.

“My head hurts,” Seulgi tries to focus her vision on Mina. Slowly she realizes that Mina is on top of her. She doesn't mind it though. She isn't thinking of anything aside from the headache. Mina's hair fell on the side covering a part of her face. Seulgi wants to tidy it; she Mina’s hair behind her ears. “There,” Seulgi says without a thought. She beams her a smile that her eyes formed crescents. “You look pretty.”

Mina gets abashed by the sudden compliment. Not to mention the awkward position, she isn't sure of what she feels is just the effect of the alcohol. She finds Seulgi's drunk-side attractive. She knew she’s tipsy and somehow, on the back of her mind, she thought…

“What the hell?” Irene shouts in surprise as she opens the door; her eyebrows gather in the middle, baffled by the ridiculousness of what she saw.

Mina flinches. And just a split second, Giselle comes to the scene, panting. "Irene! Seulgi's gone!” She wonders what Irene is looking at, so she turns her head to look at the two people who are on the bed, surprised. “Holy sh*t, Seulgi and Mina Myoui?!" She bites her thumb in astonishment. She can't believe her eyes. It’s like an impossible thing that could happen in real life. But there, she sees her crush, Mina Myoui, topping her friend Seulgi who is half shirtless. Did they make out or something? Seulgi didn't ping her as queer, but there she is with Mina. She just wishes she’s in Seulgi's position at the moment.

“This is not what you think!” Mina immediately stands up. She doesn’t want them to get the wrong idea.

Seulgi is trying to focus her vision of who are the people at the door. She becomes glad when she recognizes her friends. “Oh, Irene! Giselle! Annyeong!” She waves her hand greeting them like she's not in an awkward and absurd situation as she sits down.

Everyone is looking at her with a serious expression. It’s quite understandable since she's drunk.