KiKwang gulped as he moved his attention back and forth between the dead man and his executioner. KaHee had already let go of KiKwang’s arm, dropping her oreos in the process, and she was seething with anger with smoke practically coming out of her ears. She huffed and puffed, and KiKwang sensed trouble abound (although he couldn’t say that he wasn’t glad for it to be not directed at himself this time).

“You’re kidding,” KaHee repeated, watching as SeKyung talked with her “date,” DooJoon. She watched as SeKyung pointed back towards her and KiKwang, signaling for DooJoon to look in their direction. Once DooJoon’s eyes met with theirs, he waved excitedly at them, his smiling eyes twinkling. KiKwang returned a less-enthusiastic wave, though KaHee was quick to shoot him a menacing glance that immediately brought KiKwang’s hands to his sides.

“Hyung’s in big trouble, isn’t he?” KiKwang whispered. The look on KaHee’s face confirmed it.

“Annyeong! KiKwang, I was looking for you! SeKyung said you’d be here,” DooJoon greeted happily.

“Uh, yeah,” KiKwang replied curtly, clearing his throat in hopes of clearing the tension. That didn’t work very well.

“And KaHee, you’re here, too!” DooJoon exclaimed as he made sure to greet the MAKIKO maknae as well. KaHee remained silent, but DooJoon continued. “What took you guys so long? Party started a couple hours ago.”

“They attended a party before this one, Oppa,” SeKyung answered in place of KaHee and KiKwang, linking her arm with DooJoon’s. After seeing this, KaHee let out a scoff.

“Oh, did you really? Whose party was it?” DooJoon asked with genuine curiosity.

“You’re kidding, right?” KaHee spat out icily. She was suddenly very sober.

“What are you talking about?” DooJoon replied. KaHee snapped.

“Wow, and people call KiKwang-oppa the dumb one? Don’t you think you’re forgetting something? Think about it, Oppa.” KaHee drew out the last word in singsong, mocking the way SeKyung called DooJoon. “Come on, KiKwang,” KaHee ordered as she about-faced and stormed away.

“What’s wrong with her?” DooJoon whispered to KiKwang quietly.

“I have to admit, Hyung,” KiKwang responded sadly, his disappointment very obvious on his face. “You messed up this time.”

KiKwang ran after KaHee, leaving behind a very dumbfounded DooJoon.

“What is he doing here instead of at RaeIn’s birthday party?” KaHee vented furiously once KiKwang caught up. “And most of all, what is he doing with that demon-lady SeKyung instead of our wonderful little angel, RaeIn? Call HyunSeung! No, he might be driving. Call JiYong! Tell them they have to pick us up right now. I’ve got to get back to the dorm.”

“Okay,” KiKwang said, taking out his phone and dialing for JiYong.

“Yeoboseyo?” JiYong answered.

“Hyung! It’s KiKwang. Could you guys come back and pick us up?”

“What? You’re leaving already?” JiYong laughed. “Did the party that bad?”

“It’s not that… Well, something happened and we need to get back to RaeIn’s party. It’s really important.”

“Oh, well, all right then,” JiYong said confused. “We’ll come get you. HyunSeung! Turn around! They want to get picked up already!”

KiKwang heard HyunSeung answer, “Already?” in the background before JiYong hung up the phone. KaHee was ahead of him, already standing at the curb with her arms crossed and foot tapping, waiting for their ride to pick them up.

——-

“Yah, RaeIn-ah!” JunHyung whispered a bit loudly as he got up slightly off his chair to tap the girl on the shoulder. RaeIn lifted her head from her arms; she seemed a tad groggy as she blinked at JunHyung in confusion.

“JunHyung?” she asked as she sat up. JunHyung noticed that she was still holding onto her cell phone. She noticed as well, and as soon as she fully regained consciousness, she checked for any new messages or missed calls. From the look on her face and her lack of action, JunHyung assumed that she received neither. He cleared his throat.

“So uh, you finished those bottles yourself?” JunHyung asked motioning towards the empty bottles of soju sitting next to RaeIn on the table. She looked at the bottles, grinned sheepishly and nodded.

“I guess I did,” RaeIn laughed. She hiccupped, which she found a bit amusing causing more laughter.

“So they say you don’t like to drink much,” JunHyung said in attempts to converse.

“I don’t.” RaeIn pointed a lazy arm towards JunHyung, still laughing a little bit. “I kind of got over the drinking thing, you see.”

“I see. But you’re drinking right now.” JunHyung smirked.

“’Cuz it’s my birthday, they told me to! JaHee!” RaeIn shook her head. “KaHee! And JulSu! And JiYong! And SaRang! And… you?” RaeIn laughed. “Didn’t you tell me to, too?” She leaned over just enough to poke JunHyung on the nose before jumping back to her chair and laughing.

“I didn’t,” JunHyung said, reaching out to help balance her on the chair again.

“Oh, that’s weird. You’re the one that likes drinking right?” RaeIn giggled again. In a more solemn tone she added, “I can’t deny that it helps.”

“Helps with what?” JunHyung noticed RaeIn grab onto . She felt around for the chain and slid her fingers to the double-eighth note pendant, enclosing it, playing with it, making sure it was still there and that it was real. JunHyung didn’t know what came over him, but for some reason he felt that he had to keep talking to her. He could feel that despite isolating herself outside, RaeIn needed company. He knew that he had to be that company, especially when they were out here without JulSu, KaHee or… DooJoon.

DooJoon – that hyung was a key factor to all of this. JunHyung wondered where in the world DooJoon could be at a time like this: at a time when everyone should be having fun drinking and singing karaoke, at a time when his girlfriend was drowning herself in alcohol for the sake of salvaging what was left of her night of celebration. He thought this while RaeIn continued to play with her necklace, letting each of her fingers run over each note.

“Oppa,” RaeIn asked still looking at her necklace as she continued to play with it. “Why isn’t he here yet? Isn’t he coming to see me on my birthday?” JunHyung didn’t know how to answer and instead grunted in return. “He’s always so busy, but doesn’t he always try to make time for us to spend together? Then where is he now?”

Despite wanting to talk to her, JunHyung didn’t know what to do, so he stayed quiet.

“You know, Oppa,” RaeIn continued. He noticed that her words were still a bit slurred. “I saw him just yesterday. I saw him but I couldn’t talk to him. But I didn’t mind that I couldn’t talk to him because I knew I would be able to talk to him today.” RaeIn finally looked away from her necklace and towards JunHyung. He was only briefly able to examine her face because after a few seconds, her eyes realized they couldn’t handle straying away for long, and so like a magnet they returned to her necklace. Her eyes seemed watery, he noticed.

“I’m sorry, Oppa. I shouldn’t be burdening you with this. I should check on how everyone’s enjoying the party…” RaeIn stood up too quickly and so she failed to realize that one of her legs was asleep. She stumbled, and JunHyung quickly reacted to catch her before she could fall. She was very limp in his arms, clutching onto her sleeping leg, and he could smell the strong scent of the soju all over her. JunHyung felt a small blush creep on his cheeks, but with the help of drunken stupor, RaeIn remained unfazed.

“A-are you okay?” JunHyung asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

“No,” RaeIn said matter-of-factly.

“Are y-you hurt somewhere?” JunHyung stuttered, suddenly very worried.

“No,” RaeIn said again. She pushed JunHyung away as she sat herself back down on her chair. “DooJoon was with another girl when I saw him – heh – I’m sure it was just for their photo shoot. But could they not be so close together?” RaeIn exclaimed in mock anger before emitting a bit of sad laughter.

“Hyung would never go behind your back, or do anything wrong like that, if that’s what you’re worried about,” JunHyung said in attempts to defend his leader and comfort RaeIn at the same time.

“I know, I know. I know that. I’m very silly for acting this way over such a ridiculous thing. But when I saw them together… I didn’t like it at all.”

“So you were jealous,” JunHyung stated.

“Hmm,” RaeIn mused. “I wonder… when did I become the jealous type?” She giggled. “Still, it would have been nice if DooJoon was here.” She grabbed a hold of the nearest soju bottle and peered inside before shaking it to confirm its contents, or lack thereof. After a mini-soju scavenger hunt, RaeIn finally found a bottle that had a bit of liquid left.

“Ah, maybe I should bring you some water or something,” JunHyung said, maternal side kicking in as he grabbed the bottle of soju from RaeIn before she could do anything with it.

“No, there’s still some insiide! I don’t want to waaaste it!” RaeIn pleaded. Her eyes grew wide when JunHyung suddenly downed the rest of the bottle. “What are you doing?!”

“Now it’s empty. Stay here and be a good girl while I grab you some water okay?” RaeIn crossed her arms and looked out the balcony defiantly. “Yah, RaeIn-ah,” JunHyung called again. “You promise to stay here and wait for me like a good girl, okay?” He stuck out his pinky in front of RaeIn’s face. Finally, RaeIn nodded yes and sealed the promise with her own pinky.

JunHyung entered the dorm, filled a cup for RaeIn, and exited back to the balcony completely oblivious to the look YoSeob was giving him throughout the whole journey. Once he was back in the balcony, he found RaeIn still sitting with crossed arms and crossed legs.

“Good girl,” he said, handing her the cup of water. She murmured a “thank you” as she accepted the cup and took a sip. JunHyung nodded his head in response as he sat down and crossed his arms as well. RaeIn looked up at JunHyung with a confused smirk on her face.

“Oppa, this isn’t water. It’s apple juice.” RaeIn started cracking up.

“What?” JunHyung asked confused, grabbing the cup from RaeIn and taking a sip himself for confirmation. “…Oh, it is.”

“Oppa, that’s what you get for wearing sunglasses at night,” RaeIn said taking JunHyung’s glasses off his face and placing them on her own.

“Yah,” JunHyung said, grabbing his glasses back and standing up. “I’ll get you a new cup, then.”

“No! No, that’s okay,” RaeIn said, grabbing the cup out of JunHyung’s hand. “Didn’t you know that apple juice is my favorite?”

“Is it?” JunHyung asked, sitting down in front of her again.
“Yes,” RaeIn said taking another sip. “That’s why I was wondering, that first day of CF shooting… I kept thinking, ‘How did Oppa know I liked apple juice?’” She laughed at the memory. “But now I’m wondering something totally different from then.”

“What are you wondering now?”

“I’m wondering why Oppa is being so nice to me now,” RaeIn said, the giggles returning to her.

“What do you mean?” JunHyung said sternly.

“Even though I’m really sad that DooJoon-oppa isn’t here… I’m still happy that JunHyung-oppa was able to come.” JunHyung felt his cheeks grow hot again. “I was sure that you hated me. I was trying so hard to be your friend so that DooJoon-oppa wouldn’t have to worry about me not getting along with all of the BEAST members.” JunHyung realized that he had been holding his breath and breathed out a sigh after hearing the rest of RaeIn’s words.

“I see,” he responded. “You shouldn’t worry about stuff like that. I never hated you.”

“Ah, I see.” RaeIn jumped up and clapped. “That’s just wonderful then!”

“Whoa! Whoa!” JunHyung jumped up as well to push RaeIn back onto the chair. “Let’s try just sitting down for now.”

RaeIn obediently sat down and pointed a finger to her face. “I’m still drunk, huh?” JunHyung nodded his head and RaeIn laughed as she sang a short excerpt of 4Minute’s “Huh” – she was quite amused at herself. “That’s amazing, JunHyung-oppa. How could you drink so much and stay practically sober? You drank right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” JunHyung answered.

“And you feel fine?”

“Uh… yeah, yeah,” JunHyung answered again.

“That’s amazing! How much did you drink? Do you beat me? This is my record so far,” RaeIn thought out loud, gesturing to her empty bottles beside her. Before JunHyung could respond, the door slid open with a bang. Out walked an angry KaHee, followed by her calmer half, KiKwang.

“KaHee, you’re back!” RaeIn said as she raised her arms in excitement.

“RaeIn-unni!”

“Naeeeee~” RaeIn answered with spontaneous aegyo. KaHee bit her lip before continuing.

“RaeIn-unni,” she repeated quieter. “I saw DooJoon-oppa.”

“What?” RaeIn was more serious now. “Where?”

“Unni, I don’t know if you’ll be happy when you hear…”

“What are you talking about?” Suddenly RaeIn felt a lump in . “Where is he? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“He was at the High Kick party,” KaHee began.

“What?” RaeIn said, trying to comprehend. Suddenly she felt angry. “What was he doing there? Why isn’t he here? Is he coming here later at least?” She still had to look up at KaHee, but she was standing up now. She fought off JunHyung’s attempts at trying to sit her back down.

“Unni, there’s more,” KaHee added sadly. JunHyung heard KiKwang whisper, “I don’t think you should tell her the rest…”

“What else?” JunHyung asked sternly. KaHee exchanged glances with JunHyung before continuing.

“He was with SeKyung, as her date.”

“I see.” RaeIn looked surprisingly calm at first, though she was sure to avoid eye-contact. By accident, she looked up and met KaHee’s gaze, full of pity for her leader. She then found that KiKwang was looking at her solemnly as well. Finally, she noticed that JunHyung’s hands were still on her shoulders to help her balance while she was standing up. She looked up at JunHyung and found a peculiar expression on his face as well, an expression she’d never seen before. Was it pity as well?

“Excuse me,” RaeIn said as she broke loose from JunHyung’s grip. She walked inside, heading to her bedroom. KaHee was just about to follow RaeIn when suddenly JunHyung rushed past, beating her to it.

“Yah, RaeIn-ah!” JunHyung called out awkwardly, barely reaching RaeIn at her bedroom door. RaeIn turned to face him, one hand already on the door handle, the other wiping her right eye.

“RaeIn-ah, it’s… okay to cry,” JunHyung said trying to comfort her, still awkward as ever. He reached a hand over to pat her shoulder, but she refused.

“I’m not crying,” she replied laughing. “It’s just my contacts. They’ve been in for so long; I have to take them out now. I’m sorry, excuse me…” Like a ninja, she quickly disappeared from JunHyung’s sight into her bedroom.

RaeIn leaned her back against the door as she shut it, locking it before briskly walking to her bed. She quickly changed into her pajamas, not even caring about her make-up anymore, and slipped under the covers. She grabbed at her necklace again and held it out so she could see it.

“I should take this off,” RaeIn said bitterly to herself, sitting up in her bed and reaching behind her neck to unclasp the necklace. She held it up and looked at it again. She was surprised when she felt herself smiling. “Ah, I can’t do it…” She replaced the necklace on her neck.

What was this feeling? What’s wrong with me? My chest feels tight, my insides are squirming; I can barely breathe. I don’t know what I feel. One minute I’m angry, the next I’m smiling, and now…

RaeIn felt something warm cascade down her cheek, and immediately she swatted it away. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I never cry! And I do not cry over boys! But in the past week, I’ve already cried twice, over the same boy.” RaeIn sighed and collapsed sideways onto her bed, her head landing on her pillow. “Oppa, do you really like her more than me? Is that why you went to her party over mine? We have already celebrated our 100 days, so why don’t you remember me?”