Sunday January 13th, 2013

Jongin, as it turns out, is loaded. After being let through the gates, Kris drove up a long winding driveway before reaching his house. Walking through the foyer, she handed her jacket to a waiting maid and was directed to the living room. At the doorway, Jongin stood waiting, he was wearing a white button down shirt and black dress pants. If it weren’t for the cartoon-ish socks, he could have been mistaken for a model.

“Yooki!” he said giving her a hug. “Everyone’s waiting for you.” Jongin lightly pulled at her arm pulling her in through the doorway. “Will you be staying Kris hyung?” Jongin turned to her brother.

“No not this time, I have some work waiting for me at home.” Kris responded. “You guys have fun though. I’m putting her in your hands Jongin! Don’t let anything happen to her!” He said to Jongin. “I’ll be back later tonight to come pick you up. Have fun.” Kris said giving Yu-ki a wave before making his way back to the front door.

Seeing the guests present shouldn’t have been as surprising as Yu-ki found it to be. She knew that Jongin had his fair share of friends and admirers, but never did she expect it to be on this large of a scale. Suddenly, it was as if everything made sense. This would explain why Kris had been so adamant about Yu-ki leaving the house wearing ‘that’. All of Jongin and Kyungsoo’s guests were in some way shape or form, perfect. They all came from high society. Yu-ki had enough experience with their kind that she could tell who they were with one look. After all, birds of a feather flock together.

“Yooki, you made it!” Jongin had led her to where Chanyeol, Jongdae and Baekhyun were standing before being called away to entertain another guest. Greeting her friends with quick hugs, she did a sweep of the room. Yu-ki noticed Kyungsoo talking to a group of people on the other side of the room, he caught her eye and gave an exaggerated eye roll before turning back the conversation. On the other side of the room she saw Yixing talking very animatedly to someone else near the kitchen. She didn’t know what the conversation was about, but Yixing was very passionate about the topic.

“Don’t worry,” she turned to see Jongdae speaking to her. “These parties are always like this. They didn’t even want one, but their parents insisted. A few years ago they convinced them to have a joint party and save everyone from two of these dumb things.” He paused to wave to a passing guest smile dropping as he turned back to her. “All these people really have no connection to them, they’re just merely the children of their parents’ business partners. After a while they’ll start breaking off into their own groups and we can get away in the spare room to play video games or something.” Jongdae shrugged it off like he was used to it.

“Oh my gosh, Yooki!” someone spun her around to give her a hug. “I haven’t seen you since Christmas! Where have you been!” she exclaimed. “How’s your father’s business going? I assume he’s doing well. The market has been very favorable lately.” She continued speaking. Yu-ki had no idea who she was or what their relationship was. Thankfully, Jongin cut in.

“Hey, Eunji. Glad to see you are having a good time.” He said effectively cutting her off. “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to take Yooki away.” he smiled taking her hand. When they were away she shot him a smile, a sign of thanks. “No problem. You’re gonna stay with me for the rest of the night so you don’t get caught in a situation like that again.” Jongin squeezed her hand in reassurance.

The next hour had people who tried to strike up a conversation with her only to be interrupted by Jongin and Yu-ki served as an excuse to help him end unwanted conversations. Jongdae, Baekhyun and Chanyeol had already long disappeared into the spare room to play video games as Jongdae had said. They had invited her along, but one look at Jongin suffering this party alone made her decline.

“Hey Jongin.” Yixing came up to the pair. “I can take Yu-ki off your hands if you want.” He offered. “I mean it’s your party after all and you shouldn’t be burdened with taking care of her. It’s your birthday have fun!” he smiled looking at Yu-ki.

“No, it’s alright. I don’t mind.” Jongin responded. But still, Yu-ki had taken up enough of his evening. Reaching out, she grabbed onto Yixing’s sleeve.

“You should go have fun Jongin. It’s your birthday.” Yu-ki told him though he still had to look to Yixing for a translation. Reluctantly he gave in.

“Okay, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call for me. Kris hyung did tell me not to let anything happen to you.” He stated.

“It’s okay, I have Yixing ge.” Yu-ki responded linking arms with him. “Also, now I have a talking buddy.” The two smiled. As they walked away leaving Jongin in the middle of his guests, he couldn’t help but feel as if the night no longer held meaning.

“How was the party?” Kris asked as he drove back to their apartment.

“It was alright. I was bored at first but then I found Yixing and we could gossip about people without them knowing. Did you know that a girl claimed she hadn’t seen me since Christmas? I wasn’t even conscious during Christmas. How could she have seen me?”

“She didn’t.” Kris replied simply. “She just wanted to seem close to you.”

“But why would she pretend?”

“You have your father to thank for that.”