Minah wasn’t sure what to expect.  She was never the center of attention until Sehun and the lie…  And, he had always been the center of attention until he came to Lim High and pretended to be a nobody.  Now, that he had made himself known as “The Cherry Popper” instead of “The Silent One”, he had entered another realm of popularity…  Lim High’s realm of popularity.

            Minah let out a sigh.

            “What’s wrong, Minah?” asked Sehun, as he turned around to face her.  “Are you still mad about last night?”

            She glared at him.  Of course she was still mad about last night.  He had deliberately tired her out with his strange requests and made her passed out on his bed.  All she remembered was being on the soft bed and then the vague memory of him pressing his lips against hers.  But, that wasn’t the case right now…

            She was just scared of the social elite from her high school.

            “Come on, we’re going to be late.” said Sehun, as he draped his arm over her shoulders.

            “If I don’t like it, can we leave early?” asked Minah.  He stared down at her, with an unreadable expression.  “You know that I don’t do these social things a lot, right?”

            “Of course.” replied Sehun.  “You’re a homebody and are an introvert.  Socializing isn’t necessary your thing.”

            Minah blinked at his description of her.  Well, they have been living with each other, sleeping in the same room, and everywhere else together for the last month.  They’ve seen each other enough to know each other well by now: although Sehun can come off as standoffish, rude, and arrogant, that was really just an image he wanted to portray when he got to Lim High.  He wasn’t even like that at all.  In fact, he’s quite talkative and can be nice when he wants to. 

            It was just that Sehun didn’t want to interact with anyone at Lim High…  Until he lied about ual encounters with her.

            “Neither is it yours.” she countered.

            Sehun smiled.  “I don’t need to see Kai and Tao every day to live.” he stated.  “A few texts a day is good enough socialization from time to time.”

            The pair went in and the place was crowded.  Wherever Ilhoon’s parents were, they were out of town obviously.  There were many students from the social elite mixed in with many college students that Ilhoon’s older sister, Joo, knew as well.  Then, alcohol was mixed into the bunch.

            “So, what do you guys want to drink?!” asked Ilhoon, over the booming music.

            “Pepsi!” replied the both of them.  They glanced at each other as their classmate went to the ice chest and quickly handed the cold cans and 2 plastic red cups to them.  “Thanks!”

            Ilhoon flashed them a smile.  “Feel free to roam!  The house is all yours!” he said.  And, with that, he left the two hanging.

            “Let’s go somewhere where it’s quiet!” yelled Sehun, into Minah’s ear.  She nodded in response.

            Unfortunately, the only quiet place was outside in the backyard.  It was chilly and no one wanted to be there, but the house was too stuffy and humid with too many bodies.  Sehun turned to Minah, as he placed his hand on her thigh.  They were sitting on the grass, by the garden, and looking up at the night sky.  He rubbed circles into her knee.

            “I hate parties.” commented Minah, as she sipped from her Pepsi can.

            “Hmm…” nodded Sehun, with a smile.  “It can get pretty crazy.”

            “Like what?” asked Minah, innocently.

            “Like the American films.” shrugged Sehun.  “Drugs, , violence, …  You name it, it happens.”

            Minah blinked slowly.  “What did you do?” she asked.  “And, be honest!”

            Sehun retracted his hand on her knee and was quiet for a while.  “ and alcohol.” he stated.

            “ with your girlfriends?” asked Minah.

            “No.” answered Sehun, quickly.  “Not all the time.  One night stands, but that’s only if I didn’t already have a girlfriend.  If I had a girlfriend, then one night stands are completely off limits.  I think it’s wrong to do that…  Go cheating behind someone’s back.  It’s just freaking wrong.”  Minah stared at his bitter expression and let the silence settle over them.

            “What types of girls?” she asked, breaking it.  The conversation was interesting.  Sehun had never been so open about this side of himself before…  Yet, alone, did she even know that he had a side like this to him.

            “Good looking ones.” shrugged Sehun.  “Mainly Noonas for one night stands because they’re super hot, but it depends.  Then, my girlfriends usually get pretty , especially Krystal, after a few shots of alcohol.”

            “You know the party life.” commented Minah.  He had only mentioned this girlfriend of his once…  Krystal.  Who is she?

            “I do.” nodded Sehun.

            Minah sighed.  “I should have never came.” she said, as she pulled out some grass.  “I knew it that it isn’t something that I like…  I should have just told you to come by yourself.”

            “It’s good to experience it just once, right?” asked Sehun, as he turned to her with a smile.  It fell when he saw her solemn face.  “You need to loosen up.”

            “I am not up tight!” defended Minah.

            “Yes, you are!”

            “No, I’m not!”

            “Yes!  You are!”

            “No!!”

            “Of course you are!  If you aren’t then you would be having fun right now.” stated Sehun.

            “Fun?!  What kind of fun?  Drinking games?  ?  That’s fun?!” asked Minah.

            Sehun laughed, as he looked around.  “I keep on forgetting how little you know of the real world.” he thought out loud.

            “Yah…  What the hell are you trying to say?!” asked Minah, trying to make him look at her.  “That I know nothing but my studies and books, huh?!”

            “Of course that’s all you know!” yelled Sehun, frustrated.  He looked down at her.  “You know nothing of the real world.  Your books and studying only helps you survive the classroom.  In the real world, you will die in an instant.”

            Minah looked up at him, hurt.  What the hell?!, she thought.  Even if it was true, you don’t need to use that stupid analogy.

            “That’s mean.” she mumbled, defeated.

            “What?” asked Sehun.  Her voice was in a whisper and he couldn’t hear her remark.

            “What you said was mean!!” yelled Minah, with a louder voice.  “You’re mean!!  Why do you have to be so bitter?!!”

            “I’m not mean!” countered Sehun.  “I’m telling you the truth!  Just let loose and live a little, why don’t you?!”

            “Well, I’m sorry that I’m one of your little ex girlfriends!” screamed Minah, with a rather weak voice.  “I’m sorry that I don’t drink and sleep around like a !  I’m not like all those freaking girls that you dated!!”

            “Yah!  Take that back!” said Sehun, getting angry.  He grabbed her shoulders and shook her.  “Take it back!!  My ex girlfriends were not s!!!”

            “Well, you two shut the hell up!!!” screamed someone, from behind one of the bushes and startling the pair.  The person stood up from behind the plant and dusted dirt off his plaid shirt and pants, glaring at the pair.  It was Dongho.  “I was hoping that you two would just talk and leave quickly, but no.”

            Another person scoffed and stood up, fixing her bra under her shirt.  It was a pretty, older woman.  “The both of you need to loosen up.” she stated.  “Totally ruined our mood.”

            “Well, who told you to go behind a bush?!” questioned Sehun, obviously still angry.

            “Because the house is filled with people and all the rooms were taken.” replied Dongho, with a glare. 

            He looked down at his noona, as she took his hand in hers.  They walked out from behind the bush and he was carrying a bottle of alcohol.  Dongho placed the bottle by Sehun’s side and then flicked 3 condoms at him.

            “Loosen up a bit, why don’t you two?” he asked, as the couple turned to walk back into the house.

            “Dongho, why don’t we just leave?” asked the older woman.

            He laughed, lightly.  “Of course.”

            Sehun turned back to face Minah and let out a soft sigh.  He smiled a small smile as he picked up the bottle and stared at it.  “Vanilla rum…” he read the English label out loud.  He turned back to Minah.  “Do you want a rum-pepsi cocktail?  It’s actually pretty good.”

            “I-I don’t know about that…” said Minah.

            “Do you like vanilla Pepsi?” asked Sehun, randomly.

            “Well, yeah…  It’s much better than the cherry Pepsi…” replied Minah, confused.

            “Then, you’re in luck!  Since we have vanilla rum, it’ll taste like vanilla Pepsi!!” pressured Sehun.  “I won’t give you a lot, OK?  It’ll be good.”   

            She gave him a look.  “Couldn’t we just do this at home?” she asked.

            Sehun reached out and patted her cold cheek.  “Don’t worry.  I’m not going to get us drunk, OK?” he said.  “Why don’t you try a bit first and we’ll head home?  I don’t really like this party anyways…  There’s nothing enticing about it.”

            Minah swallowed hard.  “OK.” she agreed.

            Sehun blinked, surprised.  “Really, Minah?” he smiled.

            “No.” she replied, quickly changing her mind.

            “Why?” asked Sehun, confused.  “You just said-”

            “You were being mean earlier!” replied Minah.  She quickly pulled out her phone and tried to find the driver’s number.  “I’m just going to go home.  I wasn’t the one that wanted to-”

            “I’m sorry.” said Sehun, as he pulled the phone away from her.  Minah stared at him as he held onto her phone.  “Sorry about what I said…  I know that I was being too harsh by saying it in the way I did…”

            Minah looked away from him.  “It’s OK.” she said.  “I know that I do need to let loose every once in a while because I’m uptight…  But, I was raised by my grandpa and he’s…”

            “Pretty strict.” nodded Sehun, finishing her sentence.

            Minah smiled, as she looked at the night sky.  “I’m surprised he actually let me sleep in your room.”

            “It’s only because you’re going to be married to me soon.” said Sehun.  “And he cares a lot about my parents like his own children.  He wouldn’t let you do something like that if we weren’t already in an arranged marriage.”  He placed his hand on her shoulder.

            “Don’t overdo the drink then…” said Minah.

            “Don’t worry.” reassured Sehun.  “Nothing bad will happen.”

            Minah watched as Sehun mixed the drink he was talking about.  In a way, she regretted agreeing to that…  It felt like she had signed her soul to the devil and she can’t take it back any more.  When Sehun was done, he handed her the drink.  She stared down into the dark mixture of alcohol and soda, almost unsure. 

            Minah took in a deep breath and took a small sip, testing the flavor.  It was sweet and the vanilla had popped out from nowhere, giving the soda more flavor than before.  When she pulled the plastic cup away from her face, Sehun was mixing a cup for himself.  He looked up as soon as he mixed it to his liking.  He smiled at her, softly.

            “How is it?” he asked.

            “It’s good.” replied Minah, taking another sip.

            There is no way there’s alcohol in this…  It’s sweet and smells nothing of like the typical alcohol, she thought.

            “Are you sure that that rum isn’t fake?” she asked.

            Sehun laughed, as he drank his mixture.  “It’s real.” he nodded, reassuring.  He took another sip.  “Why?  It doesn’t taste like it?”  Minah shook her head.  “Want to try it?” 

            He offered her his drink and she took it.  She accidentally took a huge gulp from the cup and could taste the difference.  Her drink was much weaker than his for sure.  She quickly handed it back and he laughed.

            “Do you like it?” he asked. 

            “It’s OK…” Minah replied.

            Sehun laughed again.  “You should have been more careful.” he said, as he patted her thigh.  Then, he pointed to the bottle.  “This stuff is for real, Minah.  It’s real rum.” 

            He watched her as she quickly downed her sweet drink.  The after taste of rum was strange to her tongue and throat.  So, she was trying hard to get rid of it.

            “Alcohol is a nasty drink!” she said, as she finished it.  “I’d much rather drink soda any day.”

            Sehun laughed at her eagerness.  “And, I forgot to tell you…  Rum is strong.” he said.

            “What?” asked Minah, in disbelief.  “How would I know that?!!  You didn’t tell me!”

            “Well, I didn’t know that you would be so eager.” he smiled, as he drank his mixture.  The amount of rum he had put in his was only double the amount he had put in hers.  It wasn’t incredibly strong, only enough to get him light headed.

            “I’m not eager.” defended Minah.  “There’s an after taste in yours…  A slight tingly, burning sensation from the alcohol.”

            Sehun smiled.  “Just wait until you try soju.” he said, as he sipped his drink.  “That’s literally pure alcohol there.”

            “Soju?” asked Minah.  “I don’t know if I can handle it…”

            “Hmm…  We can get Tao’s brother to buy us a bottle and try it out at home.  You can see for yourself when you can tolerate these cocktails.” shrugged Sehun, finishing the vanilla rum-Pepsi mixture.  Minah had practically gulped half of his drink.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

            Hope you guys enjoyed this!!  I know…  RANDOM again…  But, hopefully there will be more consistency in the next chapter.  ^^

            LOL  Sehun is a naughty boy!!  Pressuring his fiancée to drink!!  BAD BOY!!

LOVE,

loveFORyunho