I suggest you to listen to Raina and San E. - 한여름밤의 꿀 ( A Midsummer Swetness Night ) for this chapter. It kinda adds up the atmosphere when it gets to the 3/4 part of the story, BUT YOU MUST READ THROUGH, OKAY? xoxo

I laugh quietly as I sip down my coke. We were in this one round table, playing Truth or Dare, and make the biggest commotion of all in the club yet no one complained to our table. We were having the time of our life, I can say. I was sitting next to Pinky while JR was sitting right in front of me. I can see his face smiling and laughing everytime I look up.

The table was quite full cause the NU'EST boys, except for Aron, came in about half an hour ago and quickly join our table. And this kinda gave me a hard slap on the face for not realizing it earlier that JR's a member of NU'EST. I know his name cause the boys mentioned him so frequently on our first meeting when it was my first day at school. Damn, how slow can you get huh, ____.

Minhyun, Baekho, and Ren was being the loudest kids of all as they got drunk from the alcoholic drinks they're drinking. Everyone in the table was drinking vodka or tequila, beer at least, including Pinky. I can never take alcohol, I might say. That's why I'm the only dweeb that's drinking a coke in this table.

"Okay Ren, truth or dare?" Minhyun asked loudly as the bottle points at Ren. You know, I've always have the idea of Minhyun to be the most quiet and timid guy in the group, but when he's drunk.. Oh my, he's literally the wildest kid in the club. He keeps on talking like that Transformers character.. What's his name? Oh, Optimus Prime! Yeah, and he'll stood up, calling himself Optimus Hwang then drink some alcoholic drink right from the bottle.

Talk about drunk teenager, huh.

"Dare" Ren said, positively.

"Okay" Minhyun smirked "Make out with that random chick, the one on the dance floor with that damn tight leopard dress for 10 minutes. We'll time you and if you didn't get to 10 minutes, you're not gonna be welcome in our base again"

"What the-.. Hey!" Ren protested, yet Minhyun only laughed like a heyna as he hi-5 Baekho. JR only shook his head while chuckling lightly and I swear to God, even though I never like any guy that drinks and smokes, JR is obviously someone to make an exception about.

"Just go. Time's money" Baekho said, literally kicking Ren out of the table.

With a frowning face, Ren eventually walks to that chick. He was quite stumbling due to the control of alcohol in his body, but he still comes to the girl and really did make out with her. I was gasping hard. Quite audible cause JR was obviously chuckling at my reaction but it wasn't a make fun laughter, it's more of a 'this girl is surely cute' kinda thing.

Well that's what I feel, at least.

"Okay, let's just spin the bottle. I need to get home before 3" Pinky said as she spins the bottle "Ah, JR oppa! Haha, truth or dare?"

"Dare, dare! Come on, Jonghyun, don't be such a dork! Just take the dare!" Minhyun said eagerly.

"And what? Make you get the opportunity to make fun of me like Ren? Tch, no thanks" JR rolled his eyes "I'll take truth"

"Okay, truth" Pinky clapped in a girlish way. Okay if you think that Pinky's so girly and feminine on daily basis, you should really see her when she's drunk. She gets really high pitched, clingy, and basically a bit.. I don't know, y? Like for real, this girl's such a diva at times "Truth for JR oppa, is there any woman that recently caught your attention?"

I gulped at the question. It wasn't for me, but the answer that JR'll give surely stress me out. I mean, not that I really have a crush on him or anything, but dude, this guy's so hot, okay! If he does say that he's currently unavailable, then I don't know what to do with life anymore.

JR chuckled as he play with the garnish in his tequila, "A woman, huh? Well I kinda have someone in mind these days"

And then my heart exploded.

The boys growled in a teasing way as JR confessed. They didn't look surprise or anything, probably cause they know who's the girl anyway. I mean, they're close friends, so obviously they know each other's secret. Brothers for life, you know?

"Aw, is she really that special?" Pinky asked in a teasing way but from the way she says it and how she winked at JR, it's obvious that she knew what he's gonna say or whom he’s talking about.

To be honest at this point, I'm starting to question Pinky's relationship with he NU'EST boys. I mean, she looks like she's so close with them but she still have that impression that she's a bit.. I don't know, afraid? But the point is, how can Pinky be so close with them when she's also close with Chan? With the Seventeen boys? And as far as I know, the Seventeen boys had never have a good relationship with NU'EST.

Well they never get along with anyone still, but NU'EST seems to be someone they specially hated.

"Why must it be a girl related question" JR said. A bit.. Blushing?

CAUTION, CUTENESS OVERLOAD OKAY.

"Why? Don't you want to share who's that special girl is?" Baekho asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Aye, stop that. Our leader's embarrassed" Minhyun said and bro-punch Baekho at his chest "The girl's in present anyway. Of course he's embarrassed"

"W-Who?" I asked. I was choking my coke so hard when Minhyun said she's in present. Who? Pinky? No, JR doesn't look like he's interested on her. Pinky told me she's getting quite closer with Chan, anyway, so it can't be her, right? She looks like she knows who it is anyway, and it doesn't look like the girl's her, so who is it?

Me?

"Aye, enough with my turn. It's answered already, right?" JR said still looking red as he spin the bottle again.

"What do you mean, you didn't answer anything" Pinky said with her girlish giggle.

“Hey Pinky, you know who he has in mind right now anyway, so shush” Minhyun said “Ouu , it’s my turn now”

***

I came out from the club alone cause I went to the toilet before hand. I need to refresh myself a little and try to reduce the smell of alcohol in my sweater. Pinky accidently spilled some of her drink on my sweater when she was trying to stood up. She was really drunk, I tell you. She can barely walk that Minhyun needs to be her support.

So yeah, I know Seungcheol would be waiting for me when I get home. I mean, it’s 3:20 in the morning. Far passed my excuse to him when I said I’ll be home past 12. My phone was ‘luckily’ out of battery so that he doesn’t call me that frequent, but inside I feel really obnoxious and scared about how in range Seungcheol’ll be in when I get home. He’ll definitely forbid me to get out of the house ever again, just because of going home this late.

Imagine if he can smell the alcoholic scent on my sweater, huh.

“Oof! Sorry” I said as I bumped into someone. I was fixing my hair, tying it into a bun, that I didn’t see someone was standing or walking towards me.

“You really love to bump into me, don’t you?” he smirked, still with his hands on my shoulders cause I was about to fall when I bumped into his board body “Took you long enough inside. I thought something happened to you”

I blushed madly as he stared at my eyes again. I honestly have no problem to bump into him once or twice, but not literally. I mean, this is the second time I bumped into him, for God’s sake! What kind of image do I have in his mind already, eh? A clumsy girl that can’t even walk straight without bumping into people and stumble herself down?

Well I am clumsy, but not as bad as that.. You know what I’m talking about.

“J-JR.. What’re you doing here?” I said, a bit stuttering “Why’re you still here? I thought you guys left already”

“Well the others are gone already. Pinky was too drunk and started to throw up and everything, so I told the boys to get her home. Just in case she passed out on the street or something. It’s not okay for a girl to walk home alone at this kind of time, anyway. Especially when she’s drunk” JR said, being so thoughtful over Pinky.

And then it hit me. Is it Pinky? The girl he was talking about in our small truth or dare game? Why’s he so caring about her this way? I thought they’re just close friends.. Well, not my lucky day, I guess.

“Wow, you really care for her, huh?” I stated the obvious with a quite forced smile “I need to get home now. My brother must’ve been really worried”

“Your brother? Who? Does he go to our school too?”

I remained quiet. I stared at JR who’s now starting to walk next to me. Should I tell him that Seungcheol’s my brother? He looks like a nice guy and everything, but Seungcheol strictly told me to keep our sibling relationship in secret for my own protection. What kind of protection? Still a question for me too, but he was dead serious when he told me to not talk about it that freely, so should I tell JR?

“___? You okay?” he asked.

“O-Oh, yeah” I said, snapping back to reality “My brother.. He’s just someone you don’t know about, I bet. He graduated already. He’s in college. And no, he didn’t go to our school, so I doubt you’ll know him”

So yeah, I lied. As much as I like JR, I still don’t think I should tell him about Seungcheol just yet. Seventeen boys had never liked NU’EST for whatever reason they had, so I should never mention about Seungcheol in front of him. Not only Seungcheol, actually, but also the rest of the Seventeen boys. Seventeen’s a gang, it’s not a simple matter I’m talking about whenever it relates to Seventeen, so I should really be careful on whom I’m talking to when it relates to Seventeen. It’s not only for my safety, but also theirs.

“Oh, okay then” he said, flashing a smile.

I smiled back at him. I feel bad for lying to him when he’d already been really nice and sweet to me, even though we just know each other. I feel like I can trust him, somehow. He has that thing that makes you want to just lean on him and tell all your problems cause you know he can supports you. Far different than the aura Doyoon has. Doyoon’s more of a person who can calm you down, while JR’s the kind of strong arms who’ll embrace you with.

We started to walk on the dark alley. It was quite. Really quiet. I didn’t dare to start a conversation cause I told you, I’m not good with lying and I’m quite under pressure now cause JR’s walking me home and imagine what could happen if Seungcheol saw us together. Boy, he’ll burn JR to ashes, for real.

My body got even more rigid from every step we take. Where shall I go? I can’t show him my real house, can I? And I can’t just ditch him in the middle of the way like this when he’d been caring enough to walk me home. Gosh, what to do now?!

“Are you sure you’re okay?” JR questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. Guess I’m being too obvious already now, huh?

“Oh, y-yeah, I’m fine.. Just a bit cold”

He cleared his throat, “Well I don’t bring any jacket with me now..”

“O-Oh, no, it’s fine” I said, blushing really madly “Thanks for your consideration though”

Wait ___, don’t think too much. It’s just his nature to be considerate to others. You’re not the only girl he’s treating all sweet like this. Remember Pinky.

“Yeah, no problem. I didn’t do anything anyway” he said while chuckling. Warm air was coming out as he opens his mouth. Yeah, it was that cold. But that’s not the point. Everytime he smiles and shows his teeth, I can guarantee you with all the money I have, you’ll definitely fall under his spell. His smile was just-.. I don’t know. I don’t know hot to explain it in words. It’s just too mesmerizing “By the way, we should hang out more often you know. I mean, not clubbing like this. I know it doesn’t suit your board that much”

“Hang out? Where?” I asked.

“I don’t know.. Anywhere you want” he shrugged “Oh, I know. You can come and watch me have some dance practice with the boys”

I raised an eyebrow, “Dance practice? You dance?”

“In my free time, yeah” he said, chuckling from my reaction. Damn, other than being a hot, he’s also a dancer? Oh my God, how more perfect can this creature be?!

“Well thats.. Really cool of you” I stated the obvious.

He chuckled, “Thanks. I’m not one of the best, but I’m pretty good at what I’m doing. Not bragging” he said, raising his hands while smiling “I usually dance with the boys, but they’re not as passionate as I am, I can say. The one I can say has passion for dance too will probably be Aron hyung, but he’s still far more lazy to practice than I am”

“Wait, Aron dances too?”

“Yeah, but we’re in the different type of dance. I’m more of a b-boy while Aron hyung’s into pop and lock better”

The smile on my face gradually disappear as I heard the ‘pop and lock’ dance. As much as I try to ignore it, it strongly reminds me of Soonyoung. He loves to do that type of dance. Heck, I can say that he loves dancing more than he loves me.

Oh wait, I meant loved me.

“Hey, are you okay?” JR asked as he snapped me back to reality “You really like to space out, don’t you?”

I awkwardly laughed, “You can say that..”

“That’s not a very good habit to have, you know” he smiled “Especially for such girl like you”

I blushed. I wasn’t sure by what he meant, but the way he stared at my eyes was really charming that my cheeks were burning. JR surely has that thing to cast a spell to any girl he stared at, but that’s not only the point why I blushed. The way he smiles, the way he stares, the way he talks, it shows enough evidence that he cares about me. A bit more than how someone you barely know should’ve given.

I bite my lower lip. A big question mark was running across my mind. If he shows this much of affection to me, then why did he also hinted a little spark to Pinky? Is he being a two-timer, right now?

No, he doesn’t look like it. He cares for Pinky, that’s for sure. But the thing he shows to me was.. More sincere, more passionate, and more lovely than the way he treated Pinky. He even shows some intimidation side at some points to Pinky, but to me, he’s always acting like a real gentleman.

Well not acting, he is a real gentleman.

“JR, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah sure, ask away”

“Promise me you won’t think anything bad about me or anything, okay?” I said, sounding really hesitated “It might sound a bit rude cause its quite personal, but I just can’t help to feel curious about it”

He raised an eyebrow, “Why so tensed up? Just ask the question already”

“Okay.. When we played truth or dare, earlier.. When it was your turn and Pinky asked about a girl in your mind.. What does Minhyun mean by ‘the girl’s in present’? Was she there, in the club?”

JR looked away. He looked down to his shoes while chuckling awkwardly. Looking like he was quite embarrassed about the topic. He rarely shows this side of him, I tell you. He always look so fierce, so tensed and charismatic. And now he’s being all shy and looking like a lost puppy everytime the ‘girl’ topic was brought to surface.

He looks.. Cute.

“You really can’t brush that off your mind, can you? Is that why you’re spacing out a lot just now?” he said, finally facing up. I can see slight blush on his cheeks and boy, that just add up the whole cuteness element on his face “Well the girl was.. I don’t know how to say it”

“What? You can just tell me, I’m good at keeping secrets” I said, smiling at him.

“Will a good secret keeper still be a good secret keeper when I tell her that the secret was about her?”

I looked at him with a disbelief face. JR’s now biting his lower lip and rubbing his nape after saying the words that I feel was just my fantasy. Did he really hinted that it was me he was talking about? But, how?

“Ah, you know what, let’s just forget it. Nevermind what I said” he said groggily “So um, where’s your house again?”

***

“Thanks for walking me home, it was.. A very nice night” I said as we stood in front of the apartment “I’m sorry to bother you. You’ll get home too late, now”

“Naah, it’s okay, it was nothing, really” He smiled.

I nod and smiled at him. Awkwardly. I swear to God I have no idea how to react now. Should I just say goodbye and run in or should I still say some things? What to say though? After the ‘good secret keeper’ thing he said, the rest of the walk turns into a real quiet journey and it was so awkward for me to walk with him. I mean, damn, I’m gaining interest in this boy and he just indirectly said that he likes me too, how else am I suppose to act?!

“So um, I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, sure” I said with a slight disappointment. I surely wants him to stay, but it’s really late already and I don’t want to hold him any longer in one side, so “I’ll see you around, too”

“Okay” he nodded with a smile. He was turning his body away and I was staring at how perfect his back silhouette was. He stopped after a few steps and it leaves me a huge question mark. I was just about to ask him if there’s something wrong, but he turned his back back to face me and stepped closer, coming to me with a speed that wasn’t that fast but felt like the fastest move someone could ever do cause I wasn’t comprehending the whole situation.

He leaned in, and kissed my left cheek. He blushed hard after doing so and stared at my eyes, “Night, ___”

“N-Night, JR” I said, body frozen from the sudden action he did. He smiled once more before really walking away from the spot. I touched my cheek that’s getting warmer by the time. JR just kissed me on the cheek. Oh. My. God.

***

“I’m fine Seungcheol, really” I said as I dried up my hair. I called him right after I got in the apartment. You see, I didn’t want JR to know where we live, just yet, so I made him walk me to the apartment my family have instead. It was quite some time since someone actually occupy this place so dust was quite visible on most of the house spots. But hey, I’m gonna be here for a night only, anyway.

“Are you sure? Why’re you not coming home instead? And why did you just call me now? Did you just got home now?” Seungcheol bombarded me with questions, sounding really worried.

“I’m 100% sure. My friends’ house was too far and I was too tired walk home so I came here instead. I was too sleepy so I went to bed as soon as I get here and forgot to charged my phone. I was awaken just now, that’s why I just called” I lied. At least Seungcheol can’t see my face now, so I guess he can buy this lie. Making up such excuses was never an easy task to do, okay.

“Okay.. Do you need me to get there now? Have you eaten?”

“I’m full, don’t worry. No, it’s okay. Just come here tomorrow morning and pick me up, okay? I’m really really tired now”

Seungcheol sighed, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Get some rest now. I’ll just pick you up at noon. You need some sleep”

“Okay, thanks oppa” I said, adding up the ‘oppa’ part so he doesn’t get worried too much.

“Sure” he said and hung up.

I throw away my phone and feel guilt to start creeping in. I lied too much for a night. Seungcheol’s surely worried and I totally get that. I’d never gone out at night and now I don’t even come home, I’m in the apartment. Imagine how worried he was when he waits for me last night.

I closed my eyes, this night was such a very long night..