Finally as I went to the backyard, still arm in arm with Seungcheol, I spotted my friend Mei taking a shot by her jacuzzi. As I ran to greet her, she immediately pulled Seungcheol away and asked him to take a shot with her. “Seungcheol, I know you want some. Just one? You’ll like it and it’s not that strong either.”

            “Nah, it’s okay Mei. I’m going to stay sober tonight with ______,” he replied.

            When Mei’s guy friend poured her two more shot cups, one for her and one for Seungcheol she encouraged him some more. “Look. See, he already poured you one. It’ll be okay, just one shot.”

            “Mei, this is really not a good decision… I want to stay sober for ______. She’s never seen me actually drunk, and I don’t plan on letting her see me today,” Seungcheol stated again as he linked our arms back together.

            “Aw. Seungcheol, it’s just one shot. It’s not that strong, you won’t get a buzz after just one shot. Come on, you’re not that weak are you?” Mei persuaded him as she waved the shot glass in front of his face.

            “Fine, but only if ______ is okay with it though,” he finally said as he nodded towards me.

            “Oh! Hey, I didn’t see you standing there _____. Welcome to my party, where the parents are away and it’s time to play. Want a drink?” she asked me, handing me the glass cup in her hand.

            “Um, no thank you. I’m not a big drinker Mei. Heh, but Seungcheol, it’s your life not mine. I can’t stop you from doing what you want to do. I would mind if you did take a shot, but if you really want to, I can’t change your mind…” I replied as I gently let go of his arm again.

            “So you do mind?” Seungcheol asked again right after I slightly stepped away.

            “Well, I’m going to go get something else to drink, that’s not alcoholic,” I said in a matter of fact voice, ignoring his question and heading back to her kitchen.

            When I reached the door of her fridge, knowing there’s probably some that spiked the punch with some kind of drink, I searched for a bottle of water or uncontaminated soda. But when I finally found something in her fridge to drink, a guy hugged me from behind and started whispering to me. “Hey, what’s your name? Want to get out of here? Or go upstairs?” he asked before I could turn around.

            “No,” I said as his breathe reached my nose. God, he’s been drinking a lot.

            “Oh, so you want to just do it here huh?” he turned me around and smirked.

            “No, I’m taken,” I replied as I started to walk away before he could stop me. Then as I was barely out the door, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him.

            “And I have a math test tomorrow,” he said as he leaned in closer to me.

            “Huh?” I answered confusedly and awkwardly.

            “I thought we were listing things we could cheat on,” he said as he started getting closer to my lips.

            Right before he could touch me, I slapped him. Hard. “I told you, I have a boyfriend and I don’t plan on cheating on him now, tonight, tomorrow, the next day, or ever. Thank you though, for thinking I was cute or hot or whatever you think. Now go away. Oh, and be safe. You never know what else could happen tonight, seeing as you’re drunk as hell.” Then I walked back to the backyard door and went outside to where my friend Mei and boyfriend Seungcheol were standing before I left.

            “Dude, I seriously didn’t think you’d have erts at your party,” I said to Mei as I was looking down, trying to open my water bottle.

            “Haaaa~ duudee. I thought there waaaass~ none,” I heard a slurred voice say. I looked up and saw that Mei was really flushed and she reeked of alcohol. Oh god, that’s going to hurt in the morning.

            “Wait Mei, where’s Seungcheol?” I asked, seeing that he wasn’t next to us anymore.

            “Ooohhh~ that guuyy~ he want back insideeee~ to get some. Um. I don’t rememberr~ what he saaidd,” she said again, slurring some words that came out of .

            “Ugh, okay. Come on, you need to get something to wash down that drink you drank. Your hangover is going to Mei,” I said as I started leading her inside the house. I dragged her upstairs to her room and helped her get into her bed.

            “Mei~ if you’re not going to change into pajamas, at least take off your shoes and your socks first before you sleep,” I nagged at her while she started getting comfortable under her sheets.

            “Yeah Mom, okay,” she mumbled. I swear. This girl is useless. I don’t even know why I try. I guess her being my best friend was a bad idea. Then she started mumbling again. “_____... argh... Seungcheol… I’m sorry… peer pressure…,” was all that I heard from her. Wait, what? “Seungcheol”? “Peer pressure”? What does she mean?

            I started going back down the stairs to the kitchen to find Seungcheol, barely closing Mei’s room door. Then right when I walked into the kitchen, I still saw the same people making out and each other’s faces off. One of these couples stood out in the room though, being a new addition to the hormonal-crazed teens that aren’t afraid to get STDs or HIVs at the parties they went to. After I glanced at them once, thinking I have no clue who they both are, I start walking again. Wait. What? I take another glance and see that the guy looks familiar and so does the girl. But I barely know anyone here other than Mei and Seungcheol…?

            I got closer to the couple, wondering who they were. Finally, I saw who it was. S-Seungcheol? And… his ex-girlfriend? Myra? What? What’s going on? Oh my god. This. Seungcheol. Then in the middle of my breakdown, Myra peeked open her eyes and made eye contact with me for a split second and closed them again, before smirking into the kiss that her and Seungcheol were sharing.

            “Seungcheol. What the hell are you doing?!” I yelled before tearing up, slamming the door closed, and running away from the house in the backyard. Hearing the door open again and footsteps following me, I start running so that they wouldn’t catch up. Even if it was Seungcheol chasing me, he probably won’t be able to catch up to me in the drunken state he’s in. Finally I reached her backyard fence and search for the gate to the front yard. Right when I found the gate, I heard Seungcheol call me.

            “_____! Wait! Don’t leave, let me explain!” he yelled, sounding as if his buzz from drinking earlier was almost gone.

            But even hearing him made me mad and sad, so I opened the gate and started running towards my house, which was probably half a mile away. But even if my house is far, it’s okay. If I can’t see Seungcheol, I’ll be okay.

            Still hearing him shout after me, I break into a sprint and start J-walking and cutting streets to get to my house quicker. Hoping that he either stopped or slowed down, I start jogging again. How could he even do that to me? Cheat on me like that? I seriously thought he would have known better. I guess I was wrong about him. As I kept thinking about reasons of why that happened and why I believed he wouldn’t cheat on me, I accidentally bump into someone.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” I sniffled.

            “Are you alright?” I heard a soft, soothing voice say.

            “Yeah… I’m fine,” I replied.

            “I’m fine too,” I heard the same voice say again and he chuckled.

            “Huh?” I asked as I looked up to see his face. Hmm. He looks about my age, maybe a year older or so.

            “Well you did run into me, but I’m fine,” he said as he gave me a cheesy smile, making me laugh a bit.

            “Ah, right. I’m sorry about that, again,” I said as I start walking away from him, towards my house.

            “Hey wait. What’s wrong?” I heard him say when he caught up to me.

            “Nothing, I told you I’m fine,” I stated again.

            “I’m pretty sure you’re not. Why did you cry? Pretty girls shouldn’t cry. Even if you do look beautiful when you cry, you shouldn’t show it off.” He then put his arm around my shoulder and started to rub my arm with his hand to soothe me. “Well, you don’t really have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable answering me yet. My name’s Doyoon. And yours?”

            “My name’s _____...” I answered silently.

            “Can you repeat that?” he asked, just to tease me.

            “I said, my name’s ______,” I answered again as I took the arm he wrapped around me off.

            “Oh, well that’s a beautiful name for quite a beautiful lady.”

We then walked around together, still heading towards my house, and talked about random things: food, school, fishes, planes, dreams, clouds, cotton balls, ice cream, colors, and other weird stuff.

“Oh, well I’m almost home now. You know, you didn’t have to walk with me,” I said to Doyoon.

“It’s my pleasure, to be walking with such a charming and pretty girl,” he answered and complimented me. “Plus, I’ll just take you to your door, since my house is around here anyways.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Of course, it’d be rude not to. Plus, maybe I could come and pick you up sometime you know?” he winked, held two thumbs up, did a little jiggle, and then continued to talk, “Well that’s only if you don’t mind. I mean, I don’t you to think I’m a creeper.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I forgot to mention that I have a boyfriend huh…?” I said slowly. Oh hey, we’re approaching my house right now.

“It’s alright~. We can still be friends right?” he said as he showed a big smile and started walking in front of me.

“Here’s my house, we’re almost in the drive way right now. And of course we can!” I said, a little too loud for my own good.

“______?” I heard another familiar voice say. “Is that you?”

Remembering who that voice is, I grab onto Doyoon’s shirt and start tearing up again.

“______? What’s wrong? Who’s that?” Doyoon asked, since he couldn’t see who it was.

“It’s just, um, my boyfriend…” I said quietly.

“_____?! Are you there? Can you please just listen to me?” Seungcheol said again from my patio.

“Oh…. Did you want me to leave then? I’ll go now~” Doyoon whispered.

“No, don’t leave. I think I need to have someone to lean on while I talk with him…” I whispered back.

“Do you want to tell me what happened? It’s okay if you still don’t feel okay talking to me about it,” Doyoon asked again.

“Okay, well. Let me summarize it for you. When we were at my friend’s party, he drank took a shot or two. I don’t really know how many, but he drank with my friend. Then I left to take my friend upstairs since she drank more than she could handle. And when I got back, I saw him kissing his ex-girlfriend in my friend’s kitchen. He always told me he was over his ex, and I thought he was. I believed him. But I knew deep down, he would always get his feelings for her back once he set eyes on her again. I just, well. I just thought he would have known better, having a girlfriend and all… but I guess I was wrong,” I explained to Doyoon. After a while, I heard footsteps come towards us in the driveway coming from my patio near my front door.

“_____, just listen and let me explain okay? I love you.” I heard Seungcheol say, sounding as if he was crying just a moment ago.

“Seungcheol, I have nothing to say to you. So just please, go away and let me be,” I said louder so he could hear me.

“_____,” he said as he stepped into my view. Seeing me, his expression was painful, but right when he saw that a guy was standing right next to me, his expression became stone-hard. “Who is he _____? Huh? Did you already replace me? Did you go around already? Huh?! Did you already find someone better than me?! Did you?!”

Right when he started yelling, Doyoon stood in front of my protectively. “How dare you call her a ? Are you even her boyfriend? Do you even know her? Do you know what her favorite color is? Her favorite food? Do you know what you did to her? Do you know she cried because of you? Do you know that you cheated on her? Huh? Who’s the one at fault? It’s surely not her. So it must be you. Don’t try to blame her just because she’s found standing next to a random guy when you were founding kissing your ex-girlfriend. You don’t have the right to even accuse her of anything.”

“What do you know?!” Seungcheol yelled angrily, taking more steps and getting closer to us.

“More than you! I know that she loved you. That she still does. I know that she cares about you. I know everything, even the things you don’t know! So you need to take that attitude of yours and get rid of it,” Doyoon yelled back.

Just standing behind Doyoon, trying to sink this all in, I started to cry louder, well at least loud enough that they noticed me.

“Baby, don’t cry. I told you, I love you,” I heard Seungcheol say before someone pulled me into a hug.

Then the person giving me a hug got close to my ear and whispered to me, “You’re okay. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you Doyoon,” I whispered back before we got pulled apart by Seungcheol.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing _____?!” he yelled at me.

“Funny. That’s what I said to you when I caught you faces with your ex-girlfriend,” I silently said back to him. “Doyoon thank you so much for the adventure tonight. I think I can handle myself now. Thank you, again. And I’m sorry for bumping into you earlier. I’ll see you later~ okay?”

“I got you _____. Just remember, I’m down the road if anything happens and no problem _____, thank you as well. And it’s okay that you bumped into me, I actually enjoyed tonight as well. Bye bye,” Doyoon smiled at me before walking away.

As I watched him walk away, Seungcheol stood in my point of view. “So what do you want Seungcheol?”

“I want to talk,” he answered and took a step towards me.

“Then talk,” I ordered as he just stared at me.

After a couple minutes passed by, he didn’t say anything. “Hello? Are you going to say anything? No? Okay then. I’m going inside. Bye Seungcheol.”

“Wait!” I heard him say as I turned around to go inside my house.

“What do you want? Say something. Or else I’m going to give up on you…” I said the last part in a whisper, knowing that I’m going to crack soon and start crying again if he keeps staring at me with those depressed eyes.

“Okay… I’m sorry,” he started. “I’m sorry that I cheated on you. I’m sorry that I kissed her. I’m sorry that I overreacted when I saw you with that guy. I’m sorry I called you a . I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for being such a bad boyfriend. I understand if you want to break up with me, but just listen to what happened in the kitchen please?”

“Whatever. I’m listening,” I quickly answer.

“So after you left, Mei quickly handed me that shot and told me to just drink it before you come back. I did as she said, but it was so good that I wanted another… Then before I knew it, I was totally gone. Buzzed from all the shots I had. Now it’s not Mei’s fault, she left after I took two shots to go to the restroom. Then after I think, 17 shots, I got pretty thirsty and Mei came back so I told asked her if there was water here and she told me there was some in the fridge. So I went to back into the house and to the kitchen to look for some water. Then when I finally found it, I turned around and there was Myra. I don’t particularly remember what she was saying, but I remember her telling me that she misses me and my kisses. Then before I knew it she tripped me into a chair and sat on me so I couldn’t get up. After a while, she started kissing me and she wouldn’t stop. All my strength was gone, thanks to the alcohol I drank earlier and I couldn’t stop her, and that’s when you saw me. So like I said, I’m sorry. I truly am ______, I really do love you. I won’t be okay if you don’t want to be with me, but I’ll accept it. What I won’t accept is you not forgiving me though. Please ______, believe me. I’m in love with you and I don’t want to lose you as a girlfriend or a friend,” he finally ended after explaining that all and was closer to me than before.

“So _____, what do you say?” he asks.

“I do love you too. But I’m scared, what if this happens again? I won’t be able to stop my heart from breaking over and over again because of all your silly mistakes Seungcheol. I fear for my happiness because of you. But I really love you, so much, with all of my heart. But you, I just don’t know if I can trust you again and a relationship requires a lot of trust. So will this, us, still work?” I asked him back.

“______, I swear this won’t happen again. I will never drink unless I need to. I will never cheat on you ever again, this is my lesson that I learned from. I will never leave you, because I need you more than you need me. I will never stop loving you. So please, forgive me. And please, don’t leave me,” he said convincingly.

“I have my doubts on trusting you… But you sound really true right now… So I don’t know what to say or do Seungcheol,” I answered.

“Just say okay,” he stated.

“Okay.” I said.

“I love you _____.” Seungcheol repeated.

“You’ve said that.”