rating: G

genre: romance, heavily implied romance, more romance

word count: approx. 1,500+

There she was again tonight; at one of Jinri’s weekly parties she held every Friday. They weren’t wild as most other parties were, but they were still crowded—and uncomfortably, at that. Jinri was always the more social of the two, meeting new people and developing more friendships than Soojung could count on both hands. And while Soojung didn’t mind, what she did mind was being coerced into attending these social gatherings.

It wasn’t that Soojung wasn’t fond of parties. She just didn’t like having to meet new people under the pretense that she was enjoying herself when she, in fact, was not. After a long week in school, the last thing she wanted was to see these people again, even if it were in a different setting. What would they even have to talk about? Not much, Soojung thinks. The girl had very little (if not nothing at all) in common with her classmates; and she wasn’t shallow enough to pretend that she did just because of some party.

She sat in her usual spot. Legs crossed, on the couch, chin propped on the palm of her hand and almond eyes glazed over as she stared vacantly in the distance. Soojung spared a grin or two for some of the people who passed her, but that was it. No salutations, no hello’s or how-are-you’s, just a forced smile that faded as quickly as it came. Jinri often told people that her friend liked to “space out a lot,” but really, Soojung was just counting the minutes to when she’d finally be free from the walls of insincerity built between her and everyone else. (Save for Jinri, of course, but she was such a social butterfly—no walls could possibly contain her.)

With a soft sigh on her lips, Soojung looked around for her friend. Maybe Jinri would let her leave early this time. It’s not like she actually needs me to be here, Soojung thinks.

Standing up, the girl weaved her way between chattering groups of three to four, keeping her head low and eyes on her feet. A couple students almost trampled on her in mid-shuffle on the makeshift dance floor, but Soojung carried herself smoothly, nonetheless.

Upon entering the kitchen, Soojung scowled inwardly, finding no Jinri but seeing enough people to know that she wasn't here. She turned around, eager to look elsewhere until a pair of big dark brown eyes captured her gaze, tethering her feet to the floor and rendering her body still. This particular set of eyes belonged to a boy; a tall boy with darkened skin, high cheekbones, and full lips curled in a bemused grin. He wore the simplest of clothing—jeans, a graphic T-shirt, and the forever classic Chuck Taylors with scuffed tips and dirtied shoelaces—and his hair was a little disheveled, but as a whole, he was no less enchanting.

Soojung gawked at him for what felt like eons, taking in the breadth of his shoulders, the angles of his jaw, the smooth movements of his body as he made his way towards her.

It was safe to assume she had forgotten all about Jinri by this point.

Stopping in front of Soojung, the boy was the first to speak, his voice deep yet smooth. Soojung equated it to soft velvet and sweet honey. (That is, if such objects had a sound, his voice would be it.) “Forgive me if this sounds a little cliché,” he started, “but have we met before?”

His eyes—his beautiful, beautiful eyes—echoed a vague kind of familiarity; but Soojung would know if she’d seen them before. They don’t look like the kind of eyes she would easily forget.

quivered as she spoke. “Don’t think so.” The girl couldn’t even manage three words without threatening to stutter.

The boy shook his head, chuckling as he did. “No, I think I’ve seen you somewhere before,” he insisted.

“If this is an opening to one of those cheesy pick-up lines—don’t. You’ll ruin everything if you do,” Soojung warned with mock seriousness.

“Better quit while I’m ahead then, shouldn’t I? My name’s Kim Jongin,” he said, extending his hand towards her. “Yours?”

“Jung Soojung,” she answered, shaking Jongin’s hand once before forcing herself to let go. The sensation of his skin against hers lingered, their touch leaving a noticeable impression on Soojung’s nerves.

Jongin looked thoughtful as he spoke. “Soojung, huh? Pretty name for a pretty face.”

“Pretty shameless of you for acting so flirtatious towards someone you’ve only just met,” Soojung countered, to which the boy responded with a deep laugh. It seemed as if his eyes smiled with him, curling into warm crescents that showed more than just a surprising aptitude for charm and cordiality.

“Maybe I’m just trying to impress you with my quick wit and appeal,” Jongin said, a glint mischief betraying his otherwise collected appearance.

“It’s difficult to be impressed by the delusional and self-absorbed,” Soojung said with a whisper of a smirk on her face. He sighed.

“You certainly don’t waste any time in rejecting someone, do you?”

“I didn’t know you were offering.”

Jongin frowned, mostly at himself. “So much for trying to be vague and mysterious.”

At that, Soojung laughed. Or perhaps she had meant to; but instead of laughing, she snorted. Jongin raised both his eyebrows at her, and the girl couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. Wanting more than anything to get rid of his attention, she asked, “Do you come to Jinri’s parties often?”

Jongin shook his head. “This is my first time. My friend wanted me to come for moral support, but I lost him while making a bee-line towards the punch bowl.”

“Moral support?”

“It’s a long story,” the boy said dismissively. “How about you? You don’t seem like the kind of person who frequents high school parties.”

“What makes you think that?” Soojung asked.

“You just seem … above it all, I guess,” answered Jongin.

Soojung would have replied if it weren’t for a group of boys stampeding through the kitchen like a herd of wild boars. In the midst of the sudden chaos, one of the boys barreled against Soojung from behind. Having lost her balance, the girl staggered forward; but instead of hitting the kitchen tiles like she anticipated, Soojung found herself caught in Jongin’s arms.

A part of her was thankful for not falling on the floor; but another part of her was stunned by where she fell instead. Being this close to someone came with a mixture of feelings. Though nothing serious was implied, the fact that Soojung’s face was inches away from Jongin’s—so close she could feel his breath against her face—was more than enough to put her heart in overdrive. Her heart palpitated like a newborn bird; flailing helplessly and without effect at first until flapping unevenly and drawing clumsy patterns in the sky.

After shouting a few choice words, Jongin finally looked down on Soojung, his ever-mesmerizing eyes soft and full of concern. It was hard to find that kind of authenticity, Soojung believes. And though she wasn’t entirely sure if it was real, she went on believing it was anyway.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Um. Yeah.” Two syllables was all she could muster—and even that proved to be a challenge for her.

“You know,” started Jongin, “a part of me can’t help but assume that you’d be an exceptional dancer.”

Soojung scoffed as she stood upright. “Do yourself a favor and never rely on that part of you. It couldn’t be any more wrong.”

Jongin cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure? Because that same part of me was getting the feeling that you were starting to like me—” He leaned forward slightly. “—like really like me.”

The easy smile on his face made Soojung feel anything and everything but. Just one look from Jongin made her insides feel funny, light yet heavy all at once. Like her heart was seized and suspended in some kind of limbo, a strange and unfamiliar place Soojung couldn’t hope to identify and couldn’t compare to any other kind of feeling besides being caught in midair. The sudden rush took Soojung by surprise, yet she couldn’t find anything wrong with it. If anything, it felt right and only right.

Not that she was ready to openly admit it, of course.

“I dunno, Jongin,” she said finally. “Your judgment doesn’t seem all too reliable.”

“You never said I was wrong.”

“I never said you were right, either.”

“You are one tough cookie, Jung Soojung.” Jongin looked down at her pensively. “I think that’s what I like most about you.”

At that, Soojung couldn’t help but smile. And that’s all she would do for the rest of the party, on the walk home, and even through the later hours of the night until, finally, she’d fall asleep. Instead of feeling relief over having survived another one of Jinri’s social events, Soojung actually felt rather pleased with herself.

Before parting ways at the end of the party, Jongin had asked Soojung whether or not he’d see her again next week. And, despite her previous reservations, Soojung found herself answering wholeheartedly—

Yes.

author's note: Firstly -- WE'VE PEAKED TWENTY-FIVE DRABBLES, WOOHOO! Secondly --  I dunno if you guys listen to Taylor Swift (I take pride in being at least a casual listener, heh), but I've been meaning to write something inspired by her song "Enchanted" for a long time. I even thought about putting kaistal in some kind of monarchy setting -- with betrothals and everything -- but I didn't feel like doing the research for that so ... my-best-friend's-party is what I settled with xD

Today's update is a bit late because I've been busy this past week. It was my sister's birthday yesterday so I had to prepare for that; and on the same day my friend told me she was going through a hard time with her family. There's also this whole thing with Kris/SM/EXO that's really put a damper on my already-dampered mood. It reminds me a lot of when Hangeng left SJ, and idk, it just brings back a lot of heavy feelings. And people spreading rumors and commenting rude things aren't really helping much. Or, you know, at all.

But anyways, it'd be bad to end this on a sad note. My dad surprised me with twenty dollars today -- at least that's one thing to be happy about :D I also have two weeks left of school, so YEAAAAAAHHHHUUUUHHH. Notice how my a/n today isn't that eloquent LOL. I swear I'm a writer. I wish you all a happy weekend, and I'll see you next Friday! - Ella