The garden transformed into an elegant dance hall. Not anymore hip hop tune can be heard, it was slow and soothing sounds. The lights around complimented the darkness of the night. The stars glittered in the sky. People around were dressed formally.

“Wow! So this is the real party?” Dara uttered.

Young Bae smiled at her. “Did you like it?”

She nodded. “Where’s Jiyong oppa by the way? I can’t find him.”

“He’s just around. Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends.” He put his arms around Dara’s shoulders and led her towards a group of boys and girls. Dara who felt a little discomfort with his arms, just smiled timidly at him.

He introduced her to his friends. After a while of talking, Dara felt at ease with them. The group wasn’t intimidating. She comfortably chatted with them like her buddies. Young Bae left her for a while and entertained some of his visitors.  

“I thought you’re Young Bae’s girl friend.” One of the boys said.

“Oh, no. I’m a friend of his friend. Actually, I just meet him.” She comfortably relayed.

“Young Bae’s circles of friends are really gook looking!” The other guy said.

“Yes of course!” The girl with a curly hair said.

All of them agreed and that brought laughter from the group. Young Bae went back a little later then excused Dara to the group.

“See you around, Dara!” Her new buddies told.

While TOP was busy chatting to a pretty girl, someone caught his attention. He noticed Young Bae with a familiar girl. He’s not sure of who it was but he’s sure that he knew her. He excused himself to the girl and waved at his friend. When they were nearing, he realized it was Dara.

“Wow! Dara … You’re gorgeous! Is that really you?”

“Yah, TOP! I told you already.” Young Bae reminded him.

“I’m not doing anything, man. Who would’ve not praise a stunning lady like Dara?” He smiled at Dara and that earned him a watchful look from Young Bae.

“Alright, I haven’t seen Jiyong. I just go check on him inside. I’ll leave Dara with you.”

“It’s a pleasure, bro!” TOP grinned widely. Young Bae went inside the house and looked for his friend.

Jiyong knocked on Dara’s room but there was no answer. He knocked again, still no response. He turned the knob thinking that she slept. When he was inside, he found out that she wasn’t there anymore. He scratched his head. He wondered on where she went. Her phone was on the bed. Her geek glass was on the table near the mirror.

He was wearing a suit. It was delivered to his room while he was asleep. He doesn’t want to wear it too but there was a note attached from Young Bae. Of course he doesn’t want to disappoint his best friend so he wore it.

He headed downstairs. The party was currently going in the garden. He was surprised to see their old friends. He cursed under his breath on why Young Bae didn’t wake him up earlier.

He scanned his eyes around. TOP was standing near the fountain. He was talking to a girl. Jiyong shook his head. Young Bae was nowhere to be found. It was supposed to be his birthday but where did he went.

It was dim outside. While on his way outside, he bumped into someone. It was none other than his best friend, Young Bae.

“Hey, bro! Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you.” Young Bae asked.

“I just got up from bed. Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” He uttered with a little complain in his voice.

“Blame that on me … but have you seen Dara already?” Young Bae asked him with excitement in his voice.

“No. I checked her room but she wasn’t there. She must have sneaked away.”

Young Bae smiled. “Go ask TOP over there, he must have seen her.”

“Thanks bro. OH, Happy birth day again!” He then walked towards TOP.

While on his way to TOP, he tried to look around trying to find Dara’s silhouette. NO glimpse of her around. When he reached his destination, the taller guy was smiling at him from ear to ear. There was something in his eyes that made him wonder.

“Jiyong, where have you been? Young Bae was looking for you.”

“Oh, we met inside. Have you seen Dara?” He asked. He got no idea that the pretty lady beside his friend was the Dara he was looking for.

“Missed your girl already?”

Jiyong didn’t answer. He showed a smile instead. Dara felt his presence and turned to him.

“Hi, oppa! Were you looking for me?”

It seemed like the whole world stopped. He froze from his spot. A goddess was standing in front of him, smiling and even called her oppa. He can’t believe his eyes that the girl was Dara. He blinked trying to recess himself from a sweet dream. His mouth slightly parted. He never imagined her to be that attractive.

“Uh, … uhm ---y-yeah.” Jiyong stuttered. His mind went blank for a while but after few seconds he regained his self.

“S-so you’re already here. I knocked in your room but you weren’t there anymore. I thought you ran away.” Jiyong casually said.

“Yah, Jiyong! Don’t you have eyes?” TOP interfered. Jiyong pretended like he doesn’t know what he meant. He looked at his friend naively.

“Why? Is something wrong here?”

“Come on, dude. Look at Dara! She looked wonderful tonight.”

“Oh! About that? Well, ….” Jiyong turned his gape to Dara. He looked at her as if examining her from head to toe. He twitched his lips but the fact was he was just giving himself an ample time to stare at the beautiful creature in front of him. Somehow, Dara felt conscious about that.

“Oppa, I felt like melting with your stares.”

TOP chuckled on how his friend reacted. He already knew from the start that Jiyong developed a feeling towards his playmate/enemy. Based from his stories before, it was evident that he was missing her that’s why he kept on including her in every conversation they had.

A light tap on the shoulders returned Jiyong to the real world. “Can I borrow Dara for a while?”

“O-of course!” He smiled to Young Bae who was now holding Dara’s arms.

Young Bae led Dara to the middle of the garden. A sweet melody played then. When they were in the middle of the dance floor, he held Dara’s hands and placed it on his shoulders. She went stiff for like a second but Young Bae guided her. He put his hands on Dara’s waist and that sent a voltage of electricity to her veins.

“Are you nervous?” Young Bae asked in a whisper like tone. Their faces were just inches away from each other.

“A little.” Dara tried to answer him but not looking at him straight. All eyes were on them. She doesn’t know but she felt awkward about the situation.

The music ended. A loud applause was heard from the crowd. Dara scanned her eyes only to see smiling faces of the people around. Her eyes darted on Jiyong’s spot. He was there, watching them with something in his eyes. He wasn’t smiling.

“Oh, sorry about this. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just want to share the dance floor with a beautiful lady on my birthday. I know you’re not used to this. I’ll apologize to Jiyong later.” Young Bae said.

“No, you don’t have to do that. It’s okay and besides it’s your birthday. You can do whatever you want as long you’re not stepping into other’s shoes.” Dara smiled at him.

Young Bae brought Dara back to where Jiyong and TOP were standing.

“Sorry bro, I stole your chance to be her first dance.” He apologized to Jiyong.

Jiyong feigned a smile and suppressed himself not to show any sign of jealousy over his friend. “Not a big deal to me. It’s your birthday.”

TOP who was just observing at their side can’t help but smile to his self on how his friends acted like nothing was wrong. He faked a coughed and that caught their attention. “Well, since its okay with Jiyong … Can I ask Dara for a dance too?” He wanted to laugh it out loud. Jiyong’s expression was priceless when he asked Dara for a dance.

“No!” Young Bae and Jiyong disagreed in unison.

“You two are selfish. Why don’t you let Dara decide for herself? I’ll be dancing with her and not the two of you.” TOP added rationally.

“It’s fine with me. Come on, TOP let’s dance. Don’t mind them.” Dara voiced out that gained a meaningful gape from the two. She stuck out her tongue to them then proceeded to the dance floor.

Jiyong and Young Bae were left in the corner. The latter gave his friend an apologetic look. “Sorry about it, bro. TOP is hard to resist sometimes. I’m the one to be blamed coz I started it.”

“I told it’s not a big deal. She’s pretty. Who would’ve not be tempt to invite her for a dance? She’s irresistible.” Jiyong uttered.

“She’s beautiful.”

“I know right.”

The sweet melody was about to end. TOP and Dara were comfortably chatting with each other while in the middle of the dance floor. Young Bae patted Jiyong’s back and tipped his head towards their direction. With that, he gathered his guts then proceeded to distract the two.

“May I have this next dance?” Jiyong appeared in front of them. TOP looked at him with a sign of approval. He smiled and turned her over to him.

Dara and Jiyong were left in the middle. There was silence and a bit of awkwardness between them. No one spoke. Dara can’t seem to look at him straight in the eyes. Jiyong felt the same way too. There was like a century of silence. Then, the music started to play. Jiyong stepped closer towards her. He gently held her by the waist. Like an automatic response, she placed her hands over his shoulders. There was a little discomfort at first but it all disappeared when they started to sway with the melody. Jiyong can smell her sweet scent. And that made him to wrap his arms around her.

Dara on the other hand, seemed to be lost in her own world. The sensation of their skinship sent shiver down her spine. It was like she got no energy at all. All she ever wanted was to just stay like that forever. She felt like if Jiyong will let go of her, she’ll just drop there literally.

She closed her eyes, carving the blissful moment into her memory. She breathed in his scent and that made her lost her sane mind. Without her noticing, she was already leaning her head on his chest.

A much louder applause was heard from the crowd. It was then that they realized, they were the only pair left in the middle. Dara blushed. Her face was totally red. Jiyong too was in daze. They weren’t aware that they stayed there for a long time already.

“It’s okay. Don’t mind them.” He held her hands and exited the dance area. Young Bae and TOP greeted them with satisfaction in their eyes. They were changing glances and smiling at each other from time to time.

“I’m hungry.” Jiyong drifted the topic.

“Me too.” Dara seconded.

“Let’s go eat then.” Young Bae winked at TOP. The latter gave him a two thumbs up.

The four of them shared the table for the second time. The friendship they had became closer and stronger. Dara who was new to the group, enjoyed their company. She easily felt at ease with the two. They didn’t mentioned what had happened a while ago.

For Dara, it was the most unforgettable moment of her life.

It was almost midnight. Some of Young Bae’s friends left already. He excused himself from his friends and thanked his visitors. After less than an hour, he was back. Only the four of them were left.

“Let’s just call it a night.” TOP said.

“Yeah, the party is over. Thanks to you guys. I had fun.” Young Bae spoke.

“Anytime bro.” Jiyong hugged him.

TOP yawned and bid goodbye to them. He headed to his room first. Young Bae walked the two towards their room before heading to his.

Upon entering her room, Dara stretched her arms. Few seconds later, she heard a knock. She turned to the door and opened it. It was Jiyong.

“Oppa, you forgot something?”

Without a word, Jiyong cupped her face and planted a kiss on her lips.

“I may not be your first dance but I’ll make sure that I’m your first kiss. Good night, Darong.”

Dara stood frozen in her spot.