Jae Ri POV

Thoughts of confusion was swirling all around. “Oh, but... Taemin-sshi, haven’t you already gotten free ones? If you’ve lost them, you can still-“

“I-I haven’t... got a date,” Taemin started, voice sounding like it would crack any second now, “so aren’t my tickets invalid?”

I felt like I was thrown into a world of even more confusion. Taemin, not having a date, and showing up when I least expected it, while I thought he was in the hall somewhere?

“Well-“ Taemin cut me from my thoughts, “if there’s no tickets selling at the door, then I guess I’ll just...”

“Wait, no! The date thing... I-I wasn’t being serious!” I protested, “Don’t be silly!”

He shrugged and looked at me with such a regretful expression that I immediately regretted the words that came out of my mouth. “I have been really silly, haven’t I?” he asked rhetorically.

I’m at a loss for words, because, really, what could I say? I wasn’t even his friend or anything. This was probably the third time in my life that I had ever talked to him, and it felt like he was going to pour his heart out to me.

He did something that I least expected, and curled up into a fluffy ball next to me. Well – not really a fluffy ball, but he looked like that to me! Loosely hugging his knees while sitting on the floor, against the side of my chair, blonde hair almost touching my hands. I had to repress the urge to pat his head and run my fingers through his hair.

“I don’t want to go in,” he said, soft enough for me to catch his words.

“You... must’ve had a reason why you came here, then.” I replied, just as soft.

“I do, right?” He laughed. “Isn’t it sad to miss my senior prom? And I don’t even have a date... I thought I could come here and have fun and get my... mind off things... but I can’t... every second that I stay here...” He lowered his head, and I couldn’t see his face anymore. And all I wanted to do that moment was to hug him, put my arms around him and tell him that everything was okay, that I was there for him, and to guide him to somewhere else where he could forget whatever that was plaguing him.

But I couldn’t.

Maybe it was because this was only the third time in my life speaking to him, that I knew he wouldn’t go. He wouldn’t come with me. I was barely an acquaintance, and he was too into his own problems to want to come. Taemin seemed to have a self-appointed job to do here, at the prom, that’s why he came. I also had a job. I had responsibilities and schedules tonight. It was impossible.

So, instead, I settled for the next best thing.

Taemin POV

“Come on!” Jae Ri said as she proceeded to try and pull me up. “Let’s go and have fun in the prom – I mean, that’s what tonight is for, right?”

“Oh – but – “ I started saying, confused as she dragged me inside and she started to lock up the door. She cut me off by a finger to her lips, shhh, and dragged me onto the dancefloor where the whole place was dim save for a few dots of coloured light.

“I’ll help you find your friends!” she exclaims over the loud booming music of the stereo, right next to us.  Disgruntled, she dragged me away and looked at me. “Umm, who do you hang with? Key, right?”

I laughed. Of course she would say Key first, even though he was only a new kid.

“Just look for someone with rainbow highlights,” I said, before realization hit me that Key would not being going to the prom with his normal hair. “Or knowing him, even worse!”

She laughed, so infectiously that I started laughing too.

Jung Hye POV

“Kenny! Jenny!” I called and banged on the door for probably what lasted a million song changes, while Jonghyun seemed to be on the floor, looking under the tiny crack under the door.

I stared at Jonghyun before resisting the urge to facepalm. Out of all the fish in the sea, out of all the people I could meet, why did it have to be Jonghyun who came barging into my life?

Not that I was complaining.

“Yah, Jjong, what are you doing?!”

“I’m seeing if there’s anyone out there!”

I contemplated for a moment before trying to get down to his level, despite how hard it was in the prom dress. Sorry Key, I inwardly apologized, I’m going to get this dress on the floor.

Outside, there was just light. But there was nothing. No footsteps, people, or voices.

“Did they leave?!” I asked, shocked. How could Kenny and Jenny possibly leave us here?!

“I don’t know! They haven’t been answering us either!”

At that point, I felt furious with the twins. How could they leave us in here, locked? They knew we had a prom to get to... unless... Key planned for Jonghyun and I to stay here for the entire night just to ourselves.

Not that I would’ve minded. I really did want to stay here with Jonghyun, in an atmosphere where we wouldn’t be interrupted.

But I had things to do, and thinking about making Taemin wait clawed at my heart even more.

I banged at the door again and shouted at the top of my lungs, “HELP!!! SOMEBODY HELP! KENNY! JENNY! KEYYYY! WE NEED TO... I need to... get out...” my voice became softer at the end, as I started thinking about how hopeless it was. How much I didn’t want to face Taemin again.

I felt the warmest pair of arms in the world wrap around my waist and hug me tightly, and I instantly felt Jonghyun’s body heat against my back. He nuzzled the side of his head on mine, lips close to my ear, as he whispered, “It’s okay. Calm, Jung Hye. We’ll get out.”

I tightened my hold on his hand, feeling so secure and calm in Jonghyun’s backhug. For a second, I felt like I could stay here forever, soaked in Jonghyun’s presence and scent, but I knew I couldn’t. So I took his arms away, and tried to turn around-

“OW!” Jonghyun cried out and stepped back, holding desperately onto his eye, his other eye tightly shut and mouth twisted into a painful expression.

Hurriedly, I ran over to him even though I was as heck confused. Did a cockroach fly into his eye or something.

Apparently not, I thought, as he slowly pointed to a pin on my hair.

"...That." Jonghyun choked out, still holding onto his eye.

"Oh." I felt around to the back of my head, and suddenly understood. I giggled a bit before softly patting his eyelid. "Sorry, Jjong. Is it alright?"

"Uhhh," he took his hand away from his eye, and blinked a few times, before tightly shutting his eyes again. "Yeah. Should be... fine. Just need to close them, that's all - stop looking at me like that!"

I blinked, before closing my open mouth which probably shaped my face into a derp face. "Sorry. For ruining the uhh... you know." I said, before turning around in embarrassment. Could I ever stil get used to this? Jonghyun and I? Together?

"AHHHH!" Jonghyun screamed, and I turned around in fright. He was grinning widely, even though he kinda looked stupid with one eye closed and pointed towards my head. "That hair pin! We could use it?!"

I raised my eyebrow. "What? The hair pin that just bashed you in the eye?"

"No, it didn't bash me - well, it poked me, but like... Jung Hye, give me that hair pin?"

"What are you-" I started, before all those memories of Jonghyun before came flooding into my mind. Once, when Jonghyun and I came back from buying groceries, we had accidentally locked ourselves out, and it was only until later when I became angry at him, that he used my earring to fiddle with the lock and unlock the door to our apartment. "...oh."

He grinned. "Get it now?"

I pulled my hair pin, which was surprisingly easy and thanked Kenny for giving me manageable hair, before I narrowed my eyes at Jonghyun. "I don't get it. Why did it take you this long to tell you?"

Jonghyun looked at me, as if a little hurt. "Sorry, Jung Hye... I only just got reminded. Because, you know... I had. Other. Things. In my mind. So."

I sighed and gave him the hair pin. "Oh well. Think we can get out?"

"You bet, partner."

Taemin POV

"Hey, you're really good at dancing, you know?" I giggled - I mean, chuckled as Jae Ri threw me a look of disapproval, mock anger.

"Thanks, seonsaengnim. It means a lot." she said sarcastically, as she adjusted her dance position again and put a hand on my shoulder, where it was before she tripped over my feet, and in no time, she was smiling and humming along with the soft beat.

I suggested that we dance, because as sad and ridiculous as this sounded, we couldn't find any of our friends. There was just too much dancing going on, and too many beats, too much for me to get lost into, so I decided to pull Jae Ri into my world of comfort.

"Ah!" she squealed, as I felt her foot step into mine again, and before she could trip, I pulled her hand and her other hand held onto my shoulder again, maintaining balance. "Aishh, again... I'm sorry Taemin-sshi. Maybe you shouldn't dance with me."

"It's okay," I smiled. "Here, follow after me. Put your hands, one on my shoulder and the other on my waist."

She nodded and followed, and I did too.

"Okay. Here's the basic move. Follow my footsteps with your parallel foot." I stepped my right foot back, and she followed. With every step I made, she made perfect precision to follow.

"Is that... all?" She asked, as we arrived back into our original positions.

"Nope!" I took her hand into mine and lifted it up above my heads. "Now you spin!"

"Uhhh..." she looked around. "What... direction?"

"Whatever direction, and I'll follow you!"

She looked at me unsuredly.

"Don't worry, you won't fall."

With that, she twirled and I twirled with her, when suddenly the both of us lost balance and bumped into someone next to us.

"Ah-" a girl's voice said, as we all regained balance.

"Sorry -" I started, before I realised who was the guy next to her.

"TAEMIN?!"

"KEY-HYUNG?!"

My eyes widened, as I took in to his appearance. Shocking. Absolutely shocking.

It had blown my mind to bits as I realised that Key's hair was black, fringe combed out of the way, and hair the most tame that I had ever seen. His suit was completely black, no colour, no trace of the Fluorescent Adolescent theme.

This could not be Key.

"Sorry, I've mistaken you for someone else, sorry for bumping into-" I started, bowing my head a bit lower before the Key-lookalike pulled me by the arm.

"Taemin, I'm Key."

I looked closer into his features, squinted until I could squint no more.

"You look like hyung. And you have the same voice, too."

Jae Ri POV

"JAE RI?!"

"KRYSTAL?!"

"Aishhh!" Krystal started, before grinning at me. "I thought you ran away for good! C'mon, let's go, I'm tired of dancing with Key. And anyways, he's jsut reunited with his friend. So..."

"Oh," I looked onto Taemin, who was somehow bantering with Key.

Ah. Maybe I should say bye now.

"Pshhh," Key rolled his eyes. "Fluorescent is so last last last season. Nobody's going to look good in anything like that."

"Well I think..." Taemin started, before he eyes travelled to me. He flashed me a small smile before looking at my dress and pointing it out for Key. "That dress looks good, right?"

Before Key could speak or even look at my dress clearly, Krystal snapped, "Keep your snide comments away," and dragged me away.

"That was unnecessary!" I protested as we became well out of sight of those two.

"Trust me Jae Ri, you'll regret it if you stay too long with that bastard. I don't even know why I danced with him. Tch."

I giggled. "I think I do."

---

A/N: Sorry guys for the boring chapter T_T

Dinomyte (me :D) is leaving for China tomorrow morning... I don't know how regularly updates will be from now on! Actually, technically it's today because it's 12:30AM here LMAO I really need to sleep now, but thank you all for reading! <3