“It’s party day!”

Jongwoon greeted Yuri in the morning as she came out from her room, at the same time as he did, and they hugged in the living room. The house was a single-floor bungalow, paid for by both Jongwoon and Yuri’s parents.

“Aren’t you excited?”

“Too excited for words to form!”

“Tonight is going to be the best night ever!”

=

Kyuhyun prepared a cup of hot chocolate and found his comfy side of the sofa in his living room. Taking a self-help book from under his coffee table, he proceeded to make himself cozy while enjoying the book and the chocolate.

He will stay like this for the night.

“They can have fun at the party without me.”

=

Hyoyeon had wanted to head to the party with Hyukjae, but then Stephanie and Taeyeon came up with sorry excuses to get Hyoyeon to go with them.

“Okay, seriously, I’m not allowed to go with my boyfriend, but I have to you guys instead?”

Stephanie stood on Hyoyeon’s right, and Taeyeon on the left. They nodded simultaneously.

“What a drastic change. I was supposed to be escorted by my man, and I have to you two silly girls instead.”

Both guffawed from each side. Oh, if only they had known that both were going. One would have backed out, after all.

Silly girls, indeed. Silly enough not to know what each other was thinking.

=

Hyukjae was at Siwon’s front porch, ready to head to the party with him. He reasoned it out with Siwon, saying that his girlfriend was going to go with her friends, so he had to go with his friends.

“Then what about Donghae?”

“Speaking of Donghae, I found two girls in his house yesterday. I think he’s getting on fine without us.”

Siwon raised his brows. “Two girls? And a guy?” Then he caught sight of Hyukjae’s grin and rolled his eyes. “You sick bastard.”

=

Krystal peeked out the window as she waited for the right time to strike. Jessica was in the shower, and the three-hour countdown was ending soon.

“Alright, so this is how it goes. When Donghae is about to leave, I’ll stop him, then get Jessica to dress up for the party she still doesn’t know she has to attend, then they can go together.”

She saw Donghae getting ready to leave and hurriedly hopped out the door. “Hey, Mickey!”

Donghae stopped short and stared at her. “…you so fine, you so fine you blow my mind?”

Krystal threw a pebble on the road outside at him. “Not the song, your shirt.”

Donghae looked at his shirt and saw a Mickey Mouse embroidered right smack in the center. Great, so he picked out an old shirt again. “Oh.”

“Okay, here’s the plan: you go change, and when you come out, Jessica will be here, and you’re going to take her to the party. You got it?”

Donghae didn’t quite catch anything Krystal said, given that she had let loose her barrage of words in one quick breath. He tilted his head and gave a guttural sound of affirmation and Krystal rolled her eyes, then shoved him back into his house.

=

Jessica slid out of the bathroom in nothing but a pink bathrobe, and saw Krystal waiting for her on her bed. She screamed. “You really have to ask forpermission!”

“And you really have to stop screaming like a bloody dolphin.”

“What are you doing in here? And—I’m , for God’s sake!”

“Okay, explain to me what I cannot see on your body, what you have that I do not have. We both have s, so what’s your issue?!”

“…Fine! But why are you here?!”

“I, um, sort-of-kind-of forgot that Fany had to pass a message to you. There’s a party going on and she’s sent the details to you in a text message. Which I opened for you and forgot to tell you about.”

Jessica almost screamed again, until Krystal leaped forward and clasped her hand on it. “Stop. Calm down, because all you have to do now is to get dressed, and head out.”

=

Donghae changed into his best shirt, that wasn’t really the best anyway given that Krystal sneered when she saw it. “Yeah, you need a makeover, but I’m not going to give it to you. Alright, stand here and wait, she’ll be done soon.”

Donghae kicked the gravel on his lawn as he waited for the love of his life to appear. When she did, Krystal was with her.

“Alright, have fun, bye-bye! Oh, look, how nice, Donghae is here to bring you to the party! How sweet, he must’ve not wanted you to get lost somewhere. Alright, now, have fun, have a lot of fun, bye-bye!” The younger one shoved the older one out the doorway, almost causing her to flip and do a somersault in her own lawn. His eyes widened, and then she caught herself carefully.

“Well, I am a cheerleader, after all.” Jessica smiled and her eyes twinkled under the evening sun. He smiled back, but his insides were mush.

Krystal winked at Donghae without letting Jessica see anything, and shut the door, until Jessica leaped back and stopped her. “Wait!”

“What now?!”

“I have to grab something.”

Donghae waited patiently as Jessica re-emerged with a piece of denim clothing in her hands. He recognized it from two days ago and suppressed the oncoming giggles.

“Since you’re taking me to the party, I decided that I should return this to you,” Jessica explained, extending her hands with the jacket in her grasp.

Krystal did her wink again, and shut the door this time for real. Donghae stammered. “Ah, you, you can keep this, it’s okay.” Then he gestured to himself. “Plus, I already have outerwear on me.”

Jessica scanned his outfit from head to toe and saw that he was clad in a checkered flannel shirt with a nice, figure-hugging white tee inside, plus a pair of black jeans and a pair of dark deck shoes. He blushed and she grinned, flashing a thumbs-up sign. “You actually know how to dress up. Not bad! At least, no Mickey Mouse shirts or stuff like that.”

He blushed further and wondered if Krystal was a psychic. “I, uh, I think you can have the jacket. I mean, it fits your outfit.”

They both shared a look, and then he finally got a good look at her outfit. A white romper, a pair of pink shorts and a pair of red flats. He shrugged. “Well, itmight fit.”

=

Jongwoon looked around his living room. The whole place had been done up by him and Yuri, and now, they were getting right into the mood.

When the doorbell rung, Yuri was the one who went to fetch the guests. The first ones who arrived were Hyoyeon, Stephanie and Taeyeon, then closely followed by Siwon and Hyukjae.

Everyone took a seat in the middle of the living room, forming a circle. Jongwoon helped to set the pizzas in the middle of the circle, making sure that everyone could grab a slice.

“Is anyone else coming?”

“Uh… Donghae and Jessica should be here anytime.”

“Kyuhyun?”

“He’s not coming. He said he, uh, didn’t want to.”

“Oh.”

And finally, Donghae and Jessica arrived, to find the whole gang staring at them through either puzzled or curious or mischievous eyes. They settled down, Jessica next to Stephanie and Donghae next to Hyukjae. They were thus on opposite ends of the circle.

Jongwoon turned off the lights, eliciting a muffled scream (muffled by Stephanie, no doubt) from Jessica. Yuri crawled into the middle and lit a candle. Then Jongwoon lit several other candles in the living room and a dim lamp.

Siwon squinted. “Um… What is this?”

Jongwoon settled down next to him with Yuri. “Just a little something we planned.”

Yuri made herself at home. Well, she was at home. “This is our party. Let’s get it started!”

=

An hour later, a bit of chat had taken place, and a lot of pizza had been consumed. Hyukjae was downing his third bottle of soda, to Hyoyeon’s chagrin. He gave a grand burp that Jongwoon applauded for, and then resumed his speech. “So, as I was saying, that burger was so huge, but I tried to stuff it into my mouth, right? Then…”

Yuri and Taeyeon were discussing the latest Hollywood gossip, and they got to searching up pictures of hot male stars on their cellphones and squealing like there was no tomorrow.

Donghae, Jessica, Stephanie and Siwon were just chilling by the empty pizza boxes. They were advocates of quietness, it seemed like. Siwon tried to start a conversation with some small talk. “So, uh, how you guys doing?”

The other three looked up a bit too abruptly. Stephanie smiled. “Just great. This party is…” Then she noticed that everyone was split up having fun in different areas. “…Great. This party is great.”

Jessica nodded along. “Yeah. It’s cozy for me.”

Donghae followed suit. “Yeah, cozy.”

Just as Siwon grimaced and tried to rid the awkwardness in the conversation, he heard resounding claps coming from the other end of the room. Jongwoon had stood up, gathering all their attention back again. “Hear me, hear me!”

Everyone twisted around to face him. Yuri got up and grabbed something from the storeroom, and Jongwoon thanked her. “Alright, everyone!” He took the unidentified object from the returning Yuri’s hands, and waved it in the dim lighting. No one could make out what it was supposed to be. He cleared his throat and put on a menacing look. “I want to play a game.”

Hyukjae pointed an empty soda bottle at him, the accusation dripping from his voice. “We’re in the next installment of Saw, aren’t we?!”

Jongwoon flinched and jumped back, almost crushing Siwon in the process. “No! I just want to play a game!” He sat down in the middle again and put the object in the middle of all of them. The empty pizza boxes were cleared by Donghae, who put them to the side. When he came back, he saw that the object was actually a glass bottle.

“Now, this game is very simple.” Yuri took over the job of speaking now. “Basically, we’ll be playing Truth or Dare.”

The very mention of the game put a grim look on Stephanie’s face that went unnoticed.

“But it’s not really Truth or Dare, because it’s our version of Truth or Dare. So it’s a bit like an un-Truth-or-Dare version of Truth or Dare!”

Hyukjae bit his thumb. “You lost me at ‘but’.”

Hyoyeon smashed his face in. “Continue, Yuri.”

“Okay, um, basically… The bottle mouth and the bottle base will point at two people at any one time. So the rule is that whether it’s a Truth or a Dare turn, the two people must be involved as either the prey or the predator. Typically, Jongwoon and I play it with the bottle mouth’s target as the prey.”

Jongwoon smiled proudly at her. “You go, girl!” He leaned forward and put on his menacing look again, prompting Hyukjae to pick up the empty soda bottle. “Okay, here’s the catch: we won’t be giving you a choice of Truth or Dare. Instead, it’ll alternate. If the first spin is a Truth turn, then the second spin will be a Dare turn. You got it?”

Hyukjae put down the bottle. “You lost me at ‘okay’.”

Hyoyeon smashed his face in again.

=

The bottle was spun for the very first time. The gang had all moved in closer to form a more functional circle, and the bottle found its way to Siwon and Jessica, who sat opposite each other now.

Jessica was the prey, so Siwon had to be the predator.

“It’s a Truth turn, now, right?” Jessica asked.

Everyone nodded. “Alright. Siwon, you can ask me a question. Any question.”

Siwon cleared his throat and leaned forward. “Okay. Here goes. Are you in love with anyone right now?”

Everyone mock-gasped, while Stephanie gaped. She didn’t quite like how both Siwon and Kyuhyun had to go the same way during Truth or Dare.

Jessica blushed and giggled. “Actually, I kinda am…”

They heard a shatter, but Jongwoon, Yuri and Jessica were the only ones who didn’t know that it was Donghae’s heart.

“I… Kinda dig Daniel Henney.”

Yuri and Taeyeon high-fived Jessica. Donghae breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. “Yeah, he’s kinda hot!” He added, just for reassurance’s sake. It got everyone staring at him. “Um…”

“Okay, next! Jessica, spin the bottle.”

=

Kyuhyun tousled his hair up. He had to admit that he was getting very curious about the party’s progress. So curious that he was this close to picking up his phone to text Hyukjae and ask about the party.

No, he couldn’t. He steeled himself up and went back to the book.

This was his third time reading through the same self-help book.

=

The second spun put the Dare on Jongwoon and Yuri. Jongwoon was the prey, so Yuri was the predator.

“Ooh, this gon’ be good!” Hyoyeon leaned in, her curiosity burning at her eyes.

Yuri gave an evil laughter and Jongwoon laughed. “This precious girl can’t do anything evil, except that laughter.”

She snarled then, the sudden change surprising Jongwoon. “But maybe today she might.”

Yuri picked up a pack of chili sauce from the pizza delivery earlier on and passed it to Jongwoon. “I dare you to finish this pack just like that.”

Hyukjae laughed at the gravity, or rather the lack of gravity, of the dare. “Really? No wonder he said you can’t do anything evil.”

But then he caught Jongwoon’s look of horror and arched a brow. “Eh?”

Yuri giggled. “He’s scared of hot stuff.”

Hyukjae laughed. “Then wouldn’t he be scared of y—“

Hyoyeon glared.

“…of—of my girlfriend?”

Siwon stifled his chuckle. Poor Hyukjae.

“Okay, uh,” Hyukjae stammered, “um, uh, Jongwoon! Get that chili in your trap!”

So Jongwoon devoured the chili pack in one swift blow.

=

Kyuhyun kicked his feet up on the table and finished up the very last bit of his hot chocolate. He felt oddly at peace right now.

=

The third spin was done by a shaky Jongwoon, who was downing his fifteenth cup of water. The spin found its way to Hyukjae and Stephanie.

Hyoyeon sneered. “Hyukjae can’t ask any good question.”

Stephanie tilted her head as Hyukjae thought hard for a good question.

And he did. “Ah, I got this. I remember when we first met, it was you and Hyoyeon and Taeyeon, against me, Siwon, Kyuhyun and Donghae. So… I just wanted to know, amongst the four of us, who were you interested in at first?”

Stephanie stared. “At first?”

Hyukjae nodded enthusiastically. Taeyeon bit her lip. Siwon tried to act nonchalant.

“On our first meeting… I was interested in you.” She pointed.

Everyone followed the direction of her finger, expecting her to point at Siwon, but instead, she pointed it at Hyukjae.

Taeyeon and Siwon shared a look. Was Stephanie telling the truth or was she trying to divert attention from her crush on Siwon?

Hyoyeon stared at her with just the widest eyes ever.

Hyukjae jumped back. “Me?”

Stephanie looked at Siwon and then at Hyukjae again. “Yeah. You were the one who reached out first. I just thought you were kind of cute.”

Hyoyeon guffawed. “That’s kind of true, you were kind of cute,” she squeaked, a little too strained and a little too weakly.

Hyukjae ruffled up his hair. “Oh, man, Hyo—“

Hyoyeon did a ‘stop’ gesture. “No, no, I’m fine, I really am.”

Stephanie leaned forward to look at her. “Really? Because—“

“Come on, guys! It’s just a game. Let’s not get worked up because of this. Besides, it’s Truth or Dare—who plays Truth or Dare without telling the truth?”

Jongwoon raised his hand. “Only losers do!”

“Exactly,” Hyoyeon agreed.

=

Kyuhyun picked up his phone and decided against texting Hyukjae.

No one said he couldn’t text Donghae, though.

=

The fourth spin took everyone by surprise because once again, it was Stephanie and Hyukjae’s turn.

But this was a Dare turn, and both turned to Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon shrugged. “Why, do you guys want me to come up with a dare? Because I have nothing.”

Yuri snapped her fingers from beside Hyoyeon, making her flinch a bit. Then she dug into her pockets and pulled out a wad of paper. “Here you go!”

“What’s this?”

“A bunch of dares Jongwoon and I came up with last night.”

“Ooh,” Hyoyeon took everything in with newly sparked curiosity. She flipped the first piece of paper open to find a dare scribbled in pink. “Oh. Wow. You must have had a lot of fun with Jongwoon.”

Hyukjae tried to sneak a peek, but got swatted away by a nonplussed Hyoyeon. “No peeking! Alright, this is going to be good…”

Stephanie and Hyukjae shared a look and suddenly, they knew things were not going to be good.

“This dare entails the two of you going into that storeroom,” she pointed, “and making out for seven minutes.”