The next day went by in a blur. For the first time – perhaps in her life – Yisun was paying absolutely no attention in class, spending the larger part of every lesson doodling in the margin of her notebooks or staring out the window, daydreaming. When Jang-mi commented on her weirdo behavior, Yisun just waved her off saying she was just tired. Her friend could tell that she was obviously smitten, but she wondered why it seemed so much more heightened today than in the last couple of weeks.

“Did something happen??” she asked.

But Yisun shook her head. She felt a little guilty, but she didn’t want to tell her friend about Yoongi’s texts and calls. She thought that if she did, Jang-mi might force her to confess again; or worse, take the situation into her own hands. But part of her wanted to keep the secret to herself, because this – whatever it was – felt like her own little special thing that she didn’t want to share with anyone.

Jang-mi looked at her suspiciously but said nothing.

Yoongi was acting rather strange too. He’d freaked out a group of freshmen earlier that day by apologizing to them after they’d bumped into him in the hallway, and he actually showed up to math class and handed in his homework to the teacher, who stared in shock for a full minute before resuming his lesson.

 In their study session that afternoon, he was unusually quiet, and did the whole review sheet in record time, without any wisecracks, or any cigarette breaks. Yisun was confused, wondering if something had happened, but too afraid to say anything so she just went along with it. She just hoped he would call her again that night.

***

After dinner, Yoongi was taking a walk, hands in his pockets and listening to his iPod. He cut through Shin-Yen park out of habit and was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by what sounded like a loud explosion, followed by an eruption of laughter. He turned to his left and, in the distance, he could see two boys bent over, crying with laughter, pointing at a third one.

“Wae! I was not scared!” exclaimed the boy who stood apart, in a sulky voice.

Yoongi walked over and realized that the trouble-makers were indeed his good friends, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

“You squealed like a little girl!!” Jongkook cried with laughter, holding on to V’s shoulder because he was laughing so hard.

“I did not!!” argued Jimin, but his cheeks went bright red in shame.

“What are you idiots up to now?” asked Yoongi, having walked over without them noticing.

“Oh, yo, Suga! What’s up” called Jimin, exchanging a little “bro-code-handshake” with his friend.

“Oh, Jimin got these fireworks from his brother, but V thought it would be funnier if we tried lighting them up in the trash can…”

Suga turned to see the metal trash can that had flown a little way away, all blackened and bent up and looking like it had imploded. He shook his head.

“Someone’s gonna call the cops, you idiots” he scolded them.

V just shrugged, “we’re off to to Ji-Eun’s party anyways.”

“Who’s Ji-Eun?” asked Suga, not recognizing the name.

“Doesn’t she go to your school, hyung?” asked Jungkook, in surprise.

“Yeah, “ V butted in, “She and her friends are like the hottest girls at your school man. You must know.”

“Aaahh… Kang Ji-Eun?” said Yoongi, recognition dawning upon him. “Why are we invited though?”

“They showed up at my party last week” grinned the light-haired boy, flashing a mouth full of teeth.

“And now her parents are out of town for a while…” Jimin wriggled his eyebrows and gave him a knowing look.

Yoongi smiled, shaking his head in a big-brotherly way. “Well you guys have fun then”

“What do you mean ‘you guys’, ” said V in a no-nonsense voice, suddenly showing up at this side and grabbing his arm. “You’re coming too”.

***

Yoongi knew Kang Ji-Eun by name only. Yes, she went to his school but they had never interacted together up to this point. She was one of a group of popular senior girls, and was famous for having a great body and only dating older guys. Tons of schoolboys confessed to her every year, but she rejected them all with a flick of her finger. She was usually flanked by her two sidekicks, Do Min-Ji and Kim Yuna, who – although both fairly popular in their own right - seemed to relish their roles as both her shields and pet servants. She was also one of the rich kids in school, so he was unsurprised when they showed up to her place and it ended up being 3 times the size of his own house.

It was a pretty and short red-head with a dimpled smile who opened the door when they rang the doorbell, and she squealed excitedly at the sight of them. “Oh, V! You brought him! Yay!” she smiled and excitedly ruffled Jungkook’s black hair before dragging him inside by the arm.

“Nice to see you too, Yuna” mumbled V, following them inside.

Yoongi laughed, “At least now I understand how you guys got invited.” If Ji-Eun was known for dating college boys, Yuna on the other hand was famous for liking baby-faced underclassmen.

They walked into the living room where most people seemed to be mingling. The place was packed with high school and college kids, chatting, laughing, dancing, and getting drunk. Music was playing, and Yoongi noticed with admiration that there was a guy in the corner DJ-ing on an actual turn-table. They made their way to the “bar” (a long table set up under the window with a selection of beer, hard liquor, and an assortment of plastic glasses) and poured himself some beer into a cup.

Jimin went off within 5 minutes with a girl who’d been sending him y glances from across the room, and V bounced off a few minutes later after hearing a song he liked come on. Suga just stood in the corner, quietly laughing at his friend dance and sipping his beer. He looked at his watch, and frowned when he saw that it was already 11:18pm. Still early for a house party, but a bit late for a nightly chat with a goody-two-shoes high school girl. He looked around the room, having lost sight of all 3 of his friends. He wondered if any of them would notice if he just took off.

He had pretty much made up his mind to just leave when he heard someone call his name.

“Hey Suga”

He turned to see a pretty girl with a round black bob and y, heavily-eyelined eyes smirking at him playfully. She’d said his nickname like “Sugaaahh”, drawing it out like it was something ual.

“Oh hey. Have we met?” he asked her, innocently.

She pouted, but it looked a bit ridiculous on her since she was too y to pull off the “cute” look. “Well not technically… but we go to the same school. Don’t you know who I am?”

“Do Min-Ji” he said her name. Of course he knew who she was. Second hottest girl in school, and their gracious host’s number one lackey.

“Oooh…” she clapped her hands, trying to look girly, but her flirting was not having exactly the desired effect. Yoongi wasn’t even looking at her anymore. “Not enjoying the party?” she asked him, causing his attention to return.

“It’s ok” he shrugged.

“We could go somewhere else…” she let her sentence hang, giving him a suggestive look.

He stared at her for a moment.

“Actually, I have somewhere I need to be” he said suddenly, handing her his cup and walking away.

Min-Ji just stood there dumbfounded. “what the…” she mumbled.

“Yah! Min Yoongi!!” she cried out after him, causing a few people to turn around, but he’d already reached the door so she just threw his cup to the ground and stormed off.

*

Outside, the cold air on his face made Yoongi feel better. He walked silently until he’d reached the park where the exploded trash can still lay discarded in a corner, and sat down on one of the swings.  He swung himself a few times and then let himself drift until the swing came to a stop again. He looked at his phone. It was almost midnight. He wanted to call her but it was too late.

“Uuurgh!” he grabbed his head in frustration, “Min Yoongi, what are you DOING?!?” he shouted, his voice echoing in the sleepy night. He sighed.

Then he dialed Yisun’s number.