Seungwan’s mom was protective but she knew how to let her daughter go and have a good time.  She swung her hips to the beat of the music, sending a smirk across the room to Mark who was desperately clinging onto Suzy.  A dull ache settled in her chest but she did her best to ignore it.  He shook his head at her and thankfully Suzy didn’t notice.  The girl Mark was so smitten with was chattering away to him with an adoring expression on her face.  Seungwan let the ache in her chest expand and settle into her heart.  She abandoned the makeshift dance floor and made her way to the backyard, resting her arms on the railing of the deck.

Whatever, you’re missing out on this hot piece of .  Her thoughts angrily attacked Mark in her mind.

Seungwan hated it.  She hated not being able to capture a guy’s attention and keep it.  Most people assumed she was the one that broke hearts and sometimes that was the case.  She hooked up with guys only to realize she wasn’t interested.  Other times, there were guys that did the same to her.  The problem was that everytime Seungwan was genuinely interested in someone, that person wasn’t interested in her at all.

“What are you doing out here, Seungwan?” Sehun’s voice came from behind her.

“Did Seulgi send you to look after me?” her voice sounded cold and unwelcome, but she couldn’t help it.  She was not very good at expressing herself anyway.

“Maybe I’m here because I genuinely care about you,” he said shuffling beside her.  She could feel his eyes boring into the side of her face.

“Or it could be the fact you want to me.  I’m not in the mood for a lay tonight so you’re out of luck,” Seungwan sighed.

“Why are you always so pissed off when I try to talk to you?” Sehun asked.  

Seungwan shrugged.  She wasn’t about to have a heart to heart with Oh Sehun.  That was weird in its own right.  Seungwan wasn’t at the party to talk about her feelings.  She was there to celebrate Seulgi's first day of therapy.  It had been four months since the day her father had been thrown in jail and though Seungwan could tell it hurt Seulgi, her friend was happier and safer.  Seulgi had said that being abused for years and still being able to function without breaking down too often was an accomplishment in itself.  She'd also given up smoking and drinking to deal with the stress now that she actually trusted them enough to be able to talk about her issues, something that Jongin could be thanked for.  Sooyoung had especially been making sure that Seulgi stayed positive as well.

“Aren’t you supposed to be thirsting after Sooyoung?” Seungwan shot at him.  She’d noticed how much Sehun had been clinging to their mutual friend recently.  

Sehun let out a choked noise.  He’d gotten caught and he was probably coming up with excuses to deny what he’d been doing.  Seungwan scoffed at the panicked look on his face.  He was so predictable and easy to fluster.  

“I’m going home, Sehun.  This party isn’t fun anymore,” she sighed.  “Don't talk to me in school tomorrow.”

Before he could say anything else, Seungwan walked away from him.  She acknowleged Sehun’s courage to talk to her about sensitive topics.  She knew she was a prickly person and extremely hard to talk to.  But in a way she was relieved she didn’t have to talk about her issues, especially not to someone she didn't even get along with.  It was much easier to pretend they didn’t exist.  

Seungwan left the party without looking back.  Looking back only meant she was attached to what was behind her; and she couldn’t let herself do that any longer.  Getting attached only made things hurt more.

Seungwan loved her friends, though they could be nuisances at times.  Especially Seulgi.  She didn’t hate her friend but it seemed as if she was in her own world sometimes.  Seulgi often never noticed what the rest of them were up to or how they felt.  Then again, she couldn’t really blame Seulgi for being like that.  She’d had her own issues to deal with over the years.

Seungwan went to class early and sat down, trying to figure out why she was so miserable these days.  Was it her fault for thinking negatively or was it the fault of everything and everyone making her feel the way she did? Or was it a bit of both?

“So last night Sehun said-" Sooyoung said, sitting in the seat next to her.

“Can we not talk about Sehun?” Seungwan snapped, cutting her off.

Sooyoung rolled her eyes and shrugged.  “Fine.  Then we’re going to talk about my cousin Yerim.  She’s moving back here from Tokyo.”

At this Seungwan perked up.  She’d always liked Yerim and so did the other girls.  It was nice to hear the little brat was coming back.  Sooyoung’s cousin was a year younger than they were.  She would be entering the high school as a freshman if she was going to be coming the same school and chances were, she would be.  There was only one problem with it all.

“Our school year is ending in a month, though,” Seungwan said.

“She’s coming for the summer and she’ll stay for sophomore year but she’ll have to finish out high school back in Japan.  Yeri hates it there,” Sooyoung sighed.

“I’d hate it