THE TRANSFER STUDENT

The Party, Pt. 5

"I thought you weren't feeling well!" Hoseok swung an arm around Byulyi's shoulder as he guided her to the living room where everyone was seated at. "But since you're here... you must feel better?"

"Well, yeah-" Byulyi smiled at Hoseok. "Thanks for inviting me..."

Byulyi's voice trailed off when she spotted the person "she didn't want to see the most as she stepped into the living room - it was Seokjin.

"I thought you said he wasn't coming?" Byulyi said, just loud enough for Hoseok to hear.

"Who? Oh- Seokjin?" Hoseok glanced at Seokjin, before whispering back. "Oh, he told me he wasn't coming yesterday. I told him he had no choice but to come, but I didn't think he'd have taken me seriously. But he ended up coming."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?" Hoseok frowned. "Did something really happen between the two of you?"

"No, we-"

"Nothing?" A smile spread across Hoseok's face. "Then that's good."

He pulled Byulyi by the wrist, dragging her over to sit next to him and that spot... happened to be right next to Seokjin.

"The more the merrier, ya?" Hoseok grinned at his friends. "Wait, give me a second. I need to top up these glasses."

Seokjin stiffened up as he saw Byulyi walking towards him. To his left, was Jisoo. Now, to his right, taking her seat, was Byulyi. Byulyi was obviously avoiding eye contact with him and by the looks of the way she was mumbling to Hoseok earlier... she probably wasn't happy he was here. He glanced to his left. Jisoo's face was blank - completely unreadable.

How was he going to settle this?

"Alright! That's done," Hoseok rubbed his hands excitedly. "Let's continue from where we left off. Taehyung! You answered the last question, do you wanna spin the bottle?"

Taehyung was almost relieved that Hoseok had called him to do it, because after he had did what he had done, it was as if he didn't know how to act anymore. He didn't know what to do with his hands, he didn't know how to control his facial expressions, he didn't even know where to look. Urgh.

"Sure," Taehyung smiled, almost too eager to spin the bottle.

Everyone watched intently as the bottle spun a few rounds, slowing down after each round before coming to a steady stop.

"Ah!" Hoseok exclaimed. "Byulyi! Wow, what luck."

"Wait," Byulyi said with her that low unique voice of hers. "What am I supposed to do?"

Her voice jolted Seokjin's memory of what had happened yesterday in the storeroom. How they were pressed so closely against each other, how one minor jerk forward and his lips would have been pressed against hers-

He felt his cheeks begin to burn up, and stopped himself.

"Oh-" Hoseok laughed. "Right, I forgot to explain. Basically when the bottle points to you, you either answer the question given to you or drink up."

"And that is real alcohol?"

"Duh," Hoseok laughed. "You're legal already, aren't you? You're one year older than some of these babies here. You can drink."

"Yeah, but-" Byulyi hesitated. "I don't wanna play."

"No, you must-" Hoseok winked at her. "Plus, it's your turn. It's a compulsory game. Look - even Yoongi who's half asleep is playing."

Byulyi peered over at Yoongi, who looked like he was barely conscious. "Okay, fine."

"Right, then," Hoseok smiled. "Anyone wanna ask our newcomer a question?"

Seokjin felt his heart hammer against his chest, for no known reason. He suddenly became conscious of how close he was sitting, to both his girlfriend ans the girl he almost cheated on her with. Why was he tensing up when Byulyi was the one being asked the question?

"Byulyi," Daniel spoke up. "You know how you've been really really close to Seokjin right-"

Uh, oh. There it was.

"Out of sheer curiosity," Daniel continued. "Have you ever had feelings for him?"

So that was why.