THE TRANSFER STUDENT

The Party, Pt. 8

"Byulyi! I wanna know... your crush's name!"

Seokjin sat in his seat, his body completely tensed up. He had come to the party, intending to settle everything with Byulyi and Jisoo once and for all. But when Hoseok had said that Byulyi wasn't coming, he had felt relieved all of a sudden. He let his guard down. He thought he could postpone this whole "settling of things" thing.

But then, Byulyi arrived.

The minute Seokjin had seen Byulyi enter those doors, he felt his breath quicken and his heart thumping hard against his ribcage. When Hoseok led Byulyi to sit next to him, he willed himself not to move, not to do anything rash or stupid.

Then came all the dumb questions from Hoseok's friends. All the "who's your crush" and "anything going between you and Seokjin". Were they really that dense? Obviously Byulyi would never answer such questions... she was too... well, he didn't jnow how to put it. No one in her position would answer those questions. Things were so awkward the way they were.

"I..." Byulyi bit her lip. "I..."

Seokjin glanced in Byulyi's direction. She had chosen "Drink" over "Truth" a countless number of times already. She was obviously getting buzzed. Seokjin recalled the time they had gone for a drink once at a popular samgyeopsal restaurant near school... she had awful alcohol tolerance.

"I'll drink for her," Seokjin butted in, grabbing the glass of alcohol from Byulyi's hands. "Can I?"

"Oh-" Hoseok looked slightly flustered. "Well..."

"Thanks," Byulyi said after recovering her composure. "But I don't need your help."

"You're gonna get drunk, Byul-"

"It's none of your business," Byulyi said bluntly, not sparing Seokjin a second glance. "I can handle it."

"No, you can't-" Seokjin insisted, not letting go of the cup Byulyi was trying to pry from his hands. "You're gonna get so wasted, don't even try-"

"Let go," Byulyi's tone was almost threatening, almost as if she'd explode if he didn't do as he was told in the next few seconds.

"Byulyi-"

"I said let go!" Byulyi tore the glass out of Seokjin's hands, pressing the glass to her lips and downing everything at one shot.

Seokjin stared at her, dumbfounded. He was pissed, somehow. Pissed that she didn't let him take the drink for her. Why, though? He himself couldn't explain. It wasn't like he was her boyfriend or anything, in fact, his actual girlfriend was sitting right next to him on his other side...

"Amazing!" Hoseok clapped excitedly, patting Byulyi on the back. "How are you still holding up? Okay, let's spin again!"

The bottle spins for the umpteenth time that night and after that last drink she drank, Byulyi was honestly wishing she had never come to the party... Seokjin, Jisoo, awkwardness, alcohol... things weren't looking good at all.

"Jisoo!"

Byulyi flinched. She was hoping that she wouldn't get called... yet somehow she knew that Jisoo getting called would make the situation a million times worst. Hoseok's friends were evidently uninformed about what transpired between the three of them and well, let's say she was already prepared for the worst.

"Who wants to ask Jisoo! She's being called for the first time tonight!"

Byulyi bit her lower lip, burying her face in her hands due to a mixture of not wanting to see what happened next and feeling extremely nauseous from all the alcohol she consumed. Please, God, just let a miracle happen...

"Me!"

Byulyi looked up, only to see Taehyung with his hand raised. Taehyung to the rescue, as always. Byulyi had always been grateful towards Taehyung, how he had always comforted her through tough times, gave her great advice and was basically always there for her. And this time, he came through again.

"Taehyung!" Hoseok grinned. "Ask away."

"Jisoo," Taehyung spoke slowly, glancing at Byulyi, then Seokjin, then back to Jisoo. "What is something you have always wanted to say to someone, but never had the courage to do so?"

Byulyi furrowed her eyebrows. She knew Taehyung had taken the opportunity to ask the question because he didn't want thing to get worse if the guys from Hoseok's clique asked more dumb questions... but what kind of question was that?

Something Jisoo always wanted to say to someone?

Byulyi glanced at Jisoo, expecting her to look confused, but surprisingly, she looked calm, composed, almost as if she was already expecting that question. She pursed her lips, frowning in deep thought, but she nodded in acknowledgement.

A few seconds passed in silence... then finally, Jisoo stood up with her eyebrows furrowed and a look of determination in her eyes. She looked down at Seokjin.

"We need to talk."