ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗢𝗡𝗘
─◌✰್ 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄𝗎𝗉𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝖻𝖾𝖽𝗌

matchatess HOLY SHITT, HARD LAUNCH??? 🤩
> nomnominnie i guess you could call it that 🥰
> robin_is_a_penguin @nomnominnie holy shit, where did this fearless man come from??
> matchatess @nomnominnie i am quaking in my boots this pic is SPICY 🥵
> dingdonghong @nomnominnie wait don't your students see your posts??
> nomnominnie @dingdonghong no i block them immediately 😁

the.official.hwang did i miss something wtf???
> mymymy you tend to miss a lot of things...
> the.official.hwang @mymymy wtf does that mean 😭
> sunshine.lix @the.official.hwang you didn't realize i was in love with your sister sooo
> ramenoodlaska @sunshine.lix to be fair, you had a weird way of showing it 🙄
> the.official.hwang @ramenoodlaska see it's not just me who's slow, all of us are!
> catdad_lee @the.official.hwang leave "us" out of this

ramenoodlaska YANG JEONGIN SPILL RIGHT TF NOWWW 💅💅
> nomnominnie ask @mymymy not me! 🫣
> ramenoodlaska @nomnominnie i'm mad bc she didn't tell me this was happening 😒

> mymymy @ramenoodlaska i told you later that night!
> ramenoodlaska @mymymy not immediately though, what am i to you??
> ryerye @mymymy as if we didn't raise you, child
> ramenoodlaska @mymymy how could you do this to your sisters/also your mothers? 😩

ryerye damnn isn't it past your guy's bedtime?
> nomnominnie hey i'm not even a year younger than you
> minniemouse- @nomnominnie could've fooled me, youngster
> mymymy @minniemouse- yeah we're not even young
> ryerye @mymymy you like being babied, don't lie
> ramenoodlaska @mymymy @ryerye yeah who was just calling themselves 'maknae' and 'baby' in the gc? 🫵
> mymymy @ryerye @ramenoodlaska please stop embarrassing me on @nomnominnie 's post. the baby bites 🙃

For the first time in hours, you breathed a much-needed sigh of relief. Although your head was pounding something awful, you were finally alone. No shouting party guests, no alcohol being flung overhead, no pulsing music. Just you.

You would come up with a game plan, some way to escape the party without Changbin noticing, so you could slip out, and sleep off this terrible hangover, giving you time to figure out how to properly admit your failure. You turned away from the door, hoping there might be a mini fridge in here with water or another beverage other than alcohol.

It was only then that you registered a sound, coming from the bed across the room.

You froze, observing your surroundings for the first time. Blinking slowly, your movements clumsy and stilted, you realized this was a guest bedroom. There was a huge dresser next to you, with a full-length mirror on the other side. A couple of beautiful nature paintings hung on the walls. Two bedside tables framed the king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

Then the noise came again, from the middle of the bed.

Someone was in here. You tried to control your heavy breathing, deciding you should just leave this room and go find another. Clearly, someone was trying to take a nap, or just take some time away from the party, like you.

Then the figure - or figures, you should say - moved. There were two people in the bed.

"Fuck, go faster."

One was a woman, and you could distinguish the voice of one of your best friends anywhere. JJ. What was she doing in here, and with who? Judging off the size of the figure, it was a guy. From your knowledge, she wasn't dating, let alone seeing anyone. Who the hell could this mystery man be?

"Hell yeah Jiah, anything you want." The man's labored grunts filled the air, as the bed started rocking. How had you missed these obvious signs that people were having sex right next to you?? God, you really were drunk, weren't you?

"Hyunjin, god you feel so good."

You slapped your hand over your mouth, eyes suddenly wide. You were fucking hammered as hell, but you knew a bombshell when you heard one.

JJ and Hyunjin were sleeping together. And not only that, but they were mere feet away from you.

You had to get out of there.

As the moaning intensified, and the bed creaked and shook like a ship at sea, you tugged the door open as quietly as your alcohol-muddled brain would allow, and raced out the door, shutting it behind you. Your breaths came in labored gasps, as you stood there for a few seconds, trying to regain your bearings.

Shit, you needed another drink.

Thankfully, the world seemed to agree with you, because someone had left a tray of half-finished red cups outside the room. Not giving a shit what was in them, or whose they were, you downed each of their remains.

Wincing at the flavor of the last cup, you jumped at the sound of another door slamming a few rooms down. Had they just seen you guzzling from strangers' cups? Not that it mattered. They were probably drunk, too.

"Robin, wait! Where are you going?? Talk to me!"

"Don't fucking follow me! I want to be alone!"

A pissed off Robin stormed past you, face red and eyes puffy, as a helpless Han hurried after her, expression full of hurt and confusion.

"Please, what did I do wrong??" Han called, hustling to catch up.

Robin wheeled around, a few feet from the stairs, eyes flashing. "I don't want to talk to you right now!" she burst out. "And I don't want to be with you anymore."

Han stared at her, dumbfounded. "W-what do you mean?" he said slowly.

Robin crossed her arms. She was no longer in her comical french fries outfit, and was just wearing a black tank top and blue sweats, which was what she'd had on under the costume. What had gone down in that bedroom?

"I mean I can't do this anymore. I-I have to go." Her voice broke on the last word, but she spun around and raced down the stairs, leaving Han standing there, alone. The sound of the door slamming behind her caused him to flinch, but he no longer followed suit.

After a few moments, he shuffled back to the bedroom he'd come out of, and disappeared inside, shutting the door.

You paused, debating if you should go in there and talk to him. Obviously, you and Han weren't best friends, since you hadn't known each other for that long, but you'd had a lot of laughs with him over the past few months, and it felt like he was always trying to lighten your mood, make you feel better when you were stressed. Should you do the same for him?

You decided against it. He had closed the door for a reason, right? It was clear he wanted to be left alone, especially after he'd presumably just gotten broken up with by his girlfriend. You'd thought they were doing so well, on equal footing as Felix and Alaska. Maybe you were wrong. Or maybe something had only just gone wrong tonight.

You headed back towards the stairs, hoping to make a run for it. You peered down the dark maple banister, hoping to catch a glimpse of Changbin so you could time your escape. You didn't want him, or anyone else, really, to see you leave early.

Your brain spun, causing your head to ache so badly, you had to reach out for the railing to steady yourself. Maybe you'd gone a little too crazy with the alcohol. That was generally on brand for you, but you tended to hold your liquor better than others (cough cough, Alaska and Tessa). Tonight, apparently not. Maybe it was something in one of those mystery cups.

As you clutched your head, you nearly fell over when someone practically barreled into you, full speed.

"Sorry Hua!" Renee gasped as she scooted past you, heading straight for the stairs. Why were all of your friends up here, rather than down at the party??

"Ren, come back here!!" Seungmin demanded from behind you, slipping past without knocking your arm like Renee had. "I'm trying to ask you out, and you're running away? What the hell!"

"Ah, sorry I can't hear you!!" Renee called back, cheeks flushed. "My uh... my outfit is malfunctioning, I have to fix it! Hey Hua, have you seen Alaska? She always has fashion tape!"

You opened your mouth to reply, but realized that it was so sandpaper dry, you could hardly speak. Instead, you just shook your head, trying to hide behind the bannister so no one else would see you. Hopefully she wouldn't say your name any louder. You really needed to remain unseen.

Seungmin rolled his eyes in frustration. "No, I just saw your outfit and it's fine. And you've already asked Alaska for this so-called 'fashion tape' three times! Then you asked JJ to make you a mocktail. And you asked Robin to take you on a tour of the entire building. Oh, and you also asked Tessa to take pictures of you, by yourself, might I add, even though we're doing a couple's costume! And why are we doing a couples costume? Maybe because we are a cou-"

"Byee!!" Renee called over her shoulder, as the two descended the stairs, one after the other. She weaved between people as she made her escape.

Seungmin groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face as he went. He glanced back at you helplessly. "Are all women like this?" he asked in exasperation. "If so, please help me."

You shrugged, letting out a dry giggle that morphed into a cough. "I dunno Seungmo," you sighed, eyes closing as you spoke. Damn, when had you become so tired?

Seungmin rolled his eyes, understanding washing over his features. "Oh, you're drunk, great," he grimaced. "I'll talk to you about this later, when you'll actually remember something. Goodnight, Lanhua."

"Goodnight!" You waved, your arm feeling like rubber, heavy on your body. "Go get your girl!!"

Seungmin hurried through the crowd after Renee, and you finally began your slow descent down the stairs after them. You saw the door, on the opposite wall. That was your destination.

You began pushing through people, trying to crouch down and stay hidden from the others. It wasn't an easy job, as you were 5'7 and wearing three-inch heels, but you hoped the crowd - which was starting to thin as the night went on - would cover you well enough.

What was left of the partygoers were all grooving and dancing in the middle of the lodge floor, to some R&B song you didn't recognize. It was mostly couples now, singles having left, or gone to the upstairs bedrooms to hook up with someone new. Alaska and Felix were glued to each other, the Hwang sister positively grinding on her boyfriend's enthusiastic groin. Riley and Chan were holding each other and laughing, his hands around her waist, trying to keep his hands in a pg spot, as they danced. Maybe their first time as a couple? Tessa and the guy dressed as Harry Potter were making out, her leg around his waist as they hardly danced. Mya and Jeongin were off to the side of the dance floor, also making out.

"Eek, look at them, Jeongin finally made a move!" Alaska giggled to Felix, who covered his mouth in giddy shock as he stared at the youngest of his friends.

"I can't believe they're just eating each other's faces off in public like that!" Riley snorted to Chan, who sighed heavily in response. "That's so not like her!"

"Damn, I need a girl who I can make out with too," Jimin, apparently one of Namjoon's friends, commented.

Wait.

Holy shit. Mya and Jeongin... making out??

You did a literal double take, as your head bobbed back to your friend, who was so squished against the back wall, you could barely differentiate between her hands and Jeongin's. He had her trapped against him, performing some sort of excavation on her mouth in a way that had even your cheeks heating. Damn, he really couldn't keep his hands to himself, could he? Maybe those two had finally figured out their miscommunication, and were on the right path. You smiled to yourself at that.

A few feet away from those two was Minho, sitting in an armchair. He was watching Tessa and Harry Potter make out, his entire face red, eyes glossed over, like he was looking, but not really seeing what was unfolding before him. Poor guy, you thought, shaking your head. He was so clearly in love with your friend, but would rather die than admit it. Clearly, it was coming back to bite him in the ass now.

You offhandedly snatched up another red cup and filled it with the punch, which was only a couple feet away from you. You sat down next to the drinks table for a few minutes. Or maybe it was more, you weren't sure. You only got up to get a refill of alcohol. You really shouldn't have been drinking any more. In fact, this may have been the most you'd drank in one night, ever. But you just couldn't help it.

Because next to Minho, sat Changbin. Just the thought of him seeing you like this had you downing the serving in two gulps, setting the cup on the table, and starting to make your way back towards the door.

But now, you didn't have to push, or weave. Because suddenly, the only people left in the lodge were you and what was left of your friend group. Seemingly, the party had come to an end, and everyone had gone home. Maybe you'd spent more than a few minutes, camped out by the drinks table...

Now, as you stood in the middle of the room, with a few of your friends still dancing with their partners, you chanced a glance in Changbin's direction.

He was staring right at you.

Your whole body tensed as you made direct eye contact. You could feel the heat in his gaze, as those intense brown eyes blazed right into your soul. You felt yourself warm, everything from your face to your stomach, and all of those feelings you held for him surged forward.

You'd been so stupid. You had to tell him what happened, and it had to be tonight.

You just hoped he would listen.

And then he was standing up, and before you knew it, he was striding towards you. All the while, you stood there, frozen in the center of the floor, unable to move.

As he stopped in front of you, he grabbed both your hands in his, that same intense look on that gorgeous face.

Squeezing your hands so tight they began to tingle, he said, "we need to talk, right now."

laska's note —
omgg, was this chapter crazy enough for you?? 🤭 i feel like so much wild shit happened! our first bombshell, hyunjin and jj are sleeping together?? when did that start? and what about poor han and robin? they seem to be over... and mya and jeongin are just getting started! but seungmin and renee haven't, as much as seungmin wants to make it official 💀 some couples are happy, some aren't, some haven't even begun, it's all a mess! and now, changbin has finally caught hua and wants to talk. let's hope this ends well... what do you think is gonna happen next? and what are your opinions on this chapter?? 😍

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟯𝟮 - 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
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