Currently, all Mirae wished for was to crawl into oblivion and cling on to the anonymity that it guaranteed, for as long as the night stayed young. A fixed deadline because, quite facilely, someone else had been tying up the loose ends for her all the while she expected that very person to be the one who undid them instead. Heat shot up to her cheeks as she eyed Hoseok and Heekyung prating and giggling, wondering if her long-drawn absence was the reason why an unexpectedly convivial air had seemed to hover over the two strangers already.

Mindlessly, she smacked her glass against the bar table, spare hand running all over her face in frustration. To state that her annoyance was an overreaction would be downright insensitive. However, for her to simply block out the part where she had assumed that Hoseok's nerves were jangling up due to the sudden constriction of his comfort zone, thereby completely disregarding other unspoken factors that may have underlain as a matter of fact too, was not so ingenious of her either. 

Had she owned up to her fault, the bruising caused by her imploding conceit would not have pained so badly.

So much for eluding a gathering where her company was no longer sought. 

"He doesn't even seem to remember anymore why's he here in the first place," she mumbled, gloom chafing at her heart. 

Determined, she fluttered her eyelids a couple of times until her visage was properly denuded of the displeasure, stilettoes clanking bluntly against the marbled floor as she rose to her feet. A swift movement of her hand rearranged the fringes on her forehead, mouth curling into a pretentious smile in the process. Slinging her bag around her shoulder, and ensuring to project herself as perfectly fine and not some a priori heartsick damsel for one last time, she tramped along towards the exit, intending on rushing out of it before someone dared stop her midway.

"Mirae!" A voice called.

Just what she had been meaning to circumvent. The very core of her masterplan had been squeezed dry like a lemon by that interruption, but she could not afford to let it show. At least not when all gazes were boring into her head, even Hoseok's, for that matter.

Mirae turned around, a strained smile on her face. She then flicked her head, which obligated her addressee to continue. "Were you leaving? Why? We haven't even started celebrating yet."

"Well," she drawled, weeding out untenable excuses beforehand. "I've been roaming about in here for more than two hours now, you could've kicked off your celebration— as you said— while it was still possible for me to linger. But you left everyone to their own selves, and now," she rendered a desultory glance at her phone's screen, "it's too late for me to be out. I have a little brother to look after, remember?"

"Are you talking about Kangmin or has yet another brother of yours moved into your apartment?" The male asked. Mirae gulped.

"Kangmin! Kangmin, of course..." Her focus wavered as cortisol began to course vigorously through her bloodstream.

How in the world was she going to justify her apparent babysitting of a teenage boy? 

"You aren't being serious right now, are you?" The man quizzed to confirm, only to have Mirae gawking at him. He repeated when discomfort tended to get the best of him. "You were kidding a while ago, no?"

After having fumbled for a moment and given her acquaintance the pleasure of watching the round-the-clock-composed Mirae in distress, a ghost of a smile slowly alighted on her lips. "Why are you even asking me that? Your sense of humor levels have hit rock bottom, I'm afraid. Don't worry though, I always have a few free tips at my disposal. I'll happily lend you one, my friend."

Mirae's propensity for oversharing— although dormant when unprovoked— would increase multiple times whenever the exigency to skirt a delicate topic seemed to arise. Such a resort, she believed, would attach equal amounts of layers that one would have to peel off as well, in order to reach the nub of that very subject. So, if not for perpetuity, she could protect that information for as long as she had the assurance that those stacked-up lies would remain glued together atleast until it was about time they chipped off. 

Now, certainly Kangmin did not require her supervision as she had claimed initially. But once the realisation had dawned upon her that he was not some outsider whose humiliation was supposed to be brooked by her singly, she did not hesitate in remodeling her strategy right from the top. Kangmin was as much ubiquitous in the company building as was Mirae, and picturing him getting mocked in the hallways for still being dependent on her sister, had resultingly sent a shudder down the female's spine. She did not belong to the creed of opportunists. At least not for her own brother.

"Thank Goodness," he exhaled, face displaying amusement. "You really got me back there!"

"I'm used to hearing that," Mirae shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I must go now—"

"Oh no, you don't possess the privilege to avail the option of leaving. Not until... you know what? Let's say, we've played a game. What do you think?" The male suggested, leading an unusual dithering to outshine Mirae's broody stance. It almost appeared for a split second as if she had assented to his request.

"I think that's an absurd proposal—"

"Guys, let's play a game or two before heading home. Shall we, y'all?"

So before she could even voice out the conflict in her head and win her right to depart from the party, an announcement had already been made by her male companion, the rest of his friends scooting along around the big, round table as a consequence in order to free up some space for him.

"Come over, Mirae. It won't last long. We'll allow you to take off for home as soon as one round is complete." The man affirmed, glimpsing about only to have his lips form a droop. "There's no room here though—"

"There is," Hoseok chimed in, beckoning his index finger at the seat beside him. "You can sit here if you want."

Mirae blinked, disbelievingly. Then arching her eyebrows in a fashion that blatantly cast her discontent at Hoseok, she steered herself around, settling on the narrow strip of cushion that she had been fooled into giving credence to Hoseok's claim of it being sufficient space for one to flop down on.

Chatters flared up for one more time once everyone had circled along the edgeless table, an earnest discussion about which game to commence with, ensuingly spilling over its surface. With her ears functioning to filter out the irrelevant tattle, Mirae was not truly having a hard time bearing the impertinent noise. That was how it would have been for her had Hoseok not been the one to be breathing right next to her. 

Curious, she swiveled her gaze to check what he was up to, but that sort of backfired for her when it turned out to be her own self only who had been the center of Hoseok's attention. His eyes were soft, concern flashing in them as he stared at her. A throttling sensation was engendered in Mirae's throat as a response to that gesture, which had struck her as both startling and simulated for some reason.

Hoseok immediately scrambled for the bottle of water that was placed nearby on the table, pouring its content into a glass as the liquid came gushing out. He pushed it in her direction, frantic hand movements trying to convey his intention. Mirae did not stall longer than needed and conformed to what had been implied by him. A relieved sigh jetted out of their mouths once she had set the glass back on the table.

"Why were you leaving already? And that too without telling me?" Hoseok leaned in to ask, the overlapping music and conversations proving to be too distracting to maintain a sound concentration. 

"Why does it matter whether I tell you or not? You weren't even there with me the whole night. And don't bother to correct me on it, I know you didn't care about me until this moment, till that colleague of mine dragged me along with him to the table. Then again, you were way too busy to let yourself get sidetracked for something so trivial, so I understand." Mirae bobbed her head in agreement with her own self, glancing over at him soon after. "What are you doing? Your new friends are getting bored. Engage with them, not me." She waved at Heekyung when the latter accidentally happened to meet eyes with her.

"Why are you being like this—"

"Guys, we've decided. Spin the bottle it is!" A female declared, her thin voice reigning over the simmering exchanges. 

Mirae's expression instantly switched from showcasing indifference to a wide grin sprawling all over the lower half of her face— highly spurious if one attempted to read between the lines. Hoseok, being that one, felt flabbergasted upon witnessing the change. He had not known Mirae for a long time, definitely not enough to behold the marvel that was her rage. But now that he had earned the cold shoulder from her, he could comprehend why exactly she had been hailed by everyone in the agency as someone with supreme equilibrium.

Even her anger would not stir someone's emotions readily.

Gauging that her dismay would probably subside by the next morning, based on how unaffected she was looking now, Hoseok reassuredly shifted his heed towards the playfield. One of his colleagues was fidgeting with and rolling a bottle of beer over the table-top, causing a ring to dissipate in the air above them. He could now feel the thrill building up inside him, excited for the game to maneuver itself towards infinite possibilities.

He was pumped-up for absolutely no practical reason, as is evident.

"Ah, give it to me!" A yelp originated from the neighbor of the male from across the table who had the bottle's guardianship until then. "You're gonna crack the glass before we'll even get started!"

"Well, get started then, no? What are we waiting for?" Hoseok remarked, his arms folded into one another as he rested them onto the table-top.

And with that cue, the woman who had recently laid her hands on the bottle shoved it into a tinkling whirlwind, numerous sets of eyes watching it intently in anticipation until it screeched to a halt. Hoseok's face suddenly became a blushing mess. 

Why would it not when all the gazes were converging at him?

"Wh—what... What do I have to do?" He spoke in an incoherent manner, inducing others to laugh uproariously.

"Wait till you've been paired up with someone first." A woman informed in the midst of those intermittent chuckles.

"Huh? Why's that? I've never heard of such a rule." Hoseok grumbled, which Mirae could not bring herself to ignore.

"It's their version of spin the bottle, you'll get to know soon—"

"Quite convenient, no, Hoseok and Mirae? Sitting next to one another..." A voice intruded with its sarcastic undertone. "Now kiss, the two of you!"

The duo's capability to blanch in sync at that was applaudable, if anything. 

✧

a/n

do vote and comment if you liked the chapter! it matters a lot when it comes to climbing up the algorithm chart so pls don't be a miser <333 regardless, has anyone here watched/read 'outlander'? ngl it ages like fine wine... i could barely sit still during the first two eps but now??? i'm always waiting to move on to the next one huhu. it's so engrossing!!