three years ago

"him? are you fucking nuts?" a fifteen year old sooyoung scrunches her face in slight disgust.

"we made it easier for you!" one of her girl friends huffed. "dating that loser for a month? come on!"

"a month? you're kidding, right? there's not even a single thing that looks interesting about him." sooyoung rolls her eyes at the oblivious male ravenette sitting across the room.

"which makes him an easy target, and a horrible companion." another girl claims. "you can get anyone you want but you can't stay with them for long."

"bet." the challenged girl accepts. "get my money ready, whores."

***

it's been about four days since the little confrontation she had with wooyoung. the principal mostly asked about how it happened and the boy surprisingly took the blame. they both gave out short and simple answers and she guessed that was enough for mr. lee.

she had been thinking about his words and how much she had truly affected him. this made her more conscience-stricken than she already was.

to make matters worse, she was now sitting at yet another party.

today was the founder's day of her parents' company which had a dress code that states all females must show up with either a dress or a skirt.

that rule made her bang her head on the table so hard that it left a bruise.

her mom was kind enough to buy her a pencil skirt that somehow suited her sense of fashion. she, of course, wore the outfit that was prepared for her since she didn't want to cause anymore trouble to her parents.

she was very lucky to have them. even though it took her meeting wooyoung to realize that, she still made effort to show them her appreciation. despite how busy they were, they always make time for their one and only daughter and never made her feel less of a priority.

sooyoung sighed, looking over the crowd. she was told minion's corp had been invited but she still hasn't seen the aqua-color haired boy.

"you seem a little bored, dear." an employee approached her. he was a man that looked like he was in his forties.

sooyoung forces a smile. "mr. yang." she greets.

"so, you do remember me." he laughed in a way that made the girl unsettled.

how could i not? she heard rumours about him harassing women on multiple occasions, making them quit without getting the justice they deserve. he also was terrible at his job as she heard from some office workers yet couldn't seem to get fired.

"let uncle accompany you." the man offered.

the girl tried to politely decline. "ah, no, thank you. i'm actually waiting for a friend."

"i don't see anyone." mr. yang glances around.

"i'm sure he'll be here." she loosens up her clenched jaw.

"i can-"

"snowflake!" a voice called, making the girl grateful for it. "there you are."

hongjoong stands beside her, eyeing the man up and down. "i'm sorry, sir. was my date bothering someone as important as you?"

a snicker almost escaped from sooyoung hearing how pretentious the boy sounded, and how mr. yang actually looked intimidated by him.

"no. i guess i'll greet more guest." the man nods his head at the teens and walked away.

"creepy much." hongjoong mutters.

"i'm your date?" the girl pulls down her skirt for the nth time that night.

the blue haired acts as if he overlooked something. "ah, right. i forgot to ask you, but since we're here, might as well be."

"pretty rude for my date to not be on time."

"i'm always rude, snowflake." he winks. "and i had to practically beg my dad to let me tag along, and what's up with the dress code?"

"i know." she shuffles, hoping for the skirt to feel more comfortable. "let's find somewhere to sit. these heals are killing me."

"you look great." he complimented, earning a thank you and a praise back.

with arms linked together, they went on to one of the tables where kids their age were staying. most of the people were either on their phone, bragging a new item they bought, or catching up with each other.

sooyoung immediately sat down, releasing a breath of relaxation upon doing so. "finally."

"do you want anything to drink? or eat?" the boy asked, finding an excuse to get food himself.

the girl shook her head. "no. go get some for yourself. you must be starving."

"be right back, snowflake."

hongjoong initially planned on eating a full course meal but since there were still lots of people lining up, his appetite went away. instead, he simply got some juice and headed straight back to where his date was.

when he was about to flump beside the girl, he caught sight of three boys chuckling to each other. he followed their eyes and saw that they were looking down sooyoung's legs and other places they shouldn't be looking at.

the blue haired boy stood in front of the lass to block her from those sickos, and took off the blazer of his tux. he placed the piece of clothing on sooyoung's lap, earning a baffled expression.

"uh, are you turning me into a jacket rack?"

hongjoong flops down beside her as he tilted his chin towards the same boys. the girl averted her eyes to that direction and immediately got the message. she felt embarrassed and annoyed at the same time.

the boy noticed how sooyoung became stiff. "do you want me to beat them up for you?"

"please, i'd have to take your ass to the hospital." she conveyed after scoffing.

"you underestimating me, sweetheart? it makes me wanna do it more." he stood up and was about to march to the group but sooyoung pulled him back violently, causing him to sit back down.

"don't cause a scene. i'm warning you, sweetheart." she mocked his tone, adding a little threat.

"or what?" he provokes with an arrogant smile.

"you can forget about this friendship we have." the girl huffs, crossing her arms.

hongjoong fought hard to hide a grin creeping up his face. "oh, come on. that harsh?"

"you're the harsh one." she counters with a tch noise. "going against three teen social elites just because they were sparing me glances?"

"they were eye fucking you and i want to teach 'em a lesson." he shrugged. "is that so bad?"

"hey, minion. i can do it myself." she reminded, though a bit appreciative.

"not with that skirt and those heels."

"how 'bout let's agree to not fight anyone tonight except each other?"

"you sure? they could use a beating." the boy gave glares directly at the guys.

"stop." she lightly hit his shoulder. "you're obviously going to get hurt and get banned from other events. i won't have fun anymore."

"awe, that's cute." he teased, secretly enjoying the fact sooyoung had fun with him. "if that's what you want, snowflake."

"good." the girl dusted herself off. "by the way, i have something i wanna ask. you don't have to answer, though. just-" she rambled.

"get on with it, princess." hongjoong takes a sip on his cup.

sooyoung cleared her throat before proceeding with her question. "do you happen to, you know, have wooyoung's number?" she mutters the last part quickly and more quietly.

the boy raises an eyebrow, finishing up his juice. "why? you still into him or something?"

"as if." she dismisses the idea. "he's an annoying trouble maker who hates the past me."

"i don't know." he hums. "what you did was pretty terrible."

sooyoung winced, knowing about others finding out. "he told you?"

"yeah, from the bet and all." the blue haired guy shrugged, but got a little worried when he saw the other's face looking mortified which made him defensive. "hey, the man was a wreck when he came. he needed to talk to someone."

"he knows about the bet?" the girl remorsefully asked, feeling even more blame worthy. "he knows?"

how? since when? how come she never saw it? how come he never complained? why did he stay with her?

hongjoong slowly started realizing that he revealed something he shouldn't have. "i wasn't supposed to say that, was i?"

"give me his number, hongjoong." sooyoung demanded, looking dead serious as she gripped his sleeve.

"whoa. calm down, snowflake." he takes off her hand gently. "no matter how scary you look, you were still a dick to him."

"please." now she sounded desperate. "i want to apologize, but he won't even give me a chance."

the boy gives her a doubtful look, making her drop her head before saying, "i know i fucked up, and i'm not even expecting him to accept it. i just want to tell him i'm sorry."

after contemplating for a bit, hongjoong scratched his head and released a sigh. "okay, but if he hates you even more, don't throw me under the bus."

he reaches for his phone, giving sooyoung hope.

"deal." she said as she snatched the phone and scrolled for the lilac's number.