warning: some underage drinking, dr*g use, mature-ish scenes (not with hyerim and haechan thank you) just a typical highschooler party :)

❆

Tuesday at school was uneventful. Hyerim didn't really see Haechan much due to conflicting timetables and lunchtimes, but when she did see him in the hallways surrounded by his friends, he always sent a wink her way, making her scowl back at him.

Nevertheless, she was excited for tonight, thinking about the outfit that Renjun and Mark had helped her pick out. She made up scenarios in her mind as she took the bus home, excited to prepare for the party.

Hyerim wore a denim skirt, paired with a cute little graphic baby tee, and a leather jacket on top. Applying some light makeup that accentuated her features, she started straightening her hair. Finishing the look, she stared at herself in her vanity mirror, impressed with her makeup skills. She looked ravishing, if she did say so herself.

Hearing her phone ring, she fished it out from the black leather shoulder bag that she had prepared, seeing Haechan on the caller ID. Suddenly feeling a rush of nerves wash over her, she answered the call, finger shaking slightly.

"Hello?" Her voice wavered, and she swallowed deeply trying to steady it. The boy on the other line didn't notice.

"I'm outside your apartment. You can come out now if you're ready."

"Give me, like, three minutes. I'm coming."

He hummed in acknowledgement on the other end, and she ended the call, immediately looking at herself in the mirror again, smoothing her hair. Checking her bag one more time to make sure she brought everything she needed, she headed to the front door, slipping on a pair of leather ankle boots.

Hyerim made her way down the floors in the elevator, and exited the apartment building, not forgetting to greet the lobby doorman. She saw Haechan, leaning against his car, one hand in his pocket and the other scrolling on his phone. His appearance momentarily took her breath away.

He wore a simple white shirt paired with some silver chains dangling from his neck. On his lower half he wore some light-wash slim fit denim jeans, paired with some leather boots. And over the t-shirt was a black leather jacket, similar to the one that Hyerim had on at the current moment. His hair was messily strewn - he looked effortlessly attractive.

She cleared her throat when nearing him, and he looked up from his phone, eyes immediately raking up and down her figure. Letting out a low whistle, he raised his eyebrows.

"Damn."

"What?" She glowered at him. "Why are you also wearing a leather jacket?"

"Is it a crime to wear leather jackets now?" He grinned at her, opening the passenger door for her. She nodded her head at him in thanks, ducking into the car. They drove to the party, which was a while away as it was in Yongnam Hill - Haechan's area. 

Yongnam Hill was where the rich people in Seoul lived. Unlike a lot of the other areas where there were only apartments, Yongnam Hill had many houses - most of them being big. It was known that the only people who could afford to live there were celebrities, old money families, rich business owners or extremely rich doctors and lawyers. Hyerim's area wasn't necessarily bad, but it was extremely average compared to Yongnam Hill.

Their highschool was one of the best in Seoul and ranked extremely high in the CSAT (university entrance exams), which explained why the boys attended. It was either you were extremely smart and passed the school entrance exam, or you paid your way in. Hyerim was quite smart a few years ago (but not anymore), which was why she was able to enter.

Her eyes widened as they pulled up in front of the property. It had tall bushes all around which obscured the view of the actual house, but by how far the bushes stretched, Hyerim already knew the size of the mansion. Haechan parked his car by the sidewalk, where several other cars were already parked.

"C'mon," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car to open her door. She gingerly stepped out, nerves doubling as they made their way to the huge black metal gates that were already open, invitingly. 

Making their way up the stone driveway, the property came into view - a modern mansion, with several windows that displayed the party already raging on inside. The faint thumping of music could already be heard, along with the flashing lights illuminating the driveway. Hyerim's mouth dropped even further.

"You said this was a close and intimate gathering."

Haechan shrugged. "I guess they invited a few more people," he commented as they reached the front door. He grasped the handle, but paused.

"Stay close to me if you don't wanna get lost," he smirked, before swinging open the door.

❆

It was a sensory overload. Hyerim almost couldn't breathe as the door shut behind them, immediately feeling suffocated. She grimaced as she caught a whiff of the scent of sweat, alcohol, weed, and strong perfume.

Haechan was promptly swarmed with people - his friends, sport players, girls. Cans of beer and plastic cups were shoved towards him, but he dismissed them with a wave of his hand, shaking his head boyishly.

"Nah, not right now - gotta take care of this one," he spoke out over the roar of the music, jabbing a thumb at Hyerim stood behind him cluelessly. The crowd of people surrounding Haechan looked at the girl, some gazes curious, some scrutinising, some looking like they wanted to kill her. A hand latched onto her wrist - Haechan, and he pulled her away from the doorway further into the party.

"Hold on...Haechan...!"

To say she was overwhelmed was an understatement. She had never been to a party -  hell, she had never had more than 3 friends at once. She had never consumed any sort of alcohol, let alone weed or any other drug floating around the party. Vowing to herself to finish her high school years quietly, she had never bothered to try to get into the party scene, nor involve herself in any of these shenanigans. This was definitely not her scene.

Haechan paused and turned around to look at her. She gave him a look, making a face, and he scanned her expression, seeming to understand. 

He switched directions, instead pulling her towards a quieter hallway, and opened the door to a bathroom, occupied by a couple. The girl was sat on the sink counter making out aggressively, the guy's hand hiked up her skirt. Hyerim immediately squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see anything she didn't want to see.

"Shit man, sorry, I'll leave you guys to it," she heard Haechan curse out, and felt herself being pulled out of the bathroom again and into a different room.

"You can open your eyes now."

She tentatively opened them, only to find them in a bedroom that was dark except for a dim lamp switched on.

"Um."

"Relax bro, I'm not gonna do anything. You just looked like you were gonna throw up out there, and you haven't even had a single drink." He walked over to the bed, flopping his back down on it. Hyerim stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"I told you parties aren't my thing." She walked over to him, sitting down gently next to him as he sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologised, looking guilty. "This is, like, twice of the size of what I imagined." He bit his lip, thinking.

"We can leave if you want, and go somewhere else."

Hyerim immediately shook his head. "No, no. All your friends are here, you can't just leave. We can stay. I'll just, I don't know, find a corner or something."

"You sure?" He sat up properly, looking at her intently, analysing her expression. She nodded quickly, giving him a small smile.

"Alright, well you're not going in a corner. Promise to try to stay beside me, or just somewhere that's in my line of sight, yeah?" He stood up, reaching out a hand to help her up. She nodded again at his words, taking his hand, and he lead her out of the dim-lit bedroom, back out into the party.

They went to the kitchen, where Haechan met his friends, dapping them up with his free hand that wasn't holding hers. Hyerim noticed his friends occasionally giving their clasped hands a look, so she gently freed herself from him while he was distracted, and went to stand in an unoccupied corner of the kitchen, where she busied herself with observing the kitchen counters.

This marble looks expensive, she thought, running a finger along the smooth, cold, countertop, when a voice interrupted her.

"Hey pretty, want a drink?" She glanced over at the source of the voice, seeing a tall boy with dark brown hair, a smile on his face as he handed her a plastic cup.

"Um, what is this?"

"Lemonade," he replied, and went to stand beside her, leaning on the counter. She hesitantly sniffed the yellowish clear liquid, making sure he wasn't tricking her. She also observed it for any sign of a pill, making sure the drink wasn't spiked. It smelt lemon-y enough to her, and there was no sign of any pill or tablet fizzing away in the water, so she lifted it to her lips, about to take a sip, when it was snatched out of her grasp.

"Nice try, Sungwon." She was met with Haechan, who downed the drink in one gulp. "Now get the fuck outta here."

The dark brown hair muttered an insult, immediately slinking out of the kitchen, and Haechan crunched the cup under his fist, throwing it away in the bin next to them while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Don't accept drinks from strangers," he instructed her sternly. "That shit wasn't lemonade, it was, like, five shots of soju with a fuck ton of lemon juice in it."

"Five shots?" Hyerim gasped. "You're gonna be absolutely wasted in, like, two minutes." She made a face, thinking about him driving her home drunk.

"I have a high alcohol tolerance. You, on the other hand, definitely do not. Don't drink shit unless I gave you it, understood?" He scowled, obviously pissed at the guy earlier.

She nodded again. "Okay papa bear."

The nickname made him laugh, as he slung an arm around his shoulder, walking both of them over to the fridge as he got a can of beer.

"Who's house is this? It's hella nice. I like the marble counters," she commented, feeling the countertops again with her fingertips.

"Jeno's house. But if you think his house is nice, you should see Jaemin's. The guy's got, like, seven butlers or something." He grinned, cracking open the can with one hand before taking a swig. Hyerim was about to say something, when more of Haechan's friends filtered into the kitchen, striking up a conversation with him. Haechan, being the little extrovert that he is, engaged in the conversation. They talked about ice hockey, Valorant, and other topics that she didn't understand. She tuned out of the conversation, in her imagination, while Haechan's arm was still slung around her shoulders. Picking at the loose threads on her skirt, she was lost in her thoughts, but they were soon broken.

"By the way, who's this man? Your new girlfriend?" One of the guys asked, staring her down while smirking. Haechan paused to look down at the girl next to him as she looked up at him, obviously confused.

"Nah...Just a friend, man. Don't say weird shit like that," he joked, leaning forward to punch the guy's arm, other hand immediately letting go of Hyerim. She stepped away from him, creating distance between the two of them.

"She's a pretty one. Give me her number," Haechan's friend said. She internally scoffed at him talking as if she wasn't standing right there.

"Yeah, okay bro, stay the fuck away from her. She doesn't want your ass," Haechan said in a light tone, again joking. He threw another playful punch at the guy's arm and the guy groaned dramatically.

"Alright, nice catching up with you. Catch you around," Haechan finished, and dapped the guy up again, before holding onto Hyerim's elbow, steering her away from the kitchen.

"Don't give out your number, alright? These guys are just craving some pussy, just stick around me and you'll be fine, 'kay?" He looked down at the girl who looked disgusted, nodding begrudgingly.

"I'll tell them to fuck off, don't worry about me!" She lifted her arms, jokingly flexing her biceps, and he laughed, eyes crinkling.

❆

The night seemed to drag on. It was a cycle - Haechan and Hyerim walk, Haechan gets stopped by friend, Haechan and friend have a conversation, friend asks if Hyerim is Haechan's new girlfriend, Haechan says she's just a friend, friend asks for Hyerim's number, Haechan tells friend to go away, Haechan and Hyerim walk away, Haechan gets stopped by another friend.

Hyerim was simultaneously overwhelmed and bored. She was so overwhelmed it caused her to drift off into a separate reality, not focusing on anything around her, which made her bored. Eventually, Haechan left her with a kind Jaemin who was sat on a spacious armchair that could perfectly fit Hyerim and Jaemin.

Despite his outwardly friendly and cheery appearance, he was actually quite a quiet guy, occasionally greeting a friend, but not continuing a conversation like Haechan. Hyerim enjoyed the lack of conversation between them - they were just keeping each other company while observing the party. She began to get tired, as it was nearing 1am, and her phone was running out of battery from how much she had played candy crush on it.

Feeling her eyes close and herself begin to drift off, her head drooped, only to snap back up. Groaning, she rubbed her left eye, forgetting that she had mascara on.

"Fuck, bro," she complained, looking at the knuckle she used to rub her eye with, now smudged black. Jaemin laughed, reaching a hand up to her face to turn her face towards him.

"It's not too bad," he said, reaching his thumb up to try and rub the smudged mascara off. He successfully got some off, but it still looked like she had been socked in the eye. He turned her face to his more, reaching up his other hand to steady her face while he worked to try and get the remaining smudged mascara off.

"Bro, what the fuck are you doing?" Jaemin was wrenched away from Hyerim by an outraged Haechan. He immediately yanked Hyerim up, and grabbed her shoulders, inspecting her up and down. Her dreary eyes met his, obviously confused.

"Did he kiss you? Did he punch you? Did he do anything else to you?" Haechan demanded, shaking her slightly. Hyerim shook her head.

"Haechan, he was helping me get my mascara off my eye."

Haechan paused, and she could almost see the cogs turning in his brain before he looked down at Jaemin, who lazily showed him his thumb stained black by the mascara. Haechan turned back to look at Hyerim.

"Oh." His gaze softened. "Shit, I'm sorry dude. Sungwon tried to spike her earlier, I guess I was just paranoid."

"Yeah, no problem man." Jaemin stood up from the armchair, patting him on the shoulder. "She was about to fall asleep on me, you should take her home. She's probably not used to staying up this late."

Haechan finally registered that Hyerim looked like she was about to fall asleep on the spot, cursing under his breath.

"Fuck, yeah, I'm so sorry Hyerim, I'll take you home. Let's go." He looped a hand under her waist, other hand coming up to stop her hand to stop her from rubbing her eyes again. Nodding a goodbye to Jaemin, the two made their way past the sweaty bodies dancing, and left the party.

They stumbled down the driveway, Haechan staggering slightly as Hyerim struggled to walk properly, leaning her body weight on him.

"I'm tired."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry," he apologised, reaching up his hand to smooth her hair as they exited the gates and reached his car. He helped her step into the car, buckling her seatbelt and closing the door before stepping into the driver's seat and driving back to her house.

For a man who had around seven shots of soju and three cans of beer, Haechan didn't seem intoxicated at all, face without a hint of redness on it, driving like a normal person. They reached Hyerim's apartment, and like expected, Hyerim was already fast asleep. 

He walked around to her side, and opened the door.

"Put your arms around my neck here. I'm gonna piggyback you to your room, okay?" He instructed her, placing her arms around his shoulders, and she obliged, clinging onto his back like a koala, legs wrapped around his waist. His hands reached to her thighs, trying to pull her skirt down so that she didn't flash the whole of Seoul, but he did it without touching anywhere that he shouldn't. He hoisted her onto his back, closing the car door and locking it before walking into the apartment, arms securely carrying her, hands grasping the ends of her skirt so it didn't hike further up.

Haechan had remembered which apartment she lived in last time, pressing the floor number in the elevator, and waited as the elevator brought them up. In the silence of the lift, he could now hear her soft breaths, her hair brushing against his neck, her arms dangling over his shoulders, her scent invading his nose. She smelt like clean scented soap, with a hint of floralness, nothing strong or overwhelming like the girls at the parties he had been to.

The elevator reached her floor, and he stepped off, walking to her apartment building and he hunched over as he let go of her with one hand to ensure that she didn't fall off his back. He entered the passcode that he remembered from last time, and it worked, the lock quietly beeping and flashing green, indicating that it was correct. 

Haechan stepped inside the apartment, which thankfully she had left a lamp on this time, casting a dim light around the living room. He took off his shoes and made his way to her bedroom with her still on his back. He gently sat on her bed, laying her down, and she flopped down. He gently removed her shoes and hurried to the entrance, placing them on the empty spot in the shoe rack.

Hurrying back, he emptied the contents of her bag, placing her phone on charge and putting her lipgloss on her vanity table, hanging the bag up on the hook. He turned to the girl, frowning.

Should he take off her makeup for her?

I will, he decided, as he walked out of the bedroom to the bathroom next to it, switching on the light. Fiddling around, Haechan washed his hands, and found what looked to be a makeup remover, and some cotton pads, getting some of the liquid onto the pad before walking back to the bedroom, where the girl was already curled up.

"C'mon, let me remove your makeup for you, otherwise your skin is going to be mad at you tomorrow morning."

Hyerim groaned, shifting around so that she faced up, and Haechan got to work, removing her makeup gently, getting the remnants of her mascara off. Slipping off her leather jacket and hanging it up, he went back to the bathroom, throwing away the wipes, and got a towel, wetting it with some warm water, and went back to the room. He started wiping down her face, neck and shoulders, getting the stickiness of the sweat and smell of the party off of her body where he could touch. 

Satisfied with his work, Haechan washed and hung up the towel to dry, and went back to her room, trying to figure out what to do with the sleeping clothes situation.

"Can you try and change into these for me?" he asked her, holding a pair of pajama pants that he found strewn over her desk chair. She muttered and unzipped her denim skirt, pulling it down to reveal black shorts.

"No need," she managed to say, flopping over to her side and blearily opened one of her eyes to look at Haechan. He nodded, folding the pants and placing them on her desk chair.

"Um, how about brushing your teeth? Or do you just wanna sleep?"

"'s okay..." she grumbled, yawning, He nodded, understanding that she just wanted to sleep.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he whispered, picking up his phone from her bedside table where he had left it, about to leave, when her hand latched onto his wrist. He paused immediately to look at her sleepy figure on the bed.

"...Get home...safe..."

Smiling, he unclasped her hand from his wrist and hummed, reaching over to pull her duvet over her body. She curled up like a cat in the comfort of her bed, arms reaching out to hug her pillow.

"I will. Sleep well."

And with that, he exited the apartment, shutting the door with a smile on his face.

3609 words...lord someone stop me

haechan is the literal standard im sorry if that stuff is boring but i just needed to show yall how meticulously he would care for u like bro was removing the makeup n whipping out the warm towels and everything like he is the literal STANDARD

also i was like imagining him in this outfit but with like blondish beige hair like omg scrumptious. but black hair hyuck supremacy

okay bye i hope u enjoyed this bc my eyes hurt from staring at the screen for so long