Selfless Invitation

Shocked, I freeze. So he did answer the phone.

My best friend is drunkenly calling my boss in the middle of the night. If he accepted the call, it means she either woke him up or disturbed him while playing. Two things he loathes.

If Hajun was already angry at me before, he's must be fuming now.

I'm going to get such a mouthful tomorrow morning.

This is the end. I might as well start planning my funeral now.

"This is Eun. Yes, the one you blackmailed the other day.", she says without batting an eyelid as I watch her, cringing.

Right. I had utterly forgotten that Hajun uninvitedly showed up at Eun's apartment the other night when he was searching for me.

"Rose told me you made her feel like a piece of shit for wanting to go out on a weekday," Eun carries on.

My eyes widen, and I hiss: "That's not how I worded it!"

Of course, Eun completely ignores me. "My personal theory is just that you're just jealous because you're not having any fun yourself. This is why I've decided to gracefully forgive you for blackmailing me and selflessly invite you to join my birthday party. Everywhere I go, people have fun. You should be thankful, really."

I'm almost relieved she hasn't put him on speaker, as his response is probably not the nicest. Eun might be advanced at sarcasm and passive-aggressiveness, but Hajun is a professional in the matter.

"Mmh. Alright, I'll text you the address. The club is very dark, so you don't have to worry about being recognized." She mutters some more casualties before hanging up.

I observe her, feeling super tense. "What did he say?"

My best friend just shrugs, apparently unaffected by this whole conversation. "He said he'll think about it."

Sighing, I conclude: "That means he's not coming. Good. And I hate you for calling him, by the way. He'll make me regret that tomorrow."

Soothingly, Eun puts an arm around me. "No, he won't. By the way, maybe you read him wrong. My personal theory is that he's not mad at you for going out. He's mad at you for not inviting him to go with."

I can only scoff at that absurd statement, not being able to hide my amused grin at the same time. "I'm sure that was the problem all along, Eun. How did I not think of that?"

We both laugh as we get back to dance, having almost forgotten about Hajun already. I mean, he's not seriously going to show up, is he?

About half an hour later, I'm dancing carelessly with my friends as I suddenly feel someone grab my shoulders from behind. Startled, I want to shake that rude person's hands off me – who do they think are to touch me like this – but instead, the person's grip tightens.

"Relax, it's just me," he mumbles into my ear.

My mouth goes parched. No, it can't be. Slowly, I turn around. In front of me stands An Hajun.

"Hello, Rose," he says with a slight smile.

"You... you..." Forming a sentence in Korean has never been such a struggle. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, what I'm doing here?" He replies nonchalantly. "Your rude friend invited me."

Said rude friend appears next to us, grinning triumphantly. "So, you made it."

"Mmh. I figured Rose needed a least one mentally stable person around her tonight." He fake smiles at her. "But, thank you for the selfless invitation."

"You're welcome, blackmailer.", she immediately retorts, mirroring Hajun's icy smile.

I'm barely taking in their bickering. Instead, I stare at Hajun, who's putting himself at an insane risk by merely being here. Eun might not fathom that, but I do. My boss's public image is crucial for his success.

"How did you enter this club? Are you out of your mind? What if someone recognizes you and tweets that An Hanjun is at a club?" I can't help it, I go into assistant mode. I might be angry at Hajun, but protecting his public image is more significant than a stupid fight. It's bigger than both of us.

However, Hajun just rolls his eyes at me. "Someone definitely will if you continue yelling my name through the entire club. And I wore a mask, no one recognized me. Calm down."

Eun points at him, nodding. "For once, I agree with the coconut head."

Hajun frowns at her. "What did you just call me?"

"Alrightttt," I chuckle nervously before they start fighting, "let's just dance, shall we?"

Since it's very dark in the club and most of my friends are blackout drunk at this point, no one questions Hajun's presence much, and everybody just carries on dancing.

At one point, the young man whispers into my ear, his breath tickling my skin: "So Minjun hyung was right."

"Right about what?" I ask cautiously.

A mischievous grin appears on his face, and I can tell he's been waiting for this moment. "You're kind of good at twerking."

Oh my God. Mortified, I try to look anywhere but at him, so he can't discern my face that is turning redder than a tomato.

I can't even decide what's worse: the fact that my boss has seen me twerk or that he's had a conversation with Minjun about it before. Who knows, maybe other members of YouGe were present during that conversation as well. That's it, I can never show my face at work ever again. I cannot look any of those people in the eye anymore.

At least Hajun has no idea how embarrassed I am right now.

"You're blushing, aren't you?" he then mumbles into my ear, smirking smugly.

Okay, I take that back. He's very aware of how embarrassed I am, and he's entertained by it.

That little brat.

"I... I need some air," I manage to press out before fleeing to the rooftop.

Luckily, as it is a chilly night, the rooftop is empty, so I finally have some time to myself. To take a deep breath and analyze this crazy night in my head.

I still can't believe Hajun joined us. It just makes no sense to me. Why would he do that?

Precisely at that moment, someone else steps out on the rooftop. Hajun. So much for having a peaceful moment to myself.

I watch as my personal version of the devil leans next to me on the reeling, his earlier playfulness seemingly gone. The wind makes his dark hair go frizzy, and his eyes are shimmering with the city lights underneath of us. Thanks to the moonlight, his skin has never looked lighter and brighter.

A very pretty devil, I must say.

In this quiet moment, there's something almost ethereal about him, and all my anger just vanishes into the air.

At the end of the day, who am I to hold grudges against An Hajun?

As he feels my gaze on him, Hajun looks at me and offers me a water bottle. "For you."

Confused, I accept it and take a couple of gulps. "Thank you, oppa, but that wasn't necessary. I'm not that drunk, you know."

My boss just raises an eyebrow at me. "Really? Is that why you're leaning on the reel expecting it to carry your entire weight?"

"What? No." Defensively, I try to let go of it and stand by myself, but I quickly lose my balance and decide to trust the safety of the reel.

"It's not that I cannot stand on my own," I explain myself defiantly, "it's just that it's more convenient to lean on the reel."

He chuckles lightly at that. "Sure."

Then, he closes his eyes and lets the refreshing wind caress his face, and I can't help but watch him admiringly.

"Oppa?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you come here tonight?"