A Regular

"Can we skip this one out?" I looked at my friends and made a puppy face, hoping that they will give up dragging me to whatever party they were invited to. I was invited too, of course. It's just that partying is not my thing, at all. My friends know that too. They tried to drag me whenever they had the chance, saying that it was their duty as a 'good friend' to introduce me to the 'outside world' they said. I, on the other hand, always have brilliant excuse to get myself out of these kinds of situations, namely 'guarding my precious house because my parents are out of town', which they can't argue because they respected my parents. But now, "Nuh, uh, you brat, no excuses this time, your parents are downstairs and enjoying the chicken bucket we brought here. AT MY EXPENSE, mind you!" the human chickin pointed her index finger at me with a death glare and possibly fuming nose (if this is winter, I'm pretty sure we can see the fog coming out of it). She loved her chicken so much, you see. "Yes, I second Chu this time, you need to get out of this..." my other friend opened her arms and looked around my room, while shrugging her shoulders, sighing dramatically, "hole of yours." She flailed her limbs and sat beside me. "See, Chaeng agreed with me! Now move your a−" "Words!" Chaeng interrupted her rambling, giving Chu a warning look. "−behind, and get changed!" Chu changed her word fast, afraid of Chaeng's wrath, but still glaring at me. "Ugh, fine," I grumbled, feeling defeated. It's two versus one, what do you expect? I stood up half-heartedly and went to change my clothes. I picked up a white shirt and a black ripped-jeans from my closet. Yes, dresses are not my things, if you're still wondering. T-shirt, hoodie, or simple shirt paired with jeans and sneakers are my go-to style. I faced them again and gave my signature 'bitchy' look. "Here. Happy now?" I rolled my eyes when they nodded and shot me a satisfying smile. "Alright, let's go Chaeng." She said with beaming smile. They snatched my hands along the way and I can only hope that I will survive this time. My last experience with a party wasn't something I fond of reminiscing. Let's say, I got drunk and rambling nonsense while grabbing every girls' a−, I mean, behind every chance I got. My dear so-called friends, being the 'good friends' they are, filmed one-minute footage of it and showed it to me the next day. Giving me a lot of headaches, more than a hangover and a stinging cheek I got from the last girl in the video. She slapped me with all her might and horror in her face. * "We're here!" Chu grinned and exited the car, grabbing Chaeng's hand. I could only pray, to whatever deity up there, to save me from another traumatic episode of humiliation this time. I followed them to the entrance of the big house with a feeling of dread chained at my feet. The music blasted in my ears as soon as Chu opened the entrance. "Jendeukieee!" Chu shouted after seeing her friend standing in the middle of the room. Ah, right, this is Jennie's party. I just remembered that she was the one who invited me last Monday. I wasn't paying full attention at her because I was on the rush to my classroom. I hadn't finished my assignment which was due in twenty minutes at that time. I just answered that I'll keep that in mind and left her hurriedly after saying sorry. You see, Jennie was my one and a long-time crush since the first time I saw her giving an announcement in my class, handing us some assignments. I found out later that she's the professor's assistant and Chu's classmate in the education major. I can't shake her out of my brain ever since. But being the coward that I was, I made no moves either. It was until two months ago that Chu said Jennie was in a relationship with our university's dance captain, Kai. I never told Chu about my crush to Jennie, but she's smart enough to put two and two together. She said she observed me and notice me being different whenever Jennie was around. It crushed my heart after I found out about it but can't do anything anyway. I'm not a relationship breaker and had no intention to change it. Besides, I don't think Jennie liked me. She was always nice to the people around her. As much as I wished that she treated me differently, I knew it was just wishful thinking. "Chu, you're here!" She said smiling with her eyes almost disappeared because of it. "Oh, Chaeng and Lisa too. Welcome, help yourself while you're here." She turned her head to Chaeng and I, still smiling. "Of course, Eonnie, we will," Chaeng said enthusiastically. I just nodded and smiled back at her. "Hey, babe." I saw her boyfriend hugging her from behind and kissed her cheek. I just stood frozen, looking at the scene before me. "Oh, hi, Kai, you're here." She said with eyes sparkling towards him. I groaned inside my head, just great, what a way to start a party, I thought. "Hi, Jisoo, Chaeyoung." He greeted my friends and his head turned to me, "And you are?" "This is Lisa from language major where Professor Lee teaches, babe," Jennie answered his question for me. Kai nod in understanding and gave a smile at me too. Well, I admit, he's handsome, no wonder Jennie set eyes on him. "Welcome, Lisa. Enjoy the party." He said to me with a friendly tone. Ah, he's nice too, I felt guilty hating him. I guessed I can't stand a chance to win Jennie anymore, not that I had a chance anyway. "Thank you, Kai." I gave him a small smile to cover my guilt. I thought Chu notice my discomfort and entangled her hand on mine. "Okay, we will leave you lovebirds and enjoy the party. Let's go Chaeng." She waved her other hand to the couple and drag me towards the kitchen. Chaeng did the same and followed us close behind. "You okay?" Chu asked me with concern in her eyes. "I'm okay, why would I not?" I asked her pretending to be oblivious about what just happened. "But I saw you−" She tried to reason with me. "Chu, she said she's okay." Chaeng butted in and I mouthed her a thank you which made her smile and nodded. "Fine, but tell us if you want to talk about anything, okay?" Chu plastered a reassuring smile on her face. I hugged her briefly. "I will, Chu. Don't worry. Let's enjoy the party now?" I shot her a mischievous smile and heard her groaned. "Nice save, Manoban, but you owe me chicken!" She playfully threatened me and dragged Chaeng towards the snack and drink table. I followed them and grab a cup of drink or myself. I scanned the table for some eye-catching snacks that I will choose to accompany my drinks. Ah, well, who am I kidding, I liked them all. For now, I grabbed the one nearest me and started to find a place to eat them peacefully. I craned my head to look for my friends but saw them already chit-chatting with the girls from the Uni. I don't want to interrupt them and found my way out to the pool outside. The weather was nice in this time of the year and the moon shone brightly above giving a soft warm glow to the pool's surface. This side of the house only had two light bulbs at the corner as the light source. There were just a few people outside talking casually with legs dangling in the pool and cups in hands. I walked to the empty corners and sat down there. Dipping my feet in the cold water, causing the water below me to react beautifully. "You're new." Someone said.