Chapter One — The Night It Began
Author’s Note:
This is an original work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, artists, or events are purely coincidental. Characters and settings are fictional and created for storytelling purposes only.
MJ’s POV
MJ didn’t plan on staying long.
She’d told Kara that before they even got in the car.
“One hour,” she’d promised. “Then we’re leaving.”
Kara had only laughed, already knowing that promise meant nothing once music was involved.
The house was already packed by the time they arrived. Music pulsed through the walls hard enough to make the floor vibrate beneath MJ’s feet. Coloured lights swept across the room, turning strangers into blurred silhouettes while laughter echoed from every corner.
Kara disappeared almost immediately, greeting people she’d somehow managed to become friends with after only a few conversations. Ally accepted a drink before she’d even taken her jacket off, while Noel stood beside MJ, scanning the room with obvious judgment.
“I already hate everyone here,” Noel muttered.
MJ laughed quietly.
“You say that every time.”
“Because I’m always right.”
She wasn’t much different.
Parties had never really felt like her place.
She came because her friends asked her to. She smiled when they smiled, laughed when something was funny, danced if they dragged her onto the floor, but there was always a tiny part of her that felt…outside of it all.
Like everyone else had been given instructions she somehow missed.
At nineteen, she’d never been in love.
Never had a boyfriend.
Never had someone she stayed up talking to until sunrise or someone whose name lit up her phone.
There had been boys.
A few had asked her out.
Some had flirted.
Others had tried a little harder after hearing she’d never dated anyone.
But every time she’d smiled politely and said no.
Not because she thought she was too good for them.
Not because she was scared.
She just…
Never felt it.
Her friends teased her constantly.
“Your standards are impossible.”
“You’re waiting for a prince.”
“One day someone’s going to walk into your life and you’ll finally understand.”
Maybe they were right.
Or maybe she simply believed that if she was going to give her heart away, it should be to someone who made her feel something she’d never felt before.
So she waited.
Not for perfection.
Just for the right person.
She leaned against the wall, absentmindedly twisting the ring on her finger as conversations blurred together around her. Kara was dancing. Ally was somehow making friends with complete strangers. Noel had already found another corner to complain from.
MJ smiled to herself.
Maybe she’d stay another twenty minutes.
Then she’d go home.
That was when she saw him.
He wasn’t the loudest person in the room.
He wasn’t standing on furniture or trying to make everyone laugh.
If anything, he looked completely comfortable staying out of the spotlight.
He leaned against the kitchen counter with one hand tucked into the pocket of his jeans, a black leather jacket hanging open over a plain white T-shirt. Dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, and tattoos disappeared beneath the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, winding across his forearms like stories waiting to be told.
He looked older than her.
Confident.
Not arrogant.
Just…certain of himself.
As though he didn’t need anyone’s attention because he already knew who he was.
Almost as if he felt her looking, he lifted his head.
Their eyes met.
Dark brown.
Steady.
Everything around her seemed to fade for just a second.
The music.
The voices.
The flashing lights.
Gone.
His lips curved into a small smile.
Not cocky.
Not flirtatious.
Just warm.
Curious.
Like he’d noticed her before she’d noticed him.
MJ looked away first, suddenly fascinated by absolutely nothing.
Her heart was beating far harder than it should have been.
“Well…” Noel said beside her, following her gaze. “Someone finally caught your attention.”
MJ tried to hide her smile.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, please.”
“You’ve been staring at him for at least ten seconds.”
“I have not.”
“You have.”
MJ rolled her eyes, laughing under her breath.
Maybe Noel was exaggerating.
Or maybe…
For the first time in nineteen years…
Someone had walked into her life and made the rest of the room disappear.
She didn’t know it yet.
But his name was Jeon.
And before the night was over, he’d change her life forever.
