Familiar
Ring!
Finally, the last bell for the semester rang and you along with your fellow English majors cheered for joy before hastily packing away your things. After handing Professor Kim your final paper, you bid him farewell with a quick ’see you in two weeks!’ since you knew you’d be seeing again in your Creative Writing course for the next semester. Once out of his lecture room, you breathed a sigh of relief before heading over to the courtyard to meet your best friend.
Once she spotted you, she ran over and gave you a quick hug which you gladly returned. “I can’t believe we survived this semester,” you beamed. “I can’t wait to celebrate with some takeout, wine, Netflix and— wait, why are you looking at me like that?”
“That’s not what we’re doing tonight,” your best friend Jasmine said with the biggest smile on her face; giddy from excitement.
“We literally talked about this last night,” you reminded her as you became wary of her expression. “I’m not sure I like where this is going. Okay, really. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“We are going to Jackson Wang’s end of semester party,” she answered, with your hands held in hers as if she wouldn’t allow you to run away, as far as you wanted to in that instant.
“I’m sorry,” you scoffed in disbelief as you gestured between the pair of you. “Did you say that we are going to Jackson Wang’s party? The Jackson Wang — vice president of Gamma Omega Tau?”
“The one and only— why are you laughing?!”
She was right, you were laughing your head off. Surely, this was some kind of joke. There was no way that you and her were invited to the biggest frat party in town. “Jasmine, why would we be invited to a frat party? Did you forget who we are?”
“Excuse me?” she scoffed, before giving you the stink eye. “I get invited to lots of parties all the time. I am nicer than you.”
Rolling your eyes, you turned and headed home towards your dorm. “Then, you go by yourself,” you shrugged. “I will enjoy my solitude in our dorm and—”
“No way, you’re coming with me—”
“Only when pigs fly,” you countered but stopped immediately in your tracks once Jasmine blocked you with her hands on her hips.
“Do you remember when you begged me to go on a double blind date?” she asked.
“The fuck? That was like two years ago,” you laughed warily. “Why do you even remember that?”
“You owe me.”
Gasping, you were in disbelief that she had brought this up. Just as you said, the whole double blind date debacle happened two years ago, long before you became sophomores in college. Secretly, you were hoping that she would forget all about it because you were scared of what she would ask you to do in return, and from the way she was looking, you definitely should be scared.
But, you were a woman of your word. So, it seemed that you would be attending the damn frat party after all.
“Fine, I’m in,” you rolled your eyes and walked past her and allowed yourself a small smile as you heard her cheering behind you. “But after this, we’re straight.”
“You won’t regret it,” she declared as she linked her arm with yours. “This party is going to change your life.”
Neither of you knew then, how true her words were going to become.
As the Uber pulled up to the address Jasmine had provided, you were sure that the driver had gotten lost. There was no way that the party was going to be on the nicer part of town; let alone a mansion by the cliff side.
“You said this was a frat party,” you turned to Jasmine in disbelief. “What the fuck is this? This house is bigger than our whole dorm! I’m wearing jeans and a flannel shirt!”
“Apparently, this is Jackson Wang’s house,” she replied to you absentmindedly, too busy staring at the property just like you were. She then turned to you with a sigh, “I told you to put on that black dress instead. You should have listened to me.”
Not waiting for your approval, Jasmine unbuttoned the last buttons at the bottom of your shirt. Pulling it up to your hips, she used the two ends as bow ends and tied them tightly together to make sure they stayed in place, and then unbuttoned it near your collar to expose the top of your cleavage. Not yet done, she grabbed the hair tie from her wrist and messily arranged your hair in a bun, to make you somehow look presentable.
“There you go,” she smiled proudly. “Now you look like you’re going to a frat party.”
“How did we even get invited to this party?” you asked confused, as you tried to do up your top buttons. “We’re not in a sorority or anything like that?”
Jasmine swatted your hands away, so that your shirt would remain untouched. “I guess because his party is being held here, he decided to invite the whole campus. Now, you can thank me for fixing you up by leaving your shirt alone. Come on.”
Reaching for your hand, Jasmine dragged you through the courtyard and through the front door. As soon as you crossed the threshold of the mansion, the pair of you had to do a double take before ultimately deciding that you both definitely needed a drink. Weaving through the sea of bodies, you eventually found where the bar actually was — and of course, it was an actual bar — and as Jasmine ordered two shots of tequila, you both toasted the end of the semester before downing the first of many alcoholic drinks.
The crowd continued to increase along with the amount of drinks you had consumed, especially when the pair of you found your other college friends in attendance. After hours of catching up and de-stressing, you inevitably needed to excuse yourself from the group so that you could search for the bathroom. Promising Jasmine that you would be right back, it took you a little longer to try and remember your surroundings before heading off.
The main room was a lot fuller now so it was unavoidable to bump into people as you weaved through the crowd. Relief washed over you after you spotted a server who verbally directed you towards where the guest bathrooms were. Finally, your search was coming to a fruitful end as you spotted the rooms in question, but a ruckus nearby caught your attention. Distractedly, you watched a group of guys playing beer pong as you walked and found yourself bumping into a hard surface since you weren’t paying attention to where you were going.
Oomph! In horror, you realised that you were now falling backwards and was about to land on your bottom. With eyes winched shut, the fall that you were bracing for never came. Opening your eyes slowly, you realised that you were suspended in the air with two strong hands keeping you firm in place.
Looking towards your saviour, you found yourself locking gazes with another pair of dark brown orbs that belonged to easily the hottest guy you had ever seen in your life.
“Are you alright?” he spoke with his deep timbre voice, before moving to steady you on your feet.
“I am,” you confirmed as you brushed yourself off. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Don’t sweat it,” he smiled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.”
His apology didn’t register at first as you were too busy gawking at him. Damn, could this guy get any more attractive? Finally snapping out of your daze, you managed to respond to him. “Please, if anyone should be apologising, it’s me,” you laughed. “I wasn’t watching where I was going so I’m sorry about that.”
“At a party like this? It happens all the time,” he waved off your apology.
“Well, thanks again,” you smiled, before trying to move around him and towards your original destination. However, you didn’t get very far, as the guy reached for your arm to stop you.
“I’m sorry,” he smiled apologetically as he let go. “But, do I know you from somewhere?”
“Me?” you asked, baffled. There was no way this guy knew you because that was something you would definitely remember. “No, I don’t think so. I should go.”
Before the guy could respond, another fellow approached and slung his arm around the former’s shoulders to drag him away towards the beer pong tables. Shaking your head, you laughed before heading towards the bathroom to finally relieve yourself. Knowing your luck, you would probably never see the hot guy ever again.
“Jaebeom, what the fuck?” Mark slapped his arm in disbelief. “That ball was miles off. We ain’t gonna win if you keep playing like this and I ain’t drinking whatever this is that Jackson concocted.”
“I’m sorry, man,” Jaebeom rubbed his arm where Mark hit. “I’m a little distracted. There was this girl—”
“Fucking typical, that is,” Mark scoffed.
“It’s not like that,” Jaebeom shoved his friend playfully. “I feel like I know her from somewhere. I just couldn’t figure out where.”
A cheer and a groan filled the room as Jackson sunk another ping pong ball into one of their cups. “You’re drinking this time,” Mark announced. “I drank the last one.”
With a curse, Jaebeom picked up the cup and downed it. “What the fuck is this?” he managed to say through his coughs; this was easily the worst drink he had ever tasted.
“My special recipe,” teased Jackson from across the table. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault you’re distracted by the girl in the flannel shirt.”
“What? That one?” BamBam pointed over the balcony. The boys scrambled over, trying to spot the girl he had mentioned. BamBam was right, there you were in all your glory, weaving your way through the crowd to get back to your friends.
“That’s the one,” Jaebeom confirmed.
“She doesn’t look familiar,” Mark commented as he studied you. “However, she is hot. If you’re not calling dibs, I am.”
Jaebeom threw a glare in Mark’s direction and his friends laughed. Mark put his hands up in surrender as he patted his friend on the shoulder. After another moment, the group of boys went back to their game. Mark and Jaebeom managed to win the round even though Jaebeom was still distracted with thoughts of you the whole time.
It wasn’t like he could help it, Jaebeom hated the notion of not knowing; his curiosity always got the better of him. Sure in his gut that you were familiar, he just had to know who you were. Every time he caught a glimpse of you throughout the night, the nagging feeling of familiarity only tugged harder.
From the way your eyes sparkled as you listened to your friend telling a story, to the way you tipped back your head as you laughed. From the way your eyes turned into crescents when you smiled, to the way your dimples appeared adorably on your cheeks that made him want to poke them…
Oh.
It was you.
How could he have forgotten? Even though it had been some five years since he last laid eyes on you, he wouldn’t have forgotten the childhood that you both spent together. Jaebeom just hadn’t imagined that you would grow up to be the woman that he had bumped into. You were so… different. It wasn’t just in the way you looked but it was in the way you had handled yourself.
That was definitely you; Jaebeom could feel it in his gut. But, his mind — and maybe his heart — wouldn’t be able to rest until he was sure. He needed to find out.
Standing by the balcony once more, Jaebeom’s eyes roamed the crowd as he tried to find where you had gone. Once he spotted you, he was going to confirm his suspicions. Though, the longer he took to look for you, it dawned on him that he now had a different problem — you were nowhere to be found.
“If she is the one you’re looking for, she’s not here anymore,” Mark told him as he arrived back in the pool room.
“How do you know?” Jaebeom asked, wary of what his friend’s answer might be.
“Jackson and I bumped into her on the way to the bar,” Mark replied casually. “Jackson — the gracious host that he is — wanted to make sure that her and her friends were having a good time, and that’s when she said that they were about to leave.”
Jaebeom’s heart sank at Mark’s reply. “Did you ask her for her name?” he suddenly asked; you might have gone from the party but if he at least knew that it was you, then he still had a chance at looking for you.
“I didn’t,” Mark answered him with curiosity. “You said you called dibs, so there wasn’t any point in me getting to know the girl.”
With a sigh, Jaebeom threw a pillow at him. “I didn’t call dibs,” he rolled his eyes. “It isn’t like that. She just reminds me of a friend from back home. I just wanted to confirm whether I was right.”
“Well, you can find out in two weeks,” Yugyeom replied as he sat down next to Jaebeom.
“What do you mean?” Jaebeom turned to him curiously.
“That girl she came with is in the same dance class as me and I’ve seen them around campus.”
Jaebeom cheered before grabbing Yugyeom and shaking his body excitedly, happy with the fact that he hadn’t missed his chance to confirm his suspicions.
Determined, Jaebeom was going to find you. One way or another.
