Midnight Kiss | KNJ

Chapter 12.

Sophie

I was chilling on my tiny sofa, rewatching my favourite episodes of The Office when my phone rang. Since I had a few free days, I was enjoying them to their fullest extent, which meant I wasn't doing anything - literally anything.

"Hey, Maggie, what's up?" I didn't know why Jin's girlfriend was calling me on a Thursday evening, but I could never not answer her call.

"Small change of plans," she said as a way of greeting. The plans were a party for Hoseok's birthday on Friday. My stomach clenched, was I being uninvited right now?

"The party's postponed for a week," Maggie went on and I felt a rock roll off my chest. Since when have parties become important to me?

"Okay, see you then, I guess," I replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. I was kinda looking forward to seeing my brother and his friends. Who knew they were actually so down-to-earth?

"But, we're still hanging out tomorrow. It's game night, and you're coming, too." There wasn't room for arguing in her voice. Despite being the sweetest girl, Maggie could be scary as hell when she wanted to be.

"I don't think I should come, though. Isn't it a friends thing?" I really didn't want them to think I'd weaselled my way into spending time with them.

"Nonsense, you're Jin's sister - you're my sister, Sophie," Maggie said with complete confidence and I couldn't help but smile, "you're family, and that means you're coming."

She knew she had me. You didn't say no to family. 

I relented, "When?" 

An excited squeak boomed from the other side of the line before Maggie said, "Jin's house at eight."

"See you tomorrow, then," I suddenly felt more excited than I'd been for the party. How would I make it until tomorrow, I wondered, trying to focus on the show still on my computer, but all I could think of was how everyone would react when I arrived tomorrow. 

Maggie had assured me I didn't need to bring anything, but I didn't want to show up empty-handed so I made sure I'd take some time tomorrow to bake brownies.

---

The day went by fast, after I'd made sure I was distracted, and before I knew it, it was already seven in the evening. I didn't expect much from this night, but I was still giddy and couldn't wait to get ready. 

Making sure the brownies weren't burning, I took a shower, and managed to dry my shoulder-length hair before the over beeped, letting me know the brownies were ready. I carefully took them out, my hands practically wrapped in cloths - I'd burned myself way too many times.

Letting them cool, I returned to my bathroom, thankful for my warm slippers because the floor was so cold. I kept my makeup minimal; just a thin line of eye-liner, mascara, and a peach lipgloss. If I had time, I would curl my hair a bit, I'd decided before closing the short distance between my bathroom and bedroom. 

It wasn't anything special, just big enough to let me have a queen-sized bed, a closet, and a shelf with books and other random memorabilia. I smiled when I saw a small, bright-green palm tree. The first vacation as a family to Hawaii after Dad and Mary got married.

Since today was practically considered a family gathering, I opted for skinny jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt that I tucked into my pants and that showed off just a bit of the black lacy straps of my bra. Cute and casual.

It turned out I did have enough time to curl my hair, so I spent ten minutes on that, packed the brownies, shrugged on a coat, and grabbed my car keys. I shuddered the entire ride to Jin's house, the wheel so cold my fingers were practically frozen by the time I rang the doorbell.