✓ sorry, i love you || hwang hyunjin

[05] the karaoke

"We're here!" Chan exclaimed as he turned off the engine.

"YAAAAAAAY!" Jeongin and Hyunjin exclaimed before running out of the car (Hyunjin trampled me— it was not cool). I was left behind with Chan and Seungmin, both of whom were saner than the other two boys.

"So... how are you guys?" I asked to break the ice. Although I had gotten fairly comfortable with Chan, I only barely knew much about Seungmin (who, by the way, looked hot in his casual clothes).

Seungmin considered the question before replying, "I would say I'm good, but that's a lie, so I'll go with 'happy' since we have another sane person in our friend group." I grinned in response. I liked him already.

"Me too, Minnie," I replied, the nickname falling out of my mouth without a second thought. "I mean—"

Seungmin cut me off with the biggest smile I had seen on the boy yet. "I don't mind." I grinned back at him in response. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I definitely liked him already.

"How are you, Nabi?" Chan said, turning the tables on me, and I stiffened momentarily before replying.

"Oh, uh, I'm okay," I said, hoping that I sounded normal. Although I tended to ask how are you? a lot, I never knew how to respond to the question properly. Like what was I supposed to say?

Chan didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but I wasn't willing to give any more to someone I had only recently met.

Thankfully, we had arrived at the doors of the karaoke place, where we found Hyunjin and Jeongin talking to five other guys. I gulped; Chan never mentioned there would be these many people.

"Bae!" Jeongin exclaimed, dragging me over to the group of boys. "Come meet everyone!"

I smiled again to cover up my nervousness as I was introduced to Minho (the car butler— we would get along great), Changbin (I needed some serious workout tips from him), Felix (he was a literal sunshine— please give me tips on how to be happy), and lastly, I met Jisung (he was so cute, but such a flirt).

Finally, it was my turn. "It's so nice to meet you all! My name is Bae Nabi, and I was boosted up a year, so now I'm a senior!" I introduced with— what I hoped looked like— a warm smile.

Cue the dramatic gasps.

"No way! You were boosted a year?"

"And in high school?"

"No shit, sherlock! But unlike you, she's a genius!"

"I know my best friend is such a genius."

"Your behaviour is so UGH!"

"HEY, she's my best friend now!"

I stepped back, shocked at the sudden burst of noise. I expected the boys to be loud, just not this loud. And I didn't know why Hyunjin and Jeongin decided to join the outburst; they already knew about my acceleration. Once again, I found myself standing next to Seungmin.

I glanced at him to see him shaking his head disappointedly. "What's wrong?" I asked, scared that I did something wrong. Even though I had just met him, I liked him, and didn't want him to dislike me.

Minnie must have noticed my worry, because he quickly laughed and told me, "No, it's not you"— I sighed in relief— "It's just that they always argue, so I kinda expected them to be more... civilized."

I grinned at him and replied cheekily, "Don't worry. Jeongin is always like this, too, so I'm used to it!" I saw the boys heading inside the building— still bickering— so I linked my elbow with Seungmin's and skipped forwards, dragging a smiling Seungmin behind me.

~ a few hours later ~

"Nabi-ah, let's stay for just one more round," Jisung begged, refusing to let go of my arm. Over the past few hours, I could say that I successfully bonded with the entire group. In fact, I could even say that I had bonded too much. The boys and I had bonded enough that we were close enough for physical contact. Or at least, they were ready for physical contact and I kind of went along with it. I wasn't complaining, though; these guys had the best hugs, and physical contact was my love language.

But even though I wanted to stay with the boys, I knew I needed to get back home soon. It was already around 6:00, and I didn't want to get in trouble for wasting my time.

"No, Sungie, I have to get back home soon. Ask Jeongin if you don't believe me," I replied, trying to detach myself from the quokka's soft grip.

Jisung glanced at Jeongin, who shook his head. Betrayer. "YAH NABI!" The quokka exclaimed. "YOU CAN STAY!"

Before I could protest, Seungmin came over and gave me the cutest puppy eyes. "Please, noona?"

My eyes widened in surprise as I burst out laughing. "Yah, I'm not your noona!" That caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Wait... really?" Hyunjin piped up, curious. All the boys seemed genuinely curious.

"Well... yeah," I said, my face red because of the sudden attention.

"How old are you?" Minho asked from where he was sitting (and almost choking Hyunjin, but I'm sure there was a valid reason).

I internally cringed at myself before saying, "I'm 15."

That was when hell broke loose... again. Sometimes, I really wished I was older, or maybe even dumber. At least then I wouldn't have started school early and skipped a grade.

"No way!"

"Really?"

"That means... I'm, like, 3 years older than you!"

"I thought I was young..."

Finally, I had enough of the chaos. "ENOUGH!" I stated, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough for it to be considered yelling. A sudden hush fell upon the room, and someone— Chan, I think— started laughing.

When I looked at him with a questioning look, he explained, "Usually, no one can get them all to shut up. Even I have a hard time; you fit right in..."

I shake my head while 'tsk'-ing them, before saying, "Well, to answer your questions, I'm 15. My birthday is in May, so I'll turn 16 then; as old as Jeongin."

At this, Chan and Minhos's jaws dropped. "That means... that you're 3 years younger than us?!"

Jeongin and I were also shocked by this revelation. "No way! You guys are turning 19?" Jeongin gasped. When they nodded, he guessed, "That means the rest of you will be turning either 18 or 17... right?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin replied, finally out of Minho's grasp.

My brows furrowed. "Wait... but doesn't that mean that a lot of you started school a year early, too?" I questioned. When a lot of them nodded once again, my widened eyes met with Jeongin's.

Han looked confused as he asked, "Wait, why are you guys so shocked about it?" The boys looked so shocked that I barked out a laugh.

"The thing is," I explained, unsure how to phrase it. "Jeongin and I also started a year early. But when we were in school, we got a lot of shit for it."

"BRUH-"

"THE FU-"

"WHY THOUGH?"

Jeongin and I shrugged before grinning at each other. We had finally found our people.