off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ two

As soon as Delilah had seen Narae enter the banquet hall, all of her worries had seemingly been whisked away. She waved to her friend with an enthusiastic smile, as her brother watched, amused. Narae responded with a wave of her own, before handing the beautiful bouquet she was holding to a very surprised Taerae. Then, she made her way to Lilah, and greeted her with a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here," Lilah said, her head on Narae's shoulder.

As Narae pulled away, she grinned proudly. "Well of course, I wasn't going to let you down."

Lilah sighed, her hands joined together. "It's so crowded here, it's awful."

"The garden is a much better place to hang out, I'll tell you that." Narae's eyes drifted to Matthew, who had been standing there, unable to get a single word in. "Oh, Matthew, hi."

"Hi, how are you doing, Narae?"

"Hmm, I'm fine."

Both Narae and Delilah turned to Matthew, without saying a word, as if expecting something. Matthew was far from obtuse, he knew when someone wanted him to leave.

"Alright, alright," he relented, "I'll leave you two alone."

"Bye," Delilah waved, far too enthusiastically for his taste. "See you later!"

Ah, what a thankless role it was, the role of a big brother. For all of her life, Matthew had been the one to stand behind her, reassuring her when she was stressed out. But it looked like he'd been replaced after all! Still, jokes aside, he couldn't be happier that she'd found a friend. She couldn't hide herself in the familial cocoon for the rest of her life. At least, he knew that with Narae, she would still feel comfortable, even without him by her side at all times.

He grabbed a glass of what he identified as sparkling apple juice, and went to sit near one of the tables. He hadn't been bothered by any old man trying to talk about business yet, so maybe the party wouldn't be too bad after all.

"Ah, crap," a voice coming from besides him said. "I need a smoke."

Intrigued, Matthew turned around to look at the woman who was sitting next to him. Slumped on a chair, she was munching on an amuse-bouche, a leather jacket laid over her lap. Her silky dark hair framed a beautiful, refined face. A face he was sure he knew from somewhere.

"Oh!," he exclaimed, a metaphorical light bulb appearing over his head. "You're Gunwook's sister, aren't you? Jaewook, right?"

She turned to him slowly with a raised eyebrow, and finished her bite of the amuse-bouche before replying. "Yeah."

Okay, not very talkative. Still, Matthew could work with that. "I'm Matthew, I'm friends with Gunwook. I saw you once when I was hanging out at his house. I...Don't know if you recognize me?"

Finally finished with her snack, she fully turned to him. Her eyes scanned him thoroughly, from top to bottom, and Matthew could feel the blood rush to his cheeks all of a sudden. Why in the world was she looking at him like that? For a second, Matthew wished he'd made an effort to dress better for tonight, just in hopes she wouldn't think of him as too much of a goof. He was just wearing the same suit he always did at every party.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh yeah. You're the Canadian guy."

Matthew nodded enthusiastically, happy that he'd at least made the tiniest bit of an impression. "That's me! Um, Gunwook told me you lived in Canada, too."

She clicked her tongue, her stare moving to Gunwook, who seemed to be talking to Gyuvin in a corner of the room. "He talks too much." Her words were harsh, but there was the faintest ghost of a smile on her lips.