What Can I Do

Chapter 16 ~I thought I could spend a day without you. I couldn't.

The loud bass reverberated in Brian's chest as he made his way through the crowd of people in the living room. 

He held his drink close to his chest, trying not to spill any of the liquid inside his cup. When Jae said he knew a lot of people, he really knew a lot of people. Half the people here Brian recognized from school and the other half he had never seen before in his life.

He pushed through the crowd, trying to spot somebody's strawberry blonde hair. He had contemplated not coming tonight, not a big fan of house parties, never really getting invited to them anyways. 

However, he had not seen much of Jae the whole day. The latter was too busy helping Haru prepare for this party that Brian had barely seen him for more than two seconds. 

Usually, Jae would walk Brian home before either inviting the boy into his house, or inviting himself into Brian's. They would talk and play video games for most of the day, just enjoying each other's company. Jae's absence made Brian realize how much the other had already made a spot for himself in his life, Brian already depending on his company.

Brian shook his head, making up his mind to leave. He was determined to survive a day without Jae's presence to remind himself that he still could. He had been there for half an hour already and had barely seen the other male. 

Brian had once spotted him by the kitchen, laughing with people he didn't know, and seeing that made his stomach churn uncomfortably. 

Of course Jae had other friends. Brian wasn't the only person he laughed or talked with. The boy was a social butterfly. Brian was uncomfortable, did not have a good time and was starting to  regret even coming in the first place. By the time he had looked back to where Jae was standing the boy had disappeared.

He took a couple steps towards the door before bumping into Haru.

"Woah, sorry! Oh, Brian." She said, clearly flustered.

She looked up at him, face flushed.

"It's fine." He said, before moving away from her and towards the door.

"Wait! Are you leaving?" She cried, reaching out to grab his arm.

"Yeah." He shrugged off her hand, nodding noncommittally.

"The parties only started though, you should stay a bit longer." She reasoned.

Brian looked at her suspiciously.

"I mean." She flushed, "You've only been here for half an hour, don't go home so soon."

He raised his eyebrows but said nothing and continued walking towards the front door. Haru was disheartened tried not to let it show as she watched him walk towards the door.

All of a sudden, Jae came running from down the stairs, almost hurtling his way into Brian.

"Hyung!" He called, happily. "You came!"

Jae grinned big and bright at Brian, swinging his arm over his shoulder. The spectators around watched with slight surprise at Jae interacting friendly with the schools bad boy. Most were still shocked at the warm response Jae got every time he spoke to Brian. Any time anyone else attempted to speak to Brian he shut them off and only replied to in a cold and uninterested voice.

Brian tried to suppress the growing smile on his face, but failed when Jae grinned at him so wide and threw his arm over his shoulder. Brian noticed the younger did that a lot and maybe Brian liked it a bit more than he should. He could smell the alcohol on the younger's breath, and it made him a bit intoxicated inhaling it as Jae's mouth was so close to his own.