Regret Me Not | 김석진

Eighteen (I)

Living with Victoria was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. Yet, there they were, ringing in the new year as roommates. It was Jin's idea to throw the New Year's Eve party, and like an idiot, Victoria agreed to it. She thought it would be fun, in fact.

If the party had never happened, a lot of other things wouldn't have either. But I'll get to that.

The sound of the doorbell hurt Victoria's ears as she stood near the door, waiting for their last guests to show up—Jimin and Hoseok.

She threw the door open excitedly, beaming at the faces smiling back at her. "Hey guys!"

"Happy new year!" they shouted together before just Jimin spoke. "Hobi spent all day trying to make tteokguk."

Hoseok shrugged. "Couldn't figure it out. This is from that deli down the street." Yoongi spotted them and nodded clumsily, his third glass of wine almost empty in his hands. "Can we heat this up on your stove?

"That's faster than heating it up in the refrigerator!" she joked before retracting. "Sorry, I've had a few cocktails."

Most of you, the readers, either have thrown or will throw a party. And you might find yourself worrying about something going wrong.

You shouldn't.

What you should worry about is everything going wrong. Because it's scary how fast that can happen. For example, at Jin's New Year's Eve party, it only took ten minutes.

A lot happened in those ten minutes, so...let's take this room by room.

Living room, 10:34PM

Victoria stood on the worn couch cushion and shushed everyone just as Jimin and Hoseok came in from the kitchen where they set the timer for their soup. Iseul narrowed her eyes at the older.

"Are you gonna give a speech or something, Unnie?"

She only pressed a finger to her lips. "Shh." Iseul laughed and exchanged a look with Jungkook, who had one hand on her waist and the other on Yoongi's shoulder to steady him.

"You guys," Victoria started, the alcohol only getting to her a bit. "I love you guys so much."

Jin chuckled. "What are you doing?"

She shushed him before continuing. "It's funny that less than a year ago, I only knew Iseul, and you boys only knew each other." Silence gripped the room as they all soaked up her words. "And now, I can't imagine my life without you guys. We may fight sometimes, but we always work it out, because we love each other. And what's more important than love?"

"Money," Yoongi shouted in his drunkenness, making Namjoon elbow him.

"No—shh, Yoongi. What's more important than love?"

There were a few mutters during her pause, mostly Namjoon and Jimin saying 'nothing'.

"Nothing."

Jin stepped forward to pull her off the couch, amused, but she resisted in his grip. "I also wanted to say that nothing lasts forever." He sighed with a smile and let her finish. "Happiness passes, but so does sadness. So let's hope that there's more happiness to pass than sadness this year." She raised her glass of wine. "To the new year."

"To the new year!" everyone yelled before taking a drink from their own glasses. In Yoongi's case, he downed his.

Most of the gang exited the living area to the dining room and kitchen beyond the archway, leaving only Jungkook, Iseul, Jimin, and Taehyung. Jungkook and Iseul were engrossed in a conversation of their own while Taehyung shook his head at Jimin by the drink table.