'He's a tall glass of domineeringness, you're the glass half-full of penitence ... well, almost, yet no other two entities would fit more perfectly.'
In which Younghyun tries to make do with the comfort he finds in the unclear while he waits and hop...
while seeing you like that, i'm smiling outside but actually i'm not fine
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When Teddy shut the passenger's side door of Wonpil's greyish Corolla at 4p.m. on Saturday, she immediately took to scouring the area for Jackson. He promised to be here (I'll bring a couple of friends if you don't mind) and she banked on that assurance. Not on the fact that he would actually be here because the host was a close friend of his. Teddy pushed down a growing discomfort: he stands her up.
She did a twice over on the few present—all unfamiliar, except the host, who stood off to the side to watch a couple of their mates stack high logs of wood in a heap. Park Jinyoung looked very totalitarian. The less busy were trying to make new friends: one loner slowly inched closer to a fellow loner tapping their phone near a pine tree, until shy intros made subtle transits to small talk and small talk would be unmistakable guffaws by the end of the bonfire. It would proceed to alert Teddy that another set of individuals fated for each other have become friends.
It reminded her of her discussion with the boy on her right.
So Wonpil was still cowering under the impression of being designated driver, his reason for standing here against his will. But everyone liked to live a little every now and then, including him. Plus, he wouldn't pass up on a chance to scout out new additions to his stupid club. It was about those new recruits after all. But even with the kind of kerfuffle to come, Teddy doubted her friend could end up finding people ready to sacrifice their social time to kill their social lives. Except they were super nice like Lee Dongmin, who didn't know when to lie their way out of anything, not even to protect their dignity.
Park Sungjin, on her left, would have looked out of place in his sweater and midnight blue dress pants if Jinyoung was not sporting a similar ensemble. Geek minds dressed alike. Teddy was grateful that on the bright side he bailed out on the formal shoes. And given the effort he'd put into fitting in, she hated to be the one to rain on his parade, so she zipped her lips, threw away the keys, and let him bask in the daringness of a dull brown knitted sweater paired with white converse, hoping she stuck around long enough to keep a close eye on him.
'So this is what they call a party.' Sungjin was hung up on the scene before him.
'You talk like that and everyone is going to know the real you, Bob,' Wonpil quipped. 'No one wants to know the real y—hey!'
Teddy elbowed Wonpil in the gut. He lacked civility, much less mindfulness of whom his words might affect. But Sungjin was a big sweetheart, inside and out, and still grinned like Wonpil just gave him the warm-fuzzy.
'Cut him some slack. Like you're any better. Don't listen to him, Sungjin,' she said. 'Jinyoung is no different than you are. I bet you both can bond over post-it notes and favourite professors.'
