Persona |K Th

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                           Taehyung

Peyton likes soju even more than I thought she would. She and Cassie are pretty tipsy, laughing and making Jimin and me laugh, too. So far, everyone is getting along well. Jimin and Cassie are chill, being friendly but not flirty which, for my cousin, is a miracle.

"How long have you been friends?" I ask the girls. We've finished eating and are still sitting around the low table.

"Since 6th grade. Cassie sat behind me in every class. Abrams... Acosta," Peyton says, pointing from herself to her friend. "Alphabetical order."

"We both had glasses and braces and bangs and an unhealthy obsession with Justin Bieber. Besties ever since." The girls' hands reach towards each other as they slap, snap and shake their way through what has to be a circa 6th grade secret handshake. I imagine Peyton as the cutest little girl.

"Oh, yeah! Your Mimi took us to see the Biebs in concert. Remember our purple glitter lip gloss." Cassie makes kissy lips.

"And our matching purple chokers. OMG! Our first concert!" Peyton looks nostalgic.

"Taehyungie, you remember our first concert?" He's a little loud. The more Jimin drinks, the more sociable he gets. So does his dick. We should turn in soon.

I lean my head back letting the memories flood over me. "Psy Gangnam Style! I begged my father to let us go. Finally, your mom convinced him to let us go with the bodyguards."

"Remember how pissed at us they were. Everybody but them was doing the dance." Jimin jumps up and starts doing the dance and singing the KPOP classic.

"Wait! Hold up! What are you two talking about, bodyguards?"

Jimin looks from Cassie to me to Peyton and back, not knowing what to say.

"They're just men that work for our family's business." I try to brush over it.

"Are y'all like, rich or something?" I'm learning just how blunt Cassie is .

"Um..." Jimin rubs his neck, looking down at the floor as he eases back into his spot. Peyton looks at me with a hint of a smile, reminding me of our conversation about my car.

No point in lying. "Mmm ... our families are."

"Oh. Well, that's a relief. I was a little worried about feeding y'all all week." Cassie punctuates her comment with a hiccup, and her shocked face has us roaring with laughter. Jimin falls off his pillow and that sends us into another fit of giggles.

"I don't wanna be so rich or famous that I need bodyguards." Cassie isn't going to let this go. "Being in the middle is best. Not too poor, not too rich."

"You're right. Moderation in everything." Peyton is holding her beer bottle up like she's making a toast. "It's safer under the curve. Bad shit happens when you get two standard deviations from the mean."

Jimin's squinting at Peyton, like it will cut through his alcohol haze. He clearly doesn't get the Bell curve reference from my hot math tutor.

"Psst,Peyton. You're being a nerd." Cassie is almost slurring her words.

"Hey! Nerds ... are ... sexy! Just look how sexy my little nerd is, with his sexy little nerd glasses." She starts giggling, but I see the heat in her eyes. It's kinda nice knowing she's so needy for me, even my nerd version.

"Ohmygod, Taehyungie! Our sexy little nerd!" Jimin is cackling, rolling in the floor, along with Cassie. It's good that they're getting along. I just feel ganged up on.