She was startled from her seat when she heard the doorknob jiggle before the door flung open for a fraction. Sitting up straighter in her chair, she furrowed her brows, stuck up her lips to put on her best impression of an annoyed face.

She was hoping for it to be Namjoon who would come waltzing in. It would be absolutely perfect for her to give him a piece of her mind and she honestly didn't care whether or not she was actually at his place. She tried her best to tolerate this and enough was enough!

Instead of Namjoon's chiseled face, however, a quiet and sunny face of a child poked out from the open door.

"Seo-jun?" Lindsay exclaimed, her foul expression falling off and instantly being replaced by a softer yet surprised one.

"Hey, noona." he smiled sweetly at her. "May I come in?" he politely asked.

"Oh yes. Please do." Lindsay replied, after recovering herself from her mini surprise and smiled a bit as she gestured for the young boy to enter. Seo-Jun quietly stepped in, closing the door behind him.

"I thought you might need these." he said handing out a pair of pearly white earmuffs to Lindsay. She stared at the boy in surprise.

"Hyung's parties can be pretty loud." he smiled wryly with a shrug before pushing the earmuffs further into her hands.

"Oh, thank you." Lindsay gasped, touched by the gentle boy's kindness and thoughtfulness. "Thank you so much." she said again, accepting his offering and moved on to affectionately ruffle his soft tresses making him giggle adorably.

"So, were you downstairs too?" Lindsay asked, escorting both of them to take a seat by the edge of her bed.

Seo-Jun shook his head in response. "Nope. I was in my room. Hyung doesn't really allow me to join his parties. He says that I'm too young for those stuff." he mumbled and Lindsay could sense a tinge of sadness and loneliness laced around his voice. She watched him absentmindedly kick his hanging legs to and fro, probably bored out of his mind.

"But of course, you can go ahead, you know?" he added looking at Lindsay with a hopeful sparkle in his eyes.

Lindsay giggled and shook her head. "Haha. No, no I can't do that." she chuckled before her momentarily smile melted into a sad grimace. She sighed as she used her finger to slowly trace insignificant patterns on the earmuffs she had clutched within her hands. "I definitely cannot risk going out there." she quietly added.

"Why ever not?" Seo-Jun quizzed. "You're old enough and you can just take a short break from your work. Just to check it out."

"No, I can't." she sighed again looking up at him with a pained expression. "Having me at parties is never a good idea."

"And who on earth said that?" Seo-Jun asked, crossing his arms tightly and frowning challengingly at his elder. Lindsay averted his gaze and ducked her head to submerge herself in the shadows. It was obviously her father who had told her those very words.

Having Lindsay at parties is never a good idea. In fact, having her around anywhere is a curse itself.

His deep ominous voice boomed in her head sending sharp pangs shooting up her heart.

She had only been an innocent and naïve toddler when her father had spat out those brutal words at her heart sending it shattering to millions of unamendable pieces.

To be specific, ever since she had ruined her father's image in front of everyone during that one party ages ago when she wound up spilling the entire buffet on her father's superior's head, she had been strictly forbidden from attending a party in her life.

And even now, when she was living oceans away from any of her parents' dominance, she had sworn to herself to stick by the unspoken rule of not attending any social gatherings. Well, it wasn't as if anyone had ever even given a thought of inviting her and she didn't want to go either. Knowing that her taking a deep breath would be enough to bring the entire ceiling to come crashing down on the guests and she would have to leave -NO- be kicked out of the room humiliated and deprived of her respect and of course, with a whole room hating her.

"Well?"

She softly gasped when she felt the warm hand of Seo-Jun rest itself gently on her arm, his eyes boring into hers expectantly. Swallowing down the sudden lumps forming at her throat from the unpleasant memory, she opened her mouth to speak "Well, I-"

She was cut off from her sentence when the door creaked opened yet again. They both suddenly turned towards the source of the sound.

"Knock, knock," a quiet voice whispered and a head with a mop of coffee curls poked itself from the crack in between the door and the frame. Lindsay smiled upon recognizing that beautiful, butterfly triggering sunshiny smile.

"Knock, knock. Who's there?" Hoseok whispered, eyeing Lindsay with a playful gleam in his eyes. "Hoseok. Hoseok, who? Hoseok here to rescue his trapped princess from the beast's dungeon."

His adorable and whimsical nature made Lindsay giggle joyfully making her relish in his warm presence. She also felt her cheeks slightly heat up at the statement of him referring to her as a princess. "Hello, Hoseok." she grinned, waving at him.

"Hey," he cheerily greeted, sweeping a hand through his messy hair making Lindsay's heart run into a frenzy. He strode over and ruffled Seo-Jun's hair with a chuckle. "What's up, goblin. Thanks for guarding my princess for me." Seo-Jun playfully glowered at him as he tried to pat his hair back into a decent style.

If he calls me his princess one more time, I swear I'm going to pass out and melt into a gooey puddle infront of his feet right here and now. Lindsay thought feeling the back of her neck heat up.

"So, come on downstairs, will ya girl?" Hoseok invited as he took a seat by Lindsay making the bed slightly creak from the shift of his weight.

"Thanks, Hoseok, but I rather not." Lindsay tried to politely brush him off, playing with the pair of earmuffs in her hands.

"Come on!" Hoseok huffed in annoyance. "It will be fun. You're missing out on a great time." he urged her one more shining an encouraging smile her way.

"I have work to do. Tons of it, actually." Lindsay refused him again. She stood up and made her way over to her desk to take a seat beside it. "So, maybe next time?" she said and began to busy herself by organizing her notes into neat piles and praying that Hoseok would just give up and leave. If only she had known how persistent Hoseok could be.

Concerned over the silence that followed after, she sighed and peeked over her shoulder to look at her friend but found only Seo-Jun sitting idling by her bed. "What the- where's-" she started baffled only to see Seo-Jun pointing to her side. She whipped her head to her right and nearly fell over her chair when she found herself staring face to face with Hoseok who had suddenly appeared beside her.

Did he teleport or something?!

"Hoseok! Goodness, I-" she gasped but was interrupted by him eagerly yanking her wrists in his warm hands.

"Come on. Surely, you can come down just for a few minutes? Your work won't be going anywhere." he pleaded once more, his mellow lips forming a pout.

"No, Hoseok. I've already told you. I'm not going." she firmly repeated and slid her wrist free from his gentle hold.

"Please?" he urged once more.

Lindsay snatched the earmuffs from her desk and put them on securely over her two ears. "I'm not listening." she huffed before beginning to scrawl something over a sheet of paper with a pen.

She gasped when she felt someone lift her earmuffs smoothly over her head making strands of her hair fall over her face. "For me, please?" Hoseok smiled, gently setting the earmuffs on the desk before reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

The sweet touch made her shudder but she firmly stood her ground. "No. I'm sorry." she said.

"Fine." he grumbled, tearing his hands away from her hair to cross them and sharply face himself away from Lindsay's eyes. He very much resembled a toddler sulking in the corner when his mom refused to buy him a toy at the supermarket. He's so cute, Lindsay gushed to herself.

She was about to apologize to him for her stubbornness before he suddenly spoke.

"Could you at least show me the way to the bathroom then, please?" he grumbled, peeking at her over his shoulder, his soft pout never leaving his lips.

"It's downstairs."

"Downstairs, where? Exactly?" he quizzed again. "There are so many people, its hard for me to find my next foot in front of the other when I walk. So, you'd have to kindly show me."

"This is a trick to get me downstairs, isn't it?" Lindsay deadpanned, raising an eye brow.

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" Hoseok challenged her in an equally confronting tone. "It would only be a few minutes longer till you find yourself on your knees scrubbing this very floor, Lindsay."

Lindsay glared at him.

Hoseok glared at her harder.

Seo-Jun stared to and fro in between them as if a wrestling match was about to take place and he has been appointed to be the referee.

"Fine," Lindsay groaned throwing her hands up in defeat. "I'll come but only to show you the path to the bathroom." She got up to her feet and walked passed the two boys over to the door. Hoseok smiled sunnily in secret victory as he obediently followed her. "Yes, ma'am." he grinned but not before shooting a sly wink in Seo-Jun's direction.

"Wait for me here, please, Seo-Jun." Lindsay instructed the little boy before both she and Hoseok slipped out and closed the door behind.

___________________________________________________

The two of them clambered downstairs and Lindsay never thought that it could be possible but the electronic music sounded a lot quieter back in her room. Experiencing its rocking beats from the source was a whole other blaring nightmare.

"The bathroom's this way!" she had to basically holler above the uproar for her voice to reach Hoseok who was only standing just a few paces away from her.

"Sure," Hoseok said before flashing a mischievous smirk her way. He snatched two glasses of drinks from the counter before handing one to Lindsay. "But first, have a drink with me."

"What?" Lindsay spluttered as the glass was shoved into her hands. "Weren't you threatening to piss yourself in my room a couple of minutes ago?"

The two of them turned when they heard a random guy clear his throat and eye them incredulously. He was especially staring at Lindsay as if she had grown a tentacle.

Oh no. Lindsay cringed. Was I that loud?

"Can I help you, dude?" Hoseok sneered making the teen quickly snap his head forward and briskly walk away.

With a hearty sigh, Hoseok turned himself to face Lindsay again with a soft smile. "Look, Lindsay. Just chill, okay?" he rested a hand gently on her shoulder. "Just stay here and enjoy yourself for a couple of minutes with me. You're starting to be tighter than Namjoon and that won't do at all."

Lindsay glanced between the sparkling drink in her hand and back at Hoseok's beaming face. She peered into the drink and caught her amber reflection staring back at her with weary eyes and a strained smile. Woah. she exclaimed to herself. Maybe, I do need to loosen up for a bit.

Taking a few deep breaths and exhaling, she brought the drink to her lips and sipped it and let the sweet aroma of the drink unclench the worries and anxiety that were encasing her head in a monstrous grip. She gulped down the rest of her remaining drink and gazed around the room.

Everyone seemed happy and alive and Lindsay was liking it very much. She had forgotten how fun parties used to feel like. No matter how unwanted she had always felt at such places, she had almost forgotten how much she had missed just being there. She glanced at Hoseok one more time to see him laughing at a drinking game some people were pulling off in the corner.

She smiled softly at him. She had also forgotten how much she had missed being wanted by someone to have her presence at a party.

"How's everything going? Good?"

She turned around as she recognized that smooth honeyed voice. As expected, she found Namjoon over by the far end, animatedly chatting away with some guests and undoubtedly being an excellent host.

For every moment Lindsay spent gazing at his figure, his angelic aura was only enhanced in her eyes. He looked so heavenly with his gleaming golden hair swept back neatly with occasional messy bangs framing his perfectly sculpted face. His dragon eyes glittered under his dark lashes, taking in everything with precise detail to be processed by the clever mind that rested behind them.

Lindsay could never deny the fact that Namjoon looked simply dashing and seductive in every finery he wore.

For there he stood clad in his strikingly stylish white shirt adorned his powerful and robust figure which was framed by the denim jacket that laid hung over his shoulders. It was as if he knew the precise moment to flash his dimple smile to make the entire room instantly fall in love with him.

Ever since, Namjoon had stopped playing around with Lindsay, she had caught herself admiring him in a completely different light. Earlier, she had accepted that Namjoon was perfect and literally every woman's dream as a fact of life. A point that she couldn't argue on. Yet, lately, although her thoughts about him remained the same, she found that these same thoughts would now be accompanied by her heart racing and her blood rushing to her face.

"Earth to Lindsay!"

With a startled gasp, she was snapped back into reality while blinking her eyes furiously. She tore her gaze away from Namjoon's figure and found Hoseok looking over at her with a puzzled expression.

"Woah, you okay there?" he asked in a voice full of concern. "You look red and also pale. Red and pale at the same time."

"I'm fine. Just don't worry about me." Lindsay brushed it off and cleared her throat. She had almost lost control for a second there. Stupid Namjoon. Always driving her insane even when he was standing on the other side of the room.

Hoseok gave her a skeptic look before flashing another smile.

"Hey, Hoseok!"

They both turned around to find a trio of girls dressed in sparkling silk dresses that reached their thighs and enticing necklines that revealed their cleavage more than the limit that was considered decent. Yet, these girls were gorgeous with their crystal hoop earrings dangling from the sides of their faces adorned with shades of rich make up. Their lips sparkling crimson.

The girl who stood in the middle appeared to be the leader of them all and her slender figure was adorned in a beautiful and elegant red and black dress which showed off her curves in all the right places. Her entire demeanor screamed grace and refinement. She was also the same girl who had called Hoseok.

"Hey, Rochelle." Hoseok gently smiled at the breathtaking red beauty. "How are you ladies doing this evening?" he gestured to whom Lindsay assumed must be Rochelle's wannabe team.

"Amazing. Thank you," she replied in a fluttery voice and didn't even bother acknowledging Lindsay's presence. "Um- do you know where Namjoon might be?"

"Oh, he's over there." Hoseok helpfully pointed to the far corner and Lindsay caught sight of Namjoon's golden locks in the crowd. She saw Rochelle's emerald eyes light up when she caught sight of him too and for some reason, it made Lindsay's stomach clench.

"By the way, Rochelle. Have you met Lindsay?" Hoseok said putting an arm around Lindsay. Rochelle eyed Lindsay from head to toe as if she was examining a ragged scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield and it made her feel extremely self conscious.

For here was this spectacular lady who seemed as if she should be on her way to the global beauty pageant standing next to Lindsay who was wearing nothing but a long wooly sweater with a pair of dusty jeans and some beat up sneakers.

Yeah, she really felt like the ugly duckling in a ballet of elegant swans.

"Uh-huh. Namjoon's charity case, so I've heard." she mumbled and the two girls behind her clasped their hands in front of their mouths as they tried their best to stifle their giggles.

"Uh, actually-" Lindsay tried to protest.

"Nice to meet you but I have to go now." Rochelle rudely dismissed her before trailing past her with her squad on her tail, all of them effortlessly sashaying over to Namjoon.

"They are so rude." Lindsay cried in aghast, shooting death glares in the direction they had taken off.

"But Rochelle's basically Namjoon's female counterpart." Hoseok sighed pouring himself another drink. "And also, Namjoon's got the hots for her, if you know what I mean. I think she likes him too"

Those few words were enough to send Lindsay's heart to a halt. She suddenly got flashbacks to the day when she discovered that Namjoon has a crush and how she had imagined that it would be someone as perfect as him. Today, she found out that the mystery girl was Rochelle. The girl that Lindsay had always considered as the girl she could never dream of becoming.

The girl who now had her arms all over Namjoon's body and was ravishingly flirting with him right in front of her eyes.

All of a sudden, she found that the very sight of the two practically glowing in each other's presence, only made her heart become enveloped in a cold and painful embrace of loneliness and self-pity.

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A/N:

Heyy!!! I hope y'all enjoyed that chapter! I will try to be more consistent with my updates for the next couple of days since my schedule is alot less lighter now.

Atleast it will be until July starts when I will be starting my University responsibilities hehe.

A huge thank you to everyone who supports my books and me! You guys give me so much of hope and love on a daily basis and I can't thank you enough!❤️❤️❤️

Please, don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed! 💜💜

Byeee