Get-togethers are not unusual for Lilac's circle of friends. Though the public only knew of the guys' close friendship, and was still clueless that their squad is actually a co-ed one, she and the girls prefer it to stay that way. 

She got enough boys being shipped with her already, she doesn't want the shippers going ballistic with the knowledge of her friendly interactions with more male idols. Speaking of male friends...

"Even Enzo and Gun were shocked when Kio volunteered having the Christmas party in his apartment," Rei continued before puckering her lips and applying gloss on them. "They've been friends longer and that was the first time he did that. It was the main reason why everyone became even more excited for tonight."

She has been ready to go for almost half an hour, but this companion of hers is being extra tonight because of a particular person. Now they ended up talking about how the idea of a Christmas party even came to be. She was unfortunately asleep when her friends talked about it in the group chat. When she went online, everything's already set.

"Maybe he's feeling lonely this year," she guessed, thinking of her previous encounters with the boy.

But of course, Reiko would think otherwise. Her best friend rolled her eyes, "oh God, how can I forget? You hate him. Let's just be thankful he's letting us celebrate in his place okay, Li? Enough with the badmouthing."

She groaned, "what? I wasn't badmouthing him or anything, I'm serious! Maybe he's lonely because he just went through a nasty bre—"

Oh no, shut the hell up Lilac!

"Nasty what? Can you say that again?," Rei paused from doing her winged eyeliner as she glanced at her.

Thank God, she wasn't paying attention.

"Nothing," she shrugged, "well, we never know? Maybe he's feeling lonely because he misses his... brother?"

Her best friend scoffed, "just be honest and say you're bashing him again. You are like some anti... why do you even hate him? No wait, why do you even hate each other? It never really made sense to me. To think that many people are actually shipping you two," the girl then laughingly added.

"Can we not talk about that, please?"

In all honesty, she never had any serious problem with the shipping thing. Even when she was still a trainee, her seniors already mentioned that it's a normal thing in being an idol. She also never had any issue with the guys she's being paired up with, other than the awkwardness during the first meeting. They would just laugh it off in the end and proceed to being friends.

So no, the reason why she hated Ki-Ryeong wasn't because of the ship or any petty stuff. Believe it or not, she actually has a valid reason. It happened two years ago, in the midst of their first long hiatus before the release of their third mini album. She and Rei still weren't official members of Gun's circle back then, but tend to already hangout with them—especially the girls—from time to time.

One night, the said guy called to ask them to come over because he was with some of his friends. She still can remember the faint noises in the background while Gun excitedly tried to convince her to come with Rei.

.°•⏳°.•

Four years ago

"We're gonna be complete tonight! This rarely happens. I can finally introduce the both of you to everyone. After this, you'll be official members the '97-line," he exclaimed from the other line, referring to the year of their births. Yes, they all are the same age that's why they banded together.

Lilac can't help but smile, "what is this, an initiation? Are you gonna make us clean up after?"

"Seriously—" A familiar voice suddenly cut him off before there was a moment of incoherent mumbling. "Hey Li, just come here, please? I need to go now 'cause I had to run some errands, these fuckers can't do shit. I'll call you later and I won't stop 'til you two get your asses in here."

"Yeah, try harder later."

"You're such a killjoy! Bye."

There were still sounds coming from her phone even though a few seconds had already passed after Gun bid his goodbye. The guy probably forgot to hang up. She was about to do it herself when a distant but clear voice resounded from the other side.

"What was Gun doing back here?," a new voice asked. Unlike the first, she didn't recognize this one.

"He was trying to convince his childhood friend to come, Lilac from K4RMA?," replied the one who called her childhood friend earlier. She knew it was Minhwan, 'cause she already met him once. "I met her already, she's fun. You two should finally meet, you love their songs right? I saw the videos of you jamming to them in award shows," he then added laughingly.

Did Gun just leave his phone with them without ending their call? That careless idiot.

Though she can't help but smile at Minhwan's words and the moment he said them, she finally recognized the other voice. Only one face would instantly appear in her mind with the mention of someone jamming to their songs in award shows. The fan-taken clips have been causing some stir in social media. Besides, she should have recognized him sooner! She's been listening to his group's songs since she was still a trainee. She even got a huge crush on one of his members.

It's really high time Gun introduce her to him. She needs to be friends with Ki-Ryeong to get closer to—

"Don't remind me, the other members are now using those fancams to tease me, and even our boss summoned me in his office to talk about it," she heard Kio again. "Chief Kang even asked if I had a crush on Lilac because of those shipping videos popping out online," he snickered.

Her eyes widened; oh God, really?

She knew it's wrong to eavesdrop but how can she not? They're talking about her! And this is clearly Gun's fault for not hanging up... right?

"I would've loved to see your face," Minhwan said teasingly. "But you can't blame him, you rarely react like that on girl groups. You really like them huh?"

"I like the songs, they're giving me hip hop vibes, unlike the usual girl groups... that's it. But now, that shipping crap is really pissing me off. I didn't expect that's where it would lead to."

"Just don't mind them."

"It's just ridiculous. I haven't met her and I don't even know her. For all I know, she's some spoiled brat... I mean, she's from one of the major entertainment companies, and they're rising to fame quicker than usual. I heard all four of them have rich backgrounds, they probably debuted because their parents bought some shares in Cres Ent."

His false judgement immediately caused a frown on her face. Her heart started beating fast as anger bubbled up inside her.

What an ass. How dare he make those unreasonable assumptions without actually meeting her? He can't even do an actual research to get his facts straight! He's just like any other immature and judgmental hater, who keeps blabbering nonsense on social media about how they are spoon-fed by their company! They have no idea what they went through just to debut and be where they are now!

"Come on—"

She didn't let Minhwan finish anymore and hurriedly ended the call. She heard enough. She just found out that not all RAVN members are humble and down-to-earth like netizens say. One of them clearly became too full of himself and is now a hateful son of a bitch.

.°•⏳°.•

"You two are finally here!" Bora excitedly pulled them into a hug once the door opened. Yulhee also hurriedly went towards the two and greeted them with hugs.

"I remember you texting me an hour ago, saying you're ready to go," the latter asked Lilac skeptically.

She glanced at Rei and smirked, "someone took too long to decide if she's going for the dewy makeup look or the smokey eyes."

They all turned to Reiko who just flipped her hair, "I have someone to impress!"

"Ohh!" they all cheered before giggling.

"Someone's dying of hunger in here!" Minhwan yelled from the living room, causing the girls to roll their eyes.

"Is my Lilac here?!" Gun instantly stood up from the couch, arms stretched wide, as they entered the apartment's spacious living room.

"Stop shouting all the damn time! My goodness." She just let the boy engulf her into a hug and ended up peeking over his shoulder to greet the other guys—Minhwan and Enzo. She looked around for the other two, only to see Soonho already standing beside her loud best friend, waiting for his turn.

She chuckled and once released by Gun, she turned to him and gave him a hug as well. "Hey you."

"I missed you," the guy muttered.

She was about to respond when Gun forcefully pulled them apart, "okay time's up! You," he turned to Soonho, "go away! Shoo!"

"Gun Pravat! Stop being mean!" she slapped the insufferable boy's arm and apologetically smiled at Soonho. "Missed you too."

This caused the big baby to instantly grin.

"Gross!" But of course, Gun readily ruins the moment.

"Dinner is ready," the last person she was looking for finally showed up.

She turned to Kio, intending to smile, but the guy just whirled towards the dining area without much of a glance at her. So they're back on treating each other like air again, like nothing happened, huh? She has no problem with that. If not for Hei-won's request, she won't even consider smiling and greeting him.

Hmp, why did I even sympathize with him back then? Once a jerk, always a jerk. Okay Li, let's not ruin this night just because of one unimportant person.

The celebration started with dinner where they had the chance to catch up with each other's lives. Right after, desserts prepared by Bora and Yulhee were served, then there were some games organized by Gun and Enzo, and lastly, the much-awaited beer and soju were brought out while the karaoke is being set up.

"Before we start the real party, of course we can't forget what we really came here for," Minhwan suddenly stood up with the microphone in hand. "Christmas presents!"

Everyone excitedly clapped and cheered, before standing up to get their bags of presents. Lilac, in particular, has two full large paper bags with her. She is clearly the most excited for this part of the night. She loves giving gifts more than receiving them and her friends knew it well.

"Li should be last. Save the best for last!" Bora smiled and everyone agreed without any hesitation.

"What did you get for me? I'm so excited!" Yulhee said from beside her, clutching her hand giddily.

She chuckled and winked, "it's a surprise."

She really exerted more effort for this year's Christmas presents. It was extra special because it's the first time the entire '97-line is having a party like this. She even did something she never have done before—buy a gift for Kio. Though it's not like he gave her gifts the previous years, he never did as well, so there's nothing for her to be guilty about.

Even though they've been in the same circle, they never interacted and they rarely hang out with their friends at the same time. Whenever she's present, he won't be, and vice versa. Of course, the others probably didn't know that they were never included on each other's Christmas list every year. Unlike tonight, gifts were given or sent separately back then, so no one would have possibly known they intentionally avoid giving a present to a certain someone among the squad.

But it turns out, she is the only one considerate enough to end that 'tradition' this year.

"How about Li?," Yulhee curiously asked. When Kio failed to answer or to get another gift from his paper bag, everyone became silent for a while.

This ungrateful asshole.

Lilac controlled her irritation and let out a forced chuckle, "it's okay guys! Let's continue? Who's next?"

"Oh, I know!" Rei suddenly grinned, "just give her Asher's number as a Christmas gift!"

"Takata Reiko!"

"Ooohhh Lilac... there's something you're not telling us? What's with Asher, huh?," Bora playfully wiggled her eyebrows. Her cheeks heat up, just hearing his name is enough to put the butterflies in her stomach in chaos!

"So it's Asher?," Enzo quipped. "Our Lilac is growing up," he then wiped a non-existent tear from his cheeks.

"Just forget about it!" she insisted before glaring at the laughing Rei, "I'm going to kill you!" But the latter only stuck her tongue out.

"Okay, okay. Rei, you're next!" Gun finally brought them back to business.

While the girl is passing her gifts around, she can't help but glance at Kio. Only to be greeted by him, already looking back at her. Her eyes widened for a second, but she immediately hid her flustered state and stopped herself from looking away. What are you looking at, prick?

The guy suddenly snickered and she was, yet again, filled with utter annoyance. The audacity! Is he laughing at her for having a crush on one of his co-members? He had the nerve? When just the other day, her was on his knees, crying his eyes out because of his ex-girlfriend who doesn't want him back anymore!

What a fool. You dare cheat on her? Then suffer! I would never pity you anymore! Ugh, so annoying!

"What's... this?"

Her attention averted to Minhwan when he abruptly spoke up with an incredulous tone. Everyone turned to him by then, and started getting intrigued.

"Why? What did you get?," Gun asked. Enzo—who's seated beside Minhwan—wasn't able to wait anymore and looked inside the small box himself, before bursting into fits of laughter.

Minhwan looked at the smiling Reiko once, then he slowly picked up the contents of the box—a Polaroid picture of the girl and a simple blue ribbon.

"What...?," Bora mumbled in confusion.

Rei didn't let anyone speak again. She stood up and walked towards the guy, stopping in front of him. She then snatched the ribbon, peeled something behind it, before sticking it on her shirt, and putting both her hands on her waist to strike a pose.

"I am your Christmas gift."

Around three seconds of silence passed, before everyone jumped their seats and started screaming their lungs out.

"HOLY SHIT THAT WAS FUCKING SMOOTH!"

"THAT'S MY GIRL!"

"Go get a room!"

"ReiHwan! ReiHwan! ReiHwan!"

Lilac was just standing on her spot, lips parted and frozen in shock. She can't wait to tell this to Jade and Seo-mi! Oh my God!

Minhwan was left covering his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. But everyone can see his reddening ears and neck. Rei, on the other hand, proudly smiled at everyone and casually shrugged it off like nothing. When she turned to her boy once again, she sat on his lap and hugged him. Well, who can resist her beautiful best friend? Minhwan hugged her back, whilst burying his face on her shoulder.

It was such an endearing sight.

"When will I have the guts like her?," Yulhee pouted beside her.

Lilac smiled, "same thoughts."

When will she have the guts to approach The Asher Choi?