I'VE ONLY WORN a suit a couple of times in my life. The first memory is at my harabeoji (grandpa) funeral when I was seven. I don't remember much of it but there was a lot of crying. I don't remember if I did or not because harabeoji was such a hardass when it came to me. He didn't speak English and would always criticize me for not knowing Korean properly. I wore a suit again for my middle school and high school graduation. Both suits were a size too big that my halmeoni (grandma) got from rent-a-tuxedo places not too far from we lived. That goes without saying, I hate suits and don't have any fond memories of them either.

"I tried to pick ones that I think you'd like or seemed more in your comfort zone. Try this on," Karina held up a button-up. Its fabric wasn't something I'd ever worn before and neither were the purple and pink ombré colors on it. I raised a brow at her, "C'mon now Rina, be serious. Do I look like I would wear something like that?"

"Sies Marjan is for everyone," she retorts, sending me a look like that was the most hurtful thing she's ever heard as she snatches the shirt away from me.

When I told everyone I was going to dinner with the Zetas I expected mixed reactions. Froy and Caleb laughed at me and after a good twenty minutes when they realized I was serious they couldn't believe it and bombarded me with questions about myself thinking I had been kidnapped and brainwashed. Idris just said "that's nice Jaylen," and went back to reading his book that's just how Idris is, but when I told Karina I was thinking of becoming a Zeta I swear the girl started levitating and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

I don't think I've ever seen her like this before, and when I told her I had to wear a suit, the demon inside her only worsened. She grew wings and within minutes she was knocking on my dorm with a rack of clothes behind her. Within seconds she's in my dressing me up like some Ken doll and I just know she's living her fantasy through me, having her way with me and not the way we're used to.

I slumped further into my bed and without warning, Marina flung the shirt at my face. "Can you at least try it on? You don't have time for the games. The dinner is tonight and we still don't have anything for you to wear." she grumbles under her breath, obviously annoyed with me which only intrigued me more, to be honest.

"Can you at least find something a little more subtle? I don't like to stand out." I told her with a huff.

Karina eyed me, taking the shirt from my lap and hanging it back up with the other clothes. "Well, you're Jaylen Park so you already do . . ." she says lowly, before turning her attention back to the other clothes hanging up behind her. After a while, she picks out a new suit before turning back to me. "How about this?"

This time the outfit consists of a plain faded black button-up and a black top with matching black slacks and a silk black tie. Again, it's not anything I'd wear in my daily life but it's better than that cotton candy shirt. I blinked at the clothes for a minute before turning back to him. "See now this is more my style. Simple and to the point."

"It's not simple. It's a Parris Claremont original so you need to treat it with care."

I raised a brow at her. "How do you know all this stuff?"

Karina shrugged her small shoulders at me as she hands the suit to me. "I have a minor in Fashion Merchandising, and the guys from my fashion class let me borrow their suits for you to try on so don't ruin them or I'll kill you." she simply answered.

I take the suit from her hands, looking at the material with a questioning look before turning back to her. "Gonna watch me change babe?" I tilt my head at her playfully, her eyes immediately rolling at my words before sending me the middle finger.

We can do that.

"Just hurry up and try it on. I have to return the rest of the suits you didn't use to the other guys in like an hour. You know the fashion students do not play about their clothes." Karina huffed out a puff of air, before turning around and fixing up the rack of clothes behind, a handful of designer suits lined up on it. I chuckled to myself.

"Not even gonna help me take my shorts off? Cold . . " I jokingly teased as I stripped myself of my clothes. She turns around and sends me a look, a quick one that easily read shut the hell up and could hear her let out a chuckle of air as I tossed the button-up over my head.

Oddly enough, the clothes Karina picked out for me fit me just fine. I guess she really does have an eye for measurements, or maybe she's just really good at guessing. Throwing the top of the suit over myself I'm finally done with putting on the outfit Karina picked out and I eyed myself in the mirror hanging on the wall.

"I look like I'm supposed to be in a James Bond movie," I said to her, making finger guns at myself in the mirror pretending to shoot my imaginary enemies at the Zeta dinner. "Pew pew."

"James wishes he looked this good," Karina compliments as she examines the outfit first before her eyes met mine and I sent her a playful finger wave that only caused the girl to roll her eyes at me despite the obvious reddening of her cheeks.

She returns her attention to me, eye scanning the suit that clings to me with squinted eyes. "You need to tuck the shirt in and fix the collar. Jesus, you're like a baby." she groaned before her hands found their way around my waist as she started to tuck the white button-up into my pants. She looks down in a concentrated manner as she rambled under her breath about God knows what and I couldn't hold in my chuckle.

She stands up on her tippy toes a little bit to reach up for the back of my collar and adjust it to her liking. Our height difference really shines in the moments like these as I could look down to be greeted with a head full of dark hair that smells of ambrosia and everything under the sun. "See, now you look a million times better." She spun me around to the mirror she did fix the outfit and made it look a little more appealing. It's still ugly but not as ugly as when I first put it on.

She looks up at me with an accomplished smile on her glossed lips, and I leaned down and placed a soft peck on them, her smile seeping into the kiss as the gloss on her lips transferred to mine but I don't mind — I never do.

Karina pulls apart, a hand falling gently on my chest. "So you wearing this one?" she asks.

I nod my head, turning my attention to myself in the mirror. "Yeah. It'll work for tonight I guess." Karina smiled at her before turning back to the rack of clothing hung up behind her. She started gathering her things putting the suits I didn't like back on the hangers.

"I really appreciate you," I told her, causing the girl to turn around from what's she doing, her nicely shaped brows raising at me. "I feel like I don't tell you that a lot but I really appreciate you. Not just for doing this like this but for just being there for me . . . when I just need someone to talk to sometimes."

Karina's lips stretch into a closed-lip smile across her face, eyes locking on mine for a moment across the room. "I appreciate you too Jaylen," she said to me, words soft and full before she returned to hanging up the suits behind her.

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EXCUSE ANY MISTAKES OR ERRORS

love them a lot actually