idk if y'all know how excited i am for this 😛

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NAMJOON

"You got this! Just one more cup and we'll win." I said loudly in Joy's ear. She slowly turned her head to playfully glare at me. I retaliated with a smile. "Just encouraging you."

She rolled her eyes, obviously trying to hide her smile, and turned back to the cups in front of us. Joy shut one eye and lined the ball up with the cup across from her. She's adorable when she concentrates.

She threw it in a rainbow at her target. It bounced off the top lining of the cup and landed on the ground.

I chuckled, tapping her shoulder. "You'll get it next time, princess."

"Ah, we're going to lose. We only have one cup left." Joy sulked and watched as the next team got ready to throw their ball.

"They won't make it," I whispered to her, but more to myself.

If they won, I'd have to ignore Joy for the rest of the night. Of course, I'd just find her the next day, but still.

The opposing team threw their ping pong towards our cup, perfectly scoring the winning point.

I sighed but gave the winning team an applaud. I took the cup and handed it to Joy with a smile. "Your turn."

She took it and gulped down its contents. I felt like I turned her into a pro. She set the cup down on the ping pong table.

"Guess I'm leaving you alone for the rest of the night."

She shrugged. "I wouldn't mind if you kept clinging onto me."

"Is that your way of asking me out, princess? Aren't I supposed to be the one to do that?"

"Who said I was asking you out? I just said you could hang with me tonight." She looked around, obviously pretending to find something. A smirk began to grow on my lips.

"Alright. By the end of tonight, I'll have you begging to go on a date with me."

She scoffed, twice, looking everywhere but my eyes. "As if. You're persuasive, I'll give you that."

"Give me a date, too. You won't regret it."

"I didn't come to my dream university to go out with guys like you."

"And what, exactly, are guys like me?"

"You approached me at a party, gave me a nickname, and you're asking me out when you barely know me." She crossed her arms. "You're covered in ink, you definitely have your balls pierced, and you're probably waiting to get me in your bed."

"Ouch, princess, that stung." I jokingly clenched the spot on my chest where the heart is.

"Don't think I don't notice how girls look at you."

"They can look at me all they want, but I'm only looking at you."

She faltered, but just for a moment. I smiled.

"Just give me thirty minutes tomorrow night. If you don't like it, you can leave." I shrugged.

Joy stared at me, like she was examining a paper. Then she smiled. "Okay, but under one condition."

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JUNGKOOK

I couldn't tell if my decision to go to the party was a good or bad one.

Positives were I was able to hang out with Ezra all night.

Negatives were she was slowly getting drunk and barely paying attention to me. The loud music made my head pound and I was awkwardly standing around.

"Come on, bunny boy, loosen up!" She latched her arms around my neck and swayed her hips.

I sucked in a breath. Where do my hands go? What do I look at? I've never done this before oh my goodness, oh my goodness. My heart was beating so fast and I could feel all the heat rush to my cheeks.

She's touching me. She's actually touching me.

I looked around as if I was asking someone to help me, when really I just didn't know what to do.

Then I spotted Namjoon.

He was with a girl, of course. She was much smaller than him, but in her defense, Namjoon was very skyscraper-ish. Her hands weren't all over him, which was probably a first.

He made eye contact with me and smiled wide. I could tell he was surprised. He pointed to me, giving me a thumbs up. Probably because he saw me with Ezra. I tried to contain my smile.

"Are you going to dance with me or continue to be a statue?"

I finally looked at Ezra. She wore that pretty smirk and tilted her head in a very cute way and our faces were so close I could feel her breath on my nose. If she inched any closer, her lips might touch mine and then —

"Sorry," I said with a shake of my head. I smiled, hesitantly (and awkwardly) putting my hands on her waist.

"Now sway with me, bunny boy." Ezra moved her body side to side, occasionally smiling up at me then closing her eyes.

I wanted to compliment her. Would I allow myself to be not care? Just for tonight?

I looked at where Namjoon was again. The confident, flawlessly flirty, Namjoon.

Then I said it. "You look pretty tonight."

"Hmm?" Ezra opened her eyes, tilting her head again. She always did that.

"You... you look pretty tonight.

She threw her head back and laughed aloud. Butterflies erupted in my hollow organs (that's stomach in Jungkook's language).

"Thank you, Jungkook. You don't look too terrible yourself. I applaud you for knowing how to dress for a college party."

"Honestly, I feel a bit underdressed."

"You are. But for your first time, you did well." She brushed off imaginary dust from my shoulders. "I'm glad you came. When I saw Namjoon come alone, I was kind of disappointed."

I blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, of course. I mean, I figured he'd tell you I was coming, and you being my best friend I thought you'd come if I were to, too."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Why did you come to this party anyway? You never go to these things."

Ezra shrugged. "First time for everything, right? Plus, classes haven't started so I don't really have to care yet."

I awkwardly stood there. I had been worrying about tutoring those kids, and getting my textbooks ready, and memorizing my schedule. Was I not supposed to care yet...

"But of course you're ready for classes to start, aren't you, Kookie? I bet you have your pencils color coded for each class," Ezra said, laughing.

"I don't!"

She raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. "It helps me memorize my schedule, okay?"

She chuckled. "You're too cute, Kookie."

I smiled, and that stupid feeling like my heart was going to rip came back.

My hands around her waist sat comfortably now, and I slightly pulled her just a little closer to me. It seemed to go unnoticed as she closed her eyes once again.

For tonight, I would pretend to be a care free college student. Not the nerd who tutors students in their free time, or the boy who overachieves in all subjects.

For tonight, I wouldn't think about studying for a pop quiz on the first day. I'd have no worries about upcoming classes, or color coded pencils to help with schedule memorization.

For tonight, with Ezra, I would just be Jungkook.

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jungkook is so cute for what