Oppa : Kim Seokjin

Chapter Six: Awkward

Almost reluctant, now, I ignored the questions from my friends and slowly opened the door.

And there sat Yun-ji, on the sofa, a shit eating grin on her face and a glass of juice in her hand. "I got here early. Seokjin-oppa let me in."

I glared at her, then at the rest of my friends, "Wait. Here."

Fists clenched, whole body trembling, I stormed upstairs, flinging the door to the guest room open without a second thought. Jin sprang up from where he laid on the bed like I'd electrocuted him, flinging his phone down automatically. "Ya, Ju-eun, what happened to knocking?!"

"Kim Seokjin." I kept my voice carefully low, the words grinding out from between clenched teeth. "Why are you here? Today was supposed to be your day off."

He seemed surprised by my expression, and a little hurt. "I thought you'd be happy, I came to help out for your birthday!"

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "They asked you to, didn't they?" He fidgeted, and I sighed. "I knew it! Can I really not be trusted alone for one evening?" I sighed again. "I would have been fine handling this without you..."

"I'll stay upstairs when I'm not needed, okay? Don't worry, I won't crash your party." He seemed half sulky and half like he was genuinely trying to make me feel better. What a conflicted guy.

I couldn't help but feel a little bad, though. "It's... it's not that, oppa... I just..." he stared at me, and I sighed yet again. "I'm just worried, okay? Some of my friends are... a little too obsessed with meeting you."

"Why?" He asked, then paused as realisation dawned over his face. "Ah. The Car Door Guy thing." He folded his arms. "Well, they're your friends, right? Surely anyone Ju-eunnie chooses as a friend is a good person. I'm sure it will be fine."

He patted my head, and I had no choice but to attempt a smile. My discomfort was only half quelled, but when he looked so concerned for me I couldn't let that slip. I sighed for what was probably the millionth time. "Thanks, Oppa. I guess you can come hang out if you want." I grinned, tone becoming teasing, "As long as you don't do anything too embarrassing."

"Me?! Embarrassing? Ya, Ju-eun, who do you think you're talking to? Have some respect for your oppa!" My oppa.

I just laughed, heading out of the spare room that we may as well have called his. I took the stairs two at a time, seeing all of my friends still in the exact positions I'd left them in, staring at me.

I gave an easy smile, feeling awkward. "Oppa's gonna join us if that's okay." I said, scowling playfully as I caught Hyunseo and Yeon-il high five discreetly behind their backs. Jin followed behind me, and I felt like I was in a Kdrama with the way my friends were staring at him.

He broke the silence, seeming oblivious to the awkward atmosphere as he patted my head, smiling at them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Seokjin. Thank you for taking care of Ju-eunnie!"

All of my friends bowed in unison, a few returning the greeting. Not feeling any less awkward, I hopped over to them, clapping my hands together to get them to stop staring. "Okay! Best get introducing yourselves, evryone. Then we can get on with the party!"

I was incredibly relieved that everyone seemed to hit it off, including oppa. I'd been worried that he'd be bored, surrounded by teenagers, but hadn't accounted for the fact that he was mentally twelve. Him and Taehyung seemed to hit it off really well almost immediately. Tae had even begun to refer to Jin as "hyung" pretty casually.

Jimin, Yun-ji, Hyunseo and I chatted over pizza (Oppa had relented, allowing takeaway for just one night- even he couldn't cook for fifteen people), arguing about toppings and just generally enjoying each other's company. I switched around between groups a bit, as a host should, but for the most part while eating I stuck with them. A few of the others, including Yeon-il, had gone outside to the garden, where we had music playing from a bluetooth speaker Oppa had dug out of one of his cupboards in his apartment (or so he said). Generally speaking, the atmosphere was pretty chill.