uhm sorry but let aera be younger than most of her friends.
___
"c'mon, aera, we're all going! it'll be fun, i promise!" jake emphasizes, holding the girl's hand tightly in his, staring at her eyes with his desperate ones.
"yes, aera, please don't ruin the fun," one of the girls pout at her, clinging onto her boyfriend's arm while aera gulps under pressure, trying to ignore the hopeful eyes of her friends, all staring at her in anticipation to hear a yes.
aera thinks and thinks, but all that her mind comes up with is an image of jungkook being mad at her for doing this. he would simply never agree to let aera go to a party, especially to the one which is in a club with all kinds of people there. aera sighs deeply, nibbling on her lower lip as her eyes meet jake's, then clay's, who nods as well, gesturing her to agree.
of course they wanted to go, she knew it. riah and jake have been excited about the party ever since last week when one of their friends told them about it. soomin too did a good job convincing and hyping clay up for the saturday night and leave his boring assignments aside for one night. the girls even had their dresses ready and now all that was actually left for the group was to get aera to join them.
"you're just too afraid of your brother," one of the boys sigh, "leave her guys. it's okay if she doesn't wanna join,"
"but it's gonna be fun!" another girl says, hugging aera from the side and looks at her face, "please, aera, let's goooo! just this once!"
"yeah, we won't be sixteen again! i'm already on the verge of being seventeen! god!" another girl pretends to cry.
"let's go," jake whispers to her, "it'll be awesome, i swear,"
"i... i don't know," aera sighs, crossing her arms on her chest as she sits back at her place, not minding when her friends crowd around her, "jungkook won't let me go,"
"it's all about your brother, huh?" one of the boys mutters to himself, his hands on his hips as he thinks for a second and soon breaks into a smirk, "what if he doesn't come to know?"
another gasps at the idea, nodding his head and the girls squeal in excitement, "yes! he doesn't have to know!"
"wha-" aera frowns, instantly being interrupted by someone else.
"you have to sneak out, aera. one of us will pick you up from your place and the you can attend the party with us without any problem," jake says, glancing at the rest of the friends, who nod in approval of the idea.
"i guess, that will work," clay agrees as well, "i'll pick you up then,"
"yes, perfect!" riah beams, "so, me, jake, liya, alissa and hyunbin will go in one car. soomin, clay, daehyun and you can come together. okay?"
"yeah, cool," jake nods with the rest, "aera, okay?"
"what if he comes to know?" aera bites her lip, still not sure about their masterplan. but then she curses at herself, noticing her friends' expressions, probably tired of waiting for her to say yes since last week. she takes a deep breath, nodding her head in determination, "fuck it, i'll go,"
"yes!"
"that's it! fucking yes!"
•••
parents go to sleep. but brothers stay up.
and aera's problems only escalated after dinner when jungkook sat in front of his gaming computer, not showing even the slightest signs of going to sleep anytime soon. when she walked past the door, smiling awkwardly at the brother before picking up a bottle of water, raising it in the air a little, jungkook gave her a weird look as though questioning if she was okay.
"i'm so tired today," aera yawns, stealing a glance at jungkook's face, sighing as he's not looking at her, but busy customising his character in the game, "uh so, i'll go and sleep now. are you gonna stay up?"
"yeah," he nods, "oh, tae and jiminie are on the way,"
"what?" aera panics, dropping the bottle accidentally, but picks it up the very next moment and covers up her nervousness with a laugh, "i mean, right now? why?"
"nothing, just thought we should hangout,"
"oh... that's... amazing..." she curses in her head, nibbling on her lip and nods slowly, "uhm anyway, i- i'll go. please don't wake me up okay? my head hurts quite a bit,"
"oh yeah, sure, get some sleep," jungkook smiles at her, while aera just stares at him, lost in a void, having doubts lingering in her stomach and making her feel things about this party she's going to sneak out for. she looks down slowly, praying that everything goes well and her brothers won't come to know about all this.
"-ri? are you listening?" jungkook shakes her lightly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"hm? yeah- yeah, i am," she nods quickly, forcing up a smile.
"really? what did i say?" he squints at her.
"uhm that i should... do my homework...?"
the brother sighs deeply, shaking his head and pulls aera to sit on the armrest of his chair, wrapping his arm around her waist, "i said i can give you some medicine if the headache is bad," he pats her side lightly, chuckling as aera stares at him, nodding slowly, "what's up with you today? all good?"
"yeah, everything's fine," she nods.
"and the headache?"
"you say sleep helps,"
"it does," jungkook rubs her back gently, "go and sleep, good night,"
"why are you being so sweet today?" aera stands up, facing the brother which makes him laugh.
"i'm always like this,"
"no, you're being extra sweet today?"
"so do you want me to be rude?"
"uhm no," aera mumbles, giving him a hug and waves, "good night, i'll go now," jungkook nods, watching her walk out of the room.
aera sighs deeply as she heads upstairs to her room, convincing herself that she's actually going to sneak out to attend a party with her friends. as minutes pass and she struggles to find the perfect dress, her mood shifts to the negative side again, plopping on the bed with an annoyed groan. she grabs her phone and dials jake's number, waiting for him to answer while she adjusts the phone on the bed so that she's in the frame along with her closet.
"hey," jake smiles, "getting ready?"
"i don't know what to wear," she whines, staring at the pile of clothes she's collected on the bed.
"ah that's the problem," jake sighs, "you have that black dress right? the- i don't know how to explain it,"
"the one i ordered online?"
"yes, that one," the boy nods, "wear that. it suits you," aera nods slowly, taking out the said dress and puts the hanger away, showing it to jake. "perfect! now get ready quickly, clay said they'll leave once soomin is done,"
"i need some time," aera says, taking the phone and the dress with her while she gathers her make up stuff and shoes, putting it out nicely to make sure it goes well with the dress.
"okay, call me when you're ready,"
"yeah, bye," aera nods before hanging up and instantly goes to the bathroom to take a quick shower.
after roughly fifteen minutes when she comes out in her bathrobe, some voices from downstairs make it to her ears, letting her know that taehyung and jimin have arrived. then suddenly she hears some footsteps and panic strikes her with all forces, making her stumble upon clothes to rush and lock the door before anyone opens it. then she shoves the clothes back in the closet all at once and takes a deep breath of relief.
"aera? did you sleep already?"
it's jungkook and aera opens the door slightly, peeking her head out, "what happened? i told you don't disturb me,"
"yeah, i'm sorry for that. but tae just suggested going out. so do you wanna join?"
"no, thank you. my head hurts. i think i'll just sleep in tonight," she smiles apologetically and jungkook presses his lips into a thin line.
"then maybe we should stay home an-"
"no, it's fine, you can go," aera says, "it's not everyday you all hangout nowadays. so please don't change your plan because of me. i'll be fine by myself,"
"you think so?"
"yeah, don't worry, koo," she smiles, opening the door a little more and gives jungkook a hug, "have fun,"
"alright i guess, call any of us if you don't feel good okay?" he says.
"hey, aera," taehyung smiles, walking towards them with jimin who smiles at the sister as well.
"took a shower now?" jimin asks.
"yeah, just getting ready for bed," aera replies, hugging both jimin and taehyung, "y'all should head out now, or it'll get late,"
"you don't wanna go?"
"no, i'm having a little headache. so i'll just stay here and sleep,"
"oh, are you sure you'll be fine alone?"
"yes, ofcourse. you don't have to worry, oppa. i'm a big girl now," aera grins.
"hm, okay big girl. so take some rest, we're gonna hangout soon and probably have a sleepover or something okay?" taehyung chuckles, giving aera a high-five.
"alright, i guess we can go then?" jungkook says, glancing at the elder boys, earning nods from them.
"take care, good night," jimin pats aera's head, "call us if there's any problem,"
aera nods, waving at them as they head downstairs, leaving her alone to take in the fact that boys are leaving for the night and she won't even have to put that much effort sneaking out now. she cheers to herself, closing the door and starts with the light make up that she usually does for functions or parties, mostly because jungkook always said she looks pretty even without it, and also because she didn't know how to do anything other than the basic make up stuff like lipstick, foundation, blush and a luck-dependent mascara.
once the make up and hair is done, aera puts on the dress, zipping it up from the back. she takes a deep breath, straightening the fabric from the front, tugging at the end a little as it feels too short. but on second thoughts she lets it slide for she has seen how girls dress up for clubs and parties. moreover, aera already knows what the rest of the girls in her circle are wearing, so at least she won't be alone wearing a short dress.
she smiles at herself in the mirror, knowing that she looks pretty even if the guys forget to compliment her. her phone rings and she's quick to answer, seeing it's clay, "yes, i'm ready," she says, putting on her black velvet boots that increase her height with about four inches broad heel, letting her feel herself to the fullest if she wasn't already.
"no, i'll come from the front door. jungkookie's out," she says, picking up her purse and quickly puts a lipstick, a handkerchief with some of her scent perfume sprayed on it. then she heads down quickly, taking jungkook's card in the middle and some cash from her own savings too. just in case. and of course her phone.
"alright, riri, let's have fun tonight," aera mumbles to herself, smiling as she closes the door and heads towards the car waiting in front of the house.
"hey! you look soooo good, aera!" soomin gushes.
"for real, you look amazing," daehyun says, staring at her just like clay.
"yeah, amazing," clay nods.
"thanks," aera grins, getting in the backseat with daehyun as soomin sat in the front next to clay, "you guys look good too,"
"thank you," clay says, driving off and daehyun cheers, opening instagram on his phone instantly as he starts recording short videos of himself, clay and both the girls talking and laughing.
in a few minutes clay pulls up in front of the club and soomin gets out first followed by aera and daehyun as well. aera fixes her dress a bit before heading inside with her friends, which is when her eyes catch the sight of the bouncer checking ids of people at the entrance. daehyun nods at her, pulling out his id, just like clay as they both were already eighteen and walk to the entrance without any hesitation.
"what do i-"
"it'll be fine, don't worry. we've got everything covered," daehyun says, "just play along with me okay?"
aera gives him a confused look, but nods anyway when clay and soomin are already standing in front of the bouncer. daehyun pulls out a few bills from his pocket, snaking his arm around aera's waist and smiles at her, "let's go, baby, everyone's already in there," he says, loud enough to let the bouncer hear him. the tall, bulky man turns to them, holding out his hand for the id. daehyun hands him his and sneaks in the money, nodding towards aera. the man sighs, not saying anything for he keeps the money in the pocket of his shirt, stepping aside to let them go inside.
"see? it was easy," daehyun grins and aera laughs amusedly, "impressed?"
"very," aera links her arm with him, walking up to the bar where all their friends are gathered already.
"are we gonna be together for tonight?" daehyun.
"i don't know," she chuckles, "by the way, have you had any drinks before?"
"yes, even alissa's started drinking last time she hungout with me and the boys," daehyun says, "now you're the only one left, aera,"
"she's the same age as me, it's fine," aera sighs, "but yeah, i might try some tonight,"
"as you should," the boy stands beside aera as she goes straight away to jake who had his arms and mouth open in surprise.
"gosh! look at you!" he gasps, "who knew i had such a great choice about dresses," he flexes, hugging aera tightly and she laughs.
"you suggested it?" riah arches up a brow and jake nods proudly, "amazing,"
"yeah, i know right?" he grins, letting go of aera and throws his arm around riah's shoulders, "hey, don't be jealous. i can you help you out with dresses too," he whispers in her ear.
"eww!" aera cringes, hitting the boy's arm and he laughs loudly while riah just rolls her eyes at him. jake grins, throwing his arms around the girls, standing either side of him and winks at them.
"alright, everyone! who's getting what? all alcohol?" hyunbin asks, glancing at his girlfriend and then at the rest of them.
"yes," liya nods.
"sure," soomin, clay and riah agree as well. jake gives a 'duh' look and daehyun grins, turning to aera.
"yes, all alcohol," he emphasizes, smiling when aera doesn't say otherwise.
"you two seem close?" riah points out, raising her brow at aera and daehyun.
"what are you saying? we're always like this," daehyun laughs lightly, glancing at aera who's giving him a mischievous look as well, "what? aren't we always close?"
"i don't know, are we?" she steps away from him and daehyun chuckles, shaking his head as he leans closer again.
"yes, we are,"
"oohhh!" hyunbin and the girls cheer, clapping their hands, making daehyun laugh while aera just looks away, her cheeks blushing slight but enough to let everyone know that whatever daehyun was doing, it was affecting her. she sighs softly, following her friends towards the a table and takes the seat on the inner side from the end.
liya, her boyfriend- hyunbin, and alissa sit together on one side, then riah, jake and aera with daehyun next to her, while soomin sits with clay next to daehyun. a waiter shows up with their drinks almost instantly and the music only gets louder with time. aera takes a sip of the drink, not surprised with the taste for she had tasted alcohol once sneakily but was scared to try it again.
after almost three drinks, soomin had dragged clay to the dance floor along with riah and alissa. hyunbin laughs, holding his phone he records them and the funny moves one of them would do occasionally make the others laugh. aera too, enjoys seeing them dancing and alissa and riah's dramatic salsa.
aera places her drink on the table, trying to catch her breath after laughing so much and stands up, her hand instinctively going to her head as it feels a little dizzy. but good dizzy. "you okay?" daehyun asks, holding her hand, standing up with her, which is when aera gasps, feeling something cold on her dress and looks down to see jake, staring at his glass which is lying on the table. the drink spilled on himself, aera and the table of course.
"i'm sorry," he stands up quickly, "let's go and clean up," he says, taking her hand, without waiting for a response and starts walking away from the dance floor, leaving daehyun to stare at them with confused eyes.
"jake, wait-"
"listen," he takes a deep breath only after getting in the restroom. but notices that there are two girls there, making him sigh, "would you mind giving us a minute?"
"uh no, not at all, we're done," the first one says, walking out with her friend who kept grinning at jake and aera.
"what?" aera mumbles, pulling her hamd away as she stands in front of the mirror, touching the fabric of her dress, "you ruined my dress..."
"i'm sorry," he sighs, watching aera trying to clean it with the water.
"don't you wanna clean your pants too?"
"oh uh yeah," jake nods, standing beside aera and takes some water in his hand, wiping off the jeans near his thigh, "why's daehyun acting weird today?"
"weird? i don't think so,"
"of course, you didn't notice it," he mutters.
"what?" aera frowns, turning to jake and shakes her head, "what are you saying?"
"he kept flirting with you and you were blushing. what do you think that means?"
"i- are you serious? so what if he was flirting with me?" the crosses her arms on her chest, facing jake completely and gives him an unimpressed look, "don't you flirt with girls too?"
"that's different-"
"how is that different? it's just you being jealous, jake," she scoffs.
"you don't know how most guys really are,"
"i know plenty of guys okay?"
"aera, try ro understand what i'm saying. not all guys are nice and sweet. in fact all of them are the same! they just want girls for one thing!"
"for what?" aera huffs, glaring at jake, "you just keep saying that and y'know it doesn't make sense! you can talk to anyone, clay can talk to anyone but when it's me you always start with this 'guys aren't good' shit. i came here to have fun and if you're gonna be a prick like this then stay away from me!"
"shut up," jake glares at her, catching her wrist when she's about to leave and takes a breath to calm himself down, "look, for real, i don't want anything weird to happen. so please aera, act responsible and listen to me-"
"no, fuck off," aera snatches her hand back, drying off her dress from the dryer and takes a deep breath, "i won't listen to you. you're always up with the same thing. you can do whatever you want, talk however you want, and then boss me around? nope, not happening,"
"why is it hard for you to listen at once?" jake hisses, approaching her and aera steps back, eyes lingering on his tall figure as he stops just a few inches away from her, "you're the one who'll end up regretting it, aera. so please, don't do anything stupid, okay?" he says, trying to hold her hand but aera pushes him back, storming out of the restroom.
"fine, i warned you," jake mutters under his breath, kicking the door of a cubicle before marching off as well.
"hey, aera is everything okay? took you long enough," alissa asks.
"yeah, i'm fine," aera smiles at her, "just the dryer was taking too long,"
"oh nevermind that, more drinks?"
"sure," aera chirps, looking around as she can't find her friends anymore. she taps alissa's arm, glancing at her, "where's everyone?"
"soomin threw up, so clay took her. liya and hyunbin are probably fucking somewhere, and daehyun must be around. i'm going home too now. but don't worry, riah is over there," the girl smiles, "and oh, i've ordered another drink for you. have fun, girl! it was great tonight, thanks for coming,"
"of course, i had fun with you guys," aera nods, giving a brief hug to alissa and waves at her as she walks away. aera sighs, sitting on the couch where she sat with her friends earlier and scans around for riah.
"oh," her smile turns into a scrunch when she finds riah talking to jake about something near the bar. jake nods in response, not saying much and just pulls her closer. then they start kissing, "why am i the only one single?" she mutters to herself, sighing as she watches them make out, "geez," her breath hitches when jake looks at her, making an eye contact, but never pulls away from riah. after a moment he closes his eyes, probably deciding to ignore aera and focus on riah instead since aera was the one who was determined not to listen and told him to fuck off.
"miss, your drink," a waiter stops by, leaning down to place a glass of some really attractive looking drink on the table. aera smiles in response, thanking him, right then noticing that he was actually good looking. but probably much older than her.
"thank you," she says, pulling out her phone and decides to indulge herself in that rather than fantasizing about some handsome dude probably in his mid twenties.
"you're welcome," she didn't expect to hear that, making her look up at the guy who smiles as well, "where did your friends go?"
"uh they're around here... somewhere?" she shrugs awkwardly, not knowing what to say after.
"i'm trevon," the waiter says, "i saw you with your friends earlier, and i... you're beautiful,"
aera looks down with her cheeks burning, feeling the urgent need to get and walk away by the time her heart is still working. although she lifts up her head slowly and mumbles, "thanks... i uhm... y-you're good looking too,"
the trevon guy chuckles at that, and aera can't help but notice how smooth his voice sounds, almost like a sweet melody, "i'm aera, i'm sixte- eighteen," she clears her throat, "i'm eighteen,"
"you can say the truth, aera," he shrugs, looking around, "i can tell more people who don't have an id here. so no worries, you're not the only one,"
"well, yeah," she nods slowly, "how old are you?"
"twenty-five," he smiles, "old?"
"not really, brother's twenty-five too,"
"hmm, how about we don't about brothers and fathers?" trevon says, holding out his hand, "the bar is almost empty. you can come up there,"
"uh okay, sure," she nods, taking the drink with her and follows trevon to the bar where riah and jake were standing a few minutes ago. now they're gone.
"do you want something else?" trevon asks, seeing aera not touching her drink. although she shakes her head, he still pronounces for her, "you can order anything, aera. it's on me,"
"no no, you don't have to,"
"i want to, please let me,"
aera smiles a little, nodding her head and leans on the counter, glancing around to find the most appealing drink, ignoring trevon's gaze on her and smiles, pointing at the one on the second wrack, "i don't know what it's called. but i want that one- the blue one. please make it pretty," she grins, getting comfortable around the guy as he smiles, nodding his head and leans over the counter as well.
"you're adorable,"
"i know right?" aera giggles, "can i call you trevon- or if you have any shorter version of your name,"
"not an oppa girl huh?" he laughs, "you can call me trev if you like that. all my friends call me trev,"
"wow, that's cool," aera chimes, "you're cool,"
"thank you," he chuckles, preparing her drink which is when another guy orders something else. trevon nods at the guests to wait as he hands aera her drink, "so, why didn't you go with your friends?"
"they're all dating each other. i don't wanna watch them doing weird stuff,"
"weird stuff, right" trevon laughs, "god, i've never met anyone cuter than you," aera laughs with him shrugging her shoulder as she sips on her drink.
"so like you don't have a ride back home right?"
"mm no,"
"okay, how about i steal some of your time, have a drink together or something. then i'll take you home?"
"i don't know, i'll have to get home before morning,"
"you snuk out?"
"yeah, i got strict brothers,"
"i mean, they would be- you're beautiful," trevon smiles, leaning on the counter with a sly smile and aera stay quiet despite her cheeks screaming out of shyness. "so, uhm how old you said you were? sixteen?"
"yeah," aera nods and trevon hums, staring at her with contemplating eyes, "what?"
"nothing, just thinking," he shrugs, "don't mind me asking, have you dated anyone before?"
"no,"
"oh damn," he mutters under his breath, "so like never had a fling before?"
"excuse me?" aera frowns, her smile from earlier dying gradually at his words and trevon laughs lightly.
"hey, it's fine. i was just asking,"
"why? why do you have-"
"three margeritas, how long does that take?" the guest from earlier knocks on the counter, getting a hiss from trevon. aera turns to look at the person, feeling the need to look at his face for the voice was something she couldn't mistake even when she was drunk.
"holy fuck..." she gulps, staring at jungkook's annoyed face as he stares at trevon.
"just a second, aera," trevon says, before turning to the three guys, not even giving her time to respond or hide as jungkook already turned his head to look at her.
"aera?" he frowns.
"aera?" jimin and taehyung too stare at her with wide eyes.
"shit..." she bites her lip, knowing that she's dead now.
"you know them?" trevon asks, "jesus, and you just said you haven't even dated anyone before,"
"what are you saying? and who are you even?" jungkook hisses at the guy.
"he's no one!" aera jumps on her feet, going to jimin quickly, "i'm sorry, oppa. i jus-"
"don't," jimin sighs, taking off his jacket and drapes it over his sister's shoulders, "i hope you know you're in trouble, aera,"
"i'm sorry..." she mumbles.
"and now, who are you?" jungkook faces trevon.
"he's no-"
"shut up," jungkook glares at her, "don't even dare utter a word right now,"
"for real, she's such a brat," trevon click his tongue, "you don't wanna go with me, but three of them huh? only getting rich daddies i-"
"what the fuck did you just say?" jungkook growls, grabbing trevon by his hair and punches him in the face. taehyung shakes his head, jumping on the other side of the bar and pulls the guy back, hitting him again hard enough to have his mouth bleeding.
"watch your words from next time," he warns, coming back the he got went in and dusts off his hands, taking out the keys of the car, "let's go home, i guess. some of us have partied quite a lot for one night,"
"tae oppa, i-"
taehyung cracks his neck, not looking at the young girl and gets in the passenger seat of the car while aera sits at the back with jimin and jungkook in the driver's. aera sighs, sitting quietly with the big jacket falling from her shoulders and tears blurring her eyes as she's scared of what might happen when they get home.
_________
a/n- what's your biggest memory with FYAM?
heyy how have you guys been? i hope you don't feel like like leaving me or this book because of my irregular updates 🥺 i apologise for that but there's nothing i can do about it. it's just a matter of 18 or 17 (right?) chapters more sigh 😔 but god i miss u guys so much already 😭😭❤️❤️❤️✨✨✨✨