I slurp the last of my noodles, trying to keep in my laughter as Seokjin shares his tenth dad joke of the night. Yoongi stares at him in disbelief, while Jimin probably has a ten-pack at this point from laughing too hard.

"Shut up hyung," Hoseok laughs, Seokjin's windshield wiper laugh filling the air once again.

"You guys are gonna get us kicked out of here," Namjoon whines.

Seokjin shrugs, pouring himself another shot, "It'll be worth it. Besides, it's the weekend, it doesn't matter how crazy we get."

I take the glass out of his hand, moving the bottle next to me. "I think you've had a little too much to drink, hyung."

"Yah! I'm your hyung! You need to listen to me!" His words slur together, and his eyelids start becoming droopy.

Haru tilts her head to the side, "How come you haven't had anything to drink yet, Jungkook?"

All of us, except Haru, become tense. Even Seokjin.

"Drinking was never really my thing," he replies casually. I softly sigh in relief. Every time Haru asks something regarding Jungkook, he always has to make up a new excuse. But what if all of those excuses run out?

I gulp down some more soju, my throat burning. I feel myself being taken in the grasps of the alcohol, my vision becoming blurry and my head whirring.

"How many bottles did we buy?" Haru asks, and I can tell she's getting drunk too.

"Too many to count," Hoseok replies, falling asleep with his head on the table.

Haru gulps down another shot, "How come when we drink it seems so fun, but when we wake up the next day we regret it and then do it all over again?"

Jungkook shrugs, "Well, I don't know for sure. But I do know that we should probably get going. Come on."

He helps all of us up, leading us out of the restaurant. The moon shines brightly, smiling down on us. I collapse in the passenger seat and close the door, leaning my head against the cold window. Before I know it, my dreams pull me into their grasp.

I pull into Taehyung's driveway, parking the car. I lean over and nudge him, his eyes slowly opening. "Get up, we're home."

The guys slowly start getting out of the car, still drunk and sleepy. I get out of the car and look into the backseat.

Haru's sleeping, her head leaned back against the seat cushion and her legs curled up, pressing against her torso.

"Haru," I whisper, nudging her.

"Haru, wake up," I whisper louder in hopes of waking her up. Dang she's a deep sleeper.

I bite my lip in hesitation, not really knowing what to do.

Okay Jungkook. Try waking her up again, and if she doesn't, then just carry her inside. It's not a big deal.

I nudge her again, telling her to wake up. As expected, there's no response. I sigh. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I straighten her legs out, putting one of my arms behind her back and the other under her legs. I pick her up, her head leaning against my chest. I close the car door with my hip and start walking towards the front door of Taehyung's house.

I feel the rise and fall of her chest against mine, her breaths soft and quiet. Her creamy skin glows in the blue-gray moonlight, her face looking especially smooth and delicate. And pretty.

Her eyes slowly start to drift open—then close again.

She yawns. "Taehyung-ssi." She may be talking but she's certainly still half-asleep and drunk.

I decide to play along. "Hm?"

Her words slur together. "How long are we gonna keep pretending?"

"Pretending?"

"Why can't we just say that we're not together? Then we won't have to keep acting like a couple."

I stop walking. "What?"

"I'm so stupid," she whines, "Why didn't I just say that my boyfriend was like Jungkook or something? Why did I even say I had one? Why did I have to mention his name in the first place?"

I furrow my brows, "Why did you mention Jungkook?"

"I guess I was just," she pauses and yawns, "jealous of him and Taera or something." Taera?

"Why would you be jealous of them?"

"I hate Taera and it makes me mad to see her with him."

"Why do you hate seeing them together?"

She doesn't respond.

"Do you..." my heart pounds in my ears, "Do you like him?"

"No," she replies. For some reason unknown to me, I feel a small pang in my chest.

"No?"

"I do b-but at the same time I don't because I know that he wouldn't ever feel the same way about me. Taera's your typical pretty girl that came out of a movie. But me? I'm just a boring person. I'm not pretty, not exciting, I have all these stretch marks everywhere and..." I notice her voice starting to tremble, and when I look down, I see her eyes watering. My heart hurts seeing her like this, seeing her this upset.

"아니 (no)—Haru-ssi, don't cry. None of that's true," I feel my voice falter. I walk to the front door and swing it open, locking it behind me.

"But—"

"No, that's not true okay? You're beautiful inside and out and never let Taera get to you. Don't feel like you need to change yourself, because you're perfect and amazing just like this. And Jungkook? Jungkook also loves you for who you are okay? Always remember that."

I look down at her again, and see that she's fallen asleep. I swallow a lump in my throat, blinking back tears that began forming in my eyes.

I turn around and see all of the guys standing there, all of them shocked.

I plaster a smile on my face, "Oh, h-hyungs."

Jimin softly chuckles, "Remind me why you don't just marry her at this point?"

new chapter :)

also am i moving things too fast?