He felt awkward as he tugged at his collar. Though the sensation of his collar resting right against his neck was familiar, for some reason, it was almost irritating that day. Anxiety was pooling in his stomach, the lights of the city were passing by faster than he would have liked.

"Sir," he said quietly," Is it really okay for me to come along?"

The Major answered without hesitation," Of course it is!" Major Kang said brightly, a smile that could barely be seen in the dark car on his face," You wouldn't be coming along if it wasn't."

Well, he was sure about that, but…

"I thought a plus one was meant for partners sir."

Major Kang hummed, the sound of the blinker accompanying his words," It's for partners and good friends. Jiyeh couldn't come and everyone wants to meet you anyway."

Oh, he didn't like the sound of that," Everyone?"

"Yeah!" There was a lull in their conversation as the older man introduced them to the security guard, confirming that they were allowed to be there," Everyone's family wants to meet you. Especially since you saved our asses."

Even though he didn't mean to, he pulled a face at the thought of meeting everyone's friends and/or partners. It's not that he didn't want to meet them, in fact, he wanted to meet them.

He just didn't want to meet them at a ball, where he was sure he was going to mess up at least one of Korea's traditions or standards. In front of people that he didn't know, with only the Major and his men as his lifeline.

"…That sounds like a lot of people."

"It is," Major Kang pulled into their parking space, and turned to face his younger friend," But it's fine. As long as you tell me, you can go off to wherever to take a break from the crowd."

That made him feel slightly better.

"Yes Sir."

Like he thought.

This sucked.

It wasn't the men or their families that were the problem. In fact, they were quite lovely. He got to meet Han-Gyeols wife, who gave him a tight hug upon meeting him, as well as everyone else's plus one.

The only thing he was slightly confused about was the way the Major strongly insisted that the man that kept on kissing Dae-Hyun's cheek and wrapping his arm around the medics' waist was simply a close friend. (He was rather sure that Day-Hyun and his plus one were a little bit more than close friends) Imagine his confusion when all of the other men started making eye contact with him as they insisted that the pair were just friends ( Dae-Hyun is just friends with him Ijin. Stop asking)

But when they joined the rest of the ball, where there were all types of military figures and their spouses.

That's when it started to get too much. There were too many people, too many people trying to say hi. Far too many people trying to set up dates with him and their daughters, and way too many women trying to drag him off to the dance floor.

After the third time in a row, a woman latched onto his arm and tried to take him to the dance floor. He decided that enough was enough. Trying his best to become wallpaper, he walked over to the Major, who was in the middle of talking with Han-Gyeol and his wife.

"Major Kang," The major jumped, surprised at Ijin's sudden appearance," I'm going to walk around for a little bit." Aka. He needed a break.

"Okay," Major Kang grinned, still nursing the same cup of champagne Ijin last saw almost twenty minutes ago," I'll text you when we're leaving."

Thank god his friend was a very understanding man.

With a hair ruffle from a slightly intoxicated Major and Han-Gyeol, he was walking out of the main room to the much cooler and much emptier hallway.

There was the occasional guard, which made sense as there were a few high-ranking commanders and such attending. But otherwise, it was just him, and the pleasant decorations in the hallway.

It was a very nice building, with lots of side rooms and hallways for him to explore in peace.

Meaning that the moment he saw a side lounge for him to inhabit peacefully, he happily went inside and sat down on the couch.

He sent a quick text to the Major, informing him where he was and what he was doing before he opened the group chat he had with his friends, as he had already missed a few messages from them.

Blond bitch: I'm bored as shit.

Blond bitch: And I don't know how to do this fucking math homework.

MF Weasly: Dude me either.

Krillin But With More Hair: I'm also having a hard time with it.

Blond bitch: *cough cough* Seokju help a brother out *cough cough*

Robin Reject: Give me ten minutes.

Robin Reject: I'll start a video call after I take a shower.

Blond bitch: Bet

MF Weasly: Bet

Krillin But With More Hair: Oh, thank god.

MF Weasly: Wheres Ijin?

MF Weasly: He's not even active.

Robin Reject: He said something about attending a ball with Major Kang.

MF Weasly: Ah okay.

Blond bitch: Rip.

[Robin Reject started a video call. ]

[ MF Weasly, Blond bitch and Krillin But With More Hair joined the video call]

Smiling, he joined the video call, settling in on the couch as he did so. The first thing he saw was some math homework on the main screen, with Hyeokjin, Jaehyung, and Yeongchan in small squares. Their faces lit up when they saw him.

"Yoooo Ijin!"

"And he's aliveeee!"

"Oh thank god, I'm not the one the worst at math anymore." Jaehyung's comment made him smile, as it was well known that he was terrible at math, and nowhere near the level he would have been if he attended school as he should of.

"Hey," Seokju's camera switched, and the phone automatically rearranged the little squares so they took up as much space as possible ," You're not much better than Ijin, Jaehyung. At least Ijin was in a shithole for the past ten years, I don't know what your excuse is." The resulting pout made him chuckle, and it also brought the attention back onto him.

"So how is it going?" They were all laying in their beds, varying levels of sleepy as it was starting to get close to the early hours of the morning.

He shrugged his shoulder," It's okay. There's a lot of people here. I'm in this side room by myself now."

Jaehyung grinned, his damp red hair laying limply on his forehead," And your introverted ass needed a break from everyone right?"

"You know me well." The dry response had everyone nodding in agreement.

"So why did you go?" Seokju leaned his head against his fist, staring intently into the camera ," I thought you said that it was a ball for the military."

"Major Kang couldn't bring his fiancée so he brought me as his plus one. Some of the men's family wanted to meet me too."

"Oh?" As he expected, they were interested in that ," and how did that go?"

"It was…good."

Seokju rose his eyebrow, while the others scrunched up their noses

"Why did you say it like that?"

"Did something happen?"

"No. Dae-Hyun, our medic, he brought his friend along but…I'm pretty sure they're not friends."

"What? Did she kept on kissing him or something?"

"Him. Dae-Hyun kept on kissing him on the cheek and wrapping his hands around the waist. But Major Kang and the others keep on telling me that they're just close friends."

And for some reason.

That made all of them start giving him scrutinizing stares.

"That doesn't bother you right?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Jaehyung and Yeongchan were the ones who said that all while Hyeokjin and Seokju waited patiently for his answer.

Odd reaction but okay.

"Do I have a problem with what?" because he honestly had no idea what they were talking about.

"Do you have a problem that he's gay Ijin?" Seokju clarified an odd look on his face.

Oh.

That's what they meant.

"I don't give a shit," Ijin said honestly, his response taking them aback for a second," I just don't know why they're insisting that they're friends when they're not." That was what he had a problem with. That they kept on telling him that Dae-Hyun was just 'friends' with his plus one. He didn't care if Dae-Hyun was gay, and even if he did, it wasn't any of his business

A look of understanding came over their faces.

"Oh. The Korean military has some regulations against gay people."

"Yeah. They're probably doing that thing where if no one tells the Major that Dae-Hyun is gay, then he doesn't know. "

Huh.

He didn't know that.

"Okay," He said simply, mulling over what they just told him," I guess Dae-Hyun is just really good friends with him then."

They grinned at his reaction.

"Yeah, just go with that."

"But how is it?" Yeongchan said happily, curious about what was happening at the ball," Are you having fun?"

He sighed, puffing up his cheeks as he exhaled," A lot of women have been trying to dance with me. It got annoying after the second time. But it was nice meeting the men's family. I had fun."

"That's good," Jaehyung said happily," Hey hey, do they have a garden?"

"Uh," Ijin got off the couch and wandered over to the window to confirm that there was indeed a garden," Yeah."

"Then why don't you go sit out there," Hyeokjin suggested, picking at his nails as he said so," You like the stars don't you? You'll be able to see them out there."

He mulled over the idea for a few seconds, but the idea of being able to see the stars quickly won him over, especially after being in a hot and stuffy main room with people surrounding him.

"Alright," He was already leaving the room, lowering the volume of his phone as he entered the hallway," Let me text the old man."

There were a few snickers as he looked up and down the hallways, trying to find the garden entrance.

" Hey, leave him alone," He rolled his eyes at Jaehyung's teasing tone," It's a lot of work being your dad."

If Jaehyung had been there, he would have flicked him for that comment," Ha-ha," He said dryly, at last finding the entrance tucked away in a hallway," hilarious."

"Want to tell us about that time the Major couldn't find you on the base?" To the credit of the building, they had a nice garden, with little benches for people to sit at.

He scrunched up his nose as he sat down on one of the benches, looking up at the sky and the abundant stars that could be seen," That wasn't my fault." He said simply," I was waiting for him in his office."

Seokju chuckled," And he didn't check?"

"No," the fact that he had been wondering what was taking the Major so long to get to his office, as sometimes it was easier to simply wait in his office than walking around trying to find him, made him smile to that day," he forgot to check. He's a little bit of a spazz like that."

"We can tell. Anyway, we have to finish this homework," They groaned at Seokju's words, clearly upset that he was getting them back on track," Would you like to learn some calculus with us?"

"Fuck no," They laughed at his response, his rare show of cussing thoroughly amusing him," You guys have fun. I'll see you tomorrow in school."

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye man."

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Goodnight." Seokju was the only one who said goodnight, but that was just part of his friend's charm, even if they all were a little bit dumb at times.

Saying his goodbyes, he hung up. The small 30-minute conversation that he had with them had been enough to make him feel better. He stayed outside for a little bit longer, enjoying the lack of light pollution that left the stars bright for him to see.

Time to brave the crowd that was surely tipsy by now.