As the music played in the background and everyone else was partying up, Jin was still frozen in the same spot as his mind suddenly goes into a void as he was in deep thought.
"This is it. My ass is grass" Jin's mind says as he could see how his parents would react if they knew about the party.
"Since when are you such a bitch?" Another voice came inside his head making Jin physically hit his head.
"Shut up, unlike you, I have a life to live-" Jin responds to the other voice but it cut him off.
"A life to live? That's absurd. How are you living life living under a rock?" The voice questioned skeptically.
"What are you talking about? I lived life plenty of times!" Jin argued back.
The voice groaned, "Yeah, dancing to Katy Perry and moshing is a way of living life. Wow, so spectacular." It mocked.
Jin gasped, "Dude, no one was supposed to know that!"
The voice laughed, "Oh right, I forgot that you have a quote on quote, emo, reputation to protect. It's not like anyone can hear us having a conversation."
Jin looked forward to the readers reading this book before converting back into the universe he lives in.
Jin began contemplating as he was deciding what to do.
"Oh boy. Just thank your pea-brained friend for at least attempting to help you lose your virginity."
"How is that benefiting me?!"
"High School parties are the best ways to lose virginities, duh."
Jin suddenly went into instant shock, "Fuck! I got to make sure no one jizzed on my bed!" He began to push certain people out of the way to rush upstairs.
The voice in his head laughed as it said that it will make its appearance very soon.
As Jin ran upstairs, the rest of his friends arrived at the party as they viewed the Mishima mansion from a different perspective.
It didn't look like Jin's home anymore as there were many keg stands and solo red cups trashed on the floor as people blindly walked through them.
They saw most of their peers having a good time.
"Well, this is some party," Steve says as he watched.
"Did uncle Kaz and aunt Jun approve this?" Asuka raised an eyebrow as she puts her hands on her hips.
Xiaoyu and Miharu squealed, "Who cares? This party is lit!" Miharu says as Xiaoyu agreed.
"Let's dance Haru!" Xiaoyu suggested as she turned towards the living room of the mansion as people were dancing mostly there.
Christie smiles, "I'm tagging along too!" She couldn't resist not having a good time dancing.
The three girls left their friends and paved through the crowd.
Steve and Forest decided to go separate ways to certain parts of the home while Lili and Shin went somewhere to chat.
That left Asuka and Julia together.
"Hmm.." Asuka started as she observed the scene.
"What's up?" Julia asked.
Asuka tapped her lip with her finger, "Jin didn't throw this party," she says.
It was on Jin's social media that posted about invites to a party. But knowing her cousin, he likes to be antisocial. Well not too antisocial to not hang out with his friends, but to go to parties or better yet throw one was out of character for him.
But then again, everyone is out of character somewhat.
"Maybe he wanted to be social more?" Julia suggested.
Asuka lightly chuckled, "Nah, this is definitely Hwoarang's idea,"
Julia scanned the room, "Speaking of Hwoarang, where is he?"
Asuka shrugged carelessly, "Don't know. I'm not looking forward to dealing with his antics."
Julia noticed the leftover rage from her friend that remained from the sleepover. Her friend was so close to admitting how she truly felt about the Korean. If she was in Asuka's shoes, she would've felt the same way.
"You look great with contacts by the way," Asuka shifted the conversation as she observed her friend as she wasn't wearing her glasses anymore as contacts replaced them.
Julia smiled as she exhaled a sigh, "They were a pain to put in,"
"Good thing that I have good eyesight then," Asuka replied teasingly making the native nudge her in response.
Asuka then speaks, "Julez, do you ever think about dating anyone?"
Julia raised an eyebrow as this conversation took an interesting route.
"Why did you even ask that?"
Asuka herself didn't know why she asked, but it was obvious. No one saw Julia in a relationship before. People almost believed that she was asexual as she didn't mention her sexuality or interest in anyone.
"Just curiosity," Asuka simply says which was true.
Julia shifted her attention from the Japanese and observed the crowd.
"I don't know, I feel like there's more to life than just falling in love for a certain amount of time."
"Yeah, but I'm not saying get married to the person but you know, explore." Asuka pointed out.
"Easy for you to say, Suka. At least you have someone genuinely interested in you." Julia says halfheartedly. Asuka rolled her eyes as she knew who her friend was referring to.
Julia's eyes were on someone in the crowd. She observed him as he was dancing with his girlfriend.
"Unlike me, I won't get that. Especially when it's something that'll probably risk my relationship with others." She says the last part lowly.
Asuka followed her friend's eyes and gasped.
"You like Steve?!" Asuka says loudly but it wasn't loud enough for the surrounding people to hear.
Julia instantly covered her friend's mouth as she was embarrassed.
She looked around to make sure no one saw or heard before uncovering her mouth.
"LIKED, okay? Liked." Julia stated but it was partially true with the past tense.
Asuka smiled, "Julez why didn't you tell me?"
Julia crossed her arms as she now have to explain to her friend what she'd never thought that she would have.
"Why would I? Steve is my friend, and so is Christie. I wouldn't betray their trust." Julia rationalized.
"I'm saying why didn't you tell me the first time you felt it?"
"Because I liked Steve in junior high. That was when he first came over here from England. But I wasn't sure if it was actual feelings, I was only 13 at the time Suka. I wouldn't exactly know what love is at the time." Julia explained.
Asuka stood and listened as Julia continued, "Steve and I used to be close back then, but then high school rolled around and you know how that goes from there. We didn't drift apart, but ever since he's dated Christie mid-freshman year, our bond wasn't as close."
Asuka herself knew that Steve and Julia were close back in junior high, but she didn't become friends with them until freshman year, and that's when the crew (post-Lili, Shin, and Forest) formed.
But honestly, she thought that the two old best friends would've gotten together at some point, but different paths lead to other fates.
Asuka was quiet for a while and Julia was waiting for her to respond, so instead, she decided to conclude her story.
"But even though the odd chances of Steve and I being together is like finding a stray piece of hay in a needle stack. I'm all for Steve's happiness, he deserves to be with someone who genuinely makes him happy. I'm not going to sabotage him or myself, so therefore I put my feelings to the side and deal with it,"
Asuka agreed, "You're doing the right thing Julez, and I like how selfless you are."
Julia looks at the floor, "It isn't easy, trust me." She lets out a half-hearted chuckle.
Suddenly a boy approached the two. "Asuka? Is that you?" He observed the girl's face as she met his contact.
She gaped as she saw who was in front of her.
"KAITO?!"
—
Meanwhile in the kitchen
"Shots shots shots shots shots
Shots shots shots shots shots
Shots shots shots shots shots
Shots, everybody"
Hwoarang was busy taking plenty of beer shots as he was drunk out of his mind. Everyone surrounding him including his pals, Jin, Steve, and Forest, were cheering him on.
After finishing his tenth shot of beer, he crashed the cup with his forehead and gained multiple cheers.
"That's how you do it bitches!" The Korean man says with so much hype.
He was accompanied by a brunette Japanese girl as she clinched onto his arm, guessing that was his date from earlier.
He high-fived his friends as his date looked at him lovestruck.
"Hwoarang, you are the man!" One of his fellow male peers. Hwoarang stood in triumph, "I know,"
He then looks at Jin who was also drunk out of his mind. A smile quivered across the young redhead's face. It was good to see his best friend all giddy and enjoying himself rather than being an uptight wimp who doesn't want to rebel.
Jin puts a hand on his friend's shoulders as he gained balance. He began talking gibberish which his friends could not understand...at all.
"You guys are the bestfhfjf." The raven-haired boy slurred. He felt his head spinning and the acid in his stomach rising.
"I love you guys. Even though Hwoarang your outfit makes you look like a gay pirate cowboy."
Hwoarang's heart dropped as he felt self-conscious about his friend's remark. "Hey!"
"Forest, even though you're an idiot. It took a while for me to get used to having you in the squad. No one really liked you that much," Jin continued. Hwoarang and Steve winced as if it was true but neither of them wanted to tell him out loud at first. They found the youngest Law member a bit weird. But they gave him a chance and he grew on them.
"What-" Forest responded as he looked at his friends teary-eyed. His eyes were begging desperately for Hwoarang and Steve to back him up. Instead, they stood in shame.
Disappointed, Forest scoffed and fled the kitchen.
Jin then looked at Steve only for the British lad to stop him from admitting anything else.
"Now I regret making him drunk. Sober Jin is better," Hwoarang admitted as he felt guilty for not defending Forest.
Steve chuckled, "You do look like a gay cowboy pirate, mate,"
Hwoarang gasped, "This outfit is totally badass!"
He then faced the people surrounding him, "Do I?" His voice cracked, desperate that someone would come to his defense. Instead, they avoided him awkwardly by pretending to not hear.
Steve sucked his lips in. As much as he wanted to keep debating with him, he'd rather not.
"Hwauckkkk" they heard a sound escape from Jin. In reflex, the two jerked back along with the nearby peers, as they knew what happened.
They looked down to see the vomit that escaped from Jin.
"Eww,"
"Let's turn up bitches!" Jin laughed maniacally before grabbing hold of his pals and dragging them to the dance floor.
Alarmed, Steve and Hwoarang looked at each other. "Next time, don't let him drink." Steve glared at his friend.
Hwoarang nodded, "Trust me, I won't."
Jin saw his girlfriend dancing on the floor and made her way toward her, knocking some of his peers out of the way. Steve and Hwoarang scolded him as they were still a part of his grasp.
The drunk teen approached his girlfriend and began flirting. "Hey beautiful, looking good swaying those hips like that." He purred.
Xiaoyu took notice and smiled. "Jin! Where have you been?" The girl was oblivious to the fact that he was not sober.
Steve butted in after releasing himself from his friend's grip. "Xiaoyu, we have come across a problem here,"
The Chinese girl's eyes became weary as she became concerned. "What? What is it?"
Steve looked at Jin as he was distracted. He was busy dancing to the music blasting.
"We need to put Jin in his room,"
Xiaoyu blinked in confusion, "Why? He's just having fun."
"Yeah that may be true, but I have a bad feeling," Steve said.
Hwoarang then decided to cut into the conversation. "I regret making that asshole drunk,"
Xiaoyu's brows furrowed as she shoved the Korean, "You what?! Without his consent?!"
Surprised by her actions, Hwoarang smiled sheepishly.
Xiaoyu exhaled as she went back to look at Jin, who was missing all of a sudden.
"What the hell? Where did he go?" She baffled.
Steve and Hwoarang caught on as they realized that Jin had disappeared. This is way worse.
It was Xiaoyu's turn to become paranoid. She faced her friends. "We need to find him now!"
Steve understood why he and Hwoarang needed to contain Jin. Her tone indicated that she's dealt with this before.
"Have you dealt with Jin being drunk before?"
Hwoarang was also interested in the question.
Xiaoyu's big brown eyes answered his question as they were worried. She gripped the British boy's shoulders, "Have I?! Jin and I used to take my grandpa's beers when he went away on his trips to China. And I thought that Jin could handle his drinking but I was wrong. When he's drunk...he's not himself,"
Hwoarang scoffed as the insult his friend gave him came back to his mind, "Yeah, tell me about it,"
Xiaoyu continued, "There are two stages of Jin when he's drunk. The brutally honest one,"
Hwoarang cut her off again, "Such an asshole,"
Steve nudged him so he could shut up. Once Hwoarang got the memo, Xiaoyu continued.
"And then there's...a transformation." She finished.
Steve and Hwoarang gave each other a confusing look.
"Jin transforming?" Steve asked skeptically.
Hwoarang laughed, "Xiao are you good? Did you sniff some of your laundry detergents again?"
Xiaoyu gaped in disappointment. Her friends didn't believe her which made her upset.
"I'm serious," She pouted as she stomped her foot.
Steve decided to join in on the laugh. "What is he a butterfly?"
Hwoarang slapped his friend on the shoulder, "Like does he have wings to fly around in?" He mocked as he began flapping his hands.
"Yes!" Xiaoyu yelled in frustration which made the two stop laughing. The silence made Xiaoyu relieved as some faith or belief was being exchanged.
"Bwaghahahahahhaahhahaha" the laughter roared again from the two.
Xiaoyu scoffed as she crossed her arms. Reminds her not to ever tell them anything.
Suddenly a bright light shines throughout the room catching everyone's attention, including Steve and Hwoarang.
"Oh no! It's happening!" Xiaoyu screamed.
Hwoarang and Steve couldn't see as they shielded their eyes.
"What is happening?!" Steve shouted as the light was getting brighter.
"I don't know! I thought Xiao was lying!" Hwoarang winced.
"You really thought that I was lying?!" Xiaoyu shouted incredulously while looking back at the two.
"Yes!"
The guests had peeped through their hands as they were curious about what was going on.
Jin was levitating in the air as if something peculiar was going to happen.
"Looks like it's time for me to make my appearance"
Jin looked at the crowd as a wicked smile crept on his face. He then did a signal with his hand.
"DJ transformix!"
End of Chapter 10
I'm surprised that I made it past ten chapters compared to the old version. It'll probably go to twenty, depending on how I'm going to continue this story.
Anywho, I brought Kaito back (OC side character from chapter 3). Julia admitting she had a crush on Steve? Shocking. Poor Forest, he's probably crying in a closet somewhere. Xiaoyu knows about Jin's transformation. I wonder what it's going to be.
Stay tuned! Stay Beautiful!
FFNreaders: I apologize for not updating here. I mostly updated it on Wattpad if you haven't yet, check it out on Melanade(with an underscore). But overall, I am up to date with everything so far. I just published this chapter on both platforms as we speak (6/28/22). I won't neglect you guys again I promise lmao.
Also, it's been eight years since I began this story. Omg, where did the times go?! Aside from the four-year hiatus, I'm glad that I decided to return and continue it rather than leaving it in its...previous state.
