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19:23
If there was one thing that Rumi could say with full confidence, the fact that she had never been a people's person would be it.
Between excessive lessons on things she'd never need in life and Celine's irrational fear of her interacting with anyone who didn't reside under the same roof, she didn't have much experience talking to people.
She observed, through movies and books, how she's supposed to act. And it got her decent enough skills to survive day to day life.
Unfortunately, they weren't good enough to go through whatever on earth she was witnessing tonight.
Jinu, the friend she had made with one unsolicited comment about a comically large bouquet in an empty bus, had invited her and her two roommates to hang out with his four roommates. And from the stories she had heard from him and Zoey (who had already met Mystery, as they worked in the same shop), they were all, err, interesting examples of humanity.
She had made a spreadsheet of things she knew about them. So far, she had a concerningly empty (in her standards, at least) collection of data.
Her thorough research (spamming Jinu's messages) had gathered that Mystery was quiet. He liked order, schedules, and was possibly the only person who had less of a clue about talking to other people. He was also Zoey's sort-of boyfriend, which said girl claimed was because she wasn't clear enough. She had given him one hundred bouquets and that seemed pretty clear in the intentions department, but what did Rumi know about relationships? Either was, he seemed like the one she could get along with most? Or not, if she didn't figure out how to talk to him.
Romance sounded like an airhead. Data claimed he lived up to his nickname, as he managed to find the romantic thing in everything that was most definitely not romantic. He lacked survival instincts and was the kind that pokes electricity outlets unprotected "for the vibes". Rumi suspected there was more to this personality of his, but prying was the last thing she was going to do.
Baby was the cynic of the group, always ready with a jab for anyone at any time. "Embarrassment" and "humiliation" weren't words of his vocabulary. He loved to stir the pot and Rumi was praying to any deity that might exist that he didn't pick her as target tonight.
Abby was probably the only one with something resembling a common sense, aside from Jinu, though she wasn't exactly sure about him either. In all honesty? She didn't know anything else about him.
That's where her knowledge on these people ended. What could possibly go wrong?
At least she had her best friends with her, and they knew even less, so they were in it together.
So with a final double-checking of the address Jinu had sent her and one last glance at Zoey's ever optimistic smile and Mira's calming indifference to anything, she pressed the doorbell button.
No way back now. Maybe she should've cancelled when she got the chance? Too late for that now, anyway.
In the few seconds it took before she heard familiar footsteps approaching the door, she has felt her heart almost stop. Her jacket felt too heavy on her back.
The door cracked with the sight of well-known black hair and a loopsided grin that he formed whenever he was nervous about something.
"Rumi! Almost worried you've cancelled on me!" Jinu teased. It was oddly comforting.
"Please, like I'd ever miss an opportunity to make fun of you," she rolled her eyes, thankful to be able to fall back on the habit.
He looked behind her after a moment, realizing she wasn't alone. His eyes settled on the pigtailed girl on her left. "You're Zoey, right? Mystery talks my ears off about you."
Zoey's eyes lit up more, if that was even possible. "He does?"
"More than you'd think." He turned his gaze to her right. "You must be Mira?"
"And you must be sad boy from the bus-"
Rumi elbowed her in a way that she believed was subtle, but had Jinu coughing to cover a laugh.
~~~~~~~
19:37
So now Rumi was sitting on the couch in her friend's living room, across from the four guys who looked so stereotypically like their nicknames that it was funny. Zoey was slowly migrating to the left towards Mystery, probably thinking that nobody noticed her. Mira was glaring at the pink haired guy Rumi believed was Romance. Why the glare? God knows. Jinu was doing something in the kitchen.
Her mind could be described as a bunch of alarms going off and shouting "break the ice, break the ice, break the ice".
So she did. She turned to the first guy her eyes landed on, who happened to be Mystery. "It's great to finally meet you, I've heard a lot."
Zoey froze, face flushed. Mystery seemed utterly oblivious to the cause of her embarrassment. He stood up and bowed deeply. "It's an honour."
Baby snickered. Rumi and Mira shared a look and rose up. What followed? A bow, of course.
Footsteps approached as they stood in their overly polite exchange much to the amusement of their companions (and Zoey's continued embarrassment). "Let me guess," Jinu's voice rang out, low with amusement, "greeting the potential friends-in-law?"
Baby outright laughed this time. Zoey chocked on air. "It's not like that-"
"Sure it isn't," Abby sang.
Rumi finally looked up again, scanning the room for the door the voice had come from. Jinu was holding a wide plate with a binch of shot glasses on it, as well as a bottle of soju that looked like balance was the last thing on its mind. Instinct kicked in and she rushed to grab it as it fell.
"What is it with you and comically large objects?" She turned to him, once again falling back on the familiarity.
He smirked. "I like making an impression."
"You sure it's a good one?"
"Hey-"
"Zoey, you seem comfortable," Romance mused, turning their attention to the dark haired girl. Who had migrated fully to Mystery's lap.
"I am, thank you for asking."
Mira gave her a flat look. "You better not stay the night."
Zoey went even redder. "Wha- I- Mira?!"
Said woman leaned back on the couch, knees apart, arm on the back of it. "Just saying."
Mystery glanced at Baby pleading. "I didn't get it."
Zoey dramatically fell back on his chest in despair, making everyone laugh.
Maybe it wouldn't be that bad.
~~~~~
20:47
Three quarters of the bottle had been drank when Baby had an amazing, in his eyes probably, idea.
"Let's play kiss, marry, kill, tropes version."
"What on earth is that?" Abby questioned.
Baby grinned, nothing but chaos in it. "You list three media tropes and your person of choosing has to assign three people from the room that they'd have the trope with."
Romance perked up. "I start, I start!" He looked around the room, gaze lingering for a second too long when it reached Mira. He pretended to think hard, until he finally announced, "Mira, darling, enemies-to-lovers, fake dating and knife-to-throat makeout?"
Her glare only sharpened. "First off, don't call me 'darling'. Secondly, I'd fake date Zoey-"
"Why?" The girl asked.
Mira turned her head in thought. "Maybe in that universe we were idols doing it for clout?"
"Fair enough."
"So," Mira continued. "Enemies-to-lovers? Abby? Seems like the type to be annoying enough to be an enemy at first but hot enough for a kiss here and there."
"I'm flattered-"
"Don't be. Knife-to-throat, Romance without the making out part."
He jumped out of his seat, pointing at her offended. "Hey, that's cheating!"
"Is it?" Baby added smugly.
Romance sat back in his seat on the couch.
Mira looked across the room, eyes settling on Jinu with a mischievous glint. "Jinu, soulmate markings, rivals-to-lovers and surprising siblings duo?"
He didn't miss a beat. "Surprising siblings with Zoey, the other two both with Rumi."
She chocked on her drink. "That's against the rules."
"When did we establish rules?" He looked too proud of himself. She figured she had consumed too much soju to argue.
~~~~
22:12
How did she end up in a dark corner of the kitchen with Romance, you might ask? And she would love to answer, if only she knew.
The pink haired man must've had one too many shots in the last hour, or was generally a light head, as he was now sitting cross-legged on the counter, throwing arms around in despair as she leaned back on the one across from him, glass of water in hand that she was trying to convince him to drink.
"And then he said that I need grounding? What does that even mean, I'm very grounded, I even hit the ground when I tripped earlier that morning-"
"He didn't know what he was talking about, surely," she humoured him. "But this glass of water might help you not trip again, as you don't need any more grounding."
He ignored her. She wasn't sure he even registered her response or if he just chose to pretend he didn't. "So I told him that and he said I must've been dropped as a child, to which I responded saying that then I must've been grounded since I was a child and he looked at me like I was crazy-"
"He's the crazy one."
"I know, right?! Like, what didn't he understand, it's so simple-"
Romance swung his arm for emphasis but ended up knocking over a pan.
Rumi sighed, hoping that the glass of water was comfortable in her hand, as it might take a while for him to drink it.
~~~~~
23:56
Romance had finally drank the water, after she had distracted him enough to switch his glass of beer with it without him noticing. If he tasted the difference, he didn't mention it. She also knew quite lot about some guy he had argued with a few days ago. She didn't know who Min-ho was, but she knew that he was convinced Romance was sleeping with his girlfriend (which wasn't true, as the man in question clearly stated, even provided her with text messages for proof).
She had managed to slip away to the balcony from one of the bedrooms. She didn't know whose it was, but hoped he didn't mind.
She took in a breath, appreciating the minute of quiet. Don't get her wrong, she was definitely enjoying the night, but the group was much louder than she was used to, so she just needed a breath of fresh air.
And then she heard a meow.
A blue (?) cat was curled up on the far end of the balcony railing.
She was too tired to question it, so instinct kicked in and she smoothly gravitated towards the fluffball.
"Hi, kitty," she cooed, "what are you doing up here?"
She tried to pet it, the cat immediately melting under her touch. It stood up and layed its paws on her chest, asking to be picked up. Rumi happily obliged.
With the crisp October air and the soothing purring of the unknown animal in her arms, she felt her nerves finally melting away.
All too familiar footsteps snapped her out of her haze. Jinu leaned forward on the railing next to her.
"Seems like you've met Derpy," he said quietly, yet it echoed in the night. The cars below grumbled, but she had tuned it out long ago.
"Derpy?" She wondered.
Jinu chuckles. "Look at him, not a thought behind those eyes."
She huffed out a laugh. "I didn't know you have a cat."
He tilted his head towards her. "I don't technically. He kind of just appears on the balcony every once in a while and I take him in whenever he does. The others don't mind, they call him my 'emotional support empty-head'."
The corner of Rumi's mouth curved. She took a better look at Derpy. "How is he blue, thought?"
"He knocked over Baby's hair dye a few days ago, he's been colourful since then."
"He really doesn't have a single thought in his head," she laughed.
"Yeah," he locked eyes with her, "seems like he likes you, though."
"I'm stealing him."
"You are not."
"I am."
The silence took over again, but it wasn't awkward. It was comforting in a way. Two minds quieting in the midst of the city's chaos in front of them and their friends' chaos behind them. Nothing more, nothing less, just peace.
He spoke again after a moment. "I invited you and yet I barely got to talk to you all night."
"Well, Romance's storytelling is clearly better than your skilless cookie eating."
He snapped his head to her. "Are you ever going to let that go?"
She smirked. "Never."
Another moment passed.
"Thank you for inviting me. Your friends are fun. They're chaos incarnate, but they're fun."
"I'm glad I did. They seem to like you a lot."
Rumi tried not to think of what his sentence said and didn't say.
"We should probably go. Zoey's at work tomorrow morning and she'll probably panic in the morning if I don't drag her to bed at least eight hours before her shift starts."
He seemed to take notice of his surroundings all of a sudden. He stood from the railing and muttered, "I'll call you a cab."
"Thanks," she replied, putting Derpy down on the floor.
She was already at the door of the bedroom, presumably Jinu's, when she heard it. "And Rumi?"
She turned.
"You're better at this than you think you are."
She didn't have a reply for that. She just nodded slightly and went to collect her friends.
But the sound of his voice kept running through her head.
Maybe one say, she'd be able to say that she's better at the people things.
And maybe that can start with day one: befriending the individuals chasing each other in the living room.
And maybe, despite the fact that she hadn't planned on it, it had already happened.