I moved back and raised a brow at Jeff. He was drunk, but the warning came out clearer than the summer sky in the middle of the afternoon. But who was he talking about? Jeff had only ever mentioned his brother once and not even by name. I just knew they didn’t get along. I had no idea who this man I’d never met before would have his sights set on.

“I should probably head home,” Dani mentioned as picked up her bag. “I have an early shift at work tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you out,” I offered as Jeff’s face fell back onto the table. I probably should have been paying attention.

“That would be great,” Layla said before Dani could protest. She moved her chair to the side of the table to be closer to Jeff and started rubbing his back. “This probably won't be pretty when he starts puking. You two get out of here before it’s too late.”

I looked over at Dani and shrugged. “Shall we?” I asked with a smile.

“Sure,” she laughed.

I grabbed my jacket off the back of my seat before we headed out of the restaurant. It was chillier than I expected it to be. The breeze filled the cold, night air with the smell of fresh pine. It almost reminded me of a Christmas tree farm. Dani wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as the night air hit her.

“Here,” I said as I shook out my green bomber jacket. I turned toward her and put the jacket around her shoulders. “There. Not so cold anymore, right?”

“I still have your sweater and now you’re giving me your jacket too?”

“I can’t just let a lady freeze to death,” I joked. “Don’t worry about the sweater though. You can keep it. It looked good on you.”

“Oh, thank you.” I could see her grinning again as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I’ll want the jacket back though. It’s my favorite one.”

“I’ll remember to return it then,” she chuckled.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, dropping her head back slightly as she bathed in the moonlight giving her an ethereal glow. She was like a fairy or an angel, just too perfectly beautiful for the eyes of man. I couldn’t help but stare and admire her. Her long auburn hair was curled today, bouncing with each slight gust of wind. Her skin looked lighter and her hair slightly redder than usual against the army green color of my jacket. I noticed that she had a small mole right next to her ear.

“I’ve never noticed that,” I said softly.

“Hm?” she asked as she peeked at me through one eye.

“That mole right next to your ear. I’ve never noticed it. My mom used to tell me that it means you’re a good listener.”

“I think I’ve heard that too. Do you have one? Here, let me see.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me down to her eye level.

I was so close, I could smell her personal scent over the pine in the air. She smelled of jasmine and honeysuckle. The sweet, fresh scent reminded me of a bright spring day in a field of green. It was oddly alluring. It didn’t help that I could feel her soft breath against my neck as she examined me for a mole. I sang the Korean national anthem in my head to make sure I didn’t…embarrass myself for lack of a better term.

“Look at that,” she whispered in my ear. God damn it, why is she doing that? “You do have one. It’s right…here.”

I jumped a little as I felt her fingertip brush against my skin. She giggled as I took a step back, rubbing vigorously at the spot she had just touched. I must look like an idiot to her. 

“You’re so skittish, Seojun,” she teased. “No need to be nervous.”

“S-sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to do that,” I exhaled.

“I was just teasing.” She swatted at my chest and I was afraid she would notice how fast it was beating.

She was staring at me more than usual, almost like she was studying my face. “How come you’re staring at me so hard?” I laughed.

“Oh nothing, just…wondering.”

“Wondering what?”

She turned to face me and tilted her head to the side. “Have you ever thought about growing a beard?”

I was not expecting that. “Uh, not really. I’m not sure if I could pull it off.”

“Hm.” She shrugged as she faced the parking lot again. “I think you’d look really good with one.” She turned away and mumbled, “I think guys with beards are really hot.”

Did she mean for me to hear that? “W-what was that?”

“I asked if you need a ride home. I can give you a lift. I didn’t drink.”

“Ah, no. My friend is picking me up,” I admitted. I really wish I hadn’t called my friends for a DD now. Hell, this brief interaction sobered me up so quickly I could probably drive myself home. God knows Adira would kill me if I did though. “Thank you for the offer though.”

“You’re welcome. I can stay here with you until your ride gets here.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How come you’re being so nice to me?” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Why would I ask something like that? She’s being kind and we’re actually getting along. I probably just ruined that. I didn’t mean it to sound rude or hostile, but it came out sounding like I was questioning her motives.

She let out a heavy laugh. “You don’t think I’m a nice person?”

“No that’s not it. I just…we didn’t get along before.”

“And that was my fault?”

The tension in the air was as thick as a brick wall between us. It was almost impressive how she could go from playful and smiling to this angry honey badger ready to bite my head clean off.

I needed to explain myself and I needed to do it quick. “No! I just meant…”

“We have to work on this project together so we might as well get along,” she spat. “After this, you can go back to treating me like the plague.” She shook her head and turned away from me. “I gotta go.”

I grabbed her arm, preventing her from walking away. I can’t let her leave like this. “Dani, wait,” I begged. “I…”

“Johnathan Park!” Jelly’s voice filled the silent parking lot like an announcement over a loudspeaker. “Don’t you dare make me wait when you told me to come pick your ass up!”

“Gimme a second!” I yelled back.

“Give you a what? You must out of your damn mind!”

“Just go,” Dani uttered with an exasperated sigh. “I really don’t understand why you’re trying to hard to explain yourself anyway. It’s not like we’re friends.”

I released my grip and dropped my arm to my side as the dull, aching pain grew in my chest. I took a step back and stared blankly at her. Maybe I had misread everything. She was being polite and putting up with me. How shameless I must have seemed in her eyes when I flirted with her. She teased me, smiling to my face while she was probably laughing at me behind my back.

This is why I didn’t pursue women. I’ve known men that play with women’s emotions just for the conquest or for shits and giggles. Women were no different. They could be just as cold and cruel. How could I forget after every woman I’ve ever been involved with? I’ll have to thank Dani for reminding me of that unpleasant fact.

I couldn’t help myself. I let out a single laugh as I shook my head. The pain quickly turned into resentment and spite leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Yea, thanks for the reminder,” I spat.

She must have caught on that I was upset because she opened her mouth to say something, but I turned and started walking away before she could.

“Hey, are you seriously mad at me right now?” she called after me. “Johnny.” Don’t look back. “W…wait! Seojun!” There was a hint of regret and desperation in her voice. She must have realized I wasn’t going to be her punching bag anymore. I won’t let her pull me in again. I’ve played the fool too damn long and too many times.

“Keep the jacket,” I interrupted, never slowing my stride.

Jelly was watching the entire interaction from her car. Her face was scrunched up in a scowl as she stared past me.

“What happened?” she asked angrily.

“Nothing, let’s go,” I stated.

“That didn’t look like ‘nothing’.”

I dropped my head and shook it. “Just leave it.”

“I will not just leave it. You’re upset! What did she say to you? What did she do? You know what, I’ll ask her myself.”

Jelly started heading angrily in Dani’s direction, but I caught her by the waist. It was the only way to stop her when she got into her ‘pitbull’ mode. She flailed in my arms like a maniac as I tried to hold her back.

“Put me down! I just wanna talk!” Jelly demanded.

“Liar! You never just talk,” I yelled. “Just calm down! I’m not bailing out lock up again.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you never to tell a woman to calm down?”

“Do you know how you look right now?” I hissed as I dragged her back to the car. “Someone’s going to call the cops!”

“Yea, on you! You look like you’re trying to kidnap me!”

She threw one of her fists back, connecting with my nose. I dropped her in an instant, covering my now bleeding nose.

“Oh shit,” she gasped. “Johnny, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. Lemme see.” She grabbed my face and pulled it down to her own. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so, soooooo sorry!”

“I’m fine,” I insisted as I pulled a tissue from my pocket and plugged my bleeding nostril. “Now that you’ve drawn blood can we go please?”

Jelly didn’t fight me anymore. She pulled me into a tight hug not knowing what else to do. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. As tough as she was, she was a million times sweeter. No one had my back more than Jelly and I appreciated it more than I could ever say. “You don’t have to tell me what happened. I’ll be here for you. Always.”

“Thank you.”

When we let each other go, we headed to the car to leave. I noticed that Dani was still in the same spot I had left her in – undoubtably witnessing Jelly’s manic mode.

“Do you want me to hit her with my car?” Jelly joked trying to lighten the mood. I slowly turned to her and glared. “For legal purposes, that was a joke.”

I stared out the window. I straightened up when I noticed that a man had walked up to Dani. I couldn’t see his face, but something about him seemed familiar. I’ve seen him somewhere before. I clenched my jaw as she laughed and touched the man’s arm. Another reminder that I was nothing to her, not even a friend.

“Can we just leave?” I pleaded. “I don’t feel good.”

Jelly started the car and we headed home. “I swear to you, Seojun. I’ll never approve of that one,” she promised.

Seojun. People only called me that for one of two reasons: one, they were really pissed at me or two, they felt really bad for me. For a moment, though, someone had called me by my name because it was my name. I was able to be myself for the first time in years. I’ll look back on that moment with a bittersweet smile, because the chances are it’ll never happen again. Park Seojun will be locked away once more so that Johnny Park can succeed.

“I told you I don’t like when you call me that,” I grumbled. “But don’t worry, Jel, you don’t have to worry about her. You won’t see her again.”