The lights in the sprawling pavilion dimmed, shifting to a sharp, electric purple as the live performances kicked into high gear.
When Sunmi took the stage, her effortless, hypnotic charisma magnetic under the spotlights, I caught myself staring with absolute, undivided attention.
'Yep,I definitely have a massive crush on Sunmi.' My internal voice confessed for the second time this year.
Ever since seeing her perform at the Autumn Festival, her stage presence had been unmatched. I made a firm mental note to buy her new physical album the second we got back to the city.
Following JYP's eccentric, energetic and iconic set, then a joint duet stage that had the guests clapping in rhythm, the loud amplifiers faded.
A string quartet took over, playing gentle classical pieces to signal the start of the free socializing hour.
Guests began milling around the banquet tables, leaving their gifts at their tables and clinking champagne flutes and exchanging business cards.
As I walked near the lounge area, I stumbled right into the extended Park family that surprisingly included the families of both Park siblings.
I was already shocked enough, but then my jaw nearly dropped when I spotted a familiar mop of silver hair in the crowd.
Park Jin-hyun was casually sipping apple juice near the dessert table. And standing right beside him was Han Leo, along with Leo's grandfather—the legendary headmaster of Kirin Arts High itself!
'Almost all of H-Wnot is here!' I realized, looking around the room. 'I wouldn't even be surprised if—'
I froze mid-thought.
"Wait... is that Jun-seo?!"
Standing near the entrance of the main tent, looking immaculately sharp in a dark tailored suit alongside his mother, was Park Jun-seo.
"What the actual hell...?" I muttered, turning my head toward Jin-hyun. "Did Myung-dae actually invite Jun-seo to his family's private mansion?!"
Jin-hyun casually waved a hand in the air, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Obviously it wasn't Myung-dae who sent that invitation, Mountain. Their parents know each other from the old days. They still think Jun-seo and Myung-dae are best friends."
"They don't know?"
"How could they?" Jin-hyun shrugged. "Jun-seo and Myung-dae keep their personal drama under lock and key. Nobody knows the full truth of what happened back then—not even Yoo Chae-rin, and she has massive influence over both of them."
Leo leaned in, his dark eyes sparkling with quiet curiosity.
"By the way... I've always been curious. What did happen between Jun-seo and Myung-dae to make them—"
Before Leo could finish his sentence, Jun-seo stepped away from his mother and began walking directly toward our group.
Reacting on pure, paniced instinct, I snatched a cream-filled strawberry tartlet off a passing waiter's tray and stuffed it straight into Leo's open mouth, effectively silencing the violinist's dangerous question before Jun-seo came within earshot.
"San-ah? Guys?" Jun-seo stopped in front of us, looking thoroughly shocked to find the entire band gathered in one place. "You're all here?"
"I could say the exact same thing to you!" I laughed, patting Leo on the back as he chewed his tartlet with deep, offended confusion.
Jun-seo awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, looking unusually vulnerable.
"My mother insisted on coming... You know I don't really belong in this kind of high-society circle."
This made laugh so hard that surrounding guests glanced at our company.
"Do you think I belong here? President if not you, then no one belongs here."
I clapped a heavy hand onto Jun-seo's shoulder, giving him a warm, reassuring squeeze.
"Just enjoy New Year's Eve in good company."
As the five of us walked toward the mansion interior, we ran straight into Myung-dae and his parents near the grand archway, where they were entertaining a group of high-ranking corporate executives.
"Ah! Here are Myung-dae's school friends!" Mr. Lee announced smoothly, gesturing toward us.
We all bowed in unison, offering formal greetings.
Mr. Lee turned to Myung-dae, patting his son's back with a booming laugh.
"Go on, Myung-dae-ya! Go have fun with your friends! We all know you hate these formal business gatherings anyway."
A wave of rich, booming adult laughter echoed behind us—the kind of wealthy laughter that sounded like it could comfortably cover my entire Kirin scholarship fund.
With Myung-dae officially released from host duty, our modest group of six continued down the main corridor.
"So, black cat," Jin-hyun teased, slinging an arm around Myung-dae's neck. "What return presents did your family pack in those boxes for us?"
Myung-dae just shot him a deadpan look.
"You'll see when you get home."
"Typical black cat mode," Jin-hyun chuckled.
As we passed the main indoor photo zone, the official event photographer caught sight of Myung-dae.
"Young Master! Please, let us take a group photo with your friends!"
Surprisingly, this time I didn't need to physically wrestle Myung-dae or Jun-seo into position. Perhaps out of respect for the formality of the event and their upbringing, both of them quietly cooperated. They took positions on opposite ends of our group—Jun-seo on the far left, Myung-dae on the far right—while I stood in the middle flanked by Jin-hyun and Leo, with Ha-neul between them.
'At least they have decent manners,' I thought, suppressing a smirk. 'I just wish they'd show them more often—especially this rebel Myung-dae!'
Once the camera flashed, an awkward silence settled over us. The indoor lounge was crowded with chatting adults, and the noise from the pavilion was deafening.
Myung-dae looked up toward the grand marble staircase.
"Follow me. The second-floor balcony has a clear view of the city. Fireworks start in ten minutes."
We climbed the stairs and stepped out onto the wide stone balcony.
The crisp, freezing winter air hit us instantly, cutting through the warm, scented haze of the party.
The view from the elevation was magnificent.
Though the massive white roof of the party tent blocked part of the right side, the entire northern sector of the exclusive "Golden Triangle" neighborhood stretched out beneath the starry sky.
You could see the distant, glowing roof of Yoo Chae-rin's estate, and further down the ridge sat the Park family mansion. Unfortunately, Abeonim and Eommonim's house was positioned on the opposite side of the hill, hidden from view.
There were only three minutes left before midnight.
The six of us leaned against the cold stone railing, watching the distant city lights of Seoul twinkling under the frost.
I looked over at Jin-hyun.
"Hey, Jin-hyun-ah... By the way, where's Kang Min-ah? Wasn't she supposed to come with you tonight?"
Jin-hyun let out a sigh, shaking his head.
"She caught a terrible flu yesterday. She was so furious about missing the party that she literally tried to sneak out of her house by hiding in the trunk of our sedan. Can you imagine? My aunt caught her before we even pulled out of the garage."
I laughed out loud.
CREAK.
The glass doors behind us slid open.
'Wouldn't it be absolutely wild if Min-ah actually walked through those doors right now?' I joked internally.
Instead, a sleek, icy figure stepped out onto the cold stone terrace, her dark hair catching the mountain wind.
It was Yoo Chae-rin.
"Ah... you guys are up here too," Chae-rin said quietly, her voice unusually calm. She walked over to the railing, taking a spot a few feet away from Jun-seo, near Ha-neul, her eyes staring out into the dark valley.
Before I could say anything, my phone vibrated violently in my coat pocket.
I pulled it out—the screen displayed an incoming international call from Ukraine.
"It's my mom," I said quickly to the group, stepping away toward the corner of the balcony.
I answered the call, hearing my mother's warm, familiar voice ringing clear through the speaker despite the thousands of miles between us. She showered me with sweet New Year's blessings, reminding me to wear warm socks, eat well, and telling me how deeply she loved and missed me.
A quiet, emotional warmth bloomed in my chest as I wished her a happy New Year and hung up.
As I lowered the phone, a new KakaoTalk notification banner popped up on the screen.
It was a direct message from my best friend, Kang Min-ah.
Speak of the devil.
Below us in the heated pavilion, the massive crowd began the final ten-second countdown, their collective voices booming up into the night sky:
"TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!..."
I tapped on Min-ah's chat. There was no greeting text—only a single attached PDF document and a brief caption:
[Kang Min-ah]:As I promised you... here is the file.
I looked at the title of the attached document. My breath hitched in my throat.
The_Tragedy_of_W-Naut.pdf
My thumb hovered over the screen.
This was it.
The absolute, unvarnished truth behind Park Jin-woo.
The tragedy that destroyed W-naut, shattered their friendship, and turned Jun-seo and Myung-dae into bitter enemies.
Everything I needed to untangle the knots holding H-Wnot back was sitting right in the palm of my hand.
"THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
BOOOOOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the night sky as a brilliant, multi-colored barrage of fireworks erupted across the Seoul skyline, illuminating the dark balcony in blinding flashes of crimson, gold, and electric blue.
I looked at the group of my friends who were cheering and smiling, my gaze lingering a little longer on H-Wnot: Jun-seo, Myung-dae, Jin-hyun and Leo.
What does this year have in store for me?
I didn't know.
But there was one thing I was absolutely certain of: I'll be fine.
The year 2016 had officially arrived.