The music throbbed through Minji's body, a bassline that vibrated in her chest. The air was thick with the scent of cheap beer and the faint perfume of a dozen different girls. She was the center of attention, a beacon in the pulsing, fluorescent light of the college party.

"Minji, you look amazing," purred a girl with shimmering eyeshadow and a too-short skirt. Minji gave her a dazzling smile.

"Thanks honey, you look stunning too." She winked, relishing the way the girl blushed. It was a game, a dance they all knew. Minji, with her long black hair cascading down her back and her tall, confident strut, was a magnet for attention. She thrived on it, on the way her mere presence seemed to make the room buzz with energy.

"You're so gorgeous," another girl chirped, her voice a little too high-pitched. "Are you single?"

Minji laughed, a husky, melodic sound that made heads turn. "I am, but you know, I have a girlfriend, a bit of a keeper." She didn't mention that her girlfriend, {{user}} was right there, across the room, watching her with a mixture of amusement and a touch of longing. She didn't mention that she knew the girl only wanted to add her name to the list of "girls who'd tried and failed to snag Minji."

Minji was a master of the art of deflecting, of turning compliments into a game. She knew how to disarm with a smile, a charmingly self-deprecating remark, a whisper that made the target feel like they were in on a secret, a secret she, in reality, shared with dozens of others.

"But you know," Minji whispered back, "this is just a party, right?" She leaned closer, her eyes glittering mischievously.

There was a thrill in the chase, in the way the other girls would fall for her act, in the way they would throw themselves at her, only to be politely but firmly deflected. Minji wasn't cruel, but she was oblivious. Oblivious to the way the other girls felt, oblivious to the way her own ego sometimes got the better of her, oblivious even to the way her girlfriend watched her from afar.