Chapter Nine: Late Night Madness

“Cheers!” Bomi exclaimed, raising her glass of beer. Her gesture was immediately followed by a resonating chorus of ‘cheers’ and the clinking sounds of glass hitting glass.

Naeun looked at the group of people around her and shook her head. She was sitting by the corner of their seat, her arms crossed across her chest. She had been silently observing her friends for a while now. And for the past hour, there had been many times when thoughts of regret had crossed her mind. She should have pushed for that dinner instead of this. Now she’s stuck playing the role of a babysitter.

When Key took over her call with Eunji, what happened afterwards was an unexpected turn of events. In less than half an hour, Naeun found herself in a private karaoke room, or noraebang, with SHINee and her friends. The establishment was conveniently across the club they were previously in.

“Cheers to Taeminnie’s successful showcase!” Chorong added.

“Cheers!” Her friends, including Key and Minho, chorused enthusiastically.

They were currently seated in a U-shaped leather couch. Facing them was the mini-stage.

Naeun turned to look at the person beside her. He seemed unbothered by their friends’ loudness. He had his eyes closed as he leaned against the back of the couch. Earlier, Minho and Key almost had to carry him because he’s too drunk to walk on his own.

“Pabo,” she murmured. Just how many drinks have he had?

Her eyes narrowed when she noticed that the top four buttons of his dark polo shirt were undone. Although it was not much, anyone could still see some parts of his chest. She frowned. This is not a concert or something. Why are you wearing your shirt like that? Before she could stop herself, her hands moved to button his shirt.

Someone snickered from the side. It was Key. “Yah, don’t you think that’s too much? He looked like he was choking!” He remarked, unable to contain his laughter.

She looked at her handiwork. Taemin’s shirt was buttoned all the way up to his neck. Even the top button that was usually left undone was buttoned by her. The corners of her lips rose. He did look like he was choking.

“He wasn’t complaining, was he?” she said, but proceeded to release the first button.

“Kibum-ah, leave to those two alone,” Eunji called, passing the microphone to Key. “You pick the next song,” she added.

Instead of following Eunji’s command, Key handed the microphone over to the person on his right. “Minho-yah, it’s your time to shine.”

Naeun ignored her friends and checked the time on her watch. It was almost three in the morning. She was beginning to feel uneasy. They should have already called it a night. It was very late. They should have been home by now, especially Taemin who she knew had a schedule later that day.

She lifted a hand and shook Taemin’s shoulder. “Wake up,” she urged.

Taemin just groaned and kept his eyes shut.

“Lee Taemin, you need to wake up!” she repeated, her voice louder.

When he didn’t respond, she decided to change her strategy. Instead of trying to shake him out of his sleep, she went ahead and pinched his arm.

To her delight, his eyes fluttered open.

“Finally!” she exclaimed.

The first thing he did was look at his arm. He was frowning as he stared at the red spot on his skin. She chuckled. He looked dazed and confused at the same time.

“Pabo,” she whispered.

She brought a hand in front of his face and snapped her fingers to catch his attention.

He looked up. Then he blinked. After a couple seconds, his eyes widened. “N-Naeunnie?” he mumbled.

It seemed like all this time, he was unaware of her presence until now. She fought to hide the smile forming on her lips. He looked lost, and she found him endearing.

“It’s about time you wake up,” she said, arching an eyebrow.

“What?” he whispered, still a little disoriented.

“I said-”

She was stopped mid-sentence when he proceeded to lie down, resting his head on her lap. His long legs were stretched out on their side of the couch, which was left empty. For some reason, their friends were all huddled together on the other side.

“Yah! Lee Taemin!” she hissed, shaking his shoulder.

She looked at their friends. They were busy arguing on who’s supposed to be the next person to sing. Key was pushing for Minho, while Minho was claiming that he’s too lazy to sing but he’s willing to dance if someone will sing. Taemin’s actions appeared to be unnoticed.