𝐀𝐫𝐢

"Come on, pleaseee!!"

"No!"

"Okay. Tell me one- ONE good reason as to why you can't go with me and I might consider it."

I tried to come up with a strong argument that would make her leave me alone.

"I don't know if I'm mentally prepared to be around people and just bob my head to the music throughout the night. I'm just... not in the mood for it." My mood on a Friday night consisted of binge watching kdramas while eating my snacks.

"If you're worried about random guys coming up to you to hit their shot- I will obviously intervene and say that I'm your girlfriend."

With my brows raised in amusement, I went back to my desk and sat on my chair before opening my laptop.

I could hear Yerin sigh and fall on my bed. I'm just hoping she won't use the- "You know I'm leaving next year."

"Yerinnn!" I groaned and let my head fall back as I slumped on my chair.

She sat up and turned my chair towards her. "I'll be gone in a few months so I might as well use my special card whenever I can." With a cheeky smile she leaned closer and held my shoulders. "So? You're coming right? It's only going to be for tonight. Promise!"

I stared her dead in the eye, knowing it wasn't going to be the last time. "Which club is it this time?" I muttered.

"YES! Okay! It's at the new club called Studio Neon. It's super popular these days. Not so sure why though."

My eyes lit up at the name. "Is it the one with the arcade at the far back?"

Yerin looked like she wanted to laugh. "So you've heard of it?"

"I mean- yeah! The place looks like it came straight out of the movie Tron. PLUS! They have the crazy arcade at the back with those neon lights! It's so cool."

"Wow... You're geeking out after a club, Ari. You know that right?"

I nodded fervently. "We're going." As I got up from my chair, I grabbed my cross-bag and was about to get to the door when Yerin pulled me back, making me stumble on my feet.

"Hell no! I ain't gonna leave you looking like that??" She shot laser beams at my clothes, as if it would make my boyfriend jeans and white top disappear.

"Can I just change my top?"

"No. You're gonna change everything. STAT."

An hour later...

"My outfit is almost the same as the one I was wearing before." I muttered.

"Babe, the only thing similar with your other outfit were the colors. Now, you're wearing skin tight baby blue jeans and a white one sleeve crop top. It's hella cuter."

I tried to hide my smile. "Details... Can we go now?"

***

The bouncer made way for us to get in.

"Thisissocoolohmygoshiloveit."

Yerin threw her head back and laughed. "Ari, you're such a NERD!". She shook her head. "But I love you for it- now come on!"

Everything inside was lit by projector lights. There were all sorts of colors ranging from red, purple and pink when you first came in.

Once we walked a bit further, the lights transitioned to blue, teal, green and yellow. The whole place made it seem like we were in another universe.

We kept walking until we found a vacant table with a few high chairs around it.

"Ari!" Yerin yelled through the music. "Do you want a drink now?"

"Sure! Can you get me something sweet though? Not down for beer or hard liquor!"

She responded with a wink. "Wait here! I'll get us some drinks and try to find some of our friends at the same time!"

"Alright!"

"Oh! If you see either Joohan or Saera, tell them to join us!"

"Alright! Now, go!" I laughed and shooed her away. She blew me a kiss and disappeared in the throng of people.

The music playing was quite upbeat and fun so I moved my head to the rhythm of the song.

I loved dancing. The only thing that made me dislike clubs were the strangers. Somehow, they always tried to chat us up or touch us in ways that were fully inappropriate. We got kicked out a few times because we would push the men off us. Hopefully, this club attracted less ty people.

Suddenly, someone bumped into me making the chair almost fall- and me with it.

"Oh - sorry!" The guy apologized as he caught the back of my chair and held my arm at the same time.

In shock, I just blabbered on. "S'okay!" I placed my bag properly before looking up.

. The guy's kinda hot.

"Eum..." He looked down and huffed a small laugh. "Are you... alright?" He looked around and puckered his lips which made me look at his lips before looking back up.

Dang. He caught me staring at his lips. Flustered, I tried to divert his attention. "Oh- yeah! I'm fine! Don't worry about it." I waved a hand.

He smiled and his eyes became crescent moons. How can someone smile like that??

"Let me get you a drink as an apology!"

My eyes widened a bit. I wasn't used to guys blatantly flirting with me. Even less, when they were attractive.

"Oh! My friend went to get us some drinks already." He didn't seem to have heard properly over the music.

"What?" He leaned closer so that his ear was closer to my mouth. The sudden movement made me get a whiff of his scent and wow. There's no other way for me to describe the smell other than w.o.w.