Twenty minutes later, you rush into your suite with three bags full of soju of various flavors.

Yerim sits at the island, head in her hands. You catch her shoulders bouncing slightly, but can only hear the occasional sniff. Seulgi sits beside her, rubbing her back consolingly. Her head turns towards you once she hears you enter, relief evident in her whole body.

Without saying a word, you tear open a bottle and lay out three shot glasses, filling them up to the brim. The sound of the tiny cups hitting the counter catches Yerim’s attention, and she reaches over for a glass with a slightly shaky hand. She gulps the contents down and you pour her another one, which she empties as soon as it’s full again. You take this one with her, but Seulgi only takes a sip of hers before placing it gently back on the table, her focus solely on her sister.

You’re throwing back another shot when Yerim finally speaks.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying like this.” Her voice is nasally, eyes bloodshot, face blotchy. “He had been practically ignoring me since we touched down and it’s not like we were official or anything. I just… I just really liked him.” 

Chanyeol did have that effect on people, you knew all too well.

Yerim sounds so broken, you can’t help but sympathize with her. You find yourself tearing up as well.

“What did he say exactly?” Seulgi asks slowly, as if she’s afraid she’ll trigger her.

Yerim sighs and cradles a bottle to her chest, letting the coldness calm her. “He told me that being here was putting a lot of things into perspective for him, and that he wasn’t ready to be in a relationship with me. I told him that it was okay, that we could go slow, pick this up again once we were back in Seoul, but he told me no. He said…. He said he didn’t want to continue this at all. That he didn’t want to be with me at all and that–that bringing me here with him was a mistake!”

She starts sobbing, and her wails make your shoulders drop. You feel helpless, standing there watching your friend’s heart break. That helplessness makes you restless, makes you overthink. You want to do something, want to protect her. You want to storm right over to the guy who did this and make him suffer for hurting her. But, being that the man at fault is Park Chanyeol–-the same man you can’t seem to be alone with for two minutes without wanting to his face off, disrespectfully–you remain still, contemplating your options.

He did mention that he was taking her out to ‘make things right’. Now that you’re thinking about it, you should have seen this coming. He practically told you what he was planning on doing. You can’t help but to think that yeah, Yerim is suffering right now, but it is for the best. Could Chanyeol have gone about it in a better way? Absolutely. But Chanyeol has never really been one with great hindsight. He goes with how he feels, worries about the consequences later. Clearly. 

There is one thing though, that you believe he still has failed to tell Yerim. The true reasoning behind his rash decision. 

You.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you mutter. It’s time Yerim knew the truth. You take another shot of soju for courage, knowing there are a few ways Yerim will take the news, and some of the options are not pleasant. You sit the glass down with slightly more force than intended, startling the sisters, and cutting of Yerim’s cries.

“Yerim.” Your voice is the most serious it has ever been. You lock eyes and hold it, making sure you have her full attention. She holds your stare, albeit with confusion. “I have something to tell you, something I should’ve told you sooner.”

“What is it?” She asks hesitantly. 

“It’s about Loey,” you reveal. “The truth is, well, him and I–”

“Knew each other in college.” Seulgi loudly interrupts.

Her outburst startles you and you blink at her in surprise. She shrugs, curling her palms up and widening her eyes, helplessly. You know her well enough to gather what she’s trying to say. Now is, in fact, not the time.

“You…did?” Yerim asks, pulling your focus back to her.

“Yeah,” you let out in a huff. All the urgency leaves your body and you slump over the counter in defeat. “All of us did. He’s Baekhhyun’s best friend.”

“Why would he lie about that?” She asks, voice small.

“Because he’s an ,” Seulgi says. You nod in agreement.

“So, you were all friends in college?”

“Yes.” You supply. “That’s why he’s a groomsman with the rest of them. Chanyeol was pretty close to all of us but… was closer to some more than others.”

Both you and Seulgi squint your eyes and lean closer to the clueless girl, watching to see if she catches your drift.

“Oh.” She simply says. You both lean back with large sighs.

Her eyelids flutter rapidly before she’s going back for more soju. Once she’s got her fill, she’s gazing up at you. “His name is Chanyeol?”

You nod carefully, still trying to gauge her reaction.

She does her iconic deadly scoff and it’s enough reassurance for you. Your Yerim is coming back. “He didn’t even respect me enough to tell me his real name. He didn’t respect me at all. Was anything he told me even true? Is he even a producer?”

“No, he actually does do that,” Seulgi admits with a wince.

“I need another shot,” Yerim says. You don’t hesitate to fulfill her request.  

“The boys should be back soon,” you say, laying your slightly spinning head against the back of the couch. Sehun texted you about fifteen minutes ago, letting you know that they were heading back. The plan is for the boys to come to your suite and drink a bit more before heading to their respective rooms to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow. Luckily, the wedding is going to be around 2pm so that you all can get some rest.

You asked Yerim if she was okay with the boys hanging out at your suite, and she said that as long as Loey–’oh yeah, that’s right, it’s Chanyeol’–wasn’t going to be here, she had no qualms. Plus she likes Sehun.

You don’t think she’s going to make it. She polished off three bottles of soju and is absolutely wrecked at the moment, making you from last night seem sober in comparison.

She’s sprawled out on the couch, head resting on Seulgi’s lap. Seulgi runs her fingers through her hair dotingly. Yerim’s eyes are already closed, breath evening out. You’re about to suggest hauling her off to bed when you hear a bunch of voices outside your room.

“Looks like they’re here!” You cheer, excited to be reunited with your favorite people.

There’s a loud bang and a bunch of people exclaiming. You share a confused look with Seulgi before you’re rushing to the door to further investigate. Seulgi lags behind, having to slip from underneath a snoring Yerim.

What greets you is the furthest thing you expect.

Jongdae and Baekhyun are a door down, struggling to carry a deadweight Chanyeol. His arms slung over their shoulders, feet barely touch the ground as he stumbles towards his room. He’s very obviously drunk, if his loud deep voice echoing through the halls is any indicator.

Jongin and Sehun lean against the wall across from you, quietly watching the show in amusement. 

Curious, you venture out into the hall, leaving Seulgi to hold the door. She takes in the scene wearily.

“What’s going on?” You ask in a hushed tone as you greet Sehun. He looks agitated, but as soon as he sees you, he’s standing up straight, fear in his bright eyes.

He hisses your name. “Get back in your room. Hurry before he sees you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t question, just go. Go!” He starts pushing you back to your room, but you’re too confused and defiant to oblige to his request. Instead, you fight back, making it difficult for him to shove you away.

Unfortunately, this draws the attention of the others, and as soon as Chanyeol notices you, you realize what Sehun was trying to prevent.

He wails your name, louder than he had been a second ago.

“,” Sehun mutters.

“Too late.” Jongin whistles lowley. 

“Mel!” Chanyeol cries. Baekhyun and Jongdae struggle under his shifting weight, scrambling to keep him above them. “I ed everything up. I should’ve never brought her. Now you hate me for good.”

Now is a good time to take Sehun’s advice and run for the hills, but you can’t feel your legs to make an escape. Your breath hitches at his words and your heart starts beating so hard you can hear it in your ears, nearly drowning out his next words.

“It’s my fault,” he continues. His legs buckle beneath him, giving out and dropping him to his knees. Your heart shatters at how broken he sounds, how defeated he appears with his head bowed in shame. “I didn’t fight for you. I thought that’s what you wanted, so I didn’t. I’m sorry, Mel. You have to believe me, I’m so sorry.”

Each word that leaves his mouth chips at your heart, creating cracks on the wall you have built to hold in the dam of your emotions. Slowly they leak through, causing you to shake, your throat to itch, your eyes to burn–all a telltale sign of tears. You have to clench your teeth together to keep the sob in your throat from spilling out.

“I wish you didn’t hate me,” he continues in a broken whisper. “I wish you never left. That’s why I brought her. Because you left, and I couldn’t…. I couldn’t do it, Mel.”

He looks so small, like a lost child. It makes you want to walk over and drape yourself over him. Makes you want to pull him into you, feel the soothing softness of his hair between your fingers, his hot breath at your neck, and tell him that it’s okay. You can forgive him. You will forgive him.

Taking a shaky breath, you go to do just that. You shift your weight so that you can take that step–

“Who’s yelling?” You stiffen at the voice and catch in your peripheral Yerim squinting beside Seulgi, yawning as she scratches her head, very obviously just waking up. “Who’s Mel?”

That’s enough to shatter the illusion, bring you back to your senses. Fear quickly takes over as you realize the situation you’re now in. You want to tell her to go back inside like Sehun did to you earlier. You want to tell her to not worry, to ignore everything and go back to sleep, but before you can say anything, Chanyeol gets a bout of energy and tears away from the guys holding him.

It’s almost in slow motion, the way Chanyeol comes barreling towards you, hands outstretched for you. You can hear the others’ rejection, but their voices sound muffled, as though you’re underwater. Jongdae and Baekhyun rush to try to catch up to him, but his legs are too long for the shorter men.

Chanyeol’s massive hands cradle your head, tilting it back enough to give him the leverage he needs to press his lips harshly against yours.

He’s kissing you.

The shared contact speeds up time, making everything happen so quickly, you can hardly process anything going on. All you are aware of is a blur of warmth and nostalgia and hurt and regret and pain and love–so much ing love.

You don’t even have time to close your eyes or succumb to the kiss you’ve been secretly craving all this time. No time to react before Chanyeol is being torn away from you with a loud wet pop.

Jongin has jumped in this time to drag Chanyeol back to his room. He’s fighting the whole way, trying to slip out of their grip, begging them to let him go because he wants to be with you. When he realizes his pleas are falling on deaf ears, he turns his attention back to you, reaching out as he gives you the saddest puppy eyes you think you’ve ever seen.

“Come with me,” he pleads urgently. “I want you to stay with me. Mel, please. Please! Give me another chance. You have to give me another chance!”

You can only watch as Baekhyun opens his door, throwing you an apologetic glance as they all tumble inside.

The silence that follows has your ears ringing, but the sound–or lack thereof–has you remembering yourself. Quickly, you spin around to your door, immediately locking eyes with Yerim. She doesn’t look an ounce as drunk or tired as she had before.

“Why did he just kiss you?” She asks, voice dangerously calm.

“Yerim,” you start, but find you’re at a complete loss for words. Your brain is still trying to possess the last few minutes.

“Why did he just