Seyong took another glass of tequila and downed it in one go, lining up the now empty glass with the others on the bar counter.

His eyes stayed fixated as he watched her sneer at him before sipping on her non-alcoholic drink.

He gestured towards the bartender for another glass of the alcohol before turning his attention back on Eunyoung as she spoke.

“This is unfair.” She said, pushing her drink away from her and looking at the pile of empty glasses of tequila in disdain.

She turned her glare sideways to Seyong,

“I should be the one drinking that alcohol. I’m the one who got heartbroken here, for Pete’s sake!”

Seyong simply looked at her, unfazed by her outburst, his poker face still intact.

The bartender came just in time and put down the glass of tequila in front of him. He traced the glass mouth with his fingers before lifting it up and shaking it a bit.

“If you drink alcohol every time you’re heartbroken, you’ll end up in the hospital for alcohol intoxication.”

He said in a seemingly uninterested voice before drinking his tequila.

“At least I’ve got a better tolerance. You won’t even last after drinking one glass.” he continued.

“I can. I’ll prove it to you. Just let me.” She insisted, trying to get the unfinished drink away from his hand.

But all he needed to do is wrap one of his arms around her waist to keep her in her seat and hold the glass with his other hand before emptying it out again.

He ignored Eunyoung’s pout and only released her after making sure that the glass is completely empty.

Eunyoung’s eyes followed the glass as it is, like the others, lined up in the neat pile in front of them. She mentally counted the glasses. Five. She looked up just in time to see Seyong gesturing for another shot.

It seemed to be a weird habit that he has developed.

Every time they end up in that club, no matter what kind of alcohol he’s drinking, he’s always piling the empty glasses in a neat line. And the number of glasses becomes higher and higher each time.

The first time they've been here, he only drank one glass and spent the whole time listening to her woes and comforting her.

In their second time here, it became two glasses.

Then three. Four.  Five.

Tonight is the sixth time they’re here together.

Eunyoung doesn’t know if she’s right but the number of glasses of alcohol he’s drinking ties up with the number of times they've been here.

She raised her eyebrows at her new-found realization.

And then worry sank in. Seyong may have high tolerance, but drinking six glasses is bound to have an effect on him tonight.

His eyes are already slightly hazy—the effects of the  alcohol he drank finally kicking in.

Her hand automatically shot up to intercept the glass before he could drink it up to the last drop again.

Seyong looked at  her hand on his wrist before looking up to meet her stare with his own. He sent her an inquiring look without words.

“You’re almost drunk. Stop now.”

He gently pried her hand off his wrist and held it with his hand.

“This is the last one for tonight.”

Eunyoung could only look on in worry as he downed that one last shot and put it to join the line.

Six glasses.

“You’re drinking based on the number of times we've been here.” She stated.

Seyong looked at her and smiled, “That’s quite observant of you.” He said before ruffling her hair.

Eunyoung slapped it away to keep him from ruining her neatly tied hair and scrunched her eyebrows. He's definitely trying to lean their conversation away from her question.

She sighed.

Silence enveloped the two of them as they got lost on their own thoughts. They simply sat there next to each other, comfortable despite having no words exchanged between them.

Eunyoung’s tears slipped down her face without her notice as her mind wandered to her boyfriend, the very same reason why she and Seyong are here in this bar again.

How many times had she caught him cheating on her?

How many times had they fought over the month alone?

How many tears had she shed with every fight they have?

And each time she ends up alone in their shared apartment, battered and broken as their fight always turns ugly on her end, only one thing comes up on her mind. To call Seyong.

She’s selfish, yes. She’s always the reason why Seyong ends up breaking it off with his girlfriends.

They tend to get jealous and be suspicious of their relationship, some were even asking him to stop seeing her every time she calls. And she understood how they feel.

She’s a woman too. She knows what it feels like to be jealous.

But a big part of her is always relieved and happy when she sees him enter through the club’s door, his eyes frantically searching for her.

No matter what time of the day she calls,  be it during his office hours or in the middle of the night, he always arrives.

Perhaps, being the general manager of a big company and having a car at his disposal do have their perks.

Sometimes, she wishes he’ll ditch her for once... so she could have a reason to hate him.. a reason to push him away so she won’t be causing him to break off his ties with whoever girl he’s with. But she can’t.

She’s too dependent on him.

She’ll truly falter if he leaves.

Eunyoung snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a hand hold her face.

Seyong saw her tear-stained cheeks and instinctively reached out to wipe her tears off.

Seeing her eyes glistened with tears always sends a burning feeling on his chest.. A desire to search the whole Seoul for that ing bastard who dared to mess with his Eunyoung...

But more than that, a stronger desire to just haul her away to a faraway place where the bastard can’t get to her tugged at his chest.

He could do exactly that..

If only Eunyoung would let him do that, he’ll leave everything he has in a heartbeat and take her away.

He held her face with his hands and studied it carefully.

His eyes grew dark as he caught sight of a newly formed bruise on her face.

A cold feeling wrapped around him as he pulled her closer to him. He tugged her long-sleeved blouse up.

“Yah!” Eunyoung protested and tried to stop him.

But her attempts are futile against his strength. He grasped her collar and checked the area around her chest for bruises too.

Seyong clenched his fist as he saw the black and purple spots all over her body. He abruptly stood up but Eunyoung is quick to stop him too.

“Where are you going?” she asked in frantic.

“Where else? I’m going to find that bastard and make him pay for that..” He said while trying to pry Eunyoung away from him.

“You can’t, oppa! You can’t!”

Seyong felt betrayal sink in.

Is she still gonna defend that man against him even if she’s this hurt?

Why the hell did she keep this away from him?

Why does she keep going back to that useless man?

“Oppa.. please..” Seyong immediately forgot his anger at the sight her tear glistening eyes. And so, with a dejected sigh, he went back to his stool.

He’s still mad. And talking while feeling that way won’t do the both of them any good. It will only lead to an argument so he kept silent.

His grip on his glass was so tight, it felt like the glass would break at any moment.

“Why?” he voiced out that one thing nagging on his mind.

“Because you might end up killing him..”

“He deserves that.. More than that, in fact.”

Eunyoung eased his hand away from the glass and held it with her own before looking straight into his orbs with her own glassy ones.

“I know. He does. But you don’t.”

Seyong looked at her as she said it.

“I can’t watch you turn into a murderer because of me, that’s why I chose to hide it away from you.”

They stared at each other, Eunyoung still holding onto his hand tightly, unwilling to let go.. afraid that any moment now, he’ll get up and she won’t be able to stop him.

“Do you know the meaning behind the number of glasses in that line?”

Seyong asked, finally breaking the silence.

Eunyoung turned to look at him and then at the glasses in front of them.

Is there any other meaning behind that?

“Six times. You got your heart broken by the same man six times.. I drank a glass of alcohol for every moment you cry.”

Seyong continued, as though answering her unasked question.

Her eyes slowly glistened with tears  at his sudden confession.

“And I’m never coming back here to drink that seventh shot.”

Her heart felt cold with fear at that last statement.

Is he finally leaving her?

Is he giving up on her for good?

She knew now isn’t the time to be selfish. She should be calm about it and let him walk away  without any worries..

But the tears in her eyes just refuse to listen.

They fell just in time for Seyong to see.

And like he often does, he wiped the tears away with his palm.

“I’m taking you away with me. Even if I have to drag you with your hands and feet tied, I will  get us out of Seoul... I’ll get you away from that bastard’s reach—”

He was taken aback as he felt Eunyoung’s weight thrown on his, almost causing them to topple down from his stool.

He felt her arms tightly wound around his neck as her sobs broke through her lips.

“Why? What’s the matter?” he asked, putting his hands on her back to hold her.

“I got scared...” Eunyoung admitted.

“I thought you’re finally leaving me.. I thought you finally got tired and decided to walk out on me..” she hugged him tighter as she completely leaned her body on his.

“Tch.” Seyong scoffed,

“I’m Kim Seyong. I don’t walk out..” he said as his hands moved from her back to grasp her waist.

“The only time I’ll ever walk out is to drag you away..”