Cat Dad

Guess who's going to the party of the year?
Sent 18:12 PM

Kkami's Dad

Have fun hyung.
Sent 18:13 PM

Cat Dad

I need a wingman.
Sent 18:14 PM

Hyunjin groaned as he draped an arm over his eyes, letting his phone slide out of his hand onto the bed. He had been looking forward to a quiet evening in, enjoying some leftover food from his mom before thinking about his classes next week. However it looked like those plans weren't happening if the elder was texting him last minute for a party. 

He doesn't need a wingman, Hyunjin thought with a sour look as he moved his arm off his eyes. The older boy was handsome with flower boy visuals and could tear up the dance floor. Throw in an occasional tongue swipe across his lips and a smoldering gaze and Minho could have any woman by his side in seconds.

Hyunjin glanced over at his phone and huffed when he saw Minho was calling him. He reached for the phone and slid his finger across the screen to unlock it. 

"You're not doing anything tonight," Minho said. 

"You don't know that hyung," Hyunjin replied as he slowly sat up. "Maybe I have homework to do."

Minho snorted on the other end and remarked that Hyunjin was lying. "You're being lazy and stuffing your face with leftovers. You probably already wore Kkami out so you could have an evening to yourself to do nothing. Hyunjinnie, you're not fooling me."

Damn it.

Hyunjin frowned as he ran a hand through his hair. "Ask Jisung or Felix," he mumbled. 

"They're already there," Minho complained. "Plus I'm not going in with Jisung – you know he's going to be hyper all night once you get a shot in his system."

Yeah of course it was tonight. Leave it to Minho to expect Hyunjin to clean up and look decent in minutes. 

"Hyung, I don't wanna drink and besides, I'm trying to save money," Hyunjin whined. 

"Bar's free tonight," Minho shot back. "Jackson bought the club out for his birthday. Plus if you need a ride home, he said he'd cover the Uber for you. Come on, you haven't done anything fun in a long time. Plus there's a lot of hot girls invited."

But they'll all be busy with you or Jackson-hyung or Chris-hyung, Hyunjin thought. While he didn't have terrible self-esteem about his looks, Hyunjin always noticed that girls would gravitate to his elders who were outgoing and exuded a y aura that left people wanting more. Whenever he looked serious or didn't look happy, people assumed he was in a bad mood or was cold, often using that as an excuse to avoid him. He glanced over at his dog who was sleeping peacefully on his dog bed in the corner. 

"Hyung, you can go by yourself," Hyunjin stated with a flat face. "I'm tired and I don't wanna get dressed up."

"I'll buy dinner for a week," Minho offered. "Your favorite restaurant, whatever you want."

Ugh, how could he say no to that? Hyunjin sighed dramatically as he looked over at his closet. "Is there a dress code or something?"

Hyunjin stood beside Minho as they gave their names at the entrance to the club. The bouncer skimmed the list for their names and crossed them out with a thick marker. He stepped to the side and welcomed the pair with a sweep of his arm. 

"HEY!!" a familiar voice yelled as they stepped inside. 

Hyunjin blinked as Jisung bounded over to them, glass in hand. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of the drink coming from Jisung's glass – a fake sour apple scent. 

"How much have you had to drink Sungie?" Minho asked as he scanned their friend. 

Jisung pouted and he held up the glass, "It's my first drink guys! You should go get something – bartender's over there and she's pretty cute I might say!"

Minho and Hyunjin looked over in the direction that their friend was pointing and tried to get a better look at the bartender. Both noticed it was busy with an equal number of men and women, but unfortunately couldn't see her clearly. 

"I'll wait," Hyunjin muttered as he looked around for the rest of their friends. 

"I'll see how bad it is," Minho said as he excused himself. 

Jisung noticed Hyunjin looking around and he slipped an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Chris and Changbin are over there. Lost sight of Felix though – he's probably tearing up the dance floor." He guided Hyunjin over to one of the tall standing tables and raised a hand in greeting. "Hyungs, look who I found!"

Chris flashed Hyunjin a smile and held out a hand for handshake. "Glad you could make it," he said. "Classes going well?"

Hyunjin allowed a smile to cross his lips as he shook the elder's hand and told him that classes were going well. His reply made Changbin tilt his head and the latter gestured to Hyunjin with his drink.

"Aren't you graduating soon?" Changbin asked. 

"Yeah couple more months," Hyunjin replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So I know it's Jackson's party, but what's the occasion? I thought his birthday already passed."

Chris stared over at the host, who was surrounded by several girls dressed to the nines. "He got promoted at work to a senior level manager and he's going to relocate overseas. So this is kind of his send-off party."

Must be quite the promotion if he's making the bar free and covering everyone's Ubers tonight, Hyunjin thought as he looked around the club to see if he knew anyone else. He scanned the dance floor and spotted Felix, who was trying to match the Renegade with the rhythm of the song currently playing. He didn't recognize any of the girls in attendance – they were probably Jackson's co-workers and friends. 

He felt Jisung nudge his arm and he turned his head as his friend asked him why he didn't have a drink yet. Hyunjin resisted the urge to roll his eyes and he pointed out the large crowd surrounding the bar. 

"It's busy right now," he stated. "Minho was going to see how bad it was. I'm not really interested in drinking tonight."

Chris raised his glass and explained he was the designated driver tonight. "The bartender makes some great non-alcoholic drinks too. Technically this is a smoothie, but I'm not complaining – it's fantastic!"

Hyunjin tilted his head as he studied the contents of the elder's glass, which seemed to be a medium pink concoction that smelled like strawberries and pineapple. 

"I almost ordered her watermelon drink," Chan confessed as he glanced over at the bar. "But I was in the mood–"

"Mate, you're always in the mood for pineapple anything," Felix interrupted. He joined the group and wiped the sweat off his forehead with a napkin Changbin handed him. He noticed Hyunjin and greeted him with a bright smile. "How's your dog?"

"Kkami's good," Hyunjin replied. "I envy him though – he was sound asleep and snoring when I left. I was half tempted to stay in my sweats and do the same, but Minho bribed me with food for a week."

Jisung pouted and whined that he couldn't get Minho to offer him food, even for a single meal. "You remember that time when I had to burn another copy of his dance audition music literally before his timeslot? I'm pretty sure my lungs were dead that day from all the running I had to do to find him!" 

Felix frowned and turned to Jisung to ask if Minho at least thanked him for the last minute favor. 

"Of course he thanked me! But he didn't do anything like buy me a coffee or offer me lunch or something!" Jisung complained. "That was my last CD and he was lucky I didn't need it for one of my Music Composition assignments."

Speaking of Minho, Hyunjin spotted the older boy pocketing his wallet and thanking someone, before weaving his way through the crowds of people with a drink in hand. He apologized to a girl who stopped him for a dance, explaining he needed to catch up with his friends first. 

"Next song!" he promised with a charming smile. He greeted Chris and Changbin as he set his glass on the table. "That took forever, but it's the people, not her."

"Yeah some of these guests are putting in crazy orders and she's trying to juggle multiple drinks at once," Changbin said. "But I've seen her handle it without panicking and she's pretty fast."

"Who?" Felix asked. 

The trio nodded at the busy bar area and said that they were talking about the bartender working tonight's event. Hyunjin took another look at the bar area and noticed some of the people finally moved away from the counter, giving him a brief glimpse of the young woman working behind it. It was too far for him to make out specific details, but he could tell she had long dark hair and it looked like she had a dark lipstick on. 

Minho took a sip from his glass and nudged Hyunjin's arm. "I got one of her muddled drinks with berries in it and some alcohol – you'd like this," he shared. He held his glass out to show Hyunjin and the younger boy peered at it; a layered drink where the top layer was clear, eventually transitioning to a deep purple color, due to the fruits smashed at the bottom. Jisung leaned over to take a look and nodded in approval.

"Talented and pretty," Jisung remarked as he looked over at the bar quickly. "Shame she had to wear that lipstick color though."

Minho took a sip of his drink, then rested the rim against his bottom lip thoughtfully. He hummed, then added it was a very stark color to choose. His comment caught the attention of Chris and Changbin, who tried to get a quick look at the bartender's makeup from far away. 

"Ah...it's unusual for this time of year to pick a crimson red," Chris concluded as he turned back to the group. "But I don't think it looks bad – after all, it is nighttime."

"I think it's too stark," Jisung disagreed. "If you get closer, she's kinda fair skinned. I don't mean vampire pale like you Chris-hyung, but that color doesn't do anything for her. Actually, I thought she was wearing black lipstick at first."

"She's not that pale!" Minho chimed in. "I mean, you look around the club and every girl's got some kind of red or pink lipstick on. No offense, but some of the pink lipsticks remind me of the highlighters I used in grade school!"

Felix wrinkled his nose at the analogy and muttered that he'd hate to get that on his skin. "Look, I'm all for girls doing their makeup if they wanna and they feel confident with it on, but why can't their lipsticks stay on their lips? I don't want neon, highlighter pink stuff on my face or my mouth all night."

Hyunjin nodded absently at their comments and he looked back at the bar. He didn't realize how thirsty he was after all this time standing and talking to his friends and he began to excuse himself to grab something. Felix hurried to catch up to him and explained he wanted water. 

"Kinda like you, I'm not down to drink and I got a dance evaluation tomorrow afternoon," he explained. "What are you getting?"

Hyunjin shrugged and murmured that maybe he'd ask what was in the watermelon drink. He moved around couples heading to the dance floor and excused himself as he waited for a large group of girls to pass him. One stopped Felix as the song changed and she grabbed his arm excitedly. 

"Oppa let's dance!" she blurted out. "It's my favorite and you promised me the next song!"

Felix looked from the girl to Hyunjin and the latter jabbed a thumb at the bar. "I'll order your water for you – just go." 

The girl looked at Hyunjin and bowed her head as she thanked him. She squealed as she dragged Felix in the opposite direction as the chorus kicked in. Hyunjin muttered apologies as he pushed his way to the bar counter and looked for an empty space to lean against. He found a spot toward the left corner of the bar and slipped into the stool, eyes looking for the bartender his friends were talking about. 

She was sliding over two martinis and a margarita to a trio of two girls and a guy. The trio placed bills on the counter for her tip and she thanked them before taking the money and carrying it to the back counter by the register. The bills were placed in shot glass with a roll of other bills and the bartender glanced to her left. She scanned the counter and her eyes landed on Hyunjin. 

"Hey I'll be with you in a bit!" she promised. She hurried to the sink and washed her hands throughly, then dried them on a towel. 

Hyunjin watched as she turned to face the counter and checked on some girls as she grabbed a drink napkin for him. Once the girls confirmed they were set, the bartender made her way over and greeted him as she placed the square napkin in front of him. 

"Good evening, what can I get for you?" she asked. 

Hyunjin laced his fingers together and rested his hands on the counter, while he studied the young woman before him. Three bobby pins held her dark hair back from her face on the left side of her head, which reminded him a little of an old Hollywood starlet's hairstyle. Her taupe colored eyes met his and he reminded himself that he offered to order for Felix too. 

"Hi, I need a water without ice for my friend," he began, "and um...my friends said something about a watermelon drink on the menu?"

The bartender reached under the counter and produced a colored sheet of paper with the special drinks tonight. With her free hand, she grabbed a clear glass and began filling it with room temperature water. 

"It's the Summer Cooler," she explained, tapping the fourth drink on the menu. "Fresh watermelon juice, lime juice, ice, and a hint of sugar. I can add a shot of something if you want – for that, I'd recommend the Patron Citrónge Lime or a vodka." 

Hyunjin poked his tongue out as he studied the menu, thinking about the ingredients in the drink she mentioned. In his peripheral, he saw the glass of water being put in front of him on a new drink napkin. 

"Thank you...um Miss ___?" 

"Name's Nico," she replied. "No Miss, just Nico."

He must have looked confused, because the bartender tilted her head towards him and explained it was short for Nicolette. He flashed her an apologetic smile and added that he hadn't met anyone with her name yet. 

"Mom's pick," she added with a shrug. "So you thinking the Summer Cooler? Something else?"

"Oh! Um yeah I'd like the Summer Cooler, but no alcohol. I don't wanna drink tonight," he said. 

Nico nodded to show she understo