"WOOO!"
A bit of beer splashed over Luhan's hand as he excitedly swayed around.
"Don't be a 'woo'-girl, Luhan!" Kyungsoo called back but there was no chance Luhan would hear him.
The bass was pumping and Luhan was diligently working towards his goal of becoming completely wasted. Currently he was giggling quite unmanly which he could clearly see in his unattractive expression. Well. Not everyone could laugh as cutely as Chanyeol. Kyungsoo vaguely felt the tiny, sober part of him giving him an intensely judging look for what might have been the most misguided statement of the evening.
And dang, he did it again. He really didn't want to think about Chanyeol.
So he unceremoniously plucked the poisonous-looking cocktail out of Baekhyun's hand and took a deep gulp. Whatever it was, it burned and the random mash of fruit juice almost managed to hide the bitterness of what must have been at least three types of alcohol.
Chen sent him a raised eyebrow while Baekhyun only laughed, encouraging him to keep it.
"Someone's frustrated, huh?" he called out over the sounds of Jolin Tsai's 'Medusa' and Kyungsoo didn't even deny it as he downed the rest of the sinfully expensive drink.
"Looking for a little fun tonight?" he continued, his face close enough for him to see his eyebrows wagging. Without hesitation Kyungsoo slapped him across the side of his head.
"Back off you ert!" he almost slurred back.
Almost. Because Kyungsoo actually had a good grasp on himself. And unlike that time at the party (he was definitely not thinking about) he'd had a generous amount or greasy chicken and proper sleep before this. Quite unlike Luhan, whose final presentation had been this morning. He couldn't have gotten too much sleep since then and Kyungsoo estimated that he'd had about twelve hours sleep... in total for the last seven nights.
Therefore he was reasonably drunk already with his second bottle of beer half empty. The three others had silently agreed on watching after him tonight but so far Luhan was still lost in the state of bliss, screaming over the bass to inform them about the songs and artists that filled the club.

Kyungsoo was actually glad they were out partying with him. Sure, Baekhyun might be like a fish in the water if it came to clubs (or any type of party, really), but he and Chen would have felt mighty out of place at this Chinese club. At least 90% of the people were Chinese and even though no one shot them an odd look, Kyungsoo would have felt awkward nonetheless. And even though Chen was quite good at enjoying himself regardless of the situation, he could see that he was way more relaxed with the noisy two experts around.
To be honest, Kyungsoo kind of envied him for his dancing. He didn't know any technique whatsoever but he always managed to just move and have fun. What Chen did wasn't exactly 'dancing'. It was partying. And Kyungsoo found that pretty admirable cause he himself turned into an awkward, cramped robot at the mere sight of dance floors.
How to move? How to dance?
Girls have it easier, he thought wistfully, looking at the way they swayed to the rhythm. Girls could just shake their or whatever and no one would complain. The same thing didn't go for boys and he was very sure he didn't want to look like Baekhyun while dancing. He didn't look bad. Just like he was trying to re-define promiscuity.
Maybe halfway to the point of being a male stripper.
Or a female one, which was an odd thought. Maybe he needed more alcohol.
Yes, definitely more alcohol.
"I'll get myself a drink! You want something?!"
They didn't and so Kyungsoo staggered to the counter on his own, the world already slightly moving as if in time-lapse. Well, there was room for more.
What he didn't expect was the sight of Tao, wearing an apron and a look of misery.
When he noticed Kyungsoo his head flew up and a fake smile appeared just to be replaced by genuine surprise the moment he actually recognized him.
"Kyungsoo. I've never seen you here before."
"I never knew you worked here!" he gave back, instinctively looking back to see if Luhan had noticed them. Taking care of their friend probably included stopping him from making a drunk fool out of himself.
"Yeah, had to replace Jackson. That idiot got sick. I bet he's just skipping. What can I get you?"
Kyungsoo looked at the card.
The thing was, he wanted to get drunk.
He could invest into a lot of beer and spent his evening in the bathroom. Cocktails were kind of girly, but it was cheaper than investing into many shots if he bought the right one. Kyungsoo came to the conclusion that if he wanted to get wasted, his image hardly mattered.  Still, his knowledge of cocktails was limited to Cuba Libres, Caipirinhas and On The Beach. And Pina Coladas. None  of these was listed on the fancy menu and while one half was Chinese, the other half listed drinks he had no idea what to make of. Not to mention that he refused to speak the names out loud. Way too embarrassing.
"Uh. Which cocktail is strong?" he asked and Tao seemed to understand.
"You prefer sweet or bitter?"
"Anything but coconut?"

A few minutes later he returned to his friends with a considerably cheap nameless creation of Tao that seemed to mainly serve the purpose of getting drunk with a vague taste of strawberries. Perfect.
Chen was still going at it even though he knew for a fact that his friend barely knew any Chinese songs. Or Korean ones, for that matter. In fact he was one of those people who appeared to listen to anything not coming in his native language (cue Chen's protesting voice naming that he did listen to Jonghyun); still, he seemed quite content with the current song choice. Yes, having Luhan around had it's perks as he liked to request songs and the DJ seemed inclined to grant his wishes. While he was off requesting for another Show Luo song, Baekhyun leaned in close to shout into Kyungsoo's ear.
"So I've heard the thing about Chanyeol-"
Kyungsoo almost choked on his cocktail and shot a glare at Chen who only looked at him cluelessly.
"Betrayal! Really now? I trusted you!" Kyungsoo called out, nudging a still clueless Chen.
"Huh? I didn't say anything?"
He didn't have to turn from Chen's genuine confusion to see Baekhyun's wolfish grin. He had fallen for his trap. Damnit.
"Hah, I knew you wouldn't get drunk for no reason! Now that you've already admitted to it, what did he do? What happened? TELL ME."
Great, now he had gossip girl Baekhyun on his heels. And nothing was more persistent than a curious Baekhyun. Not even a century-old piece of gum sticking below a desk. Kyungsoo really wasn't ready to tell Baekhyun about it yet. He had told it Chen because Chen was a pest, but also his best friend. And he had kept to his word of not spreading the story. But Baekhyun... Baekhyun would just-

"He DIDN'T TAKE THE HINT?"
"Gee, thanks for shouting it out for the whole world to know." Kyungsoo grumbled though it was drowned out by Baekhyun's hysterical laughter echoing over the parking lot and getting them a lot of biting glares of people gathered around to smoke.
"He didn't, he didn't GET IT, hahaha- that's hilarious, in' hilarious-"
"Yeah, you can stop laughing now."
"I will laugh till I drop dead, that's just precious-"
Kyungsoo fixed the floor intently, ignoring the heat rising up his cheeks as he spoke in a deceivingly calm voice.
"You might 'drop dead' quicker than you thought if you keep this up."
Still, whenever Baekhyun seemed to get himself together, he broke into another fit of laughter, holding his stomach.
"Oh my god, how can you not take the hint? I bet he thought you were just starving for affection-"
"Shut uuup..." Kyungsoo mumbled quite pathetically. He didn't want to remember the way Chanyeol had patted his shoulder the next day before he left and earnestly told him that he'd surely find his certain someone one day.
"Who are we even talking about?" Luhan asked, blinking in confusion, swishing the rest of his third bottle before chugging it down.
"Who's that guy? Why did he reject you? Are you not his type?" he continued, cluelessly. Kyungsoo felt at least a little mollified at the fact that this idea appeared far-fetched to Luhan.
Chen sighed, placing one hand on Baekhyun's shoulder in an attempt to make him shut up.
"Alright, Baek. Stop angering Soo or he'll behead you. It happens to the best of us."
Baekhyun cleared his throat and nodded solemnly. Until a grin fought it's way back on his face.
"Actually, no. Never happened to me. Still funny."
This time, Chen slapped him before Kyungsoo could.
"YOU are not even searching for an actual partner so stop talking big! If you're only looking for one night stands you naturally won't encounter any of this!"
Baekhyun had the nerve to pout.
"How would you know that? It's been an eternity since I've gotten laid."
"Too much information." Kyungsoo blankly muttered.
"Oh please, you want my pity now? At least you're having all the second base fun. I can't even remember the last time I got any hand on me that wasn't mine-" Chen rambled while Luhan nodded in empathy. Kyungsoo knew for a fact that Chen was as much of a pathetic as he was but that was another secret he'd definitely not spill, no matter how drunk. Baekhyun agreed with an airy smile.
"Wellll, fair enough. My week wouldn't be complete without at least one ."
"TOO MUCH INFORMATION.", Kyungsoo cut in resolutely, "Can we please go back inside? I'm not drunk enough for this. In fact, I'm never drunk enough to hear about your life, Byun Baekhyun!"
Baekhyun took no offense at all - that was one of the very few positive traits of him: he rarely held a grudge against anyone, much less kept it for long.
"Alright, let's get this poor lad drunk and keep this other happy lad drunk", he announced, swinging one hand over Kyungsoo's and Luhan's shoulder each while looking back at Chen.
"-and find someone to rid you of your ual frustration."
" you."
"You know I don't around when I'm out with friends." Baekhyun added with a wink.
Chen sighed, throwing his hands up in resignation as he followed the awkwardly tumbling trio.

"I can't believe I did that, that was so RUDE!" Luhan wailed, steadying himself on Chen's shoulder.
"I don't think it was a big deal." Kyungsoo said, all the while hitting a giggling Baekhyun in the side.
"It's four in the morning for god's sake. We're just going home because it's late."
"-in no way because you're running away from Tao." Baekhyun helpfully provided and Kyungsoo wondered whether he liked getting hit. Was he somehow giving in to his sick needs? At the thought he drew back in disgust.
It was late indeed (4:20, to be exact) and he was pretty amazed at Luhan's stamina, considering the circumstances. They might have stayed even longer if he hadn't found out about Tao. Unfortunately they had missed buying him his drinks and the blonde ended up face to face with the bartender, the other three crashing after him dramatically.
Kyungsoo didn't know what he had expected.
He would have guessed that Luhan might turn into his doll-mode, as Chen had named it, and their party would be ruined. What he definitely didn't expect was for him to freeze in place, regarding Tao with slightly parted lips and glazed eyes. Eyes that became wider before he all but his heels, leaving the vicinity as quick as his wobbly legs allowed him to. Chen and Kyungsoo had shared a quizzical look while Baekhyun unhelpfully chatted Tao up, ascertaining him that Luhan had probably just gone to the bathroom to puke his guts out. It worked -if his plan was to get Tao to threaten him with a sharp kitchen knife- and now they were collectively going home, listening to a whiny Luhan.
"I just saw him and left without a word! That IS rude! Or at the very least weird! He'll probably think I went to puke or something-"
"No, where would he get this odd idea from?" Chen softly said, throwing a deadly look at Baekhyun who was tumbling behind them with a wide grin.
Luhan was hardly placated by this and while enjoying the cool night air sobering him up bit by bit, Kyungsoo padded along. By now nothing but a faint buzz remained as Kyungsoo had stopped drinking over two hours ago.
Baekhyun, on the other hand, was completely smashed and Kyungsoo would have taken a hundred embarrassing snapshots with his phone if this guy would have had any ounce of shame in him.
The way things were, he had yet to find something to embarrass Byun Baekhyun with.
"Kyungsoooo...", he slurred, forcing him to link arms with him, "You should just confess again! I think Chanyeol might be... dumb."
He giggled again at the last word and Kyungsoo sighed.
"You are dumb."
"Whoo, the ferocity. I'm so hurt."
"Why did you even run away? You afraid he sees you drink alcohol?" Chen inquired and the blonde tripped over nothing.
"Because. Because I couldn't. I-" he uttered, clearly not able to formulate words until it finally broke out like a kid confessing to breaking that one expensive but ugly vase. On purpose.
"-because I WANTED TO DO HIM ON THAT COUNTER!"
The revelation echoed through the deserted street and Kyungsoo vainly tried to protect his ears from Baekhyun's hysterical laughter.
"The apron! That mothering apron!" Luhan desperately added, flailing his arms wildly.
"You're waking up the whole street." Kyungsoo added but Luhan was far from stoppable now.
"I don't care! I WANT TO HIS FACE! AND HIS DI-"
"Language, sweetie." Chen mumbled, just because he felt like someone had to say it. Luhan made a garbled sound, an undefined mix of frustration and protest.
"Are you crying, Lu?"
"NO. I'm just really, really frustrated, okay?!"
Luhan held his breath and for a few beats it was silent. Then he lost the inner battle and threw himself against Chen, now clearly wailing.
"Why am I like this? I'm horrible, I'm a maniac, I HATE MYSELF-"
Aaand we're at the crying stage, Kyungsoo blankly thought, leaving the comforting part to Chen. He was good at that. Besides, he was putting up with an extra annoying Baekhyun basically talking his ears off about ways to seduce Chanyeol, each more ridiculous than the first.
He'd call that an even distribution of tasks.
"What about a love letter? 'Wanna go out with me? - No, Yes, Definitely'. Leave out the maybe option, you should show some confidence-"
The annoying string of chatter was cut off as duo in front of them bumped into someone, sending Kyungsoo and Baekhyun to follow suit with a muffled grunt.
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. And they were that close to his home. Surely they'd had to get into trouble before that.
"Oh man, sorry for- Lay?" Chen muttered in surprise, almost letting the -faced blonde drop. Kyungsoo perked up and pulled Baekhyun along to get a better look. It was indeed their Chinese neighbor, late as ever and dressed in comfortable clothing with a bag swung over his shoulder. He sent them a friendly wave as if there was nothing strange about being out at this time of the day. He always did that.
"Hello Chen. And Kyungsoo, too. It's nice to meet you."
"See you.", Chen corrected automatically, "-you only say 'nice to meet you' at the first meeting, remember?"
The guy only smiled, not minding the late lesson at all.
"I see. Right. Nice to meet you." he said to the other two instead and Luhan squinted his eyes at him, trying to get through the haze of self-induced misery.
"Wait. You're Chinese?"
Lay opened his mouth but Baekhyun replied instead, prying himself away before Kyungsoo could stop him.
"No, you're HOT!" he exclaimed, shamelessly throwing himself against his side. Kyungsoo facepalmed while Lay luckily only seemed mildly bewildered and not yet willing to call the cops.
"Sorry for him. He's smashed." Kyungsoo muttered, watching the way Baekhyun wiggled himself into an awkward side-embrace on Lay's side, eyeing him with a look that probably bordered on ual harassment.
"Yeees. Very, very smashed." Chen added with an unhappy glare.
"Smashed? Like, drunk?" Lay asked, still looking in between Baekhyun and the others.
"You ARE Chinese!" Luhan suddenly perked up.
"That accent, man. Where are you from?"
He repeated the question in Chinese and then followed with a rush of words far too quick for Kyungsoo to follow along with his poor language skills. Lay's face lit up considerably and he replied, soon leading an enthusiastic conversation. Kyungsoo exchanged a helpless look with Chen who was still very fixed on the way Baekhyun mashed his cheek against Lay's chest, smiling vaguely in blissful ignorance at the rapid Chinese chatter.
Well, at least Luhan seemed distracted from his misery.
As if he had sensed the attention, he turned back towards the other two, smiling apologetically.
"Sorry guys. It's just a little easier to talk in Chinese. How about we all meet up when we're sober? Like, meet and eat or something like that?"
"I think it's originally called 'meat and greet'-" Kyungsoo began as Baekhyun raised an enthusiastic fist into the air, belting "Meet and MEAT! Soo, cook for us! I want chicken! ChickenChickenChicken!"
"You sound like Jongin... how did I raise you all to devour that many poor chickens?" , Kyungsoo replied with a kindhearted roll of his eyes, "Fine. Why not."
"Yay~!" Baekhyun singsonged, rubbing himself against Lay's side with an almost ual-sounding hum and boy, Chen was rarely actually frightening, but this time Kyungsoo took an involuntary step away from the possible danger zone.
"Wah, you really are hot."
"Baekhyun-" Chen began, ready to pull him away when Lay made a surprised noise, a sudden revelation lighting up his expression.
"I remember! I saw you. I saw you at the Chinese club, a few weeks ago!"
Baekhyun blinked.
Tilted his head, squinted his eyes.
Thought very hard...

"Did we ?"
"BAEKHYUN!"

Whoops, the PG-bar seems higher as soon as Baekhyun enters the scene. Not that Luhan's any better. *sighs in exasperation*
But yay for Lay finally appearing again! And I mean the thing Soo said about Chen's dancing. I genuinely enjoy watching him.

I actually made a playlist full of Chinese party songs for this, but the ones actually mentioned are 'Medusa' by Jolin Tsai and '61 Minutes' by Show Luo.
(if I ever finish this fic I'll make a list of ALL the songs I ever mentioned. Just for the heck of it.)

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt ♡

P.S.: At least 50% of us K-pop fans are like Chen, just admit it.