Sooyoung woke up to the sound of someone ringing their doorbell. As if on cue, Jitae's wails filled the apartment and Sungjae groaned as he sat up rubbing his eyes. 

"Who the is that?" Sungjae crawled out of bed.

"Language." Sooyoung smacked him lightly on the shoulder. 

Sungjae yawned as he pulled on a pair of boxers, followed by a pair of lounge pants and opted out of putting on a shirt. "I'll get the baby and you get the door." he said as he tossed Sooyoung one of his oversized t-shirts for her to put on. 

Sooyoung nodded and slipped the shirt over her head. She padded out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. Who the hell was knocking on their door at midnight? She pulled up the intercom and looked at the screen to see Seulgi standing in the hallway. 

"Park Sooyoung, I know you're there." Seulgi's voice sounded through the intercom.

Sooyoung pulled open the door and Seulgi stepped in, peeling off her coat and kicking off her heels before sitting on the couch. Sooyoung knew what was in store for her from the look in Seulgi's eyes.

"I'm gonna get us something to drink." Sooyoung said before she headed to the kitchen.

Sungjae was holding Jitae and feeding him milk when Sooyoung went in. Jitae cooed upon seeing her and she kissed him on the forehead before reaching into the cupboard for two mugs to make tea. 

"Who is it?" Sungjae set down the milk bottle and wiped Jitae's chin with his bib.

Sooyoung filled a kettle with water and set it on the stove, turning the heat to the max. "Seulgi. She seems a little bit upset, so you don't need to wait up." 

Sungjae nodded a bit and brought Jitae up to his shoulder to burp him. "Alright. You girls do you. Get me a drink?" 

Sooyoung nodded and opened the fridge to pull out a cold plastic bottle of water. Unscrewing the lid, she brought it to Sungjae's lips, let him take a long drink and then drank some herself. 

"Thanks." Sungjae grinned and pecked her lips before carrying Jitae out of the kitchen. 

The high pitched whistle of the kettle filled the kitchen and Sooyoung filled two mugs with Oolong tea before carrying them into the living room, where Seulgi was sitting on the couch, her legs hugged to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. 

"Need the guest room?" Sooyoung set down the tea and rubbed Seulgi's shoulder, who nodded. 

"Thanks." 

"Before you even start, is this about Jongin?" Sooyoung asked routinely because anytime Seulgi was upset, it was almost always about Jongin.

Seulgi bobbed her head; a nod. 

"Goodness gracious, girl." Sooyoung sighed. 

"I know what you're gonna say." 

"Then why won't you listen to me?" 

Seulgi exhaled in frustration. "Put yourself in my shoes. Imagine if you loved Sungjae and he didn't feel the same way." 

"Yes, I get that, but this isn't about Sungjae and I. We clicked almost instantly. You've been after Jongin since middle school and he still doesn't feel the same way." Sooyoung had been trying to reason with Seulgi about her feelings for Jongin since ninth grade typing, but the girl was stubborn as a mule. "Maybe he'll cave one day, but it wouldn't be genuine."

Seulgi bit her lip. "Is it something wrong with me?" 

"For the zillionth time, there's nothing with you. You guys just don't click that way." 

Seulgi wrinkled her nose and leaned forward for the tea. "I think he has a girl." 

"He's had girls before? What's so special about this one that had you knocking on my door at this hour in the morning?" 

"I'm not positive, but I can tell, there's something about this one. I mean, all of Jongin's other girlfriends were elites, but this one is a hostess. He brought her home with him. With his other girlfriends, he took them to hotels and his family villas, but never his personal apartment. He said he didn't like her, but I just--" 

"Whoa, Seul, slow down." Sooyoung held up a hand. "Breathe. These are just speculations. And what's wrong with being a hostess?" 

"Nothing, I know. I just feel uneasy." 

"Why don't you go out and meet someone? Maybe someone who you would actually like and they would like you back? Seul, I love you and I know how much Jongin means to you, but he's not the only man in the damn world." 

"He is to me." Seulgi muttered. 

"Oh God, Seul." Sooyoung rubbed her forehead. "I'm exhausted right now, so can we please talk tomorrow?" 

Seulgi nodded and stood. "Yeah. Good night, oh, and thanks for letting me stay over." she smiled before leaving the living room for the guest room. 

After cleaning up their virtually untouched tea, Sooyoung trudged back into the master bedroom, locking the door behind her. Sungjae was sprawled on top of the bed in his Batman boxers, his hair sticking up as he grinned lopsidedly at Sooyoung. 

"I told you not to wait up." Sooyoung sat down on the edge of the bed. 

"I couldn't sleep." Sungjae sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to lie down. "Is Seulgi alright?" 

Sooyoung turned to face him. "Jongin." 

"I mean, I would offer to set her up, but you think she'll be into my so-called normal friends?" 

"Hey, we aren't all like that." 

"I know, I know." Sungjae smiled, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Let's get some sleep." 

Sooyoung nodded and turned over to her other side to switch off the lamp on her nightstand. "G'night." 

***

Like always, Soojung got over her alcohol haze sooner than normal. 

The downside was the immediate realization of what she had done, although it was actually more of a who she had done. 

Soojung carefully sat up, bunching up the covers in front of her chest. The lamp on his nightstand was still on and gave way to show Jongin laying flat on his stomach with his arm splayed across her lap. 

. . . 

Grabbing for her clothes, Soojung was scurried about for her crap. She was righteously and truly ed. 

Oh God. Oh God. 

After a quick brush up in front of the mirror, Soojung grabbed her heels and scampered out of Jongin's apartment. Her insides twisted together and soured. 

This was the first time the walk of shame actually kept its name sake for Soojung. Shame was bubbling over in her stomach.

***

"You look like ."

"I like you already." Krystal said with a grim smile. 

Sunyoung was surprised to run into Krystal at the Barrel at three in the morning. She had been short on cash and was hustling pool at the Barrel. Jongdae offered her cash, but she opted to use deception to cheat money off of strangers who was appalled that the little girl was playing the big boy game with the big pool stick that was apparently too "sturdy for her dolly fragile hands".

"I'm so sorry. You didn't have to buy me a drink. You don't have to sit with me."

"Oh don't be sorry, sweetie. I want to sit with you. And plus, you got a hot lemon water at a bar. It cost like nothing." 

It took no genius to see that Krystal was a bit of a wreck and Sunyoung liked to offer her shoulder for help. It was nice to feel like a friend to a human female, which was something she hadn't had in a long time. She had a sister, but they never spoke to each other. 

"Is there anything I can do? What's wrong?" Sunyoung watched Krystal swish her lemon water around in her glass. 

"I-I did something-- I don't know... I just- I don't know how to open up, so this is so hard--" 

"Whoa, easy. Slow down a bit." 

"I just-- I have like, no female friends or male friends or just... friends, really. I mean, I know people and I have friends, um, regularly speaking, but I mean, I don't have any friend that I can really, really trust. I mean, I have like one, but-- just, um. Mind you, I'm still a little drunk and--"

"I totally get you. I don't really have any... well, regular friends either." Sunyoung grinned sympathetically. "So what happened?"

Krystal looked relieved as she took a slow sip out of her glass. "I did something I probably shouldn't have."

"From your tone, I feel like it’s more of a someone rather than something." Sunyoung noted and from the expression on Krystal's face, she was spot on.

"You're psychic, huh." Krystal said dryly. 

"First one night stand?" 

Krystal snorted. "You think too highly of me."

"What's different?"

"I don't know. I don't what's wrong with me. I haven't felt this awful in awhile. I don't know why." Krystal shrugged and groaned. "Man, life right now."

Sunyoung sympathised with Krystal on a molecular level. 

***

"Your meeting with Medi. K is in twenty minutes."

"Yeah." 

Jongin gathered all hi