It was almost one AM on a Monday night. The residential street was empty and dim, save for a few alley cats shrieking and hissing on the over loaded dumpster. Jinwoo swung his feet as he walked, trying to shake away the anxiety of not knowing where he was. Just a moment ago he was exiting his sister’s housewarming party, and now he’s wandering hopelessly trying to find his way back home. The air was crisp and cold, autumn is around the corner. Jinwoo dug his fists deeper into the pockets of his coat and shivered in the dark.

He was getting tired of walking now. It’s been exactly two hours since the party and Jinwoo was regretting his decisions, again. Passing by a row of victorian townhouses, he took a seat on one of the stairs and huffed out a sigh. Pulling his knees closer to his chest, he grabbed his phone and sighed again at a futile effort of turning it on. He placed the dead phone on the stair and stared onto the empty street, thinking his way through.

When he told his sister he was feeling squimish earlier that night, he wasn’t lying. He couldn’t take a bite of food without feeling nauseous and the crowd in her home was making him claustrophobic. He felt like a walking corpse and blamed the horrid pancakes his neighbour gave him this morning, or rather, yesterday morning. He cursed himself for being too nice to refuse. He knew damn well that his neighbour can’t cook to save her life, yet he still accepted the pancake with a beaming smile on his face.

So, he excused himself early and his sister, who was almost as nice as him couldn’t refuse his request to leave. She did offered him a ride but Jinwoo told her he was in need of fresh air to clear up his mind. So he decided to walk back home alone. Eyebrows drooped and worry swirming in her eyes, she kept trying to make Jinwoo leave with her by his side, knowing his clutzy tendencies but Jinwoo managed to reassured her that he'd be fine. Only a corner away from his house, his stomach started growling and after making a commotion of being sick, he just couldn’t bring himself to go back.

Grumbling, he walked and walked until he found a sushi restaurant that was still open in the late hour. Perfect, he thought and chomped down on cheap sushi that was surprisingly good despite its low price. By the time he had thought about going home, it was midnight and he has no idea where he was.

Panicking, he tumbled for his phone but luck wasn’t on his side today (it has never been) and his heartbeat picked up as he realised his phone has ran out of battery.

At this point Jinwoo was so close to weeping publicly. Well to be fair, he has always been close to tears but it’s nighttime, he doesn’t know where he is and he’s scared. A few days ago he heard news about a serial kidnapping in America targeting young women under 25 and even though he wasn’t in America nor is he a women under 25, he still feel threatened. And without his phone, if he did get in trouble, no body is going to know what happened to him. Trembling, he decided that the only thing to get him away from any kidnapping business and closer to home is to start walking.

He turned around corners and walked through grassy patches of lands, through closed shops and nearly vacant bars and found himself in a residential area, where the only lights were from the streetlamps that snapped on when he walked under them. The first couple of them spooked the life out of Jinwoo and he curled into a ball in the middle of the pavement, almost crying out in shock. Sniffling back his tears, he whispered words of encouragement to himself and continued walking.

Before he knew it, he was half-asleep on someone’s entrance stairway.

Anxiety be damned, he’s way past his usual bed time.

His friend Seunghoon would always for being kiddish but he has come to terms with himself a long time ago and acknowledged that he is a soft man and he shall remain soft for the rest of his life, even when it’s clear that that’s a challenging task. ‘The world is too harsh for soft people like you,’ Seunghoon had said.

Jinwoo was fully aware that his initial fear of being kidnapped may be way easier now that he’s essentially asleep on a dark street with no security at all. But his eyes are droopy and he has work to do this morning. Yawning he stretched out and leaned on to the railing.

Then the sound of cats screeching jolted him awake. He held his breath, staring at the pavement ground where a silhouette of a person is approaching. Jinwoo tried his best to not move, maybe he’d disappear if he stay still enough. Then he heard whistling, and the person appears under the streetlamp. Jinwoo continued to stare in fear at the man, who immediately noticed him. He had his head tipped up, and then tilted to look at Jinwoo. The man was holding a glass flask and a cigar. He stopped whistling and stared back into Jinwoo’s glossy eyes.

“You look like you just saw a ghost,” he said, voice rough and sultry. Jinwoo wasn’t sure what to respond with, so he shrieked and curled into himself again. The man was taken aback and straightened his posture, but kept his drink and cigar held high. Slowly, he approached Jinwoo, “you alright?”

Jinwoo shut his eyes tightly and when he opened it again, tears were spilling over. Smelling the unfamiliar smell of cigarette, he peaked up and the man was now leaning to the railing with arms crossed and a frown on his face. Jinwoo shook his head. The man placed his cigar sweetly on his lips and leaned down, “what are you doing here?”

He huffed out a little bit of smoke on Jinwoo and he coughed like mad. The man quickly threw the cigar away and stomped on it, “sorry, ‘s a bad habit of mine.” After soothing out his cough, Jinwoo wiped his tears on the sleeve of his coat. “Do, do you know where we are?” he asked, softly. The man almost didn’t catch it.

He took a sip of the drink in his flask and looked around, lips curled slightly in glee, “I have no idea.” Turning to Jinwoo his grin becomes bigger, “the night is still young, man. You shouldn’t be here weeping!”

The man offered a hand at Jinwoo and as he took it, the man pulled him up. “C’mon, get up. I’ll help you find your way back home, boy.” Dusting off his coat, Jinwoo whispered, “I’m not a boy.”

“Eh, what did you say?” The man asked. Jinwoo looked at him in the eyes this time, “I’m not a boy.”

“Then who are you?” he replied. Jinwoo looked down again, “Jinwoo. My name is Jinwoo.”

The man crossed his arms again, a playful smile played on his face as he looked at Jinwoo with furrowed eyebrows, “hmm, you shouldn’t give out your name just like that, Jinwoo-ssi. You do notice I’m a drunk stranger, right?”

Jinwoo blushed, “y-you asked me!”

The self proclaimed drunk stranger laughed, “then let me tell you my name in return!”

He leaned closer to Jinwoo and Jinwoo smell the whiskey in his breath. He glanced at the flask on the guy’s hand and back at him. “My name,” he started, “is Lee Seung-- eh, that’s not right-- it’s Kang! Kang Seungyoon. How do you do?”

“I’m -- I’m fine,” Jinwoo muttered. Nothing is fine. He’s lost, he’s talking to a stranger, a drunk stranger in this unholy hour and he doesn’t know how to get back home or what to do. Seungyoon chuckled again and tugged Jinwoo away from the stairway and into the pavement, pulling him into walking again.

“H-hey!”

Seungyoon doesn’t seem to know the way looking at the way he kept on glancing over the roads. To Jinwoo, he doesn’t really look that drunk. His eyes weren’t bloodshot and he wasn’t blotchy and red like when Jinwoo is drunk. Maybe he was just more tolerant to alcohol, which made Jinwoo a little bit envious since he himself is a very light drinker.

“Seungwoo-ssi, where are we going?” Jinwoo asked. Seungyoon has slowed down by now but he was still tugging on Jinwoo’s wrist, “it’s Seungyoon and we’re going to get you home, of course.”

“But you don’t know where I live,” Jinwoo responded and with that Seungyoon immediately halted. Jinwoo bumped his back and they both tumbled forward. Neither of them fell. Seunghoon looked at him and squinted, “where do you live, Jinwoo-ssi?”

Jinwoo debated weather or not to tell him. Maybe Seungyoon can help him get back, maybe not. But either way he’ll be exposing private information with a complete stranger. While Jinwoo was internally arguing with himself, suddenly the sound of trumpet startled them both. Jinwoo jumped and Seungyoon immediately turned his head towards the noise.

After a few seconds of silence, they heard some sort of indie music playing at a distance.

Jinwoo quickly glanced down to his wrist watch and frowned. Who plays music at this hour? It’s almost two AM. But Seungyoon had a different reaction.

As he looked up, Jinwoo swore that he saw Seungyoon sobered up. There was a gleam in his eyes as he stared into a dimly lit window of a bar of some sort. “Can you hear that?” he asked, in a low whisper tone. Jinwoo nodded and followed his gaze. Upon further listening, the music wasn’t at all indie. “Is it R&B?” Jinwoo asked.

“No!” Seungyoon answered, looking straight into Jinwoo’s eyes. He looked offended. “it’s Jazz, Jinwoo!”

Jazz? Jinwoo wasn’t interested in jazz. He doesn’t think that he will ever be interested in jazz but Seungyoon seemed delighted to hear it in the middle of the night. He closed his eyes and smiled softly. “It’s Chet Baker.”

“Who?” Jinwoo said but Seungyoon was already walking towards the bar. Jinwoo leaped in surprise, “h-hey! I thought you said we’re going home!”

Seungyoon laughed, “the night is still young!”

He turned to look at Jinwoo, the childish smile still carved to his face, “c’mon Jinwoo-ssi! You need to learn a thing or two about jazz! I don’t know who they are but they’re playing good. Really good!”

Jinwoo ran after him, “but I’m not into jazz!”

Seungyoon frowned again but the smile is still there, “oh lord! You’re missing out!”

Then, he felt a drizzle coming down, drops by drops and Seungyoon stopped on his way again. They’re now in the middle of the road and Jinwoo is afraid a car might come and run them over. He turned to Seungyoon in horror but Seungyoon just laughed at him some more. He’s still drunk, Jinwoo thought. Seungyoon shook his head is disapproval. “You’re such a scaredy cat! Don’t worry, it’s all gon’ be fine, Jinwoo-ah,” he berated. Jinwoo was taken aback by the sudden casualty but Seungyoon just shook his head some more, “live a little!”

“I have work tomorrow! Actually, I have work later,” Jinwoo argued but it fell on deaf ears. Seungyoon closed his eyes and puts his flask holding hand out to catch the raindrops, “nonsense! Work be damned! The drizzle, the night and the Chet Baker Blues is setting up an absolutely perfect mood for some letting lose. C’mon, Jinwoo. Let’s go.”

Seungyoon reached for Jinwoo’s hand and pulled him to the bar. Jinwoo thought that he was going to regret it soon, but his heart is swelling with excitement instead. He stared at Seungyoon. His hair is wet, his whiskey is almost done, his walk is bouncy and the joy in his eyes is extremely contagious. Jinwoo couldn’t help but smile and went along with him. All the fears and anxiety gone from his system.

an ; tell me what you thought ! btw they kissed here and i just -- i can't