(A short update and big announcement. After searching for a job since January, I FINALLY FOUND ONE!!! I'll still be writing and updating but be warned it may take me a bit to get into the swing of things. I'll be glad to not be stuck at home every day, feeling useless :)

Jinnie went from one bar to another as he looked for Eric. When he’d arrived at the man’s apartment and used the pass code to let himself in, he could tell that Eric hadn’t been back since he’d let to take Kaye to the airport; the pillow and blanket was still on the couch from the night before and when he checked the bedroom he saw that only one side of the bed had been slept in. He tried to call him a few time but each time it had gone to voicemail; his calls to Kaye went exactly the same. She probably had her phone off and it would stay that way until she landed in New York.

He pulled up in front a a little food stand under a tent on a deserted side street and got out. He’d turned around when he thought he saw Eric’s car. He had been right and as he walked under into shady, smoky area he saw Eric in a corner. In the time that he’d left Charlotte’s place he had managed to work through a few bottles of soju and there was an untouched plate of kimchi and sliced vegetables on the table in front of him. Jinnie let out a heavy sigh and walked over and joined him wordlessly. He hadn’t noticed it when he’d seen him earlier but Eric looked haggard and his face was unshaven. The dark circles under his brown eyes made them seem dull and they were slightly bloodshot. Eric looked at him and pushed a shot glass towards him.

“Drink with me, Jinah”, Eric slurred slightly as he filled the glass, “Let’s celebrate your new relationship….before it’s too late”, he mumbled to himself as he drank straight from the bottle. Jinnie let out another sigh as he picked up the glass and drank the shot all in one go.

“I shoulda known better”, Eric said with a bitter chuckle, “things were just going to well. I shouldn’t be surprised that I managed to things up again.” He picked up the bottle to take a drink but it was snatched away by the man across from him.

“You need to knock it off, hyung”, Jinnie spat at him, “you’re sitting here feeling sorry for yourself instead of going after her. I thought you learned last time. Are you going to hide from everyone this time too?” He hated to use such an angry tone but it didn’t seem like anything else would get to him.

Eric felt his face go red and he stood up and the sudden movement knocked the stool over behind him, “How dare you! You think you can talk to me like that just because I helped you with Charlotte? That because I opened up it’s okay to make me feel bad about a mistake I made in the past?”, he moved around the table and got in Jinnie’s face.

“Can you honestly say that if you didn’t have Charlotte you be sitting here telling me to go after Kaye”, he said harshly. Jinnie was right but he was so miserable right now that he wanted to take his feelings out on whoever was closest.

“Are you out of your mind?”, Jinnie snapped back and pushed Eric away, “if you weren’t drunk and talking crazy I’d punch you for that. You know how hard I struggled to get over Kaye. To even think that means you are hurting more than you want to admit.” Eric staggered back and looked at his friend. He relived the day in the alley all over again and he still couldn’t bring himself to hit him this time.