“And so I told him – are you out of your mind??”

Joohyun tries to cough up a laugh.

Note: Tries because she thinks her date has finally delivered the punchline to his lame joke. Thankfully, the alcohol has seeped into his blood, knocking out his ability to differentiate genuine laughter from bull. Unfortunately, the guy launches into another ‘funny’ story because of Joohyun’s ‘positive’ response and the latter is locked in a struggle to keep her face look interested even if her mind flew out the window a solid ten minutes ago.

For the first time in a long while, Joohyun actually preferred to be texting, pointlessly browsing the internet or even studying inside her airconditioned room than to be at a sweaty bar, trying to hold up a conversation with a terribly drunk guy.

Too bad he isn’t good with liquor. Joohyun notes mentally as she stares at her date, Han Woo Jin. He’s a good-looking fresh Film graduate Joohyun has met a couple of times before in her beginning years in university but uuuuh - he isn’t exactly looking like the most charming thing at the moment. His big square-rimmed glasses are barely being balanced by his nose and his open, blue buttoned down polo is slipping, revealing the wet black tank top he’s wearing inside. .

“Do you want some more? You’re about to finish your cup.” Woo Jin asks, cutting his story short. He waves another full bottle of soju in mid-air. He had crossed the line into drunkenness with merely two glasses. His movements were becoming clumsier, his manner more flamboyant. 

“I’m fine.” Joohyun declines. She responds a little too fast; her struggle to chug down the drink and end the date slips.

“Oh come on…drink up!” Woo Jin insists, already popping out the bottle under his button-up without Joohyun’s permission. “I’m going to drive you home any way. I’m a good drinker. I can handle.” 

If his cheeks weren’t crimson red and his shirt damped with sweat, Joohyun would have believed him but Woo Jin didn’t even look like he would be sober enough to stand, let alone drive themselves home in one piece. Joohyun tightens her grip on the cup, knowing that once she puts it down, it was going to be full again.

Why did he even ask me for my opinion if he was going to have his way?  

“Ah, I really can’t. I have a test tomorrow and I get really bad hangovers.” Joohyun stalls, looking around her, searching for something or someone to save her. And it isn’t an easy task, really. There isn’t much to see but dancing bodies pressed against one another and waiters scrambling around to serve people.

“Aw, come on! It’s just another bottle! You haven’t even drunk much yet…”

Maybe if you weren't chugging alcohol like water, I would have had more, Woo Jin-ssi. Joohyun’s voice rang inside her head as she battled the urge to send him a death glare. She’s about to snap and tell him to get lost but she bites her tongue; her superego is winning and coaxing her to finish the date politely. 

At this point, Bae Joohyun is close to surrendering. Her grip on the cup no longer firm. She’s about to call it a day. Stay. it up and consider this date a charity case. But then, she spots something.

There, sticking out like a sore thumb, entering the bar in a pastel pink plaid button up and bleached denim shorts is a girl with an unmistakable lost expression. Everything about her is screaming innocence and cluelessness and in an instant, Joohyun is transported to a memory of a quiet date at a café.

The said familiar person squints as if she was looking for somebody amongst the crowd. The latter’s face is crumpling, probably thinking she's searching the wrong place, and yet, Joohyun keeps a steady gaze at her – praying that, by some kind of sixth sense, their gazes would meet.

And in a split second, the deities are gracious to Bae Joohyun.

Their eyes lock.

And with a thumping heart, Joohyun cries out her name.

“Seulgi-ya!”    

The older girl raises her hand to wave. The gesture throws Woo Jin off completely and he’s forced to withdraw his soju bottle and whip his head towards the name bearer’s direction. Seulgi’s eyes widen in recognition and thankfully, she’s starting to head towards Joohyun’s booth. While her dance major acquaintance was squeezing herself against a sea of wild teenagers, the damsel in distress racks her brain for an excuse.

“I think my friend’s here to fetch me.” Joohyun declares in the most believable way possible. It was lousy but it was the first thing on her mind. She feels her right eyebrow twitching as she spouts out the lie: an indispensable habit she displays whenever she was nervous.          

“But why?” Woo Jin interrogates, obviously a little pissed.

"Uh hmmm.” The 26 year old girl hums, drumming her fingertips on her cup anxiously. She says her next words nonchalantly so as to sound indifferent. As if she didn’t wish for this to happen. “I don’t really know.” 

Seulgi shyly pops up a minute later and says “Hi” and Bae Joohyun had no time to waste.

“Seulgi-ya!” The film major excitedly exclaims and in seconds, she’s flown to the newcomer’s side and is now linking arms with her.   

Joohyun feels Seulgi’s whole body freeze at the contact and the younger girl shoots her a face so perplexed - a look you'll probably have if you were thinking about how to solve the universe’s mysteries altogether. Her lips press together tightly and her pupils dilate as if Bae Joohyun had set off a fire alarm inside her body.

“J-Joohyun-unnie?” Seulgi stutters in confusion.

“Ahhhh, Seulgi you’re always so early! The fun is just starting~” The older girl whines pretentiously, cutting Seulgi off. She simultaneously slaps the girl’s arm in attempt to express disappointment. Joohyun pulls it off with such artful playfulness as if it was a scene she and Seulgi have been in a hundred times before.   

“What do you me-“

“Aren’t you here to pick me up?” Joohyun interjects again, emphasizing the last phrase and giving Seulgi’s arm a few meaningful squeezes. The shorter girl tugs the oblivious bear down a bit so their gazes align and this time, she looks at Kang Seulgi hard in between the lines of please help me and expose me and I will cut you.

The telepathy works.

"Ah yeah – uh… exactly.” Seulgi babbles, breaking eye contact once the message is passsed. “That’s why I came here. To pick you up, yes. We gotta go…”

Woo Jin’s sullen face tells both girls that he’s unconvinced.

“Can't you try any harder?” Joohyun mutters under her breath, nudging Seulgi’s elbow.

At this, the younger girl clears and speaks again, more thoughtfully this time. “I mean – I’m sorry for butting in, but Joohyun unnie’s roommate has been looking for her. She left her keys inside the dorm and only unnie has a spare.”

“Awwww, can’t she stay here? Woo Jin asked with a cryface. “You just need the keys, right?

“She’s just about to drink another bottle.” He insisted, pouring soju on Joohyun’s empty cup and making it harder to leave.

The older girl almost heaves a sigh of annoyance at her date’s stubbornness and her foiled plan but suddenly the cup vanishes from the table as Seulgi downs all of its contents in audible gulps. The glass tings as the latter slams it back at Woo Jin’s side of the booth. It’s empty now.

“You know, you really shouldn’t force your date to drink up when her face clearly says she doesn’t want to.” Seulgi says aloofly, wiping the sides of with her sleeve. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”

The remark takes Woo Jin aback and Joohyun is left dumbfounded at the turn of events. She stares at Seulgi in shock, wondering if a cold-blooded, sharp-tongued spirit abruptly possessed her.       

“Anyway, her drink is finished. There shouldn’t be any problem about going now.” Kang Seulgi snarkily retorts.

Joohyun feels a tight pull on her jacket’s sleeves and she lets the younger girl swing her away from the dining booths and towards the cacophony of party noises. The unruly throng of turned up people swaying their bodies to the club music hindered her, but Joohyun managed to peer at Woo Jin again. She attempts not to look too amused when she sees him searching the crowd disoriented, probably still astonished at Seulgi’s dramatic walkout. 

----------

Bae Joohyun doesn’t complain even if she had to walk thrice as fast to keep up with her companion’s quick, long legs which were steering her out of the bar. Thankfully though, Seulgi stops promptly once they reach the door, letting go of the cloth on Joohyun’s wrist so she could seize her own heart. The confident stance disappears and the younger girl’s shoulders sag towards the nearest wall as she lets out a loud sigh of relief.            

“You were cool back there.” Joohyun chirps, grinning at her panting rookie savior. “Is that how you hit on Seungwan when you’re at drinking parties?”

Seulgi’s huff and puffs turn into awkward wheezing…to Joohyun’s delight. A devilish smile cracks into the older woman’s face. Bae Joohyun practically lives on flirtatious teasing and seeing the younger girl’s flustering was lighting fires to her impish being.

“Please let me breathe, unnie.” Kang Seulgi replies, her sentence punctuated by coughs.

Joohyun laughs briefly at her companion’s pitiful state before deciding to cut the girl some slack. After all, she did deserve some appreciation for standing up for her out of the blue. She waits for Seulgi’s breaths to even out before she blurts: "I'm just saying...I mean - she told me you always looked after her when her friends get too drunk but yeah. Really though…thanks a lot. You saved me with your amazing timing.”    

The 23 year old shakes her head side-to-side, gesturing that it wasn't a big deal, yet her face suddenly turns serious. Her shoulders straighten up away from the bar's walls like she's been struck by lightning and Seulgi launches into an interrogation. “By the way, are you alright? Was he being rude to you? Did he hurt you?”

“Oh no, no, no! He wasn’t that bad.” Joohyun assured, waving her hands to brush off Seulgi’s apprehension. “He was just a little pushy about drinking.”

The statement doesn’t seem to calm Seulgi down but it makes form an “oh.”

“Anyway, enough about me. Where did you come from?” Joohyun asks immediately to stray Seulgi away from causelessly worrying about her. “You seem to be the quiet type, but why are you always in bars and college parties?”

“I always get invited or guilt-tripped into them.  I was looking for my friends when you called my name.” The younger one shrugs.

For some reason, Joohyun couldn’t imagine Seulgi being friends with a bunch of partyholics but then again, she herself was friends with Seungwan, a stay-at-home academic prodigy, so she wasn’t one to talk. 

“Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to walk you home?” Seulgi offers naturally, the fretting tone still in her voice even if Joohyun has clearly told her she was fine and was showing no signs of trouble whatsoever. At this point, the ’91 liner has concluded that Seulgi was one of the few people in the world who had a lot of s to give to other people.

“I’m alright. I’m taking a cab anyway.” The older girl emotionlessly replies, sticking her thumb out to point at the taxi cabs surrounding the place which were vomiting out and in clubbing teenagers non-stop. “Besides…your friends are probably tracking your down because you practically disappeared on them.”

“Oh – yeah right.” Seulgi realizes, sense knocking up her head. She puts her right palm on her nape shyly. “But to be honest, it’s going to bother me a lot if you go home alone…”

At this, Joohyun’s face scrunches up in confusion. Seulgi catches her reaction and hurriedly flails her arms in mid-air.

“Ah!!! I really don’t want to sound creepy but it’s kind of late and dark and I heard there are a lot of erts and molesters lurking around these days and I’m worried because you’re really pretty and ah – although I’m sure you can handle yourself, I’m just not comfortable with –“

“Here’s my number.” Joohyun holds out her calling card.

“Thanks – wait, what?” Seulgi asks, her rambling ending on a puzzled note.

“You can text me to ask if I went home alive if it bothers you that much.” The older girl says with a lopsided grin, slipping the card into Seulgi’s palm.

The latter is still staring like Joohyun grew another head. 

“Take it. It’s not every day that this really pretty girl gives out her number.” Joohyun says haughtily, slightly pleased of the discovery that Kang Seulgi wasn’t as immune to her inherent charms as she thought she would be.

A lump forms on Seulgi’s throat as she realizes how much of her honest thoughts were spluttered in a span of a minute but she swallows down the embarrassment and clasps the card. The latter’s florid face paints a look of entertainment and endearment in Joohyun who finally bids her goodbye and takes her leave.

The 23 year old could only watch as a white taxi cab whisked the dangerously attractive Film major away.

-------

The blasting ring from Joohyun’s phone makes the taxi car’s seat covers vibrate. An unknown number and a message flashes on her lockscreen.

Did you get home safe?

The girl bursts into a scoff, making the driver shoot her a bewildered look but he quickly turns away when he sees his passenger simply grinning at her phone screen.

You just sent me home 8 minutes ago. I can’t be home that fast. Last time I checked, I’m riding a cab, not a rocketship :P

Joohyun replies, saving her new textmate’s contact details as Kang Seulgi along with a bear emoji.

Right, hehe. Sorry.

What am I supposed to reply to this? Joohyun frowns, laying her phone on her lap. Fortunately, she didn’t have to think too long because another message pops out.

Just don’t forget to text me when you’re home. I really meant what I said earlier.

Joohyun knows this was about the bit of Seulgi’s speech on the criminals running around their neighborhood, but she poked fun out of it nonetheless.

What you said? You mean the part when you told me I was pretty? ;)

The lack of reply after a few seconds sends Bae Joohyun into quiet chuckling. She’s pretty sure that whatever Seulgi’s been doing, she has choked on air and is thus unable to type. Seulgi’s reactions to her coy bluffing were golden; bubbles of excitement fill her stomach just imagining them.

A ting of her phone’s message notification banner interrupts the girl’s train of thought.

It's Kang Seulgi. 

Not that!!! >.<

Ting.

I meant the part about the bad guys in this part of town.

Ting.

BUT DON’T GET ME WRONG.

Ting.

I did mean the part about you being pretty too.

Ting.

I’m embarrassing myself again, am I?

Ting.

Just be safe, unnie.

Joohyun’s not sure how, but the bubbles in her stomach turn to butterflies and she surprises the taxi ahjussi again by opening the car window out of the sudden.

“Everything alright, miss?” He asks, peeking at his strange passenger through the rearview mirror.  

“I’m fine…just feeling a little too warm and giddy.” 

A/N:

Han Woojin isn't a real person in case you guys are curious; he's just a random original character. You can imagine him as any guy you want >:D