Chapter V - Art of Flirting, Manipulation

Let's say that, hypothetically speaking, you met me at a random coffee shop downtown. I was sitting alone, possibly reading a book or typing on my laptop. You know, something super pretentious. Maybe I was wearing something, and you can interpret this however you want, cute. Or attractive. Something that appealed to your tastes.

I know how entirely self serving this is starting to sound but I do have a point.

Now, assume that I was your type. Assume you were interested in me. Assume that as soon as you laid eyes on me, you thought to yourself, “Wow, she's something else!”

So.

Question: How would you ask me out?

No worries, I'll let you think about it. I'll wait.

After your heart has calmed down a bit of course. Hehe~!

I'm kidding, obviously. Who knows if I could even trigger such feelings from you. That's why we are pretending, silly.

Would you just walk up to say “Hi”? Say something in a confident, sultry voice in an attempt to seduce me?

Would you buy me a drink? Possible order the same thing and use that as a conversation opener.

Maybe sit at the table across from me and waited for me to make the move? You’re the type that lets your target come to you after sending out signals.

Hmm, I'm sure you’d come up with something dashing. I like to think that I would come up with something clever as well.

But no matter how many simulations you run in your head, it never goes as planned.

Life has too many variables.

Too many unknowns.

Too many cheaters.

What if your timing is off?

What if your voice cracks?

What if the coffee shop was a dungeon and I was the final boss?

Things pile up very fast.

The other problem is that most people don't analyze their flirting technique like this. I mean, who in their right mind self-evaluates their charisma stat?  Not many. Nor should they. It's a really retentive thing to do and you end up looking like an idiot.

Which brings me to my ultimate point: at times like these, I look like an idiot.

No seriously.

Despite what SinB may tell you, I don't really go out that much. And no, I don't flirt with every girl I see with a pretty face. That's just one of SinB’s crazy exaggerations that she uses to mess with me. If I did, this party would be a mess. I mean, SinB invited all the beauties from our school.

In actuality, my dating life has been quite stale. And the relationships I do get into don't last very long.

That being said, that may be why I'm a little more excited than usual right now. Yuna was an interesting lady that I wanted to figure out. Something kept bothering me about her and if I wanted to get to the bottom of this, I was going to have to play this game right.

Which meant…

“So, what would you like to drink, Yuna?”

...that this is all about fluidity and simplicity.

When I'm in these types of situations, I find that having those two aspects in mind helps pull things in my favor. Though, it isn't full proof or anything like that. But my success rate is positive. Not that I have a large sample size to pull that conclusion from. I swear.

SinB and Umji were no longer around, probably doing who knows what. Actually, I had a pretty good idea what they were up to but I didn't want to test that theory. My imagination is already running rampant and reality may be worse. Also, seriously, have you tried flirting with someone while your friends were around? Well, friends like SinB, I mean. I don't need the peanut gallery judging my every move. I already have enough stress as it is.

“I don't really drink much actually, unnie.”

I turned my head to look at her. And as if by some involuntary reflex, my senses scanned every inch of her.

Her lips.

Her scent.

Her movements.

I started reading everything. Observing everything I could to gain an edge.

Yuna eyed the various bottles, her eyebrows scrunching up with deliberation. As she thought to herself, I watched her bite her lower lip as the gears in her head started turning. Debating. Contemplating. Working themselves towards something more to say.

“I don't really get the chance to,” she continued. “Living at the dorms and all.”

Keep the conversation light and airy. It's about her, not you.

“Oh, right. They banned drinking on campus.”

No dead end questions. Have an open mind.

“Yeah, kinda .” She nodded her head animatedly. Her bangs bounced around her forehead before she cocked it to one side. “I'm willing to try though. What about that one?

I looked over to what she was pointing -

“NOOOOO!!!” I exclaimed, moving the bottle of Bacardi from her reach.

“Hehe, sheesh! You would have thought I pointed at poison or something.”

Her giggles were wonderful. Sing-songy and jovial.

“Funnily enough, you're not that far off. Its pretty risky business.”

“I see. Do you have any recommendations then?”

Be polite and confident. Lead the way only if you have to.

“Hmm, alright then. I'll take care of you. Here, mind giving me back my arm for a second? I promise to give it back.”

Yuna had been holding my arm in her embrace ever since we left the backyard.  Touching and haptic signals were generally played by ear though I tend to be a bit aggressive about them. Sorry, I'm a greedy person. But based on current events, I think we were beyond the point of worrying now. Our bodies were just having a different conversation. A silent, but all too important, discussion.

“Mmm, as you wish.”

That same reluctance washed over me as she released my arm. If I wasn't so determined to impress her, I would probably have never left her side.

“Let me make something easy to drink,” I said, moving to the fridge and grabbed some strawberry yogurt drink and a can of lemon lime soda. Across from me, Yuna put on a curious expression as I set the ingredients on the table next to an unopened bottle of soju.

No one likes a show off, I know. It's kind of deplorable behavior. But with that almost childish look on her face I couldn't help it. And I liked being a bit dramatic.

I mixed equal parts the strawberry yogurt drink and the soju in a glass serving pitcher with some ice, making sure that the drink retained it’s pink color. As I poured the liquids, I raised their containers high into the air and never lost eye contact. I watched her face went from stoic to bewilderment to amazement in three seconds. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I stopped pouring and raised my eyebrows in tempestuous manner as I opened the soda can. Then, I stirred in a small amount of soda slowly as to not cause the carbonation to react violently.

“Tadaa~!” I said with an exuberant pose. Cliché, I know, but sometimes you can’t beat a classic. “You’re order, Miss.”

“Whaa~! It’s pretty.” smiled but her eyes betrayed her innocence. “What is it?”

“A fun time~!”

I tease of course. It was a soju yogurt cocktail. A staple of late night karaoke bars and street food vendors everywhere. Not the most complex drink around, I know. But it gets the job done and this pitcher could probably make about 10 or so servings.

“Looks good,” she smiled at me. “Can't wait to taste it.”

“Calm down, my dear. You will get your turn.” I winked at her. It took her a second to react but resulting embarrassment on her face gave me the intended effect.  “And grab four small glasses from the cupboard, will you? As much as I like having some alone time with you, I did promise Sowon unnie and Jung Eunbi refreshments.”

“Sure sure. Though…” She paused for a moment, face getting red. “Who says you will get to have more ‘alone time’ with me, Yerin unnie?”

She raised her eyebrows like I did before, playing my heartstrings.

“Me,” I countered. “I can be very persuasive.”

Her eyes grew large at my response, clearly not expecting my come back. Oh, I knew this would be fun. Flustered, Yuna turned around and grabbed four glasses while I picked up the pitcher and another bottle off the counter.

“I thought you said that bottle was risky business?”

“It is. But I have a terrible idea and I wanted to test something out.”

I could have actually told her my plan but there was a chance that she wouldn't go with it. Not to mention that some girls may misread what I'm saying if I mention other girls. Better off not mentioning anyone else right now. Besides, all I really wanted to do was test this thing on Sowon and really check her out after a couple a shots of this.

Also…

It took a while to see but now I'm positive that I didn't just imagine it. I saw it three or four times since we’ve been here. Possibly more times that I didn’t catch. I was still learning the body cues but I was getting the hang of it now.

That weird smile appeared.

A practiced smile with lonely eyes…

She was good. Almost fooled me, too. But...

Well.

Now was not the time.

We weren’t going to have this discussion yet. Not by a long shot. Time was a precious commodity at the moment and it I was still deciding on how I wanted to approach this.

So I simply needed to make the moment happen.

“Yo, Sowon unnie. Over here.”

Yuna and I made our way outside. But instead of heading towards the seats Sowon and Eunbi were at, I walked to a flight of stairs leading up to a balcony. I had originally gated it from the house guests so they wouldn't wander too much but I thought we could use the privacy.

This upstairs balcony, while a simple affair, had all the necessities we needed to enjoy ourselves. There was enough room for a low table and a couple of love seats with cushions on it. Up here was quieter as well since we were away from the speakers.

“You sure, Yerin?” Sowon asked, leading Eunbi up the stairs.

“Ah, it's fine,” I shrugged, doing my best to look nonchalant. “Plus, I like sitting up here at night. Its warm.”

It also had an outdoor fire pit in the center of the table. A quick flick of the switch and a small blue flame started going in the faux charcoal. So nice and toasty.

“What room is that?” Eunbi asked, pointing at windowed wall that adjoined the balcony. The thick white curtains were shut at the moment, making it impossible to see inside. “We aren't disturbing anyone are we?”

“Oh, psh it's fine. That's just my room.”

Another valid reason why I didn't want anyone up here. I think that goes without saying.

Eunbi nodded her head as she took a seat between Sowon and Yuna. Yuna set down the glasses as I poured a nice portion of the soju cocktail into each cup.

“Raise your glasses~!” I started, motioning everyone to do the same. “I'm old as hell now so let's make the best of tonight~!”

“Yah! That makes me even older!” yelled Sowon.

“CHEERS!” yelled Eunbi in an accented English.

“Wait, what am I supposed to do!?” Yuna half-heartedly raised her glass, mimicking Eunbi.

“Say ‘Cheers', Yuna!”

“Aaaahh! Yeah, yeah! CHEERS~!”

We clanked our glasses together and proceeded to drink. I looked over at Yuna, drinking along with all of us.

“Waaahh~!” Yuna, finishing her drink. “That's really good, unnie. I can't believe you made it.”

“Whoa! You made this, Yerin-shi?” asked Eunbi.

“Call me, unnie, remember?” I said, pouring more into everyone's cup. “And yes I did!”

“Ahh, yes, unnie.”

“Wow, only one day?” went Sowon, looking at Eunbi. “This kid went a whole month without calling me unnie when we first met.”

“Me-rong~!” responded Eunbi, sticking out her tongue.

Interesting.

It was a bit hard to see in the moonlight but my assumptions about Eunbi were correct. Now, all I had to do was tread carefully.

“So then, what’s your guy’s story?” I spun my finger in a clockwise, circular pattern, motioning to the Yuna, Eunbi, and Sowon. “Sowon told me you guys all know each other from singing classes?”

Eunbi took point on this.

“Yuna and I have been friends since high school, right Yuna?”

Yuna nodded her head beside me. She didn’t really answer the question, being more preoccupied with playing with my hand.

“Yuna is a really good singer and so I would always listen in. Eventually, I got interested in it and wanted to pursue it professionally. It’s been our dream to debut together. But stuff got in the way so we decided to enter this university as music majors. And in one of our singing classes, we met Sowon unnie.”

It was only for moment. A nanosecond of time.

During Eunbi's story, I felt Yuna's hand tighten around mine. 

As if in pain... As if in suffering...

“I kind of feel out of place there,” said Sowon, bringing my attention back. “There are a lot of people in our class who want to become professional. I just do it for fun.”

Oh, Sowon. Always the over achiever.

“And I’m not sure how, but we just become quick friends” Sowon continued. “It’s weird how that happened.”

Ha. Weird my foot. I wasn’t going to say it out loud but I’m sure their expedited friendship may be the result of Sowon’s crush. But, I wasn’t going to say anything.

“How about you two unnies?” Yuna pointed to Sowon and I. “How did you guys meet?”

“Oh be prepared to be disappointed,” I started. “Since both Sowon and I are both pre-nursing students, we just ended up having the same classes.”

“Oh…” Eunbi pouted. “That’s it?”

“Yup~! She was having trouble with some assignment…”

“It was really confusing!” Sowon exclaimed. I, of course, ignored her and continued with my story.

“...and she asked me to help out. I still don’t understand why you were so confused.”

“Either way! Yerin here is super smart so I figured she’d be the best to ask.”

“I don’t know…” I shrugged. “Maybe it’s because you’re just dumb. Hahaha~!”

“YAH!”

Eunbi and Yuna laughed, brightening the already lifted mood.

Drinks were poured.

Stories were shared.

Jokes were made.

It was like we’ve been friends since forever.

Eventually, Eunbi started to become more slurred, using Sowon more and more to sit up right.

“ONE SHOT~!” yelled Eunbi.

“Eunbi, you only say that after you actually take ‘one shot’ of something,” corrected Sowon. “Not sipping it from a cup.”

“Oh…” Eunbi looked mildly disappointed before brightening up into an excited smile. “ONE SHOT~! HEHEHEHE~!”

“Yeah but you animals finished the yogurt drink already,” I pointed out.

Sowon tilted her empty glass to confirm. Eunbi playfully followed along, pouting at the older girl.

“Aww~! But I want to drink more!”

“Yerin unnie already used up all the ingredients of her the drink though,” Yuna added. She, by comparison, only had one and was nursing her second. As such, she seemed relatively the same. She then turned away from the other two and gave me a knowing look. Ah. She's caught on. “Unnie did bring this bottle though. Want a sip?”

“Hey, hey~! That's my drink!” Sowon looked at the bottle triumphantly.

“That's why I brought it.” I said, handing over the bottle.

“Shot?”

“Sure, sure.”

Sowon poured us both a shot, her shot being a little bit taller than mine. Well then.

“Oh, oh! If she's having some I want some too~!” Eunbi leaned on closer to Sowon, putting on big puppy dog eyes. “Please, Sowon unnie~!”

And for the first time since I've known her, Sowon’s leader resolve collapsed. Without hesitation, she poured the liquor into Eunbi’s glass.

“Eunbi’s kinda dangerous, isn't she?” I whispered to Yuna. “Remind me to never get on the wrong side of that pout.”

She just shrugged and smiled.

“Alright! CHEERS!”

We all yelled in unison. Except as both Eunbi and Sowon tilted their head back, I tossed the liquid behind me. No seriously, this crap is awful. I felt bad for what I was doing but it was the most effective option I had.

“Ahhh~!” I lifted the glass upside down, over my head. “One shot~!”

Sowon gave me a big grin, doing the same. Amazingly enough, Sowon looked completely unfazed after all the alcohol she ingested. And she had more than all of us.

Also, remind me to never have a drinking contest with her.

“Uh… Unnie~?”

Sowon turned her head at the sound coming from Eunbi.

Showtime.

I immediately got up and opened the door to my room, eventually opening the door to the main hallway.

“Sowon unnie! Bring Eunbi to the restroom! Now!”

Timing was delicate and a huge gamble. One misstep and it was all over. Thankfully, Sowon understood what I was getting at. She lifted up Eunbi up and helped her to the room Sowon was staying in. Like I said, Sowon can be incredibly dependable when she needs to be. In no time, Sowon successfully brought the small girl to the restroom.

As I thought, Yuna didn't follow them. In fact, she didn’t seem particularly worried about her friend, coming to the same conclusion that I did.

“Sowon unnie really is caring isn’t she?” murmured Yuna. She stayed behind, giving me a congratulatory smile. A smile with knowing eyes and acknowledgement that I was up to no good. “You are incredibly manipulative, you know that unnie? I don’t think I stand a chance.”

I closed the bedroom door behind me, counting my blessings. Finally, just the two of us.

It’s funny.

No words seemed to form on my lips. My mind was just blank, completely absorbed by her. I thought I would have something witty to say. Some one-liner to drive home her statement. Instead, I just stood there dumbfounded and took in the view.

A dark haired beauty leaning against a moonlit window wearing a pretty pink bow.

God, I was done for.

Beyond gone.

Beyond dead.

Beyond living.

So I gave in.

Tonight, I think I’ll open my birthday present in my bedroom.

A/N: This chapter was getting crazy long. Lots of what was the end of this chapter is now in the next one so, ideally, Chapter VI "Last All Night, In Bed" should come sooner rather than later. Also, I've been suffering from a pretty bad eye infection so sorry about the delays and spelling errors. I'm feeling better now so should be okay.  Please check out the extra chapter fo find out more about this story and listen to some cool music.