I get drunk easily and have messy endings
I get mad easily and ruin the fun
Even when it seems like I’m so happy

/

The first time Sooyoung gets out completely alone, she's faced and leaning against the wall of a dirty, cold alley, arm strung tight across her stomach and fire burning down . It's the most fun she's had in a while, and even if she's about to throw up a day's worth of food, at least she's free to do it without a bodyguard breathing down her neck.

"Hey!" A voice behind her yells. Sooyoung startles, trying to right herself and hobble off, but she feels her right leg give way beneath her and has to press a palm against the wall to steady herself, shaking off the numbness in her other hand. "Hey," the voice repeats, again, as it draws closer. Sooyoung relaxes when she realizes it's a girl, just one set of heavy footsteps - and then there's a hand on Sooyoung's shoulder, spinning her around so her back falls against the wall.

The face that greets her is unfamiliar - not that Sooyoung was really looking, but she probably wasn't any of the bartenders, and doesn't look like one of the personnel that follows her around every time she so much as takes a step out of their sight, either.

The girl's hair is pushed up in a ponytail, wispy brown hair falling over her eyes, which are currently fixed intently on Sooyoung's face. She's beautiful, Sooyoung thinks, distantly, but then the girl starts forward, raising a hand to hover beside Sooyoung's face. "Are - are you okay?"

The mask that obscured her face in the club hangs from the fingers of Sooyoung's right hand.

"Yeah," Sooyoung laughs, confused, her vision swimming. Her stomach strains along with it. "I mean, I know it's rare to see me in the flesh, but -"

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are," the girl says, and Sooyoung is surprised to find that it's sincere. The girl brings a cold hand to wipe, gently, at the side of Sooyoung's lips, lifting her fingers into Sooyoung's line of vision. "But we should get you some medical help."

Smeared across her fingertips are a dirty, blackened red.





Seungwan's ears perk up at the sound of the door opening, and she turns from her textbook to see Seulgi hurrying in, slamming her door behind her. One of her collar is popped up haphazardly, and her hair has fallen into an ungainly mess. Seungwan's heart squeezes in worry as she bookmarks the page and hops off the stool, making her way to where Seulgi is. She doesn't seem to be injured, at the very least, which is doing little to slow Seungwan's racing heart.

"Work held you up?" She asks, and tries not to let the worry seep through in her voice. Seulgi catches it anyway, looping gentle fingers around Seungwan's wrist as she lets out a something that sounds like a mix between a laugh and a sigh. She takes a seat on the arm of their couch, and Seungwan moves along to stand silently beside her, unsure of what to do.

When Seulgi's gaze falls on Seungwan's face, she breaks into a small, reassuring smile.

"Don't freak out," she starts, which Seungwan takes as a cue to freak out. Seulgi must see the panic in her eyes because her thumb starts rubbing soothing circles on the back of Seungwan's knuckles, easing her into relaxing. "Don't freak out, because I'll work something out, but -"

But?

"I lost my job," Seulgi continues, and Seungwan's eyes widen in disbelief. Henry has only ever said glowing things about Seulgi, so she must have done something awful. But how could she ever  -

"Turns out one of the runners I caught was a chaebol, had her yelling to shut down the entire bar because of me," Seulgi says, laughing. It doesn't reach her eyes.

Seungwan sits down beside Seulgi,