“Your face is seriously starting to turn red, Taeyeon-ah.”

              I dismissed her with a wave of my hand. “Of course, I’m ok, I’m fine, yeah.”

              “Let me word this another way. Are you feeling warmer than usual?”

              I looked at her, my eyes wide in surprise. “Wow Fany, how did you know?” I asked, lifting my head to look at her, “Wait … did you read my mind?” I accused, squinting my eyes at her in suspicion while covering my forehead with my hands.

              “See? You are drunk,” she giggled, cleaning the shaker she used to make the drink I was having.

              “I’m not! How could you say that?” I said, appalled.

              “You’re so cute TaeTae, even more so than usual,” she said, patting the back of my hand.

              I stared at it. Wait, that was my hand, right? I made a clenching motion with my fist, and sure enough, the hand on the counter closed as well. I smiled, satisfied with the result.

              “If you get drunk enough, will you finally—”

              I reached over the counter, firmly placing a finger over Tiffany’s lips. She paused, looking at me with a surprised expression.

              “Alcohol doesn’t make you do stuff you normally wouldn’t,” I told her, removing my finger and wrapping the hand back around the base of my cup, “You know, when you get drunk … when you get drunk, the thing, you know—ethanol, that one.” I giggled at myself. Silly me, how could I forget the name of that? “Ethanol gets absorbed into your bloodstream and the reaction it has with your brain is that it makes it slower. It also slows down your prefrontal cortex and affects your libido, but that’s all.”

              I took another swing of the drink. My head hurt. Maybe I shouldn’t be drinking … but it tasted so good. It was all Tiffany’s fault for making such good-tasting drinks. I’ll have to punish her later or something.

              “Hm? You’ll have to punish me? How are you going to do that?”

              “What? How did you know I was thinking that?” I asked, squinting at her again, carefully observing her. My eyes widened as I came to a realization, “So you can read my mind! Don’t do that!” I told her, covering my forehead with one hand while making a shoo-ing gesture at her.

              Tiffany giggled even more at this. That was suspicious. What was so funny about this? “No you cutie-pie, you were speaking your thoughts out loud again,” she replied casually, “Ah, you’re just too cute, Taeyeon!”

              “No I’m not!” I retorted, “I’m 22, you know! How could a 22-year-old be cute?”

              Tiffany reached over the counter and placed her palm against my cheek. My discontentment immediately vanished and was replaced with a satisfied, complacent feeling. My eyes closed and I smiled, leaning against her soft, warm hand.

              “Oh my gosh, Taeyeon-ah you’re so cute I wish I could just climb over the counter and hug you!” Tiffany squealed, using her other hand to cup my face.

              “You have to work Fany, don’t—don’t do that,” I replied, enjoying the warm feeling against my cheeks. After some time, Tiffany retracted her hand and I found myself looking at my cup. The drink’s color was pretty as well; a nice, calming red color.

              Just as Tiffany opened , she stopped herself and turned around. I swung my head towards the source of the sound: a single man wearing a white suit beckoning to Tiffany. “What does he think he’s doing? Tiffany, don’t listen to him, you don’t have to follow a man’s orders.”

              Tiffany giggled again, patting my hands in a comforting manner. “He’s a customer, TaeTae. I’ll be back, ok? Don’t miss me too much,” she said, walking off.

              That confused me for a few seconds. Customer? What did she mean?

              I closely watched her head over to the man, the rather attractive man, and start talking to him. When she turned around, our gazes briefly met, I quickly turned my attention back to my cup. My face started feeling hotter. Why did I look away? Why was I looking at her?

              Feeling self-conscious, I started counting in my head. I originally intended to wait until I reached 100 but stopped at 91, I cautiously looking up. Fortunately, Tiffany wasn’t looking my direction anymore, but unfortunately, she was back to talking with that man again.

              “Aah, it’s not faair,” I whined, taking another swing at the drink, “Why can’t I not be single?…” I paused, confused. “Huh?” What did I say? “Can’t I … Why can’t I not …” This was so confusing … all I said were a couple of words, but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. What was it? “Why do I have to be single?” I ended up settling for that, foregoing any other confusing, complex manners of speech.

              “Would you like me to help with that?”

              Some kind of nice, warm voice came from my left—no, my right.

              I turned around to see a man taking the seat next to me. “Oh! I know you!” I exclaimed, delighted at this discovery, “You’re … you’re …” I found myself struggling excessively. It was on the tip of my tongue; I’ve definitely seen him before. “Wait, I know your name…” I said, holding a finger up, interrupting him as he opened his mouth, trying to concentrate. However, the more I thought about it, the harder it became to think. My head started to hurt again, so I just conceded. “Never mind, I forgot it,” I admitted, looking back at him, smiling apologetically.

              “Trust me, if I met someone as beautiful as you, I would have remembered,” he said, grinning. He had a really attractive smile. Now that I looked carefully at him, he was pretty handsome: he had striking eyes, really well-defined cheekbones, an almost square-shaped jaw, and very broad shoulders.

              “Haha, nice one,” I said, hitting his arm playfully.

              “I’m serious,” he replied. He started looking at me with this kind of burning gaze, like he wanted me to understand his seriousness through his eyes.

              I stared back, trying to understand his thinking. Even as unclear as my mind was right now, I knew what to expect from people that were too straightforward like him. Then, suddenly, the thought hit me. “Aah, ok, I got it,” I said, “You thought I was lonely, sitting here by myself, right? Don’t worry, I was talking to the bartender,” I told him, turning my head to her.

              I met Tiffany’s eyes for just a second, but the second I met them, she turned away, staring back at her cup. That was strange. She was looking at me, right? Why did she avoid my eyes?

              “Oh. I was talking to her, I guess,” I finished sheepishly.

              “I was being completely serious. You’re beautiful.”

              There it was again. Those burning eyes, filled with intent. It made me want to squirm, but it was a good feeling. Does that even make sense?

              Unsure of how to respond, I finished the rest of my drink, deciding to check on Tiffany again. This time, she was talking to that man again, the same rather attractive man that she was talking to before for too long. Was he harassing Tiffany? Well, she was laughing, so it didn’t look like it … then again, wasn’t it her job to laugh around her customers?

              “I never got your name,” the man said.

              “Oh! Sorry,” I said, turning back around, “I’m Kim Taeyeon,” I introduced myself, bowing slightly.

              “Kim Taeyeon! Such a pretty name to match a pretty face; I’m Lee YongGuk,” he replied, “I would ask to buy you another drink, but it seems like you’ve had enough.”

              “You would do that? You know, because I’m a college student, I don’t really have much money, soo…” I told him, meeting his gaze. His eyes were still burning, and I started to think that maybe his eyes were just always like that.

              “Are you sure you can handle another drink? You look pretty drunk right now,” he said, laughing. This time, his eyes stopping doing its burning thing, but turned more into like a smaller, cozy flame.

              “I’m not drunk!” I complained, frowning, “Tiffany said that too!”

              “I heard my name~”

              Tiffany’s voice came out of nowhere, drifting through the air.

              “Tiffany! Tell him I’m not drunk!” I whined, gesturing to the man next to me.

              “Hm, I don’t know, I’d say you’re pretty drunk,” she said, giggling.

              “What’s your assessment? Are you willing to make her another drink?” the man asked her.

              “Depends on how much alcohol, I guess.”

              That was weird. Tiffany’s voice usually carried happiness, but this time, there wasn’t that. Did Tiffany dislike that man? Why? He seemed nice.

              “What would you like then, Taeyeon-ssi?” he asked, seemingly oblivious to Tiffany’s tone.

              “Are you sure you would pay for me?” I asked, looking at the man. Wait, I knew his name, didn’t I? He just told me. Did I forget already?

              “Yeah, I’d love to buy a drink for such a lovely lady,” he responded.

              Oh, right! His name was Lee YongGuk. I smiled, proud of myself for remembering. “Um, I don’t know …” I thought about it for a bit, but got impatient and settled it by saying, “Fany, make me something, everything you make is good anyway.”

              “Will do! Would you like anything yourself, mister?” Tiffany asked, very formally. Why would she be talking to me so formally? Wait no, she said ‘mister’, so she was talking to Lee YongGuk.

              “I’ll be fine for now, thank you,” he replied.

              As Tiffany whisked off, I stared into my cup again, realizing it was empty. “So you’re in college, huh? What are you studying?”

              His question caught me off guard. It felt silly, but I had to think for a bit before answering, “It’s Chemical Engineering and Computer Science, and then a minor in Psychology.”

              “Hard-working, beautiful, smart, and cute,” he said, “You’ve got quite the repertoire.”

              I felt myself laugh at that. He was so insistent that I didn’t know whether to trust him or not. Still, I couldn’t help feeling embarrassed at his words. “I don’t know, I’m not …” I cut myself off, suddenly remembering what Jessica always scolded me about accepting compliments, “Um, thank you.”

              “Your drink, Taeyeon,” Tiffany said, setting a cup in front of me. I looked up to thank her, but she was already gone. My eyes followed her; did she have something else to do? Maybe another customer called to her? But as I continued watching her, it didn’t seem to be like that. She was just washing the shaker, but somewhere else.

              “How long have you been friends?”

              YongGuk, this time, lost his ‘burning’ … somehow. It sort of looked like he gave up. I don’t really know what he gave up on, but it really just seemed like he lost a bit of his burning passion that was present in his eyes a few moments ago.

              “What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning towards him, peering at him carefully, “Did something make you sad?”

              His eyes opened wide in shock, but it was shortly replaced by a smile. “That’s a Psychology major for you. It’s almost like you were reading my mind,” he admitted, laughing uneasily.

              “What? So you were sad? Why didn’t you tell me? Let me help!” I insisted, scooting to the edge of my seat.

              He smiled gracefully at me, patting the back of my hand. “Even a guy like me can see it. I won’t get in the way anymore,” he said, taking a bill from his wallet and planting it on the table, “That should cover your drink. Thanks for talking to me Taeyeon-ssi, and good luck.”

              With that, he got up and walked off. This was the second time that it’s happened. Why do they just run away like that? Am I just a scary person?

              I put my head on the counter, closing my eyes to rest. He definitely was sad. I didn’t take all those psychology classes for nothing; his facial expression, his body language … right? What did he mean ‘get in my way’?

              I sighed deeply. I never had good luck with guys anyway. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about it too much …

              “Aah, why do I have to be scaring off guys like that?” I whined, lifting my head again to take a sip of my drink. I put my cup back down, expecting Tiffany to be right in front of me making a comment as she usually did, but this time she wasn’t there.

              I looked around and found Tiffany talking to that white-suited man again. Watching it discontented me, but I watched them anyway. And it was while I was watching them that I suddenly remembered who that man—Lee YongGuk looked like.

              “Ah, it was like something JongSuk, right? A famous player or something,” I mumbled, finishing off the rest of the drink. Well if what he was doing with me could be considered flirting, then Tiffany and that man were definitely flirting.

              I didn’t like it: Tiffany wasn’t allowed to just get a boyfriend. What about me, then? If Tiffany just got a boyfriend, then would I have to start spending less time with her? It definitely wasn’t a pleasant thing to think about.

              A sudden sensation rushed up my head—something in between a jolt and a strong buzzing sensation. I grimaced, placing my head onto the counter.

              When I opened my eyes, blue filled my vision. My room’s wallpaper?

              Immediately after, I felt an immense pounding sensation in my head. I groaned, closing my eyes tightly and gripping my head. God, why did I have to drink so much? Or, more like, why was Tiffany’s drinks so good?

              “Ah Taeyeon, you’re awake.”

              I jumped at the sound of Tiffany’s voice. Probably because of the splitting headache, but I never even thought about how I came home until just then. I guess Tiffany sent me home; whatever other details escaped me.

              “Aah my head…” I groaned, throwing my head back onto the pillow, clutching my head tightly.

              “Here.”

              I felt a weight on the edge of my bed; I opened my eyes to find her handing me a cup of water. “Thank you,” I said, exhaustion laced in my voice. I ignored it, grabbing the cup and chugging the whole thing down.

              “You know, it’s been a week since we met,” Tiffany commented out of the blue.

              I set the cup down on the nightstand next to the bed, looking at her. “Really? Today …” I stopped, pondering the query. “Today’s Friday. Oh right, we met last Thursday, right?”

              She nodded, smiling. “You know how you asked me when my shift was over that day?” I wanted to hit her. “Well, this time, you actually made it to the end of my shift, although I had to ask a drunken you what your address was.”

              “Wait,” I said as memories of the prior night came back, “who was—” I stopped myself. No. No Taeyeon, even if you really want to know, Tiffany will never, never, stop teasing you about this. But …

              “Who was who? That guy you were talking to last night? What was his name? Lee YongGuk?”

              Tiffany’s question caught me by surprise. That guy who started talking to me and then ran away, wishing me luck on something? “Yeah, that was his name,” I trailed off, unsure of where Tiffany was trying to say. Was she worried for me? I mean, it made sense, I guess, to be worried about your small, drunk female friend who was talking to a random guy. Still, nothing happened, so there wasn’t really much to be worried about. That man in the white suit, on the other hand … seeing Tiffany here was indicative of nothing happening, but then again, I was out for the rest of that night. Could I really be sure that nothing happened?

              Tiffany acquiesced with a humph. As I thought about it more, I suddenly came to a realization. “Wait, how did you know his name?” I prompted her.

              She froze in the middle of standing up. It was only for a brief second though; she quickly stood up and turned around. Maybe I was just seeing things? My hangover was only slightly better at this point, after all. “I just heard him greeting his name as I was making a drink,” she explained, taking the cup, quickly adding, “Do you want more water?”

              Tiffany’s well-being was more important than something like my own embarrassment. What kind of friend would I be, withholding an action for the sake of saving face? “Who was that man in the white suit you were talking to yesterday? Was he a friend?”

              Just like that, Tiffany’s face lit up. “No, he was just a talkative customer,” she explained.

              Tiffany was unpredictable as usual. I nodded, sighing. Unfortunately, the sound was captured by Tiffany who immediately turned around and sat back on the bed, “Are you relieved? What, were you jealous?”

              She leaned close to me—uncomfortably close. I could feel the tips of my ears ignite. Despite the fact that my head was still hurting, I could feel thoughts whizz in and out of my brain. What should I do? Was I jealous? I was just asking for her sake. What, did I think Tiffany didn’t know how to take care of herself? In fact, now that I thought about it, wouldn’t this happen a lot when a bartender is that attractive? “U-Um, no, I was—I think, um, I was just worried that … never mind, it was nothing, it was just a stupid thought,” I concluded, pushing my face back into the pillow throwing the blanket over my body.

              “Aww, it’s ok, I wasn’t flirting with him or anything. I would never cheat on you,” she said, patting my back through the blanket. I didn’t respond. I felt like the temptation to do so was just a trap, and I would end up digging myself a bigger grave than the one I had already created. “That happens from time to time, guys trying to hit on me; don’t worry though, I only have eyes for you.”

              I remained motionless, underneath the blankets. I asked because I was worried for her. Not because of the reason she suggested.

              My heart was seriously racing inside my chest. I pushed my body deeper into the mattress in hopes that she wouldn’t hear it. Gosh, why did Tiffany have to tease me like this?

All this mention of Jessica … What of her? What do you guys think? How does Jessica fit into all of this?

Also, despite being 21, I’ve only ever taken 2 sips of alcohol in my life, so … yeah. I tried my best to write a drunk scene … hopefully I did well? ^^”

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!