Jane buried her face in her hands after resting both of her elbows on the counter. L couldn’t help but give her a worried look as he took the bar stool next to her.

“Hey, man. We’ll each be having glass of Johnnie Walker Blue please. We’ll have them neat. Thanks.” L dictated his order to the barkeep. He was told that their drinks were coming right up.

The former military man gave her a wary look as he carefully started “Hey, I’m sorry if I told Nancy I was an old boyfriend of yours.” He fidgeted in his seat “I mean…I know we never really talked about what was going on between us when we were just dumb kids in high school, but you seem to hold her in really high regard. I guess it would’ve just been weird if Dabin told her that we were...you know...”

Jane couldn’t help but roll her eyes and curl her lips into a sly smile as she turned to face him, her left cheek resting on the back of her hand “ buddies. We were buddies, L. You don’t have to be such a prude about it, it’s not like we’re in fifth grade.” She shook her head as she snorted at her former lover’s efforts to honor her feminine sensibilities. “But I mean, yeah...thanks for that. I’m not gonna pretend I’ve been living like the Mary my whole life. But...that kid’s opinion of me matters to me a lot. Like, A LOT a lot.” The strawberry blonde let out a heavy sigh

“She’s really something, huh?” he smiled quietly

“You don’t even know half of it...” she mumbled into the air

“Now you’ve just got me curious. Do tell.” L prodded

“I mean, you have eyes. You’ve seen her, and you’d seriously need to visit the optometrist if you can’t see that she’s drop dead gorgeous.” Jane started, twiddling with her thumbs as she continued “But, it isn’t just about how she looks. She’s got this phenomenal energy that’s just so infectious, and can take all your worries away. She has all these great ambitions, and it’s amazing to see her pour so much passion into every single thing she does. And then she also possesses this gentle, quiet type of kindness...the sort that isn’t too in your face, but is really just enough to make you feel like everything in the world is going to be okay. She makes me feel like it’s good to be alive. You know what I’m saying?” she gazed blankly at the wooden finishing of the bar counter.

“So…” L furrowed his brows as he gave her an intent look “I was right”

“Of course you were!” she let out in a bittersweet chuckle

“Then why did you run off like that when I essentially just spelled out what you already felt? I mean, don’t get me wrong. It was still a move on my part to be a presumptuous prick. But, why deny it?”

“I don’t know…I guess for the longest time I never even admitted it to myself. The signs have been there for the past three years, but I guess I thought if I didn’t own up to what I genuinely felt, then it wouldn’t be real. You know?”

L didn’t know how else to meet her confession other than with silence.

The barkeep had served their drinks shortly thereafter.

“So...are you gonna tell me what really happened with Nancy’s portrait?” L asked just before taking the first sip from his glass.

She looked away to face the liquor shelf, rubbing her left temple as she responded “I had one of the gallery’s staff put it away. They sent it to my apartment a couple of days after I saw you last week”

“Why?” He quirked a brow

“Are you insane?” She let out a dark laugh “If you caught me the way you did, do you honestly think THE Dabin Lee wouldn’t notice a thing??”

“I suppose that’s fair” he chortled before taking a longer swig of his drink.

She played with her glass as she gave it a long hard stare, gently turning it in circles with her fingers “You know, it’s funny...”

“What is?” Her old senior inquired.

Jane looked at her glass with a sad smile “I can name a brand of liquor for every memory I have of her that made my heart wrench profusely.”

“Well then...” L gave her a soft look, the corner of his lip slightly turned up “let’s drown your sorrows tonight with a glass of each one you can remember.”

**********

– Patrón –

Jane was standing in front of her kitchen counter, spreading some strawberry jam on her toast when she heard her phone ring. Once she saw who the caller was, she took a bite off her toast before reaching for her phone to answer it “Hey. What’s up, Yeonwoo?”

“Heyyo, Jane! Doing anything tonight?”

“I have an art documentary playlist set up on Netflix to binge-watch. I’m pretty excited to watch Sky Ladder” she replied proudly in between chews.

“Well, that’s a waste of a good Friday night.”

She scoffed at her best friend’s response before she scarfed down what remained of her toast “I will have you know that watching how the fireworks genius Cai Guo-Qiang realized his childhood vision is a very good way of spending my Friday night, thank you very much!”

“Yeah, if you’re like 65. Jane, for crying out loud, you’re still turning 24 at the end of the year! Live a little, will you?” she could practically hear Yeonwoo rolling her eyes from the other line.

The strawberry blonde sighed after she swallowed the last bits of her toast. She knew the vixen was going to get her way again tonight “Fine. Where are we going tonight, young prince?”

“I knew you’d see it my way, grandma!!! Remember Nancy’s roommate, JooE? You know, bleach blonde hair, pink streaks, usually in pigtails?”

“How could anyone forget?” Jane couldn’t hold back her smile as she replied. That energetic girl was really quite the character...in the best way possible.

“Well, she landed herself a main role on a commercial with Tropicana, and Junhoe wants to throw a party in her honor to celebrate. So party tonight, we shall!! His apartment’s in Harlem.”

“Wait, hold up. Who’s Junhoe?” She asked as she reached for a glass on the kitchen shelf.

“The guy she’s been sort of seeing the past few weeks. I don’t know. He seems to really like her. He’s probably doing this to hint at wanting to go steady”

“Oh. Cool, cool” she absentmindedly nodded to her best friend’s response as she cradled her phone between her cheek and her shoulder, opening her fridge to reach for her orange juice. She slightly paused as she read the label on the jug ‘Tropicana. How fitting’ she really couldn’t help but smile at the little coincidence.

“So let’s meet up at their place at around 10, and let’s head to Junhoe’s together?”

“Sure. Sounds good!” She twisted the juice jug’s cap open

“Awesome. I’ll see you tonight then! Don’t forget, look hot!” she was pretty sure Yeonwoo was winking from her end of the line.

“Puh-lease. That’s what I look like on default.” She haughtily joked back as she poured herself some orange juice

“That’s the spirit! See you at 10! Love you, loser!”

“See you, loser!” Jane dropped the call and chugged her OJ down.

……….
 

The young photographer gently rapped on her friend’s apartment door at ten on the dot, and was mildly surprised when it was JooE who answered the door. Before Jane could even get a word out, she saw the bleach blonde give her a full head-to-toe, mouth agape as she took in the older girl’s black mid-calf boots with stiletto heels, skin tight Bordeaux leather pants and black spaghetti v-top with double crisscrosses in front, topped with a black bomber jacket.

When the younger girl met her gaze again “Hot damn!!! You really dressed to the nines! NICE-U BODY, SUNG JIYEON!!!”

The strawberry blonde let out a giggle and let out a wink at the sight of the younger girl’s emerald velvet racer neck crop top, ripped black jeans and dark green suede booties “You’re looking like a total snack tonight yourself, Miss Lee Joowon. Oh yeah!! Congratulations again on nabbing that ad! Here, I got you a little present”

She opened the brown paper bag she was holding to show its contents to the younger girl. JooE met Jane’s face with a mischievous grin, and pulled out a bottle of Patrón Reposado “Well, it’s gonna be one heck of a party alright!”

“You bet it will! You deserve it!” She pulled the younger girl into a congratulatory embrace before walking in to take a seat on the couch.