I wiggled my fingers at Byul and left them to their game. It was time to look for Wheein, anyway. But finding that midget in a place b with almost a hundred of people was impossible.

On the plus side, I ran into a few more faces that I know, and Bora introduced me to a few of her new found companions. One offered to get me another drink. When he suggested Corona, I told him I didn’t drink alcohol.

“Fruit juice then?”

“Sounds good.”

He got me berry soda in a glass and popped in a straw. Wearing a hat, he looked a little like Bruno Mars. He made an interesting conversation partner over the next hour in which he refilled my soda three times. In the end, I saw his lips moving but didn’t really get what he said. I also felt the need to frown a lot and lean against the wall for support in the suddenly swaying room.

“You okay, hun?” the guy asked.

The guy with the hat. Did he tell me his name? And when did his twin brother come in?

The boy melted into him, then appeared again. Something was very off here. I rubbed my brow. “Not so sure,” I said, having trouble to get the words out. I also spoke extra slow in case he had the same trouble like me and wouldn’t understand a thing.

The world tipped, and suddenly I was in his arms.

“Whoa, girl, you meant it when you said you didn’t drink, huh?”

I smiled at his face so close to mine. Sure I meant it. What did he think? That I was a liar? I picked up his hat and planted it on my head. “My turn to be Bruno for a while.”

“Unnie? What’s going on here?”

“Wheein?” I rejoiced, trying to locate where her voice came from. And then she was right behind me, pulling me away from Mr. Mars without his hat. I turned in Wheein’s arms and beamed at her oh so worried face. “Where have you been all night. I tried so hard to find you.”

“Where did you look? At the bottom of the wine cooler?”

I decided I didn’t have to understand that and let her pull me to the rear, into the kitchen.

“Whoop,” I slurred with a loopy smile as she grabbed my wrist and sat me down on a chair.

She kneed down in front of me and sighed. I can see the worries in her eyes. She had such pretty brown eyes.

Her hands planted firmly on my knees as she looked up to me. This awkward pose made my brain go wishy-washy and majorly . I dipped forward and touched my forehead to her, grinning as I stared into those amber gems.

Wheein laughed, but it sounded nothing like her normal, easy laugh. She straightened me on the chair. “How many drinks did you have?”

“Hey, why so worried?”

“How many, unnie?”

Not liking her commanding tone, I sighed heavily, puffing my bangs out of my view.

“There was this half bottle of beer, and then some Sprite. The soda. One…or four…glasses… I think.”

“Soda?”

“Berry soda.”

“Unnie...” She laughed again. It sounded nervous. “Your mom’s going to strangle me if I take you home drunk like this.”

“I’m not drunk,” I protested. “You know I don’t drink alco-whole.”

When a certain girl walked into the kitchen like a doe in a marigold meadow, I thought I was going to puke. She glanced at me and flashed Wheein with a flirtatious smile that set my stomach on nausea. “Wheepup, is something wrong?”

“Wheepup, is something wrong?” I iterated like a three year old.

That drew her attention to me. “Is she okay?”

“She just had a little too much of the wine cooler. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

She was going to be with Hyejin? No! I wanted to tell her she couldn’t, but a sudden lethargy settled over me and made me dip my head to her shoulder.

“I’m so tired. Can we go home?”

“Are you sure she’s okay? Why don’t we just take her home?”

We? Hello there are no we here.

“I can’t take her home like this. I will just take her upstairs to one of Byul unnie’s guest rooms. She can sleep there.”

“You don’t want to do that.” Another person seemed to have joined our conversation.

Byul. But what was she talking about?

“In her state, she’s not safe in any of the guest rooms. You know how the parties go on the later it gets. Take her to my room.”

“What?” Wheein and I shouted simultaneously. I was sitting straight with my eyes wide open. The thought of sleeping in Byul’s room shocked me something awful. But why Wheein was agitated I didn’t figure out.

Byul rolled her eyes. Mmm, y. She could do that quite well.

“Don’t be ridiculous, guys. She’ll be awake and gone before I even get upstairs.”

There was a tense pause.

“I think Byul unnie’s right.”

Wheein pressed her lips together.

What was she supposed to do again? The thought escaped me.

“Come on, Unnie.” She pulled me off the counter and walked me to the door. But a sudden lack of control over my feet made me stumble sideways, knocking into something cold and shiny.

“Pardon me,” I said to the fridge.

Byul caught me before I knocked into more kitchen furniture. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from the strawberries?” she growled into my ear.

“Strawberries? There was one in my last soda.” I grinned. “It was yummy.”

“Yummy, all right.” She chuckled as she swept me up in her arms. “I’ll carry her to my room, Wheein. You can grab her when you go. Or come back for her in the morning.”

“You sure, unnie?” There it was again, Wheein’s worried voice.

“Yes. Go have fun with Hyejin.”

The music grew fainter as Byul climbed the stairs with me. I flung my arms around her neck and leaned my head on her shoulder. “You don’t like dancing with Hyejin?” I murmured.

She chuckled. “Would you?”

“I don’t like her, period.”

“And I know exactly why that is.”

“Really?” I breathed deep, inhaling her alluring perfume’s smell with the scent of her heated skin. “You smell good.”

For some reason, that made her laugh. “Time to go to bed, Yongsun’shi.”

She shoved open the door and carried me backwards over the threshold. Next I was placed on a soft mattress. The pillow bore the same musky scent that clung to Byul. I drew in a long breath.

She slipped off my shoes and pulled a blanket over my bare legs. “You comfortable?”

“I’m not sure. But can you check if my head sprouted rotor blades?”

With my eyes closed, I felt her hand raking through my hair. “That will go away when you sleep. If you need anything, the light switch is right in front of your nose and the bathroom is next door on the left.” She paused. “Did you hear me?”

“Light, nose. Toilet, left. Gotcha.” I gave her a thumbs-up, feeling sleep tugging at me.

“Byul?”

“Hm?”

“Sorry about the pool game.”

She chuckled. “Sleep tight, princess.”

Something brushed over my cheek. Very gently. Fingers? I couldn’t tell as I drifted off to careening dreams.

***

A door banged shut. Jolting upright, I found myself in the centre of a bed in a moonlit room I didn’t recognize. The figure standing in front of me seemed slightly familiar, though.

“Byul?”

“You’re still here?” Byul moaned. My presence didn’t stop her from ing her shirt and tossing it in a corner of the room along with her sneakers.

My brain roared like mad. I rubbed my brow. “Where is here exactly? And why are you undressing?”

The moonlight cast a silvery look to her features as she studied me. “Well, for one, this is my room. And second, that thing you’re lying on is my bed. Since I need to take a shower, I figured I’d need take them off.” She spoke slowly and in a slightly slurred way. I rubbed my temples, having trouble following this conversation as she walked into the shower room leaving the door open.

The blurry events of the previous evening crept up in my memory. “Is the party over?”

“Someone puked on the floor. Yeah. Party’s over.” Her deep voice was audible from the shower room even with the sound of the water rinsing. “I swear, next time Namjoo brings her strawberry soda, I’m going to kick a girl’s for the first time in my life. Harmless, my .”

I glanced at my wristwatch. The clock face should be glowing in the dark, but as soon as I tried to focus, dizziness made me groan. “What time is it?”

“Three.”

“A.m.?” I cried.

“It’s dark outside. Of course it’s a.m.”

Slamming back the covers, I jumped out of bed. But gravity was a , and I stumbled to the floor. I patted around for my shoes. I should have been home hours ago. My mom was going to kill me.

I tried to stand again. “Where are my shoes?”

“What are you doing?” She came out from the shower with only white towel wrapping around her body.

Panicking! Because I felt trapped in a strange house with a half- hot and y girl. “Going home!”

God, the pain in my head snarled at me to take it easy. And speaking fast was impossible.

“Oh-woe.” Byul pushed down on my shoulders until I sat on the bed again. “So not a good idea. Since we already agreed that it’s the dead of the night…and you’re drunk…”

“Drunk? No.” I never drank alcohol. And soda sure wouldn’t make my brain so spongy.

But I had to admit something was seriously wrong with either me or the room, since everything started spinning in a very uncomfortable way.

Byul waved a dismissive hand at me. “Whatever. I can’t let you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Walk alone.” She answered as she walked over to the closet to find a fresh new clothes to put on.

I turned away from her and frowned. “You want to come with me?” Strange. Shouldn’t Wheein be around to drive me home?

“It’s a mile and a half to your house. That’s three for me to walk. I’m positive I won’t make that tonight.” The mattress sank under her weight as she lowered next to me. “So if you really want to go home, I’ll have to drive you. But right now, I’d rather not.”

I turned around to face her. Even sitting, Byul swayed in front of me. But since the room did that too, I wasn’t sure if she really did or if I was having some kind of weird hallucinations. “So what do I do now?”

“I’d say lay back. Sleep. And worry about everything tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

She looked around the room, rubbing her neck. “The floor is hard. And I’m beat. There’s room for two in the bed.” She made her last statement sound like a question.

I was getting sick, and not because of her request to sleep in the same bed with me. My stomach rolled. I felt the sour taste of soda traveling up my gullet. There was only one way to avoid puking all over her bed and floor. I had to get horizontal.

Dropping to my side, I buried my cheek in the pillow. I groaned, keeping one eye open, and focused on the top of the lamp on the nightstand. If only I could grab my brain and stop it from spinning.

“Good choice, Yongsun-shi,” Byul rumbled and lay down beside me. She probably took my silence as an invitation.

Should I care? I wasn’t sure.

Her head tilted to my side, she grinned, dangerously. “I swear you’re safe with me for the next three to six hours. I can’t make promises for any time after that, though.”