2. It's official

The next day we all woke up feeling more or less hungover. Obviously Lisa woke up last, around twelve to be more exact, when she finally got fed up with our attempts to try and get her to open her eyes. With a brisk movement, Chaeyoung opened the curtains and tried to wake her up by blinding her with the beaming sky, but the goldielocks only turned around in the comfortableness of her bed and continued snoozing. Luckily I knew Lisa well enough to know that she couldn’t handle her phone being taken. I grabbed her cellphone from on top of the drawer and began to try out the password. To my surprise, the final third attempt let me in.

”Give me that-”

”You have five missed calls from your mom”, I said as I pulled down the notification banner with my thumb. ”One from Donghyuk and -” I squinted my eyes, trying to read the small text on the screen. The blue light made my headache even worse. ”A text from Hanbin.”

”Yeah? What does it say?” Lisa mumbled, trying to adjust to keeping her eyes open. was hanging ajar, ready for a lip-stretching yawn. ”Probably something reeally smart.”

I read the text. ”Don’t call your mom until you come back. It’s not urgent. Have fun and enjoy the big party.”

Both Lisa’s and Chaeyoung’s faces switched from ”ah I’m so hungover and ready to open the bottle” to extreme confusion - with a tint of worry. Both of the girls’ eyebrows were suddenly knitted together. Lisa put out her hand, gesturing me to hand out the phone. ”What an idiot. Obviously I’m gonna call her now.”

I passed her the phone. ”Is she okay?” Had something happened? Why else would she have tried to call her five times in a row? Obviously Hanbin had tried to persuade Lisa to drop it because he didn’t want her to spend her bachelorette days worrying about something she couldn’t do anything about. I glanced at Chaeyoung, who just shrugged and continued piling up her clothing choices on the bed.

”She doesn’t have any illnesses, does she?” The question was addressed to Lisa.

Lisa was busy going through her phone. Her eyebrows were nearly touching. ”Yeah, yeah she’s okay. She is.”

”Are you gonna call her?”

”Maybe later”, Lisa said, dropping her phone on the mattress with a thump. Then she turned to us and tried to boost the atmosphere with an exaggerated grin. It was very typical Lisa. ”I’m gonna trust Hanbin. If he says it’s not urgent, then it’s not.”

”Wise decision”, Chae said, nodding her head. ”That guy never lies.”

”True story”, I chuckled.
”It’s probably just mom freaking out about something wedding related. Like ’how are we gonna set the tables’ or ’what color curtains should we hang up’ or ’who’s sitting next to who, should we switch the couples up’, etcetera.”

”Sounds like you in twenty years”, Chae said, grinning.

”Shut your mouth.”

***

We got all dressed up for the evening’s events and got started with some champagne again before leaving the luxurious hotel. We had spent the entire afternoon in our robes, drinking champagne and talking and gossiping about our lives (especially Chaeyoung’s life and the famous people she had encountered) and I felt like I was living some kind of a fairytale. It was like straight out of a romantic comedy, three girls enjoying their friend’s bachelorette party and having fun. All that was missing was the malicious plot that turned everything upside down. For some wicked reason I began to worry what that plot twist might be.

I could’ve spent the entire evening staring at Lisa talking and smiling - the fulfilled feeling of seeing her happy was enough to keep me content until the wedding day came and I’d be even more over the moon. I simply couldn’t wait for the wedding - everyone would get together and celebrate love and togetherness. Surely it was a thing to be celebrated. Especially by us, after all that we had been through.

Chaeyoung and I had booked us a limo to take us to the place where the festival was going to be held. Lisa’s jaws dropped when we stepped outside and saw the driver welcoming us with yet another champagne bottle.

”This is insane!” She screeched, sounding like something solid had just flown out of her lungs. The amount of alcohol she had already had probably affected not only her vocabulary, but her voice too. I stepped forward to grab the bottle from the driver. His eyes shifted from me to Chaeyoung, then to Lisa, then back to Chaeyoung and with that look, his eyes grew wide out of adoration. Yet, having to keep his professional mannerism, he bowed to us respectfully and opened the limousine door. ”Welcome on board.”

”Oh thank you”, Lisa slurred and winked at the driver. ”This thing’s got a disco ball, look Jennie - LOOK”, she yanked my arm and almost caused me to drop the bottle.

”I know, we booked it”, I giggled and followed the two inside the vehicle. ”You love disco balls, don’t you.”

”Damn straight!”

The entire night was a huge success. Lisa got to meet her favorite artists and we all had allowed entrances to every limited-access-area, including the staff-areas and afterparties - all thanks to Chaeyoung’s connections. It was mind-blowing how just being popular meant you could have it all. When you knew the right people and the right people liked you, the options were unlimited. We could be with anyone we wanted and be wherever we wanted. No one could come and tell us that we needed to leave. Chaeyoung just had to make one phone call. Then maybe another.

”I just… I have to call Dongie, I have to, I just ing talked to Zico and he was so. Nice. And so chill. Why are all the famous people so nice? I thought they’re all s?”

”Excuse me?” Chaeyoung blurted out and swatted her way too expensive -looking purse toward Lisa. She quickly dodged the flying purse and even managed to stay up on her high heels. If one of us had mastered the skill of walking with high heels while intoxicated, it had to be Lisa.

”Especially knowing you”, Lisa continued and closed her other eye, pointing a finger gun toward Chaeyoung. ”You cheeky bugger.”

”You taught her that”, I pointed out.

”Oh , I did, didn’t I”, Chaeyoung tried to keep a straight face. And failed. ”I’m so proud.”

”I can definitely see why Bobby likes you. You’re so.. his type.”

”What’s his type, he’s never told me?”

”Well”, Lisa swirled her cocktail and leaned forward, her elbows resting against the bar counter. We had found a small cocktail bar from the VIP area and settled there for a few drinks. ”Pretty much… you.”

”That’s so annoying”, Chaeyoung groaned and bumped her hips to mine, then to Lisa’s. I kept my lips sealed, mixing my drink with an intoxicated grin on my very drunken face. ”You could at least give me something. Tell me about his exes.”

”He doesn’t have exes. Come on, he’s told you. He’s not a relationship guy.”

”Oh he isn’t?” Chaeyoung chuckled and looked at me, her face radiating some stage of irony.

”No he was full on womanizer.”

”Was”, Chae clarified.

”Oh yeah, was. He could never hurt you, you know that right?” Lisa mumbled. 

”That’s true, he couldn’t”, I said. ”I think you two will be the next couple to get married.”

”Now, now. Let’s get this girl married first! Enough about him and I, let’s talk about Donghyuk and his luscious legs.”

”I can’t believe you just said that. Did she just say that?” Lisa turned to me with raised eyebrows. I could only nod and laugh. And I carried on doing just that the entire night. Until I couldn’t keep my head up any longer. All my thoughts and words became a big blur and all I could do was seize the moment and enjoy the blissful numbness. Not even my worst nightmares could disturb the absolute absence I was currently going through.

”Think Jennie’s had… enough…”

”I think we’ve all had.”

”…too much.”

”Exactly.”

I glared at Chaeyoung and Lisa behind my lashes, trying to work out which figure standing in front of me was Lisa. The heels on my feet made it almost impossible for me too keep my balance. I was not the high heel master. Lisa was. I hadn’t even worn heels in ages after meeting Hanbin. ”I’ve had… barely enough!” Sliding the heels off, I stumbled to the side of the pavement and balanced myself against the closest wall I could find. Even that was too far away and I ended up bumping my knee against the concrete. ”! My tights!”

”Don’t take your shoes off! You’re gonna cut yourself.”

I couldn’t focus on whom the voice belonged to. Cut myself with what? Cut myself where? ”Huh? My shoes, they… they aren’t sharp?”

”That’s not wh- ah Jennie put your shoes on, come on.  Otherwise I’m gonna ask that guy to carry you.”
”Which guy?” I started to gaze at the strangers standing around us. All I could see was a sea of young men and a few girls somewhere in between. Everyone looked the same. My head began to fall from my shoulders. It was way too heavy. ”That one?”

”No he’s too brittle. That one.”

I couldn’t see who the finger was pointing at exactly, but one of the guys close to us turned to Chaeyoung and his eyes lit up immediately when he recognized her. ”Oh my god, you’re Rose. Guys! Look it’s Park Chaeyoung.”

Next, things started to escalate very fast. One second I was leaning against a concrete wall, the next I was on the ground, pushed away from my friends by a huge wave of people - mostly guys - who were chanting Chae’s name or asking to get a picture with her. Somewhere above me I saw a slender hand offering to pull me up. Lisa’s face was somewhere in the left co