"So, is this the part of the night where you ditch me so you can go make up with your friend, who's not your girlfriend?"

Sehun flinched at the sound of Carmen's voice. Somehow, he'd almost forgotten that she was there; sitting across from him in the dimly lit booth they'd just settled into. Somewhere, beyond her shoulder, he could see the place in the crowd where Soojung had just disappeared.

It wasn't that he hadn't expected to run into Soojung at some point tonight—hell, they were sharing a hotel room—but he sure as hell hadn't considered the fact that he'd walk into the bar and, not five minutes later, would see her with Andreas who, true to form, had some ing sixth sense for showing up when, and where, Sehun least wanted to see him. 

Which, for the last two days, had been anywhere near Soojung.

A litany of swear words flooded through his brain even as he tried, and failed, to focus on Carmen—Carmen who had on this y, silky peach-colored dress that left one creamy shoulder bare; Carmen who dripped an earthy uality; whose room he'd spent the night in...who, despite all of that, he was having a hard time paying any real attention to. 

And not because he was distracted by the way the fabric of her dress was clinging to her undeniable curves. She was gorgeous, and totally into him. Too bad that, in the mood he was in, she might as well be wearing jeans and an old sweater. 

And now, she wanted to talk about Soojung. ing fantastic. 

He took a fast, deep swallow from his beer, and glanced away from Carmen. "I don't really want to rehash the whole Soojung thing. It's over with."

It wasn't really over, though. He'd been an . He knew this, but that didn't mean he was anywhere near okay with the fact that less than twenty-four hours after they'd argued about Andreas, the first person he saw her with tonight was ing Andreas. Yeah, he didn't put it past the to hit on her, buy her a drink, like she'd said, but how ing hard was it to walk away from someone?

He took another long swallow from his beer. Seeing her with Andreas...it'd done weird, angry things to his insides. And, it wasn't just that he couldn't stand the sight of Andreas. That was part of it, yeah, but a lot of this...it was because he didn't like seeing her with anyone.

Like last night. Walking in and finding her asleep next to Sam, then seeing her with Andreas just now...it was all ing with his head. 

Like she'd heard his thoughts, Carmen leaned toward him, across the small table separating them. "Look, you're obviously not in a great mood, and I know I don't really know you all that well, but..." She pressed her perfectly glossed lips together, seeming uncertain, then, she shrugged her bare shoulder, "from what I just saw, you should really be talking things out with your friend."

Sehun stared at her, trying his damnedest to keep from swearing, or, better yet, just getting up and walking away. This is what he got for bringing out some woman he barely knew. He almost never did the whole morning after thing, but with Carmen, he'd almost felt obligated. 

Thanks to her whole sleeping pill routine last night, they hadn't exactly gotten around to sealing the deal. Fifteen minutes after he'd shown up at her room, they'd been half-, and full-on making out, before she'd pulled back with a huge yawn and apologetically said she was too tired to keep things up. 

And, he'd been...relieved. 

It'd taken up to that point for him to realize that, even drunk, he wasn't any more interested in hooking up with Carmen, than when he'd turned her down in the elevator.

He'd stayed the night, though, and now he was paying the price.

"Honestly," he gritted out, staring out across the dimly lit dance floor, "it's not a huge deal. Soojung's fine. Don't worry about it."

Carmen laughed lightly. "Believe me, the guy never thinks it's a big deal. But I was there just now, and whatever's up with you and your friend, it's definitely a big deal to her." She paused, studying him. "Don't you think you should go talk to her?"

Sehun forced a smile. "What, and leave you here, alone, for every guy in the room to hit on while I'm gone?" He leaned back, sliding his arm the length of the booth back, with what he knew was his cockiest smile. "I don't think so."

Under other circumstances, that smile had gotten him a whole lot of play, so he was wasn't surprised when Carmen slid out of the booth and circled around to his side of the table.

What did surprise him was that, rather than sliding in next to him, she grabbed her small, beaded purse off the table, and rested a hand along the inside of his thigh.

"We've still got unfinished business," she murmured, "so don't think I won't come looking for you if you do actually ditch me. But I've got two sisters and about a dozen female cousins back home."

He scowled, both confused and annoyed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Simple." A slow, y smile touched her lips. "Female solidarity, first. y as hell pastry chefs, second." She leaned in and dropped a lingering kiss at the corner of his mouth. "Now, go make up with your friend, so I don't have to feel guilty when we pick up where we left off last night." On that parting line, she turned around and walked away.

"Seriously?" Sehun muttered, watching her go. Then, swearing under his breath, he downed the last of his beer and signaled a passing waitress for another.

He braced both elbows on the table and began to strip the label from his empty bottle, piling bits of plastic next to his cocktail napkin, all the while, thinking about what a complete cluster- this whole trip had turned into. 

Jesus, he was exhausted.

Between his whiskey buzz from last night, and all this with Soojung, he hadn't exactly gotten a lot of sleep. He'd been fine in competition today, but he couldn't keep going like this. 

And, still, he was too keyed up, too wired to have any prayer at getting any sleep tonight, either. What he really needed was to clear his head, exhaust himself—and over-priced drinks and the ty techno music pounding from the bar's sound system wasn't getting him any closer to that. 

But the hotel gym might. It was what he'd done in high school, when things with his dad got really bad. He'd hit the gym for two, three hours after school, or run the track until his muscles burned, until he wanted to puke from exhaustion, until all he could think about was water and sleep.

Weirdly, that kind of masochistic oblivion was appealing at the moment.

He tossed some cash on the table to cover the rest of his bill and headed for the door. He had to go back to the room, to change clothes first, so, with luck, Soojung was waiting for Sam somewhere, or still getting hit on by Andreas. 

He didn't give a , as long as she wasn't in the hotel room. What she did, and with who, wasn't his problem.

. Scowling, he jammed his hands into his pants pockets and stalked down the hall toward the elevators. He'd just reached them when one chimed, and opened, releasing a crowd of people—and Sam.

Sehun swore under his breath. So much for Sam and Soojung being together—not that he was really a fan of that option, anyway. Not after the way he'd found them last night. 

He flicked a cursory glance in Sam's direction, as he punched the button for the elevator closest to him. "Hey."

"Hey." Sam approached, his brow creased. "You seen Soojung?"

Sehun looked at him for a long moment. Seriously? Of all the people to bring up right now. "Earlier, yeah," he ground out, turning to stare at the elevator doors. "In the bar."

"Was she okay?"

Sehun let out a short, harsh laugh. "'Okay,' how? Like, did I go all big, bad Sehun on her, and make her cry?"

"No," Sam snapped, stepping in between Sehun and the elevator door, his jaw tight. "Like, was she okay when you talked to her? I got a really weird phone cal