Drabble based on the winning prompt for the Twelfth Drabble Giveaway I held on Twitter (link): adult wenrene + playground slide + party hat

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“Happy birthday.”

Seungwan looks up at the unexpected voice to find a woman around her age staring down at her. She has long dark hair that falls in messy locks, a few loose strands framing her perfectly-sculpted face where even the clearly pronounced bags under her eyes seem to only contribute to the harmony. 

For a beat, Seungwan is confused, and more than a little distracted by the stranger’s effortless beauty, until she remembers the party hat sitting firmly on her head. And then she is acutely aware of, not only that, but every detail about her current situation: sitting on a playground slide by herself, alone, half-drunk, in the middle of the night.

But it’s not like the stranger is doing much better, either. She’s at this deserted park too, looking like she put on the very first clothes her eyes landed on as she left the house, and she’s holding- Is that a burrito?

“It’s not my birthday,” Seungwan remembers to respond, after taking all this in at a glance. Or, at least she thinks it was at a glance. It might have been longer. She doesn’t have the best grasp of time when she drinks. “That would be sad.”

“Yes, that would be sad,” the woman says with a sarcastic lilt that even half-drunk Seungwan couldn’t miss.

“Hey, you’re the one wandering alone eating a burrito in the middle of the night.”

“It’s a celebration burrito.” A pause. Seungwan blinks up at her. She’s curious, now. “I just quit my job.”

“Oh. Congrats, I guess. Do you want the hat?”

“You know what? Yes, I do want the hat.”

Seungwan pulls it off without hesitation and offers it up to the woman, who takes it and awkwardly slips it on with her free hand. She slumps down to take a seat next to Seungwan, although there isn’t much room left. They end up smooshed together, in a position that sober Seungwan might find distracting but which current Seungwan only registers whenever the woman’s bony elbow slams into her ribs.

“What’s the occasion, then?” the stranger asks. “If it’s not your birthday?”

“I’m not sure. I crashed a party and just kind of went with the flow. You can always trust a party with hats.” She sighs. The woman’s elbow hits her again and she wheezes out a cough. “Then everyone said to meet up at Jongin’s place, and I have no idea who that is, so I just nodded along then snuck away. And now here I am.”

“Why not just go home?”

“That would be sad.”

“Your concept of sad just keeps surprising me.”

“Whatever, burrito girl.”

“Joohyun,” the stranger volunteers. 

Seungwan registers the information slowly then, with only slight hesitation, raises her hand and angles it towards the stranger - Joohyun. It’s an awkward angle for a handshake, but they manage it without further elbow incidents.

“Seungwan,” she offers in exchange. “Why did you quit your job?”

“ boss,” Joohyun says without emotion. “I want to write for TV, but to get a foot in the door you have to start by being a personal assistant for people that I’m sure Satan himself would consider a bit much.”

“That bad?”

“The guy who made me buy gifts for his mistress was probably the nicest of the bunch.”

“Oof.”

“This one made me book her the earliest flight for the day, then woke me up screaming because the flight was too early. Usually that’s just another Wednesday, but in this case-”

“It was Saturday?” Seungwan offers sagely. Joohyun blinks at her, expression totally blank.

“Technically correct. But… I guess that was the last drop, or something. It was kind of a miserable week altogether.”

“That ,” Seungwan says with full conviction. “I hope your next boss is nicer. And doesn’t fly that much, because you know, that’s terrible for the environment.”

“They won’t be. But, eh, I’m making contacts.” Joohyun just sounds resigned, and maybe not that convinced herself. Seungwan gets the feeling. “Why did you crash a party?”

“Instagram,” Seungwan offers cryptically. Joohyun’s brow raises, clearly curious. “I was scrolling through my feed and I saw that my ex just proposed to his girlfriend. And my other ex was sharing wedding photos. And my other other ex, from high school, just had twins.”

“Good for him,” Joohyun offers blandly. 

“Her,” Seungwan corrects mindlessly. The brow raises again. “And not good. Probably an awful experience. The happy Instagram façade doesn’t fool me.”

“Twins are rough,” Joohyun agrees easily. Seungwan nods along.

“Exactly! The childbirth alone must have been a nightmare.” She pauses, satisfied with the support, until she remembers that she was going somewhere with this. “Anyway, meanwhile, I can’t even get a dog because of my apartment’s stupid no-pets policy. You know?”

She lets out a deep sigh, vaguely aware of Joohyun’s eyes still fixed on her. A hand reaches out to her.

“You want the rest of my burrito?” 

Seungwan watches the offering hovering between them, clearly intended to cheer her up. It’s… not the best way she’s been consoled, if she’s being honest. It’s a stranger’s half-eaten food, if she’s being even more honest. It’s just a weird offer, right?

“Are you drunk too?” she eventually asks. Joohyun does not pull her arm back.

“I had about ten hours of sleep this week, so kind of.”

She sighs. “Sure, let’s have it.”

“I can be your girlfriend, if you want,” Joohyun suggests halfway through Seungwan’s first bite. She does her best not to choke, but still coughs like one of her lungs is making a run for it. “For Instagram. If you have any other exes to show off to. We can take a selfie or something.”

Oh.

“Oh. Thanks, that’s… really nice of you, actually. But Instagram isn’t really the problem. More of a reminder.” 

“Right.”

She takes another bite, careful to chew very slowly, just in case Joohyun has another surprise up her sleeve. It’s not the greatest idea, because it really allows her senses to dwell on the cold meat and the rubbery tortilla. She makes a face.

“Not the greatest burrito.”

“Yeah, well, it was 10.99 for a 6-pack at the supermarket,” Joohyun says. Seungwan hums in a way that she hopes is more polite than disgusted. “Nothing was open at this time of night, I had to make do with what was in the fridge. It was either this or a celebration avocado salad, and that’s harder to eat on the go.”

“Now I want a proper burrito,” Seungwan sighs despondently. Probably still drunk, then.

“Well, stuff should start opening soon. I don’t know about burritos, but we could go get something to eat. My schedule has definitely freed up.”

Joohyun’s suggestion takes Seungwan by surprise, but definitely not in a bad way. Actually, she’s glad Joohyun seems to be feeling the same way she does. She doesn’t want to say goodbye just yet, and maybe it’s just the alcohol - or the sleep deprivation - talking, but they seem to get along so easily. She’s just shared things that she was too embarrassed to text her closest friends, things that, out in the open, suddenly don’t feel so awful. So what if she’s still single? Love can land on your lap at any moment. Any place.

She nods her agreement, letting a smile flit across her face. With a quick judging glance at the burrito still in her hand, she gingerly drops it back in Joohyun’s grasp, the woman taking it without much enthusiasm.

“So what’s next?” she asks, wiping her hands on her pants. Joohyun hums.

“I’m on the longlist for a script competition thing. I guess I’ll wait for that before I apply for something else, just to catch my breath. Maybe send some emails to those contacts I’ve been slaving away for. You?”

“I’ll stop looking at Instagram on Friday nights, for starters.” Joohyun is studying the burrito, probably wondering whether to finish it or just chuck it in the nearest trash bin, but she snorts at Seungwan’s comment. Seungwan bites back a proud grin at that, eyes remaining stubbornly on the woman’s profile. “Try to live my own life instead of looking at other people’s. Maybe… get a cute girl’s number?” she finally tries, because you can always try, especially when you’ve still got some liquid courage buzzing in your veins.

“You think there’ll be any at breakfast?” Joohyun asks distractedly, still studying that stupid burrito. Seungwan’s heart sinks for a beat, which is silly, because they’ve really only just met, but then there’s a smirk tugging at Joohyun’s lips, amused and cutely lopsided. “You know, you didn’t even ask me if I’m single.”

From the smile, Seungwan can guess she is, but she plays along.

“You are too pretty to be single. But I figured, you must be so busy with that job… And you offered to be my fake Instagram girlfriend so easily… Plus, you know…”

“Everything about how we met?” Joohyun finishes for her, saving her the trouble of pointing out how the circumstances of their meeting aren’t really flattering to either of them.

“I wouldn’t put it like that.” 

She would. But not when she’s flirting.

“Why don’t you buy me breakfast and we’ll go from there?” Joohyun asks, and that’s confirmation enough for Seungwan. She puts on her best smile.

“I mean, I have to, after you’ve just told me you’re unemployed.”

“Plus, it’s my birthday.”

“It- What?”

Joohyun points at the party hat with a wide grin. “Why else would I have this hat?”

Seungwan can’t help but laugh at that. 

She’s still trying to figure out this woman, who keeps offering up the unexpected, but it seems like they’ll have time for that. Breakfast, for now, and after that, who knows? So far, what started out as a pretty crappy Friday night has turned into a much better Saturday morning. Or will, once the sun rises.

She gets to her feet with a smile and reaches out a hand to pull up Joohyun.

“Well, then. Lead the way, birthday girl.”