The sidewalk seemed to be rocking from side-to-side as Seulgi, Summer, and Evanie made their way down Bay Street. Seulgi wasn’t familiar with this part of the city, but Summer seemed to know where she was going. The pounding music of the Chi Phi frat house had long faded in the distance. They were nearing the downtown area of Brunswick; a strip of bars and clubs where the grad students and older undergrads tended to congregate. Lines of people waited by the doors of each spot, and late-night food stands were crowded with ravenously intoxicated students.

    As Seulgi drew in the aromas of falafel and fried beef, she was offered a brief moment of lucidity from the soup of substances her brain was struggling to wade through. She realized how unlike her it was to be in such a situation. Following two women she barely knew through a late night Brunswick, searching for a bar. Didn’t she hate those places? Summer had promised that it would be better than the Chi Phi party, but Seulgi knew that it would still be worse than the safely enclosed walls of her dorm room. In fact, she nearly made the flash decision to turn around, find the nearest bus stop, and march home to enjoy her mixture of highs with the company of her guitar and computer.

    Whether it was the gentle tug of the Xanax folding its hand in hers, or perhaps the wag of Summer’s behind as her sandaled feet clopped against the sidewalk, Seulgi didn’t act on her sudden impulse. Instead she took the right onto Harp Street, where the bars seemed a bit dimmer, a bit less busy. Or maybe they were simply overshadowed by the Galactic Lounge, which lay at the very end of the street, up against a chain-link fence.

    “There,” Summer said, looking back at Seulgi and pointing as if she could have somehow missed the place. “Looks cool, huh?”

    “Yeah. Actually, it does.” Seulgi admitted.

    The Galactic Lounge was covered in an iridescent glow provided by beaming spotlights that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Its exterior was trimmed with corrugated chrome, the type straight out of a ‘70s romance movie, spotless despite the graffiti marking the brick buildings next door. On the roof was a wide, neon-pink sign declaring the lounge’s name, tilted at an upward angle that suggested it was being announced to the heavens.

    “You guys have never been here before?” Seulgi asked, catching up to Summer and Evanie. They remained locked together in a casual embrace, one that exuded the aura of years of intimacy. Seulgi tossed her jealousy away into the soup of alcohol that swirled within her.

    “Nope. Tyler said it was cool though. He said that people from all around come here.” Summer said as they neared the door. A burly-looking, long-haired bouncer in a suit stood outside, hands clasped behind his back. Despite the fact that the sun had set hours ago, he wore sunglasses.

    Evanie tugged on Summer’s sleeve and held her phone up, showing Summer something on the screen. The blonde frowned, took the phone from her partner’s hand, then began furiously typing. Seulgi waited, stealing furtive glances at the bouncer, though he seemed not to notice them at all.

    After an exchange of several texts, Summer shared a meaningful look with Evanie, then turned back to Seulgi. “Hey, listen, we’re really sorry, but we have to go. Tyler got himself into a bit of trouble, and needs us to go help him out.”

    Immediately, Seulgi thought of Sooyoung. “Did something happen at the party?”

    Summer blinked, paused, then shook her head. “No, nothing like that. But we really do have to go. Check out the Galactic Lounge anyway, and let us know how it is. It was nice meeting you!”

    Before Seulgi could utter a word in protest, Summer and Evanie ran back the way they came. The two girls were far quicker than Seulgi expected them to be, jogging between the shade of the houses that lined the road, melding with the slats of darkness, antagonizing the brightness with their distant forms.

    Seulgi knew she should do the same. Turn around, get to the bus stop, and retire for the evening. It was almost midnight after all, and she should really be waking up early tomorrow to study. Pack it all in, let the highs mellow away with sleep, and chalk the night up as a weird college experience. Maybe something to tell her kids about when she was older. A spark of an adventure that held the potential for something grand, but instead sputtered out into a smear of drug-fueled oddity.

    But there was something so enticing about the gilded woodens doors of the Galactic Lounge. That spark of adventure called to her. She attributed it to her inebriation, but she was suddenly possessed by a sense that great things awaited her behind those doors. Yes, she could turn tail and go home, but she couldn’t help but sense the opportunity wafting to her on that springtime breeze. Lightning in a bottle, feathers floating just within her grasp. A shard of time that she could either seize now or leave forever.

    With a boldness that Seulgi had never experienced before, almost as if she were being controlled by an invisible puppet master, one with confidence and social grace, she stepped up to the bouncer, flashed her driver’s license, and was allowed inside.

    Gentle piano met her as she stepped onto the carpeted floor of the Galactic Lounge. The song sounded familiar, and she likely would have been quicker to place it had she not been enthralled by the bar itself. Velvetine cushions lined its former half, curtains of red and gold descending from the ceiling in thin strips to create a series of long-reaching shadows against orbs of dim light overhead. The latter half of the bar was a tiled dance floor, where slender humanoid shapes twirled and spun perfectly to the music, laughing and smiling in their dazzling dresses and well-cut suits. They all seemed distant, shrouded, their features hidden by a trick of color. A semi-circular bar took up the left section of the room, with a stock of ornate, foreign liquors, many of which Seulgi had neither seen nor heard of before. A single woman sat at that bar, glass of red wine in her right hand, chatting with the stout bartender and gesturing toward the dancers.

    Seulgi loped over to the bar and took a seat three chairs down from the woman. The barkeep, a mustachioed man with thick-rimmed glasses and a pink, sleeveless tuxedo, slid a menu her way.

    “And where are you from, young lady?” he asked. His voice was smooth, words flowing into each other like streamwater over rocks.

    “California,” Seulgi said, before realizing that her answer probably wasn’t what the man was looking for. “But I’m a student at Bristol. That’s why I’m so far from home.”

    The barman chuckled. “You’re much closer to home than most of the people here. Anyway, I’ll give you some time with the menu. Let me know when you want to order something.”

    Seulgi thanked him, glad that he wasn’t the chatty type. He returned to the wine-drinking woman, leaning on the counter to speak with her. Seulgi caught a glimpse of her profile as she adjusted a lock of her jet black hair.

Seulgi’s chest tightened with a caught breath. The woman was stunning. Skin the color of fresh cream, pink lips parts to reveal a set of perfect teeth, smokey eyes crinkled with mirth as she laughed at something the bartender said. A small birthmark dotted the corner of her eyebrow. Rather than tarnishing her otherwise pristine visage, it enhanced her image, made her appear as a human being rather than an idealized sculpture. Without that birthmark, she would perhaps be too perfect, bordering on otherworldly.

    The woman turned back to the dancers, making another gesture, robbing Seulgi of her ability to ogle at that perfect portrait. As she returned her attention to the complex menu, Seulgi reasoned that it was likely for the best. It wouldn’t do to be thrown out for staring at a beautiful woman.

    Seulgi glanced up, catching a momentary glimpse of herself in the bar’s tiled mirror. Compared to the opulence of her surroundings, her bloodshot eyes, frizzy hair, and ratty clothing looked deplorable. With a loathing rapidity that she was all too familiar with, she looked back at the menu.

    The drinks had fancy names, some with ingredients listed beneath them, others without any explanation at all. Half of the menu seemed to be in a foreign language, with runes unlike any Seulgi had ever seen before. Striking lines and curves that resembled intricate hieroglyphs, they swam before her vision like optical pranksters.

    “Have you decided yet?” the barman inquired suddenly, causing Seulgi to jump. Her sudden motion made the stool beneath her squeak against the floor, and to her immense panic, the wine-drinking woman turned toward the noise.

    “Uhhh… umm…” Seulgi stuttered, willing herself not to look over at the woman, whose stare she could now feel boring into her. “I actually am not very familiar with most of these drinks. Do you have any recommendations?”

     Before the barkeeper could speak, a series of huskily-toned syllables floated their way to Seulgi’s ear, forcing her head to whip around and regard their source. Entranced, she watched the pink curves of that woman’s lips as they formed words. Sounds that Seulgi should have been able to decipher, but in her panicked stupor, was simply unable to.

    The woman paused, brow descending in an expression of worry.

    “Ah, um, sorry, could you repeat that please?” Seulgi squeaked.

    A goddesses’ smile appeared on the woman’s features, and she spoke again, louder this time, as if Seulgi’s faultily wired brain was her fault.

    “I would recommend the Petite Sirah,” the woman said, holding up her glass. “It’s my favorite one on the menu.”

    Seulgi bobbed her head like a dog in training, then turned to the bartender and mumbled for a glass of the Petite Sarah. She hoped it wasn’t too expensive; she only had about twenty bucks in her wallet.

    As the man went to fetch her drink, the woman spoke again.

    “You haven’t been here before, have you?” she asked before taking a long sip of her wine.

    “No. My friends suggested that I come here,” Seulgi said, sentences spilling from her as though she were trying to grasp water in her palm. “Then they ran off, so I came in alone.”

    To Seulgi’s utmost shock, the woman stood from her seat, red dress flowing around her legs as she moved, and sat in the seat beside Seulgi’s.

    “Then I’ll keep you company. My name is Joohyun. What’s yours?”

    So frank, so candid, so upfront. Radiant in that sparkling crimson dress, black gems of her earrings glimmering as she moved her head

    “Joohyun? Like… the comets?” Seulgi said. Then, remembering what Joohyun had asked her, “Seulgi is my name.”

    Joohyun laughed. It was a crystalline, genuine sound, powerful enough to make Seulgi’s own cheeks bunch up into a wide, stupid smile in response.

    “Yes, like the comets.” Joohyun said, deep brown pupils sparkling with humor. “Seulgi is a sweet name. Korean, like mine, right?”

    “Yeah.” The bartender placed the glass of wine before her. She picked it up, trying to emulate the same delicate, finger-led grip that Joohyun used.

    “To new friends and good wine,” Joohyun said winsomely, clicking their glasses together. They drank, and Seulgi found the licorice-tinged, dry wine to be far more enjoyable than any alcohol she’d had before.

    “Are you from this area?” Seulgi asked.

    Joohyun took another sip of her wine, draining the glass, then motioned for a refill. Seulgi couldn’t help but stare at her hands. Small, spotless, perfect for holding and .

    Jesus. Seulgi thought to herself. You really are a horndog when you’re on Xanax.

“No. I’m just in town, visiting with my sisters.” Joohyun said. “They were on the floor a second ago. I’ve seemed to have lost track of them, though.”

    “How can you even see over there?” Seulgi asked, squinting at the dance floor. The dancers were still mere blurs of color and flesh. Their movements were slow, but they were as impalpable as motes of dust in a sunbeam.

    “You can’t?” Joohyun asked. A kind of distant realization worked its way into her expression.

    “No. The… shadows over there are being weird.” Seulgi said. Before she could stop herself, she added, “Though, it might be because I’m truly the farthest thing from sober right now.”

    Thankfully, due to the blessing of whatever gods above had allowed Seulgi to survive this far into the conversation, Joohyun found this hilarious. She tilted her head back, glee etched into her countenance, complex and gorgeous as the runes on the menus before them.

    When Joohyun had recovered fully from that particular spell of laughter, she lifted her newly refilled wine glass and took another swig. Seulgi followed suit, though she was hesitant to attempt to continue drinking at the same pace as her new friend. Her stomach was already beginning to pain her, and the room was tipping back and forth as though they were on a ship.

    “So, you go to the university here?” Joohyun asked, restrained giggles still bubbling up between her words. “What is that like?”

    Seulgi shrugged, briefly wondering how old Joohyun was. Her appearance was girlish and pretty, but her tone and mannerisms were mature. “It’s alright, I guess. A lot of studying.”

    Another sip of wine. “Mmm. But that’s what university is for, isn’t it? What field are you pursuing?”

    “I’m majoring in Biology. My parents want to go to med school.” Seulgi looked away, focusing on the silky forms of the dancers. The violet-black patterns they spun as they moved were so defined, so crisp, so tangible. For intoxicated hallucinations, they looked so… real.

    “But you don’t want to go to med school.” Joohyun said.

    Seulgi sighed. “No. I really want to play and write music. But I couldn’t just major in art or music theory.”

    “Why not?” Joohyun asked sincerely. Seulgi paused, gazing at Joohyun’s captivating concern, teetering on the precipice of becoming lost in those pools of warm hazel.

 “Well, uh,” Seulgi coughed, drank her wine, and coughed again. “Those types of degrees don’t really make money. And my parents want me to do well, to live comfortably and happily.”

“But will you be living happily if you don’t pursue the things you want to?” Joohyun asked. There was no pseudo-sageliness or edged humor to her question, as Seulgi had often heard from her peers. Just honest curiosity.

What an enigma of a woman.

“Who knows,” Seulgi said, brushing away the associated rush of emotions that threatened to assault her. She decided it was best to shift the topic elsewhere. “And you? What do you and your sisters do?”

Joohyun took a long drink of wine, then turned away from Seulgi entirely, staring at the dance floor again. “We travel. We drift from place to place, skim the surface of whatever culture we find, then continue on to our next destination.”

“Are you… like Instagram models? Or promoters or something?” Seulgi asked. Joohyun’s answer was rather nebulous. In a sober headspace, Seulgi might have refrained from attempting to dig too deep, but she was brave tonight.

Well, brave in comparison to her normal attitude.

Joohyun lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. The undulations of the muscle in her exposed back were impossible to ignore. “Something like that, yes.”

Despite Seulgi’s reflexive disdain for those who chose social media as their profession, her present opinion toward Joohyun remained unmarred.

“I know a bunch of girls from my old high school who ended up in that business. Most of them didn’t get very far with it.”

Joohyun spun back around in her chair and leaned forward. Seulgi could smell the woman’s perfume. There was lavender in it, maybe a hint of jasmine, layered over Joohyun’s natural scent.

“You are originally from California. I heard you mention it to Thomas.” Joohyun said excitedly. “What is it like there?”

Disregarding her freakish hopes of discovering what Joohyun’s natural scent was like, Seulgi tapped her lip in contemplation. A gesture of Drunken Seulgi attempting to be cute, despite Sober Seulgi’s knowledge that it was anything but.

    “Well, to start, the weather is much nicer.” Seulgi said. “It’s nice here now, but in Cali, or at least the part of the state I live in, it’s always nice. Never gets lower than forty-eight degrees during the winter. Light jackets, crowded beaches, and wonderful sunsets. The water’s always so frigid, but it’s clear and refreshing.”

    “New Jersey has beaches like that too, you know,” Joohyun said, “Though I’ve never been to them, my youngest sister, Yerim, has.”

    “Oh, I know,” Seulgi said, moonlit scenes of midnight beach frolics with her old schoolmates playing in her head. “But… there’s just… I don’t know, some weird difference between the two.”

    “Perhaps it’s the fact that you grew up there. The associations we make with certain places deepens our connections to them, especially in retrospect. I find that whenever I revisit a place, it’s never truly as nice as I’ve made it out to be in my head.” Joohyun eyed Seulgi’s empty glass. “Do you want a refill? I’ll pay.”

    Seulgi swallowed, stared at the pink dregs at the bottom of her glass, and nodded. Too many things were bouncing around her skull to even consider saying no. Was this sculpture of a woman - both in physical appearance and mentation - really offering to buy her a drink?

    Joohyun flagged down the bartender (named Thomas, apparently) with a subtle but striking wave of her hand. Did she command such attention and respect through her looks, her grace, or her demeanor? Seulgi couldn’t tell, but she suspected it to be a combination of all three.

    More Petite Sirah was poured, followed by another clink of their glasses, and Seulgi sealed her fate. The rumblings in her gut had become agonizing, waves of nausea rising in even as she gulped down the crimson poison. She fought against the tide, feeling as though she were a child trying to brace against the indifferent crash of a tsunami.

    Good God, not here. Not in front of this woman.

    “Hey,” Seulgi said casually, “Is there a… washroom around here?”

    “Washroom” sounded more refined to her than “bathroom”.

    “Yes,” Joohyun said, pointing to a spot adjacent to the dance floor. “It’s over there.”

    Seulgi thanked her, stood, and tried not to appear hurried. She swept past the bar, head down, fists clenched at her side. She breathed slow, steady inhales. That was supposed to help, right? Or was it just a placebo? Regardless, it gave her something to fixate on besides her watering mouth.

    Seulgi crossed the threshold from the bar proper, just skimming the dancefloor, barely stepping onto it. With that single footfall, the atmosphere transformed. For a moment, she melded with the blackness that shrouded the dancers. Her stomach dropped and she lost all sense of herself. She was adrift, floating across a vacuum expanse as the dancers paraded and pirouetted by. They were no longer hidden by the dark; instead, they shone like blazing figurines of light, wisps of plasma extending from their limbs and clothing. Their laughter and whispers echoed all around her, filling that emptiness with what Seulgi could only perceive as solid waves of sound.

    With her mind diverted from the urgency of her sickness, relieved of the burden of alcohol and drugs and , she realized that this was no hallucination. The surreality of it, the reality-bending nature of whatever was going on in the Galactic Lounge, crashed into her.

    And then she was in the bathroom. Seulgi froze in that scantily-lit hallway, not daring to look back. Sweat pricked her brow and itched at her underarms. She seemed to be regaining awareness of her bodily processes, and with it returned the nausea, increased several fold, so potent that she actually broke into a run.

    Seulgi wretched into an ivory-colored throne, stomach heaving, nuclear-hued contents filling the bowl. She tried and failed to keep herself quiet.

    On her second heave, she heard someone entering the bathroom. She didn’t have the strength to look up, much less to shut the stall door behind her. The dread of Joohyun walking in on her like this managed to momentarily overshadow the misery of retching, and she tried to compose herself. It didn’t work. She vomited again.

    “Oh no,” a woman with a high-pitched voice gasped.

    “She likely just drank too much. I’m surprised...” another voice, deeper but still feminine, answered, trailing into a whisper midway through her sentence.

    A hushed exchange followed, and Seulgi was able to make out fragments and pieces of words, but nothing as concrete as a full word.

    Seulgi made an attempt to look up from the bowl, but vertigo struck her down, and she vomited for a fourth time. Each episode was becoming briefer and less violent, which was encouraging, but she was still locked within the waves of her sickness.

    Then, someone was tapping her on the shoulder. Slack-jawed, reeling from the pain and the bleariness, she managed to push herself into a position where she could see the person beside her.

    A woman with wide cheekbones and youthful features that suggested she was of cherub descent held out a glass of water.

    “Hi,” she said, speaking with the slow calculation of an individual who was unfamiliar with the English language. “My name is Yeri. Do you need some help?”

    That name was familiar. She’d heard it recently. Where…?

    “You’re Joohyun’s sister,” Seulgi mumbled, trying not to slouch into the toilet bowl. Yerim saw her wilting and with surprising strength for such a small girl, lifted Seulgi and propped her into a secure position.

    “Yes. You know Joohyun-unnie?”

    “I just met her tonight, actually.” Seulgi took a tentative sip of water. It was cold and fresh, and she used the first mouthful to rinse the acidic debris from her teeth and tongue.

    “You’re the girl she was talking to at the bar,” Yerim said offhandedly. “Are you feeling a little better?”

    Seulgi sat up, now able to look upon Yerim fully. A shaking, buzzing, post-vomit relief was flooding her. The drunkenness still remained, but she felt more in control now.

    “Yeah, actually.” Seulgi tilted the cup back, captured an ice cube in , and on it. “Was there someone else here with you before?”

    “Oh, yes.” Yerim said, looking apologetic. “Seungwan. I think she went to get Joohyun…”

    Fear struck Seulgi’s heart as the bathroom door squeaked open. As if on cue, as if summoned by the utterance of her name, Joohyun swept into the stall and crouched next to her sister. Beside each other, Seulgi could see the resemblance between the two. Similar jawlines, identical nostril shapes, the same unfathomable, expressive eyes.

    “Oh stars,” Joohyun muttered. She took Seulgi by the corner of her jaw, pulled a handkerchief from seemingly nowhere, and began blotting at the corners of Seulgi’s mouth and chin. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice how sick you were getting before. I shouldn’t have pressured you into taking that extra drink.”

    Seulgi opened to answer, but her vocal chords had knotted up. Joohyun’s touch was so tender, so careful with the way she cleaned and fretted and fussed.

    “Do you have a way to get home?” Joohyun asked. Seulgi felt her spirit sink slightly at the question. Yes, she did need to get home; her clothes were stained with puke and she was far too drunk to be wandering the streets of Brunswick alone. But couldn’t she enjoy Joohyun’s company just a tad longer?

    “I was going to take the bus…” Seulgi said. With Joohyun’s caresses ceased, she attempted to stand. It was a futile effort. Yerim and Joohyun were able to catch her before she fell, but the notion that she could go out in public without being immediately arrested for public intoxication was laughable.

    “Yerim, go have Thomas call a cab for her. Tell him to put it on my bill.” Joohyun said. Her sister nodded and scurried from the bathroom.

    “I can’t make you pay-”

    “It’s alright, Seulgi,” Joohyun said, a hint of playfulness in her voice. “You can just owe me a drink for next time.”

    Seulgi stuttered speechlessly for several torturous seconds, then managed to eke out a small word of agreeance. Joohyun giggled at that. By a random miracle of the universe, she genuinely seemed to find Seulgi’s dreadful awkwardness charming.

    “Here, let’s try to stand again.” Joohyun said. With the slow care of one recovering from a trauma, Seulgi managed to get to her feet. To her relief, Joohyun only had to hold her for stabilization; her swaying, buckling knees were weak, but her core strength was returning.

    “Good job. Let’s try some steps now.” Joohyun said patiently, taking Seulgi by the elbow, placing an arm around her shoulders. In her efforts to keep herself from falling, she was unable to fully appreciate the fact that Joohyun technically embracing her. Seulgi decided that was probably for the best.

    “Have you ever worked as a nurse or something?” Seulgi found herself blurting out as they gradually made their way out to the sink.

    Joohyun let out a muted chuckle and shook her head. Seulgi washed her hands, rinsed again, and tried to scrub away the disgusting brown marks on her flannel. Joohyun took over the latter task, applying a liberal amount of cold water to each stain.

    “If you feel up to it when you get home, throw this in the wash immediately. Hottest water possible, with the strongest detergent you have. I got most of the solid stuff out, so it shouldn’t permanently stain.”

    “Don’t know if I can manage that,” Seulgi admitted with a shy smile. “But I’ll try.”

    With Joohyun at her side, Seulgi dragged herself out of the bathroom and onto the dance floor. She let out a cry of protest, nearly tripping over as she remembered that insane floating sensation from earlier. However, Joohyun caught her and reassured her. Without incident, they made it past the dance floor and all the way to the front, where the bouncer held the door open for them.

    Did I just imagine that before?

    The wonderful taste of fresh air interrupted Seulgi’s ruminations, bringing her attention to the black Lincoln parked in the road before them.

    “That was fast,” Joohyun commented, guiding Seulgi to the car. “Where is your home?”

    In a small voice, Seulgi gave Joohyun her dorm address, which the woman relayed to the driver. She then opened the back door and gently prodded Seulgi onto the leather seat.

    “Wait, before I go,” Seulgi said, spurred by the sudden realization that, should she not act, this could be the last time she’d ever see this woman. “What’s your phone number?”

    “Oh, I don’t have a cell phone,” Joohyun said through the window. “Just meet me here next Friday night. I’ll be here.”

    “Are you sure?” Seulgi asked, trying to keep her neediness, her craving to know this woman further, from showing.

    “I am positive.” Joohyun said. She reached into the car and clasped Seulgi’s hand between both of hers. Her palms were warm but dry, and Seulgi could swear they were filled with lively, lovely electricity.

    Then the driver was off, pulling a K-turn to get them back in the right direction. Both Joohyun and the Galactic Lounge faded into the distance like lost dreams in the dead of night.

---------------------------------

So I finished this up/edited it today, and was going to release it next week or so, but since these are my first posts in a really long time, I decided to post the first two chapters in quick succession. Plus I wanted to at least be able to introduce Joohyun as a character. In the future, I'll probably try to do updates every week to week and a half, depending on my work schedule and such.

Remember to upvote if you enjoy the story!

Thanks for reading<3