Seulgi and Sooyoung spent the remainder of the night bar-hopping. The hours ticked by in a blur of drink, faraway voices, and random, disjointed shards of awareness. Hands holding up a collection of filled shot glasses. Sooyoung bent over the sidewalk, retching into a gutter. Stumbling up to a food cart, incoherently ordering a sandwich with fries, mozzarella sticks, and ketchup. The strobing reds and blues of approaching campus police. Footsteps clopping against cement in the cold night. The relieving warmth of bedsheets.

    When consciousness found Seulgi that morning, the sun was still low in the sky. The hangover wasn’t as bad as she expected - less of a hangover, more of a feeling of still-drunk displacement - but her memory was terribly fuzzy. Sooyoung was a snoring lump on her own bed, curled up beneath the blankets. Seulgi sat up, noting the unopened water bottle sitting on the desk by her bedhead. Had Drunken Seulgi left that for Sober Seulgi in the morning? Probably not. Drunken Seulgi wasn’t the type for such foresight.

    Seulgi sat up, then paused to allow her stomach to settle. She looked down at her left hand, saw the gleam of a ring there, felt an ache in her chest that was unrelated to acid reflux. Her logical side told her to remove it, throw it in the trash, and forget about Joohyun and the Galactic Lounge. Move on with her life, continue her studies, put it all behind her.

    But really, how could she? There were infinite mysteries left uncovered, questions that begged to be answered. Even without the context of Joohyun’s presence, there was an entire world that existed beside Seulgi’s own, and she felt an intense compulsion to explore it.

    She stood, let out a frustrated huff. Who was she kidding? Taking Joohyun’s influence out of the equation was impossible to do. Seulgi’s feelings for her still blazed like a supernova, consuming all in its path. Perhaps that phoenix starburst had even been enhanced by the revelation that Joohyun was a married woman.

    Sooyoung stirred, rolled over, regarded Seulgi with a pair of bleary eyes.

    “How ya holding up, pal?” she asked, voice raspy. Seulgi passed her the water bottle, which she gratefully accepted.

“Fine, I guess. We were absolute degenerates last night, huh?”

    “Welcome to the life.” Sooyoung sprung up, swept herself into a standing position with the grace of a woman who had just slept a restful, sober eight hours. “I’m surprised you aren’t freaking out about it yet. Don’t you have like a million assignments to do?”

    Seugi shrugged. She had another study group to lead this evening, and at least seven hours worth of studying and research to do before then. Yet, for once, she couldn’t be bothered to care. There was no carefree release to it, as she fantasized about when she pictured a life without anxiety. She just felt… hollow.

“I’m sorry about the whole thing with Joohyun,” Sooyoung said sympathetically, all humor gone from her voice. “Romance can be a nightmare sometimes.”

Another noncommittal shrug from Seulgi as she gathered her bath things. Not that she felt like getting out of bed at all; she wanted to just lay there, let the day slip by as she stared at the peeling plaster ceiling.

“It’s alright. At least you and Yerim seemed to hit it off.” Seulgi said, mostly just to make an attempt at conversation.

Sooyoung brightened, though it was clear that she restrained herself, unwilling to show her true mirth at this time. For that, Seulgi was grateful.

“Yeah. She’s an absolute cutie pie. I’m really excited for our date Sunday night.”

 For a moment, Seulgi forgot her melancholy, forgot about Joohyun’s betrayal.

“Did you just call her a cutie pie?” Seulgi asked. “And when’s the last time you went on an actual date?”

Sooyoung’s cheeks flared a rosey red. “I don’t know, she’s, you know, really cool. I mean, she’s super hot too. Have you seen her s? They’re a big reason I’m into her, if you know what I mean. It’s not like…”

The younger girl trailed off as she caught Seulgi’s look of utter incredulity.

“Fine, I have a crush,” Sooyoung said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Sue me.”

Just like the crush I have on Joohyun. Except mine is just a worthless, doomed fantasy.

Deflated, Seulgi collected the remainder of her things, took a final sip of water, and made her way toward the door.

    “Well, hopefully your date goes better than mine and Joohyun’s last night.” Seulgi said, failing to keep the envy from her tone.

    Seulgi didn’t wait for her roommate’s response before heading to the bathroom. She did have lots to do that day, after all.

***

    When Seulgi returned to her room, she found a ten-milligram capsule of Adderall wrapped in a napkin at the head of the bed. Extended release, the kind that she preferred to use. With it was a note from the now-absent Sooyoung, with seven words scrawled on it in the neat, looping curves of script: “I figured you could use a boost today”.

    With the chomping, nervous euphoria of amphetamine smashing through her, Seulgi went about her Saturday routine on autopilot. Her new energy felt misplaced, even inappropriate, given the way she truly felt. It was a coping mechanism, a distraction from her true feelings, but it got her through the day. Blazing through essays and laboratory write-ups, chugging bottles of water to avoid dehydration, throwing herself back into the fray with frantic studying. Leading a study group, bouncing from student-to-student, hoping the perspiration beneath her arms wasn’t obvious through her grey shirt. Skipping meals, forcing down a few rice cakes and half a salad for lunch.

    When the sun dipped below the horizon and the clock struck seven, Seulgi felt her temporary superpowers leaving her. In their place was the hallmark, washed-out comedown of strong stimulants. Having had experience with such adversities before, Seulgi made herself some tea and rolled a joint, then spent the final hour of the waning buzz smoking and working on music. She’d been far more productive today than she’d expected, so much so that she’d already completed some of her assignments for Sunday.

    Seulgi took a long, hot shower, washing the grime and exhaustion of the day from her body. The high didn’t entirely mask the abstract loss of the comedown, but it helped. As she was scrubbing herself down, she noted that she was still wearing the ring Joohyun had given her. Beads of water clung to its surface, glittering like droplets of glass against an opal background. There hadn’t been time today to process what had happened at the bar last night, and Seulgi found that she preferred it that way.

    Contrary to what the novice Adderall consumer would believe, an amphetamine comedown did not put the user into a state of physical exhaustion. The mental exhaustion was powerful, yes, but the body still remained under the drug’s stimulating influence for several hours after its main benefits had come and gone. At a point, the user lacked motivation to participate in activity aside from lying on a soft surface, staring at the ceiling above them without any hope of the relief of unconsciousness.

    That was where Seulgi found herself when the clock struck midnight. Outside, a soft drizzle beat against the window. A surreal MGMT album played out its final track in the background. Seulgi the smooth surface of Joohyun’s ring, clasping it in her hands, unwilling to try using its light-bending abilities. Unlike the earring, Joohyun’s ring didn’t act of its own accord. She still felt the metaphysical weight of it as it jumped back and forth between her hands, a thrumming that hadn’t quite been there last night. As if, on a level beyond her understanding, a force was trying to work its way into the ring. It was difficult for Seulgi to put it into words, but critical thinking and abstract reasoning required too much effort for her to be bothered.

    Seulgi didn’t shed a tear. Had the pressure of her sadness already mounted to such a level that it prevented her from crying? This emptiness was far worse than sadness alone. At least being sad would mean she felt something.

    Eventually, after two more joints and fifty milligrams of Benadryl, sleep took Seulgi in its gruff (yet welcoming) arms.

***

    Seulgi awoke to the stars. Rotating like a jar of sand scattered on a canvas of wet ink, with her as their crux. Smears and gaps in the black paint represented nebulas and galaxies, while multicolored marbles displayed worlds, tiny planets drifting in the vast vacuum. Comets and asteroids streaked between and into the marbles, moving contrary to the natural revolution of the world, trails of cosmic flecks following them, fading as promptly as a breath fogged on window glass. Awareness of these symbols and languages came from an external source; Seulgi wouldn’t have known anything about this place had it not been for that invisible hand guiding her through this alien dimension.

    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

    Seulgi refocused her consciousness, tilted on her axis, and found Joohyun standing beside her. Standing wasn’t the right word, but Seulgi didn’t have the proper frame of reference to refer to the woman’s presence as anything else. Face bare, adorned in a simple white shift that left little to imagination, she observed the cosmos with peaceful, subdued serenity. Her appearance brought a series of conflicting sentiments to Seulgi, each vying for dominance: wonder, lust, and pain.

    Ignoring her internal struggle, she asked what she believed to be the most prudent question: “What in the hell is going on?”

    Joohyun laughed. Honest notes seemed to ring across the universe as it spun around them.

    “I needed to speak with you. I knew you wouldn’t come back to the Galactic Lounge after… what happened,” Joohyun stopped, set her jaw, trudged on. “Bringing you to the Astral Plane was a better idea.”

    “You stole me from my bed and brought me to another dimension?” Seulgi asked, not without indignance.

    “No, no,” Joohyun said, shaking her head. Her hair seemed to catch the stars as it swept about, dusting her hair with their sparkling residue. “Your body still lies in your bed. To anyone else, it appears that you are merely sleeping. It is your consciousness that I brought here.”

    “Ah, that makes it better,” Seulgi grumbled. The bitterness in her voice surprised her, but she didn’t withdraw.

    Two hands (or, at least what Seulgi believed were hands) held onto hers, and Joohyun drew near. The woman’s face dominated Seulgi’s view. Emotions took on physical manifestations, as though conjured and processed by a sixth sense, and they showed plain on Joohyun’s visage. Earnestness, despondency, an inkling of desperation. Splashes of subdued indigo, wet flower petals drooping within a hurricane.

    “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Seulgi,” Joohyun whispered.

    “I’m not hurt,” Seulgi lied. She wanted to pull away, but the gravity of Joohyun’s hold was irresistible. “I barely know you, anyway. Why would I be…”

    Incredulousness etched into the nonverbal vibrations that flowed from Joohyun. She gave no comment.

    “Fine, I like you. A lot more than I should,” Seulgi muttered. “But it doesn’t matter, right? Because you’re married.”

    “I don’t consider it as such,” Joohyun said stiffly. “Others might, and maybe in my youngest sister’s mind, that’s what my… arrangement is. But I assure you, it’s not what you think it is.”

    “Then what is it, Joohyun?” Seulgi asked. And then, as realization struck her, “What is all of this stuff? I understand that your business is your business, but when you rope me into it, give me magical artifacts that bend shadows and break light, it starts being my business too.”

    “I don’t speak of my so-called husband, because to speak of him on the Astral Plane is enough to make our presence known to him,” Joohyun said, remaining unsettlingly monotone, almost robotic. Her emotions, which had been so plain mere moments ago, now lay hidden beneath a veneer of glossy, rocky debris. “To do so would be disastrous.”

    Seulgi remained silent, unable to meet Joohyun’s eyes. The woman’s words were stoic, but her eyes conveyed a terror that ran deep, elicited an upwelling of knowing sympathy within Seulgi.

    “I do not love him, Seulgi. I can’t love him. Do you understand?”

    “I don’t think so. I don’t understand any of this,” Seulgi said, glancing upwards. She started. Joohyun was much closer now, her features and form taking their normal shape. Were they inches or light years away? It was hard to tell. Yet they were closer than they’d ever been.

    “I’ll help you understand,” Joohyun whispered, an arm dropped to Seulgi’s hips, drawing her in. Their bodies were together now. Seulgi could feel Joohyun’s chest against her own, legs winding together. A hand reached up, brushed away hair that Seulgi hadn’t felt until that moment.

    “You’re a beautiful woman, Seulgi,” Joohyun whispered, solar wind breaths warming Seulgi’s face. Was the Astral Plane truly so cold, or was Joohyun just that warm?

    “Th-thank you.”

    She’s still avoiding my questions. I shouldn’t let her do this, but she’s just so damn… alluring.

    Both hands on her face now, caressing her cheeks, pushing her hair back. Their noses were nearly touching. Joohyun’s lashes fluttered as she shut them. Seulgi did the same.

    Their lips brushed. Slowly at first, as if Joohyun was tasting, sampling. Then, they met in full, and both women released their held breaths.

    In the darkness came a sensation of such togetherness that Seulgi nearly gasped. She unwound her arms, not realizing they had been folded over her chest, resting them on Joohyun’s hips. She allowed a venturing hand to press against the pivot point at Joohyun’s lower back, and the older woman kissed her again in response. Harder this time, with a force that Seulgi was implored to return. She did so gladly, opening her lips. Their tongues met, the kiss deepened. Seulgi could feel Joohyun’s s against her own, could almost trace their peaked centers, where a tantalizing stiffness had formed. Unbidden, Seulgi raised that adventurous hand and slipped it between them. Joohyun’s flesh yielded. She shivered as Seulgi explored the firm shape beneath her palm. Joohyun’s hand clasped over hers, guiding her, coaching her in those soft ministrations.

    “Oh, Seulgi,” Joohyun whispered, sorrow seeping between her words as she pulled back. Seulgi was left with both emptiness and satisfaction. She didn’t try to process either sentiment. It was one of the rare points in her life where she chose to think solely of the present moment.

    “What’s wrong?” Seulgi asked.

    “Oh Stars,” Joohyun whispered, pressing her face to Seulgi’s throat, as if hiding herself away. “Everything, Seulgi. Everything.”

    Seulgi ran her fingers through Joohyun’s hair. There were no knots, no tangles, just a smooth sheet of silk filled with dissolving pinpricks of light.

    A powerful gust blew over the pair. Still tucked inside Seulgi’s embrace, Joohyun turned her head in its direction. The base, animalistic vibration of fear poured from her in waves so palpable that Seulgi felt herself tensing in response.

    “Eodum,” Joohyun hissed, pulling away. The gust hadn’t finished yet. In fact, it seemed to have picked up, bringing a chill that made Seulgi shiver and shy away. “He’s seen us.”

    Seulgi followed Joohyun’s gaze. She wasn’t able to see it immediately, and when she did, her mind took a few seconds to process the phenomenon. Far away, beyond the fringes of the galactic swirls and astronomical mists, was a disturbance. A parting of the stars, a fissure in space, a coalescence of darkness. As if the fundamental structure of the Astral Plane were contorting, spiralling inward like a disturbed swath of fabric. One by one, stars blinked out, lost in a growing spiral that blossomed carnivorously outward. Seulgi thought she could hear the agonal death cries of those stars as they were swallowed whole, and with each, she felt a despair unlike any other. Worse than emptiness, worse than existential dread, worse than death. Eating away at her mind with each scream, renting her as she stared on. Insanity incarnate, a freezing hatred that was headed directly for them.

    Joohyun took Seulgi’s face in her hands, turned her away from the horror.

    “Jesus Christ, Joohyun,” Seulgi whispered, tears streaming down her face, voice shattered.

    “Shhh…” Joohyun said. She leaned forward.

    One kiss - brief, no more than a second in length - was all it took to heal her. Light flowed through Seulgi, electrifying her nerves, igniting a flame within her that drove back the night that threatened to destroy her from within. She gasped, a woman who’d been saved seconds before drowning.

    “We have to part now,” Joohyun said. Seulgi tried to look over, to see how close the nightmare was to reaching them, but her companion didn’t allow her to. “I’ll see you again soon, I promise. Wear my ring at all times.”

    “I can’t-” Seulgi clung to Joohyun, trying to prevent her from moving. “I can’t leave you to deal with that. You’ll die.”

    Joohyun gave a sad smile and removed Seulgi from her as though she were lifting a feather.

    “Don’t be silly, my dear. I’ve dealt with my husband long enough to know how to handle him. This… is nothing.”

    With that, Joohyun grabbed Seulgi by the shoulders and shoved her out of the Astral Plane.

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

Lots of new information in this chapter, plus Seulrene's first kiss, woohoo!

So, I was just wondering your guys' opinion on something here. Do you want me to add Sooyoung as a POV character as well? Her chapters wouldn't be as frequent as Seulgi's but having them would allow for a lower level of amibuigity when it comes to scenes like, say, Yerim and Sooyoung's first date. I have a poll attached to the previous chapter (because for some reason, it wouldn't give me the option to attach the poll here). Let me know what you think!

Remember to upvote and comment if you enjoy what I'm putting out (:

Thanks for reading!