my entry for the #WRFicFest2021 hope ya'll enjoyed

 

feedback/comments much appreciated

 

*****
 

She giggled like a school girl.

 

Okay, perhaps it wasn't as dignified as a school girl's and was closer to an annoying guffaw –hell it wasn't even that funny– but the bartender was comically wiggling her eyebrows at Joohyun as if they had a life of their own, and she couldn't help but find herself stupidly amused by the woman's antics.

 

At the very least, she probably should have been marginally concerned by the tab she was racking up. But the pleasant buzz that thrummed through her veins and the giddiness that consumed her mind meant rationale was nowhere to be seen.

 

Joohyun threw her head back, yet again emptying the contents of her shot glass in a single gulp. A content sigh escaped her lips as she blithely disregarded the burning sensation that trailed down .

 

"Another glass!" She slapped her palm against the surface of the counter, oblivious to the heads that sharply turned her way at the cacophony of noises that she was making. Had she been sober, Joohyun might have noticed the scornful glares the pierced her direction. Would have been thoroughly abhorred by her own uncivilised behaviour and perhaps even dart out of the establishment to save whatever face she had left.

 

But tonight, Joohyun was feeling rather bold, daring even, and it only intensified when the bartender caught her eye yet again, with that sultry, playful look. She would later blame the liquor for the questionable actions, but for now Joohyun concluded it was only honourable that she requite the enamouring presence, waltzing towards her akin to that of a predator about to pounce on its prey.

 

Damn she's hot.

 

The alcohol was definitely getting to her brain.

 

The young woman stopped in front of Joohyun, donned in a crisp, white dress shirt with the top few buttons left tastefully undone, teasing a glimpse of the milky skin hidden beneath it. The cuffs of her shirt were neatly rolled up to the middle of her forearms and a black, spotless half apron was secured around her waist. It was one of those fancy high-end bars exclusively reserved for distinguished guests and the snobby, affluent individuals who enjoyed waving their black cards pompously in the air upon entering.

 

Luckily, for Joohyun, neither of those scenarios applied to her; she fell into the third category: her family owned the hotel chain.

 

Dexterous hands reached for bottles of colourful liquids, pouring them into a shaker with precision and amidst the flurry of movements, Joohyun's inebriated gaze landed on the silver wedding band glinting off of the woman's ring finger. A crease settled between her soft brows and Joohyun had to refrain from letting out a woeful cry.

 

Bad Joohyun. You're a married woman for god's sake.

 

Yeah, but like, she's so hot...and so dreamy and so-

 

Are you sane? She's marr-

 

The remainder of that unpleasant thought was hastily shoved to the back of her brain when the culprit of her moral distress slid a glass towards her, meeting her eyes for an instant. But Joohyun only needed an instant to subtly sweep her hair to one side, intentionally baring the skin of her exposed shoulder as she thanked the woman with a generous smile. One that bared her pearly whites.

 

The bartender leaned forward, eyes twinkling with amusement at the not-so-subtle gesture, though subsequently earned herself a heated glare by a disgruntled patron when she didn't take the bait. "Anything for a gorgeous lady," the bartender winked, leaving Joohyun's eyes trailing after her over the rim of her glass whilst her mind –at least what was left of it– concocted up devious ways to seduce the damn woman.

 

"Mind if I take a seat?"

 

Much to her dismay, Joohyun's appreciation of the bartender's endearing behind was sadly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice and she found herself in the presence of a young man that smiled charmingly at her. The well-fitted suit hugged all the right places and she had to admit, the man cut a dashing figure with his hair neatly gelled in place and the clean stubble that pronounced his features. Briefly, Joohyun noted he also wore a white dress shirt and the thought had her eyes flickering back to the woman at the other end of the bar.

 

It certainly looked better on the latter. A lot better if it was off, she mused.

 

Joohyun shook her head, wordlessly acknowledging his presence as he sat down in the seat beside her, though immediately regretting it upon the overwhelming scent of cologne that wafted off the man. She wrinkled her nose in displeasure. It was pungent, far too sharp for her sensitive nose which preferred the milder scent of fabric softener reminiscence of the smell of fresh linen after being dried out in the sun.

 

"Can I get you a drink?"

 

She followed his gaze and glanced down, not realising the empty glass nursed between her palms.

 

"Oh, no. I'm fine thanks."

 

"My treat."

 

"That's fi-"

 

He waved down the bartender ignoring her refusal much to Joohyun's annoyance, though it was rather short-lived because it suddenly gave her an excuse to ogle the hot woman up closer.

 

"A whiskey, neat. And for the lovely lady?"

 

"The usual, please."

 

He waited until Joohyun turned her attention back to him where she met a curious look. "Are you a regular around here?"

 

A glass of mahogany liquid was placed in front of him.

 

"Not often, only when I'm occasionally bored."

 

"A beautiful, young lady like yourself bored and alone here on a Friday night? Who on earth would do that to you?"

 

The remark was innocent enough, and on any other given occasion she might have entertained the idea of playing along out of courtesy. But Joohyun was distracted by the mild irritation she sensed emanating from a certain someone, whose stiff posture and sidelong look of disdain provoked a gush of elated glee in her belly.

 

A giggle escaped her lips and Joohyun realised her mistake when it prompted a full-blown grin across the man's face, having mistaken her reaction as being pleased by the compliment. It wasn't difficult to notice the gleam of triumph in his eyes, probably because he thought it was one step closer to an easy lay; another mark added to his ledger.

 

The woman placed another glass on the counter, albeit with a visibly restrained grimace and Joohyun nods a thanks, ignoring the liquid that sploshed over onto the counter from the force.

 

"My wife ditched me for work tonight and I was bored at home so I came out here."

 

She lazily sipped her glass, ignoring the bartender's offended gape.

 

"Well, that's not very nice of her," the man commented, brows creased with faux concern as he angled his body closer to her.

 

"I know!" Joohyun exclaimed rather loudly, startling the man though to his credit had swiftly recomposed himself. "We've both been so busy and when we finally found the time to spend together, she bails out on me because someone called in sick last minute."

 

Despite her feigned interest in the conversation, Joohyun was genuinely upset that Seungwan had bailed out on their promised time together. It had taken a ridiculous amount of effort to schedule time with one another given their conflicting work hours, so when the younger woman had smiled apologetically at the mention of dinner, Joohyun immediately knew she wasn't going to like what was to come out next.

 

"I can't believe she did that to you."

 

The sound of a snort interrupted the conversation and the man whipped his head to the offending noise where he caught the bartender with a sheepish look. He sent her a nasty glare, sending the woman awkwardly scuttling away as Joohyun suppressed a snigger at the sight.

 

Satisfied that they weren't to be disturbed anymore, he turned his attention back to her once more, eyes blazing with ostentatious fury as he placed his hand on top of hers in a consoling gesture. And she probably would have appreciated the empathy to some extent, if not for the stare that lingered on the curve of her bare shoulder, flickering across her bust and cutting up to her lips, only for a quick moment, before it met hers again.

 

"No one deserves to be treated like that."

 

Joohyun found herself staring into his dark brown gaze. Though, to her chagrin not the dark brown pair she was hoping for, as she removed her hand under his.

 

"I've just moved into town a couple weeks ago and I don't quite know many people around here; it would be fantastic to make a new friend. I also don't think we've yet to introduce ourselves," he said, extending a hand in greeting, "I'm Hyunseok. A pleasure to make your acquaintance..."

 

She shook his hand, albeit reluctantly, "Irene."

 

"Oh, are you from abroad?"

 

"Oh, no," Joohyun dismissed with a wave of her hand, "my partner's Canadian and gave me the name when we first met. Something sappy about being her goddess of peace and it kind of just stuck ever since."

 

"Very smooth of her," he laughed.

 

"She's quite the cheese ball," Joohyun smiled fondly, recalling their first few encounters when they had met through Sooyoung, a mutual friend, on campus. At the time, Seungwan was a music major who'd recently transferred from Canada and Joohyun was a medical student in her final year. They had clicked off very well despite their stark differences and Joohyun attributed that due to Seungwan's friendly disposition, which made it easier to get along with the other woman.

 

One day, Seungwan had randomly confessed she felt peaceful being in her presence. Joohyun had merely paid no heed to the dramatics at the time, accustomed to the former's cheesy antics. But the scarlet hue that dusted Seungwan's plump cheeks and the simple glance that teemed with emotions –emotions that Joohyun had been too afraid to confront– held her breathless.

 

Between Seungwan's soft gaze and Joohyun's trembling heart, that was how 'Irene' came to be.

 

She had the sudden urge to see those eyes again. Joohyun waved down the bartender once more, "Another drink please, beautiful."

 

The woman simply arched her brows as she came back over but otherwise didn't say anything; it came with the occupation, drunk patrons spouting all sorts of remarks.

 

"Would you like to grab some coffee with me, Irene? There's this wonderful place I recently discovered close by that makes the smoothest latte."

 

Her eyes darted to the retreating figure of the bartender. Talking about Seungwan had put Joohyun in a sour mood, only because she missed her wife. Joohyun smiled thinly, "I'm going to have to decline your offer. My wife should be finishing up soon so I'm going to meet up with her."

 

"She's more than welcome to join us later on," he insisted. "Come, don't be shy. I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind."

 

"I'm sorry?"

 

"Well, it's just that I've noticed you've been waiting alone for a while now and no one's come around. You don't have to pretend that you're waiting for a wife you don't really have."

 

The accusation left Joohyun's jaw slack with disbelief, but what vexed her more than anything was the smug, innocent expression that triumphantly adorned his face as if his absurd assumption was correct.

 

He stood up and proceeded to grab Joohyun by the arm forcing her off her seat lest she wanted to fall over. She couldn't fathom the audacity of the man and what went on his pea sized brain to even think it would be fine to drag her away without consent, and was ready to give the bastard a piece of her mind.

 

"Get your hands off of me!"

 

Her attempt to yank free from his strong grip was futile, but before she could escalate it further a hand shot forth and unlatched the crushing hold.

 

"She said to get your filthy hands off of her."

 

The man met the snarling look of the bartender that had served his drinks for the night.

 

"Why don't you run back behind your little counter and pretend you didn't see anything before you regret it," he sneered.

 

A dark look flashed across the woman's face, one Joohyun recognised as anger as she was pulled behind and away from sight.

 

"Try me," the bartender challenged, ignoring Joohyun's worried tugs on her shirt.

 

He smirked stepping forward, but didn't manage to get very far with the large pair of hands that held him in place by the shoulders.

 

"Everything alright, Seungwan?"

 

Two menacing security guards looked towards their resident bartender with questioning concern.

 

"Yeah, we're all good. Was just about to take out the trash," Seungwan nodded at Hyunseok. One of guards gave her an understanding nod and proceeded to drag the protesting man out of the venue.

 

"See, this is why I told you it was a bad idea to come here," Seungwan huffed, swivelling on her feet to face her unapologetic wife. She was irritated by the events that had unfolded, albeit more so with herself for being momentarily distracted.

 

Joohyun pouted and threw her arms around Seungwan's shoulder, nuzzling in the crook of her neck. "But I wanted to see you," she whined.

 

"I know," Seungwan sighed apologetically.

 

"I don't like it when you speak with that tone."

 

Joohyun pulled back, frowning at the apologetic look on Seungwan's face and leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on the latter's lips. She pulled back again and grinned cheekily, cheeks flushed whilst Seungwan stared her down with a deadpan look, hands by her side rather than where they needed to be; around her waist.

 

Or maybe in her pants, Joohyun thought, but they could get to that later.

 

"Seungwan-ah, kiss me back."

 

Joohyun puckered up her lips and made loud kissing noises, chortling at the horrified look that painted itself across her wife's face which had quickly morphed into one of suspicion as her eyes narrowed. "I am very certain that I watered down that last drink for you. Why are you so drunk?"

 

"It's because I'm drunk on love," Joohyun winked.

 

"You know, that's usually my line."

 

Seungwan, finally, wrapped her arms around Joohyun's waist and pulled her closer. "And you have the gall to complain that I'm too cheesy," the bartender scoffed. "Do you also make it a habit to flirt with all the bartenders who serve you? Especially if they're married? Cause I think we need to have a serious discussion on that."

 

"Only if they're hot," Joohyun answered thoughtfully. "Like, really, really hot."

 

She kept her gaze on Seungwan's before they flickered to her parted lips and she slowly leaned in, only to be greeted by thin air and the smug look on her wife's face as Seungwan turned away from her.

 

"Come on, let's get you sobered up."

 

"Are you serious?" Joohyun balked, flabbergasted by the actions of the woman before her, though for a second, she wasn't entirely too sure if she was imagining things with how drunk she was.

 

"What? You're absolutely drunk; I'm not giving you anymore alcohol," Seungwan explained nonchalantly. Somewhere in the back of her intoxicated state, Joohyun tempted the idea of stamping her foot like a petulant child until she got her damn kiss.

 

"Seungwan..."

 

Unfortunately, Seungwan simply brushed off her warning, ignoring Joohyun's whines and pulled her back the bar stool. She obediently obliged, more so out of weariness from the alcohol buzzing in her system and perched her chin onto her palm, quietly watching as Seungwan placed a glass of water in front of her before tending to other patrons.

 

She came over a little while later once she had finished and grabbed Joohyun's empty glass.

 

"Can I interest you to another glass of water, ma'am?"

 

"Can I interest you to some divorce papers?" Joohyun shot back.

 

Mirth flashed in Seungwan's eyes as she laughed. She reached out and cupped Joohyun's cheek, thumb tenderly brushing against her flushed skin.

 

"If that's the case, then I'll marry you as many times as you divorce me," Seungwan promised, leaning in to seal it with a kiss.