track 03 - Alien

after she had closed the door behind her mother, miyeon leaned her head slightly against the wall. her right cheek was red and her eyes were wet as if she was about to cry, yet she didn't.

she might have gone a little too far by calling her mother petty, but she still didn't think she deserved a good slap for it. two weeks had passed since they found out about ivy, but still her mother was comfortable talking to that man as if nothing had happened. now she came along and played matchmaker. hwiyoung, hwiyoung, hwiyoung... miyeon started to feel really uncomfortable as his name was mentioned in every conversation between she had with her mother, not to mention her father. naturally, it was quite normal for miyeon to finally get angry and say to her mother, 'i won't be a petty woman who sells her pride for money like you'.

she came into the living room after washing her face and threw herself onto the floor level L-shaped black and white sofa in the middle. pleasant, comfortable and colorless, just like the rest of her apartment. thinking about ivy, soojin came to her mind. she had texted miyeon before and said she was coming for dinner this evening. miyeon still couldn't figure out whether soojin is ivy or not as she didn't want to believe that everything about soojin was a lie, but she thought maybe she should ask her tonight, instead of driving herself crazy. she breathed in and out slowly, then sat up, reaching for her phone. she started checking the incoming notifications. later she saw the new issue of the magazine was published on sns, and she read it cautiously.

afterward, she started scrolling through the comments.

###

[ +799, -35]  She is ethereal

[+532, -28 ] Google search: how to be miyeon

[+425, -21]  MIYEON MARRY MEE

[+412, -58] My fav out and proud lesbian and my fav useless lesbian met it's a win for me

| Wait who are you talking about?   
| Minnie and Miyeon
| Miyeon is not gay you should never assume someone's uality
| Okay but ur assuming she's straight
| I-

[+245, -9] Minnie's girlfriends list updated; 
1. Lia
2. Miyeon (NEW)
3. Me -1

| Why is Lia there tho?
| Minnie said they exchanged numbers so...
| Where she said that?
| When someone asked her opinion about Lia on instagram live

###

miyeon put the phone down on the table and hummed, "lia..."
thoughts surrounded her being until she got a call coming in. she didn't want to talk to anyone, so she ignored it, but eventually had to pick up, as the phone insistently kept buzzing. she got excited to see minnie's name on the screen, however.

"hi, minnie."

"hey, how's it going?"

"i'm doing well. how about you?"

"never better, thanks. so, how have you been lately?"

miyeon paused to think a little before answering her question, "i've been good, you?"

"i've been great. i'm in a restaurant right now. hwasa is buying all of us dinner for a job well done."

"deserved, you've all worked hard."

"yeah, this issue was very important to hwasa for some reason. look, i'll tell you what."

"mhm?"

"you should come over and hang out with us. we were thinking about going to karaoke bar after this, if you want to join?"

"sounds good, but i'm not sure, honestly."

"remember you owe me one?"

miyeon smirked, "so you're using it now?"

"maybe... come on! it'll be fun, i promise."

"okay, then."

"yes! send me your address and get ready to go, i'll pick you up... eh? what are you doing? wait no! give me my-"

"are you okay in there, minnie?"

"hey ramyeon, it's the owner of the car. just wanna say hi and please don't make

yah!

out in my- ouch! the f ...

give me my phone back you son of...

don't be jealous yontararak~

seriously soyeon, you're this drunk already?!..."

"uhm"

"...oh my god, miyeon, i'm so sorry. we're taking care of her now. i'm really sorry, she didn't mean anything. she's just tipsy."

now miyeon was sure it'll be fun indeed, and "it's okay, minnie." she said, giggling.

"okay, see you then?"

"yeah... oh, you mind if i bring my friend along?"

"i don't mind at all, sure you can."

"okay, bye."

the doorbell rang, just when miyeon was so ready to eat chicken stir-fry with noodles.

***

minnie pulled over and stopped the car as she took the phone out of her pocket to call miyeon. miyeon didn't pick up the phone, instead, she appeared on the side and tapped on the window, startling minnie. minnie had a big smile and unlocked the doors, opening the one on her side for miyeon, and miyeon hopped in as soojin got in the back of the car.

"hello again" said soojin.

minnie saw her shy face on the rear-view mirror, "hi, soojin. are you ready to have some fun?"

"yes, i guess."

"who else will be there?" asked miyeon.

"yuqi the photographer, stylist shuhua, and a crazy."

"crazy?"

"yes, soyeon the crazy one. i hate her right now." she started the car and drove off awfully fast.

when they were on their way, the others were walking to the bar since it was not so far. soyeon was walking before yuqi and shuhua, and was so blatantly upset. she drank a lot, and no one knew what was it for.

"is she gonna be okay like this?" yuqi asked, linking her arm in shuhua's.

"i saw you two having lunch at the cafe today. so, whatever you said in there, she's pulling this long face since then."

"really? i didn't say anything bad though."

shuhua lowered her voice, "did you ever mention lucas?"

"yes, but why?"

"what'd you say?"

"i-i said we're dating."

"you what?!" shuhua shouted extremely loud, causing soyeon to look over her shoulder to see what they're doing. she saw them standing still against each other's face.

"i was going to tell you, but-"

"no, no, you don't have to tell me everything about your life. but lucas? i thought you only had a fling."

"i've decided to give him a chance."

"but yuqi, you said it yourself, he is annoying and can't love anyone properly. do you even like him?"

"i don't know."

"oh my dear god, give this person a brain!"

"he's cute though."

they were lost in the heat of the conversation, completely forgetting soyeon was there, actually she was not there mentally. shuhua realized they forgot her when soyeon threw up on the ground. yuqi intended to help her, but soyeon raised her hand, gesturing for her to stop. she, then, lifted her head.

"i'm okay. let's keep walking."

on their way, shuhua thinking about the lucas issue and the vomit at the same time, a question plopped into her mind. she tapped yuqi's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "remember that day with lucas. i knew you said you were not pregnant. but why did you throw up the next morning?"

***

~~~
i'm not completely over it, but
the reason it's this hard is

when i first met you
the heart-fluttering memories
they're as clear as yesterday
so they won't get erased
the "you" i knew
it now feels like a lie
i can't trust it anymore
let's break up 
~~~

"can't believe y'all started without us." minnie whined, coming in the dimly-lit vip room with the girls, as soyeon kept singing 'goodbye' by wheein.
"thank you shuhua, by the way, for picking up the phone. if it wasn't for you, we'd search the room till the dawn." she added.

"no problem, unnie. in return, you can do me a favour and grab that mic from this unnie. she's singing ballads for half an hour now."

yuqi was sitting in the corner, speechless by the beauty of soyeon's voice and presence.

"hi miyeon and... soojin. have a sit!" shuhua said, approaching yuqi to make room for them on the large leather sofa.

soojin being the first one to sit down, miyeon followed, and minnie sat next to her. now the sitting order respectively was minnie, miyeon, soojin, shuhua and yuqi. after a short time, beverages came and it was shuhua's turn to sing. soyeon sat down a little far beside yuqi. shuhua picked the 'monster' by seulrene.

~~~
i'll horribly steal your heart
and dominate you

under a single lighting, why are there two shadows?
i guess something else woke up inside me

i'm a little monster, be scared of me
i'm bothering you making you dream only about me
i'll dance and play as i cast a spell
on your body in a nightmare

i'm a little monster
~~~

throughout the song, shuhua often glanced at soojin without knowing doing so. there was something about soojin that drew shuhua to her, since shuhua had memorized soojin's face from the first day she saw her and couldn't get it out of her mind. and soojin couldn't help but notice the younger girl's glances. while shuhua was trying to pick her second song, yuqi approached soyeon to ask her what's wrong.

"soyeonnie, may i ask something?"

"no"

"but-"

"no"

shuhua finished her second song and gave the mic to minnie.

"do you guys know minnie plays piano? i can't wait to see you singing to us live, unnie!" shuhua remarked, looking at miyeon.

"aww, you're so sweet, thanks baby. but it's pretty weird though, you act like you've never heard of it before."

"because each time is like the first time."

minnie threw a smile and turned towards the tv and she didn't even search for a song, just picked the song in her mind directly, 'happy little pill'

~~~
oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts
buying happy from shopping carts
nothing but time to kill
sipping life from bottles
tight skin, bodyguards
gucci down the boulevard
, dollar bills
and

my happy little pill
take me away
dry my eyes
bring color to my skies
my sweet little pill
tame my hunger
lie within
numb my skin
~~~

soojin took a look at miyeon and could see her lost deep in her thoughts, and she was right. miyeon felt unreal as if minnie's voice echoing not only in korea but in the entire universe. she thought minnie could be out of this world. her sparkling eyes was enough to say what she was feeling despite her poker face.

they kept singing and drinking more and more, and as the minutes passed away, they wiped the shyness away as well. when miyeon put her head on minnie's shoulder and closed her eyes, yuqi instinctively took a photo of them being cute, with her phone.