Mornings in Vegas during the spring are always a pleasant affair. With the temperatures a comfortable low to mid-twenty degrees Celsius, it’s never as warm as the devilishly hot summers nor as cool as the unpleasantly chilly winters. Precipitation is rare in any case, but more so in March. It’s the season when packing is light—with the exception of a few layers for sundown—and tourists are scarce, all the partygoers of the world weaning off of the high of the summer and winter holidays as they head back to another few months of never-ending work. But spring is magical in Vegas, not only because of the NASCAR race weekend and fabulously cheap prices, but because mornings are a pleasant affair, and sometimes even pleasant is enough to be wonderful.

The sunlight was courteous as it streamed through the open curtains of the hotel room, where two figures lay on the bed. It was a golden touch that wasn’t burning—no, quite the contrary—but the rays did tickle the smooth expanse of skin they found, effectively blowing consciousness into the owner of said skin. So wonderfully pleasant was that one fateful morning in Las Vegas, in that hotel room package rented at a ridiculously low price, that the scream that rang out into the air seemed like something of a distant nightmare, jarring and unfit to exist in the peaceful atmosphere.

“What the hell—who the hell are you?”

Irene Bae jolted awake as the high-pitched screech assaulted her ears, disrupting her dreams about flirting with a hot woman. She blearily crawled backwards—back from whatever was angry at her—and found herself falling when her hands could no longer feel the firmness of the mattress behind her. Despite the happy thoughts that had occupied her unconscious mind mere minutes ago, Irene swore at the jolt of pain that ran up her wrist and tailbone as she met the carpeted floor of the hotel room, cursing at an entity she wasn’t quite cognizant of in her half-awake state.

“I—what...oh lord, my wrist…”

Kang Seulgi had watched in horror as the woman shot up in bed and flailed backwards, only to disappear with a resounding thud. She tried to calm her heavy breathing without much success, hands clutching the standard white sheets to her chest in an attempt to feel protected, even if by just a flimsy piece of cloth. She leaned over and watched as the other person sat on the ground grasping her right wrist, mumbling something Seulgi couldn’t quite make out. Seulgi watched in silent terror as the woman swayed back and forth in the process of standing up—her hair covering her face like a ghost in an Asian horror movie—then looked at Seulgi. Seulgi jumped a bit.

“Oh, you haven’t left yet?” Irene swiveled her wrist around a few times, checking to see that nothing was sprained. She stopped when it hurt more than expected. “I thought you would’ve left by now.”

Seulgi gaped at the woman’s nonchalant response (minus the ungraceful fall from the bed) and whimpered a bit when she saw that the person was . Her unclothed chest was barely covered by her long black hair, but she (thankfully) covered up her lower bits by pulling on her underwear.

“Are you just gonna stay there?” Irene glanced at the person in the bed, wondering why the girl was looking at her in such shock. “Usually they don’t spend the night.”

“Spend the night?” Seulgi squeaked. She had a very slight accent as she parroted the English phrase.

Irene looked at her confusedly, head tilting to the right as she pulled on her pants. “Is this your first time doing a one night stand?”

“One night stand?” The girl in the bed looked like she was going to faint. “Us?”

Irene finished dressing up before she answered, slowly buttoning her shirt. “Jesus, you’re a first timer, aren’t you.” She picked up the other girl’s clothes from off the floor and tossed it to her. “Here, get dressed.” She checked the time. “I don’t normally do this, but since it seems like you’re new to my lifestyle, I’ll take you out to breakfast and then we can part ways. Don’t be too sad about it; I just don’t do commitment.”

Seulgi blankly stared at the clothes tossed to her. She was trying to remember how the hell she had ended up in bed with a stranger who seemed way too comfortable with this arrangement for her liking. Nothing came to mind except her checking into a hotel after arriving in Vegas, and it scared her that she couldn't remember what circumstances led her to a point where she was so willing to give away her first time to this suspiciously carefree, but gorgeous, woman. Seulgi quickly pulled on her clothes when the other woman turned around to look for something and had started packing her belongings when she saw it.

A freaking ring on her left ring finger.

“What the hell is this?”

Irene found her phone on the one-seater and turned back around to see why the girl was screaming again. She saw her blinking rapidly at something on the back of her hand, so Irene assumed that the poor child probably got a tattoo while drunk. Not that it was her problem.

Irene walked towards her to ask if she wanted to head out, but a shiny object caught Irene's eye as the panicking first timer gripped her thick, wavy brown locks in frustration. She looked like she wanted to cry, and when Irene recognized the source of distress, she felt like crying too.

A wedding ring.

“!” Irene covered with both hands before dropping them dumbly to her sides. The girl’s eyes got even wider. “You didn’t tell me you were married!”

Seulgi pointed defiantly at the woman. “You didn’t tell me you were married!”

Irene furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. “No? I’m very much single, thank you.”

“So am I!”

“Then why is there a ring on your finger?”

“Why is there a ring on your finger?”

Irene held her palms open in exasperation and lifted her left hand to show the girl that her ring finger was—

Not bare. Oh sweet baby Jesus.

“Mother of canned pineapples, what in the world is this?”

“That’s what I’m wondering too!” Seulgi pointed at the woman. “Who are you? Why is there a ring on my finger?”

Irene just shook her head in disbelief, trying to remember what happened last night. She wasn’t very successful, because she normally got blackout drunk when she had plans to get laid, barely conscious enough to make sure that her partner of the night was consenting and hot. “What…”

“Answer me!”

Irene snapped her head up, trying to walk through yesterday’s events as she observed the hysterical girl. The stranger was waving her hands around wildly and pointing at Irene, so Irene crossed her arms and gave her a firm look, head slowly starting to throb at the auditory stimulation.

“Will you calm down if I tell you who I am?”

“Will you tell me why there’s a ring on my finger if I calm down?”

Irene sighed. “Maybe. I’m not sure.” She gestured towards the bed. “Sit down, because I don’t want you exerting yourself first thing in the morning and fainting. I’m sure you're still tired from last night.”

Seulgi scowled but complied, choosing to ignore the woman's last statement. “Go on.”

Irene rubbed her temples and plopped down onto the one-seater. “I’m Irene. Bae.” She paused, wondering if the staring girl wanted more information. “I’m twenty-seven.”

“Okay. Now, what’s this—”

Irene raised an eyebrow as she held out a hand to stop her. “You’re not going to tell me who you are? I just told you my name; I never do that for one night stands.”

Seulgi just gave her a pointed look. “No.”

“What the —”

“I don’t know who you are.”

Irene gaped at her in disbelief. “I literally just told you my name!”

“What’s your name gonna tell me about what kind of person you are?”

“And how is not telling me your name going to protect me from doing anything to you?”

Seulgi bit her lip. Irene wasn’t wrong; Seulgi just felt uncomfortable telling this stranger her name. However, considering that she wanted the woman to be as cooperative as possible, she finally gave in. “Kang Seulgi.”

“Kang Seulgi?” Irene looked surprised. “You’re Korean?”

“Yes.” Seulgi nodded timidly.

“Are you Korean-American or what?”

“Do you need to know?”

“No, but I haven’t really met many Koreans in Vegas who weren’t part of some tour package.”

“I see,” Seulgi replied. “Um, I’m Korean, yes. From mainland Korea.”

“Your English is superb. I haven’t met many non-native speakers who instinctively swear in a language that isn’t their mother tongue,” Irene commented, naturally switching to speaking in Korean.

Seulgi furrowed her eyebrows, also making the change. “Everyone in Korea learns English nowadays.”

“Yeah, but the level of fluency needed to swear in English first thing in the morning is a different story.”

“I’ve been acquainted with an English-speaking friend ever since I was little.”

“Interesting.” Irene tilted her head to the side, giving Seulgi a suave smile. “I would’ve loved to hear you screaming my name with that cute Korean accent of yours.”

“Excuse me?”

Irene shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, I don’t really remember much when these things happen.”

“What?”

“Why are you so surprised?” Irene slumped down in the chair, spreading her legs wide to lounge more comfortably. “Oh, I forgot this is your first time.”

“No!” Seulgi exclaimed. “I mean, yes, this is my first time…-” she mumbled the last part before getting louder again- “but I said that because you need to tell me about this ring!” She held up her hand. “You said you’d tell me if I calmed down and told you my name!”

Irene clucked her tongue at Seulgi as if calming a child. “No, I said I’d tell you my name and asked for yours by relation of doing so. Can’t really assure you that I’ll explain the rings if I can’t remember anything myself.” She got up and walked over to Seulgi, perching herself on the edge of the bed as Seulgi shrank away. Irene scrunched her nose in annoyance but didn’t get closer. “Have you tried checking your social media or something? Maybe someone proposed to you and you forgot.”

Seulgi blinked a few times. “But that doesn’t explain your ring.” She looked at her ring at the same time Irene looked at hers. They then looked at each other’s rings. The girls made eye contact.

“Why in the world are our rings matching?”

Seulgi continued staring at Irene’s ring. “I’m wondering the same thing.”

“You don’t think we…” Irene didn’t finish her sentence as she started digging through her purse. “I don’t like where this is going.”

Seulgi also searched the contents of her belongings and bit her lip when she found a loose piece of paper. She pulled it out and examined it as Irene dug through her things.

“Um...do you happen to have another name?”

Irene turned to Seulgi in confusion. “How did you—” She saw the paper in Seulgi’s hand. “What’s that?”

Seulgi’s face was somber, as if she had been told that a family member had cancer. “It seems to be a marriage...certificate.” She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “This can’t possibly be legitimate, right?”

Irene carefully took the paper from Seulgi, afraid to set her off. She examined the paper, which looked way too official to not be real, and silently set it aside as she turned back to Seulgi. “Uhhh, Seulgi? I think—”

“What the hell did you do to me last night?” Seulgi’s eyes were ablaze with anger as she shoved her finger into Irene’s chest, creating a jolt of pain in her sternum. “I can’t remember anything that happened since I arrived here, and to top it off, I wake up in bed with you. ! With a ring on my finger!” She hugged her waist. “Did you take advantage of me?”

“No!” Irene stared at Seulgi, offended. “I may sleep around, but I don’t anyone without their consent!”

“You don’t remember anything from last night, how would you know if I gave consent?”

“Listen.” Irene gripped Seulgi’s shoulders. “I may not remember anything right now, but I know when to stop if someone says stop, even when I’m drunk. It’s been drilled into me.” She let Seulgi go and threw herself backwards onto the mattress. “There’s one thing that I’m guessing might’ve happened, but I really hope it didn’t.”

“And what’s that?”

Irene turned her head to look at Seulgi. She had to admit that the taller, monolidded girl was extremely attractive, even in her unkempt, upset state. Irene had never seen herself as the type to go for girls who looked so elegantly feminine. No, she always went for the ones with big doe eyes and chubby cheeks, the ones who were cute enough to make her want to put them in her pocket. Yet Irene found this chic-looking woman dangerously appetizing, especially when she realized that Seulgi had a killer body to match her pretty face. A very nice twist that brought a stirring down below.

“Well, are you going to tell me what your theory is?”

Irene mentally slapped herself to stop checking Seulgi out and her lips, scolding her libido for making an appearance at such a bad time. “We got married.”

Seulgi looked at her incredulously. “I think I’ve got that part down already with the marriage certificate. I’m not stupid.”

“Well then.” Irene tapped her fingers on her stomach. “Have you heard of drive-thru marriages?”

Seulgi nodded. Her English-speaking friend, Wendy, had told her about them a few years ago. “Yes. Why?”

“Well I hate to break it to you, but I think we might’ve gotten married via drive-thru.”

They just looked at each other, one in dreaded anticipation and one in a decisive state between crying and just jumping out the window. Seulgi’s choice of weapon was tears.

“Hey, hey!” Irene shot up, ignoring the ache in her wrist, and panicked, hands hovering over Seulgi’s shoulders. “Oh no, I’m not very good with crying women. Please don’t cry; I’ll buy you ice cream.”

Seulgi wailed louder and started punching Irene in the chest with well-aimed thumps, making the latter struggle to catch her breath. She gripped Seulgi’s wrists firmly and cursed out loud when Seulgi's yanking made her own wrist scream in pain.

“Jesus, stop! Ow! My wrist!”

Seulgi briefly stopped sobbing as her eyes widened in concern. “Are you hurt?”

Irene scowled. “You were punching me ten seconds earlier. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I…” Seulgi wiped her tears, feeling a little embarrassed. “I was thinking—oh lord, I’m so sorry.” She glanced at Irene’s chest, hesitating to reach out. “Umm. I would check, but, uh…”

Irene chuckled despite the throbbing in the areas where Seulgi’s fists had met her body. “Eyes up here, honey. I said it was my wrist, not my s.”

Seulgi’s face turned bright red. She sputtered indignantly. “I wasn’t—”

“It’s okay. I know they’re big girls.”

“No!”

Irene raised an eyebrow and cupped one side with her okay wrist. “You think they’re too small?”

“No!” Seulgi shook her head quickly to restore her wits. “They’re just the right size. I mean—” She groaned in frustration. “Let me just see your wrist.”

Irene handed her right wrist over but didn’t stop teasing Seulgi. “How are you going to help me? Are you a doctor? Or maybe you can just kiss the pain away.”

Seulgi glared at her but didn’t release her hold on Irene’s wrist. “I’m not a doctor, but I just finished med school back in Korea.” She gently moved the wrist and pressed it lightly with her fingertips. “I think you pulled a muscle, but it doesn’t seem like you sprained it.” She looked around for something to wrap it with. “Generally you wanna avoid moving it around, but I don’t really have anything to tie it up with right now.”

Irene nodded, taking her hand back. “Thanks. I guess I’ll just wait to get to a hospital or something once we leave.”

“Oh yeah.” Seulgi bit her lip. “What are we gonna do about this once we leave this room?”

Irene pursed her lips in thought. “I mean, we should probably get this marriage annulled. That’s the most reasonable thing to do.”

Seulgi nodded. “I guess.” Then: “But don’t you kind of wanna find out why we ended up doing this? I mean, you don’t seem like the type to commit to a long term relationship, and I sure didn’t expect to get married while visiting another country. There must have been a reason for us to have done it, especially if drunk you does have enough control over your actions to know what’s going on.”

Irene looked again at the ring on her finger. It was just a plain band made of some sort of metal, nothing too expensive. She took it off to observe it—wondering why the both of them had still kept it on the whole time—and moved it between her fingers before putting it back on.

“If you want to find out so badly, I guess we can do some investigating.” Irene got up, picking up her things. “There’s no time limit to annulment, I think, so maybe we can spend some time figuring out why the hell we did this before we part ways.”

“I actually have to get back to Korea tomorrow.” Seulgi spun the ring around on her finger. “Do you think we might be able to do it in twenty-four hours? My flight’s in the afternoon.”

Irene shrugged, holding out a hand to pull Seulgi up. “Sure. Twenty-four hours sounds like plenty of time. Might as well see if there was something in you that drunk me saw as worth keeping. Very cinematic, no?” She winked. “Maybe you’re the jackpot I’ve been looking for.”

§

“How’s the burrito? Good, isn’t it?”

Seulgi wiped and took a drink of her water. “It’s really big.”

Irene grinned. “Yeah, this place serves giant burritos and tequilas.” She lifted her own order of the drink. “You can get full just off of this.”

Seulgi just smiled politely as she eyed the liquid, wondering how someone could finish a giant serving of tequila first thing in the morning when most people were generally too hungover to even eat. Hopefully she hadn’t gotten herself married to an alcoholic.

“Want some?”

Seulgi shook her head. “I think I’ll just stick to the water.”

Irene shrugged. “More for me, I guess.”

They ate in silence (well, Irene drank in silence) as they watched the Strip, only a few people and cars passing by. The sun was high and prominent in the sky but didn’t bother either girl as it bore down on their dark hair, prompting them to start their day quickly. Seulgi watched as a couple—two girls—playfully tugged each other along, jumping over the cracks in the sidewalk as they giggled excitedly. She felt something unfamiliar and unpleasant expand in the hollow spaces of her chest, so she turned her head away and took another bite from her burrito.

“So, do you have anything that says if either of us took on the other’s last name?” Irene asked as she finished off her drink. “The marriage certificate didn’t seem to list it.”

Seulgi shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She looked through her bag again. “Yeah, I don’t see anything.”

Irene hummed and pulled out her phone as she opened up a few apps to look for clues. Seulgi watched Irene scroll through her phone, admiring the way her long eyelashes almost seemed to tangle when she blinked. Irene's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and her lips jutted out like a bird's beak as her eyes darted back and forth to decipher the words on her screen.

“Aha!” Irene looked up, making Seulgi jump slightly. The latter quickly turned her eyes to the Strip and cleared , taking a sip of her water. Irene let out a small smile, knowing that Seulgi had been checking her out. Seulgi's red ears were too big of a hint for her to pretend that she hadn’t been doing so.

“Did you find something?”

Irene nodded victoriously. “I seemed to have made some random memos.” She squinted at it before showing it to Seulgi. Seulgi scrunched her eyebrows together as she read the notes.

“Bet: five games, win three. My win spend birthday. Her win marry me.”

Seulgi glanced up at Irene. “Birthday?”

Irene shrugged. “It’s my birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh. Uh, happy early birthday, I guess.” Seulgi scratched her head.

Irene blew out air, pouting with a blank expression on the rest of her face. “Thanks. Although you’ll be able to congratulate me later if we don’t figure this out in twenty-four hours,” she pointed out.

“Maybe.” Seulgi looked at the memo again. “Is this it?”

Irene shook her head. “There’s another one.” She blinked a few times as she read it. “It just says wifey: Bae Seulgi <3 hehe.”

Seulgi pressed her lips together. Somehow the writing screamed Irene. “I guess I took on your last name.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Irene turned off her screen and placed her phone in her pocket. “And I guess I lost whatever bet we were doing too.”

Seulgi placed her elbows on the table and dropped her head onto her fists. “Why in the world would I make a bet with a stranger about wanting to marry her?”

“Maybe you're into extremely risky situations.” Irene tilted her head. “So you’re gay?”

“Huh?” Seulgi lifted her head.

“You said her,” Irene commented. “I mean, not that I mind, because I’m gay too, but I think it’s not as common back in Korea, right?”

Seulgi bit her lip. “Yeah.” She wanted to say more but refrained from doing so. “Yeah, people generally aren’t very open about it.”

“I see.” Irene hummed before leaning closer to Seulgi. “How old are you?”

Seulgi’s eyes widened, and she leaned backwards, putting some space between them. “I’m twenty-five.”

“The prettiest age, they say.” Irene smirked. “Aren’t I a lucky one?”

“You’re barely any older than I am.”

“Oh trust me, if you think I’m hot now, I was a lot ier when I was twenty-five.”

Seulgi blushed again. “Who said you were hot?”

“You don’t think I’m hot?” Irene tilted her head as she leaned back and regarded the younger girl with a confident ease. “Because I think you’re hot.”

Seulgi stammered. “It’s not that I don’t think you’re hot, it’s just...I’m not...ugh!” She threw up her hands. “Why are you so—so…”

“Gorgeous?”

“No!”

“Alluring?”

“No!”

Irene smiled, finding the other woman endearing. “able?”

“NO!” Seulgi crossed her arms over her chest, as if it would do anything. “What’s wrong with you?”

Irene shrugged, clearly enjoying teasing the younger girl. “You’ve already seen and done everything with me. And we’re married too, if you haven’t forgotten.”

“Jesus, I can’t catch a break with you.”

“Oh, I bet you weren’t able to last night, either.”

“Irene!”

“That’s my name,” Irene quipped. “Now try it.”

Seulgi shoved her chair back and got up. “Okay, no. We’re not doing this here. I’m leaving.”

Irene didn’t say anything as she also got up, lips barely contained from quirking upwards. She silently followed Seulgi from a few steps behind, admiring her body proportions (very healthy and toned, she noted) while also revelling in the fact that Seulgi didn’t know where she was headed. They were about halfway down the strip when Seulgi turned around with alarmed eyes that returned to their normal state when they spotted Irene.

“Looking for me? Didn’t peg you as the clingy type.”

Seulgi sighed and stepped to the side to avoid blocking the sidewalk. “You talk too much. Are you a vlogger or something?”

“I actually own a startup, thank you very much.”

Seulgi raised an eyebrow. “What startup?”

The older girl grinned. “Heard of BaeBear?”

“The dating app?”

“Yeah.” Irene wiggled her eyebrows. “All mine.”

“Yours?” Seulgi blinked in disbelief. “That thing has millions of downloads.” She hummed in thought. “You must be really rich.”

“Forbes 30 Under 30, baby. They love the whole vetted, safe community approach and all the precautions I set up for women and ual minorities.”

“That’s actually pretty cool.” Seulgi glanced at Irene, who was looking at Seulgi with wide, innocent eyes. “What?”

“You’re really pretty.” Irene rocked back and forth on her heels. “Not the type I normally go for, but damn, drunk me has amazing taste.”

Seulgi frowned. “Don’t get too attached. We’ll be divorced in twenty-four hours.” She looked out to the sidewalk on the other side of the Strip, watching as someone passed out flyers. “Plus, I thought you don’t do commitments?”

“I can admire a beautiful lady without binding myself to her.” Irene glanced at her ring finger. “Although it seems to be a bit of a different case this time around.”

“No , Sherlock.” Seulgi looked at her phone. “Do you know the way around?”

Irene nodded. “Been here plenty of times. One of the best places to pick up someone who’s legal.”

“Jesus.”

“That’s not my name, but if you wanna call me that, feel free.”

Seulgi sighed. “Should we visit the clerk? Or should we visit some of the nearby drive-thru wedding places?”

“I don’t think visiting the clerk would be helpful. If we did get married on a whim.” Irene pulled out her phone. “I’m gonna see if my navigation app kept track of where we visited.”

She flicked her thumb across the screen a couple times. “Dude, we visited so many places. A casino, a pizza place, Chocolate World, both hotels where the fire and water shows take place, some random buffet…” She trailed off, looking for any wedding venues. “Oh! I found it.”

Seulgi grabbed her hand. “Let’s get going then.”

§

The two women hurried along the Strip, veering onto a different path as they found their way to the drive-thru wedding venue. Seulgi hadn’t let go of Irene’s hand, and it was only when she noticed that the smaller woman was almost jogging to keep up with her long strides that Seulgi slowed down and untwined her fingers from Irene’s. Irene’s left eyebrow arched at the action, but she didn’t comment as she jerked her head at a small building.

“That’s it.” They both turned to the place of matrimony. It was aggressively American-looking in that the place was painted white and almost resembled a doll’s house, perky and neat with extremely middle-class suburban feels. There were a few cars lined up at the window, where a smiling young man carried out the proceedings with an almost robotic efficiency. Each car only stayed about five minutes once they pulled up to the window.

“I thought it would be more run-down.” Seulgi turned to Irene. “Do we just stand behind the cars or is there a place we can walk in?”

Irene shrugged. “Not sure. There’s only one way to find out.” She grabbed Seulgi’s hand and smoothly intertwined their fingers as she led Seulgi to the venue. Seulgi hesitated to close her long, slender fingers around the back of Irene’s hand but gave in when Irene ran her thumb along Seulgi's knuckles. Irene glanced at her and smiled. “You’ve got nice hands. I knew there was a reason I picked you up.”

Seulgi let out an exasperated huff but didn’t pull away, secretly enjoying the warm and soft feeling of the other woman’s hold. Although Irene’s hand was significantly smaller than Seulgi’s, it had a comforting presence that made Seulgi feel like her hand was completely protected from anything surrounding it. Her heart skipped a beat.

“You know,” Irene drawled as they neared the venue, “I wonder if we could potentially be really compatible.” She stopped to open the door that was on a different side of the building than the drive-thru window, briefly releasing Seulgi’s hand to let her go in first. “You think maybe we should use these twenty-four hours as a test run to see if this marriage is worth it? Would save us a lot of time and effort if we just hung out instead.”

Seulgi waited for Irene to come in and close the door behind her. “I thought you don’t do commitment.”

Irene shrugged as she dusted her hands. “That’s what I thought too, but I’m a very rational person.” She placed her hand on the small of Seulgi’s back and led her to someone behind a desk. “I don’t do anything that won’t be useful to me. If I made such a life-changing bet with you, there must have been a good reason.” She turned to Seulgi a few steps away from the receptionist. “Would you be down to use the next twenty-something hours to see if you really wanna annul this marriage? I won’t force you to stay or anything, but I don’t want to regret it if we did end up being some sort of long-lost soulmates.”

“You believe in that stuff?” Seulgi watched as Irene made an ‘eh’ sound and shrugged again. The person behind the desk watched them with a polite smile, expression giving a