Hanteo had to  half carry, half drag Jieun to finally get her to come with him. It was no help that Miyeon and Hongshi were still drinking like it’s not 2am already.

“Hanteo-ssi, we can bring her home, let her have some fun!!” Hongsi shouted merrily towards Hanteo’s retreating figure.

The drunk Jieun tried to wriggle free from Hanteo’s arms, screaming, “Oppa,  help me!!” which made Miyeon giggle.

“Ahhh look at our little Jieun. She used to not like drinking, but now she doesn’t want to stop.”

Hyunseung, probably the only sober member of their party, looked at the pair disapprovingly.

“Yah, you two should probably stop ordering more booze. Our flight is in 6 hours.” She admonished, while Miyeon and Hongshi just giggled.

Closing the door to the passenger seat in a huff, Hanteo tried to catch his breath before taking a seat in the driver’s seat. His gaze fell on the mumbling Jieun and sighed. He knew something is definitely not right with her, but she wouldn’t tell him what it was.

“Aish, this pabo. She’d rather drink her thoughts away than open up.”  He took out his phone and sent a text message to Jieun’s friend, Inna, just to let her know Jieun’s state. If there was anyone who can drill some sense into Jieun, it’s her.

Putting his phone back into his pants pocket, Hanteo gave Jieun one long look before driving back to the hotel.

When they got back, Hanteo made sure that Jieun finished her warm honeywater before he left. Jieun insisted that she’ll be fine, but if was up to him, he wanted to stay with her a little longer, just to be sure. Due to her incessant whining about him treating her like a 5 year old, Hanteo relented and left.

***

Jieun woke up with a start, feeling the heaviness on her head.

Aghhh.

For the first time in a long time, Jieun felt grateful for Hanteo’s doting. She can still feel the buzz, but it’s not so bad. Her phonescreen told her it’s four more hours until they have to go to the airport and suddenly a bright idea came to her. Why not order some wine? Sleeping would make her feel worse if she’d force herself to wake up after sleeping for a measly three hours.

She grinned at the prospect of a movie and some wine.  Maybe she’ll prank call Inna, or just plain talk to her. She missed her bestfriend.

In a few moments, the hotel staff came to deliver her order. The trolley had some cheese, crackers and some wine. Jieun felt like a grown-up doing grown-up things. No more fried chicken and soju!

Splayed comfortably  on the bed while munching on the crackers, she flipped through the channels and decided on 10 Things I Hate About You. She needed some angsty female character to watch and cheer on. When the movie came to that part where Julia Stiles’ character found out that her love interest was just paid to date her, Jieun started shouting angrily towards the screen, as the wine started to do its work.

“Serves you right for believing that guys like that exist! Hah!” She took another gulp from the wine bottle.

Agitated by the movie’s sappy ending, Jieun turned the TV off and decided to call Inna. It took a few rings, but Inna answered in a garbled, sleepy voice.

“Did I wake you? Mianhe..I just missed you.”

“Jieuuunnnnn, it’s 3 in the morning, are you drunk??”

Jieun can her the nagging tone starting to creep into Inna’s voice. She knew Jieun is not a drinker, and she’s probably ready to smack whoever it is that made her want to take up drinking.

“No…I’m okay. I’m just practicing.”

“Huh? Practicing for what? You sound really drunk. Who are you with?”

Gone was the sleepiness in Inna’s voice. She sounded like she would fly to Hongkong if only she could.

“I’m alone, Inna. We were drinking earlier after we had dinner..and I just wanted some wine with my movie.”

She heard Inna scoff on the other line.

“You? Wine? What’s the matter, Jieun?”

Jieun sighed deeply, feeling utterly dejected by Inna’s question. This is why she wanted to be completely drunk out of her mind. She didn’t want to think because thinking made her feel sad. And now that Inna was asking