FEATURING: JNK

bestfriends and girlfriends and everything in between

 

[ Now Playing: Lowkey by Niki ] 

 

Where Jennie Kim realizes that one night in the flashy clubs of Manila is all that it takes for her to meet that certain someone. 

 

Bonus: Where Jennie Kim realizes that the new girl in her dorm room might just become the ultimate best friend and a sister she never had. 

 

All it takes is just one night. 

 

Second Year finals are done and I find myself enjoying a night out in a neat and spacious bar near my dormitory, having one of my closest foreign friends, Chaeyoung Park (she insists I call her Rosé) accompanying me for this eventful evening. 

 

Few shots are all it took for me to march to the dance floor, dragging Rosé with me as we danced the night away, never minding the people that watched us intently, drinking us in but I find myself not caring at all. 

 

I've had many eyes on me, after all. 

 

This was nothing new. 

 

"Have you put up an ad for a roommate, Jen? You know your dorm supervisor would not take kindly to you living there alone." Rosé says as they move back to the table they've been occupying the whole night, and I shake my head as I drink another shot of the alcohol she gives me. 

 

"Too busy to do so. Besides, won't you move back in?" I said with a pout, and she just laughs as she shakes her head, crossing her legs in front of me. 

 

"Told you, didn't I? You and I are done with those… things, so if you have a new roommate don't try to do that with her again, yeah?" she says, and I try to dive in for a kiss or two but she just pushes me away, taking another shot. 

 

"No fair," I said, a pout settling itself upon my lips as she just laughed at me, denying every chance to kiss me again ever since I told her na I don't do relationships and she was looking for something casual. 

 

We were roommates—well, she is hot, and she was the one who kissed me one time we were watching a movie, and I don't blame her. 

 

"Well, life's not fair… Do you want me to be the one to put up that ad for you?" Rosé asks and I nod at that, smiling contentedly as I drink my nth shot and the world erupts into another wave of swirling colors, this time making the scene before me sway endlessly. 

 

"You're drunk," Rosé says with a chuckle, taking away the shots I have in front of me. "You didn't drink for a long while nga pala, ano? Because of your finals?" 

 

"Yeah… What about a bet?" I said, feeling a little woozy and completely carefree, and I see her raise her brow at that. "What bet?" she asks, and a grin appears upon my lips. 

 

"First one who gets to take someone home for a night wins 1k?" I said, and she smirks as she takes another shot and brings down the glass down the table and even gets up from our table first, aiming to get a head start. 

 

"Someone's getting laid tonight!" she shouts, and I laugh as I take a second to scan the whole place, the strobing lights and my dizzying vision making it more difficult for me to find someone to talk to, but then I settle my eyes on her. 

 

Through the strobing lights that make others hazy and unfocused in my eyes, she shines like the light is all coming from her. She's wearing this leather jacket that makes the appeal of her simple jeans and shirt a hundred times better, leaning close to the wall and carrying a drink that she had almost finished. 

 

Oh, and did I mention she's already talking to someone? 

 

And since when did I care about people already having someone to talk to when I can just steal them effortlessly? 

 

So I walk forward towards her and when I'm only meters away she notices, staring at me from head to toe and then bringing the drink close to her lips, taking a sip or two. 

 

"And then I was like—" 

 

"Move." I said, not wanting to hear any of the boring chatter this girl is giving her, and she glares at me first before turning towards the mysterious girl to talk again. 

 

"Didn't you hear what I said?" 

 

She turned towards me, crossing her arms as she stared at me from head to toe and I can see it in her eyes that she faltered for a second before regaining her composure. 

 

Yes, I know my effect on people. 

 

"Una ko siyang kinausap kaysa sayo, miss. Maghanap ka ng iba kung gusto mo ng kausap—" 

 

"Babe, it looks like you're boring her out with whatever the hell it is you're talking about. Can't you read the room?" I said with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes while trying to shove me away pero hindi gumana because I kind of dodged her. 

 

"Miss, mind your own business—" 

 

"Actually, she's with me," the girl says, and I almost laugh at the reaction on her face, a mix of annoyance and confusion upon her face as the girl just pushed her away, then pulling me close and letting me drink upon the cocktail she’s been drinking for the past hour—

 

Suddenly, it seemed like there was a switch turned off, and the confident and mysterious girl I gazed from meters away under the dizzying lights became such a tame and nervous girl, the brave and scary wolf becoming such a puppy.

 

“Thank you,” she says as she finds the both of us a seat near the tamer parts of the club. Normally I’d be very annoyed by the sudden change, but there is something about her that makes me want to stay and talk to her more even if the original purpose I came towards her was to get laid, honestly.

 

“Do you even know that girl?” I ask as I order some more shots for the both of us to take, the woozy feeling I had earlier subsided and I somehow sobered up because of her sudden switch up.

 

“Uh… yeah, she’s someone from my class, so it’s going to be awkward when we go to class on Monday kasi I know for sure she’s going to talk to me about you.” she says with a laugh, ordering some juice drinks as her way of taking it easy at nahalata niya siguro na marami na akong nainom tonight.

 

“And what are you going to tell her?” I ask, and the switch turns up again as she draws me in with her stare, the smirk in her lips somehow making me want to kiss it right that second but I hold back—the holding back is useless as I hear her next words.

 

“I’ll tell her that you kept me up the whole night, Miss.”

 

Well, looks like I’d still be getting laid tonight.

 

 

The duvet that rests again my body is all kinds of warm and comforting, and I shift to feel the bare material against my bare skin—

 

Oh, right. 

 

I got laid last night. 

 

Coming into my senses, I open my eyes and find the sunlight peeking through the blinds that make me wince as my eyes adjust. I scan the room and find myself in unfamiliar territory, my hands blindly searching for that someone who was with me all night—

 

Gone. 

 

What the ? 

 

Did I get ditched? 

 

I immediately get out of bed, the cool wind upon the room hitting my body as I hiss at the sensitive feeling and find myself staring at the mirror in this stranger's room (or is it a hotel room?). 

 

My breath catches as I trace my fingers across the marks, feeling the sensations that made me catch fire and feel alive last night because it is something that I had never felt before—she is something I've never felt before in anyone else. 

 

Pero I guess I had to be ditched, huh? 

 

I search for the clothes I wore last night but I only find some neatly folded clothes near my side of the bed, a sweater and shorts and some underwear—I quickly wear it dahil nilalamig na ako, putting the top clothes first before the bottom—

 

"Wow, never thought I'd see your pretty first thing in the morning." 

 

The voice makes me jump as I hear her laugh, but I never mind her for the meantime and just put on the clothes, checking myself in the mirror one last time before turning to her. 

 

God, she's more beautiful now than last night. 

 

"First things first, who calls an a these days?" 

 

"Me," she says, and she smiles at me again. "Especially because you have a cute ." 

 

"I… Akala ko you left na." I said, standing awkwardly as she laughed and shook her head, then opened the door and immediately the smell of pancakes and morning coffee hit my senses. 

 

"Aww, why would I leave behind such a pretty girl like you? Come have breakfast before you go on to your day." 

 

I just nodded habang kinuha ko ang purse ko na nasa bedside table, my phone somehow being switched off in the middle of the night so I opened it—

 

Immediately, my phone buzzed endlessly with a lot of notifications. 

 

Some of it from that ad Rosé had registered under my name, some of it from my parents checking up on me periodically, and a big chunk from Rosé who's clearly worried. 

 

chae-chae: girl where r u??? 

                  did u rlly get laid

                  anyways, the landlady is asking abt u

                  sum1 must have inquired ur ad

 

Huh. 

 

I immediately checked the other notifications and soon enough I found the landlady checking on me, as well as an unknown number texting me about the dorm—