Hana's POV

 

It had been a tiring and very confusing day for Hana. She's in her third year as a medical student and today was her last day for finals. Needless to say, she was just about ready to pass out in her bed. She arrived at the building where she lives and quickly stepped up to the lobby, making a bee line for the elevator. Hana lives on the 7th floor so she preferred taking the elevator up. She breathed a sigh of relief after catching the empty platform but the doors wouldn't close all the way. "Weird.." she muttered. So she pushed the button to force its closure when a hand suddenly stopped it. She instantly worried about the person's hand because it looked painful. She made a face of both surprise and worry when the male owner of the hand stepped onto the platform with a sheepish smile, "Sorry." he uttered. He was carrying a dark plastic bag and when she heard the clanging sound of glass, Hana knew it was liquor. Hana just slightly bowed and the doors finally closed. The tall guy pushed for the 10th floor and stepped back away from Hana to give her space.

 

It was all going fine until the elevator reached the 4th floor.

 

The gentle motion of the platform was met with an abrupt stop. Hana looked up at the lit up floor number indicating what floor they were on, then tried pushing the open button. It didn't do anything. Frustration began to bubble up in her so she stepped away from the buttons and inspected the doors instead. The other guy seems equally puzzled so he tried some other buttons. He tried the button to communicate with maintenance. "Hello? Can you hear me? Is anyone there?" he asked as he pressed the button. No answer. He puts down his plastic bag and steps close to the doors where Hana was, "Can I give it a try?" and Hana just moves out of his way. He tries to pry the doors open but as much effort he tries to exert, the doors wouldn't budge. He huffed and placed his hands on his waist then suddenly someone spoke from the communication box near the buttons.

 

"Hello, madame? Sir? Are you two okay?" the soft but commanding voice sounded.

 

He takes a quick glance at Hana assuring that she was indeed fine and she just nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. What happened? Can we get out?"

 

"The elevator malfunctioned and we're trying to figure out what went wrong. The security cameras showed that the two of you are the only ones who got on before this all happened. I'm sorry but you cannot get out as of now because the elevator doors have a lock that automatically engages in case something like this happens. Please remain calm and we will do all we can to fix this. Once again, we apologize for this mishap." the voice on the other end went silent.

 

The light inside the elevator was dim and the air was silent. Thank God there was still enough air inside for the two of them.

 

Hana was on the far left corner of the elevator, holding onto the straps of her backpack, tired as , and now a little thirsty too. She looked at her digital watch, "8:00PM" it read. "Still think you were lucky to catch this elevator?" she turned to the guy who had made his way to the right side of the elevator, where he placed his plastic bag with bottles of liquor, about 2 and a half feet from her.

 

Johnny's POV

 

"Here's your change, Sir!" the kind cashier at the convenience store handed him some change for the alcohol he had just bought. 

 

"Thank you!" he bowed and left the store which was only a block away from where he lives. 

 

There were two elevators in his building and he wanted to catch the one about to leave because the elevators were notoriously slow and he lives on the 10th floor so he wasn't keen on taking the stairs. He barely caught the platform when he used his hand to stop it from closing. He mumbled an apology to the girl who made a surprised face when he stepped in. 

 

When the elevator stopped, his instinct was to look at the girl's direction to make sure she wasn't too alarmed. To his surprise, she just looked angry as she pressed the buttons. He had to hold himself back from laughing before he tried the buttons himself. 

 

The guy managed a soft laugh, "Yeah, I still think I'm lucky." he just shrugged. "I'm Johnny." he held out his hand.

 

"Hana." he shook the guy's hand. "What a great place to meet huh?"

 

He smiles at her remark, "I'm just glad you're not panicking."

 

Hana thinks for a moment then realized her reactions were a little bit off. The minute the elevator stopped, she was just angry that she couldn't get to her bed yet. She hadn't thought about the fact that the situation could be dangerous. "I'm just tired." she rubbed the back of her neck. "What you got there?" she eyed Johnny's plastic bag on the floor.

 

"Some beer and soju. I was about to drink at my place." he put his hands in his pockets and leans on the platform's wall.

 

"Oh, do you have people over? They'll worry about you."

 

"Nah, it's just me."

 

"You were about to drink alone?" there was a hint of judgment in her reply.

 

Johnny picked up on her comment and just smiled, "Stressful workplace. You a college student?" he looks at her backpack. 

 

"Med student." she said rather reluctantly. 

 

"You don't sound too happy about it." 

 

"I am. It's just been a long day." her lips formed a thin line. "Where do you work?" she tilted her head toward him. 

 

"I work at an architecture firm. I'm a junior architect." he simply replies. "Are you graduating soon?" 

 

"Can't believe I'm playing 20 questions with a stranger." Hana says with amusement. "I've still got one more year before I graduate." 

 

Johnny grins at her initial response, "Hey, we might be here a while. I might as well make use of the time. Do you drink? Wait, are you old enough to drink?" 

 

Hana chuckles, "I'm 24, yeah I drink." 

 

The guy reaches into his plastic bag and opens a bottle of beer, "Want this one?" he holds it to her direction. 

 

Hana thought about it, assessing the situation and its possible outcome. On the one hand, she was thirsty and there was no more water in her bag. It didn't look like they were going anywhere and there was a small red light on the security camera above them which meant it was still working. She exhaled and accepted the bottle, "What the hell. I'll just pay you for the alcohol." 

 

The man scoffed, "No need. It's just beer." he took out another bottle for himself and opened it. 

 

The beer was still freezing cold so it felt refreshing for Hana. The cold liquid flowed down and she felt more at ease now. Hana only drinks on occasions so she knew she could handle her liquor quite well. She took off her jacket, laid it on the floor and sat down. "I hope you don't mind, my feet are killing me." 

 

Johnny, for some reason, looked away for a second when she took off her jacket and only looked back when she spoke. He felt awkward talking if he remained standing so he just slid down and sat on the floor with her. 

 

Both of them taking a swig of their beer and occasionally sighing. "Do you live with your boyfriend?" Johnny decided to break the silence. 

 

Hana's brows furrowed, "What made you say I had a boyfriend?" she blinked at him. 

 

He slightly shrugged, "I just assumed. Don't you?" 

 

"I don't have a boyfriend." 

 

"Alright. I don't have anyone at the moment either, just in case you wanted to know." he teases. 

 

Hana felt herself scrunch up her nose, unsure about how to feel, "You look like you make girls cry." were the next things out of . 

 

Johnny laughed audibly, "What made you say that?" 

 

She shrugs, "I just assumed." she mimicked the other. 

 

"You're gonna be a doctor, you have to be nicer!" he retorted. "Your patients will dread you otherwise." 

 

Hana smiled then sighed, "I've still got a long way to go before any of that." and she chugged the rest of her beer. Johnny had just finished his a few seconds ago. 

 

Noticing that they had both finished the beer, he took out the two remaining bottles which were the soju he mentioned before. "These are a little stronger if you're still up for it." he sort of asks as he holds up the bottles. 

 

Hana checked her watch again, "9:00PM".  "It's been an hour." she thought to herself. 

 

"I'll just drink it slower." she said as he took one bottle from him. 

 

"This has been one of my best Friday nights in a long time." Johnny adds before he opens his bottle. It was a twist off cap so he knew Hana could open it on her own. 

 

"Either your standards are just really low or you don't really go out much." Hana says as she opens her bottle and takes a shot of it at once. 

 

"I was about to drink alone. Now I didn't have to!" Johnny smiled at her. 

 

"You need to stop that." Hana answers. 

 

"Stop what?" 

 

"That." she pointed at him, "Smiling at people. It can confuse them. Aren't you being too nice?" 

 

Johnny just breathes for a second and drinks, "I'm nice to people who are nice to me." 

 

"How do you know I'm being nice to you?" 

 

"You're still talking to me and you even offered to pay for the drinks." he had caught her. 

 

Hana rolled her eyes and took another shot of her drink. "Did you always want to be an architect?" 

 

"Yep. I like standing on the rooftop and looking at the city hoping one day one of those buildings will be one that I designed." he took another drink. "What about you, why do you want to be a doctor?" 

 

"I hate being helpless. I want to be the one who helps, not the other way around." she says as she downs her bottle of soju. Hana was feeling heat in her cheeks so she leaned back on the wall and stretched out her legs in Johnny's direction. 

 

"I could see that in you." Johnny began. "I think you're really independent and I've always liked that in a person." then he started snickering. 

 

"What?" Hana raised her eyebrow at him. 

 

"Nothing, I just remembered how mad you looked when this damn elevator stopped." he barely got out the sentence, "You weren't even worried this thing could plummet and kill us both!" he continues laughing. 

 

Hearing this made Hana start laughing too, "I just wanted to go to bed! Hahaha I wanted to sleep!" she whined as she held onto her stomach. 

 

The alcohol had gotten to the both of them making them just have these fits of laughter when the elevator suddenly rumbled back into motion. The sound of their laughter echoed in the small space. For a moment it was just the two of them. 

 

The two were still laughing when the doors opened, "Uhh, mam? Sir?" there were two personnel waiting for them when they arrived at the 7th floor. "Are you two okay?" they suddenly felt like they were interrupting. 

 

Johnny and Hana looked up at them from the floor after their laughter had died down. 

 

"Sorry, we'll clean up." Johnny got up first and helped Hana up. He got to hold her hand a second time tonight. He picked up the empty bottles and Hana did the same. 

 

The personnel stepped aside and just looked at each other, both a little confused. 

 

"Well, this is me." Hana said, "I'm lucky I got stuck with you, Johnny." she smiled. She was about to walk out the platform then Johnny spoke. 

 

"Hey, Hana?" 

 

She turned to look at him. 

 

"Meet me at the rooftop tomorrow at 11 for hangover soup?" 

 

Hana smiled and nodded before waving goodbye. 

 

-END-