Neon Memories
Your Night Out
It was frost-bitten February, some of the chilliest months in Seoul. Everyone was always outside though but with just a billion layers on. They also liked to hop from shop to shop to keep somewhat warm. People that were crazy enough, mostly young adults, like you, would actually continue to dress up and look nice for whatever fitting event. You, which worked at a Mandu Shop, didn’t really have an excuse to look nice. The owners you worked for wanted you to look plain and extremely casual, so most days you were without makeup and in painfully boring clothes.
On a Friday night you were happy to receive an invite by some of your friends to go clubbing and they planned to try to get into one of the best nightclubs in Seoul the very next night. It was known for it’s famous sightings of celebrities and ulzzangs alike. As well as it being extremely picky in selection on who they let in. Although you were overjoyed and excited on being requested to join them, it was nerve-wracking for you to anticipate whether or not you were going to get let in. So that Saturday, the morning before the big ‘event’ you decided to go shopping for the best outfit you could find. There was always a tremendous amount of stores to pick from, and always tons of people trying to sell things to you on the streets, so you weren’t worried about coming home empty-handed. After stopping at a random cafe and picking up a bubbletea, you were ready for the challenge!
You actually really enjoyed the time alone, you were never the type of person that was clinging onto your friends with absolutely no idea of what independence is. You were the type of person that would always be the first one to walk away and dump your lunch at school. With that aside, shopping alone didn’t bug you, if anything you enjoyed it more than shopping with people because then you could thoroughly decide what you liked or not without other’s opinions.
Your heels glided into another store, music blasting, and random shopper’s browsing, you started looking through the racks. Your fingers drifted across the different fabrics, nothing caught your eye; either too sparkly, too low-cut, too see-through, or just... too...much. You found a tasteful burgundy studded-collared shirt that was made out of Chiffon, you grabbed it mindlessly and walked over to a wall mirror. Holding it up to your shoulders, you tried to envision what would look nice paired with it. The shirt was dressy but not overdone; it showed just enough skin, cutting right off at your shoulders but it wasn’t like you were wearing your Grandmother’s Christmas sweater either.
Checking and making sure you got the right size, you walked into another section of the store. After trying on numerous skirts, shorts, and leggings, you finally chose shiny, black, synthetic leather high-waisted shorts. Not only did they add an edge to your outfit, they were surprisingly cheap, and an added bonus was they were comfortable and didn’t ride up. You definitely didn’t want to be that “one girl” that had to keep pulling down her outfit for the whole entire night. Already having in mind a pair of shoes you had at home to wear, you quickly grabbed a simple pair of drip cross earrings at the register and paid for your new possessions.
*****
It was several hours later after your shopping trip, and you only had a couple minutes before your friends arrived to pick you up. Your lips were glossed with a shade, and your eyes had thick smoky eyeshadow brushed over, with black liquid eyeliner that was delicately shaped into the “cat eye” look, your hair was pinned away from your face but draping down your back in subtle waves.You sprayed some more hairspray all around you, and closed your eyes waiting for it to settle. You were pleasantly surprised when you realized how perfect your outfit turned out to be, the studs on your black heels and clutch emphasized the ones on your shirt, and the shorts made your legs look longer. Adding one more coat of mascara, your phone buzzed, notifying you that your friends were waiting outside your apartment.
As you were running down the stairs, careful to not trip in your not-so-everyday shoes, it felt like your insides were twisting due to nervousness. Apprehension was building, you didn’t really know what to expect for tonight but still whatever expectations you had, you didn’t want to them to be let down. Finally reaching your friends with a labored breath, you greeted and hugged all of them. Cascading into one of the taxi’s, you chose the middle; away from the frozen and cold window.
Ten minutes later, you stepped out of the car. Your mouth swung open at how glamorous it looked, the line to get in seemed never-ending and the building looked huge and incredibly vast. From outside, you could hear the music. Your pulse already seemed to be resonating to the beat.
“Come on ____! We need to start waiting in line,” one of your friends said, as she hooked arms with you and walked to the back of the line. Similar to your spot in the taxi, you stayed in the middle to stay warm.
Not out of dependance, but it was a strategic decision for survival you sarcastically thought.
Your legs started to become numb, and you looked at your phone for the time. It had been a half an hour since you arrived and it didn’t look like the line moved much at all. You unwrapped your arms from your friends, and peeked outside of your spot in line. Looking ahead you saw an employee with a headset on walking up and down the long line.
“Ahhh! Maybe he’ll let us all in, quick girls, get your aegyo faces on!” one of the girl’s screamed.
“We’re supposed to look mature and y to get in this club, it isn’t an elementary school play,” you retorted. Signs of agreement throughout the group were heard, and everyone seemed to hold their heads a bit higher. As he got closer you could hear his walkie talkie make noises, it was hard to pick up but you thought you heard it say groups from five to six people. He started slowing a bit before he got to your group and begun to talk to another group of girls. You heard some giggles and someone shouted “Oppa!”, right then, he looked away and kept on walking.
“Aish, why’d you have to do that??? That was our only chance!” you heard a girl in the group ahead of yours scold her friend.
Taking a deep breath, you popped your hip out and rested your hand on it. He slowed and came to a halt when he reached your group, you didn’t give him much attention other than cooly sliding your eyes over to his. Not breaking eye contact, an unknown brave grin manifested on your face.
He smiled back at you and with that, he said, “You’re in.” Small sighs of relief were heard within your group, and curses were heard behind you. You smiled, and nodded at him before trying to walk as gracefully as you could to the entrance of the club.
Walking into it was even more astounding than first stepping out, it seemed like you could no longer have coherent thoughts because of the booming music. Mass crowds were everywhere on the main floor, bars with brick walls were on the side and were oozing neon lights. Neon lights were flashing before your eyes almost every second. They lit up the building, and other than the bars and V.I.P. area on the second level, they seemed to be the only source of lighting. Adrenaline surged through your veins, your pulse quickening and throat constricting at the new-found excitement.
Everyone was close to each other, the people were dancing; no matter what gender, and were pressed up against each other, skin following skin. Even the bartender’s lips were brushing up against the customer’s ear, checking to see if he got the order right. It ached for your eyes to look away at the intoxicating chaos and force them upward to the second level. It seemed to be even harder to get into there, you saw low-lit glowing tables and luxurious couches. Metal rails kept you from discovering anything else, but it looked secretive and even more glamorous which seemed, you would have thought, impossible before.
Your friend clutched your hand and started steering the both of you to one of the bars on the side, the two of you had to squeeze uncomfortably close to some people to get through. You made up your mind though, personal space wasn’t a concept here and you had to let the idea of that go.
Finally reaching the bar, your friend screamed in your ear, “What do you want?” Even with her yelling as loud as she could, her voice could barely pass the powerful sound waves of the music.
“Anything eye-catching!” You shouted back into her ear, she reached over and told the bartender the order. He returned a short minute later with two shots, each looked like they were fizzing magically. Bright neon green in color, your grabbed it swiftly and poured it down your throat. It felt like honey as it slid past your tongue and it left a cool numbing sensation after it was gone. Pinching your eyes shut, you slammed the glass down and cheered. Your friend grabbed onto your shoulders and laughed out of excitement. Smiling you turned around, expecting her to follow and approached the dance floor. It was slightly intimidating to see all the attractive people enjoying themselves. Girl’s with flawless skin and thin legs were enfolded with well-dressed captivating guys. You felt a surge of fake confidence anchor in your bones, and you lost yourself even more in the crowd. Finding some space to start dancing, you let loose.
Only after a couple of songs you realized that your friend never followed you, a side of your mouth tugged down when you realized you were alone, but after years of independence, why stop now? Besides she was probably still chugging down mysterious drinks and flirting with the bartender.
Sweat started to slide down your neck, you were enjoying yourself. Feeling the euphoria fill your head. The music tried to make you body become one with it, binding you to dance to it’s rules. You broke free sometimes of the regular dance moves, and added something else making the crowded around you gasp in awe and cheer in encouragement. That only added to your confidence which seemed to be doubling at an exponential rate.
You grabbed a random guy by the back of his elbow, inviting him to dance the last half of a song. He enthusiastically agreed with his body language, and started to try to mold his body to yours. You let him but still kept a small distance between the two of you, when the song was over, you gave him a dazzling smile and leaned over, shouting a thank you in his ear. A look of confusion crossed his face when you turned away from him and instead of leaving you be, he grabbed your hips, starting to dance with the pounding depth of the new song. You turned around, waving your hands back and forth, motioning that you were fine to dance by yourself.
His forehead creased in anger, this time again he tried to start rubbing up against you. You pushed his shoulders way, trying to yell at him to stop. Your voice however became lost in the sound. You took a couple steps deeper into the crowd, hoping he’d lose you among the people. Despite your attempt, you seemed to step into even more men, the male you just danced with was pointing at you and communicating with the guys around you.
You stood there, rubbing your foot against your leg. Trying not to draw any attention to yourself, it was in vain, however, since they already noticed you. They all formed a tight-knit circle around you, and one at a time, one of them would break away and try to dance with you. Each time, you’d push them away and yell angrily at them. They were having the time of their lives, and everyone else was too lost in their own luminescent Wonderland to notice your panic. The music blurred and became a droning noise after each guy kept coming at you repeatedly, your pushes were becoming weaker and they already knew they were stronger than you.
You were just about to collapse on the floor when you felt a soft grip on your elbow pull you upright, you looked up at shock and was about to push the guy away when you realized that he wasn’t apart of that group. His face looked angelic but was his face was twisted with concern and disgust, his wide eyes shown with worry and his lips were set in a grim line. He immediately grabbed your shoulders and pulled you to his side. His dramatic height instantly intimidated the men that were harassing you. They backed away, keeping their heads low but were pointing at you, blaming you that it was your fault for this. Too dazed and exhausted to do anything, you just stood here. He smelled heavenly and you leaned into his shoulder. The crisp white fabric of the blazer he was wearing rubbed against your skin, now finally feeling something after the numbing grabs of those guys before.
Once they were really gone, he turned towards you, peering into your face with worry. His chocolate caramel colored hair was styled upright and wispy. Framing the angles of his face and adding contour and allure. He pressed his lips together in distress and started to guide you to the side of the club, trying to get away from as many people as possible. You absently followed him, intoxicated with his presence and saving touch.
Once the two of you reached the gritty brick wall, you stood on the tips of your feet and tried thanking him. A small closed smile arose on his lips and he nodded ensuring that he understood what you were trying to get across.
“Are you alright?” he asked. His voice somehow seemed to cut straight through the loud music and touched your mind, it was low. Extremely low, but it felt like the drink that tasted like honey earlier and soothed your mind. He touched the side of your arm lightly waiting for a response. Gulping and trying to regain your thoughts, you got yourself together and gave him a charming smile.
“I think I am now, I’m glad you saved me,” you drawled out and winked, once again having to reach up and tell him in his ear. You felt a low laugh rumble through you, and you leaned back to look at his face.
He was smiling a smile that reached his eyes as he said, “You’re adventurous, aren’t you?” You bit the inside of your cheek and then returned the smile. “Would you looked to dance then?” he asked politely, leaning into you. Your pursed your lips for an instant as if it was a hard decision to make, then grabbed his hand and led him back into the crowd.
Leading him behind you, your skin started to burn upon his touch. Your soft fingertips were clinging onto his rough palm, you had a firm yet gentle grip on his hand, not wanting to lose him in the crowd. Finding a suitable spot to dance, the middle of the song started to rise and meet it’s . With thrill and rehashed adrenaline, you grabbed the collar of his blazer and pulled him closer. He bit the corner of his lip and let you pull him to you. He s his arms through yours and rested them behind the small of your back, he tipped his head downward so he could see you. You and him were both moving to the music, and a wide smile filled your face. You were gazing at him in a revering way and the random lights flashing upon his skin. One second they’d light up one feature on his face, the next leaving it dark. The both of you stepped closer to each other and you shivered uncontrollably when you felt his cool refreshing skin touch yours. It was polar-opposites, you felt like you were burning alive with energy and adrenaline, but he had a wintry touch that encased your mind in a cloud of bliss. He was absolutely, breathtakingly stunning and you couldn’t look away. Even when people pushed into you, or they tried to squeeze in between the two of you to get further into the crowd, he’d just grab you tighter and you melted into him.
Resting your hand on his chest you started staring at his lips, they were more than perfect. Full in color and it looked like they were sculpted by a whole era of great artists. You couldn’t look away, as well his essence itself was so unbelievably captivating. You saw his mouth turn into a smile, his white teeth gleaming in the dark. You looked up and met his eyes, and you realized that he saw you staring at his mouth. You’re mouth was agape in slight shock and embarrassment.
He looked straight into your eyes, then lightly reached down and grabbed the tip of your chin, pulling your face upwards. His cool contact on your face only made your cheeks burn even hotter, your eyes widened hugely as he brought his face down to yours. Your eyes fluttered shut, and he filled every one of your senses. His lips brushed delicately against yours, sending earth-shattering quakes down your back. His soft lips contrasted the rough skin on his hand that was cupping your face, you felt him easily shatter every ounce of sanity you had left as you kissed him back. It tasted like sweet saltiness as his mouth glided over yours. The kiss broke and the both of you admired each other’s eyes. He leaned down again, planting a delicate kiss on your jawline. You instantly reached up and curled your arms around his neck, bring your lips to meet his again, it felt like ice melting. You felt like you were a dynamite set off, but he was the Arctic blizzard keeping you from self-destructing.
You’re not sure how long your kisses were, and your bodies naturally molded into one, now you let the music bind you and him together. You felt like you were about to erupt with lack of oxygen and he lightly lifted his face away from yours as if he could somehow sense that. He smiled angelically and looked at you. You trailed your fingers down the sides of his jacket and met his gaze, waiting for whatever was to come next. He gracefully leaned down to your ear and asked, “Would you like to see the second level?”
A/N: This has to be one of my favorites one I've written so far, so I hope everyone enjoys it. ^^
I love Chanyeol so much and this seems fitting for him. *^^*
Comments/feedback/ and positive crtitism are MUCH apprecated
and I LOVE reading them!!
Thanks again guys! :)
<3- Minji
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