"Guys, I'm going to sleep." Yoonjo said to her family who were spread across the living room couch watching TV. It was still early, 8:30pm but she knew she'd have a busy day when she woke up: it would be her birthday. Those people who were too busy paying attention to even a commercial to look at her for two seconds as she spoke, her mother, her father, her aunt and uncle, her older cousin, and her very youthful grandma had never let any of her birthdays pass the world by without an exaggerated celebration with a lot more of her relatives and friends as well, and she knew this one wouldn't be any different. Though only her aunt turned to look at her, her sweet voice could never be ignored by those people in the room. They loved her too much, she was their most precious gem.

Sitting on the arm of the couch, her aunt turned her upper body around to look at Yoonjo. "Happy birthday." Yoonjo replied with her usual serene voice and expression. "It isn't my birthday yet." Obviously enough, her aunt knew it very well. "An early celebration never did anyone any harm. Good night, Yoonjo, rest well." Yoonjo bowed a little and left the room.

∘∘∘

Midnight. It was now officially Yoonjo's 19th birthday.

As she opens her eyes she sees a giant cake in front of her with its candles looking like they had just been blown out by no one else but her own self. She could count the nineteen candles but could not recognize the people surrounding her. As she looked up, she realized her vision was almost entirely blurry, making it impossible for her to distinguish the people who were still chanting her favorite birthday song. But something was even stranger than her sudden inability to see things straight, even though she had a really sharp vision. She had never heard that song before, yet she knew inside her head that it was her favorite song. "Happy birthday, Yoonhee!" She could hear all those people cheering loudly. "Yoonhee? Who's Yoonhee?" She thought, with the last bit of strength she still had in her. She was now getting dizzy and she felt like she was just about to fall.

"E-excuse me." She managed to babble a couple of words before heading out of that room. She didn't know where she was, so she just opened door after door that appeared in front of her. Somehow, the place actually felt a little familiar. But again it was something she just couldn't understand − not yet.

Bumping into each of the doors she opened, she finally saw her way out. She could see it was dark and she was now outside, her blurry vision still didn't allow her to even see the stars. Two more steps and she almost fell on her face, but someone appeared right in front of her and held her. "Sorry!" She realized she now sounded like she always used to, at least one of her senses was back. "Are you ok?" An unknown voice shot back. No déjà vu.

"W-who are you?" She asked with a shaky voice. The guy, who was still holding her carefully and gently laughed. "I don't think you know me." He replied. "Here, let's get you a seat." He helped Yoonjo walk a few steps and then they sat on a bench that was just outside of the building she came out of.

"Thank you." She almost sounded like she was whispering. Her voice was quite delicate at that moment. "No problem." He let out another brief laugh as he said it. "How many drinks have you had?" He asked half-ironically.

"What... drinks? I-"

"It's fine, I'm not a cop. I know many girls that come here drink even if they're not legally allowed to. By the way, how old are you? Eighteen, nineteen?"

"I'm... nineteen. But I swear I didn't drink."

"I can practically smell your breath from over here. Wait, I actually can." The guy whose face she still couldn't see clearly brought his face a little closer to hers then went back. She used a little bit more of her limited energy to bring her right hand near to check for herself if she had an alcohol breath. She did. She couldn't see it, but as she did that, he stared at her once again half-ironically.

"I don't understand this..." He shook his head a bit as she said this. "You must be drunk enough." He leaned in again, this time looking directly into her eyes. "Can you even see my face?"

"I can." Yoonjo could not just admit to a complete stranger that she had the blurriest vision in history when she couldn't even come up with an explanation for it. She had clearly drunk, but she couldn't even remember doing it. If she couldn't explain it to herself, what would she tell him?

"You cannot. Do you want me to just talk to someone, maybe get you a cab?" He offered kindly. Yoonjo shook her head no. Instead, she decided to give in and talk to him. "You got me, alright? I am drunk." She started off with what she still felt was a lie. "But actually, it's only the first time I've drunk." The second part was true, however, and she was somewhat embarrassed having to reveal it, especially to a guy who she knew for barely ten minutes now. She could even feel that she was blushing, and indeed she was. That made the guy whose name she still didn't know smile. But of course she couldn't see it. And that's what he was hoping for.

"So... I need your help. But I'm gonna have to know your name first!"

"Baekhyun." He said, all the while he still had a little grin on his face. He didn't bother to ask her for her name as well, and she was too disconnected to have realized he didn't know her name yet. Besides, what name was she supposed to use when she finally introduced herself? Yoonjo? Or maybe the name she heard earlier, Yoonhee? She started to wonder if that Yoonhee girl was actually herself. "How can I help you?" He asked her.

Yoonjo paused for a while. She didn't know what she was doing. At that current moment, she didn't even know who she was − was she Yoonjo or Yoonhee? If she wasn't Yoonhee, then who was she? Was all of this even reality? She thought for a second if all of this she was "living" right now could actually be just a dream. She had too many questions yet too little time. She couldn't just leave that guy, Baekhyun, waiting. "I think I just need to go home." She squinted a little trying to see if she could catch a reaction from him, but her vision still wasn't all that much better.

"Ok, I'll get you a cab. Where do you live?"

"No, wait. You can't just send me out there in a cab like that. Uh... can I trust you?" She asked, as naive as she could be. Everyone knows even a serial killer could answer to that question with a "yes."

"You can trust me." He said, once again letting out laughter as she amused him with her uniqueness.

"Ok, then, I'll need you to take me home."

"And where is it that you live, princess? Where is your castle?" Baekhyun asked with a big smile. Although Yoonjo couldn't see it, she smiled as well. Her angelic smile made Baekhyun's day.

"Well..." She began. "You can't even remember where your house is!" Baekhyun didn't let her finish. Either way, it's not like she knew what words to use next. It was really something that doesn't come out of one's mouth easily. Or often for that matter. "Things are... really blurry right now." She said another half-truth. Her voice sounded delicate again.

"You know what? Don't worry, I'll find out." Baekhyun helped her up and into a cab. When they got in, he talked to the driver. "Uh... Take the left, then just go forward until the end of that other street... And then to the right, please." His voice sounded like he was whispering as he still helped Yoonjo adjust into her seat. The driver signaled an ok with his head. "Do you need help with your seat belt?" Baekhyun kindly asked her.

"Ehh..." Yoonjo pondered. She really did need the help, but she thought the whole thing would be just too strange. She had just met him! It was the perfect awkward situation.

"You don't have to do it, anyway. You just have to make sure you'll hang in there." He said. She nodded.

Five minutes later, they arrived. At Baekhyun's home.






A/N
Continues on the next chapter! See you then! :)
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