-----

“Why so glum, son?” The ajumma noticed Seung-hyun’s uneasy expression as she entered the coffee shop. “What happened to you? You look like death!”

The guy was pale, seemingly from lack of sleep due to the terrible dream he had that night. Furthermore, it was the third quarter of the year, which was notorious in his job as the busiest season. Seung-hyun appeared no different from a sickly grizzly bear, what with his beard making a debut for the world to see.

“A lot of things have been happening.” Seung-hyun slumped to the round wooden table, urging the ajumma to sit in front of him. “With Bom… And with work aish… Can’t even stay too long for a cup of coffee.”

“But you’re here now?”

“I’m just waiting for the company car.” Seung-hyun replied lazily, sighing unceremoniously while settling his head on a comfortable position. “And I’m off to a thousand different places today.”

“Wasn’t that why you enjoyed your job to begin with?”  The ajumma inquired. “It’s not your job, it’s probably Bom. Anything happened between you two recently?”

“I dreamt that she rejected me again.” Seung-hyun stared at the street outside as a familiar black car pulled over. “And I was hopeless.”

“Aigoo, dreams don’t mean anything unless you let them get into your head.” The ajumma wisely advised. “Don’t think about it that much and try to get more sleep. You look like the grim reaper with your dark eye bags. If you keep at it like that, Bom will never want you back.”

Seung-hyun sighed. There was no cheering him up that morning. “Thanks for the encouragement, ajumma, but I’ll get going. My ride’s here.”

“Annyeong haseyo, I’m Lee Seung-ri.” Seung-ri bowed in front of Bom. “Actually, I’m Lee Seung-HYUN, but people get confused so they gave Seung-ri as a nickname… Anyway, I’ll be replacing Seung-hyun hyung indefinitely because he’s going to be busy with work.”

“Oh, okay!” Bom replied in relief. She wasn’t too thrilled to be working with her ex-husband for the company’s male uniform; but because their real estate company has been, so far, the largest client Bom’s fashion house ever had, there was no saying no. “I did sketch some new designs. I figured that since your niche market is high end, you ought to not look like teachers or lawyers… Nor do you want to be seen wearing the same clothes repetitively.”

“Let me see.” Seung-ri walked towards Bom’s sketchbook and flipped a few pages. “Woah, daebak! So it’s actually going to be deconstructed? Like we can mix and match stuff? Oh look at this it’s like Armani! Hyung wears a lot of similar designs! That sneaky bastard wants to use his style for the company didn’t he?”

In actuality, Bom had never consulted Seung-hyun about the styles for the men’s wear. He just went along with whatever Bom designed.

“Aigoo that sly bastard. Good thing he has taste in clothing.” Seung-ri sifted further into the pages. “Ah noona, but I think it lacks something.”

“What?” Bom furrowed her brows.

“Trust me, unlike hyung, I’m an architect. I know a sad design when I see one.” Seung-ri said as he looked sideways to Bom’s direction. “Hmm, if I were to make a metaphor… Your designs are like an awkward, but beautiful, teenage girl. See, it screams sophisticated. You know those girls in high school who don’t think they’re beautiful so they want to fit in to the conventional? Kinda the same with your designs.”

“What did you say?!” Bom raised her tone.

“You know what your designs need?” Seung-ri continued his blunt revelations. “A boost of confidence! Your designs look like they’re holding back! They shouldn’t look like Armani; we would have gotten Armani designers if we wanted Armani designs. Your designs should be 100% YG. Swag corporate.”

“Yah! Who do you think you are to say that about my designs?!”

“Come on noona, I see your real designs a thousand times a day that I get headaches.” Seung-ri disclosed tactlessly. “Hyung shows your clothes to the team every time he throws our designs out of the window. He even posts them on our desks for design inspirations.”

“H-he does what?” Bom felt her cheeks burn up.

“He has a whole album of your past designs in his drawer; he brings them to meetings with the design team. That’s how big of a fanatic he is with your designs.” Seung-ri persisted callously. “I don’t blame him, your designs were wicked! But now they look sort of held back… I KNOW! We should get you out tonight!”

“Huh?!”

----

Seung-hyun massaged his temples wearily while the company car endured rocky paths. Why the heck did he agree with the president that this lot was bearable? It didn’t have access to main roads, and the property was up in the mountains where there were barely any signs of development.

“Sir, you don’t look to well. I have an aspirin in the medicine kit.” The driver offered as he glanced at Seung-hyun a couple of time. “You’ve been like that all morning. Maybe we should call it a day.”

“I’ll be fine Alex.” Seung-hyun smiled warmly, albeit his throbbing head. “Thanks for the concern, though. Please take me to the office first.”

“Ack! You’re still going to work when we come back? It’s almost six thirty boss! Past working hours!” The driver exclaimed.

“Neh, I’m meeting with the president tomorrow so I have to prepare.” Seung-hyun replied exhaustedly as he closed his eyes. “Jin-ri’s been out all day for the company’s rebranding strategy so she wasn’t able to do the financials for some of my properties. I’ll have to finish them before I go home.”

“Boss, you always overwork yourself.” The driver shook his head in worry. “Don’t drive tonight, let me drive you home, boss!”

-----

Seung-ri frowned; how come his hyung, his homie, wasn’t answering his calls?

“Aigoo, I guess he won’t be able to join us.” The young architect talked to himself as he and the girls walked to his favorite divebar across the real estate company with Bom, Dara and CL. “And Jin-ri’s not going to make it either. I guess it’ll be just us four!”

“It would have been five if you allowed Minzy to go with us!” Dara reminded Seung-ri in a taunt. “Let’s go back for her!”

“Minzy’s a minor, unnie.” CL jogged Dara’s memory. “Even if you wanted to, I won’t let you!”

“So this is your version of club parties?” Bom turned to Seung-ri, who urged the girls to enter one of the vacant karaoke rooms.

“Parties are so overrated.” Seung-ri explained. “You wear expensive clothes you don’t even lie, you keep on drinking expensive concoctions that just make you vomit, you get drunk, and you end up in someone else’s place? All the hassle’s in there! Whereas when we’re here we can have all the fun that we want!”

“He sounds erted.” Dara whispered to Bom; the latter simply nodded. “One of us better not get drunk so he won’t take advantage.”

-----

-----

Seung-hyun stared at her and sighed. He already half-expected this to happen. Bom was never the one to hold alcohol. The tall guy couldn’t do much but study his ex-wife. He was still overpowered with the dream he had, and his exhaustion wasn’t helping either.

“Nobody’s gonna love me better~ I muz stick with you foreveeer.” Bom sang drunkenly to the tune of Pussycat Dolls’ Stick With You. “Nobody gonna take me higheeer, I muz stick wit yoooooo.”

Seung-ri laughed haughtily at the wild sight. “Nice of you to join us, Choi! Your ex-wife’s a keeper!”

Seung-hyun couldn’t believe this was the same Seung-ri who whimpered to him over the phone a while ago. The things alcohol can do to you.

“I… don’t wannnnaa go another daaaaay.” Bom continued to sing in slurred words.  

Meanwhile, Dara and CL were swaying their bodies and waving their hands to the tune of the song; both still sane but obviously drunk as well.

“Bommiiie!! Look it’s Sssssseung-hyun!” Dara shouted before she fell back to the seat.

“I want youuu to know that you're the only oooone for me.” Bom sang relentlessly. As she heard Dara's remark, she turned away from the karaoke screen to look at Seung-hyun, yelling a word that caught everyone off guard.

"YEEEEOOOBOOOOO!"

Bom ran off to Seung-hyun and pushed him over to one of the couch where the rest of the people where. “You look like yooooou could use a drink.”

Seung-hyun blinked once or twice as the girl still tugged on his coat. He was speechless. Did she just call him her beloved again? On a normal day he would take advantage of the situation; but with his ominous dream and all, Seung-hyun could only stare and wait for Bom to get her hands off him. “Bom, you should sit down for a while.”

“Let’s go hoooooome.” The drunk Bom dominated. “Gimmee a piggy back ride, yeobo!”

Let. Us. Go. Home. Did Seung-hyun hear her right? No, even if he wanted to, he shouldn’t take advantage of the situation. She’s drunk, and perhaps her memory served her only to remember Seung-hyun as her husband, and nothing less.

After a while of incessant pleading, Bom finally collapsed beside Seung-hyun. Dara, CL and Seung-ri looked suspiciously at him, as though they felt that he was about to do something sinister to Bom.

“Hyunggie, are you and Bom noona going home?!” Seung-ri asked impolitely, dunking another glass of beer into his throat in one gulp. “I SAY DAEBAK! CHEERS TO HYUNG! WHO’S GOING TO GET LAID TONIGHT!”

“CHEERS!” Dara and CL blindly followed as they held their beer glasses to the air.

Seung-hyun sighed. He knew he only had one choice at that moment: take everyone to his home as fast as he could so he can finish his pending work for tomorrow’s meeting. “Alright, everyone, let’s go home.”

Flashback

“Jagiyaaaaaaa.” Bommie called as hugged Seung-hyun from the back. “I feel dizzy and my mind’s all over the place and I think I’m hormonal and I think I want to punch you and I think I want to vomit all over the place.”

“That’s called getting drunk.” Seung-hyun grinned. He and Bom had been out to drink with Jiyong and a few of their other friends way back from college. Surprisingly, this was Bom's first ever alcohol-filled night. “Can you go home?”

"Taxxiiii"

“You can’t. No taxi driver in their right mind would take you. You’d just vomit all over their car.” Seung-hyun explained as he kept Bom’s grip around his waist. “Want me to take you home?”

“Nooooo, I deffffinitely don’t… vomit…. Your pretty car!” Bom barely replied coherently. Seung-hyun understood it as I definitely don’t want to vomit on your pretty car.

“So what are you going to do? Sleep here?” Seung-hyun surveyed around and there was nothing near the drinking pub but motels of the disturbing kind. He shrugged his thoughts away. “Come on, climb my back.”

“I’m a heavy loaaad, jagi.” Bom said. “You might drop me along the way.”  

“I won’t.”

---- 

Bom awoke the next day, familiar sheets of blue enveloped her body. She scanned the place and saw that she had cramped on the bed with CL and Dara, while Seung-ri was sprawled on the floor. 

This place looks familiar... Is this Seung-ri's room? 

Slowly it dawned on her. The familiar decorations, the color scheme, everything. They were too familiar. She only knew one person who had a consistent taste for home furnitures, and he was outside the bed room,  which Bom could clearly see from the door which was widely opened.

"WE DID IT SEUNG-HYUN!" Jin-ri leapt from her seat and gave Seung-hyun an embrace. The guy seemed equally happy, because he reciprocated the embrace by hugging the girl in return.

"Yeah, well you were right last night. We make a good team." Seung-hyun admitted as he smiled shyly. 

----

A/N: A new rival for Bommie? Hey thanks for subscribing and leaving comments! I really appreciate it! Please continue to do so! If you have plot suggestions please leave me a personal message! (Because it would be a spoiler if you just leave it in the comments box hehehe) 

Cheers!