His vision is slightly clouded, but it doesn’t bother him at all. He’s always been able to hold his liquor, and he knows that if he tries, he will be able to pull himself together.

But he doesn’t want to. He kind of likes the haze the alcohol brings, the way the lights seem almost surreal with that blurred vision of his. He kind of likes the way worries have disappeared, and how he’s able to be simply Seungho, instead of the Yang leader of MBLAQ.

He watches with contempt from outside the members of his group having fun, drinking and partying like there’s no tomorrow. He went out for a while by himself, wanting to have a breath of fresh air, and watching over s, he can’t help but feel pride. They are a responsible group (although somehow dorky), they really are. He is truly a responsible leader as well, caring about s and assuming his responsibilities. Just… not tonight. Tonight he simply wants to be Seungho. “And that’s what I’ll do”, he says to himself, as he enters the club again.

It’s already late, or early, according to the digital clock on the wall, that flashes the time: “2AM”.

It’s only when he regains his seat, next to a slightly drunk Joon, that he notices her. It’s easy to ignore her, at the beginning: she is pretty average, not dressed to catch anyone’s attention, and the corner in which se practically seems like hiding conceals her appearance.

But if she’s so uninteresting, why can’t he take his eyes off of her?

…It’s probably because he’s intoxicated. Yeah, that must be it. There is no other logical explanation.

After all, Seungho has had all kinds of girls before: breathtakingly beautiful, crazily successful, insanely y... Every kind of girl, he can have. His position can guarantee that. That’s probably why it’s hard for a girl to get him, nowadays. She has to be exceptional, in order to do so. The girl in the corner isn’t.

Then why, oh why can’t he just stop staring?

His best friend sitting across the table, G.O, notices. He glances towards where Seungho’s stare is directed, and studies the girl. She’s average, and yet… yet there’s something about her. Something that managed to even steal his best friend’s attention, which is rarely happening. He turns his head towards Seungho again, watching with a tad of amusement his fascination.

Seungho still watches her, oblivious to G.O’s careful studying. Only when she understands that Seungho’s staring at her, and she turns to face him, does he avert his eyes, too quickly for it to be natural.

What the hell is happening to him? He’s not like this, usually. What should he do? He wants to approach her, but…

An amused voice stops his train of thought: “You should talk to her, you know?”

G.O… Of course he would understand that something was off about him. Was his staring that obvious?

“I know I should” he says, looking at his best friend with a smile. “I just feel… like it will be different.”

“Different?” G.O asks, and Seungho’s at a loss of words. Different… How, indeed? He knows how to get girls: he has done it multiple times, and he has always been successful. But with her? He seems to have forgotten all about his charming attitude, all of his methods to get girls. Why does she have that effect on him? She is perfectly normal, average… And yet…

He gets up suddenly, startling Joon, who is sleeping on his shoulder with his mouth hanging slightly open. He gives a nod to G.O, a nod that says: “Thank you, I’ll go now, wish me luck” and all sorts of things. There are no words needed.

 He approaches her slowly, making his way towards the corner of the bar. He sits next to her, glancing sideways to catch a glimpse of her face. You could say that she’s pretty. She’s dressed in black, and her long dark brown hair reflects the bright lighting that flashes from time to time. She has a small figure, a pretty face, but it’s her eyes that cast a spell on him, as she gazes intently at him.

God, those eyes… She really knows how to bring them out, with that eye shadow and mascara that manage to cast the effect of what their stylist calls a “smoky eye”.

…“But was she crying before?” he asks himself, noticing that her mascara is smudged at the corners of her eyes.

“What are you drinking?” he asks in a natural and lighthearted tone, trying to make conversation. “I’ll have the same.” He says to the bartender absentmindedly, his eyes never leaving hers.

…“Why does she look so amused?” he starts wondering, but his train of thought is stopped, when a too well-known tune emerges from the stereos around the room. He always feels weirded out when one of their songs starts playing. As he notices, “Smoky Girl”, their newest tune, manages to stir up a sleepy Mir back at their table, who immediately starts poking the other members, in order to direct their attention to their song playing. “He is still not used to it, is he?” he muses to himself.

The girl next to him smiles, before saying: “I love that song.” Seungho is startled. He hadn’t thought that she could be a fan, due to her way too cool behavior. She didn’t even seem to have recognized him.

“Oh really? What do you like about it?” he inquires, curious to see her reaction: will she praise the members, the dance, the music…?

“I like the concept.” she simply says, surprising him. “I like the idea of the ‘Smoky Girl’” she adds. This is getting interesting for Seungho, who likes discussions of that sort, and he stays focused on her, trying to hear every word of hers, despite the loud music.

“What’s the ‘Smoky Girl’ to you?” he goes on with the ‘interrogation’.

“Well, I obviously don’t think that she is the key to your heart.” She says playfully, with an equally playful expression that –as he dares say- suits her very much.

He laughs at her comment, remembering an interview, in which he said that ‘Smoky Girl’ (which he pronounced as Seu-mo-kee girl), was a girl who had the key to his heart (kind of like a Seungho-key girl). So she is a fan, in the end…

“So… ‘Smoky Girl’… What about her?” he pushes further, trying to understand the puzzle that is her.

“I don’t know… She’s kind of a strong figure to me, I guess… No one can hold on to her, no one can keep her, she just… vanishes, like smoke.” She replies, and her gaze seems to be directed somewhere far away, into nothingness.

Seungho’s eyes soften, and he can’t help but wonder what kind of sorrow made her want to turn into smoke that no one can hurt. “That kind of existence… isn’t it lonely?” he asks her, keeping his voice low, so low, that she might have not heard it over the loud music.

She doesn’t answer his question.

Whether it’s because she doesn’t hear, or because she doesn’t want to, he will never know…

Noticing that his drink has arrived, he takes a sip, and-

Oh God. “The hell is that?” he exclaims, unable to hold it in. His face twists in a grimace, because that drink is really, really sour.

…But the result really does worth it, he decides, since the girl bursts out laughing. He stares at her in amazement, wondering why such a simple thing as laughing can look so unique because of her.

“It’s lemon juice.” she says as she tries to regain her breath. Her failure to do so leads to a new explosion of laughter, and Seungho can just laugh along with her while saying: “You really are ‘Smoky Girl’”.

Her smile vanishes just then.

“No, sadly, I’m not.” she says so quietly that he barely hears her. “I’m going to dance, before the song ends.” She adds, and leaves him without looking back.

He watches her make her way through the crowd and reaching the dance floor. If it was any other night, he probably wouldn’t have followed. If it was any other girl, he probably wouldn’t have bothered. But it’s tonight. And it’s her. So he gets up, reaches her, and pulls her close to him.

Their movements quickly synchronize, as they come closer and closer, connecting body part by body part, until they are dancing in such an intimate way, that it will certainly make him blush tomorrow.

She’s a good dancer, he decides, as the circular movements of her hips draw him in. He is standing behind her, with each hand on either side of her body, and as they move to the rhythm, he can’t help but kiss her exposed neck.

He can feel her take a shaky breath. Still dancing, he turns her around, and stares into her eyes. Does she want his touch? Does she want more? He can’t figure her out, he realizes. He can’t understand what she wants.

And that’s why he takes the initiative, and leans in to kiss her.

She still doesn’t stop him. Instead, she closes her eyes and pulls him closer, as the song comes to an end.

She wants this as badly as him.

~~~

A/N: Hi there! So, this was the first chapter of "Smoky Girl". I just wanted to inform you that this will be a short story, a sort of "mini-fic". Every chapter will have a background song, that will seem to match the characters mood, actions or thoughts. As you have probably figured out already, the song behind this chapter was none else than "Smoky Girl" by MBLAQ. 

Next chapter will be written in Smoky Girl's point of view, and its "soundtrack" will be -what else?- "Lips" by Miss A. (Because Seungho's lips are perfection. 'Nuff said.)

Also, feel free to subscribe, comment etc. Have a nice day! :)