1. Intoxicated

                                                                         '''Don’t say a thing, I act tough but I’m not inside''

 

You were never a good girl. Your school days were filled with mischief; you skipped class often and got into fights constantly to boot. Fortunately however you were blessed with being naturally intelligent and at home you would study like a maniac. You just hated the typical school formalities and longed to go to University where you could study in a way that suited you. So you worked extremely hard and managed to obtain a scholarship to a university a few hours away from your home town. It wasn’t overly prestigious but it was known for its superb business program so you wasted no time in accepting the offer.  You were over the moon as you prepared to move away, when you realised, the scholarship didn’t extend as far as accommodation. You had been raised alone by your father, the small time rapper Lee Seonwoong. He had you with your mother (now deceased) when he was just 16 and did his best to raise you while trying to pursue his music career. While he wasn’t famous as such he is known if you’re really into hip hop and rap. Money isn’t so much an issue anymore as Seonwoong had managed to succeed somewhat in the music industry, but you refused to rely on your father to provide for you since you’d turned nineteen not too long ago. Reluctantly you accepted your fathers offer to pay one month’s rent in an apartment you’d found online that caters specifically to students. In that month you would try to find a job that you could fit in around your college schedule.
               

‘’Remember_______, studies are most important. I’ll send you money whenever you need it’’

Your father lectured you sternly as you both sat down to sort out your financial situation.

‘’You might be Nineteen now but you’re still my child.’’

You grimaced at how cheesy he could be. In his music he was a soulful and deep rapper but as a father he was incredibly embarrassing to you.

‘’I know Dad, don’t worry about me.’’

‘’Oh and no getting into trouble with teachers, I’m hoping you’ve grown out of that rebellious stage by now.’’

‘’Yes, Dad. I’m all grown up now. Trust me.’’

You had been so self-assured in the words you said to him, you were so confident that you were a real grown up and that you’d take college by storm and become a successful business woman. A valued member to society.

If that’s what you thought then why the hell are you in a club on your first night of college?!

You're standing at the bar with a vodka and blackcurrant in hand. It’s your fifth drink of the night and considering how you’ve never drank much before it is really beginning to hit you.

‘’I’m a terrible daughter…spending Dad’s money like this’’ you mumble as you sip from your straw ‘’What would he think if he saw me now?’’

‘’What did you say?’’

Your newfound friend Gong Minji turns to look at you, tearing her eyes away from the cute bartender.

‘’I shouldn’t be here, I can’t believe I came here.’’

She pats your shoulder.

‘’it’s a mixer! We have to get to know some of our new classmates.’’

You frown.

‘’Aren’t mixers usually in some sort of club room?’’

She laughs ‘’Yeah but it’s the first night of college! Everyone goes out for that. Don’t you have any sense?’’

You pout and up the alcohol until the glass is empty, again.

‘’Are you guys okay?’’

Another new friend, Song Minho appears, pushing his way through the crowds of drunken students.

‘’Yep’’ you nod ‘’Great.’’

He squints ‘’You don’t look too great, what’s up?’’

‘’I’m just thinking about the impending doom of adulthood on my horizon.’’

He stares at you for a moment before bursting into laughter.

‘’What?! Why are you laughing!’’

‘’You’ve never drank before, have you?’’

You glare at him ‘’No, I only turned of age recently and I’m sure the same can be said for you!’’

He shakes his head ‘’Nope, I’m going on 21. I went travelling before I decided to settle down and come to college.’’

Your nose twitches in anger.

‘’It’s well for some.’’

Minho is really cute and you can’t deny that you find him attractive, but for someone turning 21 he is really childish. And immaturity is what you’re trying to avoid.

‘’What are you guys talking about?’’ Minji shouts ‘’I can’t hear anything!’’

You feel zapped of energy and can’t make the effort to reply. Suddenly you feel very woozy and your head becomes heavy.

‘’I need to go to the bathroom’’ you mumble.

You walk away before anyone can respond and you feel like a baby deer learning to walk for the first time as you struggle forward in your heels. Why did you wear heels anyway? You’ve never worn heels in your life! This whole ‘’I’m an adult’’ thing is just an act. You’re clearly not grown up at all.

You’re completely lost in your wallowing that you don’t see him before you ram face first into his back and stumble backwards onto your .

The pain shoots up your back right into your head and you press a hand to it and groan.

‘’What the hell….’’

You look up to see a very tall male towering over you, but the lights above mask his face from you.

‘’You should watch where you’re going!’’ you shout as you try to get up ‘’So damn rude.’’

Without warning you feel yourself being pulled up abruptly by your arm and you gasp in shock.

‘’What do you think you’re doing?’’ you hiss ‘’Let go of-‘’

You stop talking when you realise you’re looking into the face of someone beautifully terrifying. Chocolate black eyes stare into you and for some reason you feel goose bumps on your skin.

‘’Little girls shouldn’t be wandering around this late if they can’t hold their booze.’’

His voice is deep and his words rumble out of his mouth to hit you right in the chest. His lip is turned up in amusement and he doesn’t loosen his grip on you.

‘’I’m nineteen years old you know’’

He sneers at you.

‘’Sorry, I didn’t realise, please excuse my rudeness.’’

You blush furiously in anger at his patronising tone and try to pull yourself out of his grip.

‘’Let me go.’’

‘’Can you even stand up straight?’’

He releases his hold and your legs go weak almost immediately as you attempt to wobble away from him to find the bathroom,

You walk a few feet and almost fall down flat before the mystery man grabs you around the waist and hoists you up.

‘’It’s dangerous for a young girl to be alone and this drunk you know’’ He says into your ear.

You try to tell him you’re not alone but you realise that your new friends might not care where you are or want to be troubled with you in your intoxicated state.  They hardly even know you, you don’t even expect them to be worried. You feel incredibly homesick and want to call home to Dad, but you can’t do that, you can’t have him doubt you for a second.

‘’Come with me’’ the man says and he starts dragging you off somewhere else in the club.

‘’Wait, where are you taking me, stop..’’

Your words are sluggish and you can’t get your arms to move to push him off. You should not have drunk so much vodka, how could you be so foolish?

You feel yourself dozing off and your legs go out beneath you. When you open your eyes all you can see is the ceiling moving overhead. How are you moving? Is this a dream? Maybe you’ve gone and died; at least if you did you wouldn’t have to face the shame of your actions later on.  

The second time you open your eyes the ceiling is no longer moving. Everything is motionless and quiet. You still feel incredibly intoxicated and even more disorientated. You realise then that you’re lying down, on a sofa, in what looks like…some sort of room or office? There’s a simple table, a fridge and other kitchen type commodities.

The door opens then and the guy from earlier walks in.

‘’Oh so you’re not dead then?’’ he says cheerily ‘’I brought some water.’’

He walks over and hands you the glass of water which you accept gratefully. His eyes glance downwards and he smirks.

‘’You might want to fix your dress.’’

You look down and realise your loose black dress has shifted up over your underwear and you pull it down quickly.

‘’Oh my god’’ you press a hand to your face ‘’God…’’

‘’Don’t worry, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.’’

You choke on your water and cough loudly. Just who is this man and where the hell has he taken you? What if he attacks you? How will you get yourself out of this?

You look at him properly now and feel incredibly nervous. He’s very tall, dressed in a leather jacket, black jeans and a loose white shirt. His hair is blond, almost bleach blond at that and has clearly been styled with care. His dark complexion and smouldering eyes are what affect you the most. He is one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen, not that you’ve seen many, but still.

‘’What age are you?’’ you ask suddenly, shocking yourself for being so forward.

He raises an eyebrow ‘’Is that really any of your business?’’

‘’Well’’ you stammer ‘’ I need to know what I’m dealing with here is all…I’ll feel more at ease if you aren’t some old ert.’’

He laughs ‘’You’re pretty innocent aren’t you.’’

You feel yourself go cold at his words. Memories threaten to flood into your mind but your bury them. You have to forget, you have to move on.

‘’No’’ you say quietly ‘’Very much the opposite in fact.’’

His expression softens when he hears how serious you are.

‘’I’m 24, going on 25. Is that too old for you?’’

You pause for a moment before responding.

‘’No, I guess not.’’

‘’And I’m not a ert. If I was going to have my wicked way with you I’d have dragged you back to my place.’’

‘’Oh, so, this isn’t your apartment?’’

He laughs again ‘’No, this is the staff room for the club. I happen to be one of the junior managers here. This was my night off yet here I am with you.’’

You stare guiltily into the glass in your hand. You didn’t mean to cause trouble on your first night in town. You just wanted to ease your nerves about starting a new life away from home and away from Dad. But trouble follows you everywhere you go so it seems.

‘’I’ll take you home whenever you’re fit to walk again.’’

You sit up and set the glass down on the floor.

‘’I’m okay ill make my own way back, I don’t live very far from here.’’

‘’It’s pretty late you know, I don’t think it’s too safe for a girl your age to go off alone.’’

There it is again, the patronising adult talk. You thought you’d escaped that crap when you graduated and left school.

‘’I’m fine, thank you for your help, but I’ll be okay now.’’

When you stand up the room spins a little but you squeeze your eyes shut and force yourself to move forward. You can hardly walk as your legs shake uncontrollably but you make it halfway to the door before the guy puts a hand out to stop you.

‘’You won’t make it downstairs never mind get home. I’ll take you, otherwise if anything happens to you I’ll be held responsible.’’

‘’Thanks for the concern’’ you say sarcastically.

You don’t push him away however when he puts his arm around your waist to stabilise you and you both make your way out of the now empty club. The only people left are staff who watch you as you leave. They probably think you’re pathetic and a complete child. The embarrassment is almost too much to bear.

He brings you round back to the staff carpark and eases you into the passenger seat of an impressive looking car.  

‘’Nice car’’ you mumble when he gets in next to you ‘’Shocked you can afford it.’’

‘’Is that anyway to talk to the man who is kindly escorting you home?’’

You snort but say nothing else except to tell him the address of your apartment building.

‘’So you’re a student’’ he says and drives out of the carpark ‘’No wonder you can’t hold your drink. Most first years can’t.’’

‘’Whatever.’’

‘’What are you studying?’’

‘’Business.’’

‘’Ah so you’re a smart one then.’’

You nod ‘’Studying is about the only thing I’m good at.’’

‘’That must be such a boring life.’’

You frown ‘’So working in a bar isn't?’’

He smiles but doesn’t reply. What is with this guy? Why is he so hard to figure out?

It doesn’t take long to get to the apartment building but because you’re on the second floor, the guy decides to get out and take you right to your front door.

You struggle so badly to get up the flight of stairs that he sighs in exasperation and scoops you up over his shoulder.

You squeal and throw your hand out to pull your dress down for a second time that night. You need to invest in a pair of shorts or jeans, or even a pair of tights.

‘’Put me down!’’

He doesn’t respond and hurries up the stairs and down the hall to your apartment before setting you down on your deer legs.

‘’Give me your key.’’

When you go to reach for your bag however you’re hit with a horrible realisation. You no longer have your bag with you.

‘’Uh….’’

‘’What?’’

‘’My bag…it’s gone.’’

His eyes widen

‘’Are you kidding?’’ he says incredulously ‘’Where the hell is it?!’’

‘’I don’t know’’ you whimper and your eyes water with tears ‘’I’m sorry, I’m such an idiot.’’

He sighs and pats your head with his large hand.

‘’Don’t cry, I hate seeing girls cry.’’

‘’But, what will I do?’’ you sob ‘’that bag has my keys, my phone, my wallet and money. My dad will kill me.’’

‘’Look it’s probably back in the club, I’ll ring the staff to look around for it, do you have anywhere you can stay?’’

You shake your head and you cry even more at the fact. You’re hours away from your real home with nowhere else to turn to. What will you do?

‘’I guess there’s no helping it then, you’ll just have to stay with me.’’

Your chest tightens.

‘’Can’t we just go to the club and get it now?’’

‘’Look, I hate to burst your bubble but the staff will be leaving in about 5 minutes and I have no key to get inside it because the other junior manager has it. We won’t make it back in time and even if we did there’s no way they’re going to stay later to help find your things, so I’ll get a key in the morning and we can go look then, okay?’’

You can’t believe the situation you’re in; and yet you’re in no position to refuse his offer. You don’t want to ring the superintendent of the building and ask for a key in case they kick you out for being an irresponsible student and you have nowhere else to go. On the bright side if anything happens you know where he works so he probably won’t try anything.

‘’Alright then, thank you.’’

‘’Don’t mention it, really, to anyone, ever.’’

He moves to your side to help you back out to the car and you can’t help but feel like an enormous burden. The only consolation you have is that tomorrow happens to be a day off for you because no classes are on, on Mondays.  You can’t add missing class to the list of mistakes you have already made.

It takes another 15 minutes to get to his apartment, which is in a much fancier building than yours. It even has an elevator, which saves him the pain of having to carry you again.

The inside of his apartment is surprisingly simple, from what you can see. You’re too busy trying to keep your eyes open and your body upright.

You assume you’ll be on the couch but instead he guides you into another room, his bedroom and he sits you onto his bed. You watch as he fumbles about in a set of drawers and throws a large shirt at you.

‘’You’re pretty small so that should suffice as a night dress. A host would never let his guest sleep in her nice pretty clubbing dress.’’

He stands with his arms across his thick chest and you marvel at how large his muscles look.

‘’Why are you standing there, are you going to watch me get changed?’’

He smirks and walks over to bend down and cup your chin in his hand. His face is so close that you can smell his aftershave.

‘’Are you asking me to stay?’’ he whispers ‘’Is that what you want?’’

You breathe in shakily. Your body is tense but not with fear….instead, you feel, excited? There is no denying how attractive this man is and it’s not like you’re inexperienced in the bedroom. But it’s been so long since you’ve been able to feel this way around a man. Was it the alcohol? Or was it him?

He moves his face closer and your squeeze your eyes shut, preparing yourself for whatever comes next. Then you feel his lips press against your temple before he lets you go and moves away from you.

‘’I’ll see you in the morning’’ he says as he goes to leave the room.

‘’WAIT’’ you shout, stopping him in his tracks ‘’I…..I didn’t get your name.’’

‘’My names Seunghyun, Choi Seunghyun.’’

And with that he's gone.

You spend the last few minutes of your consciousness repeating his name over and over in your head and picturing his face in your mind.

Just what have you gotten yourself into?