Kang Seulgi stepped out of the club, music blaring loudly as she held the door open. She leaned against the wall beside the door and closed her eyes. It had been a while since she had been here on a Saturday night and she almost forgot how loud it got with all the annoying college students partying till dawn. Her cough resonated loudly in the quiet and she chuckled dryly to herself. Naturally, her hand reached for her coat pocket and she pulled out a box of cigarettes along with a lighter.

Seulgi put the cigarette to and lit the end of it. Her hand shook from the cold as she returned the box and lighter to her pocket. Taking a long drag, Seulgi closed her eyes again while she blew out the smoke. It was quiet, ignoring the music that could be heard faintly from inside the club. But she didn’t mind, she was already used to it.

Her precious silence was interrupted by the sound of someone walking towards her- or the club. She wasn’t sure until she opened her eyes. Seulgi watched a girl who looked to be in her early twenties stare at the door hesitantly. As if she was afraid to step inside. Seulgi smiled and took in another puff of smoke.

That’s when the girl noticed her.

She swung around and stared at Seulgi, who smiled and blew out the smoke. “Scared, honey?”

The girl’s brows furrowed and she seemed to be thinking whether to answer or not. She studied Seulgi closely and looked her up and down, calculating how dangerous the girl might be. Her eyes travelled from Seulgi’s black boots all the way up to her innocent-looking eyes. She squinted slightly and tried to make out the rest of Seulgi’s face in the darkness.

The girl was about to open when she noticed the cigarette that Seulgi had put up to her lips. She frowned.

“Smoking is poisonous and unhealthy for you.”

Seulgi coughed on her cigarette for the first time in years. She seemed amused by the girl’s revelation, to say the least. The girl continued to frown when Seulgi did nothing but smirk. A few moments passed and Seulgi dropped the cigarette to the ground, stomping on it coolly and looking back up at the girl.

“If I’m poisoned, why don’t you become my cure?”

The girl rolled her eyes, and looked at the door leading into the club. She walked towards it and opened it slowly, letting the music blast through the once quiet street. Her head didn’t turn to face Seulgi as she replied, “you just littered.”

The girl disappeared into the club and Seulgi scoffed. Swearing under her breath, Seulgi whined to herself. She wasted a cigarette for the girl and yet she didn’t even react. How ungrateful.

“Tch. What a brat.” Seulgi shook her head and took out a fresh cigarette. Damn this world and it’s lack of interested girls.

***

Joohyun ventured into the club cautiously, looking around to see if she could spot her friends. She tried every corner but failed to find anyone she knew, “well ,” she mumbled. The seats by the bar were empty and she sighed, taking the seat at the very end, against a wall. She looked at the college students, all around the same age as her. Each of them seemed to be having a good time and Joohyun was the only one who looked uncomfortable.

The bartender smiled at her, “anything to drink?”

“The best alcohol you have.” Joohyun answered, looking down at her phone to text her friends.

After the bartender moved away to prepare Joohyun’s drink, the girl shoved her phone into her bag and sighed. Her friends texted her back saying they had already left to go to a karaoke room with a few guys they met. Although they told her to follow, Joohyun denied and said she’d just go home.

This was clearly a lie because an hour later, Joohyun had already downed seven drinks and was about to ask the bartender for another when she noticed him taking off his apron and preparing to leave.

“Where are you going?” She asked, speaking clearly, as if she didn’t just the bar dry of every alcoholic drink they had.

Well that was an exaggeration. But the bartender was shocked at how much she managed to drink without getting drunk. Perhaps he was just used to all the drunk bastards who ruined the club atmosphere and had to be carried out in their drunken states.

He smiled at Joohyun and lowered his head in a slight bow. “Changing shifts, have a good night.”

With that, the bartender disappeared and left Joohyun in her own thoughts. She zoned out for a few minutes and stared into space until a figure appeared before her. Without