One Night Stand - Chapter 5
Almost a whole week had passed since my night at iKON's. I did give my number to Jinhwan before leaving, but as expected he hadn't contacted me.
It was Friday, and we weren't going to miss the chance to experience the nightlife in Korea. And by “we” I meant my sister, Dina and I. My sister had had a “disagreement” with Zico, so she hadn't seen him in a while and was hoping to get her mind away from him by going out that night. Dina was a completely different story. She'd been spending most of her week with either Mino or Bobby, but apparently both of them were busy that Friday.
The three of us agreed on dressing somewhat... sluttier, than what we were used to. I decided on a simple black velvet dress -that I'd borrowed from Dina, and was way too short for me since I was taller than her,- matching knee-high socks and heeled ankle boots. I lent my sister my favorite A-Line red plaid skirt and she wore it with a black turtleneck top and thigh-high boots.
'Di, do you want to borrow anything of mine?' I asked my friend, noticing she was still struggling to choose an outfit. She thought about it and started going through my clothes after a quick nod of her head.
My eye twitched a bit when I realized the mess we'd made, with different pieces of clothing all over our hotel room, but I decided I'd do something about it the following day. I got in front of a mirror and started doing my makeup. I applied some primer, a thin layer of foundation and some concealer to hide the dark circles under my eyes. I had been sleeping less than four hours a night since I had arrived in Seoul, and it was taking its toll on my face. I filled my eyebrows and put on some dark eye shadows and smoky eyeliner, and finished my look with thick mascara, and my Russian Red MAC lipstick. I looked at my reflection, satisfied with the results, and decided to wait for Dina and my sister while drinking a can of beer and trying the Tteokbokki Chips I had bought earlier that day. I was on my second can when Dina joined me, just on time to sing along to EXO's “Call Me Baby” with me. She was wearing a white collar black dress with white lace sleeves and her Mary Jane pumps.
By the time my sister decided she was ready, we had emptied one bottle of soju each and were trying to dance while watching dance practices.
'Put 아주 NICE next!' she said, after downing a shot of peach-flavoured soju, and we did.
'Hey... We should get going already, it's getting late,' I told them, looking at my phone. They nodded in agreement. However, in our inebriated state, it took a simple “one last song” to lose our focus. It was about ten songs later that we finally took off for the pub. It was already past 11 pm, so we had lost the last train of the day and had to take a cab to our destination.
I sighed and looked at the two girls beside me before opening the door to exit our room. 'IDs?' I asked and they nodded. 'Money? Phones?' they nodded again. 'Charged phones?' I asked again, looking at my sister, knowing she usually run out of battery when she went out at night'. My sister laughed and opened the door. 'Yeah, mom. Can we go now?'
When we arrived at the pub it was packed and it was as loud as it was usual in those kind of places, but the music was nice and the drinks weren't as expensive as I'd expected.
'We'll have a round of soju,' I told the waiter once we were finally able to get a free table. He nodded before leaving.
I looked at my sister and Dina, who were both sitting in front of me, and grinned. 'I'm glad we came here,' I said, almost shouting so they'd hear me above the music. They both nodded in agreement.
The waiter brought our soju, and the three of us downed our shots at the same time. I started humming the song that was playing, which I knew was by GOT7, but I couldn't remember the title. However, I was pulled back to reality when I realized my companions were silent. I raised an eyebrow at them, as I caught them looking straight in front of them, their mouths slightly parted. I was curious as to why they were staring so much and turning around was quite tempting, but decided to tease them instead.
'Close your mouths, you'll catch flies,' I told them and they finally looked away from whoever had caught their interest.
'You don't get it, they're damn hot,' my sister told me only loud enough for me to hear. I rolled my eyes at her but was becoming even more curious about the newcomers. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait much to find out what they were talking about, for a young guy sat beside me, and to say he was goddamn handsome would've been the understatement of the century. He had beautiful brown hair that shined with the faint lights surrounding us, and his face was flawless. He was wearing a simple long-sleeved t-shirt that was tight enough to show his muscular arms, but what I found most entrancing about the complete stranger were his curious and confident eyes and his boyish smile.
Apparently, I'd been staring at him for too long, for he was looking at me a raised eyebrow, amusement evident in his face. Regaining my composure I raised an eyebrow back at him. It was my table after all, and it had been him who had approached me.
He laughed light-heartedly and introduced himself. 'I'm Soonjin,' he told me in English and looked expectantly at me. ‘Lisa,' I said. 'It's nice to make your acquaintance, Soonjin'. I could have answered him in Korean, but I felt like testing him for a while. He made a face but smiled nonetheless.
Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw another guy joining our table next to my sister. He was tall and had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. He had a childish aura around him and his deep laugh was breathtaking.
'How old are you, Lisa-ssi?' asked Soonjin, making me give my whole attention back to him. He looked so young, that I considered lying about my age.
'How old do I look?' I wondered. He thought for a while, almost making me giggle at his cute expression, and then replied.
'20? Are you noona?' His lack of English skills finally showing.
'You're not even 20?!' I exclaimed. Was he even old enough to be there at the pub?
'Noona's rude,' he said pouting. I swear, so much aegyo was going to be the death of me. 'I am of age,' he said as if reading my mind.
'Good. I'm 23, by the way,' I told him and he nodded his head.
I was about to change the subject when I noticed another guy had joined us on my other side and was downing a shot of soju. My shot of soju. I frowned and turned to him completely.
'YA!' I exclaimed. 'That's mine!'
He didn't seem affected at all. He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the backrest of the chair. 'I don't see your name on it, sweetheart,' he said nonchalantly. I was usually calm in this kind of situations, but his laid-back attitude was starting to annoy me. The amount of alcohol flowing through my veins was probably at fault too.
'I'm paying for it. It belongs to me,' I countered.
'I wouldn't be too sure about that, darling,' he said and smirked. Damn him and his hot smirk.
'Actually, Hyung has already paid for your drinks, and for the next round, Lisa-noona," Soonjin told me, reminding me of his presence. As if on cue, the waiter came to our table with more bottles and shot glasses. The younger guy must have noticed me being uncomfortable, for he decided to change the subject.
'Noona's cruel, you should have told me you could speak Korean,' he told me. Only then I realized I had switched languages.
I laughed out loud and apologized. 'Your laugh is really nice,' he told me smiling, and I smiled back at him. However, I was unable to continue flirting with him, since I was rudely interrupted by his Hyung placing my glass loudly in front of me. I turned to my right, staring blankly at him, and trying to remain calm.
'I want a drink,' the older guy explained. He was now leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table.
'Pour yourself some,' I told him matter-of-factly, and added 'In your own glass,' while taking mine from his grip. A surprised look crossed his eyes but lasted less than a second. He was soon chuckling darkly and raising an eyebrow at me.
'I'm older than you,' he said as if that was enough of an excuse for the way he was treating me. I knew a fair amount about Korean culture, and knew of the importance they gave to age in society, but he was being just plain rude. 'So?' I asked, and looked defiantly into his eyes. We were closer than I'd expected, our foreheads almost touching. His sugar-white skin seemed almost translucent, and every inch of his face was positively perfect. His pale pink lips looked so inviting, and I wondered what it would feel like to kiss them...
He's a jerk, I reminded myself and looked back into his eyes before turning away from him, deciding it was better to ignore him.
'Soonj-' I started, my voice trailing off when I realized he was no longer there. In his place was another good-looking guy, who laughed at my surprise.
'I think he got tired of being ignored,' the guy explained, making me frown. 'He went outside with your friend, she said she wanted a smoke,' he told me. “But Dina doesn't smoke…” I thought to myself and glanced to the direction where she had been sitting minutes ago. My eyes met the most attractive eye-smile I'd seen in my life, and I almost forgot how to breathe. Was it possible for all these perfect creatures to exist? How come they were all sitting at our table?
'I'm Songho, by the way,' the guy to my left introduced himself and then pointed to his friend, 'That's Jinwoo. And I think you have met Yongsik and Daehyun already...'
So, the Jerk's name is Yongsik... I thought to myself and then realized Songho was probably expecting an introduction as well.
'It's nice to meet you, Sonho-ssi, Jinwoo-ssi,' I told them. 'I'm Lisa'.