track four, 'designated drivers'
wc: 2.5k / (next) (masterlist)
If you were put in purgatory, your own personal line between heaven and hell would be having to host a frat party on campus.
You didn't have a problem with attending them. They could usually be pretty entertaining, but hosting was a whole different story. Which is why Jake Sim is the bravest person you know.
The couch you’re leaning against is peeling relentlessly. It’s mildly uncomfortable, but the blue (at least you think that was the original color?) sofa is the best you’re gonna get here. Chatters echo throughout the house and the low hum of music plays in the back.
To your left, a few guys from your creative writing class are playing beer pong. Frat guys were weirdly drawn to the element of creating and journalism, which is what lands you and Minho so many invites to events like these. Which you then extend to your other friends and pyramid scheme it. The other invited boy in question is likely outside nursing a beer and talking to his dance friends (even if he refuses to call them that). Predictable.
You hear the call of your name. “We need a third!”
You drop your head back, neck going limp with a groan. “I’m too drunk to play.” He scoffs.
“Liar. You haven’t touched a drink all night.” The half intoxicated group giggles around the table. You bite back a grin.
“Sooo drunk.” The pad of your pointer finger brushes against a red solo cup full of what you hope is beer sitting on the coffee table. They laugh it off and turn back, recruiting another poor partygoer.
They were pretty right. You weren’t drunk, but you were busy. One of the biggest reasons you went here was yes, to kick off a little stress by placing bets on cup pong and taking embarrassing blackmail pictures of your friends, but mainly to write. You work best under pressure and in chaotic areas, and this basement is lively enough to think but not too chaotic that you can’t hear your own thoughts. WIth everyone drunk or distracted, it’s just you and your notes app against the world.
You scan your surroundings. Would it be cliche to make your characters go to a party? You could always play it up a bit. Pretend it’s a huge crazy one where everyones blackout drunk and one of the characters saves the other from a pushy drunk dude, but that doesn’t seem like a very useful plotpoint in a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche.
The blinking bar on the screen of your empty note stares at you. This story is really challenging you. Maybe you can find another party to think at.
A loud thud and squeak of the couch draws your attention quickly. That and the newly added weight on your lap. You look down at the limbs. Grey sweatpants and white socks.
“Can I help you?” You look over to the boy who has now claimed your couch and decided to use you as an extra cushion. His face is buried into the pillow on the opposite side, so you can’t make out his face. He groans. Definitely drunk.
You nudge his calves. “Hey.” No movement. You hope he hasn’t passed out. Moving some guy off of your lap and into a safe spot isn’t your idea of a good night. “This couch is claimed already.” You poke harder.
To your surprise, he pokes his head up.
“You can’t claim a couch!” He recoils in offense, flipping his body over with his back against the cushions.
“Well I did.” You scoff. “First come first serve.” He makes a face. It’s hard to take this guy seriously when he’s so wasted. You bet he'll regret it in the morning.
“I have just as much of a right to this couch as you do.” he crosses his arms (and legs, just to piss you off). You try to shove them off again.
“It already looks bad enough without some drunk guy vomiting all over it.”
He lets out an overly dramatic offended gasp, sitting up and clutching his heart.
You nod, still trying to move his ankles. He plants them down hard and you give up, dropping your arms on top of them. “Right.”
He folds in, leaning closer. “I’m really not. Smell me.”
You recoil. “I’m not gonna do that.”
“No I promise! Look! Z, Y, X, uhm….W.” He looks at the roof. You crack a grin. “No I am! That's hard to do even sober, c'mon."
Nodding, you pat his calf lightly. “I believe you.” you assure. He lights up, shoulders relaxing. “But you’re still not allowed on the couch.”
His face scrunches up as he drops back down to the other side, resting his head down on the pillow again. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Fine.” You shrug, taking out your phone and opening the notes app again. Trying to act as unbothered as you can, you slowly start typing.
Don’t write party scene. Not as cool in books as it is irl. Party people are kind of weird.
“You’re not even being productive on the couch. You could do that on the ground too. Or at a desk or something.”
You up from the note. The couch guy is sitting with his hands folded over his chest like a corpse, just watching you. You click the phone off and place it on your lap between his ankles. “I am being productive. You’re the one just sitting there.”
He nods. “Exactly. Couch activity. You’re just scrolling away. It’s sad.”
“I’m writing, actually.” The correction feels somewhat sweeter knowing he’s not drunk. You are curious about him though. If he’s not intoxicated, why does he act so….extroverted?
He perks up at your words. “Like a story?” you shrug.
“Kind of. Just the bones of it. Outlines and stuff.” He smiles, nodding.
“I write too. Songs and stuff. We write bones too.”
You stare at him. “You’re sure you’re not drunk?” He flashes you the back of his hand. A big DD is written on the skin. He’s the elected designated driver?
“We write it so we don’t forget.”
“You can’t remember you’re the DD?” Your eyebrows raise. “How short of an attention span do you have?” His face drops, looking down at the marking.
“Just protocol….” You hum, nodding and biting down the smile growing on your lips.
“What’s the story about?” He sits up and folds his legs under him (finally), but you don’t usher him away.
You brace for the holier-than-thou scoff that you usually receive after revealing that tidbit of information, but it never comes. His is widen slightly and he nods. “My friend writes romance.”
You mirror his position, folding your legs under you and scooting closer. “What kind?”
He purses his lips for a second, thinking. “I’m not really sure. I’ve only read the first chapter. It’s good though! I can’t write stories but I can make a mean song.” He nods to himself assuringly. You tilt your head, interested.
“Yeah. Bet you’ve never met a real lyricist, have you?”
A pang of nostalgia hits your chest. He sounds just like your online writing buddy/employer. Lyricists really are so full of themselves.
“Oh I have. Too many, actually.” You sigh, shaking your head in amusement. He scoffs offendedly. He seems to do that a lot.
“I promise I’m good. Just listen!” He pulls out his phone and a pair of wired earbuds that he’s magically acquired in his pocket. Him having them on the ready makes you wonder if he does this to everyone. His fingers tap quickly, as if you’ll run off at any second. “Let me find it..”
You finally get the chance to examine him up close. He’s actually pretty cute (though most musically inclined people are. The thought makes you shiver. You’d know that all too well.)
He’s got a black sweater on, resting one hand on his knee as he scrolls. He seems slightly familiar. Maybe he’s a common attendee of these parties. The bubbly and dramatic demeanor is hard to miss, but in a way it’s…charming. There’s been worse people.
You’d like to think he’s only like this to you, even though you’ve just met. As a writer, it’s kind of important to stay in your own bubble of delusion.
“Okay!” he reaches over, dropping the earbud in the palm of your open hand. You have to get closer to him when you put it in, matching the one in his ear. He takes your nod as the approval to press play.
The melody is catchier than you’d expected. Assuming it’s his voice, the tone doesn’t really match the face. His rapping isn’t aggressive, but instills an unspoken confidence that you hadn’t expected. He was right. He’s really good.
You nod along, looking at the lyrics as they pass by on the screen. Taking a small leap of faith, you tap it to see the artist's name. He doesn’t stop you. In fact, he beats you to it right as the song ends.
“J.one. That’s my stagename.”
You scroll through the lyrics again. “It’s actually really good. I stand corrected.”
It’s definitely not the first time he’s received musical praise, but his eyes still glimmer and the validation and a self satisfied smile grows on his face. He’s getting more charming by the minute, and you can’t say you don’t like it. You’ve never been that good at stuff like this though, so it comes out before you can catch it.
“Do you pick up all the girls like this?” You don’t have to look at him to feel the way his form freezes. Instant regret floods your body, but you let him stammer away anyways.
“I wasn’t…thats not what I was like...uh, trying to do..” You tilt your head slightly, so as to not let the earbud fall out. You’re hoping if you don’t say anything, he’ll keep going, and he does. “I mean unless that's what you were thinking? Or wanted, I mean?”
You bite your cheek, trying to compress the laugh that so desperately wants to creep out. He sees the smile on your face and takes it as a sign.
Taking the phone from his hands, you skip to the next song, not playing it yet, “Play another?”
He straightens up, a small burst of confidence flowing into him. “Would that woo you into giving me your number?” You think for a second, exaggeratedly tapping your chin.
“Hmm. Maybe. If it’s good enough.”
He grins and chooses a different song from the discography, pulling it up and playing it. Each song gets better than the next, and you sit there for almost an hour just discussing his music and each other.
You learn that his name is Jisung (which makes you laugh. There’s an embarrassingly large amount of Jisungs on campus, and you make sure to tell him that. His eyeroll tells you he’s already aware). He’s a music composition major (shocker). You learn that he knows Hyunjin loosely. You’ll have to inquire about him with your friend one day.
Between songs, your phone buzzes with a message from Felix.
Where r u im so tireeddddd
You chuckle under your breath slightly. Jisung looks over your shoulder, reading the messages along with you. You type back.
Get I.N under control and text me then
I'll meet you guys in the living room in 15
“Do you have to leave?” His words vibrate your shoulder, chin resting heavily against your nape. Your hand pulls back to lightly smack his head. He sticks his tongue out at you.
“You’re not the only designated driver tonight.”
His head drops and he groans. “I’m gonna be so bored.”
You hold the back of his head. “Maybe you can get some sleep on this super comfy couch then?” Another groan. He pulls away and comes up to your side instead.
“Well what?” you ask, fully knowing what he’s implying. He brings his hand together in a dramatic plea, eyes wide.
“Were my songs good enough? Can I get your number?”
You grab your phone from the stained side table and type in the password, readying to pull up the contacts.
“Jisung getting the digits! I see you tiger!” A drunken voice calls from in front of you both. You perk up in unison.
The second he sees you look up, the smile on his face fades immediately, seemingly sobering up immediately. He stands in the middle of the room, one hand fallen down at his side, the other lightly gripping a half empty bottle of beer. The gritty, disgusting type of beer that only your ex used to drink.
Because it was your ex. Jisung's friend was Changbin, and he’d just witnessed his friend trying to get your number.
You freeze up immediately, staring down the guy you hadn’t seen in person in a year and a half. He keeps a neutral expression. Jisung notices the sudden tension and tries to laugh it off.
“Sorry… my friends are a little…”
The lack of response from you both quiets him. He curls in on himself slightly, eyes darting between the two of you, still locked in your staredown.
“Hi (Name).” Changbin is the first one to break the silence. You click the phone off and nod at him.
“Changbin. Long time no see.” The confused look on Jisung's face grows by the second. Changbin nods stiffly, attention turning to Jisung.
“The guys are ready when you are.” He looks up to the roof, biting his cheek. “We’ll be upstairs. I’ll let you, uh, finish up.” he says halfheartedly before disappearing back up the stairs.
You can’t say you're surprised. Everyone on campus knows everyone somehow. Especially music majors. Unfortunately, Changbin wasn’t really the first thing on your mind when you met Jisung a few hours ago.
You stand and tuck the phone in your pocket, gathering your jacket and keys. “I should go too. Friends are waiting.”
Jisung stares up at you in awe from the couch, shell shocked by the 180 the mood has taken. His jaw is slightly ajar, but he gathers himself quickly. “Okay…um, do you want me to walk you out?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks though.” He nods, slowly, looking down at his lap.
“Ok. See you later then..?”
You avoid eye contact, turning to the door. “Maybe.”
You don’t see him bite his lip, or ignore the messages from Chan pinging his phone, or the way he clutches the abandoned wire earbud in his palm.
Changbin is waiting near the top of the stairs, evidently expecting to see Jisung instead of you. Your grip tightens on the sweater as you offer a small close lipped smile.
Felix waves you over from the opposite corner. Hyunjin is nursing a sleepy Jeongin on his shoulder against the wall, attempting to wake the boy from his sleep to get a sip of water. It’s not working.
You swallow hard and head over, flashing the boys your keys.
You have a feeling you won’t be seeing Han Jisung again.
a/n: but how will this effect hanquokkas legacy???
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