[a/n: i'm barely alive after my exams. sorry for the inactivity 🙏🏻 ]
"Excuse me, what?"
"You heard me the first time, did you not?" Haechan nonchalantly asked and signaled the waiter to their table. "Let's order something to eat first. I'll give you some time to think."
The waiter greeted us with a smile. She gave us each a menu and I scanned through it quickly, immediately knowing what to order. Haechan, on the other hand, didn't bother to look at it.
"One aglio e olio and water for me," I ordered, while the waiter nodded and wrote it down on her notepad. She then looked over to Haechan who pointed at me.
"I'll get whatever she gets," he said and the waiter nodded and took the menu from us. She told us to wait a couple of minutes for the food to be prepared, then leaving us alone.
"How did you find me though? Busan of all places?" I questioned.
"Maybe because we're soulmates, I found you quicker than expected," he smirked. "I'm kidding, maybe. Star kept barking at your pillow and I nearly thought it was some ghost until she brought out a brochure from beneath."
"She's a snitch," I sighed and looked outside the window again. The street lights were on and there were people walking by. There were kids laughing and playing around. It was calming.
"I'm pretty sad that I went all the way here for you to just look outside the window and not at me," Haechan jokingly muttered. I turned to him and he radiantly smiled at me.
"I didn't ask you to come here," I muttered.
"I came here by free will."
"Here's your food," the waiter came and placed each plate one by one and filled our glasses with water. "Enjoy your meal."
"I'm gonna do it," I muttered.
Maybe today is a day filled with moving on.
"Are you sure?" Haechan asked, startled. "You can still think about it."
"You have ears right?" I sarcastically asked and he turned his head slightly, looking at me. "Let's eat."
⌨
"They don't have any more two-bed rooms and only they only have one single bed room," Haechan explained. "We have no other choice."
"This hotel is really the only hotel that has vacant rooms?" I questioned and he nodded. "Every fucking time with romance dramas."
We shared a room, so what's the big deal? We turned around and headed off, but before leaving, I heard something.
"We have one two-bed room left."
I tilted my head to the side, wondering if I heard the receptionist wrong. Haechan looked at me, waving his hand in front of my face.
"You okay?" Haechan asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, I think I just heard something wrong," I brushed it off, wanting to lay down already. "Let's go? We sleep in the same room anyways."
Haechan smiled and the two of us headed to our room, taking the elevator. He swiped the card and accessed the door, then opening it. He went in first while I went in after him. I made sure to close the door and speeded off to lay down on the bed.
"You're that tired?" he chuckled and placed his backpack down and my bag which he insisted to hold onto. He then plopped down beside me. "I am too."
"Is it weird for you for us to sleep on the same bed?" I asked.
"No. A guy and girl can sleep on the same bed and have no feelings for each other," he nonchalantly replied. "It's like how siblings share a bed and don't like each other. As well as other cases."
"You have a point," I said.
"Thanks, I think I'm pretty smart," he boasted. "Maybe pretty and smart as well."
"You're flattering yourself," I chuckled and sat up. "We should probably buy the soju."
"Whatever you say," Haechan blithely hummed and got up. He went out the door first with long strides that gave me a difficult time to catch up.
"Don't leave me here alone!" I whisper-shouted. "It's scary here."
"I won't leave you anyways," he chuckled.
The door closed and that's when reality hit me, remembering something important at a late time to remember.
"Oh fuck, we left the key card in the room!"
"I did not think that through," Haechan froze, thinking of a solution. "They'll probably have a spare access card. I'll ask them for it while you buy the soju."
"Me?"
"Yeah, first step of getting over it is having to take the first step," Haechan answered. "You should buy it. It's a great start. If anything happens, just call for me."
We went down to the ground floor and split ways. I headed to the mini mart in the hotel and headed over to the drinks. I carefully opened the door of the fridge and with my shaking hand, got the soju out. I hurriedly went to the counter and placed the single soju bottle on the surface. Not realizing I was shaking all over, I got out my wallet and got enough bills to pay for it.
"Thank you, have a good night," the young woman said with a smile while handing over the soju that was in a plastic bag. I accepted it gratefully and rushed out, to see Haechan outside with the spare key card.
"Did I take too long?" I asked and he shook his head.
"I just got here anyways," Haechan answered. "Let's go up now."
We went up to our room and once we got up, Haechan readied everything. The paper cups that were given by default by room service and the soju was on the bed. We sat down on the bed, facing each other. Haechan hit the bottom of the soju bottle with his elbow and was about to open it, but then suddenly gave it to me.
"Open it," he said.
I didn't say anything and followed what he said. I gripped onto it tightly and opened it. The scent filled around me and I could barely handle it.
"You're doing great," Haechan tried to encourage me. "You'll get over it soon."
I poured some in my cup and in Haechan's as well. He had a smile on his face, a proud one.
"We both have had problems with our exes, so let's talk shit about them," Haechan cockily smiled. "I'll start."
Haechan thought about it at first and smiled at me.
"Eun Jihye. That bitch's name disgusts me," Haechan cursed. Before taking in the alcohol, he spoke again. "Cheated on me. They say she's just one fish in the sea. Hell no, she's a fucking shark."
"Baek Dan. You probably know his name. He's a total asshole. He should be in prison but the government is corrupted, it's a fucking black market there. Instead of putting people who may harm others in prison, they put their attention on how they'll benefit from money, guilty or not," I ranted. "He deserves the shark title. Not the shark itself, but inside the shark."
I brought my shaking hand that was holding the cup of alcohol to my lips. I took a deep breath and took it in one shot. The burning sensation in my throat while it tasted not the best, but the peach flavor did some justice to the taste.
"Do you feel better after getting everything off your chest to someone who also had a toxic ex?" Haechan asked. I nodded. "Off topic, but why did you suddenly run away? Was it because of what I said?"
"No, I just felt like it. You know, I've always been held back and watched on ever since I left Dan. Everyone was worried and kept their eyes on me and always helping me out that I felt like I was depending on them too much," I explained. Haechan was earnestly listening to every word I said. "I've never done anything this impulsive. It's like a turning point of my life. Where I think about what I really want to do. I've always had limitations because of Dan. I wanted to break them."
"You're just like me, but different as well," Haechan said. "We both limit ourselves because of our ex. I could barely play games that I loved wholeheartedly because it just reminded me of her too much. Same goes to you with alcohol. You can drink it, but can't because of your ex."
"Since you asked an off-topic question, I also want to ask one," I said and he nodded his head. "What was in that flashdrive that made you so mad?"
"It had all my pictures of Jihye and photos we were together in. I didn't want anyone to see it. I wanted to delete them myself," he elucidated. "That was my turning point, you may say. Something made me want to get over her. That's why I played games back then."
I slowly nodded my head, understanding his part.
The rants continued as we both shared our painful past. It was healing, as someone who also knew how it felt got to hear it. We eventually finished the bottle and I was slightly tipsy, but completely wasted. It was late and I needed to sleep and because of my desire to sleep plus the fact I was under the influence of alcohol, I passed out right when I laid down.
☾ third person point of view ☾
Haechan tucked Ahyoung in bed, making sure she was covered and warm. He headed around the bed, laying down near the edge. There was a big space between them. Haechan went on his phone, time passing by quickly. He was a night owl, he didn't sleep early.
It was nearing 1am when Haechan was about to sleep, charging his phone and placing it on the side table when an arm wrapped around his waist. He was startled and looked behind to see Ahyoung beside him. He carefully removed her arm, making sure to not wake her up and moved her back to her side of the bed.
"We both can't sleep properly without hugging something," he chuckled softly and got his pillow and wrapped Ahyoung's arms around it. "You can sleep peacefully now."
Haechan didn't mind sleeping without a pillow, or even without hugging something. He could survive one night without doing so. Before sleeping, he faced Ahyoung, whose face was barely seen due to the pillow that blocked it.
He was thinking about earlier. How he couldn't leave his eyes off of her when she bought the soju. He lied, saying that he would get the spare key card but he was worried. He had someone else get it while he silently watched her shaking hand get the soju out and bringing it to the counter. The way she was shaking, broke his heart.
He was determined to replace all her bad memories with happy ones. Making new memories that would make her smile when she looks back on them. Not regretting countless actions from the past, but instead being grateful that they happened. He wanted to light up her world.
"I think I confirmed my feelings for you."