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It is Kim Tan who finally pushes them over the line, when he drunkenly dares Eun Sang to kiss Young Do.
Tan and Young Do have been circling one another, as strangers and enemies and rivals and friends, all the way through senior year. They have too much in common to stay out of each other’s orbit, but they keep driving each other off because they are too different and too alike at the same time. They didn't exactly make up after their last fight; they just got too busy studying for the college entrance exam to bother maintaining hostilities. Now the exam is over and, awash with relief and room service champagne, they seem to be friends again.
Now, Young Do raises his eyebrows daringly at Eun Sang, where she is nestled into Kim Tan's side. They have all long ago slid from Young Do's chairs and sofas onto the plush hotel suite rug. Eun Sang raises her eyebrows back and then extricates herself from Kim Tan. She crawls across the space between them and pauses with her mouth close to his.
"He dared you to kiss me," Young Do points out, waiting smugly.
Eun Sang considers him carefully and then closes the distance between them, pressing a gentle, lingering kiss to his lips.
Bo Na and Myung Soo break out in cheers and laughter as Eun Sang retreats to Tan. Rachel and Chan Young are more shocked than gleeful. Young Do looks shocked too, like he didn't expect her to actually do it. Tan is the most drunk of all of them, and he looks flushed and smug as he welcomes Eun Sang back into his arms and nuzzles her forehead. He raises his eyebrows at Young Do, who pulls a face at him in return.
A few rounds later, it is Eun Sang's turn to dare.
"Now you have to kiss Young Do," she tells Tan.
The cheers from the circle are raucous, and, this time, unanimous. Tan shakes his head and waves them off while a slow, satisfied grin spreads over Young Do's face.
"Come on, loverboy," he calls out, and pouts his lips invitingly. "You know I can make it worth your while."
With Eun Sang pushing him, Tan gets up and shuffles over on his knees. That gives him the height advantage over Young Do, who is sitting cross-legged. Like Eun Sang, Tan hesitates, mouth above Young Do's. Young Do parts his lips seductively to provoke him further, but Tan puts his hands on Young Do's cheeks and covers Young Do's mouth with his own. Young Do's arms flail in shock while Tan pulls him in and kisses him hungrily. Tan's eyes close and he sways into it for a minute. Then he sways too far and loses his balance. He topples sideways, pulling Young Do with him, knocking Rachel over and ending up with his head in Chan Young's lap. Rachel shrieks at them both, but Tan is laughing too hard to get up. Young Do is laughing too hard to get off Rachel, and Eun Sang is laughing too hard to help anyone. The three of them are breathless with it, tears leaking from their eyes as they set each other off again and again.
"All right," Chan Young announces. "I think this means we’ve all had enough." He enlists Myung Soo's help to roll Tan off himself and get Rachel out from under Young Do, and then turns to Bo Na to help her stand. He shepherds the three of them out the door of Young Do's suite and returns for Eun Sang. "Come on," he tells her, holding out a hand. "We can drop you home."
Eun Sang shares a look with Tan, still sprawled on the carpet, and they both turn to gaze thoughtfully at Young Do.
"I'm staying here," Eun Sang tells Chan Young.
"Cha Eun Sang," he hisses, looking meaningfully at the two drunk boys on the floor beside her.
She waves him off cheerily. "I’ll take good care of them. Have a good sleep tonight!" She leans over and calls to the others in the hallway. "Have a good sleep, Rachel, Myung Soo, Bo Na! You studied hard!"
Young Do has regained some of his equilibrium, and waves sardonically at them. "Have a good sleep!" he parrots cheerfully.
Tan is flushed red, hair in disarray, T-shirt riding up his stomach, eyes half-closed. He is smiling blissfully, like a cat who has knocked a jug of cream onto the floor and now has everything exactly how he wants it. He raises a hand at Chan Young in a lazy farewell.
Chan Young glares ominously at all three of them, but when he sees Bo Na listing tiredly in the hallway, he lets it go. "Call me if you need me to come get you," he tells Eun Sang, and then pulls the door closed.
Alone in the suite, Eun Sang lets out a sigh which slides into a yawn. "We need to get this one into bed," she tells Young Do, gesturing at Tan. They stagger to their feet and take one of his arms each, hauling him up and draping him over their shoulders.
Tan leans into Eun Sang. "Eun Sang-ah, I love you," he whispers, not at all quietly.
"I know, Tan-ah," she says patiently, manoeuvering them around the furniture.
"What about me, then?" Young Do demands.
"Young Do-yah, I want you," Tan replies, with more than his usual honesty.
Young Do grins like a wolf at that. Eun Sang shakes her head, but she is smiling.
They get him into the bedroom and dump him into the middle of the bed. Eun Sang sits down next to him and wrestles his jacket off each arm.
"I studied hard," Tan says, stretching his arms over his head as they are freed and sighing happily.
"You studied very well," Eun Sang agrees, and leans over to put his jacket on the nightstand. "Are you going to sleep in these pants?"
"No?" Tan says hopefully, raising his head a little to look at her.
"Get them off yourself, if you can," she tells him. She shrugs off her own jacket, places it neatly on top of Tan’s and then flops onto her side, facing him. Tan immediately wraps himself around her, clinging like an octopus, pants forgotten. He sighs and nestles in, putting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes.
He doesn't seem like he's going to open them again.
Eun Sang kisses his forehead fondly, and then looks up. Young Do is still standing next to the bed, pausing uncertainly. He rubs the back of his neck and then shuffles back out of the bedroom. A moment later, the music stops, and the suite is suddenly quiet. There’s some clinking, and the sound of the fridge opening and closing. With one click, and then another, the lights are off in the living area.
Young Do shuffles back into the bedroom, closes the door behind him, and leans against it. He looks at Eun Sang and waits.
Eun Sang nods at the space on the bed on the other side of Tan. Young Do kicks off his slippers and drops his jacket on the floor as he walks over. He sits down carefully on the edge and waits again.
Over the top of Tan's head, Eun Sang is still gazing at him.
"What is this?" Young Do asks eventually, gesturing at the three of them.
"Tan thinks there is someone who is incomplete without us," she says softly. "And that we are incomplete without someone, too."
He huffs out a laugh. "Tan thinks too much, clearly. What do you think?" he counters.
She is silent for a minute, trying to find the words.
"I think Kim Tan believes in people,” she says, still soft. “He believes so hard that people end up becoming what he thinks they can be. So I think we can complete one another, because Tan believes we can." She extends her hand slowly across Tan's lax body, reaching into Young Do's space. "What do you think?"
Young Do ponders that for a moment, and then rolls his eyes. "I think Kim Tan is full of shit," he says, and lies down next to them, stretching himself out. "I think you both need someone who'll remind you of that." He turns his head to face her, and they look at one another over Tan's messy hair. Cautiously, he reaches over and laces their fingers together.
She grins at him suddenly and uses their twined fingers to haul him closer, right on top of Tan.
"He’s a very demanding snuggler," she tells Young Do. Their faces are just inches apart now. "He'll want to be the middle spoon. You should probably get used to it."
Young Do lets out an astonished, breathless laugh, and she smiles back at him. They stay like that for a moment, and then Young Do grimaces and rubs his hand over his eyes.
“Ugh, why does he have to do something like this when none of us has slept for days? This is probably a terrible idea, but I’m too tired to think why.” He lets go of her hand to reach up and flick the light switch on the headboard. The room is suddenly dim, lit only by the constellations of city lights outside.
Eun Sang keeps looking at him, calm and resolved. "Choi Young Do," she whispers. "You've worked hard."
She doesn't just mean the college entrance exam, and they both know it.
"We've all worked hard," he agrees. He brushes his lips against Tan's hair and then, very gently, across her lips. He stretches his arm across Tan and around her waist, pulling them all in closer. Tan squirms a bit between them, getting more comfortable.
"Have a good sleep, Cha Eun Sang,” Young Do whispers. “I’ll see you in the morning."
She smiles at him and closes her eyes.