Work Text:
10:28 pm
Chaeyoung pulled the glittery black dress she had been forced into by Sana down her thighs as far as it would stretch, it barely passed mid-thigh. Did she forget to mention how scratchy it was? She tugged at it incessantly around her waist and chest, trying to find some relief. She was grateful that the dim lighting where she sat hid the red splotches her irritation had caused.
It was New Year's Eve, she had gotten dragged by her friends to some fancy club in a hotel and been promptly dumped at the bar, nursing some cocktail she had never heard of that tasted faintly of strawberries and vodka. She decided that one of her New Year's resolutions would be to learn to say no.
She took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes, head pounding from the loud music booming from the speakers. She knew she should at least try to have some fun, straighten her back out of that slouch and throw herself into the throng of sweaty bodies grinding on the dance floor, clinging to each other as if this was the last year of their lives. The thought of doing that made her want to throw up.
Maybe she should expand her resolutions list with ‘never get out of bed again’.
Even if a cute girl sat right next to you at the bar? Hmm, maybe she’d pull at the bed covers a little.
She looked up as she felt a looming presence take the seat next to hers, even though all the other ones were free. At least now she wasn’t the only loser sitting at the bar, sulking on New Year's Eve. Her heart paused once she pulled back the curtains of her pessimistic stupor and focused on exactly what presence had taken that seat.
“This seat isn’t taken, is it?” The woman asks. Her voice is low, barely above a whisper, the vibrations sink into Chaeyoung’s bones as she holds her breath.
Release. “No seat is taken, actually.” She looked around nervously at the empty bar.
“Is that an invitation to sit on your lap?” The woman smirked, settling herself down on the padded stool. She ran her long red nails through her blonde hair, tucking a strand behind her ear, a dazzling diamond glittering under the mirrorball.
Maybe she could stretch a little.
She almost blurted out a ‘yes’, the alcohol flowing in her bloodstream, cheeks flaming. “Son Chaeyoung.” She stuck her hand out across the shrinking space between them.
The woman took it into hers without hesitation, gazing at her from top to bottom. Time froze as Chaeyoung’s eyes met hers. She felt the music beating through the room drown. It was just them in that moment. Two strangers holding onto each other in a sea of uncertainty, mere hours away from a new beginning. Chaeyoung didn’t even know her name for god’s sake but she knew what she had felt.
The confidence the woman had exuded faltered for a second. “M-Myoui Mina.” Had she felt it too?
She let go quickly, folding her hand into a fist, rings glinting off the surface of Chaeyoung's glass.
Before Chaeyoung could ask her anything, the bartender swept into her line of sight and asked Mina what’d she’d like. Mina tore her gaze from her and gave him a quick one word answer.
“Tell me, why is such a pretty girl like you alone at a bar on New Year's Eve?” Chaeyoung thought she could make out a faint accent. Suddenly her name which had sounded so foreign, made sense. The bartender saved her from going on a tangent about how she was planning to murder her friends for putting her in a scratchy dress and ditching her. Also a distraction from the way that her heart was beating out of her chest at Mina’s adjective.
Maybe she could throw away the covers.
He poured amber liquid into a square glass, ice cubes floated as the amber reached the brim. He slid it over with a wink Mina pointedly ignored. Chaeyoung’s mouth quirked slightly upwards at this.
“Are you visiting?” She asked, completely forgetting her train of thought or answering the question that she had been asked previously because Mina took a swig of her drink. No one had any right to look that sexy while taking a drink. Her neck was long and elegant, a perfect canvas for shades of purple and blue. Chaeyoung wanted her tongue to be the brush.
“New Year’s is bullshit isn’t it?” Mina sighed, sliding her finger over the rim of her glass. It frustrated Chaeyoung the way they swerved each other's questions like cars about to collide on the freeway. But she also loved it, it thrilled her. What would happen if they collided?
“I’m sensing a grudge. Did someone propose to you on a day like this?” She wanted to slap herself.
Mina scoffed, looking over at her. “I wish it were that.” She downed the rest of her drink without taking her eyes off her and slammed it on the wooden bar, making Chaeyoung jump.
“You seem tense. Let me buy you another one of whatever those are.” Mina pointed at her pink martini like glass.
“No, I need something stronger.” Mina laughed at this burst of sincerity, relating to her needs more than Chaeyoung knew.
“Let’s get a round of shots then.”
11:11
“Make a wish!” Mina grabbed Chaeyoung’s hand across the table and closed her eyes.
They had transferred themselves to a booth at the back of the club where the lights were dimmer and the music muffled but still, the mirrorball reflected in their eyes with each turn.
They were on their second round of shots by now. Chaeyoung felt a bit embarrassed, her cheeks in a perpetual rose blush at the amount of personal shit she had spilled. Although merely tipsy, she had poured her heart out to a stranger. Luckily, Mina had done the same thing. The embarrassment was mutual. Despite this, Chaeyoung felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Maybe this was what New Year’s Eve was all about: Letting go. If so, she now understood why everyone made such a fuss about it.
Mina still held on to her belief that it was a useless holiday, the changing of numbers on a calendar completely arbitrary. People don’t change just because the year does. She had bullied Chaeyoung on her resolutions list. “Add there: Kiss Mina at midnight.” She had joked.
Chaeyoung wished for more, more moments with this random girl who had chosen to sit next to her because she was alone. And maybe because she herself was lonely. It didn’t matter because now they had each other, even if it was a one night only thing.
The more she spoke with her, the more she laughed, the more she dreaded that count down. What would that mean? A beginning or an end?
Maybe she should curl back up into the covers.
A waiter approached them with their third round of watered down tequila. He placed them on the small table with a couple of sparkly party hats. Mina burst out laughing at the sight of them.
She snatched up the gold one, standing up to sit on Chaeyoung’s side of the booth, squishing in next to her. Their bare shoulders grazed, goosebumps erupted all over Chaeyoung’s skin. She rubbed at her thighs, trying to make them go away.
Mina tilted Chaeyoung’s chin towards her with a finger, their faces inches apart, and proceeded to clumsily put the golden hat on her head, the elastic digging into her jaw. Messing up her platinum and purple hair in the process. She laughed at the end result. Chaeyoung pouted, grabbing the silver hat and putting it on Mina as disastrously as her.
They probably looked ridiculous, she thought. They laughed hysterically at each other.
“You look so cute.” Mina said and booped her nose.
Chaeyoung hoped Mina blamed her flush on the alcohol.
11:32
Mina had convinced Chaeyoung to dance in the forest of bodies swaying in the flashing lights. Both girls, borderline drunk, had stuck to their own little corner of the dancefloor, draped over one another. It was a blur of grasping hips, wiping away sweat, shouting in their ears and almost tripping in their heels. If anyone had been paying attention to their spectacle they surely would have thought these girls needed to go home. Preferably with each other.
Chaeyoung hated dancing but she knew Mina had a bittersweet relationship with it, being a ballerina when she was younger. She moved with elegance and grace despite being tipsy. Chaeyoung was the one weighing her down with her brute steps, uncomfortable in her heels, hanging onto Mina’s shoulders and waist the entire time.
She hadn’t had so much fun in a while, she thought as they sat back down at their booth, trying to catch their breath.
“Why are you here if you hate New Year’s Eve so much?” Chaeyoung blurted out, immediately scolding herself.
“It was the better alternative.”
Chaeyoung lifted her eyebrows, motioning for her to go on.
She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Better than lying alone in my hotel room, drowning myself with over priced mini bar drinks, contemplating my fears and everything I hate about my life and my parents.” She rushed the words out of her mouth, taking a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, looking down at the hands on her lap. Chaeyoung ran her fingers across her arm and squeezed her shoulder in a reassuring manner. They had both spilled their guts to each other that night but this was the first time Mina had uttered something so raw and dark about herself.
“I know we just met and it’s none of my business but if you-” Mina stood up abruptly, gathering her things. Chaeyoung’s heart sank. She knew it was just a matter of time but she thought she’d at least have a countdown. She hadn’t anticipated it being this quickly or her fault. Maybe she should have known.
Maybe she should suffocate herself in the sheets.
“Let’s get outta here.” Mina’s eyes were surprisingly inviting. Chaeyoung wanted to sink in her seat. She really had jumped to conclusions like that, huh? Maybe she was the one getting in the way of her own happiness.
Mina snatched the nearest champagne bottle out of its ice tub, cubes spilling all over the glitter on the floor.
11:53
They huddled in their coats, sitting on the edge of the hotel’s roof, legs dangling. The neon sign lighting them up in the darkness of the night.
They had snuck past security and ran up the stairs, carrying their heels in their hands, spilling out in a fit of giggles from the door. It was cold as fuck outside, met with red noses, shivering shoulders and smoke swirling with every burst of laughter.
Chaeyoung's eyes watered in the icy wind. She buried her face in the crook of Mina’s neck. She felt warmth seep back into her skin at the close proximity.
“My parents kicked me out.” Mina expelled.
Chaeyoung sat up, eyes wide.
“I don’t know why I thought it would be such a good idea to come out on New Year’s. New year, new beginnings I guess.” She shrugged, biting down on her tongue, tasting the blood.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She grabbed her hand, it was colder than fresh snow. She squeezed tightly, trying to let her know that she was there for her. It was crazy to Mina how a stranger had shown more empathy for her than her own parents. She didn’t want to let go.
Mina stood up, pulling Chaeyoung up with her. She grabbed the champagne bottle, steeling herself to pop the cork. It blew off with a loud pop, making Chaeyoung scream and her laugh.
“Here’s to new beginnings” Mina said sarcastically as she took a swig of the bottle, handing it to Chaeyoung. She realised Mina had revealed more than she had expected and was trying to play it off. Only a couple of minutes were left of the year, the dreaded countdown where Chaeyoung’s questions would be answered, so she went along with it.
She took a swig and a deep breath. “Mina, I don’t want you to be a stranger. I know we’re probably supposed to part ways after tonight, I-I don’t know how this works but... I don’t want it to end when the fireworks go off.”
“Honestly? I just came here hoping to get a midnight kiss and brag to all my friends back in Japan about what a wonderful night I had but... I think I found so much more. So much more than I had hoped for.”
Mina walked towards her, sealing the chasm that had formed between them, she put her hand against her cheek. Chaeyoung trembled under her touch.
“I found you.”
Chaeyoung grasped her coat, pulling her in even deeper. She didn’t feel cold anymore.
They heard voices shouting, as faint as the graphite marks left on a piece of paper after erasing it. It was the count down. It had begun.
5
Chaeyoung’s heart beats louder than the pyrotechnics exploding in the sky.
4
Mina’s hand burrows inside her coat, circling her waist.
3
Their eyes lock.
2
She holds her breath.
1
The world erupts into a symphony of color, hope and sound. It’s like that moment back at the bar, everything stops and it’s just them. Chaeyoung doesn’t notice the shouts of joy or the fireworks lighting up the sky like splashes of paint on asphalt. Because she could see them behind her eyelids the moment their lips crashed into each other.
It was pure magic.
She wants to rip the bed covers off her body and throw them in the fire. Stretch her limbs up to the heavens, plant her feet firmly on the carpet and get the hell out of bed.
Everything was spinning. Mina’s lips were on hers and there was nothing else. Warmth enveloped her as if she’d stepped into a ray of sunshine.
Her lips were so soft and she tasted like strawberries and champagne. Intoxicated, Chaeyoung deepened the kiss. She buried her hand in Mina’s hair, tongue slipping into her mouth. They danced and danced until there was no breath left in their lungs.
They pulled apart, cold bled back slowly into their bodies at the departure. They leaned their foreheads against one another’s, breathing heavily, fog billowing between them.
“Look up.” Mina whispered.
Chaeyoung rested her cheek against her shoulder, looking up at the sky blooming with all the colors of the rainbow. Snowflakes and sparks were falling all around them. The world was celebrating, it was hoping and she was too along with it. It was beautiful but she knew someone that was even more beautiful to look at and she didn’t want her to disappear in the glitter of illusion that was New Year’s Eve.
She hoped Mina would no longer look back at this day as the worst day of her life or at least look back at it as a sign that things can get better.
“Maybe we should go back inside, I’m freezing.” Mina said as she shook in her coat, teeth rattling.
“Let’s.” Chaeyoung grabbed her hand. Certainty flooding in. Her question had been answered.
Fuck a New Year’s resolution list. Her only resolution was to not let this be their last night.
“Ummm...” Chaeyoung spun back around to face Mina, dread apparent on her face.
“The door’s locked.” She pushed at it with all her weight but it wouldn’t budge.
Mina threw her head back laughing at their misfortune. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but join in, shoulder sore.
“Looks like we’re starting on a high note.”