Chapter Text
‘What if I killed myself, right here, right now?’ Her cheek laid flat on the table of the bar. The coolness of the table calmed down the flush of her cheeks to some extent, though she still looked fairly drunk.
Han Sooyoung’s face was flushed. She looked as if someone gave her a good smack, all around her face that is. Her usually clean hair was oily and disheveled. The stains on her hoodie must’ve been there for more than two days, not like she was counting of course. She had lost track of the days in general, much less the days she last took a shower.
Her once harsh and optimistic eyes that always accompanied her smug remarks faded to dull pieces of coal that merely faced decorations at this point. The writer’s breath lingered strongly of alcohol. Worst of all she was hunched over on the island of the bar, which would’ve made her back cry in agony if she wasn’t so buzzed. She’d feel it later though.
Things had gotten hard lately. More so than usual. First, it was the lack of motivation to write. Second, it was the people who constantly nagged at her, it was worse when it was people she didn’t even know or spoke to. Third, she could no longer outstretch her fingers; work her fingers magically to express, to write; to create a story she wanted.
It felt like she had been hit by a train.
She wished she was hit by a train.
Suddenly the stress of people and due dates strained her creativity to an extent that she could not keep up with. It was slowly driving her mad.
Of course, Han Sooyoung wouldn’t have given up so easily. It was her passion and her calling. So she threw herself into reading. She enjoyed herself in different fictitious worlds here and there, but nothing truly satisfied whatever craving she had.
The great writer couldn’t let people know she was struggling. Oh dear no, that could never happen. She would rather succumb to a brutal yet clean death if that were the case. Struggle with a happy smile and a little wave. That’s how she kept up the farce to keep people away.
Yet she wanted the attention so bad it pained her. Nauseated her even. The writer wanted help. She wanted to cry to someone to fix her or her problems for her. At this point it didn’t matter what she wanted to be fixed, she just needed one issue resolved, any issue. She would take anything. Yet her pride kept her from doing so.
She was a devious witch her friends would light-heartedly make fun of with a laugh. They looked to her to make harsh decisions as if she didn’t possess feelings. They were awed at her amazing writing skills, a talent like no other. So yes, pride in being the best of the best no matter what it was came first.
So instead she went to solution three (solution one had been to fix it herself and solution two was to ask for help, which wasn’t happening anytime soon). Solution three was man’s true best friend, alcohol.
Alcohol is a funny thing really. With the right amount in your system, you could become free from the chains of the Earth. Relaxed and as happy as you could be until you fell asleep and the hangover hit the next morning. Or, it was a truth serum.
A dangerous amount of alcohol was a truth serum, was it not? It seems like whenever people get tipsy enough the truth seems to spill or someone’s ugly monster comes out for a drunken play.
Han Sooyoung got a dangerous amount of truth serum. She reverted to her weak self. The one who refused to write or accept help. As of now, her silly little facade was gone. Only despair remained.
If she was given the choice. She would turn into a beautiful statue. One who could stay in place for eternity yet didn’t need to do a single thing. Just be the watcher of other peoples’ stories. Or maybe someone’s dog. Not the barking kind but the one that just follows orders. A comfortable life, someone to constantly love or reassure you, no worries, /no need to think/. Oh if only she could take any of those options.
Suddenly, a man who had been staring at her for a while walked up to her. His manner changed from the playboy kind to the one who helped old grandmothers cross the road.
“Ma’am? Do you need help? You seem a bit tipsy. Do you want me to call a cab?” He bombarded.
So so so~ annoying, she wanted to say. But no words came out. She was far too gone to rebuke.
“Here let me help you. Maybe you can crash at my place…” he grinned with a sense of innocence. It wasn’t innocent at all. It was devilish to an extent. Ah, he was indeed a pervert.
She gathered enough strength to lift her head for the table, still dazed and dizzy. “No, fuck—“
“Eonni! Oh my, did you start drinking without me?” A woman with orangey-brown hair, length under to her waist, ran over to her. She was dressed head to toe in fancy business attire. ‘Must be a white collar,’ Han Sooyoung thought.
She gently picked up Han Sooyoung’s head, moving her hands around her hot forehead. “Gosh, you already drank so much! I’ll take you home Eonni!” She then turned to the man beside her. “Thank you so much for watching over her!” She gave a small bow to show her gratitude. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if a group of perverts whisked her away. Maybe I would’ve called the police and handled the case myself…” she muttered, mild poison lacing her words.
The man turned wide-eyed, finally catching on to her intention. Sweat coated his face as he gulped. A lawyer. He stuttered with an awkward laugh, “Ha-ha no p-problem. I’ll be on my way now.” And just as he came in a flash, he left in a flash.
After checking if the man and his little group were gone, the taller woman turned to the smaller one who was still flat on the table. “Are you okay?” She asked, half concerned, half not expecting an actual answer.
“Where do you live? What’s your address?”
“Whh-hy would I tell my address to a strangerrr?” Han Sooyoung slurred. Oh, now she was concerned about her safety…
“Then shall I take you to my home? I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself. Unless you have someone who could pick you up?”
Han Sooyoung’s brain processed slowly. Extremely slow. But she was just a little, a sliver bit sober enough to determine that right now, nobody could pick her up. Nobody could pick her up and see her like this.
“Just so you know my organs ain’t worth jack-shit.”
“I’ll take that as a no. C’mon now.” The taller lady pulled Han Sooyoung to her feet with surprising strength. Unlike her, Han Sooyoung no longer had strength. She was stumbling as soon as she got up.
“I got you.” The lady threw Han Sooyoung’s left arm over her shoulder as she snaked her right arm under Han Sooyoung’s right arm.
And just like that they left the bar in a cab to a luxurious home. Oh, there was no room to doubt if she had a white-collar job or not. It didn’t matter what job it was at the moment, as long as she had a bed to sleep on for the night it didn’t make a difference.
The taller woman dragged Han Sooyoung into her house, took off their shoes, and plopped the smaller individual on the couch. After that, the night, or more accurately the early morning, became a blur.
— — —
“Holy shit…” Ha. Sooyoung murmured as the sunlight burned her groggy eyes. She awoke with a throbbing headache and utter confusion. Where the actual fuck was she? This was not her studio. This was most definitely not the apartment she shared with Kim Dokja, she knows well that they can’t afford anything like this.
Another thing was that her clothing was completely different from last night, as long as she wasn't imagining it. Instead of her black jeans and stained purple hoodie, she wore an oversized pair of button-up pajamas. Which were surprisingly stylish and comfortable.
Her ears sharpened to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. They were unfamiliar. The door opened slowly, and there a woman stood in the doorway.
“Oh, you’re awake! Good morning.” The woman beamed a smile.
Han Sooyoung on the other hand was extremely confused. “Who the fuck are you? And where am I?!” She yelled.
The woman on the other hand remained calm as if nothing had happened. “Well, you got drunk so I took you to my house since you refused to give me your address. And I’m Yoo Sangah.” Again, she smiled. Though she smiled, it didn’t exactly feel…real. At least at the moment. It’s like something had ticked her off moments ago and she was just putting up a front to stay calm.
“Ok…Sangah.” Han Sooyoung said awkwardly. Han Sooyoung was a genius of sorts. She had some book smarts and even more street smarts, yet her brain couldn’t rack up a solution, or even the next step to whatever you would call this predicament.
“Well, I made hangover soup. You should have some before you leave. Oh and,” she pointed to a door on the other side of the room, “that’s the bathroom.” Yoo Sangah didn’t wait for a response. She merely left the room to go back downstairs, leaving Han Sooyoung bewildered.
This woman took her to her house, made her soup, and seemingly didn’t do anything to her. Something was wrong. Was she going to get up and experience a horrible stabbing pain that would lead her to reveal a huge unhealed scar from which one of her organs was removed?
Even if it was suspicious she couldn’t leave. There was only one exit as far as she knew. Minus the windows, of course, she would prefer to leave with her bones and organs intact if possible.
So with a yawn and then a stretch, Han Sooyoung got up from the bed and fixed her messy hair. She made her way to the bathroom and found a packaged toothbrush laid out for her, being a fairly odd thing.
Nonetheless, she brushed her teeth and splashed cold water on her face for a wake-up class before heading downstairs. There she found Yoo Sangah sitting at a table with an array of food. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, and eggs…was this woman inviting other people over?
“A made a few things—wasn’t sure what you liked.”
Han Sooyoung looked at her. Yoo Sangah was a peculiar woman, although her actions were kind. “Ok then.” She mumbled before she took the stack of pancakes. It seems the more they talk the more awkward the newfound relationship between them gets.
“Uhm, not like I’m not grateful or anything, but why did you bring me to your home? I could’ve been a serial killer or organ harvester.” Han Sooyoung said bluntly.
Yoo Sangah gulped whatever she was chewing. “First you were concerned about me being the organ harvester. Now you’re worried that I brought you, a potential organ harvester, into my house. You’re really funny, you know that…,” her voice trailed off, waiting for Han Sooyoung to chime in with her name.
“Sooyoung. Han Sooyoung”
“Well then, Sooyoung. Even if you were an organ harvester I doubt you would’ve been able to outsmart me, much less overpower me, while being that drunk.” She gave a light-hearted scoff before taking another bite of her meal.
Han Sooyoung on the other hand rolled her eyes.
— — —
“Do you have a place I can drop you off at?” Yoo Sangah asked, again, with that smile plastered on her face.
“Yea, you can drop me off at–.” Han Sooyoung gives her the address to her apartment. Yoo Sangah input the address into the GPS of her car, immediately leaving her residence as soon as it started giving directions.
The drive to her apartment was a smooth and quiet one. Neither Yoo Sangah nor Han Sooyoung struck up a conversation with one another. Was it because they had nothing to talk about or it would just be awkward since they were complete strangers up until this morning?
“Well, that’s my apartment. Thanks for the ride. Also sorry for being an inconvenience—.” Han Sooyoung unbuckled her seatbelt as fast as she could. She wanted to get away from her immediately. Put that whole night and morning behind her.
But before she could leave, Yoo Sangah reached out her wrist, grabbing Han Sooyoung lightly. “Before you go,” Yoo Sangah handed her a card “call me sometime. I know it’s a bit weird, but if you need a drinking buddy or someone to talk to, call me.” She took the card from her. Yoo Sangah let go of her wrist, leaving Han Sooyoung puzzled.
Nonetheless, she left without hesitation. She watched her drive off and when her car was no longer visible she turned to go to her apartment. When she got off the elevator of her apartment complex, a familiar, restless face was leaning by her door.
“Han! Soo! Young!” He yelled. It startled her, barely anyone used her full name these days. It was like her mother was lecturing her about her grades all over again.
“Where were you? I called you more than 15 times because you didn’t come home!” Kim Dokja shouted.
“Shit, let all the neighbors know,” she said sarcastically. “Get the fuck inside!” She motioned her hand to the door. They went into their shared apartment, making sure to close the door behind them.
“So are you going to tell me why you disappeared for so long?” He started tapping his foot impatiently. She rolled her eyes. Such dad-like behavior from a man who is only 2 years older than her.
“I was at a bar and got wasted.”
“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t come home last night.”
Han Sooyoung plopped onto the couch, letting her tense body relax. “I was too drunk to call a cab.” She lied like she was breathing. To make it natural. She doesn’t lie to Kim Dokja often, but when it’s important she does her best to not fumble because more than 51% of the time he starts catching onto her lies.
“So where did you go?” He asked, plopping onto the other side of the couch.
“Some lady drove me to her place since I was apparently too buzzed to tell her our apartment address. I ended up waking up in her bed. She cooked me breakfast and dropped me off here.”
Kim Dokja just gave her a look. Like he was confused and relieved all at the same time. “And that was all? Nothing happened?”
“Nope. She gave me her card though. She’s a lawyer.” Han Sooyoung pulled the white card from her pocket and showed it to him.
Kim Dokja leaned in to read it. “Senior Attorney Yoo….” He mumbled, unable to see the first name due to the water distortion on the card. “I think she gave you her number.”
“Wow, no way~.” She spoke sarcastically again. “I can pull, so no surprise there.” Kim Dokja rolled his eyes.
“But you’re okay though, right?” Han Sooyoung gulped. He was most definitely asking if she was alright physically, yet it seemed like he was asking about how she felt. Maybe she was just overthinking it.
“Yep.” She grinned like an idiot, reassuring him the best way she could. She got up and stretched, letting out a small yawn.
“Well if you’re gonna drink without me next time, just let me know what bar you’re at, so I can pick you up just in case.”
“Yea yea got it, dad.” She joked. Kim Dokja sighed before heading off into his room. Han Sooyoung on the other hand, passed out on the couch as if she hasn’t slept like a baby a couple of hours earlier.