October 2019

"Drinking alone isn't something you should do at a party", Aya speaks up shyly as she hesitantly steps up to the bar.

Resting her hands on the smooth countertop, she watches the boy leaning against the bar on his stool, sipping at his drink, slowly turn his head towards her. His eyes glisten, but his expression doesn't move much except for a small curve of his mouth. Even just looking at her he can't help a small grin.

"No one seemed to want to drink with me", he responds, clinking his fingers against the glass he's holding.

"Are you kidding? Everyone in this building wants to share a drink with you!", she gestures wildly at the guests that eye him every so often.

He chuckles at her response and at how cute she is trying to cheer him up. Her eyes seem so round and innocent as she gazes up at him, wondering how he can't see everyone head over heels for him.

"What about you?", he finally says, clicking his tongue.

"What?", she blinks.

"Would you like to share a drink with me?", he asks in a way that sends shivers down her spine. It doesn't help that his eyes glide over her features: Her youthful dark hazel eyes, her little button nose, her round cheeks and her pouty lips. He lingers on those lips.

"I-I mean I guess", she falls shy under his gaze, but seats herself on the bar stool next to him.

"Alright", he quickly waves the bartender over, "What's your drink of choice?"

She looks like a deer caught in headlights as she blinks cluelessly at the bartender, eventually saying the first thing that comes to her mind.

"A martini, please", she speaks politely.

The bartender nods, waisting no time getting to work. Jimin, however, widens his eyes a little.

"A martini? Are you sure?", he looks slightly concerned, "Those are pretty strong, you know?"

"That's fine", she squeaks, having no idea what she's gotten herself into, but too proud to admit it.

When he returns with the finished cocktail, neatly garnished with an olive and a lemon peel, he carefully places it in front of her. Taking it hesitantly, she holds it up to her lips to take the first sip. It's an instant regret when the bitter liquid burns down her throat. This cocktail is nothing like the one Jimin handed her earlier. That one was sweet and tasty, this is just eye-stingingly disgusting.

Her expression must've shown her distaste for Jimin starts laughing. When she almost spews it out again, he carefully pats her on the back.

"You had no idea what a martini was, right?", he looks at her through squinted eyes as his smile has grown so big.

"No...", she admits embarrassedly.

"Well now you do", he grins.

"Thanks for warning me", she pouts and slides the drink over for him to have.

"I did warn you", he laughs again, "Specifically, I said Are you sure? Those are pretty strong."

"Whatever", she keeps her lips puckered.

"Here, we'll get you something you like", he says, waving the bartender back over and ordering a simple vodka lemonade.

When it arrives in all its pink cuteness, she happily takes a sip to find it fulfilling her sweet cravings.

"This is really good", she lights up.

"I'm glad", he smiles fondly at her, taking a sip from the martini she abandoned.

"How can you possibly drink that?", she scrunches her nose at the beverage.

"I think it's good", he shrugs, "I guess my tastebuds are more developed."

"You can obviously also hold your liquor", she says with widened eyes as he empties the glass while her's is still half full.

"What can I say?", he gives a smug smile, leaning into her a little bit.

Although he can very well hold his liquor, his cheeks are still flushed from drinking under the dim party lights. His eyes travel over her again, inquisitive and wanting to know more about the girl he's been crushing on for months even though she barely knew he existed.

"So how does it feel like to be the most popular k-pop idol in the world?", she grins as she sips on her drink.

"I don't know. You'd have to ask my band members", he merely shrugs and adjusts his prince's crown on top of his head, "How does it feel like to be the cutest actress in the world?"

"Oh be quiet", she shoves him lightly.

"No, I'm serious. What's it like?", he doesn't stop smiling at her.

"Acting?", she puckers her lips for a moment in thought, "Well, I've been in show business since I was young. Believe it or not I was in an idol group when I was thirteen."

"No way", he laughs heartily, imagining the young girl singing and dancing around.

"Yeah, but we disbanded later because it didn't take off", she quickly explains, "Then I became an exclusive model for Seventeen magazine at fifteen and finally got into acting two years later. I was really lucky to get the roles that I did... And yes, acting has really come to mean a lot to me."

Jimin admires the way she speaks so delicately about everything although she's flushing from the drinks she's been having. Her words are carefully chosen and her Korean seems impeccable for a foreigner.

"Your Korean's really good", he compliments her lowly, tracing his fingers over the countertop, but not letting his eyes leave her.

"Thank you", the pink in her cheeks intensifies, "I studied a lot in school, but Moon really got me back into it when I met her. What about your Japanese, Jimin?"

"My Japanese?", it catches him off guard, but he switches the language along with the tone of his voice, "How do you think my Japanese is?"

"It's cute", she giggles, covering her mouth as she does.

Continuing the conversation in Japanese, Jimin finds himself switching back to his native language every so often. After another drink, he goes back to Korean for good, which the sweet girl doesn't mind in the slightest. Their talk goes on for hours as guests start to depart from the venue, the place slowly clearing up.

With only a few people left and the caterers starting to clean in the early morning hours, the bright yellow lights are turned on in the building, disturbing the alluring vibe the dim lights were supplying. It's then that the two figures at the bar, that are speaking softly and tiredly at this point, hear a commotion happening behind them.

"Moonhae, let's go. You're completely shit-faced", Taehyung's low voice grumbles as he pulls the girl by her arm.

"Stop, I have to stay", she slurs into her messy wig sticking to her face, "I'm the host."

"Yeah, dude chill", Namjoon floats by them, holding onto the wall for support. When the two stoners make eye contact, they burst out laughing again.

"Moon-ah, please let's just go", Taehyung tugs at her once more.

"Let go, I'm fine", she now aggressively shoves him away, earning a few looks from the remaining guests.

"You're embarrassing me", the now sobered up Taehyung murmurs, his head lowering as the amount of people watching the scene increases.

"Honestly, fuck you", she retorts angrily, shoving him once more before moving towards the lounge's entrance on her own.

Being highly unsteady on her feet, however, causes her to stumble. Taehyung doesn't hesitate to run towards her, disregarding her cursing him out when he lifts her up. Carrying her out from the party, she fusses and wriggles in his arms, but eventually lets her fatigue take over. Her eyes that already seemed unfocused and distant, seem to be on a different planet now. It doesn't take away from her disconcertion of being taken away from the party though as she still mutters profanities under her breath at the boy caring for her.

"Should we go check on her?", Aya's eyes follow the couple leaving and her tone sounds sincere, but her expression clearly tells that she's too exhausted to move.

"She'll be fine. Taehyungie's got her", he assures her, barely able to keep his eyes open himself, "Besides, she's Moonhae. She's just like that."

"You're right", she sighs and leans her head back against the bar.

"You seem tired", he yawns.

"Oh do I now?", she can't help but laugh at the obvious as she lifts her head again to look at him.

"Do you want me to take you back to where you're staying?", he offers with a smile.

"No, that's fine. I'll just get a taxi", she declines, "But you're right, I should probably get going. What time is it even?"

Jimin slides off his bar stool in slow motion and then helps Aya down off her's. They shuffle through the lounge's entrance to where the cloak area is to pick up their coats.

"Mmm... It's probably like 5am?", he squints his eyes in thought.

"That's fun", she says sarcastically, "I have work tomorrow."

"How long are you staying in Seoul?", he asks, his heart nervously skipping a beat as he hands her her jacket that she now drapes over herself.

"Um... About two weeks. I have a bunch of photoshoots to do", she sighs, fiddling with her foot in its tiny green slipper.

"We should hang out", he gazes into her deep hazel irises.

"We should", she smiles a cute smile, her rosy cheeks puffing up as she does.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you back to your hotel?", he sounds a little worried, controlling his excitement that she too wants to meet up with him.

"I'm sure", she nods, "Thank you for tonight though. I haven't had a talk like that in a while."

"The same goes for me. Thank you", he grins sleepily before pulling his phone out, "At least let me call you a taxi then."

With her conceding, he quickly calls for a car to pick her up. She thanks him again in her own sweet way and he knows it's time to say goodbye. They're already standing close, but when the tired girl leans forward to rest her head against his chest and hug him lightly, he feels like his heart is going to jump out of his chest. Trying his best not to touch any bare parts of her body, he carefully puts his arms around her to reciprocate the embrace.

"Have a nice night, Jimin-ssi", she says quietly into him, yawning a little when they break apart.

"You too, Aya", he bites his bottom lip when he watches her go, "Get home safely."

She twirls around at the end of the hallway to give him one last playful wave. Her curled hair bounces in the once tidy updo, but her makeup still makes her glitter, even under the unflattering yellow lights and the leaf dress still frames her perfectly. Even after she disappears into the elevator, Jimin can still feel himself beaming.

The moment Taehyung gets Moonhae into his room, she drops to the floor and starts violently throwing up.

"Oh Moonhae...", he exhales deeply as he gently rubs over her back, "I told you not to drink and smoke..."

Helping her towards the bathroom, she's able to start heaving into the toilet instead of making an even bigger mess on his floors. He carefully removes the now vomit-stained wig, but leaves her hair pinned up so it doesn't get in her way. Gathering some wet towels, he starts cleaning the mess in the entrance hall as she gets all the toxins out of her system. Once he joins her in the bathroom again, he starts getting her out of her clothes as soon as she's done heaving.

It's now that she whimpers at his touch, her eyes squozen shut as she trembles.

"Please don't", she squeaks, "Not again."

"Moonhae, it's me", he speaks to her softly, yet her eyes do not open.

"I promise I'll be good from now on, just please don't...", her voice wavers, unsure and close to breaking.

"Moonhae...", he brushes a thumb over her cheek, "Look, it's me."

With a few trembling breaths, she finally opens her eyes to take in the boy sitting in front of her. Although she seems to recognize him, not everything seems sorted inside her head.

"Here, have some water", he hands her a glass, which she gulps down slowly, "And I'm going to help you change into this, okay?"

As he holds out a baggy t-shirt and some sweatpants of his for her to see, she nods hesitantly. After cautiously removing her dress, shorts and the pins from her hair and changing her into his clothes, he guides her towards the bed and gets her another glass of water.

"Taehyungie", she still trembles even with the blankets now covering her and she sounds to be on the verge of tears.

"Yes?", he comes to kneel at her bedside, stroking her hair behind her ears.

"I-I'm sorry", she sniffles.

"Hey, it's okay", he speaks softly, "Don't worry about anything right now, just get some sleep."

"B-but I can't", she stutters.

"Why not?"

"T-they'll come a-and you know...", a tear rolls down her cheek.

"What are you talking about? You're completely safe here", he wipes it away.

"You don't know what they're like, Taehyungie...", she whimpers.

"Who?"

"P-please... I'm sorry... I don't want to live anymore", she cries out quietly.

The words hit him like a ton of bricks. How could she possibly feel this way? Moonhae, the girl that's pushed through everything no matter what, could say such a thing? It's completely foreign to him and he doesn't know how to respond. His heart shatters at the thought of her in so much unbearable emotional pain.

"Moonhae, you don't mean that", his own tears now well up in his eyes.

"I can't do this anymore", she sobs, "All they do is degrade me. You have no idea... Don't you see I'm worthless?"

"Who is they?", he squeezes her hand, somehow trying to get through to her.

"Just tell Joonie I'm sorry, okay?", her voice cracks again, "Tell him... That after all that... I couldn't do it, okay? I couldn't push through because there's no way out for me. And I'm sorry..."

His eyes search her for answers in fear. The way she's talking scares him, it's nothing like her usual self. Even her tone has shifted. The only thing he can think of doing in the moment is to call Namjoon.

Praying his hyung will pick up the phone despite the time of day and how awful he must feel himself, he paces nervously around his room. Although he must be just down the hall if he also made it home, Taehyung doesn't want to leave Moonhae out of his sight.

"Hello?", a raspy voice sounds out over the receiver. His high must've finally worn off.

"Hyung, I need your help", he panics, his voice coming out all squeaky.

"What's the matter?", his tone may have been more concerned if it weren't for his exhaustion.

"Are you home? Moonhae's in really bad shape", he holds back tears.

"What happened?"

"She um...", he bites down on his finger for a moment, willing himself not to burst out crying. In the end it's to no avail as he sobs out his next sentence. "She says she doesn't want to live anymore."

"Fuck", he swears lowly, "I'm coming right over."

Only a few seconds later Taehyung's door flies open and Namjoon barges in. He immediately heads towards the crying girl in bed, sitting down at the edge where Taehyung had been.

"Hey, Moon, it's me", although his mind is still hazy, he's able to focus on what needs to be taken care of.

"Joonie?", she looks up through her tears, "I'm sorry I couldn't stick it out. You know how they are. I'm sure you'll understand."

"But you made it, Moon. You're right here, they're not", he places a comforting hand over the blankets.

"Hyung, who's they?", Taehyung's eyes are fearfully glued to his love.

"Her parents", he mumbles before turning back to her, "Look, you're here with Taehyung. They're nowhere near you."

"B-but they'll punish me", she stammers, "You know they hate when I come home like this... They'll make me do things again... They'll take pictures and sell them again..."

"You're here, you're safe. You're twenty-three years old. You haven't seen your parents in seven years. They won't hurt you", he speaks to her clearly, hoping it'll get through.

"Seven years?", her eyes grow round and she glances at Taehyung's tear-streaked face over Namjoon's shoulder, "And Taehyung's here? The Taehyung who loves me and takes care of me?"

"Yes, he's here", Namjoon affirms softly.

"The Taehyung I love?", she squeaks again.

"Yes, I'm here", he now kneels down next to her, "And I won't ever let anyone hurt you."

"Okay...", she seems to finally calm as her eyelids flutter tiredly, "Okay, I'm alright..."

"Good. Get some sleep, okay?", Namjoon hums sweetly before standing up from the bed, "You too, yeah Tae?"

Taehyung nods, but doesn't let go of Moonhae's hand as she drifts off. When his hyung leaves the room, he quickly slips out of his costume and nestles into her on the bed. Although she's fast asleep now, he wants her to feel loved. For she should have all the love in the world and none of this horrible trauma she carries around with her.