Starboys

S T A R B O Y 4|4

E T H A N

Half an hour later, Ethan sat at the bar completely alone. Lillie had abandoned him for the first cute girl that had so much as winked at her. Traitor, he thought, and chugged the rest of his water with a grumble. Five rounds of rock, paper, scissors declared Ethan the "designated driver", even though they hadn't arrived at the club by car. Which was a good thing because hell would freeze over before Ethan would sit behind a steering wheel voluntarily.

Having made his driver's licence in San Francisco at 16, Ethan had been driving on the right side of the road for all his life. When he moved to London back in summer, he'd almost gotten run over several times because there was a car suddenly coming from the wrong side. One would think he'd be used to it by now. He was, in fact, not.

So no, Ethan hadn't actually driven them to the club.

But ever since that one fateful night in high school, where he and Lillie had snuck into a college party and gotten drunk out of their minds, another Soeng-Sibling-Pact had come into existence. There might have been a mascot costume involved, as well as some clown wigs, and a lighter. Needles to say, things hadn't ended too well.

The Seong-Sibling-Pact-For-Alcoholic-Beverages-In-The-Presence-Of-Each-Other stated that whenever they would go out together, only one of them would be allowed to get shitfaced while the other one would take on the role as designated driver to stop any ‌actions that possibly caused harm to themselves or others. Mostly others. As with any other Seong-Sibling-Pact, a grueling battle of rock-paper-scissors would decide their respective roles.

Tonight, Lillie got to be hammered, and Ethan would order water the whole night. Which was usually fine by him, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that Lillie had somehow cheated again. He didn't know how, but there had been something about her victory grin, about the way she'd said better luck next time. Somehow, someday, Ethan would find out how she'd done it. But not tonight.

He waved down one of the bartenders to order another water. Then, feeling slightly salty, he changed it to a rum and coke instead. He wouldn't get drunk from that, a little tipsy at most. And after Lillie had stood him up - and probably somehow cheated - , he was allowed at least one alcoholic beverage.

Ethan watched the crowd for a bit longer, nursing his drink. It was moving in unison like one whole being, alive under the twitching blue and white lights, dancing to some catchy beat. He chugged the last bit and joined in. Just because he was here for Lillie, didn't mean he'd wait for her at the bar all night. And maybe he also kinda sorta wanted to check on her.

He danced with a few people here and there, but no one really caught his attention. Lillie had been right though, all the patrons were super chill. No one got offended when he stopped dancing with them and moved on to another person. Ethan spotted his sister two or three times in the moving crowd, happily dancing with the girl who had flirted with her earlier.

Knowing she was more than fine, Ethan made his way back to the bar and ordered another water. His eyes wandered the masses again while he waited, mesmerized by their colors and how their movement changed with the bass and lights. One song transitioned into another, and the people seemed to part, revealing a lone dancer. He looked lost in his own world, moving to a tune only he knew.

Ethan didn't believe in love at first sight. But the moment he saw him...

He stared at him, unable to help himself. Something in the way the man moved had Ethan's eyes locked onto him, luring him in.

And before he knew what he was doing, Ethan found himself walking towards the stranger.Everything around the corners of his eyes began to blur, putting the man into sole focus. It was strange; even though Ethan only had one drink tonight, he felt intoxicated.