Lilac Skies

Nostalgia

An empty bottle of vodka.

He was supposed to be drafting his first chapter for the second installment of his novel at his table at his home right now. The hot coffee he just brewed was left unattended back in his work desk as he now stood in front of the bar in his black trench coat at eleven in the evening.

An exasperated sigh left his lips upon seeing the woman dressed in a golden silk dress, drunkenly laughing with the people surrounding her at their table. He took three steps closer, his big boots still covered in snow from the outside, leaving wet trails behind him.

Eventually, his presence became known and she turns her head only to beam at him a little too giddy compared to how she normally greets people.

"Hyeoky!"

Yoon Seri's eyes crinkled in amusement seeing the tall, brooding man towering over her. "You're here!" Her voice was a pitch higher and it didn't take a scientist to conclude that she is indeed utterly, without a doubt, drunk.

Before he could respond, Seri already turned back to her friends, proving her point, "See, I told you he'd come!"

She turned to him again, flashing that charming smile and tugged his sleeve to pull him down beside her. "Come sit."

He set his damp folded umbrella away from her so it wouldn't ruin her dress, sat, just like how she wanted, and upon up close view, he noticed how her cheeks became extra flushed, hair slightly tousled.

"I think I proved to everyone here that I indeed have a childhood friend," she pats his shoulder as if his presence alone isn't enough to emphasize that she indeed knew him. "So stop saying I'm making it up."

The entertainment industry was a relatively small industry and almost everyone knew each other. That includes public news, dispatch scandals, and prominent information from their past (before stardom hit them).

Seri's reputation of being a high and mighty woman herself, cold and peculiarly arrogant to anyone she's not close with was one of the few that everyone knew. From makeup artists to staffs to producers.

Anyone would hate to break it to her, but there's obviously no one who lasted with her for at least a year. Friendship isn't something she was used to. She knew people come and go, use you and betray you.

Even right now, the people she's drinking with : a former actress who retired for good, a nameless rookie one who's eager to learn from her (no one knows why), and a news anchor from the only broadcasting system that's still on her side, were all the same to her.

Seri knew her relationship with them wouldn't last long but making memories for now and letting herself laugh for a while would surely make herself feel better in the long run.

"We won't get into the details of how you got yourself a friend, all the way back from childhood no less. But..." Song Hye Ran, the retired actress in her early forties, asked, "Is he still single?"

There was a click of her tongue, rolling her eyes as she reached for the bottle. She nudges his elbow. "Tell her."

For a moment, Jeong Hyeok struggled to come up with any words and the actress' anticipating gaze wasn't helping either.

"No," he trails off before he could even finish that one word, seeing Seri shake the empty bottle, trying to get the very last drops to her glass. He clasped his hands over her, gently taking the bottle away and setting it back to its rightful place. "No, I'm not."

The admission sent sparkles of hope in the actress' eyes, putting her hands together and was about to express her interest when Seri beat her to it. With closed eyes and in a monotonous tone, she said, "He's not interested."