Still With You | BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) : A Sequel to 'Euphoria'

"You Make Me Thirsty..."

Listen To: 'Thirsty' by Taemin
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[Please, assume all conversations are in Korean]

"Cheers!" Hyunjin clicks his glass against mine and I can't help but giggle when he shouts at me to not lose eye contact with him.

"I can't believe Eleanor beat us all at bowling," Jisung whines out as he takes a piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. I look around the small table at my friends and I don't know if it's the slight fuzziness from the alcohol or the fact that I'm having such a good time letting go and having fun with friends.

We continue talking and drinking. No one bothers us, even though the bowling alley is jam packed with people, out having fun on a Friday night. It makes it easy to forget that my life is anything but normal; i'm just Eleanor, hanging out with my friends at a bowling alley, drinking soju and eating fried chicken without a worry in the world.

Except I'm not— I'm in a polyamorous relationship with 7 of the biggest idols in the world, my ex-boyfriend tried to kill me, I photograph the most amazing people in South Korea, my best friend betrayed me and has gone awol, my mother is dead, my friends are all super famous, and I am shooting a fashion campaign next week. I feel the anxiety creeping into my shoulders just thinking about it.

"Hey now, why the face all of a sudden?" Chan asks me.

"I'm just remembering what life used to be like, before all of this," I say as I wave my hand slightly around the table.

"Was your life good before you moved here?" Han asks, resting his face in his palms as he gives me his undivided attention.

"It was... okay? I never had a family so I grew up lonely and raised by my best friend's family. Then I started working and moved out on my own and life just kind of coasted. I've never really known what 'good' was supposed to be like," I tell them honestly.

"But you're happy now?" Hyunjin asks.

"So happy..." I sigh out with a smile, feeling the alcohol cause a dreamy, fuzziness all around me. "I wish it was easier but, I'd rather be here now that anywhere else," I tell them.

"You have your boyfriend, right?" Han asks.

"I do," I reply, taking another shot of soju. Chan looks at me with a side eye, smirking.

"How long have you been dating? What does he do?" Han continues to ask.

"Jisung-ah, be respectful of Eleanor's privacy," Chan scolds him.

"It's okay Channie, I don't mind talking about it," I say, especially now that Yoongi has told me he's okay with people knowing we are dating and Chan thinks Yoongi is my only boyfriend. I serve us another round of soju, we clink our glasses together (each of them turning slightly away from me even though I told them to relax) and look at Han.

"In a couple of weeks, we will be together for a year," I say to him. He smiles. "Best year ever," I say, feeling myself start to get to that giggly drunken phase.

"Do you live together?" Hyunjin adds.

"We do. He also works in the industry so if we didn't live together, I'd never see him," I say.

"Is he an idol?" Han asks excitingly.  I knew I needed to draw the line somewhere.

"He's a producer," I tell them, it's not a lie but I've also not told the whole truth.

"Okay, that's enough about Eleanor, let's drink!" Chan says as he serves another round and we drink happily.

We spend the next few hours having more fun than I have in so long; we eat, we drink and we bowl and I continue to win every single time. Han feigns anger with each loss. I'm sitting at the table waiting for Hyunjin and Han to come back from ordering more food, showing Chan the photos from his Folio Magazine shoot that we did last week on my phone when I get a text message and the notification slides down from the top of my screen, directly in Chan's face.