After failing to jumpstart her acting career, Karina returns defeated to her hometown to figure out her next move. Things get complicated when she finds out that Y/N, her best friend from high school with whom she parted on awkward terms, is also ba...
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Their legs swayed over the edge of the furthest dock, shoes barely skimming the top of the water as their blackened silhouettes sat in stark contrast against the dusty mauve of the twilight. A buoy bobbed in the water nearby, and they listened to the sharp tolling of a ferry bell as it traveled across the horizon. Karina stabbed another rice cake with a toothpick and put it into her mouth, watching the careful look on Y/N's face as he drank from the beer can.
"So?" she asked. "What'd you think of that one?"
Y/N creased his brows and then took another sip to be sure of his opinion. The sun was about to set on his eighteenth birthday. To celebrate, Karina bought him a cake for the two of them to share and then got him a variety of beers from a local convenience shop for him to sample. Always the law-abiding citizen, Y/N had refused to drink alcohol at parties until he was of age.
"It sort of just tasted like carbonated water," Y/N said, sloshing his tongue around his mouth.
"What?" Karina said, picking up the can he drank from and taking a drink herself. It was good.
"It was alright," Y/N said, leaning back.
"Your taste buds are whack, you know that?" Karina said, reaching for a box of pepero that they bought from the convenience store. Y/N shrugged. Their little picnic at the end of the pier consisted of a single order to spicy rice cakes, two boxes of pepero, a sweet potato cake, and six cans of beer of different brands, of which three had been opened.
"I don't know," he said. "Beer is just beer to me. I don't really taste a difference."
"You are so lucky you have me, then," Karina said, pointing a pepero stick at him. "You poor soul. Where would you be without me? Lost, probably adrift in the middle of the ocean drinking mediocre alcohol."
Y/N scoffed. "Fine," he said, pushing the can at her. "What does it taste like to you, Professor?"
Karina smirked as she took the can in hand.
"I saw a video about this. There's a special way of tasting beer to really draw out the flavor."
Karina brought the can closer to her face and smelled it. Metallic and strong.
"Don't laugh, though," she warned. "This is an expert beer-tasting technique."
She tipped some of the beer into her mouth and then immediately pursed her lips and started making a gurgling noise, but then the liquid shot straight out of her mouth and onto her lap, leaving a trail of saliva dripping from her lip. Y/N, who had been drinking from another can, did a spit-take as he doubled over in laughter.
"You did that on purpose just to make me laugh, right?" he asked in between laugh attacks. His side was starting to hurt. Karina wiped the drool off with her sleeve, also laughing in spite of herself.
"No! That's how you're supposed to do it!" Karina said. She picked up the can again. "Hold on, let me try again."
She took another sip and tried to gurgle it again, only to accidentally spit it out a second time. Y/N erupted into laughs again. Karina punched his shoulder.
