La Luna - Kwon Hyuk

12

"Well, thank goodness the sofa turns into a bed. Now all you gotta do is wait for your new one to arrive next week."

Hyuk dragged his feet across the living room floor with two bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey in his hand. He handed one to the young woman who sat on the sofa bed before taking a seat next to her.

"What is this?", Hanji laughed loudly as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Come on, we haven't done anything like this. The last time we drank was on my birthday and that was already November.", Hyuk retorted and waved the bottle in her face as if to tempt her.

The two had decided to spend Hyuk's birthday alone in the apartment as Jiho was away to Osaka for a family trip and Sooyoung worked overtime. So instead of a fancy dinner, Hanji complied to Hyuk's request for three trays of tiramisu and another large plate of honey garlic chicken.

Hanji hesitated to take the bottle from him but thought that since it was the weekend anyway and they had had a long day of cleaning the broken bed frames in her room, they deserved it.

Hyuk smiled at her decision and popped her bottle open, himself before his.

"I've never had whiskey, just letting you know.", Hanji claimed before she took a small sip.

She immediately turned her face into an expression almost as bitter as her drink. "What is that?!"

The young man couldn't help but laugh at her reaction, taking down a large gulp of his own as if to show her the ropes. "No wonder you only had a sip of beer on my birthday!"

Hanji rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth to rid herself of the bitter taste. "Ugh! How can you drink that?"

"Oh, come on you'll get used to it. Just a few more sips and it'll hit you.", Hyuk reassured.

She hesitated once more but took another small gulp and crossed her fingers for the better. And before she knew it both she and Hyuk became faded within a matter of minutes.

"Can...Can I be honest?", Hanji spoke between wheezeful laughs as she scooted closer toward Hyuk.

He hummed in response and laughed at her condition -- practically wasted and only half of her bottle finished. He on the other hand, was only beginning to lose sense of himself but knew he had to take care of the young woman.

"If you had told me back in senior year...", she began to speak with a drowsy tone, swaying her body back and forth.

"...that you and I would end up living together. I never would've believed you."

Hyuk tilted his head and looked at her intently, watching her every move -- half-lidded eyes that struggled to meet his, pink cheeks that may or may not have been caused due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed, upturned lips that teased him from then on.

"Why's that, Hanji?", he played along.

She leaned toward him before placing the bottle on the ground below her. "I didn't have a chance! They always beat me to you."

He allowed her to play with his free hand, curling his fingers with hers as she avoided his gaze. "Who's 'they'?"

"You know...The small one, and the other small one and the one who pretended to be Japanese.", Oh Hanji found herself spilling almost everything in that moment and she ended her sentence with a bitter chuckle.

"The small one -- who wore the heels every day because she was still four-foot-five in the twelfth grade..."

By now she was practically climbing on top of him to find a more comfortable position, forcing him to put his drink down next to hers on the ground.

"Move.", she commanded as she settled herself on his lap, straddling his waist as she brushed his hair away from his face.

"Like this -- she always sat on you like this...even though she had a boyfriend. A-And you let her.", Hanji reminisced bitterly.

Hyuk could only stare at her from below, somehow not minding the intimate position they were in. He focused on her expression which seemed hurt and even offended. Bringing a hand to her face, she shied away.

Hanji sniffled once before she continued, "and the other small one -- the one you had art club with who was three years younger but didn't. Know. Her. Place."

She patted Hyuk's chest lightly with each word, making him chuckle. "Hanji...W-Where's all this coming from?"

He reached for her face again only this time she accepted him; as he tucked her hair behind her blushing ears. Hanji kept her eyes fixated on his chest, not meeting his eyes much to his dismay.

"A-And then the last one. The one who actually introduced us."

"You know, I'm glad she transferred before our final year. I've heard plenty of stories of the two of you and your...late-night activities at parties.", she whispered to him with sorrow in her voice.

Hyuk curled his brows at her statement. He knew which person she was referring to -- an old classmate who claimed she was Japanese but only spoke English and Hangkuk and eventually became exposed later on for not having any Japanese descent at all.

"W-What are you talking about?", he asked as he now carefully placed his hands on her waist, rubbing circles with his thumbs to calm her down.

Hanji inhaled deeply before she spoke, "I-I was told you avoid you plenty of times because of what happened to the two of you. A-Apparently, you had quite a night with her before she moved."

Her expression held that of a bitter memory, something she had been harbouring in her chest for so long and she still felt guilty for bringing it up now.

And to her surprise, she heard Hyuk laugh from beneath her. She could tell he tried to suppress it but failed to as he lowered his head and chuckled some more.

"I-I...", Hanji stuttered before deciding not to speak at all, peeling herself away from his hold.

"N-No! No!", Hyuk scoffed and pulled her back into his chest, now even closer than before.

They could smell the whiskey on each other's breath but that somehow made them even more drowsy.

"Hanji, haven't you heard the saying "don't believe everything you hear?" Your friend...", the young man began to explain. She now listened to him, staying still on him.

"Okay, I'll admit we may have...locked lips. But! We were sixteen and definitely not legal yet we still drank that night. I-It was at a party a-and it was meaningless, okay? Nothing more than that happened."

"...I guess people just love ruining a good name."

He felt as if he was explaining himself to a jealous girlfriend -- someone he owed an explanation to. Hyuk placed a gentle finger on her chin before lifting it with the support of his thumb, finally making her meet his piercing gaze.

"And what's it to you, anyway?", he teased.

His question made her blush even more and it wasn't just the alcohol. "You know why..."

He tsked with a raised brow, shaking his head. "N-No, I don't think I do."

And she giggled lightly as he blessed her with a gentle eskimo kiss, rubbing both their red noses together before he sealed their night with a firm kiss on her lips. She tasted of whiskey and so did he, and he knew she wouldn't remember any of this the next morning.

But he kissed her deeply, hoping she would.