It's an incredible sight, looking at Niki's bed, which currently has four people sleeping on it. The homeowner is lying on a pillow next to Sunghoon, his arm around his shoulders. Sullyoon is curled up on his legs, and on the other side, Wonyoung is in a similar position, her hands on his crush's ass.
Niki is the first to open her eyes. At first, he thinks he may still be having a nightmare or is having a hangover when he realizes how close the face of the man he doesn't like is to hers.
- What the hell is he doing here? - he thinks, taking away the arm that was previously holding him. He unintentionally moves his legs and kicks Sullyoon lying there. The girl, drastically awakened, groans in pain.
- Do you want to kill me? - she says in a tearful voice.
Sunghoon opens his eyes, woken by the noise. He doesn't know whether it's the sight of the man or a killer hangover, but he feels like vomiting. He clumsily climbs out of bed, drastically waking Wonyoung.
"Where's the bathroom?" he asks as he reaches the door.
- At the end of the corridor. If you don't get there, I'll kill you - Niki replies.
- I should kill you - Wonyoung mutters, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He glares at his friend. "You should be the only guy in the group who stayed sober. Taking you home was a nightmare for me."
- Why is this hopeless scholarship student in my house? Worse, why did he sleep in the same bed with us?
The nineteen-year-old girl frowns.
- Because you would rather not let him go all night. You were so caring and protective of him. I even started to wonder if you weren't hiding something from us...
- Are you crazy?! - he shouts at her, but it's a bad move because he feels like his head is about to burst.
- So next time don't drink so much, you're turning into an entirely different person - Wonyoung claims, getting out of bed. - I'll go check on Sunghoon.
She leaves the room and heads to the bathroom where the boy is. She knocks on the door, asking if she can come in. Hearing a faint invitation, she enters and notices the boy sitting at the sink.
"Is it terrible?" she asks, crouching down in front of him. She looks at him with a concerned look, noticing how pale he is. "I guarantee that after my hangover soup, you'll get better quickly," she adds, giving him a slight smile.
- I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can swallow anything.
- Believe me, in about an hour, you'll be fine. And if anything, don't worry about Niki's snide remarks. He was the one taking care of you most of the night.
- Is that possible? I thought he hated me.
- It's just his mask, probably deep down he wants to be friends with you.
- Are you some kind of fairy? - asks a hungover Sunghoon, making Wonyoung not feel offended, but even burst out laughing.
"No, I'm not a fairy. I just like you and I hope my friends do too," she replies before quickly disappearing from the bathroom, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. "Why did I say that?" she whispers to herself, pressing her hands to her face.
***
Yuna puts her leg over Jake, snuggling closer to him. Convinced that it's one of her sisters, she mutters to herself and asks what time it is. The girl doesn't remember anything from the previous night. It's like a broken film, and it's been a while since she got this drunk... not to the point where she doesn't know what she was doing.
- Oh fuck, Yuna, what are you doing here? - Hearing Jake's voice, the girl opens her eyes wide and examines his face from a close distance.
- Why am I with you? - she asks in a panicked voice of a twenty-year-old. She stands up quickly and realizes that she is naked, so she covers herself more thoroughly with the blanket. - Jake? - she adds. She is so scared that she does not even pay attention to the terrible headache.
- Did we sleep together? - the boy asks, looking confused. His friend is the last person he would expect to find in his bed after a party. He doesn't hide the fact that he would be more pleased to see Somi.
Yuna is more like a sister to him, with whom he is not related by blood. It is impossible for them to sleep together, even if they were drunk to such an extent...
After a while, the girl recovers from the shock and regains her true temperament. She aggressively hits the boy with a pillow, showing him no mercy.
- I'll kill you, you damn bastard!
The naked boy jumps out of bed to protect himself from the crazy woman, and she covers her eyes, disgusted by the sight of him.
- Even though I was drunk, I didn't force you! You had to want it yourself, so don't take it out on me! - he shouts, dressing rushing.
- I'll turn your life into hell! I'll kill you, you damn seducer!
- Calm down - he says, throwing a towel at her, which he takes from the closet. - Take a shower and cool down. Meanwhile, I'll make us something to eat - he adds.
- After all this, am I supposed to have breakfast with you and show myself to your parents?
- I think it's more shocking for them to see strange chicks. They might be happy to see yours - he replies.
- Get out, you bastard! - she yells at him, and in the blink of an eye he disappears out the door.
Yuna breathes heavily, placing a hand on her chest. She can't believe what happened. Even though she's been hiding the fact that she likes Jake all this time, she can't believe she slept with him while drunk.
"You're bloody an idiot, what have you done?" she says to herself, combing her hair back. She is devastated.
She gathers the clothes scattered around the room. Furthermore, she wraps herself in a towel and, realizing that there is no one on the first floor, she sneaks into the bathroom. She takes a quick shower and tidies herself up.
Brave as she is, she feels very awkward as she goes downstairs to join Jake, who is in the dining room waiting for food. The clock says 1.00 pm, so it's more lunch than dinner now.
Jake tells her as he sits down at the table.
The girl breathes a sigh of relief.
- Luckily, because I would be afraid of what they might think of me.
- Let's say we were both drunk and didn't know what we were doing. We can't blame each other - the twenty-year-old girl says, giving her a brief look. - I hope this doesn't ruin our relationship. I really respect you a lot and I can't understand how this happened, so maybe it's best if we forget about it and live as before?
Even though the girl agrees with him, some part of her heart aches at the thought that they should forget about it.
- That's best. Let's just pretend this never happened since we don't remember anything from that night.
The question is, what happened to Somi, whom her friends don't even remember?
***
Wonyoung, the only one in the group who feels perfect because she didn't drink alcohol, looks at the rest with sympathetic eyes as she places hangover soup in the middle of the table.
Niki glares at Sunghoon, wondering what had happened to him since he had been taking care of the scholarship student and even taking him into his home.
Has he completely lost it yet?
Sullyoon practically lies on the table, resting her head on her shoulder. It's a good drink, but the next day you curse yourself for your thoughtlessness.
- Are you okay, little one? - Niki asks her.
- Ask yourself, then you'll know the answer. - Hungover Sullyoon can be mean, even to her crush.
- You better not talk to her today, or she'll eat you. The little ones are usually the worst - Wonyoung says in an amused voice, looking at her younger sister. - Pour some soup and eat slowly, even by force, and you'll see that you'll feel better. You have my word.
"You sound like my mother," Niki murmurs.
Sunghoon takes it the hardest, having never had a drink before, and a hangover is something entirely new to him, something he has never known before.
"The man who's been stalking Sullyoon was at the party," Wonyoung begins. The guys stare at her with concern. "There's clearly something wrong with him. I can't explain it," she continues. "I ran into him by the bathrooms. I threatened him to stay away from my sister, and he told me he'd rather kill me than me kill him." Niki tenses up in anger. "He's really weird, especially since he said our current life will be more painful than our last. He called me Inha. "
- Inha ... - Sunghoon whispers under his breath, and the girl looks at him with curiosity in her eyes. - Why does this name seem familiar to me?
Her heart begins to beat faster as she realizes there might be something to her dreams.
"Have you had any strange dreams lately?" she asks him, hoping she's not alone. "Maybe that's where you heard that name?"
"I certainly don't," he tells her. "I'm sure I don't know anyone by that name, but I feel some kind of attachment to it. It's strange."
- You're just still drunk and talking nonsense - Niki says to him sarcastically.
Sunghoon puts down his spoon and stands up from the table.
"Thank you for taking care of me, and I apologize for the inconvenience. I just feel like I'm not welcome here," he says, glancing at Niki for a split second. "I guess I owe a lot of my care to you," he says to Wonyoung. "Thank you for taking care of me. I promise I'll pay you back."
"Come on, ignore him. Sit down," Sullyoon says, gesturing to the chair. "Ignore him."
- How can I ignore him when it's his house?
The boy heads to the hallway. The girls give Niki an angry look. Eventually, Wonyoung follows Sunghoon, because she feels embarrassed about her friend's behavior.
"I'm so sorry about him," she says when the boy's back is to her. It takes her a moment to realize that he's staring at something on the wall. "Is something wrong?" she asks, moving forward to face him. It's then that she realizes that the eighteen-year-old boy is looking at Niki's family picture.
Sunghoon swallows harder, an odd feeling of pain creeping through his heart as he watches the boy smile.
Wonyoung asks him, seeing how pale his face looks.
- I'm fine. See you on Monday - he says goodbye, and leaves Niki's house, walking ahead in some strange frenzy. He doesn't even think about calling a taxi.
He feels as if he's been hit in the head with a hammer.