silhouette | jhs ✓

19. encounter

Rina smiled, her white teeth flashing themselves at her. "That's great news, Seren. I'm happy for you."

"Ladies, I got us the drinks." Jin was back, holding four shots in his hands.

He handed two to the girls, holding another pair in his hands.

"Wait, you got four?" Seren asked with a frown, her eyebrows elevated. "There's only three of us."

"Yeah, I got two for me." Jin stated, drinking one shot with no reaction or recoil to his features.

Seren glanced at Rina – who was already finished with her one shot. She decided to drink it, no longer wanting to idle by and be the one to hold them back.

She typically kept count of the number of drinks she'd have, especially with shots. They went through her like water when she kept drinking, feeling a sudden wave of reality smash her head when the drinks caught up with her.

Jin inhaled through his grit teeth, staring at the empty shot glass. "Wow, that was good. Normally I sneak in a shot or two at work, but its great when I can do it carelessly." He placed the cups down on the counter, licking his lips.

The three decided to have a few more before making the decision to go dancing, Seren sticking herself to Rina and Seokjin like glue, not wanting to lose sight of them.

Although she was initially dubious to go to a club, once the alcohol settled and the dancing loosened her taut behavior, it reminded her of why she used to party so much a couple of years back. It was always her way of removing herself from stressful times, whether it was caused by her family or school. Her issues always seemed to be incessant, and her solution was to go out and have fun.

It wasn't a healthy solution, which was part of the reason why she stopped.

At that moment, Seren felt like her same reckless self, the one that saw nothing wrong with her behavior. The one that acted that way to seek the attention she so desperately wanted from her parents – her mother.

That realization made her a bit dizzy, her nebulous mind having too many intricate thoughts for a night out in a club.

She felt hands clasp against her hips, feeling something hard poke at her back, making her body shiver.

Her body was mollified when she guessed that it was Rina wanting to dance with her.

"Rina, I think I'm gonna use the bathroom." Seren expressed, placing her hands above Rina's.

However, she became frozen in place when she felt the hands that were above hers were rough, and much larger than she anticipated.

She quickly turned around, ripping herself from the hold when she saw an older male keeping her body close to his.

Maybe it was the liquor or the fact that she was unaware of how long he had been behind her, but the urge to vomit was sitting right in her throat.

"Seren, are you okay?" A hand clasped over her shoulder, causing her to turn her back to the man.

Her eyes scoured the face in front of her, facilitated when she saw Rina. "Y-yeah. Rina, I thought you were behind me." Seren muttered to her, holding onto her hand.

"What do you mean?" Rina asked, frowning. "I've been in front of you this entire time."

Seren had been lost in a trance, a trance that her loud thoughts put her in — losing all senses and people around her. She was solely concentrated on the ruminations in her head.

"Some guy was behind me, he grabbed me and I felt-" Seren shut her eyes in abhorrence, shaking her head. "He was right over there." She turned over, the man already gone.