Echo || NCTau ||

5 - About being drunk

Yeoreum stared at her reflection in the wide bathroom mirror. Her makeup had smudged, her blouse was a mess and the damn wig on her head looked like something had exploded between the curls, while it also made her scalp feel uncomfortably hot and itchy.

Her brow furrowed. The thoughts in her head were jumpy and incoherent. Considering how she had tried to abstain from alcohol for the past few months, maybe she had drunk too much too quickly. Doctor had told her to try to drinking because it would only further irritate her already damaged throat.

Yeoreum shrugged the button up shirt off to try to wash the cocktail stain from it. The camisole she wore underneath left her shoulders, clavicles and almost non-existing cleavage quite exposed but at least she wasn't hanging around in a bra. As she started scrubbing the stain underneath the faucet, she had to begrudgingly accept that the doctor had been right. Her throat was more sore than usual and she felt the constant need to clear her throat.

One persistent lock of hair kept falling over her face while she was hunched over the sink. She pushed it away, trying to get it to stay behind her shoulder but the damn thing wasn't obeying her.

Frustrated, Yeoreum dumped the blouse into the sink and yanked the long wig and wig cap off. Getting the weight off her head made her feel thousand times better and the relief soothed her drunken annoyance when she could finally run her fingers through her own hair.

Unlike the long, curly wig, her own hair was short, barely reaching her chin at the longest parts. Being stuffed underneath the wig cap for the entire day had made her hair looked like a black helmet but she wouldn't have traded the sense of relief for anything.

After spending some more time scrubbing the blouse and getting most of the cocktail off, Yeoreum wrung it dry and hung it over the towel rack, hoping that the hot air blasting from it would dry the shirt quickly.

Sighing, Yeoreum rubbed her eye while opening the bathroom door. It would've been amazing to take a shower but she was so dizzy that she wanted was to sit down for a moment and have a glass of water.

Or maybe another shot of vodka now that she had already started.

"Oh", confused noise drew her attention to the side of the room.

Oh, indeed. Yeoreum had completely forgotten that it wasn't her hotel room and that she had followed a stranger from the bar.

She froze in front of the bathroom, staring at the guy who was standing next to a large window that covered most of the wall behind the bed.

She was definitely more drunk than she had thought. Otherwise, she wouldn't have forgotten that she wasn't alone.

Was she in danger?

Yeoreum assessed the room. There were no weapons in sight, and Haechan – what kind of name that even was? His mom must have a romantic imagination – looked unarmed. Her purse was next to the front door and it wasn't opened so maybe the guy hadn't found her folding knives.

When her gaze returned to Haechan, it was easy to see that he was confused by the sudden change in her appearance. In addition to being surprised by the drastic change in her hair, Yeoreum caught his eyes travelling down the neckline of her camisole before he forced himself to look away.

Typical guy.

His awkward reaction to her revealing top made Yeoreum relax.

She had met her fair share of men who offered to buy her drinks as long as they got something in return by the end of the night. Some of them tried to put on an act of being nice people while others were more upfront about their intentions. Usually, she was more likely to oblige when they were straightforward about the deal, instead of pretending to want anything more than one night with her.