yeah, the star room was pretty, but hyeju had to focus on other things.
like the announcement that mina just made, about a party in the new room.
i can't drink tonight.
"are you going to the party thing?"
hyeju turned to hyunjin, surprised she had spoken up considering they had been sitting in silence for the past five minutes.
"uh i think so, just make sure i don't drink anything, i can't handle my alcohol."
hyunjin gave a half-hearted laugh, "yeah, i'll probably be with you the whole time. if i do drink make sure i don't do anything dumb."
hyeju faced forward again, "yeah i will"
thirty minutes later the girls in hyeju's room were getting ready for the party while she sat on the couch waiting for hyunjin to come grab her.
the two lovebirds were doing each other's makeup, succeeding in making hyeju feel sick before drinking any alcohol.
jungeun was in the corner of the room doing her makeup in a handheld mirror. hyeju could obviously tell that she was rushing so she could leave the room to find jinsol.
i don't blame her.
it took a couple seconds to hear the knock on the door through haseul's and kahei's giggling, but when hyeju heard it she dashed to the door.
the door was opened to reveal a hyunjin that hyeju had never seen before. her hair was pulled up into a ponytail with some pieces down that framed her face, bringing attention to her dusty brown eyeshadow and deep rose lipstick.
hyunjin immediately started messing with her hair over the lack of a response from hyeju. "what, do i look bad?"
"no! no, you just look different." hyeju made an attempt to smile at hyunjin, trying to calm her down. "it's not a bad look on you."
hyunjin's face brightened into a smile, and the two of them made their way to hallway 3B.
there were tables full of drinks and miscellaneous snacks surrounding the two girls when they walked in, while yerim, yeojin and jiwoo were busy arranging the food.
"it looks stunning."
hyeju looked at the mesmerizing stars once again. "it definitely does."
the rest of the girls arrived in small batches, causing the volume of the room to slowly reach the level that hyeju was used to hearing at parties.
hyeju saw hyunjin stiffen as heejin and her annoying best friend strutted in.
"i'm gonna go to the bathroom."
hyeju mindlessly nodded to hyunjin.
you know the routine. keep out of drinks, keep out of conversation, and keep out of trouble.
then chaewon walked in.
shit i should've known she was coming.
hyeju had been making a recent effort to avoid the blonde. she knew she needed help, but not on a spaceship where she can't escape and get a breather from the person playing therapist.
she had one briefly back home, but her family quickly ran out of money after that, so it was too time consuming to go to therapy and help her family with stealing cars on the side.
hyeju grabbed a bottle of beer and pretended to take a sip while chaewon passed by. thankfully she wasn't paying attention, so hyeju was able to quickly put the bottle down and remove herself from the table.
"what's stopping you from taking a drink?"
hyeju turned to see heejin, who was already a little tipsy.
she probably already drank before coming here.
"i don't want one, that's what."
"pfft what a pussy." heejin giggled to herself a little bit before continuing. "where'd your friend go? the one that obviously wants to fuck me?"
"hyunjin?" the realization hit hyeju like a brick.
oh my fucking god, she's into heejin
"leave me alone."
hyeju grabbed some beer bottles on her way out, trying to ignore heejin as she was yelling.
"what? are you upset her standards are too high for her to be into you?"
sooyoung passed hyeju as she left the room, and hyeju heard heejin fall on the ground.
a consistent ringing started playing in hyeju's head, a ringing that she knew could only be subsided with alcohol.
i shouldn't have grabbed those bottles
hyeju found a random closet in the hallway and locked herself inside.
muscle memory opened the first bottle of beer and brought it up to hyeju's lips. the familiar thickness of the liquid caused hyeju's nerves to relax, releasing a a certain feeling over her that she hadn't felt in a while.
god i shouldn't be doing this
but bottle after bottle was opened and emptied, until hyeju was sharing the closet with seven empty bottles of beer.
it felt like no time had passed, but apparently it was long enough for someone to find hyeju in her closet.
the door opened to reveal a familiar head of blonde hair.
"fuck."
a smirk crept across chaewon's lips, infuriating hyeju further.
"i'm guessing you didn't wanna be found?"
"i don't mind being found, i'm just annoyed it was you." hyeju grunted as she tried to push herself into a standing position, but her grasp on one of the shelves slipped and she tumbled onto the empty bottles.
"god, how much have you drank? and why are you even in here?"
hyeju successfully got onto her feet, bringing her face to face with chaewon. "none of your business, and none of your business." the words mushed together when they spilled out of her mouth.
"you reek of beer."
"yeah i'm not surprised."
"let me help you" chaewon attempted to pull hyeju's arms onto her shoulder, but ended up almost getting punched in the face.
"i don't need your help."
"from the way you're mumbling and tripping over your feet, i think you do." chaewon eventually got a hold of hyeju and they trudged to her room room.
hyeju fell onto the couch, and chaewon sat next to her and turned on the tv.
chaewon chose a show that hyeju hadn't seen before, and hyeju readjusted herself to be comfortable on the couch. which ended up in her feet lying in chaewon's lap.
this isn't me agreeing to be nice to her. this is me getting comfortable. she's still annoying.
"you know i didn't need your help. i was sober enough to walk myself here."
"yeah, sober enough to lock yourself in a closet in the dark."
"i wasn't drunk when i did that."
chaewon turned to face hyeju, and hyeju cussed at herself.
i shouldn't have said anything. i shouldn't say anything else. she's still annoying.
"yeah, i dunno, small spaces comfort me."
chaewon nodded and gave a reassuring smile.
this feels like a therapy session.
but hyeju kept talking. and chaewon kept on listening. she wasn't sure for how long, all she knew was the next morning she was alone on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, with a splitting headache.
how much did i open up to her last night.
✰ ☾ ✰
the party was a cover up, jungeun could feel it, but telling jinsol that would make her look like a pessimist.
and they hadn't gone to a party together in a while.
truth be told, jungeun missed high school with jinsol. they still hung out after high school and when jungeun went to college, but it was slightly different.
this trip made them feel closer than ever, and jungeun was eternally grateful.
jungeun was on the walk over to jinsol's room. the rooms were surprisingly far away from each other, considering how big the ship was. the repetitive walking aggravated jungeun, especially with the thought that if just one person was richer than jinsol she would've been bumped into the same room as jungeun.
the room had a lot of awkward tension when jinsol opened the door for jungeun, all she could see was heejin, sooyoung and chaewon cramped in a bathroom.
jinsol quickly closed the door behind her, and the two of them started walking to the star room.
"heejin and sooyoung were drinking while they were getting ready."
jungeun turned to jinsol, "how?"
"apparently there's some vodka in the shop, they found it and got a ton."
jungeun chuckled, and they kept walking in silence.
jungeun had seen jinsol in party-attire many times, but today was different. today she was wearing a low-cut blue dress, and she accessorized the dress with curly hair and deep red lipstick. she had thick liner that made her eyes seem colder than they actually are.
would it be too forward to tell her that blue is her color?
jungeun always had a pestering thought that she had feelings for jinsol, but this trip had enhanced that, to the point where she wasn't sure where what things would be okay to say and what things weren't.
they walked in together, and there were already a lot of people talking and drinking.
music was playing, drinks and snacks were splayed on colorful tables, and the dark sky made the room feel ready for drunk chaos.
"you wanna dance?"
jungeun turned to jinsol and blushed at the sight of her confident smile.
"barely anyone else is dancing."
"so?"
jinsol grabbed jungeun's wrist and pulled her to the middle of the room, accompanying yeojin and yerim who were dancing alone.
god that dress looks so good on her.
the two of them got swept away in the dancing and drinking and partying, where they forgot there were other people there. more people had joined them in the middle of the room, and the music changed to a bass-heavy, sensual mood.
"you look really good in blue,"
damn my drunk mouth.
the two of them were still dancing, awfully close, to the point where jungeun could smell jinsol's perfume mixed with her last shot of vodka.
"really? thanks, you look really good too."
jinsol smirked at jungeun and moved in a little closer to her, making jungeun's body go warm. jungeun couldn't look away from jinsol's lips, her eyes, her dress, all of her.
we're both drunk, everyone else could see, i shouldn't do this.
but she still leaned in. she still put her hand in jinsol's hair, her other hand on jinsol's hip, and her lips on jinsol's.
and jinsol kissed her back.
✰ ☾ ✰