Chan POV
I opened my eyes but the lights were too bright and I grunted in annoyance. I slammed them shut again and covered my face to try to motivate myself to move while hiding from the literal sun that had somehow made its way into the hotel, but I felt too nauseous.
How much did we drink last night?
I rubbed my head and face, slapping my cheek, and finally found the courage to open my eyes again. The first thing I noticed was that the room was a disaster. Taco Bell sauce packets and taco bits were everywhere. One of Ella's boots was in the couch...not on the couch, in it...and I had no idea whose shirt I was wearing but it smelled ripe.
I'd fallen asleep in the office chair for some reason, and Seungmin was in my bed. Mana and Ella were asleep in the other one.
At least everybody was accounted for.
I got up and clicked the lights off as I made my way to get a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. The least I could do was make sure nobody else suffered like I had.
I downed the whole bottle in one go and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. That always made me feel better when I was hungover. I had just begun brushing when I realized my beanie was lying weirdly and nearly falling off of my head. I raised my hand to fix it and saw writing scrawled across my forearm in what looked to be marker.
"What the hell?" I raised my arm to examine it closer and found that Seungmin had signed "Seungmin wuz here".
I rolled my eyes and finished brushing. Thanks to the minty flavor, I felt better already. I found Advil in my bag and popped a couple to deal with my excruciating headache before rejoining the others.
Mana was awake when I came back. She seemed to be faring a lot better than me and was sitting up, scrolling through her phone. Still, I handed her water from the fridge.
"Thanks," she appreciated and took a sip. She gazed up at me as I plopped back into the seat, clenching my stomach. "You don't look so good," she laughed.
The noise woke up Ella, or Ella had been pretending to sleep because of how hungover she was. She covered her ears with a pillow and groaned. I got water for her as well, and she took it but cuddled with it instead of drinking it, letting the cold absorb into her. It was adorable.
"I feel horrible," I whispered. "What happened last night?"
"You don't remember our foursome?" Mana asked with a shocked expression.
"Our what?" I nearly choked.
She laughed again. "I'm just kidding. You three were trashed."
I breathed a sigh of relief. I absolutely in no way ever wanted to have done that with Seungmin. "Whose shirt is this?"
"Oh! I know that one!" Mana replied
excitedly, "Once the bar closed we came back downstairs and played truth or dare. Seungmin dared you to steal something from Lost and Found."
I nodded as though I had any memory of that. "And he's in my bed because...?"
"He bet that you wouldn't be able to use the spiciest hot sauce at Taco Bell without water and was right."
"Punk," I grumbled.
"In his defense, he never said you couldn't share it. You chose to sleep there."
"And this is...?" I raised my arm for her to see what Seungmin had written.
"Just eyeliner. But also an ode to your friendship," she grinned, "He has one too."
I rolled my eyes again.
"Taco," Ella suddenly requested, holding out her hand. Her face was still buried in her pillow. I opened the box and handed one to her. She sat up, half awake, and forced herself to eat it. She looked so grumpy and cute. Her hair was every which way and her eyes were barely open. Her face was flushed from either the warmth of the pillow or because she was feverish.
"What was Ella dared to do?"
"You asked her to give up Jaeger bombs or her boots for the night."
"What'd she pick?" I laughed.
"Well you don't see her Jaeger discarded in the couch cushions, do you?" Mana joked.
"Jaeger for life," Ella chanted and held up a rock and roll hand sign.
Seungmin raised his hand and mumbled into his bed, "I asked her to name her best sexual encounter, and you slapped me. Like actually slapped me hard across the face. I didn't know you were the only one, so my bad." He held up a peace sign. He didn't know I had actually slapped him because Ella thinking about the others could've caused a panic attack. Still, I shouldn't have hit him. I felt a little guilty about it.
"I dared her to call you her Ateez bias's name by accident," Mana confessed.
"Rude," I replied. I couldn't imagine I'd respond well to that, but I was curious. "Who is it?"
"Wooyoung," Ella answered with a mouth full of taco.
He's so cool. Very attractive, unique style. Of course, she'd like him. "How'd I take it?"
"We'll never know. She took a shot instead," Mana rolled her eyes.
Ella opened hers fully to meet mine, and she raised her taco-free hand into a half-heart. She didn't have on any makeup. They must've remembered to remove it last night...probably thanks to Mana. Her freckles were more vivid on her face, and I fought the urge to kiss each and every one of them in front of the others.
She finished her food and started on the water I'd given her.
"Advil?" I asked, and she nodded while she chugged. I handed a couple to her, and she swallowed them down, too.
"Seungmin, do you want a water?"
"Yes, daddy," he replied.
"Excuse me?" I choked as I threw the bottle at him, nearly landing on his head.
"Ella dared Seungmin to call you daddy," Mana explained.
"Okay, well, let's stop that now."
Seungmin sat up and took a sip of water. "I kind of like it, though."
"No."
"But daddy! I want to!" he fake cried, and I threw the closest boot at him.
Ella had finished her water and went to brush her teeth, too. She was too exhausted and hungover to be entertained by Seungmin and me.
"I want to brush my teeth, too, but all of my stuff is in Seungmin's room," Mana complained.
Seungmin jumped right up and held his hand out for her, "Well come on bae, let's go get it."
"Bae?" she cringed.
"I was just testing something out," he admitted.
"I hate it," she grimaced.
"I'll think of a different one," he promised and she took his hand. They walked towards the door conversing over what nickname would be best.
"We'll meet you for lunch! We need to tell y'all something!" Ella croaked from the bathroom.
"Sounds good!" Mana answered and the door shut behind them.
"Can you text the others about meeting us?" she asked me. I knew she was being vague for the mic.
"Yep!" I replied. I texted the others to meet us at the rooftop bar for lunch. I called the front desk, too, and asked that they close it for us.
She came back into the room, and I held my hands open for her to sit on my lap. She curled up to me, and I placed my arms around her securely to make sure she didn't fall. I kissed her freckled cheeks like I'd been wanting to do all morning, and she blushed.
I realized she was only wearing Nike shorts and my hoodie. It looked good on her...then again, so did everything. But it really did something to me when she wore my clothes. I couldn't describe it.
"And what did you dare me to do?" I inquired.
"You'll make fun of me," her face went red and she buried it in my neck. She looked so pretty when she was shy.
"I promise I won't."
She tried to stand, but I held her still and tickled her sides. "Tell me," I joked.
She giggled loudly, "Okay! Okay!"
I stopped and held her normally again.
"I dared you to dance with me to Never Ending Story, but Seungmin made fun of me and said it was a lame dare. Instead, I just dared you to let me keep the hoodie."
She gave me a small smile but looked upset that Seungmin had said that. Suddenly, I didn't feel so bad about slapping him for his other question.
I stood and set her on the ground gently which had her giving me a very confused look until I held my hand out for her. She took it with a wide grin. I twirled her into me, and she laughed like a bell.
"The song isn't playing," she reminded me.
I hummed the intro, and she realized I was going to sing it myself.
She rested her head against my chest to slow dance, and I noticed she made sure she was still able to look up at me while I sang. Her doe eyes gave me their full attention.
I wasn't much of a slow dancer, but she didn't seem to mind. We swayed together, and I'd twirl her every so often.
Her eyes were bright, and she looked at me so happily and with so much trust that it broke my heart to imagine her treated as poorly as she had told me she was. Ella deserved the best. If she wanted me to sing her favorite song and dance with her, I'd do it every time. I'd do whatever it took to keep that smile on her face.
I finished singing, and she kissed my cheek. "Thank you, Chan." She sounded so sincere that I almost did an encore.
She wrapped her arms around my waist, and we continued to sway together in the silence. These were the times when I loved her most. When the two of us felt most connected.
I realized, at this moment, that I could do this with her forever.