Unfortunately after every great party, a new day is bound to break. Or hammer straight into your skull, reminding you that alcohol was, indeed, a drug…with withdrawal symptoms.

The nice buzz from the night before was all gone and replaced with the sound of a chainsaw revving inside my head. In reality that sound was just my sheets shifting as I curled up underneath the thick comforter, only magnified a thousand fold. 

Carefully, I cracked open my right eye the tiniest bit and breathed out in immense relief. At least I had managed to close the thick drapes hanging on my window. It was pitch dark. I even managed to open the other eye a bit, feeling somewhat victorious.

Until someone, who I grew to hate from the bottom of my heart in a millisecond, pulled said curtains apart. He even hollered something about a good morning with a way-too-loud voice as the sunlight poured in. He sounded an awful lot like Do-hyun. Maybe it was my imagination running wild; this absurd behavior wasn’t like him at all. He was supposed to be just as hungover as I was, and most certainly in his own room.

I regretted not locking the door. Moaning, I pulled the duvet over my head, squeezing my eyes back shut. Something heavy dropping on the other side of my king-sized bed wobbling the whole thing—and making me feel a little seasick, I might add.

“Let’s go!” the person said, still way too loud. I grew more and more sure it was, in fact, Do-hyun. Whatever he was doing up and about at this hour while he was supposed to be as hungover as I was, I had no idea. 

“What? Where?” I said, even my own voice sounding like someone banged boiler lids together inside my head even though I tried to whisper. 

“I dunno. Out. To a mall or something.”

He had definitely lost his mind. 

“But why?” 

“Well, as this is basically the last day we can escape this place for a bit, we should use it. Everyone else has already left. Tae’s at his grandma’s, Joonie went to walk on the riverbank...I don’t know where Chris is but it’s not here. And I’m bored.”

I wondered what time it was since everyone else had already left. Probably noon. And I felt a small pang of guilt as well, because Do-hyun couldn’t just go to visit his family; they lived in Daegu, where he was from. As in, a long way from here, the capital. 

Besides, it wasn’t a half-bad idea. Sounded like it could potentially be a fine, relaxing day when me and Do could both be just us. For one day at least, before all the hustle that would undoubtedly make our lives much more complicated after the concert. We could be normal. Not celebrities, not makeshift lovers. Just plain old Minjae and Do-hyun, the best friends. In an alternative universe where we weren’t famous. 

I bet no-one would even recognize us yet. There weren't really any new photos of us except from the press conference. 

But at the thought of getting up from bed, a new, powerful wave of nausea crashed straight into the pit of my stomach. I nearly threw up. 

“I’m good, thanks,” I muttered under the duvet.

He tried to pry the thing off of me. It was a good try. But only from my cold dead hands would he have succeeded.

“I brought water,” he said, giving up on trying to yank the blanket off of me and resorting to bribing tactics.

I tightened my hold, just in case. At the same time, I had to admit that the deal started to sound kind of nice. After all, I was so thirsty it felt like I had wandered the desert without water for at least a week. 

“And Advil.”

Even more tempting. With utmost care, I slid the duvet down only enough to be able to see. Then immediately stiffened, as I was staring straight into the dark brown eyes of Do-hyun. At a very close proximity. I shuddered. 

“Keep talking.”

He smirked, knowing he was about to win. “Well, you’re gonna take the magic pill that’ll make the headache go poof. You’ll shower, while I figure out my outfit. We’ll sneak out.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And?”

“As I said, we could go to the mall, do a little shopping, take a walk around the park, eat well.”

My stomach grumbled. Admittedly I could’ve used some food. Preferably something very greasy…

“Imagine the fresh air in your lungs,” Do-hyun continued.

I chuckled under my breath. “Yeah, filtered through a mask.” 

The air pollution could get bad around here. I, for sure, wasn’t going out without a mask. I mean come on, I needed my lungs for my job. 

“Fine,” Do said, rolling his eyes. “How about a tteokbokki stand emitting that wonderful smell all around...”

Now we’re talking. “Ugh, okay. Just give me thirty minutes.”

His face lit up. “How about twenty?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Deal,” he said and hopped off the bed, effectively making it wobble once more. Then he left instantly, not leaving me any time whatsoever to protest.

Thankfully, the wave of nausea that hit me, upon having to deal with the wobbling, wasn’t as strong as before. Maybe it was the promise of food that finally got me up from the bed, I wasn’t sure. In any case, I forced my stiff muscles to function enough to get me up, groaning. 

Turned out I had been a high functioning drunk last night as well, as I had even managed to put on pajamas before passing out. Granted, a couple of buttons hadn’t quite found the right holes to go through. Sighing, I unbuttoned the rest and discarded the whole shirt somewhere across the room on my way to the bathroom. 

I must say I loved being allowed to be a bit messy. That hadn’t been the case back in the army. Unfortunately, that also meant my room very much looked like I was way too comfortable with being messy. Oh well, at least the pants landed somewhere near the laundry bin.

It didn’t even take me twenty-five minutes to get ready. Wearing simple light jeans and a light grey sweater, I strolled out of the closet…only to freeze right at the threshold, not being able to take a single step. 

Because Do-hyun was already back in my room. Standing beside my bed, he waited for me, half-naked. It was hard to keep my eyes off his skin and chiseled, toned muscles for a brief moment. Was I dreaming? An almost unbearable urge to run my fingertips along his collarbone nearly drowned me.