Soon after finishing our food, we agree to head home. As promised, I get the tab. When the cashier is handing me my change, I’m momentarily distracted by loud, high-pitched laughter. I look over my shoulder and notice a couple of girls struggling to climb up a staircase leading down to the basement.

“Oh my God!” one of them exclaims when she reaches the top of the stairs.

I nod my head to Shun to signal that we can leave.

“He looks like Jaehan Choi!” the girl squeals.

I glance back over and realize she’s pointing straight at me. She beams back at her obviously intoxicated friend still trying to get up the stairs. The scene makes me laugh. I almost want to help them, but it’s probably better not to get involved.

Shun pushes the glass door open and I’m about to follow him out before I hear the girl shriek.

“Wait!”

I turn to find her and her friend clumsily running in our direction.

“Wait! Don’t go!” The first girl pleads as she latches onto my arm. “You look just like my favorite K-pop idol.”

“I-I do?” I reply, distracted by her breasts squished into my arm.

She’s wearing a bright pink shirt and a black leather miniskirt. Her hair is short and blonde and her color contacts are abnormally large and green. She smells like a mixture of perfume, alcohol, and cigarettes.

“Are you leaving already?” her friend asks with sad puppy eyes. She has long brown hair and bunny teeth. Her skirt is just as short as her friend’s.

“Please don’t go!” the girl latched onto my arm pleads. “Come drink with us?”

“Um.” I glance at Shun. He’s watching from the doorway, looking indifferent.

“Bring your friend!” the girl with the pressing breasts proposes. She pulls my arm toward the basement staircase. I’m a little annoyed, but my curiosity convinces me to go along with her. Nothing like this would ever happen back in my hometown. Looking back, I witness the other girl motioning at Shun to follow.

The girls bring us to a crowded bar where people talk and laugh around standing tables. It’s cramped and stuffy. Two bartenders look busy pouring drinks for customers lined up in front of the counter.

The girl tugging at my arm takes me straight to the bar where she orders four tequila shots. She then turns back to me to wrap her arms around mine again. She tells me her name, but I instantly forget it. She might be kind of cute if she were sober, but it doesn’t take long for me to regret my decision to follow her.

The bartender pours our shots and the blonde girl hands one to each of us. She leads us through a sea of bodies to an open standing table. Her hand on my arm is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

“Cheers!” she shouts and tilts her head back. She slams the empty glass down on the table and staggers a bit before flashing me a huge grin.

“What are you waiting for?” She pushes my hand holding the shot toward my face. “Drink up.”

I take a moment to look at it. It has the same smell as the martini I tried earlier so I already know I’m going to hate it. The brunette is babbling to Shun about something, but I can feel his eyes on me. I flick my head back and gulp down the shot, the awful taste making my face scrunch up.

The blonde girl cackles.

“Oh my God, he’s so cute!” she says to her friend.

I squint down at the shot glass, just glad I got it over with.

She grabs my arm again and rubs her head against it, her hair becoming a staticky mess. I should probably make an excuse to leave. I tune out the conversation while looking around the bar, pondering how we can escape without upsetting the girls.

“I’m gonna get more shots!” the brunette announces before walking off.

The blonde one continues to squeeze my arm. I scowl and repeatedly tell her to stop while trying to push her head off me. She seems to think I’m just playing as she giggles and fights back by pushing it against me harder.

“Hey, Runa,” Shun suddenly calls out.

“Yes?” the girl answers, finally lifting her head off me.

“I need to talk to Makoto. Can you give us a minute?”

“Oh yeah, sure,” she says, obediently letting go of me. Why does she listen to him and not me?

I follow Shun away from the table, curious what he wants to talk about. We push through the crowd until we reach a small open space in front of the staircase.

“Go home,” he says. “I’m gonna tell them you went to the bathroom.”

“Huh? Why don’t you go too? We can both escape now, right?”

“If we both run now, they’re going to follow us.” He points his head in the direction we came from.

I look back. The blonde girl is waving at me while the brunette holds full shot glasses up for us to see.

“You could get into trouble if you get drunk,” Shun warns with serious eyes. “So it’s better you leave now.”

“What are you going to do then?”

“I’ll stay and drink with them until they get bored of me.”

I glance back at the girls again. The blonde one is watching us with a skeptical look. She separates from the table, about to come over to us. It’s time to abort.

“I owe you one, Shun.” I place my hand on his shoulder.

“See you later,” he says with a small smile.

I run up the stairs and make my escape. While speed walking to the station, I look over my shoulder a few times to make sure no one is following. I sigh in relief once I’ve entered the train platform. Pulling out my phone, the numbers on my screen tell me it’s time to get ready for bed.

As I board the train, I picture the girls standing at the table, waiting impatiently for me to return. I wonder how long it will take for them to realize what really happened.

I open my LIME and scroll through the list of chats. I have to pass Haruka, my mom, my friends, and even Eriko before finding the roommate group chat. The last message is from Daiki, dating back to the day after I moved in. I tap on Shun’s profile and open a new chat room.

R u ok?
Thanks for doing that

I keep the chat open, anticipating his reply but it doesn’t come before I get off the train. After returning to my room, I check LIME one more time, but he hasn’t even read my message. The girls would have to be idiots if they thought I was still in the bathroom. Could Shun still be keeping them company?

I take a shower and brush my teeth. After drying my hair, I check my phone one more time before getting into bed. Still nothing back from Shun. I hope he didn’t run into trouble. What if the girls got angry? Would he blame me? Maybe I should have helped him instead of running away.

I sit at the edge of my bed, staring down at my phone. Maybe I should call just to make sure he’s okay. I hit the telephone icon and a dial tone repeats itself several times before stopping on its own with a screen telling me there’s no answer. I set my phone aside and rub the back of my neck. He definitely has his phone on him. I saw him looking at it on the train.

Finally deciding to forget about Shun, I click off the room light. While I lay in bed, I recollect everything that happened since I spilled my rice all over the floor. I was so mad and the train ride with Shun after was unbearably awkward. His attitude at the restaurant was pretty awful too. At least, until it drastically changed after we declared a truce. I got what I wanted out of the evening with Shun. I finally convinced him to stop taunting me.

So why am I so worried?

I close my eyes and imagine the sound of steps on the wooden floor outside my room and keys jingling in front of the door across the hallway, but the sounds remain inside my head.

Sitting up, I snatch my phone off the desk. It’s 12:15. I rub my temple while staring at the numbers. I take a deep breath and exhale with a frustrated grumble before flinging the bed covers away and grabbing the first jacket I find.