SOUR

'Nothing's as good as it seems'

milli.

Hyunjae plops a few bottles of soju on our small round table. What started out as a late night walk turned into us all realizing we just wanted to drink.

"I think Sunwoo's got to have the lowest tolerance." I say to which the boy next to me narrows his eyes.

"I don't know about that Mills, you'd be surprised how little it takes to get Sola drunk." Hyunjae grins and we take turns pouring shots.

The cold drink is exactly what I've been needing.

Without me noticing, the winter months are slowly warming into spring, though at night the air is still chilly. It's a Friday so there are people all around us. I look around, watching a few on dates, a group of university students, some business people. It makes me feel better seeing all these strangers for some reason. I didn't notice how suffocating it could be staying in one area for so long surrounded by people who know you. Over the years I've slowly started to realize that being alone is not the worst thing in the world.

"You okay?" Sunwoo places a hand on my knee, running it up a bit, gently.

I turn my attention back to him. "I am." I say, and I see a slight relief in his eyes, though his hand stays on me.

Hyunjae and Sola are laughing, arguing lightly about something, and I'm glad to see that Sunwoo doesn't seem bothered by them.

I feel a jacket being placed over my legs and Sunwoo looks off into the distance after like he's trying to play it cool.

"Thanks," I tell him, and he just takes another shot.

"You didn't bring a jacket did you?" Sola asks Hyunjae after they witness the scene.

"No, did you??" He asks.

"Who do you think I am??" Sola says and they both laugh at each other.

"What a bunch of idiots." Sunwoo mutters.

Hours fly by of drinking games and saying the strangest things. There's a weird connection between the four of us, despite the heartbreak and the fact that I only just met them recently. Maybe fate pulled us back together.

Sunwoo and I drink the same amount of shots, but I barely feel it. Meanwhile his cheeks are red and his eyes have turned tired.

He and Sola share a look and they laugh senselessly at each other.

"You're drunk as fuck!" She points at him.

"What the shit Sola watch your language, Milli's allergic" Sunwoo answers.

"It's alright, it's okay. She didn't hear." Sola says, though they're both practically yelling.

"Cant you just see how they were besties before?" Hyunjae asks me. He's sitting across from me at our small table, looking completely sober as well.

"Totally," I answer and I smile at them, daring each other to chug the rest of the last bottle, but neither of them having the guts to.

"Don't look at me like that." Sunwoo glares at Hyunjae.

"I didn't do anything!" He puts his hands up in surrender.

"Hey hey, rock paper scissors says you cant fight my boyfriend," Sola says, she grabs her head to steady it.

"Why would I rock paper scissor to you if I could fight him??" Sunwoo asks.

"Huh??" She narrows her eyes at him as she tries to comprehend his words.

"What?"

The two of them ignore their confusion and start an intense game of rock paper scissors.

"So what's your story?" I ask Hyunjae as they yell in the background. "No offense but you seem like the kind of person that Sunwoo hates, how did you meet?."

"Hey I could say the same for you!" Hyunjae laughs and I shrug in agreement.

"He did hate me in the beginning I guess." I admit.

"Same." Hyunjae says.

"But he always warms up eventually." I add.

"I met Sunwoo in our last year of high school." Hyunjae takes a sip of alcohol as he thinks. "I was an ass back then, really I was. But somehow Sola still gave me a chance, and I guess it kind of forced Sunwoo to get along with me."

"You seem like the popular type." I say.

"So do you," he raises his eyebrows. "Were you?"

"I guess you could say that," I answer.

"Sounds like an understatement." Hyunjae says. "Nothing wrong with being popular."

I hum. "....it was kind of lonely though."

Hyunjae blinks and glances down at his drink. "Yeah." He says. He sounds as if he's having bad flashbacks to high school.

"I mean, mostly it was nice, and I was lucky to know so many people. But it's just unsettling once I took a step back, and I realized that I really only had one true friend." I say.

Hyunjae nods. "I know that feeling."

"But at least you met them!" I add to lighten the mood.

"Pssh yeah." Hyunjae says. "They're pretty great."

Sunwoo yawns and his head tilts onto my shoulder. He's not sleeping but his eyes are closed, and he latched onto my arm like a raccoon. I fix his soft hair and I pat the top of his head.

"You know Milli," Sola says and rests her elbows on the table loudly. "Fuck them, the people at your school. Fuck that teacher, fuck the office people, fuck them all."

"Choose your next words wisely, she gets passionate when drunk sometimes," Hyunjae warns. "Not as cute as Sunwoo," he reaches across the table to touch his cheeks but Sunwoo swats his hand away.

"I agree," I tell Sola. "I wish I could bring you to school to tell them all that."

"Why cant I?" She asks.

"Because I'm suspended," I say. "And I don't think they'd appreciate it very much."

"But something has to be done!" She says.

"I don't know, I can't do anything about it now. It's too late." I say.

"Maybe you can't, but other people can."

I pause. "What does that mean?"

Sola leans forward. "Have you ever heard of a boycott?"

a/n guys speaking of boycott.....