Taste | Changbin

Chapter Fifty-One

The moment Lennon's watery eyes met Changbin's, he hated himself. He hated himself for trying to make her jealous. She looked so broken in the doorway. Her legs wobbled unsteadily beneath her. Her lip quivered as if she was going to burst into sobs. 

Before he could speak, she did it for him. "Why are you here?" She squeezed her eyes shut and let her body slide up against the bar wall. "I thought Felix was going to come get me. Hana said she was going to text him." 

"He was busy, so he asked me." He didn't want to throw Hana under the bus. "There's an uber outside waiting to take us back to the hotel." 

"I've gotta pay for the drinks," she mumbled. She was trying not to let her words slur together, but it was impossible. Her tongue felt too large in her mouth. She was unsteady on her feet. Everything felt off. 

"Don't worry, I already got it. I asked the bartender where you were when I came in and then I paid for your drinks." 

She grumbled underneath her breath and took a few steps forward. Her feet instantly gave out beneath her. He caught her with ease and pushed her back onto her feet. "I'm going to wrap an arm around you to steady you, okay? We'll get out to the uber and then you can lie down." 

Lennon let out a huff. Her ponytail from earlier had started to droop. Lose hairs had fallen from the hair tie and surrounded her face. Changbin's muscular arm slowly went around her waist. "Is this okay?" 

Without a sound, Lennon nodded her head as they began to slowly walk through the bar. Clearly, that hadn't been the best idea. The sudden movement caused vomit to rise in the back of her throat. Panicking, she shoved Changbin away and stumbled on her way back to the women's bathroom. 

The vodka burned twice as much coming up than when she drank it. Her body convulsed a few more times as everything came back up into the toilet. Since she hadn't changed, she was still in a t-shirt and shorts. Her bare legs were pressed to the floor and her body hovered above the toilet. 

"Lennon?" Changbin's voice met her ears. 

She was too nauseous to tell him to get out of the women's bathroom. The fluorescent lights were too bright. The pop music from outside the bathroom floated in from the open bathroom door. She hazily forced herself to stand up. Her legs still weren't working, so she wobbled as she flushed the toilet. 

She left the stall to find Changbin standing at the sink. She took a deep breath and slowly walked over to him. Half out of it, she forced herself to wash her hands. Before she could dry them, Changbin placed a paper towel in them. With another paper towel, he wiped it across her face. The cold water was refreshing. 

"I'm sorry!" She got out. Her R's slurred together sounding like W's instead. It almost made him laugh, but he forced himself to maintain his calm composure. 

"Everything is going to be okay. We're going to go back to the hotel, so you can sleep this off." 

More bile rose in the back of Lennon's throat, she quickly shoved her hand over her mouth, and swallowed again. 

"How about this? I'll carry you, so you don't have to walk. You don't have to talk, just let me take care of you. Does that sound okay?" 

"Mm-hm." 

"Do you want a piggyback ride?" 

She slowly nodded her head. Changbin squatted down to let her get on his back. "I'm going to walk slowly. I know how it feels to be drunk. Let me know if we need to stop and hold on tight." 

He squatted low enough that she didn't have to jump on his back. Her arms wrapped around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her legs. He took his time inching through the crowd to the door. Relief flooded through Lennon once they were outside. 

She had lost track of time. The sun was slowly starting to set. The sky was filled with bright hues of orange and yellow. It was dotted with white puffy clouds. Unfortunately, there was no breeze. Changbin took her over to a dark red jeep. "I'm going to put you down now." 

He squatted towards the ground until Lennon's feet hit the concrete. She unwrapped herself from him and let out a sigh. She didn't feel good, but she had been enjoying the piggyback ride. He opened the back car door and helped her inside. Once she was inside, Changbin slammed the door shut and went around to the other side to let himself in. 

A man was sitting in the front of the car. He caught Lennon's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Rough night, huh?" 

"Uh-huh." 

The man chuckled as Changbin climbed into the other side. "Alright, we can go back to the hotel now. Thanks for waiting around." 

"No problem! I'm glad you were able to find her. I was hoping that this was the right bar. There's another one with tikis on the front at the other end of town." 

Without thinking about it, Lennon leaned over and let her head rest on Changbin's lap. He stiffened beneath her, but she didn't realize it. She was drunk in a car and this was the last place she wanted to be. Drunken like her father and in a car like her mother. It caused her heart to pick up pace. She instantly closed her eyes trying to block everything out. 

The hair tie was almost completely out of her hair. It had kept sliding out and she hadn't fixed it. Realizing this, Changbin gently pulled the black band out of her hair and placed it on his wrist. The pads of his fingers brushed against her cheeks as he pushed her hair out of his face. "You can rest now, I've got you, I promise." 

Nearing a black out, she hummed in response. 

"Are you two dating?" The uber driver asked. 

"No, not yet." 

"Well, I hope you do. You really seem to care about her and it's really sweet." 

Changbin glanced down at Lennon in his lap. He pushed another piece of hair out of her face. Her bow shaped lips were pressed together in a thin line. Her chest moved up and down rhythmically. 

A soft smile appeared on his face, "maybe one day."