Starboy | Kim Seungmin

10

I nervously looked in the mirror. My friend was picking me up soon, and we were heading to a party organized by some people from university. I never attended events like these because I always had to look after Anh, but today my mother practically begged me to go. When my friend texted that she was outside, I quickly left the building. I got into her car, and we started driving.

"I'll leave my car there, and we'll take cabs home. I'm not missing out on the cocktails," my friend, Cho, said.

"Maybe I can drive us. I don't know if I should drink," I said, unsure.

Cho glanced at me. "No way. Mai, you've never had a single drop in your life, and today we're changing that!" she insisted.

"Fine," I mumbled nervously.

***

I got out of the cab that was supposed to bring me home and giggled as I waved to the driver when he drove away. Cho had originally given him my address, but I changed it halfway, now standing in front of Seungmin's apartment building. I searched for my phone. Where did I put it again? Ah, right. This stupid skirt didn't have pockets. I pulled my phone out of my bra and unlocked it, trying to find Seungmin's number in my contacts, but everything was so blurry.

"Hey Siri, call Starboy," I said after a while when I got frustrated. Siri did as I told her, and soon I heard the phone dialing.

"Hello?" Seungmin said after what felt like an eternity. He seemed like he had just woken up. Was he sleeping before? I looked at my watch. 3 am. Oops.

"Hi Minnie," I giggled.

"Mai? Are you okay? Did something happen?" he asked, sounding much more awake now.

"I just miss you," I giggled into the phone.

"What? It's the middle of the night. Wait—are you drunk?" he asked, confused.

"I didn't drink that much. I just hadn't had any breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner," I explained.

"Wait... you didn't eat all day? Are you out of your mind? Where are you?" he asked, worry in his voice.

"Oh, I told the nice taximan to bring me to your place," I said, "and I don't feel so good... my stomach feels funny."

"Wait, are you outside?" he asked, and I heard him moving around.

"Yeah, I'm on the sidewalk. Can you hurry?" I asked him. Not even a minute later, he came out the door.

"Minnie!" I giggled and went over to him to hug him. He gently pushed me away.

"Are you crazy, Mai? You can't just eat nothing all day and then go to a party," he scolded, "Come on now." He took me by my wrist and started pulling me towards the door. I felt my heart sting. Why was he so mean?

"Are you mad at me?" I asked sadly.

He sighed. "No, I'm not mad. I'm worried," he answered, unlocking the door.

"Seungmin?" I said, feeling my stomach twist and holding my belly.

"Yes?" he asked, turning towards me.

"I think I need to—" I started, but couldn't finish my sentence. I quickly turned away from him and puked in one of the bushes next to the door. He gathered my hair in his hand, gently rubbing my back. I didn't really know what exactly I puked out, because I hadn't eaten anything that day, but it was worse than any time I had been sick before. I leaned back up after I was finished.

"Are you good now?" he asked. I swear I could hear a bit of amusement in his voice, but that could have been my drunk imagination.

"Yeah, I think so," I mumbled, leaning forward not even a second later when a second wave of nausea hit me. Thankfully, he hadn't let go of my hair, so at least that was one problem I didn't have to deal with.

"Come on, let's get you into bed," Seungmin finally said after he was sure I wasn't puking a third time.

"Bed sounds good..." I mumbled, "Can you text my mom from my phone to let her know I'm not coming home?" I held out my phone to him. I knew I couldn't type anything anyway. Seungmin took it from me and started texting as soon as we entered the apartment. Then he slid it into his pocket.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Do you want to take a shower?" he asked.

I nodded. "Save water, shower with me," I giggled. I had read that quote just today.

"Yeah, sure. Go to the bathroom, I'll get you some clothes," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. I continued to giggle while making my way to the bathroom. I stripped down and got into the shower, turning it so hot that the glass steamed up. There was a knock on the door.

"I'm naked, but if you're Seungmin, you can come in!" I giggled, starting to wash my hair. The door opened, but instead of Seungmin himself, just his arm reached inside, pushing a neatly folded pile of clothes and a towel.

"I'm not playing this flirty game with you while you're drunk," he complained and closed the door again. I giggled again and quickly finished my shower as best as I could with everything spinning. I dried myself and got into the clothes Seungmin brought for me. It was the same set he gave me last time I spent the night.

"I'm clothed," I said after I finished, continuing to dry my hair with the towel. The door opened again, and Seungmin peeked inside, coming in after he made sure I was clothed for real and closing the door behind him. He held a hair dryer in his hand.

"Gosh, it's like a sauna in here," he said and plugged it in.

"Won't the others wake up?" I asked worriedly.

Seungmin shook his head. "Nah, it's fine," he said, grabbing a hairbrush. I sat on the ground as he stepped behind me, gently starting to dry my hair. I closed my eyes as the warm wind hit me.

"I'm really tired," I mumbled after a while of him silently blow-drying and brushing my hair.

"I believe that. You can go to sleep soon," he said.

"But I wanna hook up with you first," I pouted. He laughed and turned off the blow dryer as my hair dried.

"How about we cuddle instead? We can think about hooking up when you're sober," he suggested. I sighed and took the hand he held out to me. He pulled me up from the ground.

"Fine," I said, a little annoyed, which made him chuckle. We stepped out of the bathroom to see a sleepy-looking Jeongin.

"What the hell are you blow-drying at four in the morning?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, I took a shower. Now I want to hook up with Minnie, but he said no because I'm drunk," I explained as if reading out a shopping list. He just looked at us confused as Seungmin facepalmed.

"I didn't want to know that, but please just hook up quietly," Jeongin mumbled, turning around and disappearing through a door.

"Ok, come on you little hooker, let's get you into bed," Seungmin said and gently pushed me to his room. I let myself fall onto his bed, and he immediately turned off the lights and laid down next to me, putting a blanket over us and pulling me close. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Thanks for helping me out, bro," I said.

He started to laugh. "Yeah. No problem, bro," he replied. I tried to sleep for real now, but I had one last thing to say to him. It just seemed like the right moment in my drunk brain.

"Seungmin?" I whispered.

"Hmm?" he hummed sleepily, already half-asleep again.

"I think I'm in love with you for real," I mumbled, then my eyes grew heavy, and I fell asleep.