——— 2015
What a long night it had been, just full of college normality at a nearby bar. Bada stayed sober, or more so - she stayed home. She was at her Economy's classmate's room, figuring out the last details of their project, when Aeri called her saying that she needed to be picked up. Bada excused herself and left for her friend's rescue.
No, she didn't have a car. They would do this, being "picked up" meant simply going to meet eachother at the bar they were in and walking back to their dorm. Even when they were both at the same bar, they would pick eachother up.
This time, though, Bada knew something was wrong. She had gone to party with her now official boyfriend Minho (for the second time). And he was supposed to walk her back home, and he clearly wasn't around. So when she got to the bar, Aeri was alone and upset sitting on the street.
"Can you take me to his place?" Aeri asked, looking up at Bada with puppy eyes, of course. Although, it was harder then to bring her to him since he had recently moved to a full set house instead of his dorm next to their building.
Bada groaned, but she could tell Aeri was pissed off. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why? He always does this and I'm sick of it. Either he talks it out like a big boy or he shuts up." She stood up, with an unprecedented sense of determination.
And Bada, in her own fashion, just took a long sigh to show off some dignity, and ended up walking with her to his obnoxious house (filled with equally terrible boys). The distance was pleasantly shorter than she assumed, yet she hoped Aeri would have enough time to sober up on the way, change her mind and go back to their dorm. But they reached the small house and ten seconds passed before Aeri was loudly knocking on his door.
Bada stood behind her, ready to call a cab whenever he would step out the door. So she whispered. "C'mon, it's late and you're drunk. Just come back home with me..."
Aeri shook her head, keeping her eyes on the door. "I won't leave until he talks to me, and I'm not going back with you."
Bada was taken aback, asking if she was serious.
And Aeri snapped, not a lot, Bada was still her best friend. "Yes, I need to sort this out and you don't have to be here, so just go."
And Bada pressed again, reaching out for her hand. Bad idea.
"I'm sorry! But you can't always be here for me, I need to learn to take care of my own problems!" Aeri let out, raising her voice by accident. She felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth.
But Bada wasn't letting on, she tugged at her arm and spoke softly. "Come on, please..."
Aeri bit her tongue, feeling her spine running cold and mind slightly more aware of the situation. But all that mattered right then was the stupid fight she had with her boyfriend. "I really need to talk to him, I'm so sorry."
Bada sighed finally, letting go of her arm and stepping back, away from his door. She had unconditional love for her best friend, but the amount of times she would try to win against Minho was limited. Aeri took a small breath and stepped closer, pulling Bada into her arms as she would. "I'm not staying there all night, I'll just try and talk to him. And then you can have me all to yourself in our dorm." She mumbled into her shoulder, feeling awful and tipsy and conflicted.
Aeri really didn't want Bada to leave, even if she wanted to be all independent. She needed her, her heart did. Her mind was a drunken mess, and Bada was feeling bitter. And so, against both of their wishes, she left her to her precious boyfriend and made her way back to the dorm. Aeri's eyes pasted on her back until she was out of her reach.
The next day Bada woke up late, after having to force herself to sleep from mindlessly waiting for Aeri to come back. Waiting for her mind to stop replaying that moment when Aeri snapped at her because she wanted her boyfriend that bad.
But she did come back, only after spending more than half of the morning crying at Minho's place. Not because of their fight, no. She cried more tears for having made Bada upset after her lover's quarrel was done after thirty minutes.
When she eventually returned, she first saw Bada laying under a blanket while facing the wall. She was feeling like hell, less because of the hangover and more out of her heart's pain. After she took off her shoes and set her bag down, she sat on Bada's bed. It was still early and her face was only lightened by her laptop's screen. "Hey..."
Bada responded just the same, keeping her eyes forcefully glued on the screen.
