A Common Desire

1

(A/N: This is set back in 2015, pre-debut )

Y/N's POV
As the half-moon rose and the stars began to slowly light up the night sky, you was walking down the awoken streets of Seoul on your way to work. You did this every evening. You went to school during the day to study English and poetry, and working at the bar at night was the only way to pay for your apartment besides the help your parents give you. Many thought that an 18 year old living by herself in the big city was ridiculous but your family were supportive of your career and wanted only the best for you.

"Goon evening, Y/n." Your boss greeted you as you walked through the back and put your belongings in your locker.

"How is business going?" You asked as you tied you're apron.

"Everything is steady so you should be fine on your own."

"Don't worry about me. You just go home and rest, you've been working alone all day."

Mr Kim smiled at you as if to say thank you. he patted you on the back and said his fair wells. You tied your hair back into a pony tail and began serving customers. You loved working at the bar. There was always a fun atmosphere surrounding the place. Of course you would occasionally get the drunk men starting fights and the women shouting across the room but the positive outweighed the negatives.

During your free time when there was no one that needed serving, you got out your small notebook out of your apron pocket and began studying your notes.

"What are you studying for?" A voice spoke behind you.

you turned around, your eyes following the direction of the voice. Before you, sat a tall boy around the same age as you. He had dark brown hair and tan skin. "Aren't you a bit too young to be sitting at a bar alone?" You asked.

You almost felt bad as his expression held only sadness. He had dark circles that lay under his soft eyes and his skin shone due to sweat. "You seem a bit young to work at a bar? How old are you? 19?" He replied, still with a forceful smile on his face.

"I was born in 1997, although my boss thinks differently." You whispered the last part.

It was a relief to hear a small giggle escape his lips. "I was born in 1997 too, April 6th."

"July 14th." you replied "So what can I get you sir? Just so you know, I can't actually serve you anything that contains alcohol."

He gave a loud sigh and propped his cheek on his hand, "I think I'm fine with water then, please"

You gifted him a small smile and handled his order. As you did this, he asked you about your studies and what you enjoyed doing in your free time. You received many more questions throughout the night, hours went by as you spoke about life, the future and school. Surprisingly he was at the top of his class. He didn't come across as someone who enjoyed art and literature.

Eventually, your eye caught the time. It was 1:30am "Ah, crap." you cried.

The boy sitting in front of you gave you a confused look. That was the moment you realized that whole bar was deserted. It was only you and him. "I was supposed to close an hour ago."

He stood up and started clearing away the glasses that lay in between you on the counter. "What are you doing?" you asked "You should get going."

"It's too late for you to be alone. Besides, you probably haven't eaten dinner yet." He placed the glasses in the sink and looked up at you. "There is a seven-eleven near by. Why don't we take a couple bottles of soju and get some ramen."

The question caught you off guard. Your mind was telling you not to agree but your muscles refused to communicate with your brain, you nodded and he gave you a reassuring smile. He picked up two bottles of soju from behind the bar and switched off the back lights.

You went to get your stuff out of your locker, throughout the whole process you kept telling yourself to just run away, you had only met him almost 6 hours ago and now you was going to have a drink and ramen with a stranger. On the other hand, he didn't seem dangerous. your mind flicked back to the moment you laid eyes on him, his whole expression screamed anxiety and exhaustion, maybe even solitary. He probably had a rough day and wanted to have a good time. On that note, you followed him out the door as he led you to the closest convenience store.

You sat there waiting for the stranger, your legs were jogging up and down and your hands were clutched onto your bag. The wind continuously blew your loose hairs onto your face causing you to struggle to get the small strand out of your mouth, as you fumbled with your hands you felt a warmth on your cheek. It was him. You froze in that moment due to the sudden contact. Your eyes were glued to his and your breathing became heavier. Why did it make you so nervous? He slowly removed the string of hair from you face and smiled. You blinked back the moisture in your eyes and cleared your throat.

"Thank you." You said, shyly.

In response, he gave you a reassuring nod and gestured at the food now in front of you. "Eat up." He ordered as he poured you your first glass of soju. After pouring his own, he held up his glass and said "Cheers."

Hesitantly, you followed his actions and smiled. You both took your shots and cringed at the bitter taste of the alcohol. You watched as his face creased up and his tongue stuck out. His expression changed when he caught you snickering at him. "Why aren't you eating?" He said as he crossed his arms sarcastically.

"You better hope nobody walks past and catches us with this." You replied, ignoring his humor.

"I don't think they would mind, besides it's too late." He shrugged. Soon after, he was pouring you both more and more drinks.

Almost an hour went by and your head was spinning, your vision was blurry and the only thing that came out of your mouth was laughter. The brown-haired male sitting opposite you wasn't in any better condition. His hair was messy and his movements and pronunciation was slurry.

"It's so exhausting. I don't know how long I can go through with it." He began spitting out. Many more similar comments began spurring out until eventually his head hit the table.

'Shit!'  you thought. He has passed out and you didn't know what to do. You yourself wasn't stable, you was with a stranger in a worse state than you.