She stared at me like I'd just grown wings.
"Wait, what did you say?" she blinked in disbelief.
I looked down, fidgeting with my sleeves, trying to act nonchalant. "I wanna go to a club," I repeated.
A beat of silence.
Then—"Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?"
I snorted, rolling my eyes. "I'm serious."
"You—who panic in crowded canteens, you—who get awkward when someone breathes too close—you want to go to a club?" she gasped dramatically, flopping back onto the bed. "I knew love makes people do crazy things but heartbreak? Damn."
I threw a pillow at her. "It's not heartbreak. It's... just frustration." And sadness.And pain. And the ache of being misunderstood, replaced, ignored.
But I didn't say that part.
She caught the pillow and sat up, her expression softening.
"Okay. Let's go."
I blinked. "What?"
"Let's go to a club," she smiled, linking her arm with mine. "But only if you let me dress you up. You're not walking in there looking like a tired university ghost."
I tried to glare but ended up laughing. That's the thing about her— She always knows how to melt my walls. Always knows how to shift my storm into sunshine.
As she dragged me to her wardrobe, already picking out glittery options and blabbering about heels, I felt it… A moment of peace.
And for now, that was enough.
"Nope. Nope. And absolutely not!" I protested as she tossed another mini dress toward me.
"Come on!" she whined dramatically. "This is your rebirth night! You can't wear oversized hoodies to war."
I huffed. "I'm not going to war, I'm just... breathing in loud music and bad decisions."
"Exactly. And for that, you need a look that screams—'I'm dangerous and healing.'"
Dangerous and healing? That actually didn't sound so bad.
She finally found something—a sleek, midnight-black outfit that somehow looked bold and guarded at the same time. She knew me too well. It wasn't revealing. It wasn't loud. But it said something.
As she curled a few strands of my hair and dabbed a soft shimmer on my eyelids, I stared into the mirror.
I almost didn't recognize myself.
Eyes no longer hollow. Lips curved in a smirk. A girl who was done waiting.A girl who didn't beg for love.
"You look..." she paused behind me, resting her chin on my shoulder, "like someone who's about to reclaim her power."
I smiled faintly.
---
At the Club – Loud Lights, Quiet Pain
The bass was so loud it made my ribs rattle. Bodies swayed, drinks clinked, laughter echoed under the neon chaos.
I stood still for a moment, feeling strangely out of place yet... alive.
My bestie pulled me to the dance floor, giggling and shouting over the music. I let her. I let the rhythm blur my thoughts. I let the noise mute my inner screams.
For once, I wasn't the calm, quiet, smart girl.
I was just... a girl. Twirling under strobe lights.Pretending nothing hurt.
But even in the music, I kept catching my breath. Because every now and then...I'd think about those cubs. Their warmth. Their sleepy eyes on my chest.
And him.
Taehyun's deep voice. His frustrating silence. The way he touched me like he owned me, then left me feeling disposable.
"Do you wanna drink?" my bestie asked, yelling close to my ear.
I shook my head. "Just water." I wanna feel everything. Even the ache.
She nodded and ran off to grab it. I stayed back, staring at the wildness around me.
Suddenly, a stranger walked up. Smiled. Asked to dance.
I hesitated.
Would it be wrong? Would it make me feel better? Would it make him jealous?
No. No. This is not about him. This is about me.
So I nodded. And danced.
I wasn't in love. I wasn't healed. But for now...I was free.
I didn't plan to drink. I swear I didn't.
But one turned to two. Two became five. And then I lost count after ten.
The glass clinked in my hand, and I giggled—at nothing. At everything.
"You okay?" my bestie asked, her voice blurry in my ears.
I nodded dramatically, cheeks flushed, lips pouty and numb. "I'm greaaat… I feel... fireflies in my veins." I burst into another round of laughter. "Do you think the cubs miss me? Hah! Who cares? I don't... care…"
Lies.
Everything hurt.
My heart. My throat. My trust. But tonight,I didn't let the pain look elegant. I made it loud. Drunk. Messy.
I stumbled toward the edge of the dance floor, trying to find air, something stable—until my vision swayed again and—
"Woah, careful."
A stranger's arm caught me just before I fell.
He smiled politely. "You okay?"
I blinked, looked at him, confused. He looked nothing like him. No danger in his eyes. No storms in his soul.
Still… I leaned back, dizzy. "I'm not okay... but I'm alive, that's new."
Then I laughed again. But it didn't reach my eyes.
---
Then — Taehyun Appears
And that's when I felt it.
The storm. The suffocating tension. The heat behind me before I even turned.
I froze—before I even saw him.
But I knew he was there.
A low voice, dark and deadly, slid into my spinning world.
"I leave you for one night..." His tone held no amusement.Only wrath. "And you turn into this?"
I turned slowly, eyes heavy and red, tears threatening to spill. "You left them without telling me..."I slurred. "I didn't know where they went… you didn't even say goodbye to them... or to me..."
His jaw clenched. His eyes scanned me — the flushed skin, the vulnerable stance, the half-empty glass still in my hand.
"Let's go." His voice dropped, final and fierce.
I shook my head, staggering slightly. "No. You don't get to pull me out when you're the reason I drowned."
People were staring. I didn't care. He didn't either.
He stepped closer, grabbed my wrist—gently, but firmly.
"You want to self-destruct? Fine. But not in front of strangers. Not when you're mine."
That word.
Mine.
I scoffed bitterly. "You left me. Like everything else I ever cared about."
He stilled.
For a second, he just… looked at me.
Eyes filled with something deeper than rage. Something like guilt. Something like fear.
And then, without a word—he scooped me into his arms.
I protested weakly, hitting his chest. "Yah! Let me go!"
"Scream all you want," he said quietly. "You're coming home."
"Let go of me!" I slurred,stumbling as Taehyun gripped my wrist tight.
The bass thumped through the floor, lights flashing like mockery while my voice rose above the music.
"She's with me, bro—back off!" One of the guys I was dancing with grabbed Taehyun's arm,trying to pull him away.
"Yah! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" My best friend shoved her way between us,pushing at his chest,she is drunk,doesn't even know that she is pushing. "She came with me,Mr.—don't f*cking manhandle her like that!"
His eyes never left mine.
Dark. Dangerous. But shaking.
"She's drunk. I'm taking her home." His voice was quiet.But final.
"I'm not going anywhere with you!!" I yelled,my cheeks red, half from the alcohol, half from rage. "You don't get to show up and act like you care!You took them from me—you didn't even tell me!!"
He stepped closer, ignoring the others, his hand now gripping both my wrists as I tried to fight him off.
"You don't understand—"
"No! You don't understand!!" I screamed, trying to shove him, eyes glistening. "You always do this!You make decisions and leave me behind in the dark! Like I'm some stranger living in your goddamn house! I LOVED THEM!"
I choked on the words. "You had no right to take them without even telling me…"
The guy beside me grabbed my waist protectively. "She said no, man. You should leave."
That did it.
Taehyung snapped.
"Touch her again and I swear, I'll break your f*cking hands." His voice was quiet.Deadly.
My bestie stepped in again. "Let her stay—she needs this—she's hurting!"
But I was already breaking. Tears poured,uninvited.
"You want to save me, Taehyun?" I laughed bitterly,yanking my arms free. "You're the one I need saving from."
He stood still for a beat. Then without warning,he grabbed me bridal style, lifting me up despite my protests and flailing limbs.
"Taehyun! Put me down!!" I hit his chest,kicked, screamed.
But he didn't.
He didn't say a word.
He just carried me out of the club like a man possessed, while the world behind us blurred in neon and noise.