After dinner, the group followed Fiona to a bar she recommended. She was clearly a regular client. The moment they walked in, she greeted the manager like an old friend. The booth had been reserved, the table already laden with drinks. Mist rose slowly from the ice buckets, and the lights fractured into tiny sparkles against the glassware. The music wasn't deafening, but it was loud enough to slowly dissolve everyone's defenses.
Fiona was obviously there to set the mood, she quickly got everyone involved in a game.
"One, two, three—"
She bit down on one corner of a tissue, raising her eyebrows challengingly with a playful grin.
Yeh understood the rules instantly. The tissue was passed around, shrinking smaller with every turn.
By the time it reached Jing, only a tiny scrap remained. She took it naturally, even laughing lightly, fully playing along.
Then it was Lin's turn. The light swept across her profile as she lowered her head and bit down gently. The movement was clean, unforced, yet somehow impossible to look away from.
Next was Yeh. The tissue was now barely an inch long, practically pressed right up against Lin's lips.
The proximity was closer than Yeh was comfortable with. Even with Lin, her body reacted instinctively, leaning back slightly and raising a hand to stop it. "Nah, I forfeit."
Her tone was light, playing along. She picked up her glass and took a sip, effectively ending the round.
No one made a fuss, the laughter quickly moved on.
The second game was even more direct.
"Pass the glass using only your mouths!" someone shouted, and others cheered eagerly.
Yeh's fingers paused on the rim of her own glass, her breath catching involuntarily.
Before she could even think of how to handle it, someone else fumbled and spilled their drink. Chaos erupted, laughter and shouts overlapping, and the round was abandoned.
Only then did Yeh realize how tense her shoulders had been.
The third game ran on random commands from a phone app.
Land on '1', and you had to kiss anyone present. Land on '6', and you drank.
As soon as the rules were announced, the atmosphere spiked.
Fiona got '1' first. Without hesitation, she turned and kissed the person next to her, so naturally, it was clear she was used to this kind of setting.
Everyone cheered.
She wasn't comfortable with this pace. It wasn't that she was conservative, but her boundaries regarding physical contact were absolute.
And more than that, she knew exactly what was making her nervous. She didn't want to see Lin kiss anyone else. And she didn't want to see anyone else kiss Lin either.
The thought startled her. Then it happened.
Lin rolled a '1'. Her gaze swept quickly around the table, pausing for a fraction of a second on Yeh, before moving away naturally. The next second, she turned her head and lightly kissed Jing. The action was clean, a choice made simply to go along with the atmosphere.
The room erupted in even louder cheers. It was obvious everyone was used to pairing them together. In that moment, Yeh went strangely quiet. It was like a vague uncertainty had finally been confirmed. No more guessing needed.
Then it was Yeh's turn. The phone landed in her hand, and she didn't even really look at the screen.
"Another '1'!" someone laughed.
Yeh's mind went blank for a second.
To everyone else, it was just a game. To her, it was an option she had never choose. Kissing a girl wasn't a big deal itself, but Yeh had a secret: aside from her mother, she had never kissed anyone. A kiss was something precious to her, something sacred almost. But refusing now would seem awkward and prudish. Explaining the truth would mean exposing her vulnerability completely, which she could never allow.
Yeh had no intention of explaining. She picked up her glass before she even thought about it.
"So hard to choose," Yeh smiled, keeping her voice light. "I'll just drink instead."
The whiskey burned fiercely as it went down, searing a path from her throat to her chest. She forced it down. The heat momentarily drowned out the noise around her. In that space, she pulled herself back, regaining her composure.
She told herself one thing:
Just this drink.Just tonight.After this, the expectation for Lin should stop here.
She continued playing for the rest of the night. She laughed when appropriate, raised her glass when needed. The rhythm never broke. But she didn't look at Lin again. The music, the voices, the lights all continued, yet she felt as if she were standing slightly outside of it all. She was not detached enough to be noticed, but no longer stepping further inside.
It was late when Yeh got home. The city was finally quiet.
After showering, Yeh placed her phone face down on the bedside table. She didn't check messages, nor did she replay the details in her mind.
Her emotions weren't as chaotic as she might have expected; they were simply drawn back in, neatly contained.
Over the years, she had mastered this method: stop herself before things get complicated. Years of emotional discipline had trained her well—when necessary, she knew how to detach quickly, how to let go.