Soju novice.

To my dear lovelies, here's a post-Valentine's treat.

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Company.

I need acompany. Even a stranger will do.

I know it sounds a little stupid but all I need is a freaking company, right at this very moment.

I've been sitting here at this table for the last fifty minutes with three empty bottles of soju and a glimmering hope that somehow my date for the night would show up in this ancient, cramped Korean restaurant.

After my last tragic relationship, my best friend Rebecca took liberty to set me up on a date, to which I voluntarily agreed without giving any second thought.

Apparently, the guy she set me up with is her colleague and somehow she got this weird feeling that he and I will make a great couple since we both love animes. And I'm not going to deny that my love for animes has crossed boundaries only recently, but this is not the only thing someone should say while playing the Cupid and trying to set me up with another person with same interest. It's not like I'm gonna talk to him about animes until the day we marry each other.

But never mind, I prepared myself with other topics to discuss minus the basic formalities and anime talks. But the problem is my date is nowhere to be seen. I tried calling this person, but he did not pick up. I tried calling Rebecca, but it went directly to her voicemail.

Frustrated, I ordered yet another bottle of soju. The waiter gave me a pity smile as he placed the bottle in front of me. Like bitch, I did not ask you to give me your stupid pity smile - reserve it for someone else. But he gave that sickening pity smile anyway. I did not respond neither did I return his smile, I just kept on following his movements with a glare as he placed the drink before me and then he took his leave.

9:56 pm.

And the clock is still ticking. The restaurant is buzzing with boisterous people, everyone is either in groups or with their respective company except for me. Only me. Sipping bottles after bottles of soju and internally denying the fact that I just got stood up. My brain would constantly say that perhaps, its high time I head home instead of looking at the door whenever someone would enter, but my mind - my romantic and hopeless mind will always reason with, "What if he shows up late?", "What if he comes after I leave?", "Perhaps he forgot about the date earlier and is now on the way? And maybe his phone is dead because he forgot to charge it?" There's a possibility for all of this to happen, right? And the glimmering hope of it was still making me stick to my seat and order bottle after bottle of soju.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here?" An extremely husky voice spoke as I was about to reach for the bottle. "There aren't any vacant spots left."

I looked up from my bottle to stare at the tall stranger who was smiling down at me. Is that pity smile I see again? I narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized his form - tall and lean with soft blush hair, wearing a printed shirt and black pants, his left arm was covered in tattoos and he flaunted a gold Rolex on his wrist. His eyes were big and sparkly with slight wrinkles forming around the corner of his eyes, his nose sharp just like his jawline and his lips glossy with tint.

"Are you talking to me?" My voice came out a little slurry than I actually intended. Am I drunk already? Or is that how my voice actually sounds like when I drink? But then again I don't even know how my voice sounds when I drink. I haven't drank in so long. I'm almost alcohol deprived. But this soju right here is my true saviour.

He arched an curious eyebrow. "Yeah."

"But why are you talking to me?"

"Because I want to sit and there are not any vacant spots around."

"I'm actually expecting someone."

"And you've been expecting that someone for the last one hour, right?"

I gasp. "How did you know that?"

"The waiter actually knows stuff. He was the one who advised me to sit here so that I can accompany you and save you from second hand embarrassment while we share a table."

"But what are you even doing alone in this old restaurant? Don't you have somebody to spend your time with or are you a loser just like me?"

"I prefer not to answer that." He said, sitting down on the chair opposite me as he signalled for the waiter.

"Why did you sit down? I did not tell you sit!"

"But eventually, you will," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as the waiter approached us. "I just saved you a few words."

"Well, isn't thatsweete of you?" He bit back a small smile as he ordered a plate of dakkochi and a large glass of beer. The waiter bowed slightly before he scurried towards the kitchen.

"Why beer? You should try soju. It's like Korean vodka, but neutral. I just looooove soju."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"You know I just got stood up."

"It doesn't seem like the ideal time to talk about it." He gave me a tight-lipped smile and I pouted, narrowing my eyes at him before I proceeded to take another gulp.

"Hey, calm down, you might just spill your drink."

"I know right. Gravity is so annoying."

"Yeah, right." He rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't like newspapers in general. I don't get why people read it. It's like a booklet divided into a couple of pages without being stapled full of Death. Death. Death. Negativity. Classifieds. Apartment ads. Sports and Sudoku. Seriously where's the fun in that? I mean you could just get zillion of results in 0.5 seconds by googling stuff. And then, there's business section full of colourful graphs. I understand na-da." I slouched back on my chair, looking to my left at the couple next to our table acting all lovey-dovey.

"I like sudoku," he said after a moment of silence, but I ignored him instead landing my attention at the couple sitting next to our table.

"I hate couples. I absolutely loathe them, loathe being the keyword. Especially the PDA ones," I said in a loud voice without moving my eyes from them and the couple tore their gazes from each other to look at me strangely. I continued giving them a disgusted face and they moved their hands from each other to quickly concentrate on their food. The pink haired man before me shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with my behaviour, but I couldn't careless. I don't know him, he doesn't know me. What's the point in feeling embarrassed for someone you don't even know?

"Did you know underpants are the best thing in the world?" I started once again, breaking the thin ice which had started to form. "Rebecca always convinces me to try thongs and g-strings but they are just so uncomfortable. Underpants are airy and nice."

"You know I once farted when my boyfriend was giving me oral. It was so embarrassing but then again it serves him right for only trying the missionary position with me. He was so bad in bed I'm like -" I stuck out my tongue as I pointed at it with my finger while rolling my eyes dramatically as if to make a puking face. "Now that I think about it, I don't regret breaking up with him. I mean, I'm a loser alright, but he was double loser," I laughed it off as all the feelings for my ex-boyfriend evaporated from my body.

Surprisingly, I feel light but maybe it's the soju effect and partially because I've finally let out some of the toxic feelings. These frustrated feelings were always there in the back of my mind but I could never arrange them into proper sentences while somebody asked me about it, but it felt different with this stranger. Maybe it's the alcohol or maybe because he is so cute that I just want him to know everything about me. But his order came in the the right moment and he started munching his food instantly.

"I absolutely despised this professor at university who seemed like he gelled his hair with the tears of other students. I once accidentally set his diary on fire. Served him right for being such an asshole."

"Then there's my friend Rebecca. I call her my best friend but she isn't exactly my best friend to begin with."

"Why?" The stranger asked inquisitively.

"Because I've no other friends since middle school," I deadpanned "You know, I once caught her making out with my high school boyfriend - to which she apologized later on - but it was too much for me to forget the whole episode, he was my first boyfriend after all, the feelings were real and she knew I loved him yet she made her slut move. Of course, I broke up with my boyfriend after that, but I had to take my revenge on Rebecca even after she apologized," I huffed, taking another gulp from the bottle before continuing the story. "There was this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, constantly reminding me of her and my ex-boyfriend making out that too in the janitor's closet. Like they couldn't even find a better spot to do it. It's always the generic janitor's closet," I chuckled humorlessly at the last part.

"So what did you do?" My eyes brightened up at the question, and I straightened my back to look at him directly with a serious face, as if to inspect whether I can trust him with the nuclear codes or not before breaking into a large grin and spilling the beans.

"I secretly cut holes in her PE shirt. I flushed her makeup into the toilet bowl and I intentionally misplaced her homework sometimes, even tore pages of it for one whole week." The excitement in my voice was palpable at this point. "The teacher would be furious because of her tardiness - which she actually was - and made her redo the whole homework. It was fun to see her suffer."

"Wow, aren't you a little satan in disguise?" He scoffed and I snorted in response.

"I can be a kinky little satan and rule them sheets if you know what I mean," I winked purposely at the end which made him choke on his dakkochi. I chuckled and signalled the waiter for another bottle of soju.

"Holding grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

"It's just a petty grudge. Let me have it!"

"How about you stop drinking that," he remarked pointing to my empty bottle of soju. "You know you'll end up regretting saying all of this once you sober up."

"I can never regret. This is my time. Now let me make the best out of it." No sooner did the waiter uncapped the bottle that I literally snatched it from his hand, taking a large gulp from it.

"You know I actually think Rebecca has something to do with my date not showing up tonight," I started after a moment of silence, "but of course I wouldn't say that aloud unless I've proof. But then again I don't trust her. She's jealous of my boobs. Can you believe that? My boobs?" I cupped each one of my breast above my shirt and his quickly eyes landed on my chest, but he instantly shifted his gaze to the other side with a red face.

I released a tired sigh and laid back in my chair, staring up at ceiling, "I once gifted her a duplicate Chanel purse for her birthday. Poor thing she believes it's real and even hugged me for ten minutes straight."

"Aren't you the one turning her into a poor thing?" The man asked, still munching on the dakkochi as he looked at me with an amused expression.

"I don't know," I pursued my lips together and grabbed a dakkochi stick from his plate without asking for his consent. Does drinking makes me shameless?

"Shouldn't you be returning home now?" Hetooko a brief glance at his Rolex before averting his eyes back on mine. "It's late already."

"I want to, but I still believe my date's gonna turn up." He looked at me curiously while I caressed the soju bottle with my thumb.

"He most definitely won't. Not this late."

"But what if he-"

"Just cut the crap already. You only admitted moments ago that you just got stood up."

"Yeah, but still," I mumbled.

It was quiet once again as the silence seemed to stretch between us. The stranger munched uninterestingly on  another dakkochi while I stole the last stick, to which he didn't protest. I finished yet another bottle of soju before he stopped me for good and later even insisted on paying the bill. I almost fell while standing up from the chair but he was quick enough to catch and support my wobbly form as we exited the restaurant.

"So where do you live?"

"Why?" I tilt my head to a side as I spoke to him.

"Because I'll drop you home before I return to mine." He held onto my waist with his right hand while I rocked back and forth like a child flailing in a parent's arms.

"But I can't possibly trust you. You look like a pervert to me." He halts in his steps as he looked down at me with a offended look.

"Hate to break it to you but you're the one who's acting like a pervert here. Now tell me your address. The faster I drop you, the better it'll be for me." He starts moving on his steps again as he dragged me by my waist.

"But why are you being so nice? Even my biological mum is never this nice to me. Are you for real?" I poked his cheek but he swatted my hand away.

"Yes, I'm real. Now address?" He looked impatient and tired, but I was clearly enjoying this, which I think I should tell him but I don't know how will he exactly react. I gave him a lopsided grin, inching closer to his face while he tried to retract.

"You're cute." I hugged him by his waist which took him by surprise. His eyes widened, unable to response to the situation. Placing my chin on the crook of his shoulder I took a long sniff, breathing in his musky scent. He smelled very masculine, there was a faint trace of breezy cologne mixed with sweat and his natural body smell. It was intoxicating and very homely. I took another long sniff and snuggled closer to him as the sense of drowsiness started turning my vision into black dots.

"F.M.L" was the last thing I heard before I drowned into deep slumber.

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AN: Originally, an AU but I have finally come in terms with myself that this is better off as an one-shot rather than a full fledged story which will only complicate the plot, and it would turn into a pile of crap with occasional boredom, hitting the right places.

Hope you guys like it. Votes and comments are deeply appreciated. 

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