The Glowy Hole

“I drink, therefore I urp-!”

“There, there,” you assist your drunken friend in sobering up inside the bar’s toilet by patting her on the back.

You first met Jiwoo in a cafe on the far corner of the city. She’s cute. That’s your first thought. Being the gentleman—another word for : dumb—that you were, you approached her seat and told her a single sentence.

“Hey, sorry for interrupting your, thing, but I just wanna say that you are very, very pretty.”

She was drowned in what she was doing that she didn’t realize at all that there was already a man standing right in front of her. She looked a bit startled when she looked up to see you there. Standing and smiling as politely as you possibly could. She didn’t react to the compliment whatsoever, so just in case you were being rude, you bowed and cowed.

“Fucking hell what am I even thinking there. Could’ve been called out for being a pervert or something, jeez. Me and my impulsive ass,” just when you cursed yourself while facing away from her, you suddenly felt a light touch on your lower back. It’s safe to say that your goose was bumps(ed).

Your body trembled as you tried your hardest to turn around once again instead of running away from that cafe and burying your own body alive. “Y-yes..?”

“You can’t just say something like that and run away, you know? What do you think I am, an animal? Anyway,” she handed out her right hand, expecting a handshake. “I’m Jiwoo.”

“What the hell?” you pondered.

“Uh, yeah, uhm, nice to meet you, Jiwoo...?” you said, still in confusion.

“...That’s it?”

“Yeah? What do you mean ‘that’s it?’ Am I being rude or something?”

“Well, not really, but, it’s me! Jiwoo! The leader of the hottest girl group right now, Hearts2Hearts! You must be shitting me right now, stop the act!”

Your already furrowing eyebrows were furrowing even deeper. “Respectfully, also seriously, what in the hell are you talking about?!”

What the hell is Hearts2Hearts? A girl group? The hottest? Well, to be fair, it’s no understatement to say that she was indeed the prettiest girl you’ve ever laid your eyes upon. But what the hell was that attitude?

Fast forward to now, a little more than a year after your encounter with Jiwoo. You and her are good friends now. Nothing more, nothing less.

“I still remember the time we were in that cafe and you suddenly came up to me and say I was pretty,” she giggles with a shot of soju in her hold, the first of many.

“And I too remember the way you were being so weird about it,” you shake your head lightly.

“Well excuse me would you?! I was incredibly stressed right then. Me debuting, the immense pressure of being an idol, insane training regimen, and so on. You being oblivious just so happened to trigger something deep within myself. How would I know that you actually have no idea about who I am? Hahahah! Sorry. That feeling of being on top of the world is really intoxicating sometimes,” she downs that shot. Her face is as straight as it could be as she pours another.

“Miss number one in the world, I humbly apologize for living in another world.”

She raises her fist with a threatening air around her, of course paired with an ominous face. You shrug her off with a laugh—nervously, she’s the type to punch unprompted. Thankfully, she laughs instead.

“Don’t be. I think I said it multiple times that I enjoy it. You know? Not being gawked at. Not being considered as a ‘friend’ just because I’m an idol. Thank you,” she downs another shot, still pouring another after.

“Honestly I don’t care either way. You’re cool. Though you might benefit from learning about anger management. Just saying.”

She punches you for real now. Right in your Adam's apple too, of all places. Almost knocked the wind out of you.

“Shit! I’m sorry!” she immediately cradles your neck once she lands the punch. Hoping it would offer you any sense of comfort—more so about not wanting you to punch her in return.

You cough for minutes in succession, still with her palms enveloping your probably bruised neck. Any stranger that sees this would probably think that you just got punched by some random drunk. They don’t know any better, probably for the best. Wouldn’t want to tarnish her idol image right then and there.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” you say in between your coughs, signaling her to release her grab on your neck.

She nervously laughed it off. “You won’t take any revenge right...?”

Now it’s your turn to laugh. Of course not. 

“Prepare yourself,” is your shortcoming precaution before you flick her on the forehead right after.

The night continues with warm laughter and a soothing atmosphere. That is, until she’s vomiting rainbows out her stomach after downing an entire bottle of soju.

“You good?” you ask the girl to your left whose hand is wrapped across your shoulder just to prevent her from falling down.

“Ssshhhhhh. Just, just take me back to my dorm.”

“Alright, just hang on for a sec I’ll call the members.”

“What? Are you serious? Two whole days?! Damn. I mean, well, enjoy your break I guess. Yeah, okay, I will. Take care Carmen, say my greetings to all the others. Alright, bye bye.”

“Yeah as it seems like you’ll be spending your time alone in ther- Jiwoo!”

“Ungh... Fuck, my head is fucking spinning. Carmeeeen! Helloo?”

“Yo,” you suddenly appear beside her. Jiwoo is holding her head so she can't see that you are laying on the floor right next to her bed. It scares the bejeebuz out of her.

“Fucking hell you almost gave me a heart attack,” she says after screaming her lungs out.

“Likewise, was there a need to scream like that? Jeez.”

“Yes? Yes! Was there a need for you to be here?!” she raises her voice as she rises up.

“Ah,” you chuckle. “You passed out, so you might not remember. But all the members are having a vacation on an island, you’re left alone for the next two days or so. Carmen personally asked me to take care of you after I told her you were drinking, she must’ve known you’re a bad drunk. So, here I am,” you stretch your arm with the palms facing her. Showing that you should not be considered a threat.

She looks down and palms her own forehead. “Seriously? Huft. Leaving their leader just like that, what the hell,” suddenly she sounds incredibly sad.

You gently grab her left shoulder with your right hand, giving her a firm and hopefully encouraging shake on it.

She puts her hand on top of your grabbing hand. Jiwoo looks at you with her doe-eyed innocence. A rarity in her personality. “Be honest to me, am I a bad leader?”

It takes a tremendous amount of self control to not laugh at that question. You shouldn’t laugh, not when she’s showing you her vulnerable side. And so you muster your strength to answer her in all honesty. “Yes.”

Her already gloomy face turns even darker. Her lips curve downward. Her eyes are watery. She’s about to cry.

“But, I don’t really see how you should be good anyway.”

“…?” she tilts her head. Her eyes are still watery, but it’s also filled with curiosity now.

“I mean, even as a leader, it’s okay to be ‘bad’ you know? I know the pressure is insane and all that, but you’re still a human first and foremost, not a machine. You can’t perform your best all the time every time, so, chill out a bit. And also, you’re not a leader when you’re with me, just a person, a friend. So please, be as bad as you want to be around me, I believe that you can trust me.”