— underground pub.

@✽ minghao x. sooyoung stood there wearing an outfit the complimented her curves in the best way possible but also in the most comfortable as well. as gab yelled whatever over the loud music, she watched minghao respond, finding herself a bit captivated by the male. with the lights flashing around them, to her it felt as if time had stopped.

but she was brought right back to reality as turned to her.

she moved to hold her hands behind her back, fiddling with her thumbs before subconsciously picking at the skin around her nails, watching as gab had disappeared into the crowds once again. sooyoung turned her attention back towards minghao, a slight smile appearing on her lips as she took a spot next to him...keeping a bit of space between the two. "mm, sooyoung," she responded with a nod before making a mental note of his name. minghao...she repeated softly to herself before reaching her hand out to shake his.

"it's nice to meet you," she says with a smile appearing on her painted rosy lips.

"have you been here for a while?" she asked, leaning a bit closer so she didn't have to shout over the music. she hoped she spoke loud enough knowing as she was quite soft spoken. "i don't really know what to do here if i'm going to be very honest," she added, her eyebrows knitting as she leaned back against the booth. she found herself fiddling with her fingers once again, not because she was nervous again but she truly didn't want to mess up this moment...this conversation. out of all the people she had noticed in this pub as of that night, minghao seemed to be the most captivating. the most interesting. like the boys written in the books she read. he seemed different. and not in the cliche way but it a good way. at least to her.

@✽ sooyoung h. With Sooyoung’s voice faltering, Gab turns to Minghao with a big smile on his face. Already, Minghao can tell Gab is expecting some sort of reward for bringing him a girl because apparently, Minghao needs to get laid.

Minghao can only shake his head at the notion, waving a hand to dismiss his friend. A furrow starting to form in between his eyebrows as he tries to placate himself and make light of the situation, not wanting the girl (Sooyoung) to feel bad.

“Yeah yeah, fine.” His voice barely audible and syncopated to the loud music. “Whatever.”

Minghao moves as if to make space for Sooyoung, the table spacious enough to house five people in one seating. The bottle of beer remains frosted in his hand, unmoved — almost like a visible reminder that the night is still in its early stages, tendrils of intoxication barely unleashed. There’s still time.

And maybe, it’s exactly what Minghao needs: time. Time biding its patience for Minghao, gauging the direction in which things will develop, and blooming delicately in the bare vulnerability of the underground pub.

After all, Sooyoung looks breathtaking there, standing under the lights. The remainder of which, a portion of the lights barely able to penetrate the shadows, unfurls around Sooyoung as if they’re crawling up her skin. An oscillation of colors on the bare contours of her body, as bare as her apparent vulnerability.

“Sooyoung, is it?” Minghao, raising his voice just above the music to remain audible, stretches out his hand, offering a handshake. “I’m Minghao.”

With the slightest hint of a smile in his voice.

@✽ minghao x. the regret of leaving her cozy bed was starting to fill up sooyoung's body the second she stepped into the underground pub. her heart picking up it's pace and almost matching the beats of the song blasting as her eyes scanned the crowded area. this...this was a very different environment. a lot different from the ballet studio she spent most of her days and almost always her nights in.

to her, everything seemed to move by so fast yet go by so slow. the sweaty bodies pressed against each other, the slight scent of warm cigars that carried around the room made her a bit uneasy. 'loosen up hasoo...loosen up' she could feel herself repeating to calm her racing heart down. the words repeated in her head like a broken record and she found herself at the bar with her friend. not knowing what to order, she allows the other take the lead with this. "fruity? bitter?" her friend ask before waving her hand seconds before sooyung could even respond. drinks were already ordered and placed in front of them and sooyung did not hesitate to chug it down.

soon she found herself in the midsts of the crowd, moving her body to the music as it took over her senses...took full control over her now eased self. "see?!" her friend shouted over the music. "it's fun isn't it!" all sooyoung could do was smile, nodding as she continued to dance. and before she knew it, she was now heading towards a table. slight confusion appeared on her face as it all happened so fast but she knew she had made conversations with gab, the one who had his arm slung over her shoulder.

her attention moved from the male next to her to the one sitting across, beer in hand. "hi.." she nodded, being moved by gab to sit down next to the one sitting. "i'm sooyoung," she added, looking at gab as he walked away before turning her attention towards minghao. "don't really remember how i went from dancing to here but hi...again," she laughed lightly, trying to ease out any awkwardness that might follow up.

@✽ sooyoung h. The place appears as if it’s breathing, prismatic lights that shine and tend to be blinding; they shed different colors on top of one another, shedding them slowly, then fast, increasing in pace; then slow. As if it’s breathing.

To Minghao, it’s a change of scenery. He finds himself flexing his hands. Open and close, open and close. Open.. then close, stretching the knots that have formed, ingrained in the joints. Phantom aches, as he likes to call them. His other, less preoccupied hand is holding a bottle of beer, its body casting off drops of mist, forming a circular hollow on the table.

From time to time, he feels himself moving along to the rhythm of the music. Girls and boys alike are dancing in the center, their bodies squeezed into one another, pressed up and arms upright, in tune to the drowned out music.

He takes barely a sip; he isn’t much fan of the taste.

On the other end of the room, Minghao can glean out Gab’s figure, matching the vigor of those around him, swinging his arms from side to side.

“Minghao!” Gab calls out to him when they make eye contact — only briefly made as Minghao tears his eyes apart and focuses on the table before him.

Men and women have tried to talk to him, but it only ever remains to be a short exchange, a less than one minute talk, as Minghao tries, each time, to break off the conversation rather politely. He almost always uses the same excuse, ‘Hey, my friend and I will be leaving soon. Let’s just meet each other again next time, okay?’. But there’s no next time, and Minghao knows this.

He hates the contact. And so when Gab comes to, with his arm slung around an unfamiliar girl, Minghao starts, “Hey..?”

A confused expression mapped out on his face, but hey. There’s always gotta be a first time for first timers right?