The Skylit Penthouse

Jae-in's POV:

The peace and silence of the afternoon was a worthwhile reward after a long-ass day and I always made sure that I indulged in it to relax. This time, however, was different. I have been to a couple of different places and this won't certainly be the first time that I'm heading off to a place after class, especially on a bar for that matter. I have never been to Skylight Hotel or even thought of heading in it in same shape or form and this would be my first time to venture inside it.

The fact that I'm also accompanied by people that some I barely or not even know at all, added a thrilling experience to it. In my book, it feels like I'm breaking some rules but it also feels like I'm growing off into a new chapter of my life.

If only I was not squeezed inside the small cab seated next to Jayden, then the tall figure of Vincent, then Wendy and Vivian, then this trip would have been a lot more comfortable. I could almost envy Thomas and Jared who were seated up front and relaxed on the wide taxi. I'd say that seating next to the window is one of the subtle rewards of this small predicament, albeit a really bad trade-off. Wendy, on the other hand, loudly complained how despite her slim figure, could not fit her entire butt on the free space of the seat and has to resort on seating a portion of her thighs on Vincent and Vivian's legs.

"Does anyone know where Dawn is?" Wendy asked as she held on the front headrests for support. "Is he not coming with us?"

"He bailed. He told us that he has some things to do, so there's that," informed Vincent. "I don't believe it though; I know he's probably thinking that he has to spend a fortune just for that."

"Did no one tell him that Jared's paying for the entire thing? I bet if you tell that to him, he won't even hesitate to come," Jayden suggested.

"Hey, I haven't told of anyone that tonight's my treat, but it actually is," I heard Jared's voice say from the front seat. "Y'all assumed it already before we head here anyway so I guess it's not that necessary anymore."

"You haven't told anyone that you're treating us for tonight?" added Vivian from the other side of the cab. "I'm surprised then, that Jayden managed to show up despite not knowing someone else is going to pay. For most cases, that's what happens."

I then heard her loud, high pitched laugh which earned a look from pretty much everyone else inside the cab, including the driver.

"That's just over the top, Vivian. I actually came here out of my own free will and not because it's someone else had to cover for us. And since when did I come just because it's Jared 's treat?"

"You seriously want to hear the answer to that?"

"Okay, maybe not, but the point is… I came here just because I want to spend time with all of you... with my friends."

"Bullshit," snapped Vivian with a teasing smirk she conveyed through the rear-view mirror.

"Okay I better shut up, then."

"Y'all making this a big deal but can we just point the fact that I'm barely seated her between you two and yet I'm not even complaining, so at least just shut it while we're here, okay?" Wendy interrupted as she turned towards Jayden on mid-argument. "You two didn't even notice that it's just the two of you talking while we're all shut. Save the arguments for when we're already drunk. At least by then, it would make things a lot more interesting."

"It is worse when they're drunk, trust me, but that goes on ahead for everyone else," replied Thomas from the front.

I honestly could not figure out anything to reply to everything that was going on that moment, yet I would say that their little bickering does put a smile on my face. You don't get exchanges like these every day.

Anyway, the cab turned blocks here and there and the inside was filled with silence, with my attention being focused solely on the open window beside me. Then, for a brief moment that I turned my head to the inside, my eyes met Wendy's for a second just as everyone else was silent throughout the trip. As courtesy, I merely smiled towards her direction as she supplied me with a toothy grin, leaving me to wonder how crazy each and every single one of us could end up once we have enough alcohol in our systems to throw us off. It would just be a matter of time before I find out the answer to that.

---A FEW MINUTES LATER, AT THE FOOT OF CITY SKYLIGHT HOTEL---

I always remembered City Skylight to be this huge, tall building placed proudly amidst the busy streets of South Korea; and surprisingly enough despite being a bar readily accessible in its location, it was not that far from the University itself and only separated by a couple of blocks. That was perhaps the reason why even in this time of the day, I could see some of the familiar faces from my classes, some that I know and some that I just recognize by face. It was the first time that I've ever had the chance to enter this establishment entirely, and as my new found friends busy themselves on how to split the taxi bill evenly among us, I was more occupied on admiring the beautiful architecture.

The afternoon sky had begun to bid its farewell as the first signs of stars started to show itself on the welcoming horizon, embracing the advance of the incoming twilight. Orange-purple hues of the sun's final streaks began to reflect on the subtle glass panels of the huge establishment as well as illuminating the small mini-bar that is clearly seen on its second floor terrace. From where I was standing, I swear I could have seen some sort of flashing light right at the building's rooftop although I cannot entirely be so sure about it.

Thomas eventually gestured towards the building's main entrance as soon as the cab fare was done and taken care of. I don't know if it was just me, but on my end there was this air of anticipation; a part of me is certainly excited about getting to drink with new people for the first time. The addition of Thomas, Vincent, and Jayden was perhaps the catalyst for my comfort. If only Dawn was here then things would have been a perfect mini-highschool reunion.

"We're heading to the bar," Jared said towards the guard waiting up front, showing him his school ID and that he is of age. "Here's is my ID, and I can assure you that all of my friends are of legal age."

"Alright, may I request for your other friends to present theirs upon request upstairs," the middle-aged man said, gesturing for the rest of us to show our bags for checking. "Are you sure that all of you are of legal age?"

He then transferred his gaze to Jayden, arguably the one who had the youngest-looking face.

"Some of you don't look like it."

We all nodded in unison followed by a sly smile with regards to Jayden's face, and with that we were all given a blessing to finally enter the premises of City Skylight hotel immediately followed by the welcoming grand lobby of the high-ceilinged hotel. To our immediate left, the main receiving panel was a huge table lined with elegant golden ornaments amidst its seemingly reflective wallpaper, accentuating a further impression of royalty in its premise. On the immediate right was the main waiting area of the lobby, which consisted of an equally impressive glass wall that stretched towards the ceiling above and providing the inside with a breath-taking view of the twilight-lad sky of the city.

As our group walked beyond the welcoming lobby of the hotel and into the elevators leading to the penthouse bar on the top floor, I could not help but appreciate how perfect the leather-clad furniture stood up against the artificial fireplace. However, before I could fully take in the aesthetic of the place, I felt myself tugged by Jayden as the rest of the group took a sharp corner and followed a small hallway.

It turns out; the small detour was actually the destination as the hallway was a small waiting area for two side-by-side elevators on the right and a huge gallery of walls on the other. I turned just in time to see Wendy tap Vivian's shoulder and point towards the mirrors in utmost enthusiasm.

"Quick, snap a photo of it! These mirrors are so pretty and classy that it's even hard to pass on it!"

Vivian was quick to fish her phone out and moved to pose with Wendy, and it would not be long before the two ladies began posing in front of the mirror while Jared and Thomas administered the elevator buttons.

I was about to walk and join Thomas and Jared when I felt my arm being pulled by Wendy and she beckoned me to join the small photo shoot. I was really awkward doing it at first; especially posing with two girls might get me a lot of questions home just in case this gets to leak. Luckily, Jayden and Vincent gladly joined on the shoot as well as giving wacky poses that actually eased p my mood for a bit. As much as I really don't want to admit it, that small act felt like a huge social ice-breaker for me on a place like this.

DING

The elevator doors swung almost immediately after the short bell and it served like an alarm for most of us who were posing in front of the mirrors. Luckily, all we saw inside the swinging doors were nothing but our own reflections seen on the mirror located inside. Thanks to all the golden chrome clad decorated within its interior as we made our march inside; the entire lift gave off a huge elegant vibe. In my opinion, it felt too much especially for us who came here really just to spend the night together with friends. I take that Skylight hotel gave me that sort of vibe, but really I have nothing much to base that from as I never really got the chance to go inside any hotel of the same calibre as this one.

The fact that my friends as well as Jared, Wendy and Vivian were so cool with it only emphasized how out of place I felt at this very moment. This was something that happens to them normally apparently.

The lift's doors finally closed and the silence was immediately broken by Thomas.

"I wanted to head here as soon as we could because it's going to be a busy weekend. I figured we should pick a good enough place before everyone else from the university come for their break as well. We better get these drinks on while we still have the chance."

My attention shifted towards Thomas, who was on the farthest right corner of the elevator. However, I saw just in time as Vincent nodded and placed a reassuring hand over Thomas' shoulder.

"Oh don't worry about that; my friend who's joining us actually came here about twenty minutes ago. She said that she's reserved more than enough seats to accommodate us all including picking the best view for the entire house."

'She'…?

"Did she pick the one near the terrace?" Vivian asked from the other corner of the elevator. "Skylight's view at night is amazing."

"She didn't tell me anything, but at least we know that we won't have to worry for the space tonight. It's all been taken care of."

Thomas nodded in silence and in agreement as the rest of the group silently watched the floors on the display board slowly crept up. I do not know if the impending silence after that exchange was purely out of anticipation, or someone else in the group is silently excited as well as nervous the way that I was feeling.

DING

That was the signal that swung the elevator doors free, greeting our group with the same kind of mirror aesthetic we had on the lobby floor below. Even on our location, I could already hear the loud beat of the bass coming from the bar ahead; it's subtle pounding seemingly rattling the very floor we're about to walk on as we head to Skylight's so-called "Penthouse".

---

It would be an understatement to call a person's first experience of Skylight Hotel's Penthouse as 'beautiful' for it felt surreal or 'magical' even. The place was famous among young adolescents such as Jae-In and now he could see why. The Skylight Penthouse was this huge area located at the very rooftop of the building, supplying a breath-taking view of the taller Seoul skyscrapers surrounding its vicinity. A large, open, central roofed hall lined its immediate centre, with the insides lined with blazing disco lights and loud music enveloping the seats arranged parallel to each other like a boat house, with tables laid on each set of chairs. A huge television broadcast was overhead with the latest basketball game being shown.

The rest of the open rooftop was a set of chairs and tables arranged in sets surrounding the boathouse, with the furthest sets of chairs, located on the far end opposite the entrance, held an even more splendid view of the open urban jungle of Seoul as Skylight Hotel towered amongst any establishment in front of it. The noise of the cars and the busy street could barely be heard from below, and Jae-In felt that they were separated from the real world as his eyes explored the rather elegant-yet-playful motif that the place was going in for.

He could already see some people occupying the respective tables around them as they proceeded to head to their place, including a couple of people he knew by face already starting their drinking session inside the boathouse. Huge towers of what appeared to be cocktail mixes lined their tables along with the loud music and a plethora of flashing lights. Even though he could see how happy they were with each other, he was sure to not hear even the loudest of their laughs given the volume of the music played on the background.

"She's there," Vincent interrupted amongst Jae-In's rather impressed self as he pointed towards the table on the furthest end of the rooftop. "She's seated by the terrace. There, the one who's waving towards us."

True enough, through the distance of the loud party music blaring throughout the entire atmosphere of the penthouse, a figure in the distance-a young woman dressed in a white-collared shirt covered by a large blue zip-hoodie waved in utmost enthusiasm as the group finally approached. This so-called 'friend' of Vincent looked really familiar to Jae-In, albeit he could not quite put his finger on where he first saw her even with them closing the distance with her.

"I want you guys to meet a friend of mine, Katy Kim. She's on the same year as us and is studying Medicine. Please be kind to her," said Vincent, gesturing towards the woman called Katy Kim who bowed in courtesy.

"I look forward to meeting you all! You can just call me 'Katy'."

"Oh my god, you're so pretty!" Wendy immediately remarked.

As Jae-In was still held in confusion as to how he remembers this Katy person, he felt his elbow being tugged by the person to his immediate left, Jayden, who in turn added a wild smirk on his face before proceeding for a soft whisper.

"Hey, is she the one that Vincent's talking about? Is she the one he shared a subject with and always wanted to hit on?"

"I guess so," replied Jae-In. "Apparently, she's the one he never shut up about."

"I thought she'd be taller," said Vivian as she squeezed between Jae-In and Jayden, apparently hearing the conversation as well. "Vincent's such a tall guy; I thought he'd pick someone about on the same height as he is."

"Shhh, don't be rude to her; she literally reserved seats for us. It's not like you're that tall too, Vivian," retorted Jayden.

"I am tall! I think I am even taller than you!"

"We better get some drinks before this gets out of hand," Thomas interrupted.

Luckily, Katy was too much absorbed in a conversation with Jared and Vincent that she's sure enough to not hear Vivian's accidental comments about her. With that, the group, finally with the addition of Katy, went off ahead and sat on the reserved table just as the waiter handed the menu for the evening.

Jae-In immediately headed towards the farthest end of the table, the one closes to the glass-fenced terrace with Vivian notably taking the seat opposite him. Jayden then gladly took the seat beside him while Wendy sat beside Vivian on the other side of the table. Meanwhile, the rest of the group were all in debates as to which specific name of cocktail they ought to order for the evening. It was a difficult balance, considering most of them were only getting to know each other through that drinking session. A hard drink might defeat the purpose of forming new friends and would end up knocking everyone else before a good conversation ever begins. However, some of them (notably Vincent and Jared) really wanted to go hard and test their limits for the evening.

Once everything was settled, Thomas managed to order a good balance between both their goals. Two separate cocktails, one that felt really light and would cater to the soothing kick of alcohol that they needed (aptly named Midnight Summer Dream), and one that is generally good tasting but is known to be secretly strong and hid a wild kick (dubbed Love Potion). Most of them were really in favour of the stronger one, especially Jayden no and Vivian, but Jae-in was just there curious as to how each of them tasted.

"Oh god, look at how much Dawn is missing on just because he didn't go here," commented Wendy a few minutes after placing the order.

"Next time, we should ask him to take care of the payment. He's missing out so much on us," teased Jayden.

Just like that, the night kicked off as it should. The atmosphere of the place was quick to kick in, and as the group continued to wait for their orders, Jae-In, Wendy and Jayden engaged on different stories with regards to their daily lives. Meanwhile, Thomas and Vivian unintentionally engaged in a heated debate as soon as the latter overheard a misinterpreted statement from the former. Vincent and Katy were having a deep conversation on the far end of the table while Jared was overlooking the terrace, engaged on another phone call.

The waiters soon arrived with two whopping towers of alcohol; one colored a clear green while the other a striking bright orange; six litres of mixed alcohol. To Jae-in's surprise, it was Vivian who stood up first and broke the debate between her and Thomas to volunteer and distribute the ice cubes.

"Holy shit, you're really into this aren't you?" Jayden commented from Jae-in's side. "Dial the enthusiasm down a bit because we all want to drink too."

"I've waited long enough for this, so let me do what I want to do. You're also getting your cup LAST," she snapped back. Vivian then began filling each cup with a choice of green or orange before distributing to everyone else. It appeared as though she chose for the newcomer, Jae-in, as she did not even went off and asked and merely gave him a glassful of the green Love Potion.

He took a good whiff out of the glass and surprisingly there was no sign of alcohol. In fact, it was a candy-like smell that registered in his mind. It was an obvious sign why it had a notorious reputation; it was easy to mistake it for juice.

"Is this the stronger one?" he asked Jayden, who immediately shook his head.

"It's the other one. You won't feel it kick in unless you've had like, five glasses or so."

But isn't this the Love Potion?

"Alright," Jared said as he finally hung up the call and raised his glass up in the air. "I don't have much time with you guys so we better get to the good part already. It's still on the house, and I want you all to enjoy even if I'm headed home. Cheers."

Everyone then followed suit, adjusting from their chairs and raising their glasses to meet his.

"Cheers to what, exactly?" asked Wendy.

"Cheers to old and new friends," declared Thomas before eyeing Jae-in. "Cheers to both Jae-in and Katy for joining us here. Here's to more drinking while our young bodies could still tolerate it, I guess."

And with one sip, all of them finally moved and clanged their glasses in mid-air before proceeding for a sip. Almost every single one of them was quiet for the rest of that session, and was only broken when Wendy downed her glass to speak directly to Vivian.

"Why the fuck is your glass already at half?"

"I thought we don't need the formal stuff so I went off ahead and drank," she replied and then proceeded to scratch her lengthy hair, but not before supplying Wendy with a wide smile.

---ABOUT AN HOUR LATER---

It could perhaps be the sudden effect of the 'Love Potion' hitting Jae-In's consciousness as things quickly became a messy blur. The drink itself tasted really well especially coupled with the coldness of the ice with it. It was hard for him to not treat it as refreshment like countless of people before him who fell victim to the Love Potion's hidden venom. Not to mention, he was engaged with a long and drawn out conversation with Jayden that he failed to even notice that Jared has long gone home already. Yoon Jae-in only realized how much the drink has hit him when he went off to stand and pee; the world has begun to spin on itself already at that point, and he could barely find his way towards the rest room.

With regards to what was going on around him, everything dissolved into a messy blur of party music as well with flashes of light being the only thing that was guiding him back to the table. He was not off-balance by any means, but he was for sure having difficulty walking normally.

As he came back towards the mess of his table, probably after leaving for almost ten minutes or so, he could only make up the image of Thomas, Jayden and Wendy engaging in a deep conversation; with Wendy mostly doing all the talking. Vincent and Katy were pretty much in deep talks already since the entire night begun and so it was not a surprise that they were at the far edge of the table lost in their own world once again. Jae-in could not even remember when they went off and ordered another tower, but he took that as an explanation for the recent taste of 'Love Potion' lingering in his mouth. His subconscious never really questioned why he never ran out of drinks.

With nothing else to do, he scanned the area as soon as he came back, silently looking for Vivian. She was pretty much the person who has been excessively drinking for the past hour along with him, and so she ought to feel the same effects as he was feeling.

And there he found her perched on the balcony overlooking the night jungle of Seoul with her head hanging low that her face was shrouded in auburn hair. He was the only person who had no one else to talk to anyway and the alcohol was already giving him a boost of confidence to talk to people he just met, and so Jae-in moved out of his way, took his glass from the table and ignored the rest of his friends before he finally approached the waiting and drunk figure of Vivian Ning.