Pandora's Hope

One More Time for the Last Time

Monday is business as usual for Hoseok. Work is work, and though he likes what he does he still finds himself ready to pull his hair out at times. Monday is one of the days he really wishes he could have a drink after work, but this is the only other day the Drunken Whale is closed. Of course there are other bars that are open, but no one makes his drinks exactly the way he likes them the way Nari does.

During his lunch break he gets a text from a number he doesn't recognize.

???: Is this Hoseok?
???: It's Taebin. We met at the bar the other night.
???: Please don't tell me you gave me a fake number 😰

Right. The cute girl he met the other night. He almost forgot about her, but a lot has happened since then.

Hoseok: Hey Taebin! Of course I didn't give you a fake number! 😊😇 How are you?
Taebin: Great! I know this is random and a little short notice, but I remember you telling me you listen to a lot of hip hop and there's a hip hop bar trivia going on tonight and I wanted to know if you would like to be on my team? I don't know much about hip hop so I thought maybe you could help 🫣
Taebin: Winner gets free drinks! 🍻
Hoseok: That sounds great! Let me know the time and place and I'll be there 😊😄

It's not his usual bar, and his drinks won't be made perfectly by Nari, but trivia sounds fun and free drinks sound even better. He doesn't typically like to drink much on weekdays, but he could make an exception in the name of a good time with a cute girl. Plus it's Monday and Mondays are always the worst.

He meets up with Taebin later on that night at a bar not far from his place. She looks adorable in her knee length navy blue sundress and sandals. She's also about 6 inches shorter than him and that makes her look even cuter in his eyes. They head inside and find themselves a place to sit.

"Thanks for coming!" She says getting comfortable at the small table.

"Thanks for inviting me. I don't know how you knew I needed a drink today, but I'm glad you asked," he smiles.

"We work shitty corporate jobs," she chuckles. "We need a drink every night."

They order themselves a couple of drinks and begin chatting until the trivia starts. They start talking about places they'd love to travel when she mentions getting hotel discounts through her job. He learned that she's been saving up for a big trip to Brazil someday, which is a place he's been dying to visit.

They also talk a lot about a dance competition show that started recently and their favorite dancers on the show. Hoseok learned that she used to do both ballet and tap dancing while he shared that his background is in hip hop and freestyle dancing. Neither of them got the chance to take their dancing very far but they love and miss it a lot.

The game finally gets going and they're up against 3 other teams. As the game goes on Hoseok realizes Taebin may know hip hop more than she led him to believe. She aces nearly every question that's asked before he even gets a chance to think. Thanks to her they win and they're served their free drinks.

"You lied to me," he says smiling. "You said you didn't know much about hip hop."

"Would you forgive me if I said that was just my way of trying to see you again?" She smirks taking a sip of her drink.

"Did you think I would have said no otherwise?"

"I wasn't sure," she says shyly blushing red. "Would you have?"