A glass of wine. That’s what Felix would have liked to give himself — but the truth is that he can resist anything except temptation. So, one glass turned into two, two into four, and before he knew it, he found himself flirting with the waiter, using his manly voice no less.

"Those biceps look like marble. I wonder what it would be like to bite them — bet it’s a pleasant sensation. Speaking of pleasant sensations…"

Felix smiles and squints his eyes. He leans a bit forward — the heels aren’t doing his already unstable balance any favors. The waiter supports him by placing a hand on his hip — he wants nothing more than to not have an intoxicated guest on his conscience. Felix wonders how much they would deduct from his pay if he let the completely drunk “girlfriend” of the Bang family heir smash a tooth against the floor.

"Miss — maybe it’s best if we call your b—"

"Don’t even mention him," Felix almost growls. The waiter sighs desperately while doing his best to support Felix — holding a tray with one hand doesn’t help the situation. He scans the room for help, and thank God, he catches Chan’s gaze from across the room.

"Wine. I want more wine," Felix whines, pressing his face against the waiter’s chest. The starched shirt is soft and smells of fresh laundry. The waiter shudders, embarrassed by the situation.

"No more wine for you, I’m afraid. We don’t want our guests getting drunk—"

"Then you should’ve stopped serving me two glasses ago," Felix retorts, irritated. Just then, Chan arrives. Where had he been until now? Felix has been keeping an eye on him the whole time, though he would never brag about something so pathetic. What matters is that he knows for sure that Chan has been talking to his older relatives the whole time, constantly throwing glances in his direction that, with a little imagination, Felix might have considered worried. In reality, Chan was probably just worried that Felix might reveal to everyone in the room, knowingly or not, that he’s a man. That would raise a lot of questions. Jennifer would definitely be taken aback.

"I’ll handle it from here," Chan tells the waiter, wrapping an arm around Felix’s shoulders. "Look at you — are you a teenager or what?"

"Fuck off, Chan," Felix almost snarls. Chan takes a deep breath. Felix gets even more frustrated at the fact that his friend is acting like the patient yet exasperated one, as if all of this ridiculous situation wasn’t entirely his fault.

"Let’s step outside for a breath of fresh air."

"I’m fine."

"I didn’t say you’re not fine," Chan retorts, "I just said let’s go outside for a moment."

Felix would love to snap back just for the sake of disagreeing with him. Instead, he stays quiet. He lets Chan wrap his arm around his waist and walks with him across the room, smiling at the guests as if nothing’s wrong. Felix doesn’t even try. He’s too drunk and too angry to be polite. His ankles, heels, and even his toes hurt in more places than he can count. The wig itches. And Chan’s scent is so nice, so nice that Felix almost feels like stretching his neck and inhaling his hair. Would that be weird? Not even the biggest drunk in the world would justify it. What’s worse is that Felix feels more and more drunk with every passing second. He should’ve drunk less wine. He should’ve turned down that stupid idea. He should’ve told Chan he’s gay and in love with him a long time ago so he wouldn’t have found himself in this situation.

The cold air hits his face the moment Chan opens the door leading to the terrace. There are wicker chairs and small tables, deserted because the air is a little too crisp, especially this late at night. His bare legs immediately shiver, but Chan, shielded by the expensive fabric of his suit, can’t imagine it. He releases Felix from his grip and walks over to the railing. He crosses his arms against it and looks out at the city. It looks like a scene from a movie. If it were, Felix wonders what his role would be, how far down in the credits his name would appear.

"I’m sorry," Chan says, out of nowhere. Felix knows he has to stay silent because this is usually when, in movies, the protagonist gives their deep, emotional speech, and the sidekick listens without saying anything. "I didn’t bring you here because of Jennifer. I only realized later she’d be here too. I thought I could combine the two things — I miss her and I just wanted her to understand what she gave up. It’s a childish thought, stupid, but… You know, I’ve never brought anyone to one of these parties. I just want these people to think I have someone in my life too. That I’m not just some fuckboy or whatever."

Touching. Really touching. Felix has drunk too much wine to swallow this too.

 "But you are. A fuckboy, or something like that. And the only reason you’ve never brought anyone to these parties is that you haven’t been in a serious relationship for years. How many girls are you seeing right now? Every time we hang out, you talk about a new woman. It’s you who wants to live like that."

Chan clicks his tongue loudly. This doesn’t usually happen in movies.

"Really, you’re judging me? You of all people? At least I’m living my life. You’ve been single forever. I’ve never heard you talk about anyone, ever. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you don’t seem in any position to give advice on love."

Felix bites his lower lip. How many things he wants to say to him. And yet, he says nothing. He’s had people in his life, he’ll continue to have them, and Chan will never hear about any of them. Because Felix is gay. No, not because of that — because Felix is a coward who can’t come out to his best friend.

"What do you want me to do?" he asks then. Chan narrows his gaze and looks at Felix like he’s grown a second head.

"I thought you didn’t want to help me with Jennifer."

He doesn’t want to. Fuck, he doesn’t want to. But what’s the point of making the night miserable for both of them? Might as well let Chan get some revenge.

"I feel like doing it. So? What’s the big plan?"

Chan curves his lips into a smile. He straightens his back, pulls away from the railing, and walks towards Felix. The air feels even colder. Felix wraps his arms around his chest, massaging his arms to warm them. "First, let’s go inside before you freeze — and… are you really sure about this?"

"Yes, I said," Felix repeats. "If you ask me again, I might change my mind."

Chan sighs in amusement and rolls his eyes. "Fine then. How about we have some fun with our little act? I’ll introduce you to Jennifer and we’ll see how it goes."

Felix would have liked to say that he has a completely different idea of fun, and that in no universe does making Jennifer jealous even vaguely fall under the category of fun, but that would mean backing out, and that’s out of the question.

So he says, "Sure," and adds, "Let’s see how it goes."