The club was vibrating.
Literally.
The bass shook the floor beneath their heels, made the tables tremble, made the air shiver as if every note were a wave passing through the skin.
Strobe lights sliced through the room, red, purple, silver.
The heat was humid, thick, almost alive: a mist of moving bodies, mixed perfumes, breaths too close.
Aera was the first to throw herself onto the dance floor.
She raised her arms, head thrown back, brown curly hair following the movement like waves flying around her face lit with glitter, pink dress sparkling with a thousand flashes, heels cracking against the floor like gunshots.
Her body undulated with an uninhibited, natural, insolent sensuality.
— WOOOOOH! IT'S OUR NIGHT, FUUUUUCK! she screamed, arms raised.
Ryo arrived behind her, a predatory smile stretching his mouth.
He too shone under the lights.
Aera placed her hands on her own hips, rolled her pelvis, then backed into him without even looking at him.
Their bodies pressed together in one sharp movement.
The heat exploded between them.
He grabbed her by the hips.
And then…
Sensuality exploded.
Aera planted her hands on his hot chest.
She swayed slowly.
Her pelvis brushed against Ryo's.
Her hands slid over his hips.
She arched her back.
Their bodies pressed together.
They danced as if no one existed but them.
As if the music were in their blood.
The tension between them was indecent.
Their breaths mixed.
Their lips brushed without touching.
Their hips moved at the same rhythm, slow, deep, burning.
And the music, the strobe lights, the screams around them… everything became secondary scenery.
Nari watched the scene for a second, overwhelmed by the energy.
The music crossed her skin.
The lights caressed her eyes.
The air smelled of alcohol, perfume, freedom.
Aera violently grabbed her hand.
— COME ON, NARI!!!
She pulled her to the center of the dance floor.
Nari hesitated.
One second.
Two.
Then…
She exploded.
She danced.
She really danced.
As if her body were waking up after months of apnea.
She raised her arms, closed her eyes, let herself go.
Her smile was reborn, lipstick shining under the lights.
Her belly vibrated to the rhythm of the music.
Her long black hair, slightly stuck to the nape of her neck by the heat, slid around her face as she began to dance, at first timidly… then more and more freely.
— YEEEEES MY BEAUTY, Aera shouted, grabbing her hand, come here!!
They danced together, their bodies synchronized, arms intertwining, hair whipping the air, heels striking the burning floor.
Nari laughed.
A real laugh.
A laugh that broke something inside her and rebuilt something else behind it.
Ryo joined them.
He grabbed Nari by the hands and spun her harder.
— THAT'S IT! THAT'S HOW YOU LIVE, NARI!! he yelled over the music.
She laughed.
She sweated.
Her heart was freed for a moment.
Aera pretended to step away, but a girl arrived — beautiful, tall, perched on heels.
She placed her hand on Ryo's arm.
— Hi, you're really—
And then…
Aera turned tomato red.
She grabbed Ryo by the t-shirt, pulled him back to her as if reclaiming her toy.
— He's not for you, sweetheart, she said with a fake smile, before grabbing Ryo by the collar again.
Ryo, laughing, slid his mouth to Aera's ear.
— Jealous, huh?
She blushed like a tomato.
Then bit her lip, panicked by herself.
— Shut up, Ryo.
They started dancing again:
Skin against skin.
Hip against hip.
Breath against breath.
The heat rose.
Sweat slowly slid down their temples, their necks, their arms.
Red and purple lights made their skin shine like wet glass.
Nari kept dancing alone now.
Free.
Her hands slid into her hair, her hips drew circles.
She felt alive for the first time in weeks.
Her cheeks were pink.
Her lips glossy.
Her eyes full of that light she had lost and suddenly found again, like a breath.
They ordered a bottle.
Not a normal bottle.
A bottle that arrived with sparklers, carried by a shirtless waiter.
Aera screamed.
Ryo applauded.
Nari laughed again.
Glasses clinked.
Shots flowed.
Vodka burned her throat.
Tequila fogged her thoughts.
The music sank into their flesh.
Aera danced on a couch.
Ryo held her to keep her from falling.
Nari danced on the floor, eyes closed, lost in the music.
The tequila burned her throat, went down like liquid fire, before turning into pure heat in her stomach.
And the music came back.
Powerful.
Electric.
The glasses kept coming.
The laughter ignited.
Bodies moved closer.
The world became blurry, soft, warm.
Nari felt the music enter her veins.
She felt the floor vibrate beneath her.
She felt Aera laughing so hard she cried.
She felt Ryo holding them by the waist, shouting that it was "the best night of the year."
She danced, again, again, again.
The red light slid over her skin like a caress.
The heat of bodies wrapped around her.
Her dress sparkled.
Her hair flew.
Her lips stretched into a smile she thought she would never find again.
It was a scene where, for a few hours, the pain went out.
Where Nari became a twenty-year-old girl again, free, light, alive.
The night kept crashing over Seoul.
In the club, the bass vibrated so hard you could feel it under the skin, deep into the bones.
Aera danced standing on a booth, Ryo holding her by the waist to keep her from falling, both screaming with laughter, completely drunk.
Nari, on the other hand, felt light-headed.
Red cheeks.
Vision a little blurry.
The alcohol made her heart beat too fast, like a small excited animal.
— Aera… I'm… I'm just going to the bathroom, she shouted, leaning to her ear.
— YEEEES GO GO! Don't hesitate to lose your mind in the bathroom, I'll join you — BUT WAIT I'M SURPRISED BY MY OWN KNEE RIGHT NOW—
She almost fell onto Ryo, who burst out laughing.
No one noticed Nari slipping away.
Nari climbed the stairs, slightly staggering, one hand sliding along the cold metal railing.
The music became more muffled as she went up.
Her breath formed a small mist in the dim light.
She arrived in front of the VIP bathroom corridor…
She didn't pay attention to it.
She was walking fast, pressed by her bladder and by the need to splash her face.
She pushed the door.
The light was whiter, calmer.
A brutal contrast with the luminous chaos of the dance floor.
She placed her hands on the sink.
Inhaled.
Exhaled.
The lipstick on her lips still shone.
Her black hair, curled by Aera, fell perfectly over her shoulders.
Her glittering dress sparkled.
She smiled at her reflection.
— I'm having one of the best nights of my life… she murmured, still a little drunk, still a little amazed to feel light.
She rinsed her fingers, shook her hands.
Then stepped out.
She had barely closed the door behind her…
When she heard:
— Sion, you are way too sexy… mmmh.