The music was deafening, and Moon Ara found herself swallowed by a sea of drunk strangers, all stumbling, screaming, laughing, and vibing to the beat. She didn't mind, though; after all, she was one of them. Still, she hadn't planned on drinking much tonight, knowing just how unreliable Joash could be. She settled at the club's counter, her eyes fixed on her boyfriend as he made a complete fool of himself on the dance floor. A sudden wave of relief washed over her. She was genuinely glad she'd declined his invitation to dance. When Joash danced, it was quite frankly embarrassing, and even her pretty face couldn't save them from the ensuing disgrace.
"Girl, you said you needed to let go! Why are you just sitting here like a broken-hearted girl?!"
Marina shrieked at her, barely audible over the roaring music. Moon Ara had said that earlier, but in the interim, a lot of things had happened that irked her to the core. To make matters worse, she had the worst temperament, and she was this close to snapping. She took a deep breath, plastered on a smile, and without tearing her eyes from the dance floor, replied:
"If he keeps dancing, I might actually kill him."
Marina glanced in Joash's direction and burst into a fit of laughter, causing her to lose her balance and stumble to the floor. He really did deserve to die.
Eventually, Marina drifted away from Ara's side, clearly aware that her friend's foul mood spelled danger for anyone in her orbit. Moon Ara's gaze drifted across the club: a perpetually drunk couple locked in a sloppy embrace in a corner, an extremely intoxicated woman with her skirt hiked up to her waist.
She watched with an indifferent expression, the usual mask she wore, making her thoughts utterly unreadable. However, her face scrunched up moments later as her phone lit up, revealing a caller ID that visibly shocked her: it was her sister. Reason told her that answering would undoubtedly ruin her night, but impulse screamed at her to pick up. Impulse won.
"Unnie..."
Su Ah's tearful voice echoed from the other end. Moon A'ra had already stepped outside the club by now, where the oppressive noise finally receded. After a few seconds of silence, she responded coldly.
"What do you want? Are you crying?"
Beneath the biting coldness, there was a faint hint of worry, but it was so subtle that anyone could easily miss it.
The caller was on the other side of the world, in Asia, to be exact. A'ra hadn't seen her sister in years, and now she was calling, crying? Fantastic.
"What is it? I'm very busy,"
She said impatiently when Su Ah hesitated in her response.
"Unnie... I'm getting canceled! They're saying I'm involved with a married man. It's all over the news. Have you seen it?!"
Su Ah's voice was a frantic, shaky mess.
Ara's headache, which had only just begun to subside, came roaring back with full force. She pressed her index finger to her temple and asked in a low, dangerous tone:
"What did you say you did?"
"I didn't do it, Unnie!! Someone's probably trying to slander me! How could I do that?!"
"Rumors don't just start in thin air. There has to be a reason. So why would they specifically accuse you of that?"
She was calm as she asked, but deep down, she wanted to strangle her. Ara was intimately familiar with Korea's culture of canceling idols over even the smallest scandal, but she also knew her sister's nature. Even with that cute idol reputation Su Ah had carefully upheld for years, Ara knew her better than anyone, and these rumors didn't seem so far-fetched after all.
"I really didn't do it... seriously!" Su Ah wailed desperately.
"Okay, so how exactly do you expect me to help you? I'm not even in South Korea. I'm honestly the last person you should be calling. And don't yell at me."
"Mum isn't answering her phone, and Dad is obviously with her. I can't call Jinsu, so you're the only one left. Please help me! You don't know what they're saying about me online!" Su Ah finally broke down, truly crying this time.
"Turn off your phone. Don't open it at all tomorrow. I'll talk to Mum. Don't even leave the house. Ask your manager to run errands for you. Stop crying, will you? It's just words, don't let them get to you." With that, Ara hung up, not waiting for another wave of bad news.
Ara took a deep breath and glanced at the time. It was almost 2 a.m. She truly wished she had stayed at home and slept as she had initially planned, then she could have dealt with all this tomorrow. Now, she couldn't stay here any longer; she wanted to leave immediately. She considered calling her mum but quickly changed her mind. She would call her tomorrow when her head was clearer. Instead, she called Joash.
"Babe! Hello..."
He answered enthusiastically, causing Ara to pull the phone away from her ear briefly.
"Let's go."
It was not a request, and Joash soon regretted not catching that, as he foolishly pushed on.
"What do you mean? It's still early! Let's leave at four, okay?"
"You'll get yourself home then. I'm leaving now."
She stated, ready to disconnect the call, but Joash stopped her swiftly, finally catching on to her ominous mood.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm coming out in a minute."
In less than a minute, he was already outside, and soon after, they were driving home. Joash was American, and in his mind, Ara was always an angel. She had never yelled in her life, was always quick to smile, and was, quite literally, his angel. But that morning, he sat stiff in the car, unsure if he was driving home with his fiancée or if something had possessed her.
The coldness on her face was frightening, like she had become an entirely different person. Nobody spoke throughout the car ride.
Joash was worried for nothing, though. This was the real Ara; nobody had possessed her.