Author's Notes: This has been sitting on my head for months now. It was only last month that I decided to write this down now, and the longest fan fiction I've written since my comeback. I have no idea whether to continue this fic or not, so this would be a one-shot for now.

I must say that I haven't been drunk before, so I don't know any mixes or how does it feel being tipsy.

I should also say that this is un-beta'ed, so if you are willing to beta this, feel free to message me.

Enjoy.


His cellular phone beeps and vibrates. He looks at it and grimaces as he sees the sender of the message.

From: Seo-senpai

A googol of thoughts whiz to his mind. Most include annoyance but on the other hand, few of it convey a speck of joy.

"Why would I even be glad that Seo-senpai texted me?" he mutters under his breath.

He ignores the message, shoving it inside his pocket and continues to do paper work. He adjusts the desk lamp, reading the calculus book on the desk. His face scrunches, finding the lesson to be more difficult than he expected.

"I can do this," he thinks, breathing in deeply. He scribbles notes on the paper beside the book, attempting to solve complex formulas with his mighty calculator and wit. Wiping the sheen of sweat on his forehead, he adjusts his glasses – he had to get a pair last year since he was studying all night with only a dim light, aside from the usual insomnia – reviewing the principles of the topic.

His cellular phone beeps again.

From: Seo-senpai

He carries on to the task at hand, completely disregarding the message.

A few seconds later, his phone beeps again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

He groans, flustered at the influx of messages. He sighs in defeat, electing to put down his pen and calculator for a moment. He glances at the phone again, unsurprised of the name of the sender.

From: Seo-senpai

He unlocks the screen lock, scrolling to the first one he ignored.

From: Seo-senpai (19:21)

waka

He moves on to the next message.

From: Seo-senpai (19:34)

aino u're still awake waka

He becomes slightly ticked, but forces himself to read the next messages.

From: Seo-senpai (19:34)

ey waka

From: Seo-senpai (19:35)

u won't b abl 2 resist reading my msgs

"She's really good at bothering people," he comments off-handedly.

From: Seo-senpai (19:35)

I gots sumthin 2 tel u

From: Seo-senpai (19:36)

bt I won't tel untl u rply me tho

From: Seo-senpai (19:36)

come on Waka notice me

He hits the "Reply" button, typing his response.

To: Seo-senpai

All right! What is it this time, senpai?

He pushes the "Send" button, his heart beating rapidly. Whenever Seo sends him a message, he always has – no, must go out with Seo. And it typically does not end well for him, while Seo always gets what she wants.

It must have been a minute later when he received a reply.

From: Seo-senpai (19:38)

finally!

A second message comes in, and he wastes no time in reading it.

From: Seo-senpai (19:38)

we shud meet d usual pub dis Sunday

same time same place

d entire gang's coming & u'd btr b there, or else

"The usual place, huh? And with everybody," he says.

His mind goes back to a few years back, when he was still wearing his high school uniform. He recalls of a time where he experienced stress from basketball practices, slept in peace with a particular person's voice, assisting his former team captain in shoujo manga, and all the mayhem he has been involved (don't get him started with the department store fiasco, yikes!). He met exceptional people at the academy, most of which he looked up to (especially Hori-senpai, he is brilliant in creating backgrounds).

This would probably be the first time that everybody will be meeting everybody again after graduation. Everyone went on to different colleges or universities, pursuing undergraduate degrees.

And here he is, Hirotaka Wakamatsu, an engineering student. He is burning the midnight oil in preparation for the finals coming (two weeks from now, actually) and now his senpai, Yuzuki Seo, wants him to indulge for a night.

He contemplates about the meet-up. He weighs the gravity of going and not going. It is one of the rare times where he is not irked to Seo's invitation.

"I guess one night can't hurt that much," he thinks, typing up the response. He has the money to travel all the way back to their pub of choice and fortunately, he does not have a class on Mondays.

To: Seo-senpai

OK


The pub exudes a cozy and warm feeling, which is probably one of the reasons why Seo always come there from time to time.

He sees a table with familiar faces. His face breaks into a comfortable smile.

"Nozaki-senpai! Sakura-senpai, Hori-senpai, Kashima-senpai, Mikoshiba-senpai, too! Long time, no see!" he calls out, walking towards them.

"Long time, no see!"

"How're you?"

"Looking good, Wakamatsu!"

"Wakamatsu-kun!"

"Waka!" a brunette says, rushing over to him. She practically drags him to the empty seat beside her.

"S-Seo-senpai…!" he utters.

Seo huffs, beaming. She puts her hands on her hips, and begins to quiet everybody in their table. "Good evening, everybody! I have an important announcement to make…"

This gets everybody's attention, including Wakamatsu's.

"I'm graduating this term!" she cries. Everybody feels happy for Seo's achievement. "And because of that, I'll be treating everybody a drink!"

Most of the people in their table burst into delight. They start to make a break for it at the bar, ordering different mixes.

"This would be a long night," Wakamatsu thinks, deciding to order fruit mojito.


He grunts, adjusting his hold to Seo. She chortles, walking sloppily with Wakamatsu.

"Seo-senpai, stop forcing yourself to walk on your own," Wakamatsu tells her.

"I'm not – hic – forcing myself – hic – to walk," she replies, her speech slurring.

He sighs, wondering why he immediately volunteered to bring Seo to her apartment.

"You've had one drink too much, senpai," Wakamatsu whispers, mostly to himself.

Just after Seodeclares in treating everyone a drink, he simply ordered one glass. Everyone ordered what they could handle, just two or three glasses. Seo, on the other hand, ordered five bottles of hard liquor. She had easily downed them but left her tipsy and hiccupping.

Everyone became clearly worried for her, but no one would take her home.

It was supposedly the last thought that he could have conjured, but his mouth already had spoken before he knew it.

And here they are, traversing the streets during an ungodly hour of the day.

They are walking silently, just occasionally interrupted by Seo's hiccups.

"Waka."

"Hm?"

"You know, I've always wondered how you – hic – ever had a crush on someone you'd never even – hic – met," she says.

He immediately stops walking. "Is she talking about Lorelei-san?" he thinks.

She faces him, looking him straight in the eye. He gulps involuntarily at the intensity of her amber eyes.

"She has beautiful eyes…" he thinks, staring back at her.

She suddenly giggles (wait, did she really just giggle?), pushing him off of her. She points her finger at him, telling, "Oh, that look in your eyes! I know what that – hic – says! It's one of those that say, 'Man, look at that! I'm so lucky that – hic – I got to be near a big-chested woman, I want to – hic – bang her!'"

Seo suddenly leans forward. With his reflexes, Wakamatsu catches her in the nick of time.

"Seo-senpai!"

"I'm fine!" she immediately replies. She then retches what was her dinner on to Wakamatsu. His eyes widen in shock but never moves in place, his leather jacket soiled by his senpai.

"I'm – hic – fine, Waka," she says, wiping her face with the sleeve of his jacket. "I can go home by myself."

"You're obviously not fine, Seo-senpai," he says, pouting. He takes off his jacket, turning it inside out and zipping it shut. He hangs it on his arm, before proceeding to carry Seo bridal style. He is careful, minding not to soil her clothes with her own vomit. "I'll carry you back home, even if you disapprove!"

She unexpectedly hushes, a silent compliance, putting all of her weight against him. She plants her face on his shoulder, closing her eyes. He resumes treading the streets again, noticing just how warm Seo is.

"You're so… steady, Waka," she whispers. She lifts up a hand and caresses his jaw gently, electricity working its way to Wakamatsu. Her eyes are little bit glazed as she glances to him.

His breath hitches a little, startled by this sudden intimate action. "S-s-so, what direction should we take next?"

She directs her gaze to the streets, squinting at the street signs. "Go right from here. If you see a red brick three-storey building, that's my – hic – apartment building."

He follows the directions given to him. His heart unusually flutters just how close he is to Seo – a vulnerable Seo, at that. He feels tempted to write something on Seo's forehead but then dismisses it immediately, feeling bad to be taking advantage of the already awkward situation.

They finally reach the red brick building, the light above the door shining brightly.

"What's your room number?" he tries to casually ask.

"It's 207," she mumbles.

He walks up to the front, ringing the doorbell. The door opens, revealing a frowning elderly woman. She instantly glares at Seo, then at Wakamatsu.

"You must be her landlady! Sorry for disturbing you," Wakamatsu says, bowing his head slightly. "I accompanied Seo-senpai home since she is not feeling well…"

"Who's not feeling well?!" Seo shouts. The landlady winces, her scowl deepening.

He laughs nervously. "C-can I go in?"

"Oh, sure you can go in!" the landlady replies a bit harshly. She pinches the bridge of her nose as he passes her by. He swears that he heard the landlady muttering bad things about Seo. Seo, on the other hand, snuggles closer to Wakamatsu.

He's unsure of how he could describe his feelings now.

Room 207 is now right in front him.

"Seo-senpai, where are your keys?"

"Don't bother," she speaks softly. "They're open."

"Who leaves their door unlocked?!" Wakamatsu thinks. "Then again, this is Seo-senpai…"

He gulps. "This is the first time I'm in a girl's room… And Seo-senpai's room for that matter…"

He manages to opens the door, and is blown away.

Contrary to her brash and abrasive personality, her room is clutter-free. Her desk is piled with sheets (music sheets, in fact), neatly arranged by genre. Metronomes of different shapes and sizes are placed on a shelf together with music books, CDs and vinyl records.

He is mesmerized at the sheer number of material that Seo has. "She's so dedicated… even with her terrible voice…"

He notices the picture frames that line her bedside table. The pictures are those of her family, her class, the choir club and the girls' and boys' basketball club. (He groans at the boys' basketball club picture – Seo elbowed him as the camera snapped!) He finally puts her down on her bed, Seo groaning at the moment she loses contact with Wakamatsu.

"Stay," she whispers, her voice barely audible.

This makes Wakamatsu do a double-take. "W-what?"

She shifts her position, now facing him. "Just stay."

Wakamatsu feels compelled to stay, not because he thinks that it is the politically correct response, but because it is Seo. ("What am I even thinking? I dislike Seo-senpai!") He stands nearby Seo's side of the bed.

"S-S-Seo-senpai, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" he asks. She grunts in reply and adds, "I have an extra towel… It's beside the medicine cabinet… Color green…"

He feels a little uncomfortable going in her bathroom, but he has no other choice. He strips off his clothes and cleans himself. Luckily, detergent is present and he is able to clean up his filthy jacket and shirt.

He leaves the bathroom topless, still wearing his pants from before. He notices that Seo has taken off her shoes and is wriggling her toes. She stops wriggling them and looks at him. Her eyes linger a little too much at his chest, before her eyes go over his head.

Wakamatsu clears his throat and nervously says, "I-I-I'm sorry I don't a change of clothes…"

This snaps Seo back into reality. "Don't worry, I have extra shirts in my dresser… You can choose whatever," she says, snickering.

Wakamatsu raises his eyebrow. "Extra shirts? But she's much smaller than I am!"

He nonetheless goes over her dresser and opens it. His eyes widen upon the sight he gets.

On the dresser were different colors of dresses, skirts and… gowns? These outnumber the casual clothes that Wakamatsu sees Seo typically wear.

He eyes the larger sweatshirts beside the dresses, slowly picking a maroon one. He scrutinizes the tag, slips the shirt on and feels oddly comfortable.

"No way, in my size, too…" he wonders. He closes the dresser and turns around, getting a mini heart attack when Seo is right in front of him.

"S-Seo-senpai!" he cries, stepping backward. He regains his composure and berates her. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

She stands on the tips of her toes, lifting her face closer to Wakamatsu until it is merely inches away. Her amber orbs look straight back into his. Her breath smells strongly of the liquor she drank, it took nearly every strength of Wakamatsu's facial muscles not to wrinkle.

Wakamatsu gulps, his heart beating faster than he wanted to.

"You know, me graduating wasn't really what I want to tell you," she whispers huskily.

He takes a second too long to respond, finally finding his voice. "W-W-What is it, t-t-then?"

He barely registers what happens after he spoke. Something soft is on lips, pressing lightly. The pressure lifts, and it was only then that Wakamatsu finally understands what just occurred.

Seo just kissed him.

He simply gazes at her incredulously, too frozen in shock to move.

She chuckles. "I'm Lorelei, by the way." She walks away, moving towards the bed.

Wakamatsu just couldn't believe what he just heard. "I'm Lorelei, by the way" continues to echo repeatedly in his mind, failing to process the information.

And then, it finally sinks in.

He storms to Seo, who has comfortably settled in her bed, holds her by the shoulders and shakes her. "How can you be Lorelei-san?! I heard you sing one day, you're a horrible singer! You couldn't hold a tune at the right pitch! You pale in contrast to Lorelei-san in personality alone!"

Her face contorts into anger. "Me? Can't hold a tune properly?! Please! You've been listening to my songs and adored them!"

"You're not Lorelei-san, Seo-senpai! I've heard how you sing myself, and I pity the choir club for having you as a member!"

"That was Kashima singing! She came to me for voice lessons! You can even ask her! Don't take everything you see as it is! Goodness, Waka!"

"Don't pull Kashima-senpai here, Seo-senpai! She doesn't have anything to do with that," he groans. "Ugh, you haven't changed one bit! You really are bullying people just for the heck of it! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh well, at least I didn't have a crush on someone I haven't even seen! And I should be asking you that, what's wrong with you?"

"Mean bully!"

"Blind worshipper!"

A muffled shout erupts at one side of the room. "Will ya shut up?! Someone's sleeping here!"

Seo mouths a profanity at the neighbor. She glares daggers to Wakamatsu and says, "How long are you gonna stay on top?"

Wakamatsu finally realizes his position, his face turning into a deep shade of red. He immediately removes himself off, deciding to sit at the edge of the bed.

Seo starts to sit upright, sighing. "You don't believe that I'm Lorelei?" she says grumpily. "Fine! I'll sing a song to you. Don't blame me if you fall asleep!"

"No need to sing to me, my ears will just br–"

Her voice fills the entire room. Wakamatsu suddenly straightens at the melody she is belting out – it sounds very familiar, a tune that he knows by heart now.

It is the very first song of Lorelei that he heard [1].

It is at that same moment that he notices that the entire room's walls are fitted with sound dampeners. He relishes in the beauty of the voice that his ears pick up.

In that moment, his eyes no longer see anything clearly. Everything has become a blur, and Wakamatsu slumps back into the bed. Seo, on the other hand, manages to avoid Wakamatsu's back and stops singing.

"Idiot."


[1] - The song that Seo sings in Episode 2 is "Caro Mio Ben" by Giuseppe Giordani.

I like to think that Seo is attending the Kyoto City University of Arts.