-6-

Indulge in sin.

Sordid.

Vile.

Disgraceful.

And yet...

...Beauteous.

Magnificent.

Divine.

Yes.

Divine.

So very...divinely wicked.

The distinguishing jumble of rivaling adjectives best described the catastrophe that manifested in the fogged bathroom mirror before me, it's medium silver frame stopping just short of my shoulders to conceal my nudity. A tranquil mist engrossed the tight spaces of thy comfort room as the after effects of my mid-day shower blissfully glistened on my moist skin.

God knows just how long I stood there in all my bare nakedness, entirely immersed by society's chief weapon of narcissism.

Vanity.

I despised such a word.

But in this very moment, I was riveted.

Mystified.

My dampened web of curls was swept neatly over my right shoulder, shamelessly unveiling my neck—

—The main attraction to the circus that is my body.

Freshly swollen welts and purpling splotches colored my plain of flesh, trailing heinously from my upper neck down to the left portion of my collarbone.

A treacherous sight I was.

A sight so conflicting in its true meaning.

Alarm would strike to the typical eye at its vivid gruesomeness.

It's sheer brutality.

To my eye, it was beauty.

Art.

A true conundrum that parroted the tarnishing sexuality of Horangi high's glorified princess.

Yes.

My body was merely a canvas for the unrefined wickedness of Irene Bae. The raw ugliness of her imperfection was tattooed across my skin, etched in the fibers of my soul.

I was marked—branded as an unintentional parting gift from our iniquitous locker room affair.

I'm marked.

The tips of my fingers feathered lightly along the tattered skin, fraying shortly after to closely examine the ripe bruises wrung around my wrists.

A nasty result of my everlasting struggle with my uniform tie.

Our form of restraint.

Shit.

That girl tied one hell of a knot.

Luckily, I was able to loosen its bindings enough where I could wriggle free.

I held no regrets.

Sure, I had been bounded, teased, and abandoned by Irene due to the hellish scorn every woman possesses. Yet, if given the chance to replay said events, I wouldn't change a damn thing.

I'm her fucking toy.

Wind me up, lay me out, and wear me down.

No matter what I'd endure, I'll always be ready for more.

Little by little, 'Mrs. Shattered Perfection' gained experience in this dangerous game of desire.

Of obsession.

The longer I dazed at her work, the more I craved for those red lips to reconnect with my skin....

"Suddenly...my virginity doesn't seem so special anymore..."

...The more I hungered for her sacred innocence, to rid her of the final obstacle shielding the rest of her perfection.

"I'll regret it...I'll hate myself..."

Yet even then, she was wet, ready and willing to completely ruin herself, pleading me to claim the one and only thing Kang Seungyoon—

—Her boyfriend,

Her love—

—Didn't have.

"I really want to give it up to you..."

I clenched my teeth hard in anticipation.

I'll take her.

With a skilled movement of my wrist, I reached out for the sink where my phone rested. Swiftly thumbing to camera mode, I held the tiny device high above my nude body and angled the lens towards my neck.

A dozen snapshots later, I attached the photos in a mass message to Irene with the appropriate caption: 'Fucked.'

I barely batted an eyelash before she sent her reply.

My God, Seulgi...-IB

A satisfied smile spread at my chafed lips.

Beautiful, isn't it?-xxx

...I did that?

-IB

How cute of her to actually be surprised.

With the savage way she ripped into me, did she honestly expect a barely noticeable love bite?

Didn't think you were capable of that, huh?

-xxx

I...I didn't think I'd....it looks so...painful...

-IB

Trust me, girl. I ain't in pain.

-xxx

Nanoseconds later.

God, I'm so disgusting...

-IB

I replied with gusto.

Lol. Why do you say that?

-xxx

I was in no way, shape or form, prepared for her answer.

Because the very sight of you like that has me soaking wet...

-IB

Dear heavenly father, I beg for forgiveness.

Swallowing acutely, I punched in another message to my awaiting green-eyed infatuation.

That makes two of us....

-xxx

I chose my next words carefully.

...Maybe you'd like to take a closer look.

-xxx

I didn't have to spell it out in brightly labeled A-B-C blocks for her to understand exactly what I was implying.

All of our previous hookups took place solely on school grounds.

It excited me blind thinking of Irene dressed in anything opposed to her skank-proof uniform.

Better yet, nothing at all...

Unfortunately, whatever 'ball hardening' serum that induced her to confess her sudden arousal for me wore off fast.

I can't. I'm busy.-IB

An unpleasant scowl distorted my expression.

Excuse me, but 'fickle Irene' can go straight to hell.

I knew she wanted to see me too.

There was no sense in fronting.

So, what the fuck?

Watch it, Bae. You're not the only one who knows how to bite.

-xxx

Her corresponding message wasn't as immediate as the others but it still clocked at heart-beating speed.

It's true. I promised my friends I'd spend my Saturday with them. We'll be out all day shopping.

-IB

Right.

Like I give any flying fucks about her dumbass drones.

So? Just ditch them.-xxx

Why would I? They're way more important than you.-IB

No.

It didn't sting.

I knew my place.

I'm second.

Number two.

Dos.

But I also knew a fat assed bold face lie when I smelled one.

On a scale from one to ten, how wet are your panties right now?

-xxx

I leered at her counter reply.

Shut up.

-IB

Awww...did I hit a nerve?

-xxx

Fuck you.

-IB

Please?

-xxx

You make me sick.

-IB

And you're full of shit. We both know what happens when we choose to ignore this...

-xxx

When she didn't respond within a minute, I cooked up another text dosed in nothing but the indisputable truth.

I've tasted you. You've gotten a taste of me. Is it really necessary to keep fighting it, Irene? You can't run.

-xxx

You can't hide.

In what seemed like centuries, her reply finally came.

Looks like you're not getting the picture here so let me make this very clear. I don't want to see you.

-xxx

Before the vexation already lodged in my throat could expand to the point of suffocation, Irene sent a few more messages straight after.

Indecisive, cryptic messages.

We are out in Myeong-dong. I'll be there all day with them having fun and I don't want to ruin my mood by seeing you.-IB

We will most likely be in the same area for the next two hours. I most definitely don't want to see you.

-IB

Don't even bother asking again. I don't want to see you.

-IB

So.

Either she's OCD-anal about disclosing every single detail of her location while rejecting me in the process, or—

—She's tearing a page straight from my book of 'read between the lines' and desperately pleading me to decipher her messages.

Latter, I chose you.

Hint taken. -xxx

...Then we have an understanding?

-IB

Absolutely.

-xxx

Good.

-IB

Ardor and lust washed over me like a warm bath on a lazy afternoon as I read her next text.

By the way...there isn't a number fitting enough to chart just how fucking wet I am for you right now....

-IB

Oh, hell yeah.

Hook, line and sinker.

While pondering whether or not to reply, a frantic sequence of knocking suddenly reverberated from the outside of the bathroom door.

"Seul! Is that you in there?!" The shrill whine of my older brother, Jaebum, shrieked through the thick paneled door as he crazily pounded on it repeatedly. "Could you hurry the hell up?! I gotta piss!"

I scoffed in annoyance.

Crisp off a plane from America and already that pea-brained idiot aggravated me into an early grave.

I twirled around to the towel rack behind me and secured the bristled fabric around my upper torso. I then began compulsively fiddling with my tangled curls, thankful that the strands of blonde were lengthy enough to shroud most of the nasty scars scrapped along my neck.

Zero shame lied underneath my bruised skin. However, it was better if they went unseen.

Family lectures aren't my thing.

"Fucking hell, Seul! I'm about to explode!" I heard him bellow once again, his fists continuously colliding into the door with a tumultuous bang.

After one last glazed stare at my captivating reflection, I unlatched the lock and opened the door. A greasy, silvery-haired Jaebum stood curled uncomfortably in the doorframe. He wore a wrinkled white t-shirt stained with God-knows-what and messily aligned boxers that bagged off his waist distastefully. He held himself compactly, honing a twisted expression one would when inflicted in extreme pain.

It was the first time we've seen each other in over a year.

He managed to somehow sneak in the house late last night after a wild boozing party session with his old high school douche mates. He didn't even bother dropping by to see his actual family first for even a simple 'hi, I'm home'.

Mother, of course, gave him an earful of scolding.

Me personally?

I didn't blame him.

Can't say I wouldn't do the same if given the chance.

If it came to Irene, you better believe it.

We awkwardly stared at each other briefly before Jaebum bum rushed past me into the steamy warmth of the bathroom, intentionally pushing me out into the hallway in the process.

"Great to see you, little sis! I'd give you a hug and kiss but I really have to take a leak and also, you're naked so that would be fucking weird! See you in five seconds!" The knee-buckling boy explained his rude actions in one short breath before slamming the door shut.

I snorted.

Idiot.

I retreated into the privacy of my bedroom, tossing aside my cell and unknotting the towel from around my body. The wooly cloth fell soundlessly down below my feet.

To be naked and free without a care was the one basic privilege I treasured the most.

Oh, how I longed for a certain pair of fiery, lust-flared emerald eyes to hungrily scale my bare structure, basking in my tribute for her crumbling perfection.

Every layer of skin,

Every inch of flesh,

Every crevice is hers to destruct.

To defile.

I'm hers.

I'm hers.

I wasn't spared another second to bathe in my scandalous fantasies for the same irritating voice that threw me off track the first time obliterated my focus.

"Yo, you decent yet?" Jaebum's muffled voice slurred.

"No," I grunted, glaring hard at the white-coated door that was heedlessly swung open despite my objection.

"Fuck it, I'm coming in anyway," The platinum-haired doofus announced loudly as he stumbled into my room, one hand cropped over his eyes while the other waved around to weed out any unfamiliar obstacles.

"It's rude to enter a room without permission," I scolded him harshly with a roll of my eyes, weaving around his wobbling form to head for my closet.

"True," He agreed through a goofy giggle. "But big brothers should get special privileges."

I cringed.

Big brother?

Ugh.

I'm gonna barf.

"Sure, big brother, you have all the privileges in the world," I mundanely mocked him while slipping into a clean set of bra and panties.

"Ah, don't sound so sarcastic, baby sister," Jaebum playfully whined. "I know you missed me too."

I could practically hear the grin in his stupid, smug ass voice.

So annoying.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I muttered, now riffling through my tiny closet for an outfit best fitting for my little 'outing'.

Not that it exactly mattered.

I don't count on staying clothed for long.

After shrugging into a casual fitted graphic tee and white denim shorts topped with a dingy gray zippered hoodie, I turned around to face my clueless brother who continued to maze visionless around my room like a drunken sailor.

"I'm dressed." I dully informed him right before he could ram himself head-first into my bulky dresser.

He immediately removed his hand and rerouted himself in my direction; his signature goofball smile uplifting his previously strained features.

"Ah! There she is!" He gushed enthusiastically; charging at my stationary figure with his arms spread wide open for a heart-warming bear hug.

I extended my own arms outward in front of me but only to repel him backward.

"Please don't touch me."

Despite my extreme displeasure for bodily contact, Jaebum roughly grabbed at my cheeks, pulling them apart then squashing them back together as if I were a fluffy plush toy.

"I missed this cute little squirrel face of yours so damn much!"

"Ew, get off me!" I snapped disgustedly while slapping his offending hands away, my cheeks burning from the friction. "Did you even wash your hands?!"

Jaebum smirked.

Men.

Fucking vermin.

"You're still an asshole, I see," Jaebum laughed light-heartedly, wiping his sweaty palms on his already gritty t-shirt.

"And you're still a repulsive dickweed, Jaebum," I retaliated with a grimace.

"Actually, I go by JB now," He happily corrected. "It's a little nickname I picked up in Cali."

"It's retarded," I quipped, judgmentally eyeing his newly dyed locks of silver. "And so is your faggoty hairstyle."

"What? You don't like it?" He chuckled, raking his fingers self-consciously through his matted dye job.

"You look like total queerbait."

He wiggled his eyebrows sleazily.

"The chicks dig it."

I ignored his revolting statement and stalked over to my nightstand to retrieve my cell, wallet and house keys.

Jaebum hobbled behind me.

"Where are you off to anyway?" He asked curiously, leaning himself up against the same cherry wood dresser set that nearly became a permanent fixture to his face.

"None of your business." I dismissed.

Jaebum poked at my sore cheek with his index finger.

"Don't be a sour puss, Seully."

I narrowed my eyes thinly at him.

"What's it to you?"

"Well..." He drawled, nervously shifting his gaze back and forth between the scuffed floorboards and me. "I was just thinking...that maybe you'd want to spend the day with me."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm only here for the weekend and we should jump at this chance to spend as much quality time together as possible."

A heavy sigh heaved past my lips.

I knew he'd pull this crap.

He always did whenever he'd visit.

And it always seemed so God damn forced.

Whether he admitted it or not, my very existence burdened him.

I was, after all, a deplorable accident.

A mistake.

The aftermath of sin at its very best.

Long before I was born into this eternally damned universe, my mother was happily married to a wealthy banker, whom she spent four strong, blissful years building a solid cherished life of love and parenthood with.

A giant cluster fuck of happiness.

Then, reality struck.

My mother allowed herself to fall head first into the jagged, fissured pit of human nature and committed adultery with a low-life scumbag who not only single handily destroyed her marriage but also left her out on her ass.

Heartbroken and knocked up.

That's how I came about.

The bastard.

An ugly custody battle arose over who had rights to Jaebum, the precious child, while I was cast aside in the shadows, left alone to grow up in the mists of bitterness and betrayal. Eventually, things were settled evenly with Jaebum being swapped around like a rag doll between the incredibly stable household of his still very well-off father and his struggling single mother of two, barely able to tread by the monthly rent.

Oh, mother.

My poor mother.

It wasn't her fault she was such a whore.

That's just the price you pay when you lay down with the devil.

Then there was Jaebum.

Tough dilemma to be thrown in for a hard-headed punk like him.

He resented me.

Loathed every breath I took.

Blamed me indirectly for thriving with the blood of the filthy peasant who tore his family apart.

But he didn't dare show it.

Instead, he welcomed me.

Pitied my unfortunate come about.

But bastards shouldn't be pitied.

"So what do you say?" My dimwitted half-brother asked me, causing me to submerge from my twizzled thoughts.

"I already made plans." I sighed while tucking my wallet and keys in my short's back pocket, sliding my cell inside the front compartment of my zippered hoodie. I left my bedroom and walked into the hallway. Jaebum trailed after me once again like a lost puppy.

"Oh, come on, Seul," He childishly yowled, tugging heavily on the sleeve of my sweat jacket. "Just one day with me. It'll be fun."

I tried shrugging him off but he was quick.

"What can possibly be more important than spending time with me?" He asked firmly, lanky body standing dominantly tall.

Gee, I don't know.

Gorgeous soul-stealing green eyes and a very moist pair of panties?

I'm a girl obsessed.

Hell itself could seep up from the depths of the underground and devour me whole, and I'd still find my way to the angelic emerald glow of Irene's eyes.

My obsession was waiting.

And nothing could keep me from her.

Not even blood.

"I don't have to explain anything to you, okay? Just leave me alone," I griped, attempting to bulldoze my way past him but ended up being enwrapped in a snug bear hug.

"I'm sure whatever it is can wait," Jaebum hummed in my ear, snuggling me closer.

"Get off me," I spat venomously then jabbed him sharply in the ribs with my elbow, which was inflicting enough for him to loosen his hold.

But he didn't let go.

"What's the magic words?" He boyishly giggled.

"Fuck off now or I'll sever your balls."

"That's gonna be a pretty damn hard tas—" Jaebum began to joke but cut off abruptly mid-sentence.

His entire body stiffened.

Weird...

Due to his petrified state, I easily slipped out of his hold and took a single step backward so that I could study his face.

The once cheerful expression he flaunted had transfigured into a solemn and frigid mask. His brooding gaze zoned intently on a particular section of my neck, now very much visible thanks to our stirred movements.

I tussled my hair wildly about in order to distract him from the grotesque patch of skin but it was too late.

He saw.

Shit.

"...What is this?" Jaebum asked gravely, his coarse fingers treading ominously over the torn skin.

"Nothing..." I huffed, lifting my arm to push away his hand.

He grappled onto it instead.

Razor-sharp hazel eyes locked instantly with the inflamed ring of skin circled around my wrist.

"Don't lie to me, Seulgi..." My brother morbidly warned, his iron grip tightening around my wrist each second I remained silent. "Where the hell did these come from?"

I stared up at him, thoroughly confused.

His caution was definitely appropriate considering the condition my skin was currently in, which is why I hid them in the first place.

However, this wasn't quite the reaction I had been expecting.

Yes, I knew he'd be slightly gung-ho about it but he was totally taking this to the extreme.

"Jaebum, I told you it's nothing," I assured him, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Just a little skin rash..."

His nostrils flared.

"You really must think I'm an idiot, huh?" He growled while releasing my arm to reach for the front of my sweat jacket, forcibly yanking down the zipper to better expose what my hair couldn't conceal. "This isn't some fucking skin rash. Tell the goddamn truth."

What's his deal?

"I already said what it wa—" I continued to deny his accusations but soon found myself propelling backward into the hallway wall. Jaebum had me pinned strongly by my shoulder, his intensely dark eyes rendering me helpless in place.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I spat frustratedly.

The chilling way he glared me down in that moment had me almost fear-stricken.

"...It's happening again, isn't it?"

My brows furrowed together in puzzlement.

"The fuck are yo—"

"Stop it, okay?! Stop with the lies!" He thunderously barked, drowning out the rest of my sentence. "You're doing it again, aren't you?! Tell the truth!"

I, in all honesty, hadn't a single clue what the hell he was even talking about.

It was unsettling.

I can't ever recall a time where I've seen him this enraged.

It doesn't make sense...

Before I had the chance to question his hostility, a thin yet strong arm separated the infuriated boy from my immobilized body.

"What in the world is going on here?" The deeply concerned voice of my mother asked distraughtly as she pried Jaebum away by his dirt-crusted shirt collar. "You two should be catching up not jumping at each other's throats."

Jaebum, now pushed a good distance away due to my mother's interference, glowered on at me like I had committed a petty crime right before his eyes.

"Ma, look at her!" He gestured frantically at my neck with quick motions of his hands. "She's doing it again, I know she is! Just look at her!"

My mother transfixed her gaze from Jaebum to me, her aged bloodshot eyes scanning every splotched piece of skin stretched across my neck. After a brief second, she settled them back onto her raging silver-headed first born.

"Jaebum," She sighed calmly, running a tired hand through her frazzled graying hair. "Your sister needs some space; we can talk about this later."

Jaebum stared at her, disbelieved.

"But, Ma, look at her," He bullishly argued. "Can't you see? She's hurting—"

"We'll talk about it later." My mother sternly reinstated.

"But—" My half-brother started to grunt in protest but stopped when the cutthroat glare of our mother seared into him.

Grumbling angrily in defeat, Jaebum stormed down the hall and retreated inside the spare guest room that used to belong to him before he left for university.

I stood frozen.

Stupefied.

Hickies are hickies.

No matter how gruesome they may seem, it's pretty damn easy to recognize them as such. Something told me Jaebum was reading into them a lot deeper than what lied beyond the surface.

If anything, he should have been fussing and raving over the possibility of a boy sucking on me or even roughing me up a bit.

But...

With the way he was ranting on...it was almost like...

Like...

...Like he thinks I did it to myself.

The air in my lungs constricted at the absurd thought.

Fuck this shit.

I silently darted down the opposite end of the hallway and into the living room for the front door.

My mother shuffled behind me.

"Seulgi, honey," She softly called.

"What?" I snapped defensively.

"Are you going out, sweetheart?"

"Yes..." I muttered as I watched her advance forward wearing an oddly warm smile, anxiously fidgeting about with my hair and adjusting the alignment of my clothes like she used to do when I was a small child.

"Have you eaten? Would you like me to make you something?" She asked in a forced joyful tone.

"I'm fine," I grumbled crankily as I bent down to rummage inside the shoe basket for my sneakers.

She observed my every movement.

It was when I was all laced up and ready to go that she spoke again.

"Seulgi...are you sure you're alright?"

That tone...

Fuck, I know that tone.

Her 'I want to believe you but I can't' tone.

And I didn't fucking know why.

Why?

Both she and Jaebum reacted differently to my scars.

Jaebum flipped his lid yet she remained calm.

Why?

If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were hiding something...

...I'd think they knew something I didn't.

But that couldn't be it.

What could they possibly know about me that I wasn't aware of?

"I said I'm fine."

My mother held clear conviction in her worn eyes. I knew she wanted nothing more than to question me further but instead, she sighed heavily and smiled her tired smile.

"Okay, dear. If you say you're okay....I believe you."

I'm not sure why but the way she worded that had me feeling...

Guilty.

I didn't want to stick around to figure out the rest.

Fuck this, fuck this, fuck this.

I sped out the door without even a simple breath of goodbye.

"I believe you..."

"I believe you..."

"I believe you..."

"I believe you..."

"I believe you..."

So why didn't I believe her?

An inward groan emitted from me as I charged down the two flights of stairs leading into the apartment entranceway.

Focus, Seulgi, focus. I religiously chanted to myself in an attempt to diminish the burdening concerns of my mother and brother.

But all it took was a glint of green to rail me back on track.

Irene.

Yes.

My thirst for her was stronger than ever.

I'll take her...all of her...

I headed straight for the Myeong-dong district, grimacing the entire way. The damn place was always bustling with life. Elbow to elbow on almost every sidewalk, dodging several bodies, suitcases, and purses here and there.

The city of life.

Agendas were made.

Appointments were kept.

Goals were met.

My 'goal' was wedged somewhere in all this mass hysteria.

And oh, I'd find her.

I always hit my target.

My hand automatically burrowed its way inside my sweat jacket pocket to retrieve my cell.

I'm around. Where are you?

-xxx

Within a half a minute, a reply came.

The fashion boutique by the food market.

-IB

My gaze rose from the tiny phone screen to seek out the nearest food market and luckily, I was only a few paces away with the petite-sized fashion boutique standing not too far alongside.

Bull's-eye.

I casually strolled across the walkway and entered inside the boutique.

My emerald-eyed muse instantly captured my attention in a whirlwind of seduction.

And how could I miss a sight like that?

Irene Bae stood proudly perfect between her flock of groupies wearing a wine-colored ruffle crop top that stopped just short of her belly button. A lightweight cream cardigan and tight-fitted black jeans completed her jaw-dropping ensemble. She joked and giggled amongst her friends as they skipped silly-natured around the boutique, window-shopping as teenagers do best.

I was entwined in desire.

Lust injected.

Weak.

Desperate.

Wet.

I'll have you...

I discreetly maneuvered myself out of sight so not to draw attention toward the squad of preps and busied myself with a nearby clothing rack. Maintaining coherent thoughts, I swiftly typed a message, my eyes exclusively on my well-endowed prize.

It's taking everything in me not to drag you inside one of these dressing stalls and make you fucking scream my name...or better yet...make me scream yours.

-xxx

Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson in reaction to my suggestive text, prompting her to begin her search for me.

The synchronized way those green-speckled eyes locked onto my hungry hazel ones was kismet.

Be still, my hammering heart.

As much as we wanted to jump each other's bones right then and there, we couldn't very well do so with her brain-dead cronies hovering about, distracting her with silly nonsense. Somehow, she found a moment to saunter off in a stray corner, pretending to entertain herself by browsing through a random shelf of blouses.

I lurked closer to her inch by inch until we were within skin-touching distance.

Like a bee to a pollinated sunflower, her sweet scent induced me to close in on her alluring beauty.

I eagerly reached for the same bundle of fabric she filed through, our fingers instinctively interlocking when we both happened to touch upon the same article of clothing.

A miraculous sensation of heat pulsed between our joined hands.

It's fate.

It's kismet.

The tip of my nose nuzzled the back of her neck as I pressed myself 'not so discreetly' to her backside.

She released a strangled gasp but remained in place.

"Fuck...you look good enough to eat..." I breathed to her hotly, slowly grinding myself against her bodacious body. "I could swallow you whole..."

"...So what's stopping you?" She taunted back sexily, peering over her shoulder to let me get a glimpse of her toxically seductive jade gaze.

Sweet Jesus.

To hell with public decency.

She's asking for it...

She wants it.

But as usual, the cock blocks made their presence loud and clear.

"Hey Irene! Where are you? You gotta look at this top! It's perfect for you!" One of the preppy clones excitably shouted, causing Irene to snatch her hand from my grasp and push past me in disinterest as if I were some common stranger.

I smirked.

I like this game.

And it went on as such.

From shop to shop, I stalked Irene and her crew around at a safe distance. My sweatshirt hood was draped over my head to blend myself facelessly into the crowds, flying below the radar in case one of the other girls recognized me.

We weren't blessed with another intimate moment like we had shared in the boutique but it didn't matter.

I enjoyed mentally fucking her out of her clothing.

I want it.

Though they weren't very aware at first, over time I caught them peering over their shoulders to sneak quick peeks at me then whispering boisterously amongst themselves.

Irene relayed their suspicions in a quick text as the group continued to walk with me still a few paces behind.

They notice you following us...

-IB

I scoffed.

So?

-xxx

My cell vibrated my palm seconds later.

So, we have a problem.

-IB

A careless smirk crept onto my lips.

Well, I'm not going anywhere.

-xxx

She knew it.

But just to drive the point to a home run, I hit her with an ultimatum she couldn't evade.

It's either them or me.

-xxx

From the rigid way her shoulders stilted, I knew I once again backed her into that drafty, dark corner of doubt she's grown to loathe.

Her next message was proof of it.

Please don't make me choose...

-IB

The answer was as clear as day.

I was going to make her realize it.

Come on, Irene. Tell me what you want.

-xxx

She did just that.

You...I choose you.

-IB

That's right...

That's a good little Bae...

Come into my web...

Instead of texting my reply, I twirled around and traveled in the opposite direction where Irene and her crew walked.

I didn't have to look back to know she was trailing behind me.

Just a quick flip of a coin and I was now the one being tailed.

I made it all the way to the end of the block at a streetlight before stopping, allowing a bedraggled Irene to slink up quietly beside me.

"How did you manage to get away?" I asked her placidly with my eyes trained straight ahead to the walkway adjacent from where we stood.

There was a slight pause.

"I told them I had to go...take care of something..." Irene drawled, seeming entranced.

"Good."

Good.

There really wasn't much else to say.

I hadn't a word to give her.

We weren't looking at each other but it wasn't needed.

We weren't touching but it wasn't necessary.

It was okay this way.

Because even then, I could taste her right on my tongue with ricocheting intensity, feel her succulent lips fluttering all over me.

Just...

...What was it about those lips that made me this way?

I couldn't fathom it but I didn't want to.

Let me be ignorant in bliss.

"So...what are we doing?" I heard Irene ask as we crossed the street, striding along the sidewalk to nowhere in general. "Like...where are we going?"

It was a question I hadn't prepared an answer for.

What and where, indeed.

It almost seemed easier to just sully more of what was already tarnished by my own hands, for I lust not only for her lips but also her imperfection.

Imperfect is what she was now, after all.

I'll test it.

"Let's go get into some shit," I said with a devious smirk, locking my hand with hers and whisking us both in a completely random direction.

My actions weren't planned.

I just moved.

And she moved with me, high-strung and perplexed but she followed nonetheless.

She wants it...

Her hand fell lifelessly limp the farther I led her along.

I only clenched tighter.

You want it ...

In a short span of time, my mind's indirect location hit. I stopped us in front of a crooked looking liquor store.

Irene extracted her hand from mine.

"What are we doing here?" She asked cautiously, skittishly eyeing the dimmed neon sign draped above the store's roof.

I smirked.

"You'll see."

I reached for the door handle but was stopped by a quick tug on my sleeve, stunning green orbs enlarging in bewilderment.

"What are you doing? We can't go in there," My brown-haired obsession informed me fretfully, jerking me backward from the entrance with each breath of uncertainty. "We aren't of age."

"So?" I snorted, proceeding inside anyway.

She was left no other choice than to follow after.

The ear-piercing beep of the secured door's sensor alerted the beefy store clerk of our presence.

Since we weren't wearing our school uniforms, which would have been a dead giveaway that we were minors, I knew it would be difficult to distinguish us apart from regular customers.

Though, judging from the lot, the average customer at this particular location were no more than poignant middle-aged men who sought out their problems at the bottom of a bottle.

We certainly arouse suspicion from the hawk-eyed way the store clerk stared at us.

I was way too astounded to care.

Rows of walls and series of shelves were packed with name-brand types of wines, beers, vodkas, coolers and margarita mixers.

An addict's paradise.

It's my calling.

Irene's sharpened nails spliced into my arm even through the thick material of my sweatshirt as I slowly guided us down a deserted aisle.

"Relax, will ya? We're just browsing," I whispered amusingly. " They can't kick us out for that. Don't be so uptight."

"I can't help it..." She whispered back with her head frantically switching to and fro, vigilantly eyeballing each bottle of booze as if they would fly off the shelf and bludgeon her to death. "Why are we in here anyway? It's not like we can buy anything."

I ignored her question and commenced my admiration for the multiple brands of liquor, my fingers dancing past each neatly stacked glassed beverage.

Their journey came to a halt when they flinted over a certain label.

Strange...

I removed it from its dusted slot for a better look.

A simply plain bottle of vodka, no doubt.

But something about its gold studded labeling and blue-toned body prodded at a memory...

So very strange...

"What are you doing?" Irene asked from over my shoulder as I cradled the bottle in my hands delicately.

I held the tall bottle up for her to see.

"What do you think?"

Her mouth twisted in distaste.

"Whatever you're thinking right now, don't."

I shrugged.

"Why not? I want to have some fun."

"Do you really think he's going to let you buy that?" She scoffed while nudging her head over to where the store clerk kept a close watch on us from afar, meaty arms situated over a brawny chest to establish authority. "If he asks for your ID, we'll get busted for sure."

I flashed her a toothy, unwavering grin.

"Who said anything about paying?"

I waited patiently for when the heavyset clerk was too busy assisting other customers to craftily tuck the blue bottle underneath my hoodie.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Irene sniped in an appalled whisper. "Are you crazy?!"

"Darling..." I cooed to her sweetly, inclining forward inside her personal circle to plant an exhilarating brief kiss against her parted scarlet lips. "Please don't ask stupid fucking questions."

A stifled gasp released itself from the base of her throat as she staggered away from me honing a repulsed scowl.

"Put it back, Seulgi." The startled beauty demanded through clenched teeth.

"Are you going to make me?" I challenged.

Sexy frustration distorted her facial features momentarily before she poised herself and shook her head in disapproval.

"You know what? Do what you want. I'll have no part in this," With that spoken, she whirled around and briskly barreled straight for the exit, the colorful tote bag strapped to her shoulder swinging loosely behind her.

Her very large, rather spacious, tote bag.

A sinister thought polluted my mind.

You'll soon learn, my pet...

Stealthy as shit; I carefully retracted the bottle from my hoodie and slipped it inside the wide opening of her tote before she could wander too far. She was oh so very caught in her distraught emotions to notice the newly added weight.

What an evil deviant I am.

"Irene, wait."

She hesitantly complied, slowly refacing me.

"You're right," I sighed in false remorse. "I shouldn't steal."

She stared at me skeptically.

"...You put it back?"

I unzipped my hoodie in order to prove that I was alcohol-free.

A radiantly beautiful, godly yet unholy smile of accomplishment depicted her ample lips just then.

Scientists can finally put their research to rest.

I've discovered the cure to cancer.

"I'm proud of you." Irene raved bubbly as we both began to walk towards the exit in sync.

Oh, my poor little clueless, imperfect, Bae.

You'll learn...

We almost made it successfully out the door but a stern voice cut us short of our freedom.

"Hey, you girls, hold on just a minute," The balding store clerk instructed us while leaving his post from behind the counter to waddle over to where we stood.

Irene stopped on command.

I didn't.

"Run..." I murmured lowly in her ear, forcing her forward to the door with my body.

She blinked rapidly in confusion.

"What? Wh—"

"Just run!"

I grabbed her hand and barreled us through the doorway in great haste.

"H-Hey! You bratty punks! Get back here!" The morbidly obese clerk wheezed in the distance as we sprinted through a sea of oblivious people.

Adrenaline fueled us down into the outskirts of the city where we soon took refuge at the border of an abandoned playground, barricaded off with hazard tape.

"I think we lost him," I panted triumphantly through heaving breaths while watching Irene weakly prop herself against a nearby tree in order to steady her own ragged breathing. "I bet that fat ass didn't even make it past the crosswalk."

"But I don't get why we ran..." She rasped heavily, clutching tightly to the frills of her crop top with her left hand. "We didn't do anything wrong..."

My treacherous smirk returned.

"Well, I couldn't just let you get busted, could I?"

She scrunched her nose cutely.

"...For what?"

I hobbled over to her exhausted figure and boldly dipped my hand into her giant tote to pull out the stolen vodka bottle.

She gaped at me horrified.

"You put that crap in my bag?!" The furious green-orbed girl shrieked, red-faced and flared with fury. "I can't freaking believe you! You said you wouldn't steal it!"

"I didn't," I corrected her through a chortle. "You did."

Like the unpredictable strike of a crocodile, Irene lunged at me to wrestle the bottle of liquor from my hands but failed.

"Chill, baby," I laughed amusingly, tapping her nose with my index finger. "There is plenty for the both of us."

Her glare was vivid.

"We have to return it."

"Like hell we do."

"I'm not a thief."

"Of course you aren't," I wryly agreed, reuniting our hands so that I could lure us closer to the condemned playground. "Now, how about we go drink this bad boy."

Irene, gradually calming from her outburst, stared at the rusty, beat-up structure in scrutiny.

"Here?"

I nodded.

Corroding.

Dysfunctional.

Mm...broken?

Yup.

The atmosphere seemed quite fitting for the two of us.

"You have a thirst for danger, don't you?" Irene asked me icily as she permitted herself to be led over the bright yellow-orange hazard tape, around the swing set and through the rusted monkey bars, all the way to the narrowed stairs of the slide tower.

"I thirst for a lot of things," I replied simply.

But only one thing has me deprived...

Releasing her hand but still gripping onto the vodka bottle, I walked up the stairs leading to the main area of the slide tent in order to test its stability.

Irene stayed rooted down at the bottom.

Once in the clear, I beckoned her with my finger.

"Come and play with me."

Reluctance was scribbled all over her lovely face.

At first.

But after our gazes collided in an irrefutable attraction, she was compelled to enter inside, step after step.

You'll never escape me...

We were huddled in the center of the slide tent, forted by a massive plastic cloth overhead with only a few holes torn through. I crouched on the creaking wood and settled into the cross-legged position while Irene slid down the wall across from me.

I promptly twisted off the metal cap to the booze bottle and guzzled back a quick swig. I caught myself wincing at the acidy, oddly familiar sensation burning my throat.

I then offered it to Irene.

She declined with a polite shake of her head.

"I don't drink."

"Neither do I," I chuckled then gulped another mouth full, the sticky bitter taste fuddling my already mucked mind.

I know I've tasted this before...

After watching me fearlessly chug a few gulps, Irene reached a shaky hand out for the bottle to which I happily handed over.

One tiny sip and Irene was a sputtering mess.

"I-It's disgusting," She coughed, immediately returning the blue bottle back in my possession.

"It's not that bad," I snickered, keenly watching her struggle to regain her composure.

It wasn't long after that she started staring back.

"...There was...something I've been wondering..." She began slowly, her glossy jade eyes drilling into the rotting wood that paneled the flooring of the slide tower. "It's about you..."

My ears perked.

"What is it?"

She fell silent.

"Go on," I encouraged her, shagging another swig of vodka.

"W-Well..." She stuttered nervously, those eyes of hers now bouncing all about the slide fort except on me. "You know about me...when it comes to sex..."

"Yeah, so?"

"So...I was wondering...about you..." She paused right at the moment she allowed her restless gaze to finally land on me. "Are you...a virgin too?"

"No."

I said it automatically.

A preset answer.

Her next question had no differing response.

"What was your first time like...?"

"I don't know."

I could tell from the sudden way her eyes cut away that she was frustrated by my vagueness.

"I get it..." She grumbled, mindlessly picking at the loose strings springing from the strap of her tote. "You don't want to tell me..."

"Nah, it's not like that," I sighed solemnly, swinging the bottle side to side in pondering thought. "I really don't know...I can't remember."

I couldn't.

I tried.

Oh, I tried.

It was nothing more than a hazy dream; I remembered only the littlest of things.

I was fourteen...shacked in a room that wasn't mine but a room I had spent quite some time in.

I remember...a face...

A pretty face.

No.

Beautiful.

I remember...her sweet scent...

A honey scent...

Spine chilling whispers...scalding body heat...

So lustful...

So...

And that's where I drew the blanks.

Rather haunting but it wasn't actually something I dwelled on for long hours in the night.

To say I was mesmerized by the entire experience would have been a cliché but in reality, I just couldn't remember.

I can't.

"I don't understand..." Irene uttered audibly, her face deforming in extreme puzzlement. "How can you not remember?"

I shrugged.

"I just don't."

"...Have you had many partners?"

I slushed back another swig.

"Just one."

"Female...?"

"Yes."

"Was she a childhood friend or..."

"What is this? Twenty questions?" I asked sharply.

She dropped her gaze in her lap.

"Sorry...I'm just curious..."

"About?"

"About...how you're like this..."

Taking one last sip of vodka, I balanced the bottle carefully on the uneven wood and crawled toward her sitting form, those bewitching eyes of hers enticing me forward.

She let me.

I removed her tote from her shoulder and placed it off to the side, sloping myself in so close to her that I could feel her warm breath gently fanning my face.

"Would you believe it if I said...I really have no fucking clue what's wrong with me?" I asked her serenely with my eyes glued to hers and she did the same in a little thing only best described as fate.

"I would actually..." She admitted forbearingly soft, her breathing laboring the longer we dazed at one another. "Because...I don't know what the hell is wrong with me either..."

Her jade gaze fell to my neck.

I shivered.

Her fingers subconsciously pushed aside my hoodie to get to my skin, gliding tenderly across the irritated flesh before shyly retreating. I recaptured her adventurous fingers and placed them back on my neck, where they belonged.

She shouldn't feel shame in this.

This is our secret.

Our overflowing basket of sins we weaved together.

Relish in it, Irene...

Own it.

Dusk began to set over the horizony sky, a cooling shade shadowing through the tattered tarp above our heads.

At this time of day...her eyes...

They glowed.

"I'm not supposed to be here..." Irene whispered almost helplessly after what seemed like centuries, her fingers continuing to trace moderately across her superb work. "But I am here... with you...I'm here...and...it feels so....so...I-I—"

Fuck it.

Ferociously lust driven and batshit tipsy, I mashed our lips together with the intensity equivalent of a wrathful forest fire.

We blazed.

We burned.

Our temperature boiled scorching hot as she melted into my aggression, entangling her fingers in my tousled hair while I magnetically straddled myself to her lap.

She welcomed my warmth with avidity.

Hankering moans and hoarse whimpers emitted between the two of us the deeper we submerged in our battle of tongues, my hungry pink muscle steering off path to slovenly trot along her jawline.

"Seulgi..." She softly moaned my name to me, desperately drawing me into her closer.

Mercy...I beg mercy.

I blindly reached behind me to snatch up the vodka bottle, hovering the glass containing alcohol over her neck and tipping it at a slant to witness the toxic liquid splash erotically against her white flesh.

She hissed in pleasure.

I lapped up every last drop, the searing bitter taste seeming so fucking sweet on her porcelain skin.

"G-God...Seulgi..."

Her moans drove me wildly mad.

Deranged.

Hell, I need this.

Fuck, I want her.

I'm crazy.

I'm crazy.

I need it.

I need it.

My naughty groping hands were inclined to do whatever they liked while I distracted her with my ravenous tongue strokes. It was when I loitered myself slightly above her lap to cup in between her spreading legs that she put our carnal activities on pause.

"N-No..." Irene whined, squeezing her thighs together tightly to thwart me access.

"Why not?" I savagely vexed into her neck, my unbridled libido surging on. "You were going to give it to me anyway..."

"That was before and this is now."

Her tone had hardened.

I disregard it.

"Come on, baby...you want this..." Once again, I attempted to palm her womanhood but was smacked away for the second time.

"I said no." She snapped rather harshly, nudging me off her lap in one brief motion.

"Why the fuck not?" I croaked angrily like a spoiled child sent to bed without a nightly snack.

"This is a playground," She gruffed logically, realigning her wrinkled clothing with busied hands. "People used to bring their children here."

Keyword: used to.

I sneered.

"What kind of excuse is that, huh? You had no problem begging me to fuck you in the locker room."

She hesitated.

"T-That was different..."

"It's not..."

It isn't...

"You wanted it...you want it..." I raspily grunted, crawling my way back into her lap, however she repelled against my belligerent advances.

Again.

"Stop it, Seulgi, I mean it," Irene reinforced, her previous sexy persona evaporating along with my patience. "You gave me the control, right? You do what I want, isn't that what you said?"

...Funny.

I never foresaw that biting me in the ass.

Fucking shit.

She was right.

I gave her the power.

From the start, it was always about her dominating me.

Always.

I yearned for her virginity like a junkie in need of a quick fix but I can't let that delude me from my original intent.

She's in control, she's in control.

I had to remind myself for it was getting harder to resist her...

She's in control, she's in control.

....And she doesn't want this.

I want this.

She doesn't want this.

...I want this.

I want her.

Fuck.

I can't take it.

Frustratedly pissed yet still very much turned on, I shuffled to my feet.

"Where are you going...?" I heard Irene call after me but I didn't bother listening and instead swiftly scaled down the stairs to the solid ground.

I'll regret it later.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I don't trust myself.

If I didn't get the hell away from her as far as possible now...

Well.

Let's just say I want to keep things between us consensual.

I can't fucking take it.

Preparing myself for the longest, most pathetic walk of shame ever to be walked, I stuffed my hands into my sweatshirt pockets and stepped out onto the dried mulch.

I didn't get far.

I suddenly felt myself being roughly rammed into the metal beam support that elevated the slide tower, the unstable children's fort wavering menacingly upon impact. A lusciously toned body compressed itself against mine, creating a friction so powerfully titillating; tears brimmed along the outline of my eyes.

God...save me...

"Did I say I was finished with you, bitch?" Irene asked brashly in an animalistic growl, hastily unzipping the front of my denim shorts with fumbling fingers. "Kang Seulgi...don't you ever fucking walk away from me again..."

I wasn't coherent enough to give her a proper response.

Goddamn, Irene Bae.

Fuck me up.

Immersing herself in the crook of my neck, Irene tunneled her right hand down my shorts. Bypassing the elastic of my panties, all five of her fingers curled themselves dynamically against my throbbing clit, eliciting a simultaneous whimper from the both of us.

"Oh God...you're so wet...fuck..." Irene's muffled voice moaned, welding her body even harder into mine as she slowly plunged two fingers inside my drenched core.

Agonizingly slow.

She fucked me raw; breathing my skin, basking in my incoherent babbling and throaty moans gradually morphing into strangled screams. My back arched to grind my hips uncontrollably into her thrusting her fingers.

Electrifying jolts of euphoria shot through me like a life source.

Fuck, I felt so alive.

I'm alive.

The wood behind me creaked loudly the faster we moved. My arms wrapped securely around her shoulders while one of my legs hooked up over the arm that was gripped tightly to the metal bar pressed to my hip.

"Irene..." I whimpered impotently.

"Say it again," The vigorous breathed vixen commanded with a heavy groan, her teeth ruthlessly sinking deep in my already damaged neck. "Say my name..."

"I-Irene..." I stammered to her again through a tapering moan but she didn't seem satisfied.

She wanted more.

She was hungry.

I fed her.

This blistering heat...

This untamed desire...

It was like we couldn't stop.

We were trapped in each other.

I'm trapped in her.

Sooner than I would have liked, I found myself at the brink of exploding. A high-pitched squeal freed itself from the base of my throat as I felt my walls clench tightly around her greedy fingers, which continued to pump me straight to a mind-blowing orgasm.

A flash of white flitted across my blurred vision as I rocked through the potent shockwaves, Irene rocking along with me.

Jesus.

Christ.

Life had literally been fucked into me.

Masturbating will never be the same again.

Compared to what Irene just did to me, it seemed like mere child's play.

Holy fuck.

My wobbling knees threatened to buckle underneath but Irene kept me afloat, gripping onto my lifeless body in what almost felt like a lover's embrace...

However, she kept it brief.

She slid her fingers from inside me and rapaciously sucked my juices in her mouth.

I moaned at the very sight of it.

"Can you stand...?" My broken Bae breathily asked in my ear, tracing her cum coated fingers along my lips so that I could taste myself.

Wet and desperate.

I nodded weakly.

"Y-Yeah I think so..."

"Good..." She whispered back darkly. "Because I can't."

In an instant, Irene dropped down to her knees in front of me, pressing her forehead to my clothed belly.

"W-What are you doing?" I stammered when she began tugging my white-washed shorts and sodden panties all the way down to my ankles, repositioning her face in front of my womanhood.

She glimmered up at me lustfully through glossy olive-tinted eyes, speaking words I'll hear even in death.

"...I'm going to eat you," She erotically cooed, smacking her lips raunchily together once making direct eye contact with my leaking core. "And you're going to stand here...like a good little slut...and take it..."

Though I was still in post-orgasm recovery mode, what she was about to do to me had me up and thriving.

No, this wasn't the same girl.

This wasn't impeccable Irene.

This woman was my imperfect beauty.

Broken beyond repair.

"T-Take me..." I gasped, throwing my head back into the wood post right before Irene's esurient tongue snaked itself inside my moist heat.

"Take this whore."