-8-

Those of us who sin...

...sin sweetly.

"Are you trying to turn me off?"

It was a simple, bullheaded question any healthy libido-wielding Homosapien would fire at his or her 'fuck buddy' when said 'fuck buddy' decided to outright accuse their significant other of committing sexual suicide.

Obviously, she was full of shit.

But instead of voicing this with the potency and outrage it called for, the question slurred meekly off my tongue like thickened cough syrup, heavily dosed in apprehension.

Uncertainty.

...Fear.

Hoards of unwanted emotions screamed to the highest of heavens within the jagged roller coaster of my heart yet my fear was the loudest.

"Because if you are, it's working..." I added coherently under my breath, instantly scrambling off her mattress.

"I'm not trying to do anything..." Irene stated lowly, her olive eyes practically singeing into my skin as she watched me anxiously fidget to straighten my crinkled clothing. "I'm just repeating what I heard..."

She's totally fucking with me.

She has to be.

Right?

I mean—I wouldn't cock block myself.

Right?

It was the only plausible explanation.

It's her fault.

Right?

Right.

This is her fault.

"Well you 'heard' wrong," I snarkily clarified while putting my back to her seemingly judgmental stare, angrily bee-lining over to where my shoes and uniform blazer laid.

The swelling tension whirlwinding around us expanded throughout the atmosphere, silently willing me to reface her.

But how could I?

Those very same fucking gem-studded eyes that usually drove me crazily obsessed now had me reeling in vulnerability.

I couldn't look at her.

I didn't want to.

"You're leaving...?" She asked hushingly soft from her spot on the mattress, shattering the strained silence between us to fragments.

It wasn't until she spoke it into existence that I actually realized I was in the process of bustling on out her bedroom door, backpack in tow, flustered and shaken.

Call it a hunch—

—A knot in gut feeling.

Instinct.

Whichever.

Something inside me desperately urged for me to run like hell.

And I had no idea why.

But I for damn sure wasn't going to stick around and let Irene figure it out for herself.

"My mood is blown," I poorly excused while reaching for the doorknob, my back still facing her. "And if we're not going to fuck, there isn't any point in me staying. I mean, that's the only reason why I'm here in the first place so it doesn't really matter if I lea—"

My nonsensical gibberish quickly dissolved into nothingness when a compassionate hand delicately took rest on my shoulder.

"...Seulgi...it's okay," Irene whispered soothingly, her slender figure compressing inevitably against my rigid backside. "Seulgi...it's okay...just talk to me..."

"I have nothing to say," I robotically dismissed all while trying to steady the nervous quiver of my hand rattling the doorknob.

"You're lying..." Her warm breath lightly fanned the nape of my neck, which only further enhanced the anxiety churning in my stomach.

"I'm fine," I dismissed unconvincingly, my dilated eyes super glued forlornly on the white-painted door before me.

"...Liar...I know something is wrong."

She seemed to have a rebuttal for every excuse I threw at her and each time she deflected my efforts, I felt smaller.

"I scared you...didn't I?"

I flinched.

"I ain't afraid of shit."

She exhaled.

"Then why won't you look at me...?"

I opened my mouth to once again refute her implication but the words never came.

My smoking gun of denial had shot its final bullet.

Irene was fully loaded.

She aimed to kill.

"...It's her, isn't it?" The eloquent brunette concluded in question format, grasping at the mangled roots of my fears and constructing its matted mess into actual words.

"...This Kyungri...she was your first, wasn't she?"

I wanted to say no.

Hell, I wanted to say yes.

But I had no fucking clue.

Kyungri?

I wasn't acquainted with that name.

Yet hearing it for the second time caused a violent chain reaction inside my mind, bizarre foggy memories firing off like landmines.

One.

"Say my name..."

By.

"Scream it for me, you whore..."

One.

"You know you love it."

I bolted.

"Wait! Seulgi!" Irene's increasingly fading voice screamed but I disregarded her cries and fled from her house as if a blazing inferno was kissing right at my heels.

She never followed.

I didn't care.

I wheeled in a simultaneous loop of confusion and panic.

My destination didn't matter.

I could have very well sprinted straight into traffic, colliding head-on with a thirty-miles-per-hour traveling semi truck and I wouldn't feel a thing.

I was numb.

Limp.

Empty.

Kyungri.

Kyungri.

Kyungri.

This woman—this bitch found herself important enough to ruin my fun yet I couldn't remember a single fucking thing about her.

My first sexual encounter had always been a vague jigsaw puzzle with its key pieces missing.

Everything was there for me to link together, they just lacked lucidity.

But...did I really forget?

...Or was I blocking it all out on purpose?

I just don't know.

Eventually, my pace slowed to the warped world around me, my feet somehow managing to guide me home.

I didn't eat.

Didn't speak.

Couldn't sleep.

Peace of mind was all I sought.

However, when I finally succumbed to the drowsiness of the night, my dreams held no such mercy.

Loose memories incessantly leaked through the minuscule cracks of my subconscious with a mendacious voice haunting me.

"You trust me, right...?"

Taunting me.

"You love me, don't you?"

Tormenting me.

"Don't worry...I'll be gentle..."

I heard every word vividly.

And it cut deep.

"I promise you'll like it..."

Flat on my back I was, a slender body weighted solidly on top of me. Smooth hands strongly gripped at my sides, thrusting me deeper into the tousle of honey-scented sheets twisted around my body. The suffocating sensations bestowed upon me had my heart pounding exhilaratingly fast.

I couldn't breathe.

"Relax...it'll only hurt if you want it to..."

The voice lowered its cruel torment to a murmuring hush.

"...Give me what I want."

"I know you want to..."

"It'll be unforgettable."

"Just trust me, Seulgi..."

"Trust me."

I sprung awake.

Cold shivers spiked down my spine as I gasped and sputtered for breath, slowly adapting to the morning sunlight streaming through my blinds.

Erratic dreams weren't out of the norm for me, however, this was more than a simple dream.

It was a memory.

But it dispersed as quickly as it came.

"Fuck..." I groaned, my left hand roughly massaging my scalp while my right reached for my smartphone to check the time.

I had exactly ten minutes till the first bell.

Shit.

I hobbled up of bed and raced over to my dresser, yanking out a fresh set of undergarments. Sweeping my dirtied school uniform off the floor, I made a mad dash for the bathroom.

I figured my mother had already left for work since she would have very well woken me herself if she hadn't.

The idea of skipping school was more than appealing but I knew it would just lead to more nagging and questionable behavior from her.

Which I'd much rather avoid.

Rotting away in that shithole for eight hours somehow trumped suffering through one of my mother's agonizing 'talks'.

Yeah, fuck that.

I only needed to show up anyway.

Getting marked present for homeroom was technically considered accountable for the entire school day.

Then I can ditch.

I threw myself in the shower for a quick rinse then shrugged on my unwashed uniform. After brushing my teeth and combing my hair, I rushed back to my room to retrieve my backpack but was startled by an unexpected guest.

Jaebum was slouched on my bed dressed in a ripped pair of black denim jeans and a baggy rocker tee. His ridiculous dye job was mostly concealed underneath a backward baseball cap with only a few strands of silver sprouting here and there. Between his gritty fingers was a beat-up old stuffed teddy bear from my childhood.

It was a gift for my fifth birthday.

He gave it to me.

A lighthearted half smile spread at his crusted lips when he noticed my presence, nostalgia glinting in his eyes.

"You kept Boo Bear after all these years?" He asked with a great sense of gratitude, toying with the bear's worn arms in a childlike fashion. "Seully, I'm so touched."

Christ.

I should have burned that thing to ashes ages ago.

Embarrassed, I marched over to his sitting form and snatched the sewn animal from his hands, kicking it underneath the depths of my bed where he most likely found it.

'I'm a shit eater' was cross-stitched in his douchebag expression.

"Oh, was I not supposed to find that?"

I glared acid-coated daggers at him.

"How the fuck did you get in here?" I snapped harshly, still confused on how he waltzed about the house without me detecting him beforehand.

"Well, good morning to you too, potty mouth," My idiot older brother snickered while rising to my level, one-handedly squashing my cheeks together like a squeak toy. "Pretty girls like you really shouldn't use profanities, it's unattractive."

Like I give a rat's ass.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I reiterated after forcefully shoving his cologne-doused body away from me. "Weren't you supposed to be back in Cali by now?"

He grinned chipperly.

"I still have a few vacation days left so I decided last minute to spend it here."

I snorted.

Just when I thought my week couldn't get any shittier.

Peachy.

I sighed my displeasure then reverted my attention back to the original task of finding my backpack.

Jaebum tailed me like a baby duck to its mother.

"Rushing off to school?" He asked cheekily from behind me, swiftly dodging the heavy momentum of my school bag as I slung it over my shoulder in hopes of smacking him dead in the face.

"What else would I be doing?" I replied, annoyed by his 'captain obvious' remark. "You could have at least woken me up."

"I wanted you to get some extra sleep."

There was a hint of perturbation in his tone but I ignored it.

"Well, thanks, now I'm late," I gruffed crankily, attempting to charge out the door but he prevented it by grabbing my wrist.

"Let me give you a ride."

I stared blankly at him.

"I'd rather chew off my own fingers."

"Oh come on, Seully, don't be an asshole," He laughed, ushering me out my own bedroom despite my extreme reluctance.

Once in the living room, he eagle swiped a chain of keys off the coffee table and turned to me.

"Since I'm staying longer, Dad wired me some money so I can rent a car," He explained, swinging the ring of keys around his finger. "Just wait till you see it, you'll freak."

Of fucking course.

'Daddy Warbucks' spared no expense in pleasing his only son.

I found it disgusting.

Not really left with much else choice, I sluggishly followed behind Jaebum outside our apartment complex and into the main parking lot.

The silver-haired doofus wasted no time trotting excitably down a trail of parked cars, which led to a sleek jet-black Hyundai Equus at the lot's end.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" He boasted proudly.

I grimaced.

Show off.

Jaebum used the hand sensor to unlock the car doors then eagerly stalked over to lug open the passenger side door for me.

"Your chariot awaits, Madam."

I rolled my eyes then slid into the leather money-reeking seating.

After spending an odd amount of time overenthusiastically entering the rental, Jaebum stuck the key in the ignition and reversed out of the lot in one quick motion.

In a matter of minutes, his playful mood shifted.

"You didn't sleep well."

It wasn't a question.

"So?" I grunted, focusing my gaze solely on the blurred motion of various buildings reflecting in the window.

"So...there's a reason for that." He concluded.

Oh great.

We barely even made it down the block and already he was bombarding me with his typical bullshit.

I should have known this was a trap from the beginning.

Damn him.

"If you think you're going to have a heart-to-heart with me right now, you're dead wrong." I razorly enforced so that the message would sink into his thick skull.

But to no avail.

"It would help if you talked to me even just a little."

This time, I chose to outright ignore him.

The car remained void of sound for quite some time before Jaebum spoke again.

"I see your rash is healing nicely."

At this point, his true intentions were crystal clear.

"You know damn well it's not a rash..." I muttered angrily.

"I know," He said simply. "But if that's what you want me to believe, that's what I believe."

Ha.

Really?

I call horseshit.

Before, he was crammed all down my throat about my scars but now he's willing to believe me?

I don't buy it.

"Gee, I'm wondering exactly what Mom said to you for this sudden change of heart?" I asked in cryptic sarcasm.

"She didn't tell me anything."

What did he take me for?

"Please don't insult me with your lies, Jaebum, I'm not a child," I quipped, cutting my eyes in his direction to see his ears twitching in reaction.

"She didn't, Seul, honest," He firmly reinforced, his eyes fixated intently on the road. "I realized on my own what a fuck head I was being. It wasn't what I thought it was and I jumped to conclusions...forgive me?"

He was apologizing.

As he should have.

And I would have accepted it if the last part of his sentence didn't bother the hell out of me.

"...What did you think it was?"

The odd, pin-dropping silence made its dreaded return.

I could tell from the restless way his hands gripped the steering wheel that something was up.

So now not only will my mother walk on eggshells around me but Jaebum too?

What the hell are they hiding?

I sighed a great breath of relief when Horangi soon floated into sight.

I've never been happier to see the damn place.

"You can stop right here," I instructed him once we were in walking distance of the school.

Jaebum steered over to the curb without much complaint.

"When should I pick you up?" He asked as I stepped out of the luxurious rented vehicle.

"Don't bother," I coldly declined. "I'll walk home."

"Come on, Seul..." He whined, craning his neck down to gaze at me through the passenger side window. "I promise I'll be on time."

"Forget it." I quickly began taking long strides away but he rode alongside the curb in sync with my movements.

"You can push me away as much as you want but I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here for you."

My chest throbbed involuntarily to his proclamation.

I wrote it off.

Realizing I'd no longer give him any further acknowledgment, Jaebum spun the wheel then drove ahead in the distance.

Whatever.

I don't need his pity.

I strolled into homeroom right before the first bell struck, with my half-baked excuse of a teacher mirroring the same miserably dulled expression I and the rest of my fellow classmates sported just about every morning.

Soon as my ass hit that chair, I plotted my escape.

It wouldn't be simple, of course.

High school—scratch that—Horangi High specifically was its own circle of hell.

The place was kept on total lockdown.

All exits were bolted during class hours with security swarming about like roaches.

But I had to get out.

Especially since spare period was rearing nearer.

Spare period meant Irene.

And I wasn't ready to face her just yet.

I couldn't look into those eyes.

They'll see right through me.

No, I can't face her.

As the bell signaled for the next period, I flew out the classroom and commenced the strategic escape plan I already had cooked up.

The abrupt vibrations of my cell burst those plans into flames.

My heart launched its own self-destruct sequence when I spotted whom texted.

We need to talk.

-IB

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

I hadn't expected her to do this.

Shit.

I decided to play it cool.

About what?

-xxx

Half a minute later.

You know what.

-IB

I did.

Another text was sent.

You're avoiding me.

-IB

I was.

But I didn't want to admit that to her.

My phone buzzed yet again.

So where are you?

-IB

This time, I replied with no hesitation.

Around.

-xxx

Tell me where.

-IB

Why?

-xxx

Like I said, we need to talk.

-IB

So just find me after school.

-xxx

No. It has to be now.

-IB

Weird...

Usually, I'm the one begging to see her.

Was discussing my sudden meltdown yesterday that important to her?

What is she acting so desperate for?

Her corresponding reply nearly brought me to my knees.

And not in the way it should have.

I need you.

-IB

Seconds afterward, a fleet of explanations flooded my inbox.

Ignore that last text.

-IB

That came out wrong, let me start over.

-IB

I meant I really need to talk to you.

-IB

Seriously, don't misunderstand. I just want to talk.

-IB

It didn't matter how it was worded.

I still fell for it.

North wing stairwell

-xxx

Who the hell was I kidding?

It was crazy of me to even try to fight this untamed, vehement passion I harbored for her.

I can't stay away from her.

I lingered around the vastly emptying northern wing as my peers scrambled to class. Right when the late bell began echoing through the hollow halls, Irene stepped into plain view.

Like clockwork, my eyes scaled along her gorgeous figure, noting how extra crisp her uniform attire appeared today. She had her silky chestnut hair pinned in a bun, quintessentially displaying her fresh-faced beauty well worth obsessing over.

"Damn, you really must want to talk to me," I teased through a chuckle, genuinely impressed that she actually followed through in seeking me out. "The last time we skipped class together, I had to get on my knees to get you to stay."

"One class is no big deal," She said quaintly, primping her secured bun. "A half hour of your time is all I ask."

Oh please.

A measly half an hour wouldn't even get her to Sesame Street.

You can't crack me that easy, Bae.

"Ah, did I forget to mention that we're ditching?" I asked smugly to which she blankly stared me down as if I was the biggest imbecile on the planet.

"Uh, duh, genius," She snidely replied, folding her arms spuriously to her chest. "That's what we're doing now,"

"No, baby, you don't get it," I smirked deviously, shaking my head at her sarcastic cuteness. "We're ditching ditching."

Her shapely brows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

And she thinks I'm the slow one?

"Ditching, Irene. Like, leaving the school premises, ditching."

To say her mouth anchored to the floor loony-toons style would have been an over exaggeration but it was pretty damn close to it.

"What's wrong?" I taunted, inwardly rejoicing at her stunned expression. "You wanted to talk, right?"

"Y-Yes but..." She stammered in absolute bafflement, her paranoid eyes frantically scanning the hallway as if we were being spied on. "W-We can't ditch school!"

I shrugged.

"Why not? I do it all the time."

"Because you're a delinquent!" The feisty brunette snapped. "I'm class president! I can't leave the premises during school hours; it's against the code of conduct! Not to mention irresponsible!"

"So is walking around without panties but you pulled that off like a motherfucking pro," I countered complacently.

Her cheeks colored a reddish tint.

"T-That was a different situation..."

I remained smug.

"Uh-huh. Sure it was."

"Y-You can't be serious about this..."

Oh, I was serious alright.

If she wanted anything even remotely close to a heart-filled session, she'd have to show me how far she'd go for it.

Take me there, Bae.

I want to see if you can.

"...Okay...okay...fine...I'll do it," She exasperated in defeat, still appearing to be a bit unnerved. "But how exactly are we going to get out? The exits are barred shut."

"You think I don't know my way around this school?" I chortled, luring into where she stood enough to get a whiff of her stimulating cherry essence. "In every decently secure building, there is always a weak point."

She pouted her bottom lip cutely.

"So what's this school's 'weak point'?"

The deviousness in my smile never faltered as my index finger slowly erected towards the ceiling.

It took about three seconds flat for my implied suggestion to hit its target.

The next thing I knew, Irene was twisting her petite little body around in the opposite direction and propelling herself right from where she came. Luckily, I was able to drag her back before she could veer too far away.

"Not into the idea, huh?" I laughed while struggling to keep a firm grip on her wrist for she kept jerking and thrashing wildly.

"It's not an idea, it's a death wish," My green-eyed muse hissed, successfully ripping her wrist from my grasp. "You are a psychopath and I'm going back to class."

She tried for a second time to escape but I only wrenched her right back.

"Chill out, Bae. It's not like we haven't done anything crazier."

"There is no way in hell I'm climbing off a freaking roof!" She outright refused then spun back around to charge the hall but nearly ran in the pathway of a patrolling security guard in the process. I grabbed her arm and cramped us both behind the nearest pillar when the low-grade officer reared around the corner.

Our breathing labored in unison as the seconds whizzed by lightning fast.

"It's a dead end from here..." I huskily warned in her ear.

If she were to go back now, she'd most likely get herself caught.

Truancy was one blemish I knew Irene Bae would dread to have stamped on her permanent record.

When the coast was clear, Irene freed herself from my hold then reluctantly nodded her head a few times in agreement.

I smiled.

That's a good little monster.

"God, I'm starting to think I'm the crazy one here..." Irene sighed softly to herself as we cautiously advanced further within the northern wing chaining into the stairwell chamber ascending up to the rooftop.

Bypassing a few cranking vents and pipes, I escorted Irene along the furthest edge of the widened platform where a wire-framed padlocked door sealed off the outer ledge of the roof.

Monthly maintenance to the building's external functions was done so beyond the perimeter of this gate. I could detect from the rusted face of the padlock that no such repairs had taken place in a long while.

Irene, noticing the desecrated metal lock, released a relieved sigh.

"It's locked. Oh well," She drawled a little too happily then tried to taper away but I clasped around her arm to stop her.

"Locks can be picked."

She raised an eyebrow.

"And you know how?"

Oh, Irene.

You really need to stop underestimating my abilities.

It only gets you into trouble.

I inclined forward towards her alluring figure, digging my fingers inside the bundle of chocolate locks resting comfortably atop of her head, and skillfully retrieved a single bobby pin.

"H-Hey! Why did you do that?!" She exclaimed dramatically, self-consciously holding the now lopsided bun to keep her hair from spilling down her shoulders. "My hair looks a flipping mess today, that's why I had it pinned!"

I drew myself in closer to her, the tips of our noses chafing together titillatingly soft.

"It's sexier when it's all over the place..."

Madly flustered, Irene gently pushed me in protest.

"None of that until we talk."

"Yeah, yeah," I clicked my tongue, bending the bobby pin then sliding it expertly into the padlock. After a few clicks, it sprang unlocked. I snapped off the lock with ease then opened the cage door for Irene, bowing like a mere servant to pure royalty.

"Virgins' first."

Her blazing green eyes cut fiercely at me but she proceeded through the door confidently. She cranked it a notch further by bravely stepping onto the ledge without my assistance.

My kind of woman.

I closed the wire-framed door behind me and carefully hopped up on the ledge to join her, maintaining balance accordingly.

"This way," I tugged at her blazer sleeve to lead her over to the left portion of the building where the sturdy pipes were located.

She was unresponsive.

"Did you hear me?" I asked irritably, nudging her shoulder.

She remained frozen in place, her circumspect jade orbs focused exclusively on the plummeting scenery below.

"What's wrong, princess?" I chortled, mockingly staring down along with her. "Are you afraid of heights or something?"

I totally—

Honest to God—

Swear on my life intended for that to be a freaking joke.

But the anguished and horrified way she looked at me in that moment nearly had me belly-flopping myself from the roof angry birds style.

"You're fucking kidding me," I groaned heavily with my eyes rolling so hard, they were just a roll short of being permanently swallowed inside my skull.

"W-What's wrong with that?" Irene croaked drastically in embarrassment. "Plenty of people are afraid of heights..."

"Right but you're a cheerleader," I inquired suspiciously, skeptical on if or not she was actually telling the truth. "You're basically in the air all the time with those weird routines you and your drones perform."

"Yes and I hate it," She confessed distressingly, her arms hugging around her body as if she caught a draft. "I hate it so much...but I can't let it show. I have a reputation to upkeep."

"You seemed fine the last time we were up here." I reminded her, which seemed to be a crucial breaking point for her nerves.

"Last time we weren't attempting to climb off the damn building like lunatics!" She shrieked a little louder than necessary.

I'd say I felt bad for the anxiety attack she was currently experiencing if I didn't find it so damn sexy.

I'm sorry.

Irene Bae losing her mind was up there in being one of the sexiest traits she had exposed to me by far.

Borderline sadistic, sure but I couldn't help myself.

I'm just that fucked.

"I-I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out! I can't do this! I can't! I won't! I can't!" She continued performing hysterically, still very much unintentionally sexy yet at the same time, oddly adorable.

However, with the hazardous way she was flailing about, she'd end up killing us both if I didn't calm her down.

She needs to chill.

With that thought in mind, I chose the only rational route to take in a situation such as this.

I slapped the shit out of her.

It was proven effective enough to render her into silence, blinking rapidly at me wide-eyed and dazed.

God, she's cute.

"Better?" I asked after giving her a few minutes to recompose herself.

"...Actually....yeah..." She admitted through steady heaving breaths. "Yeah...I feel better..."

"Good, now come on."

I hooked through her arm and guided her over to the side of the building we needed to be.

Once there, she immediately shoved me forward.

"You first this time."

I shrugged.

"Whatever."

I knelt over the edge and scaled myself right onto a thick pipe closest to me for support. A few shimmies down, I glanced up at Irene who was skittishly staring back from on top of the ledge.

"Your turn," I smiled.

Deathly afraid yet strong-willed, Irene began slowly snailing her way after me.

The building side we scaled from faced an area where we were well hidden by trees and such so that we wouldn't attract any onlookers' attention.

My pace was consistent and swift.

Pretty soon, I was almost safely to the bottom where a nicely shaded grass patch was awaiting my arrival.

I decided to wing it and jumped the rest of the way, landing securely on my feet.

Piece of cake.

I turned around expecting Irene to be right behind me but instead, she was still pathetically hanging off the pipe.

"Just a bit more," I coached her as I watched her struggle to scoot herself inch by inch, rearing closer to where I had leaped but she paused halfway through.

"I-I can't go any further..." The chestnut-haired beauty stammered cutely, eyes now glued shut with both her arms clinging tightly around the pipe for protection.

"So just jump."

With her flexibility and athletic background, she could easily clear that kind of jump no problem.

Oh, wait.

There was a problem.

She's a total chicken shit.

"No! I can't!" Irene squealed with her head shaking repeatedly like a misbehaving toddler. "I won't do it!"

Ugh.

Am I her lover or her fucking babysitter?

"Irene, you're not even that high off the ground, just jump."

"No!"

For Godsakes.

"If you're worried about getting hurt, don't," I assured her confidently, lifting my arms out for her. "I'll catch you."

This suggestion seemed to relax her slightly but she still appeared skeptical.

"...Are you sure?"

I nodded.

"I got you."

She hesitantly turned her body outward as if to consider the thought but a split second later, she lurched back to squeeze the pipe again.

"No, I don't trust you..."

Oh my God.

We're really doing this shit right now, aren't we?

"You know what? Fine," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Have fun hanging there all day like a jackass."

I took only two steps before her despaired cries stopped me.

"Okay! Okay! I'll jump!"

Smiling conceitedly, I walked back underneath her.

"...A-Are you sure you can handle catching me?" She asked adorably.

"Yeah sure," I confirmed.

Catching her would be a cool breeze on a Sunday morning.

She's lighter than a sac of daisies.

"Jump."

A final word of encouragement was all it took for Irene to release her beloved pipe.

Full-on body-to-body contact was made—but not in the way I preferred.

Oxygen was sucked straight from my lungs as we came crashing down to the ground; my body cushioned the blow for Irene while I was basically paralyzed underneath her with my back throbbing in excruciating pain.

A sac of flowers?

Ha.

More like a hammock of ten-ton boulders.

Jesus Christ, that was a retarded idea...

"Hey, that wasn't so bad," I heard Irene giggling from on top of me. "It was actually kind of fun,"

"So glad you enjoyed yourself..." I barked sarcastically, wincing painfully with every breath I dared to intake.

Her triumph morphed into concern when she noticed the immobilized condition she inflicted upon me.

"You're okay, right...?" She asked empathically, green-tinted eyes blessing me generously with unfiltered beauty.

The pain seemed to melt away.

"Yeah...I feel great..." I lied, lifting myself upward to tenderly graze my greedy lips against her soft moist pair, eliciting a startled gasp from her.

But her rebound was swift.

"Not so fast, Kang," Irene rejected me flirtatiously; using both her palms to pin me back into the grass-patched soil. "We have some talking to do first, remember?"

I nodded, annoyed.

"As you keep reminding me."

"Then comply with my requests and you'll soon be rewarded." She climbed off me and rose to her feet, helping me up along with her.

I wasn't given time to even think of my next step of action for Irene seized my hand and began whisking me away.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked after allowing her to lug me up and down many blocks and through various streets for over a period of ten minutes.

"I have a place in mind." Was all she gave me to contemplate as she commenced rag-dolling me across town.

Not long after, we came to a stop in front of a slightly aged, cozy-looking sandwich shop, which was wedged in between two other much taller structures.

"Here we are," My beaming muse animatedly announced. "This is the best place to get high-quality gourmet sandwiches from. Seungyoon and I come here all the time."

I hid my revulsion.

Did we really go through all that fuckery just for her to take me to the same place she and her human tampon squat together?

I was pissed.

Then again...because of this, a very very very very very very very very microscopic part of me might have felt slightly, maybe, a tiny bit...

...Special.

Wait.

Wait—no.

Special?

No, Seulgi.

No.

Forget that, it's stupid.

This is stupid.

This place is stupid.

She's stupid.

Her breath-stealing, heaven-sent smile was stupid.

The perfect way our fingers were threaded together, which had been interlaced the entire trip to this blasted place without either of us being consciously aware, was stupid.

The elated manner my heart soared like a fleet of doves realizing this, was stupid.

Everything was all just fucking stupid.

Everything.

Stupid.

Irene, catching onto my uneasiness due to our conjoined hands, dropped mine instantaneously.

"U-Um...we better get inside..." The blushing brunette awkwardly advised then entered the sandwich shop with me following suit behind her.

The hostess greeted us at the door and escorted us to a booth table farthest to the back of the restaurant.

How convenient.

After settling into our respective booth seats across from one another, the waitress jotted down our orders then left Irene and I in a strained, uncomfortable silence.

The pressing tension from yesterday in her bedroom was definitely there.

And it was just as pressured as before.

I couldn't bare it.

"So are you going to start talking to me or are we just going to stare at each other?" I finally spoke when we were quiet for longer than my sanity could sustain.

She only continued to stare holes into the scuffed table.

What's her deal?

My mouth hinged open to vent my frustrations but Irene rediscovered her voice before I had the chance to.

"I used to have this cat—kitten actually, his name was Bada. My parents got him for me when I was six," She randomly blurted out of the blue, the awkward ambiance she previously shrouded herself in gradually shedding into buoyant enthusiasm. "I called him Bada because he had these eyes that shimmered as blue as the ocean. With his midnight black fur coat to match, he was a truly unique beauty."

Though it seemed to spring straight from bumfuck nowhere, the deeper she delved into her extemporaneous tale, the more I was compelled to listen.

"It was love at first sight for us. I spent most of my days at home playing 'chase the yarn ball' with him for hours at a time. He was like my best friend."

I scrunched my nose at the oddness of her statement to which she gave a sheepish smile.

"Yes, I know it sounds silly but it's the truth. Bada was everything to me back then. Since I'm an only child, I had no siblings to play with and I didn't exactly have many friends at the time...before Bada came into my life, I was so lonely..."

Hold on.

Did I hear her correctly?

Did she—Irene Bae—the social butterfly of Horangi High just admit to having adolescent social issues?

In this lifetime?

I would never have thought...

"Sometimes my parents worried that I gave a little bit too much attention to him considering he was just a cat, after all, but he was my cat and I loved him. Whenever I talked to him, whether it was about my day at school or if I was feeling down or lonely, it was like he was listening...like he understood the feelings I was experiencing...the connection between us was just there and I didn't care how weird it seemed, he was my best friend."

Her brightened smile suddenly dimmed to a doleful glow.

"...He got out one day....ran away I guess. I was never exactly sure of what happened, he had just suddenly vanished. I didn't think anything of it at first, cats are known for their hiding skills but after a day or so, I knew something was wrong. I went out into the neighborhood to look for him, pasting up some hand-drawn flyers in case someone else came across him. I never received any calls...but it didn't matter. I ended up finding him on my own..."

Turmoil boiled on the surface of her next softly spoken sentences.

"H-He...he was struck down...I-I think by either a car or a motorcycle, it was hard to tell since I was just a kid but from the tire treads on his shriveled body, I knew it had to be a hit and run."

Her already solemn expression twisted perpetually in sorrow.

"He just...laid there...broken and abandoned on the sidewalk... I knew he'd been rotting there for a few days from the odor but no one cared. My best friend was left there like discarded trash to be dumped somewhere and never to be thought of again and not a single soul gave a damn..."

She trailed off course momentarily for a quick recollection then picked up seconds later.

Her evocative hatred hit my eardrums like a gong.

"It sickened me how the world treated something I cared for so much and left him there to rot away like garbage. I was so angry. I hated everything and everyone. Especially my parents. They seemed to care the least even though they were the ones to give me Bada in the first place. But why would they care? Bada was, after all, just a distraction to divert me from reality. I may have been young but I wasn't stupid."

There was this grief-stricken bitterness amplifying her tone...

I heard her pain.

I felt her anger.

"I knew all along that their marriage was in danger. They spent most of their nights screaming at each other. Fighting constantly even over the littlest of things. And they still do it. Night after night, screaming...smashing...it never stops..."

To think she of all people experienced domestic disputes like other unfortunate beings of the world.

It truly shocked me.

"I always assumed you had the perfect family..." I admitted truthfully.

Her eyes darted up at me hollowly.

"That's the general assumption about me, isn't it?" She spat sourly, the livid bitterness harshly intensifying. "Perfect Irene. The perfect family, perfect life, perfect perfect perfect perfect...." Her fists hammered mindlessly against the wooden table, sharply outlining her emphasis on the adjective she was best labeled for. "I have no one else to blame but myself. You see, I felt like I needed to be perfect to make up for all the imperfections I was surrounded by on a daily basis. If I showed them I wasn't a screw up they wouldn't have to separate, maybe they'd find their way back to each other...I'm still waiting for that day...till then...I'm this way...perfect Irene..."

The roaring firewall of harshness ignited in her emerald orbs extinguished.

And I saw her again.

I saw her.

Irene.

The real Irene.

"...You are the only one who's ever really challenged me to be something else."

Yes.

Her.

We gazed at each other for what seemed longer than a minute but mutually snapped out of it before we could get lost in something we wouldn't want to come back from.

"A-Anyway..." She stuttered through a nervous laugh, taking a sip of water from the glass resting by her hand and steered back on topic. "...That whole experience left me sort of traumatized in a way...I didn't remember anything about Bada up until I was twelve. I kept any and all thoughts of him locked in my subconscious," She rolled her fingers suddenly as if invisibly strewing together an extensive amount of string. "Then one day, I found that little yarn ball we used to play with mixed in along with some of my keepsakes. The moment I touched it, I remembered. All memories of Bada came fluttering back just like that," Her fingers snapped in demonstration. "Though it still brought me great sadness, I felt warm remembering all the good times we shared and how special he was to me. It only took that one little mental push to trigger it back into mind..."

"Why are you telling me this?" I deadpanned to her rhetorically.

Her answer wasn't necessary.

I already made the connection.

Irene addressed it anyway.

"I think that's what happened to you."

I tensed.

She continued on.

"...I think we might have done something to trigger your memories...and brought to light bits and pieces of what you're repressing..."

"I know you want it too..."

I swallowed hard.

"I'm not repressing anything."

"Seulgi, you can't remember the first time you had sex, you don't think that's even a little bit strange?" Irene asked knowingly. "On top of that, you said this name that you clearly don't know. You're shutting it out."

Deny it.

Just deny it.

It'll go away, just deny it.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," I apprised to her ironly.

Although her intentions were good-natured, she needed to fucking realize that whatever this is she's trying to dig up doesn't want to be found.

And I didn't want to find it.

The fortifying silence that saran wrapped around us grew so thick; I could practically hang myself on its metaphorical noose.

Thankfully, our food came before things could get any more unbearable than it already was.

At least eating will keep me occupied.

As we ate amongst ourselves, a part of me wanted to berate her for being so damn nosy about my past.

That 'part' of me walked the plank the moment I caught sight of her eating.

Irene had a knife and fork clenched in her hands, congruently working to divide the dressing-laced sandwich neatly into little squares.

What a priss.

"Is that how you eat?" I asked her haughtily with my eyebrows raising amusingly.

"Yeah...so what?" She grumbled in confused embarrassment, continuing to slice her meal symmetrically to pieces. "This is a more civilized manner."

To hell with being civilized.

Vulgarity nurtures my bloodstream.

"Let me show you how it's done," I hummed arrogantly, grasping at my sandwich traditionally with two hands like sandwiches always intended to be consumed.

"Barbarian..." I heard her mutter disgustingly as I messily took a fulfilling bite, loving how I knew I was annoying her with my lack of manners.

But when I looked up to shamelessly bask in her agitation, I noticed the intent way her sharpened eyes were concentrated at the corner of my mouth.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked self-consciously, automatically moving my hand towards the area she seemed to be so interested in to wipe whatever gunk had stuck to my face but impulse drove Irene to do so herself.

She was on her feet in an instant, slanting her scrumptious body across the booth table to sensually swipe the pad of her thumb along my lip. I watched hotly as she retreated down in her seat and slipped her finger inside her mouth, suckling at the glob of sauce that previously stained my lips.

"Delicious..." My obsession whispered fervently, her finger leaving her mouth with an addicting pop.

"What does yours taste like...?" I spoke heavily, turned on like a fucking power plant.

Irene immediately dipped her pinky in one of her sandwich bites to drench it in sauce then spread a dash of it around the lower corner of her chin.

In a heartbeat, I lifted from my seat and leaned over the booth table just as she had seconds ago, searing my tongue from her chin, up to her lips. She shivered pleasurably in reaction.

Tastes so sweet...

With our lips now only inches apart, Irene yanked me by my uniform tie and closed the thin space between us. Various flavors swirled together as we orally explored each other, her aggressive tongue caressing every inch of my mouth.

I was dizzied in lust, scorched in the heat we emitted.

But we mutually parted after remembering where we were. Since we were at the very back of the restaurant and there was hardly anyone around, our heated exchange went unnoticed. I hunched back down in my seat, my womanhood throbbing longingly between my legs.

My rigorous breath increasingly grew the longer I stared at her appetizing figure, waiting to be plucked.

I want more....

I want it.

Right when I prepared to strike again, Irene quickly fixed herself and slid out of the booth.

"I'm going to the bathroom," She casually announced while hovering above me.

The nerve of her.

Getting me all riled up like that for her to go off and take a piss?

Buzzkill.

I sighed and slouched disappointedly in my seat.

But she hadn't moved.

Irene stood motionless in place, staring me down with a feral stare that nearly induced me into stripping her bare naked for all to see.

"Seulgi," She spoke my name unhingingly sexy, jade eyes honing that spark of lust I hold so dear. "I said I was going to the bathroom."

That time, I caught onto the hidden agenda buried in her announcement.

After nodding my comprehension, she swiveled on her heel and wandered down the narrow hall toward the bathroom.

I impatiently waited in place for a few tortured minutes then hastily slipped out of the booth to chase after her. I barely had the knob turned before Irene came lunging out, belligerently lugging me inside the single-style bathroom.

I found myself being slammed against the closed door with dynamic force, Irene's curvacious body uncontrollably grinding itself delightfully into my pelvis.

Her succulent lips collided hard with my panting ones as I lurched myself off the door then dominantly pushed the two of us over to the sink, our synced hearts thundering loudly in our chests the entire way. The dim lighting of the semi-cramped comfort room illuminated a path while I charged my way onward, effortlessly switching our positions to hoist Irene up on top of the sink by her slender thighs.

Her legs quickly spread for me.

Yes...Bae...

Give it to me...

This didn't feel like any other encounter we've had.

This seemed a lot more...needy.

Desperate.

The possessive way her arms magnetically coiled around my neck as we sucked at each other's sexual adrenaline almost had me thinking she didn't want to let go.

But she didn't have to worry.

I wasn't going anywhere.

An acute gasp sounded from Irene when my daring hands kismetted their way to sneak between her legs. I damn well expected her thighs to squeeze together in protest.

But they didn't.

She let me do it.

"S-Seulgi..." My breathless vixen sensually whispered after breaking our kiss, that desperation I sensed before now as clear as ice water. "I-I need this..."

My hands rested only on the outer border of her inner thighs, her intensified heat radiating incredibly hot.

"You do, huh? Tell me how much...?" I cooed to her dulcetly, nuzzling my face into her neck only to get high off her intoxicating scent.

"Fucking badly..." She replied weakly as she pressed our foreheads together, allowing me to inch closer to her hidden treasure. "I want to feel you...I want to feel you inside me..."

My fingers twitched on her pale skin just itching to dance their way inside her panties.

I'm going crazy...

"Are you wet...?" I asked through a frustrated moan when she bucked her hips against me, the creaky sink whining in strain.

Her chuckle was sexily dark.

"Do you want to feel for yourself how wet I am...?" Irene goaded, attractively tossing her chocolate locks to one side of her shoulder, further exposing her creamy neck. "Do you want to feel how tight I am...?"

"Fuck...Irene...don't tease me..." I growled threateningly, my attention roped hostage by the tempting sight of her spread legs. "I don't think I can control myself this time..."

She cradled my chin in her grasp and forced me to look her dead in her pooling orbs of emerald green.

"So don't..." She throatily whispered, her hands overlapping mine so that she could lure me in closer to her womanhood. "I'll let you..."

"You'd give it to me...?" I asked with an animalistic rumble, drawn in completely by her seductive glower.

"I-I want to...I really want to..." She whimpered softly, my hands so fucking close to their desired destination.

I'm so crazy about her...

"Do you want it, Seulgi...?"

So very crazy...

"Fuck yeah..."

"Well then..." Irene leaned intimately close to my ear, her moist lips grazing the outer shell. "There is something you should know first..."

My hands were only a prod away from her crotch when she spoke her next fated words.

"I am totally...on my period."

I jerked away from her so fast; I almost fainted from the frantic motion.

"Fucking really?!" I screeched over her evil hyena cackling.

"It came this morning," She laughed hysterically, clapping her hands together as if demanding an encore. "You should see your face!"

"What the fuck?!" I snapped, absolutely mortified by what I had nearly done. "What if I touched you?!"

"That's what you'd get for not keeping your hands to yourself," Her tongue stuck out her mouth juvenilely.

Ugh!

I'm so fucking stupid not to see that very obvious boner killer coming.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

"Did you honestly think I was actually going to let you deflower me in a dirty public restroom?" Irene asked self-righteously while I commenced inwardly kicking my own ass.

"Yeah," I said flat out honest. "I did."

She hopped down from the sink and walked forward, smiling that deceitfully menacing smile I loved and cherished as much as her genuine one.

"Who is to say you'll get it at all?" My green-eyed monster flirtily challenged, gallivanting her way out of the bathroom with me loyally behind her.

"Oh, I'll get it." I established valiantly.

Consider that cherry popped.