Simon woke with a start. He clenched the bedsheets, the knuckles on his hands growing white with the deepening pressure. When the ill feelings of his nightmare subsided, he took a deep breath in and flopped back against the bed. He winced. An awful migraine was beginning to bloom at the side of his head.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said from somewhere off to his side. 

A smile played across Simon's lips, threatening to expose the giddiness that swelled inside. "Depends on what you would consider awake because hell, if I know, it feels like I'm dying."

Gray chuckled but there was a strain in his laughter that threw Simon off guard. He would love nothing more than to know that he had just imagined the false genuinity behind his laughter. 

He turned in search of his friend and found him staring out the window, a soft splay of early morning light not quite reaching his shadowed features. 

"Gray," Simon started saying as he rose from the bed but was stopped by a pair of small hands pressing into his shoulders. 

"You shouldn't put such a strain on yourself right now. You just woke up and trust me when I say you had a little too much to drink last night."

Simon groaned in an attempt to earn more sympathy but Gray pulled back, his customary smile hidden behind a throng of hurt and aching pain. 

Simon looked down and under perfectly construed circumstances, would have rejoiced at the sight before him. A disheveled shirt. ed jeans. But the tension he had so hoped was a creation of his fatigued mind now came into full focus. There was something wrong. Simon could only hope that whatever happened last night hadn't crossed the threshold he desperately tried to maintain these past years. He wouldn't be able to stand the idea of a rift growing between them. Especially not because of one negligent night on his part. 

"Gray," Simon said without turning to look at him. "You." He selected the following words carefully so as not to add fuel to the spark. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing. You should rest. I've already told you that you had too much-"

"Be honest with me."

Gray said nothing as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "Aren't I always?" If it weren't for their close proximity, Simon would have missed his response. 

"You are but. Okay, fine." Simon tilted his head back and let out a boisterous laugh. The jagged turns and edges of his hearty laughter cascaded over the room. It did little to push the suffocating tension away. 

"Okay, okay," he said as he finished patting his leg with repetitive force. "Let's start over, Gray-imnika."

Before he could let the migraine push him back under, he buttoned his jeans and slid the covers off. He turned and the whole world went still. Underneath the black office chair, a pair of heels peeked out from before the waning shadows. One shoe stood proud and tall, defiant to the other one that laid toppled over on its side, the heel broken off from its base.

A surge of incoherent thoughts plunged his mind into mayhem. Angered with himself and in desperate need of confirmation against the one thought that continuously probed him, he asked: "You took care of me last night?" 

If Simon had been in his right state of mind he would have noticed Gray's flinch. 

"No."

The single word dropped over Simon like a curtain meant to unveil some long forgotten secret. It set the stage. He couldn't believe Gray would lie. Because he had lied, hadn't he? 

A momentary lapse in time washed over the room before Gray unfolded his arms and stepped towards the door. He was slow enough to hear Simon ask Gray to confirm he had taken care of him last night but too caught up in his grief to hear the desperation in his voice. The want. The need. For solace. 

The door opened and closed, taking with it the scrap of joy Simon clung onto. He opened his mouth to cry out for Gray but clamped down hard. He had to let Gray know once and for all how he felt. 

He hurried to the door. He reached out and grabbed the handle before the soft pitter patter of footsteps from the other side filled the air. He braced himself as the door crept open. Every fiber in his nerves collapsed, sending a ripple of fatigue and displeasure coursing over his body. 

Before him stood the one woman he knew, just hours ago, would become another untasteful memory; soon to be forgotten. He shuddered as she pushed him inside and closed the door behind her.

"You look handsome," BoKyung said as she strode past him. "Can't say the same about last night." With less than an ounce of the grace she held herself with at the club, she plopped down into the chair. Her standing heel tipped over onto the floor. The frown covering her face was quick to dissolve as she kicked the shoes out from under the chair. They tumbled one over the other before slamming to a halt against the wall.

She pursed her lips like an upset child. "As sad as I am to see that expensive pair go, you can buy me as many more as I'd like." A robotic laugh tore free from , followed by a failed attempt at returning to one of last night's many facades. The rare one full of sweetness and potential understanding.

"Tell me what happened last night," Simon said behind gritted teeth. "How are you even in here?"

BoKyung smiled, her lips daring to reveal the truth of her plans at once. "You and Gray are alike in more ways than one," she said, glancing down at Simon's crotch.

Unfazed by her gesture, he moved towards the door and locked it. 

"Oooh, smart move. We wouldn't want Gray coming in and ruining our intimate moment as soon-to-be-wed lovers."

Simon spun around in a flash. His pupils dilated and the color in his face drained away. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he watched her lift a strawberry from the porcelain bowl she brought in. 

"I'm sorry. Did I hit a nerve?" She bit down on the tip before running her tongue across the juice that dotted her lips. The movement replayed in his head like a siren signalling the onslaught of a storm and despite his desperate protests to keep the image from cementing itself inside, his mind wouldn't listen. Afraid he would lose control of his body and show the slightest gesture of weakness, he sauntered towards the bed with all the haughtiness he could muster.

"I guess it's only fair that both star-crossed lovers know. Your fates are intertwined, Kiseok."

He dug his nails into his palm. The pain seared into his skin but offered little relief. "Don't get pretty with me, lady."

There was an unmistakable flash of shock written across her face but just as soon disappeared as she stood and ambled toward Simon. He refused to look up at her as she stopped a foot away from touching his knees. "You and I are getting married."

"There's nothing to say as such."

She smiled. "Oh, but isn't there?" She reached out and took Simon's left hand in her own. Lifting one delicate finger into the air, she brought it down gently to rest against the silver band that wrapped around Simon's index finger. 

Disbelief knocked the air right out of his body. He squeezed his knee to keep from tumbling forward as he looked over the letters engraved on the metal: "eok" 

He completed the word without the slightest shard of doubt. "Kis," for Kiseok. 

"Oh, but that's not all. I even have the date of our wedding engraved on the inside," she said as she slid her own ring off before pulling Simon's off and turning them both towards him.

"Of course, this is the year and month because I'm still debating what day we should be unified under the careful watch of all of your friends, family and Gray." A grin baring her pearly white teeth splattered over her face, turning the smooth edges around her cheeks and lips sharp. 

"You're crazy. I may have been drunk enough not to know what happened last night but hell, if I know, I'm not stupid enough to agree to marriage." He stood and turned towards the door. "I expect you to leave or else I'll report you to the authorities."

She boohooed as she fell back onto the bed where Simon sat a few seconds before. "And I expect you to listen or else Gray could end up on the flip side of alive."

Simon froze. He kept his fingers wrapped tight around the door knob but his wrist slackened. 

"Keep his name out of your filthy mouth," he sneered. 

"Then listen to what I have to say because there's always more then one way to kill a man." She stood and walked over to the strawberries. With an expressionless countenance, she pulled the cork off of a small vial she slid free from between her s. The colorless liquid oozed over the glass edge as she let a small dot drip down onto her half-eaten strawberry.

Before he could make sense of what was happening, the pungent smell of a skunk's spray assaulted his nose. He stumbled backwards and slapped his hand over his nose to keep from breathing in the foul stench. She giggled as she pulled the plate away. 

Simon recollected himself but the smell was as vibrant as it was when the plate was pushed underneath his nose. Mustering a calm expression, he said: "If that's the best you can do, then you're done for. Get out."

Realization crept up her features as she ran her tongue across her upper teeth. "Oh, this isn't for you, Simon. Gray might be pleased to know the taste of Batrachotoxin on a nice parfait. Being a quick killer and with no antidote, I don't think he'll have the stomach for another meal afterwards."

That was it. The pressure caved in on Simon. He slid to the floor, a hand running through his head. He thought of pulling away, disgusted by how much sweat his hairline had accumulated but given the circumstances, could he really blame himself? 

"I can snatch that from you this minute," Simon said, his voice faltering towards the end with a twinge of fear. 

She shrugged. "Yeah, here," she said as she rolled the vial towards Simon. He slid his feet in closer to keep from coming in contact with the harmless vial. "I'll repeat myself one more time because it seems you didn't understand me the first time. There's always more then one way to kill a man." She smoothed the hem of her bodycon dress down. "Bombs aren't my favorite because they always leave visible marks but it's good for turning the home into a death trap."

Simon felt a cold creeping up his back. For all he knew, Gray was downstairs and he couldn't risk harming him in the slightest.

"Oh, come now. There's no reason to hate me. I haven't done anything... yet. If you listen closely to what I have to say and follow through then there's absolutely no reason anyone has to come out hurt from this."

She bent down to the floor, her chest constricting against the fabric of her dress as she crawled forward towards Simon. 

"Let's play a game."

*****

Thank you ALL so much for reading this far in. I hope this chapter delivered and can't wait to unleash the next installment.

How will this story bear the weight of a misguided love? Stay tuned.