Chapter 18: A Deal?

                 Jiyong walked up the stairs to Eunsook’s apartment. “Thank God for social networking,” he mumbled to himself before ringing the doorbell. Eunsook answered the door wearing an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants. Jiyong frowned even more at the outfit. He hated girls who couldn’t dress themselves, the exception being you of course. He sighed when he thought that, she was even cute when wearing disgusting clothes like the girl in front of him now.

                “W-What is it, sunbae?” she asked, reverting back to her shy nature. He scoffed, wondering if this was all just an act. From what he had seen so far of her, it didn’t seem impossible. “We need to talk,” he stated before grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of the apartment and down the stairs. There was a small, slightly run down park near the complex, so he stopped there.

                 “W-What d-d-do you want?” she stuttered as he dropped her wrist. Jiyong sighed, not turning to face her yet. He fixed his jacket and wiped the hand that had held her wrist onto his pants, as if it was dirty, before turning to face her. “I think you know why I’m here, so quit it with the act. I hate fakes.”

                Her face fell before asking, “Then do you hate yourself?” He glared at hers he hissed, “What?” She paused, swallowing hard before turning her gaze back up at him, “Y-You heard me. You’re so fake and you said you hate fakes, so don’t you hate yourself?”

                He laughed in disbelief, his arms crossing across his chest. “And how does this rat pass judgment on me, hm?” She recoiled from his words as if he had hit her. “A rat? Is that what you think of me?” his eyes were hard on hers, so she continued; “You know why I think you’re fake. I’ve seen the way you look at _______.”

                “Like a sister,” he growled, his fists balled up at his sides, but ethics kept him from hurting her. “Then that’s a pretty ed up relationship you have with your sister,” she said, knowing that she was getting to him. “She’s my best friend’s fiancée. Nothing else.”

                “You’re so fake!” she exclaimed, “I saw the way you looked at her when you thought nobody else was looking, even before all of this started. When you passed us in the hallway, those glances that she was too blind to see, but you’d have to hit her head with a ton of bricks to get anything to sink in.”

                “Don’t,” he hissed, taking a menacing step towards her in an attempt to stop the words that were flowing out of . “You like her,” she brandished like a sword, “You’ve liked her for a long time. You were just too cowardly to do anything about it, just like how I used to be. So, you’re playing the good guy and being the best friend even when you want her all for yourself. You’re so fake sunbae, it’s disgusting.”

                “You’re the one who’s disgusting!” he yelled, grabbing her shoulders, “If I’m fake, then you’re plastic! If I’m disgusting, then you’re a ing sewer!” His breathing was hard as he shook her shoulders, but she seemed unaffected by his sudden outburst. “I’m just trying to get what should have been mine. I’m just following my heart. How is that fake?”

                “You lied to your best friend. You hurt her, gave her false hope, and spread rumors about her all while acting like a perfect angel! How can you do that and still act as if you’ve done nothing wrong!”

                “Because I’m doing what’s right for me! There are no rules in love!”

                “No but there damn well should be! How can you hurt your friend like that?!”

                “Because she hurt me first!” Tears welled up in her eyes before she pushed him away. “That’s no excuse. You’re supposed to be happy for your friends when they find love, not try to destroy it.”

                “Oh yeah? And what about when their love destroys you? What are you supposed to do then? Act like you with your false support and sweet lies?” she demanded poking his chest with every word. “Yes, that’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what friends do, they make sacrifices for one another,” he said, trying to calm himself down, but everything about her enraged him. She was the epitome of everything he hated in this world.

              “How long can you go on like that until you break? How long can you watch her from afar until you run towards her? How long can you give her hugs until you want to hold her? How long can you kiss her forehead before you want to kiss her lips? How many times can you jokingly say ‘I love you’ until you begin to mean it?” He snarled at her before turning away. If he didn’t leave now, he really was going to hurt her. Her words hit too close to home.

                “That’s why I have a proposition for you, one where we both win.”

                “What makes you think I would agree to do anything with you, rat?” he asked, turning back towards her. “Because as much as you hate me, you know I’m right. Nobody is so good that they can stand by when someone they love is being taken away from them. You’ll agree because you know you’re a better fit for her than Seungri could ever be.”

                He snorted and rolled his eyes, but his feet wouldn’t move. He listened to her plot, and it both amazed and revolted him at how well thought out it was. It could work if he agreed, he knew it could. His heartbeat quickened at the thought of having her in his arms, but then a sharp pain shot through his chest at the idea of how much hurt this would cause her. He hated himself for even staying to listen, but he wanted to give in. No matter how much this would destroy him, the thought of having her was so tempting.

                “So, do we have a deal?” she asked, holding her hand out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Your POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                You were sitting in Seungri’s bedroom or, rather, the floor of his bedroom. He was sitting across from you, boxes of Chinese takeout in between the two of you. “It’s late,” you noted as you took the last few noodles. It was nine to be exact. The two of you had watched two movies and then played some videogames on the big screen where he had absolutely destroyed you. So, he had ordered late night takeout since his chefs had all gone for the night.

                “Yeah, I guess it is,” he said with a shrug, “but I’ve kept you out later.” You laughed and nodded before getting up to stretch your legs. “I should probably go home though. I didn’t even do my homework,” you said, eyeing your bag in the corner of the room. You had grabbed it somewhere in between the videogames and ordering the food. “You can do it now. I’ll actually help this time,” he joked before tossing the boxes in the trash.

                “You promise?” he nodded, “No funny business?”

                “Yah! What do you take me for, huh?”

                “A teenage boy.” He laughed, unable to defend himself from that. “I promise I’ll help you,” he said as you leaned over to go through your bag to get the homework you had begun earlier. He groaned and looked away, “No matter how much it pains me to just help you with the homework…”

                “What?”

                “Nothing. Do you want help with Math or English first?” You smiled slightly and shook your head, “How about Math?” He nodded and the two of you moved to the desk. He actually was a lot of help, pointing out things that you had missed before. He even showed you some shortcuts with the more difficult problems. The same could be said for your other subjects as well. The only thing he couldn’t help you with was the reading you had to complete for your Korean class.

               Instead, he somehow convinced you to lie on the bed with him while you read. His arms were wrapped around you, his chin resting on top of yours with his eyes closed. You were lying on his chest, trying to stay awake even as his breathing became deep and even with the sure signs of sleep. You struggled to keep your eyes open as his warmth enveloped you, making it that much harder to focus on the task at hand.

                The words began to blur one into the next. Even when you could make them out, you found yourself reading the same sentences again and again. You sighed, deciding to rest your eyes for a few minutes so that you could attempt to finish this chapter and catch up with the rest of that class. But, as the book fell from your hands, you didn’t even notice. Sleep had you in his clutches.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jiyong’s POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                He stared at the outstretched hand and wondered how something that appeared so human could belong to such a devil. He looked back at her and said in the calmest voice he could muster, “I will never make a deal with you.”

                “You say that now, but you’ll give in eventually. When you do, you’ll help me,” Eunsook said this as if she were merely reciting a math problem to her teacher. “Stay away from me,” he said in a low, threatening voice, “And stay away from her. If I see you again- no, if I even heard about you- I will destroy you.” She laughed. Laughed.     

                “I’ll remember that, sunbae, but I’m not going to stop. You’ll do it. This will work out for the better anyways.” She turned and began walking back towards her apartment. “What a ,” he noted before walking back to his car. “But how am I going to explain this to ______?” he asked, aloud as he pulled his seatbelt on. He stared at the apartment building, a sense of foreboding weighing him down. What if she was right?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(A/N) so i did this s fast because i couldn't stop writing? Haha i guess my new banner motivated me! :D

but actually i did this so quickly because i'm going to be out all day tomorrow D:

ack! Socialization! Hehehe anyways i hope ya'll like the chapter :)