“Do you need help freak?” asked Jongin as mockingly as always, his eyebrows slightly raised and his expression full of amusement. I replied by shooting a poisonous glare in his direction. It was true that my legs were a bit wobbly and I felt a little dizzy and my body hurt like hell, but that definitely didn’t mean I couldn’t walk without some sadistic bastard supporting me.

“Are you sure?” The amount of amusement in his voice was now even higher than a minute before (and so was the amount of poison I sent towards him). Well yes, I did bump into some people and random object on our way out, but at least I managed to stay on my feet, which was certainly a plus.

“Yes, I’m sure!” I snapped when he refused to stop staring at me with those intense dark eyes full of amusement and contempt that I – by the way - absolutely hated.

He pulled his lips upwards into another one of his typical arrogant smirks. “Whatever you say, freak. Just don’t blame me when you hurt yourself.” He gave me one last contemptuous glance before turning his eyes towards the parking lot that was becoming clearer with every step.

“I’m not going to hurt myself.” I hissed, even though I had a strong feeling I might have. I was clumsy even without a fair amount of alcohol in my veins.

Jongin turned back towards me, giving me a short calculating look. “You don’t believe that yourself.” he concluded, averting his gaze once again.

I crossed hands on my chest, partly because I was annoyed and partly because I was starting to get a little bit cold. “How are you doing that?” I investigated, irritation a very visible part of my voice. Jongin replied by nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. “No, seriously.” I hissed as soon as I realized I was not going to get a straight answer.

“I’m just generally good at reading people and you’re practically transparent.” he said casually, his eyes still glued ahead.

“I am not transparent.” I defended myself, suddenly deeply offended by his implications that I wore my heart on the sleeve. Because I didn’t. I never let people know how I felt and I was really trying to keep my face straight at all times. It’s true that I had some troubles with blushing and excessively sweating when I happened to be in the centre of attention, but other way I managed to keep my emotions under control.

“Have you noticed how much time you spend denying my statements?” he wondered, amusement clearly written all over his face.

“Well, that is because none of them are true.” I answered, knowing very well that the foundations I stood on were more than just a little bit wobbly – that bastards somehow managed to be right most of time.

“Or all of them are true and you’re just too big of a coward to admit it.” he replied.

I already opened my mouth to give him a snarky comment, when I finally realized I actually had nothing to say. He was right, which was something I definitely wasn’t going to admit so I settled with; “I thought we agreed that you would stop being rude to me.”

Jongin snickered. “I know exactly what you are doing freak. Changing the topic equals admitting that I am right.” His eyes were still directed towards the parking lot.

“Or I’m just reminding you that you are breaking our agreement.” I said, my hands still crossed on my chest and my body slightly shivering because of the cold breeze. Thankfully Jongin didn’t show any signs of attempting to look at me, which meant I didn’t have to hide the fact that I was freezing. I was pretty sure he would call me over-sensitive or something even worse if he’d noticed and I honestly wasn’t in the mood. I just wanted to go home, curl under my blanket and sleep until the end of this year.

“I’ve also broken my agreement in the club, but you didn’t seem to find it important enough to mention it.” he answered matter-of-factly.  

“Well…” I started, not completely sure what exactly to say. “I was kind of... surprised by your sudden arrival.” I added lamely.

Jongin snickered once again. “Surprised by my sudden arrival or shaken up because you almost got beaten by a complete drunk? I met women that have more physical power that you, you know.”

I opened my mouth only to close it a moment later upon realizing that I once again had absolutely no idea what to say. “That…” I started pathetically in a second try. “That isn’t fair. Just because you happened to be able to get that man on the floor with a single punch doesn’t mean…”

“Doesn’t mean that everyone can?” interrupted Jongin, his voice a mix of contempt and amusement. “Maybe not. But it does mean that everyone who is not a woman or a complete weakling could.”

“No it doesn’t!” I snapped, even though he was probably right. And he unfortunately seemed to be very well aware of that.

“Again with the denial.” he smirked. “You know, if you want to make an impression that you actually believe what you are saying, you should seriously provide some arguments now and then.”

“Whatever.” I murmured, finally admitting to myself that I lost this particular verbal fight. Which wasn’t necessary my fault – he had an unfair advantage in the shape of being good at reading people.

At that point we finally arrived on the parking lot and stopped a couple of meters away from the road. I tightly wrapped my hands around myself, hoping it would protect me against the cold and wondering where was that stupid taxi Jongin ordered right after we had left the club.

“Are you gay?”

I blinked a couple of time, wondering if I heard him correctly. “What?”

“You heard me, freak.” Jongin was now once again staring at me as I was thanking all the god’s I knew for the fact that it was too dark for him to be able to see my – now very much red – face.

“Where is this coming from?” I wondered carefully, having a strong inkling that I knew the exact answer to that question.

“Hm… let me think… yes, I’m pretty sure I’m asking you this – as you well know - because you seemed awfully bothered when you saw me without a shirt earlier.”

I opened my mouth in order to say; “I was not bothered.” but changed my mind very quickly. In his eyes denying would be the same as saying; yes, I’m gay. And that was definitely not something I wanted – firstly because this kind of information would just give him more material to insult and humiliate me and secondly because this was south Korea - though advanced in certain things, generally still very traditional.

“I also get very ‘bothered’ when I’m talking to people Jongin.” I said much more firmly than I actually felt. “And when I find myself in the centre of attention or when some random people are staring at me. So yes, you really shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about.” I decided to quote his popular saying in hope that would divert his attention in the other way.

Jongin curled his lips upwards into an amused smile. “Maybe. Or you’ve just used a diplomatic way of denying the truth.”

“I guess you will never know.”

“Don’t count on it freak, I’m very good at finding out the truth.”

Thankfully the taxi showed up before I was forced to think off some clever reply and the drive back to Jongin’s place was mostly quiet, probably because neither of us wanted to continue talking about that particular topic when there was somebody else in the car with us.  

When the taxi stopped in front of the house, Jongin turned towards me. “Where do you live?” he asked.

“Not far. I’ll walk.” I said, swiftly opened the door and jumped out of the car before he could master a reply. My reaction was downright stupid – I was well aware of that particular fact – but I really didn’t want him to know in what ty neighborhood I lived so I kind of did it on the impulse, completely without thinking about the consequences (aka. being forced to walk home at 2am, which could literally get me killed).

Jongin followed me after he paid the driver. “Are you serious?” he asked quizzically, his eyebrows slightly raised.

“Why do you even care?” I snapped right back, my patience literately evaporating in the air. I was way too tired to be dealing with anything other than sleeping.

“I hadn’t until you panicked and jumped out of the car. Now I do, because you would only react that way if you lived in some seriously messed up place. You do remember what I said about how hard it is to find a new victim, right?” he answered nonchalantly, staring straight into my eyes during his entire speech.

I just bit my lip and looked away, suddenly really embarrassed about my previous reaction.

“I’m calling a taxi.” he said firmly. “Do you have any money?”

“What do you think?” I groaned, still a little too ashamed to actually look him in the face.

He huffed. “I’m going to deduct that from your salary.” he decided before starting to walk towards the house. I followed him with quick steps.

This time we went in through some other side doors (how many entrance door did that house had, seriously?) that apparently led into some long narrow hallway, ending in a huge and very tastefully furnished living room that was currently occupied by a fashionable dressed woman sitting on a couch and reading a book. She raised her head as she heard us walk in and curled her lips into a charming smile.

“I thought you said you would be home tomorrow.” said Jongin a little bit judgingly, immediately earning a stern look from her.  

“Is that a way to greet your mother after you hadn’t seen her for nearly a month?” she asked strictly.

Jongin sighed. “I’m sorry mom. It’s great to see you and I’m happy you decided to come home a day early. I was just a little bit surprised.” he explained before he stepped closer and gave her a hug.

“Better.” she smiled. “Much better.” After they parted, her eyes immediately landed on me, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. I knew I should greet her, bow and then recite some other formalities, but I simply couldn’t get myself to do it (which clearly implied that the effects of the drink wore off a little).

“That is Kyungsoo.” said Jongin who obviously noticed how anxious I was and – surprise, surprise - actually decided to help. “He is not being impolite, he just has a severe case of social anxiety.”

His mother smiled at me. “Nice to meet you Kyungsoo.” she said reassuringly. I just nodded, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to answer without stuttering and consequently making a big fool out of myself. And I really didn’t want that – she seemed like a nice lady, not to mention Jongin transformed into an actual human being when she was around.

“Well I was just planning to call a taxi for him, so good night mother.” said Jongin who was about to walk past her and out of the living room and would also do so if she didn’t stop him.

“Nonsense.” she said as she waved her hand. “It’s late, he can stay in one of the guest rooms for the night. I’m sure your parents won’t mind?”

I glanced at Jongin as to look for an approval. I was tired and my whole body was in pain. The thought of a clean sheets, warm bed and quiet was truly very welcoming. Much more welcoming than the thought of walking up the stairs of my building in a total dark and then falling asleep on my old bed in a company of all kind of noises and smell.

Jongin who definitely noticed what I was doing slightly smirked and then nodded in sign that he had nothing against me staying in his house. Perhaps I would worry about him having an impure intentious if I wasn't so exhausted.