When I finally arrived about an hour and a half later I was shaking from my head to my toes. My warmest pullover apparently wasn’t enough to protect me against the cold and the merciless wind. While I was standing in the foyer of their enormous house waiting for Jongin to finally appear, I seriously hoped that he wasn’t going to notice. The last thing I needed on this already miserable day was him finding another thing he could mock me for.

I leaned on the nearest wall, wrapped my hands around my body and fixed my gaze on to the floor, trying to think about something that hadn’t had anything to do with my current situation. I honestly wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to do this for much longer. The initial deal was to pretend to be a love struck loser for five days a week. I never signed up to spend weekends in the sadistic bastard’s company as well.

“You look horrible.”

Well, that was just classical. I looked up, instantly meeting his gaze. He was standing in the middle of the staircase, staring at me with an unusual expression on his face, one that surprisingly wasn’t even near his normal amusement or contempt.

“Thanks.” I murmured darkly while stubbornly returning the gaze. “You have no right to complain because that is mainly your fault.”

At that his usual amusement returned and he responded by slightly raising his left eyebrow. “How exactly is that my fault freak?” he wondered.

“Your presence is making me tired.”

My words successfully made him curl his lips into a very unpleasant smile. “Good.” he stated in a voice that implied that fact made him proud, before he – without any warning at all - turned around and walked back up the stairs. I cursed inwardly as I run after him, knowing very well how easy it would be to get lost in their house and at the same time still remembering how he scared me the first time I was here.

Thankfully – or not, depends on his future actions – he wasn’t the kind of person to pull the same prank twice. He waited on me this time – with a very unpleasant smile full of contempt and amusement (what a surprise) – on top of the stairs and led me into his bedroom without uttering a single word.  

“Sit down.” he ordered as soon as he closed the door behind us, pointing towards the left of the two blue armchairs that were positioned around a small coffee table.

“I just came for the money.” I protested, knowing very well that it was more or less pointless. At the end I always did precisely what Jongin wanted me to do and he was aware of that as well, which was probably why he didn’t even bother to speak – he just gave me one of his half-amused and half-contemptuous stares.

I sighed in resignation before I slowly positioned myself onto the chair, crossing my hands on my chest in order to let the sadistic bastard know how much I didn’t approve of his methods – and to warm myself up, but that wasn’t nearly as much important.

Jongin replied by narrowing his eyes. “Did you walk here?” he asked. “In this?” he pointed at my pullover, disgust – and something else, something I wasn’t able to decipher - clearly written on his face.

“Obviously.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “And you have a problem with it because…?”

His lips curled into another unpleasant smile. “Do you remember what I told you about finding another victim?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I wondered. I did remember what he told me about finding another victim. Apparently that act was hard to perform, which was the only reason he bothered with saving me from troubles he caused in the first place.

“Well, I don’t know…” he said in a contemptuous tone. “But it would appear to me that you are trying to get out of the picture. At least that is the only logical explanation as to why you would walk around dressed into a thin pullover in the middle of the winter I can think of.” He tried to hide his emotions, but - unlike usually - he wasn’t very successful at it. I could clearly see he was angry but I didn’t exactly understand why. If he was someone else I would assume it was because he cared. But this was Jongin so this was probably just another example of him playing with my feelings. Typical.

I narrowed my eyes. “My aunt stole my jacket.” I explained. “Not that this is any of your business.”

“Really?” The amount of contempt in his voice somehow became even bigger. “You’re really pathetic at coming up with excuses, aren’t you freak?” He didn’t wait for my answer – he just turned around and walked over to the big wardrobe on my left, pushing it open.

“It’s not an excuse.” I protested despite knowing it wasn’t going to make any difference. He had an annoying habit of dismissing most of what I said.

“Denying is the same as admitting.” he responded without giving me a single glance. He seemed to be busy with rearranging some of the clothes in the wardrobe. I had no idea what he was searching for, but knowing him it was most likely something unpleasant.

“Those two things are literally the complete opposites.” I pointed out.

Jongin’s lips slowly curled upwards. “Perhaps when it comes to other people.” he said. “When it comes to you those two things are completely the same.”

Well, he did actually have a point. But that didn’t necessary mean I was going to let him win. “I admit that they sometimes mean the same thing.” I murmured. “But that is not the rule – as you know very well - so you really shouldn’t treat it as one.”

This time he did glance at me, his facial expression implying my words amused him. “Fair enough.” he said after he finally – or at least so it seemed – found what he was searching for in the wardrobe. He pulled out a black blanket and threw it in my direction. I was certainly not prepared for that so it managed to hit my head. I grabbed it and held it in the air while giving Jongin a suspicious look. This behavior could be easily interpreted as kind, which was always a clear sign I should be worried because it mostly meant that the sadistic bastard was planning something unpleasant.

Jongin smiled, not even trying to hide how amusing he thought my reaction was. “As paranoid as always I see.” he commented.

“Well, and whose fault is that?” I wondered darkly. “You’re never acting nice without a seriously twisted reason behind.” I sent another mistrusting look towards the blanket in my hand. I was still freezing, still trying to suppress a shiver and I would love to wrap myself into something warm, but since that was exactly what Jongin wanted me to do… it was just not a good idea. Period.

Jongin’s smile deepened. “Suit yourself freak.” he said, his eyes boring straight into mine, challenging me. I realized this was a game. If I use the blanket I lose and if I don’t I win – it was stupid and precisely the kind of entertainment Jongin enjoyed. Especially because I always participated out of fear that losing would strengthen his control over me. 

I let out a small sigh. “I give up.” I decided. My warmth was currently more important than some sadistic bastard’s game. He always (or mostly) won anyway. Our score was currently around 100:1 and I wasn’t even sure how long it will stay that way. I had a strong feeling that he was still planning to force the truth about my uality out of me.

I unfold the blanket, wrapping it around myself and somehow immediately feeling better.

“Already?” he mocked. I didn’t look in his direction but I could see he was staring at me with a corner of my eye. His smile disappeared and despite trying to maintain his amusement, something else crept into his expression. He suddenly seemed tense.

“The money.” I reminded him after the silence became too heavy, hoping he wasn’t going to complicate things. Knowing him, that was pretty much an impossible expectation - he proved the theory right only a second later.

“How do I know you’re not lying when you say you got robbed?” he wondered after he sat down onto the other armchair, his head slightly tilted on the left and the smile on his lips once again full of contempt.  

“Oh come on Jongin.” I sighed. “You would need to pay me sooner or later so seriously, stop coming up with excuses. I know the only reason you are complicating is because you enjoy seeing me suffer.”

“Oh, do you now?” For a moment or two we just stared into each other’s eyes and then Jongin snickered. “Fine.” he said. “I’ll give you money if you entertain me for the rest of the day. Sundays are surprisingly boring.” He leaned backwards, preserving eye contact with – now pretty much freaked out – me. This was definitely not good.

“Entertain you how?” I wondered carefully, averting my gaze and fixing it on to the surface of the table that suddenly seemed strangely interesting.

Jongin let out a small chuckle. “There is no need to be so freaked out freak. You’re entertaining me right now.”

I raised my head. “So what, you just need me to stay here and be the target of your twisted games?” I wondered. “Our deal is starting to get more and more one sided.”

“That is precisely what I want.” he confirmed, curling his lips into that dangerous smile of his I definitely didn’t like seeing.

I was already convinced this was going to be absolutely horrible.

Yes I am - surprisingly - still alive :p. I'm not even going to search for excuses for the long hiatus, let me just assure you that I definitely plan to finish what I started even if it might take a while. Also, things are soon going to get a little more interesting so bare with me. That is if anyone is still here :p (if wouldn't surprise me if you gave up on me already).