For the next couple of minutes we just stared into each other. He was quite obviously challenging me to speak up and ask what he wanted, which I refused to do out of pride. I knew it was probably the wrong decision - I was certainly going to break sooner than him. It would be much safer to pretend I didn’t understand this was a game in the first place.

I directed my eyes towards the surface of the table and held them there. Preserving an eye contact with him was too uncomfortable and awkward for me to be able to do it for more than a couple of minutes. He on the other hand, definitely had no trouble with that and he used it against me with great pleasure. Sadistic .

I still wasn’t sure what exactly was I thinking when I agreed to our deal. I should have known it would turn out horribly. Nothing else could be expected given Jongin’s thoroughly rotten personality.

I let out a small sigh. This was pointless. “So, what now?” I finally gave up, slightly raising my head to meet his gaze. He returned it with an amused expression on his face and a proud smile on his lips.

“You’re really not very persistent, are you?” he mocked. No answer - how typical.

“What now?” I slowly repeated, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. I knew he enjoyed making me irritated and angry – it was another one of his games. Almost everything seemed to be a game for him.

He responded by curling his lips upwards and giving a small shrug. “I haven’t decided yet.” he nonchalantly admitted.

“You told me to stay for the rest of the day and you haven’t decided how you want to torture me?” I said in disbelief, not entirely sure what to think. This was one of those things that could turn out to be very good or very bad (but it was probably the later given Jongin’s involvement and my usual luck).

“Now now freak.” he sneered. “No need to be so dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic.” I protested. “Just realistic.”

He slightly raised his left eyebrow. “Perhaps.” he admitted. “But you’re making me sound as If I’m going to come at you with a razor and pliers.”

“Well wouldn’t you? If you could get away with it?” Words left my mouth before I was able to stop them. I never actually intended to ask him something like that, most likely because I was slightly afraid of his answer. If he was prepared to insult and humiliate someone just to prove he could, then what else was he prepared to do?

I barely managed to resist the urge to look away when his eyes found mine. For a moment or two he seemed almost angry, but then his facial expression returned back to amused. He slowly leaned towards me - I responded by instinctively leaning away. “Do you think I’m a psychopath?” he wondered almost as if he actually wanted to know.

“No…” I started carefully. “I think you’re a sadist.”

At that his left eyebrow raised once again and he leaned a little bit closer to me. By the expression on his face I assumed that he enjoyed the current conversation. It was exactly the opposite with me. “Are you afraid of me?” he wondered in an amused voice, his eyes still locked with mine.

At that moment I simply had to look away. Was I afraid of him? I honestly wasn’t sure. But I really couldn’t let him think that, so I - after a few moments  - gazed back at him and said as firmly as I could; “No.”

He responded by curling the left corner of his lips upwards into a half-smile that was – as always – full of amusement. “Good.” he said almost as if he actually meant it, before he slowly leaned back. “Questions.” he said after a second or two of silence.

Questions? “What?” I asked when I realized he wasn’t going to offer any further explanations.

“The game.” he said as if that should actually explain everything. He must have seen my thoroughly confused expression, because he let out a small chuckle and luckily proceeded to explain; “I ask a question and you answer it and then you ask a question and I answer it. No lying allowed.”

“Where is the catch?” I asked suspiciously. I didn’t – not even for one second – believe this was going to be a fair game. He was surely going to introduce some bizarre rules or… something. Something that was going to benefit him while harming me.

He raised his eyebrows, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Why do you think there is a catch?” he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “The whole idea seems strangely fair.” I pointed out.

“So?” he wondered innocently, that annoying smile still plastered on his face.

“So, you don’t do anything that could be interpreted as nice without a seriously twisted motive behind. I think this is the second time in the last hour I had to mention this.” I answered, this time not even bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

“And since when is playing a fair game synonym for nice?” he wondered, as always completely ignoring the point.

“Playing a fair game is always a synonym for nice when it comes to you.” I sighed. “There is definitely a catch.”

He let out a small chuckle. “Perhaps.” he admitted nonchalantly.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Nope.”

I gave him an ugly stare despite knowing that it wasn’t going to change a single thing. I pondered whether it wouldn’t be less damaging for me if I simply left, but that was more or less just a way to convince myself that I still had some pride left. I knew very well that I wasn’t going to leave this house without fair amount of money in my pocket. I needed it much more than I needed my dignity.

“It’s the lying part, isn’t it?” I asked in sudden realization. “You think I’m stupid enough to tell you the truth while you’re lying to my face.”

“Mhm. Of course it’s the lying part.” He said in a matter-of-fact voice. “And no, I don’t think you’re that stupid. It’s more about being able to separate the truth from the lie, which is – as we both know - something that I can do much better than you.”

He unfortunately had a point. Nevertheless – I wasn’t planning to back down. This was a good opportunity to understand him a little better (which was not something I would usually strive towards, not if I didn’t think it could actually help me at dealing with his bull). I could probably get something out of this. And no, I wasn’t naïve - I knew that he was most likely going to get more. He was generally much better at reading other people (especially me it would seem) than I was. Nevertheless, I was ready to take the chance.

“Okay.” I said. “How about this; we can lie as long as the other doesn’t notice. If one of us tells a lie and the other notices than the one who noticed decides the punishment. And if one of us is falsely accused of lying than the accused decides the punishment for the accuser.”

I took a deep breath after I finished explaining, not at all sure if this was actually a good idea. Perhaps I was risking a little too much. 

Jongin was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. “Your plan has one serious weakness.” he pointed out after a minute of silence, his eyes locked with mine. And yes, I knew exactly what he was talking about – either one of us could lie about lying.

“I know.” I said. “I guess we will just have to trust each other.”

At that Jongin laughed. Actually laughed, not just chuckled. “Do you even know what trust is?” he wondered as soon as he managed to calm down (which was – as usually – very fast).

I sent him an ugly stare despite realizing that he probably did have a point. But, did he seriously expect anything else? “I do.” I protested. “Just not when you’re around - you’re completely unreliable and you know it.”

This time he responded with a chuckle. “Fair enough.” he said before he leaned a little bit closer. “I think you already know what I want to ask you.” His lips curled slightly upwards, forming one of his particularly unpleasant smiles.

And yes, I knew what he wanted to ask me. The same he asked me two days ago; are you gay? How could I forget about that? I almost subconsciously pressed my lips into a thin line and averted my gaze. “I’m not sure.” I murmured. “Why do you want to know?”

“You’re not sure.” he slowly repeated after me, slightly shaking his head. I could see my answer confused him, even though he managed to switch back to his usual expression in a matter of a second. His eyes narrowed and for a moment or two he just stared at me, obviously trying to decide whether I told the truth. At the end he just sighed and leaned back. “Fair enough. Your turn.”

“Why do you want to know?” I repeated my question, suddenly realizing I was truly interested in his answer. Why did it matter so much to him?

“Personal safety.” he replied entirely nonchalantly.

I honestly doubted that was the truth but I nonetheless decided to let it go. He probably wouldn’t tell me anyway.

I huffed. “Right. Because there is a possibility that I would be interested in a sadistic bastard whose hobbies includes insulting me and making fun of me. I love myself more than that, thank you very much.” I said.

He accepted my words with an entirely emotionless expression on his face.