“As long as I see suiting.” calmly replied Jongin, his eyes absently following students that were constantly walking past us, though he probably didn’t actually see any of them. He seemed to be in too deep thoughts for that.

“And how long is that?” I wondered sharply. He was just as unwilling to produce a straight answer as the first time we ever talked and it irritated me more and more every time.

“I don’t know.” he said distantly, his attention still not fully focused on me, which pretty much explained the absence of insults in his sentences. He seemed to be oddly distracted today - not that I was complaining. It was nice not to be the victim of his vicious tongue for once. “A month, maybe two.”

“A month?” I slightly raised my eyebrows. “Don’t you think that is a little long? What about a week?” that seemed to have woken him from his dazed state - his eyes were no longer absent but intense and they were set on me for the first time in the whole conversation. 

“One week proves nothing, freak.” he said firmly. “Why? Your innocent little soul can’t take this anymore?” And there he was again – the great Kim Jongin and his poisonous tongue.

I huffed. “My soul – that is by the way not innocent or little – has enough of this and wants to end it as soon as possible, because it finds making a fool out of itself just to satisfy some spoiled and soulless brat very annoying and tiring.”

Jongin raised his eyebrows, his lips tightly pressed together and clearly implying that I once again managed to press his buttons, though he calmed down much faster than the last time that happened. “You shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about freak.” he said calmly but with somehow dangerous undertone that was so sharp it sent shivers down my spine. I didn’t intent to let that stop me however and was already opening my mouth to give him a snarky reply, when his friends finally decided to show up.

“Let’s go find a table.” urged Kris as soon as he came close enough that we could hear him. Jongin replied by pushing his body away from the wall he was leaning against and slowly followed his friends towards the entrance of the cafeteria. I paced behind, keeping a small distance between us in – most certainly false – hope people wouldn’t notice me if I weren’t too close to the main attraction.

They placed themselves around one of the tables in frontal part of the cafeteria right after they received their food, both girls immediately occupying the seats next to Jongin. I seated myself down beside Sehun since he was somehow less unpleasant than his friends (though he was probably like that only because he was too lazy to actually open his mouth).

“So, are we still on for tonight?” Kris decided to start the conversation.

“Of course we are.” answered Jongin matter-of-factly. “What else am I supposed to do on Friday night? Watching cliché movies or playing video games like ‘some people’?” he turned his head towards me and slightly raised his eyebrows, just as it wouldn’t be already clear enough that he meant me.

“Why don’t we take ‘some people’ with us then?” murmured Sehun while absently spinning a chopstick between his fingers. “I think it is our duty as model citizens that we help people gain some experiences of the grownup world.” Five heads, including mine, snapped in his direction. Did I hear him correctly? It looked like others were asking themselves exactly the same question.

“You want to have him around?” investigated Kris, his voice mix of surprise and contempt.

Sehun just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “He is kind of boring. We should try and make him a bit more interesting. I think we might see something entertaining or embarrassing if we get him drunk.”

I noticed how Kris and Jongin locked their eyes for a couple of seconds before turning attention back on Sehun. “This is actually a wonderful idea.” chuckled Chinese. “I say let’s give it a shot.”

“Well, it looks like you’re coming with us, freak.” said Jongin, his eyes sparkling dangerously.

“Whe..where?” I stuttered nervously, uneasy sensation slowly rising in the pit of my stomach. At that point I could literally feel their eyes burning holes trough me, and it made me slightly nauseous together with the realization that they wanted to take me somewhere and get me drunk.

“Relax freak.” Jongin rolled his eyes. “Just in a new club downtown. Sehun’s brother is the owner, so I guess we’ll get in even if we’re accompanied by a plain loser like you.” 

With that they fortunately ended the conversation about their plans for the evening and proceeded to other much safer themes, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Which was a luck because I really needed to find a way to convince Jongin that dragging me into some modern club was definitely not a good idea.

---

The first opportunity to talk with him in private (more or less) appeared two hours later, right before the start of English lesson.

“I’m not going.” I said determinedly as soon as I placed myself down next to him. “The deal is valid only when we are at school. There is just no ing way I’m continuing this charade at the afternoons – or evenings in this case. None!”

He raised his eyebrows in fake surprise. “I don’t remember you mentioning this condition when we made the deal.” he answered calmly. “Too late now freak. You’re coming.” his head turned back towards the front of the classroom, clearly implying that the conversation was over.

I however, had absolutely no intentions on giving up so fast. “Yes, because I thought that part was very much obvious.” I said impatiently. “I mean, you don’t want to hang out with me and I certainly don’t want to have anything to do with you, so I was quite sure we would seriously limit our time together.”

“Well, you were wrong.” he replied, his voice still annoyingly calm. “Say whatever you want, but you’re coming.” his lips formed a small but definitely dangerous smile, that made me realize he was not going to change his mind. He wanted me to go with him and his friends to that club, most likely because he felt like he hadn’t tortured me enough and the Friday night out would be the perfect chance to fix that mistake.

---

I planned to spend the first part of the afternoon doing homework or perhaps starting on the history project that was due the next week, but I simply couldn’t focus so I ended up going through my closet to see if I had anything presentable to wear for tonight. I obviously didn’t. All of my clothes were old and they mostly didn’t suit me at all. I had nothing I could wear to a modern club, not to mention the idea itself was pretty dangerous since Jongin’s friends would probably suspect something is off if I showed up wearing random old rags. I was supposed to be some rich man’s son for god’s sake. I sighed as I pulled my phone out of the pocket. I really didn’t want to do this, but there was obviously no better choice.

Freak: You do realize I have absolutely nothing to wear for tonight, right?      

I received a reply almost immediately.

Sadist: You don’t?                                                                                                         Freak: Come on Jongin, as much as it pains me to say that; you’re quite smart, which means you’ve surely already figured out that I’m on scholarship by now.                         Sadist: Quite smart? I think we both know that is a one big understatement, freak. I’m a genius, so yes, of course I’ve already figured out you’re on scholarship. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have nothing to wear - just put on one of your ghetto clothes, idiot. Freak: Yeah right - genius my . And ghetto clothes? I haven’t realized we suddenly moved from Korea (where isn’t any ghettos in original meaning of the word if I might add) into some cliché American movie. I don’t own ghetto clothes you moron, only a couple of old rags bought on a yard sale last year. They will never let me enter some modern club wearing those, not even if I’m with you. Besides you’re friends might suspect something is off if I show up looking like some random homeless guy.                                                     Sadist: Say whatever you want freak - I know you’re just jealous. They would let you enter club even if you show up completely as long as you’re with me. And about my friends; they already expect you to wear something entirely ridiculous, so no, they are not going to suspect a thing.                                                                                          Freak: Jealous about what? No offence, but I have really hard time believing that. Yes, they expect me to wear something ridiculous and high class, not something ridiculous and low class.                                                                                                                 Sadist: About me being smarter than you, idiot. Oh, do you want to bet on it, freak? Alright fine, I admit you might be right. But I seriously don’t know why you suddenly care about details that much.                                                                                           Freak: Hah, you wish. And thank you, but I think I’ll pass. I care because I lost almost all of my dignity in last week and I obviously don’t want my sacrifice to be for nothing. Besides you would blame me if your plan failed and then refused to fulfill your part of a deal, which means I have been making a fool out of myself for the past week completely for free.  Sadist: Dignity? Oh, you actually have dignity? Pardon me, I had no idea. And of course I would blame you - it would be your fault no matter what.                                                 Sadist: Experiencing temporary lost of words right now, freak?                                           Freak: No, just not seeing anything worth replying.                                                 Sadist: Oh, did I hit a sensitive spot? Well, whatsoever, just swing by my house sometime before this evening, I’ll find you something ridiculous and high class to wear so my friends definitely won’t suspect anything.                                                                                       Freak: You do realize I have no idea where do you live, right?

The next message contained his address. And oh yes, he certainly did live in one of the richest parts of Seoul.

---

A couple of hours passed before I was finally standing in front of his house. Firstly because I had to overcome quite a distance to get here and secondly because I’d started having doubts almost right after I received his last message. What if he gave me a fake address so I would once again make a total fool out of myself? That really did sound like something he would do, honestly. But wanting or not, I didn’t really have much choice.

Luckily I was in the right place – as soon as I rang, intercom went on, polite voice asked if I was Do Kyungsoo and invited me in right after I stuttered that yes, yes I was. I slowly made my way up the driveway, towards the big mansion where I was awaited by an elegant looking doorman (or whatever he was) that immediately told me Mr. Kim was already waiting for me inside.

The house was huge and whoever had furnished it definitely knew what he was doing. Everything was clean, shiny and stylish, the décor some kind of mix between traditional and modern. It was certainly nice to look at, but I still wouldn’t want to live in a place like this. It seemed too empty and somehow almost ruthless.

Jongin appeared in the middle of the staircase, soon after I stepped into a huge entrance hall. His first reaction was a long calculating look he sent in my direction. “Now, I can definitely see what you meant by not having anything to wear for tonight.” he said, his voice full of contempt and disgust – emotions that were quite reasonable in this situation. The clothes I had on were old, ripped, a bit stretched and definitely too big for me.  

“I’m glad you get it.” I murmured darkly before wrapping hands around my body as to protect myself against his intense stare. I suddenly felt somehow exposed and out of place.