Chapter Ten: The Taming of the Shrew

Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly wash'd with dew.
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I'll commend her volubility,
and say she uttereth piercing eloquence.

                Gayun awoke to one of the cats pawing her through the numerous layers of blankets Seunghyun had wrapped the two of them up in. It was almost too warm in the cocoon the two of them shared, but she was reluctant to even try and get out. It felt nice to have his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. It made up for his soft snores and slight demonic appearance.

                Slowly, she moved herself off of his chest and wriggled out of the blankets. She shivered once the room temperature air hit her, causing her to wonder exactly how hot it had been inside of those blankets. She sighed and shook her head before dragging herself off of the bed and out of the room. Minty trailed behind her, mewling occasionally; it had been he who woke her up.

                She stubbed her toe on the table she occasionally ate dinner off of, causing her to curse under her breath and hop on one foot. The cats appeared to have little sympathy for her pain and, instead, waited patiently in front of their food bowls in the dark room. After getting herself under control, Gayun flicked on the lights and momentarily blinded herself. More cursing followed before reaching the bag of dried cat food.

                The felines finally got their food along with a few cat treats thrown in for being so late. She ran a hand through her messy hair before opening up the fridge. She pulled out the milk and spun off the top before taking a swig straight from the carton.

                “That’s disgusting,” Seunghyun grumbled, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. His skin had adopted a gray tinge and his horns were still showing. Yet, seeing him like this, Gayun couldn’t bring herself to be afraid. It was slightly off putting but she believed that she could get used to this image of him.

                “My milk so I don’t care,” she replied before screwing the cap back on. He scrunched up his nose in disgust but failed to argue.

                “What are you doing up anyways?” Seunghyun asked before sitting himself down on one of the chairs opposite of the counter. His eyes retained a purple glow as his pupils shrunk and enlarged, attempting to adjust themselves to the changing light.

                “Minty was hungry,” she shrugged, “Why are you up?”

                “You left, so I couldn’t go back to sleep. Make me something,” he paused, “Please?” He smiled up at her in a way Gayun supposed was usually endearing but she was distracted from his charm by his shark-like teeth. She wondered if they regrew like sharks’ teeth too.

                “Are you still feeling sick?”

                “If I say yes, will you make me food?” He looked rather hopeful and Gayun couldn’t help but laugh. It was rather strange seeing someone who was supposed to be so fearful attempting to be cute. Instead of replying, she rolled her eyes and checked the fridge for any leftover takeout. Luckily, there was still a box of pasta left from that Italian place down the street. She guessed they could share as long as the spaghetti cliché of two people sharing one noodle and kissing didn’t happen.

                “Your hyung said that you got sick because you ate too much. Shouldn’t you be going on a diet?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow before putting the pasta into the microwave for a few seconds. The response she received was a growl shortly followed by him hiding his face behind one of his clawed hands.

                “I didn’t eat that much!”

                “Please!” she scoffed, “You went home with four people before the shop closed one day. You need to learn some self-control.” The microwave dinged and Gayun pulled the now hot dish out. She grabbed two sets of chopsticks which weren’t the best utensils to be using in this circumstance but would have to do.

                “I was hungry,” he whined.

                “Don’t lie to me.” She took the first bite of pasta and reveled in the freakishly hot but still delicious taste. Sometimes food was better the next day or, in this case, at around two o’clock in the morning.

                “I don’t want to talk about me anymore,” he sighed, “Let’s talk about you.” He swirled the noodles around before picking up a rather large bundle of noodles. Gayun’s eyes narrowed at the size; it was her pasta.

                “What do you want to know?”

                “Have you ever dated before?” he immediately asked as if it was something that had been on the tip of his tongue for the longest time. She kept her face still and avoided answering for a little while longer by taking another few bites of pasta and sauce.

                “I’ve dated.”

                “How does that work?”

                “Really?” she shook her head and resisted the urge to stab his hand through with her eating utensils. She took in a deep, calming breath before reminding herself that Seunghyun really was the idiot she had always believed him to be. “I dated just like normal people except I didn’t really want to go much farther than a peck on the lips.”

                “So you’ve never had then?” he asked, ignoring the food despite having been the one to ask for it in the first place.

                “I didn’t say that,” she mumbled. She may have been looking down at the slowly emptying container but she could still see Seunghyun tense up at her words. Though, she really wasn’t sure why he would do that.

                “But I thought aual means you don’t want to have ,” he said, his fingers tapping against the counter, “Isn’t that also the reason my magic doesn’t work on you?”

                “Just because doesn’t appeal to me doesn’t mean I can’t have it. It’s especially difficult not to when your boyfriend, who happens to be the captain of the soccer team who has won every game that season, really wants to.”

                “He made you?” Seunghyun hissed, his eyes turning an even brighter shade of purple. The air snapped and fizzled with magic. Though, the crackling and electrical snaps seemed to swirl mostly around her, almost in a protective way.

                “No,” she clarified quickly, “I consented. It just solidified my beliefs that I really want nothing to do with the bedroom in that regard.” The food was gone and he had only taken the first bit of pasta. Now, she wished that she had heated up another dish just for him. She also wished that she could change the subject like Seunghyun had done before but she couldn’t seem to get any words out.

                “Still an ,” the magic calmed down slightly, “If I ever see him, I’ll make him sorry.”

                “We ended on alright terms,” she reassured him or, maybe, she was reassuring herself. He glared and she could have sworn his horns had gotten just a little bit longer. “His younger brother is now my sister’s husband.”

                “Oh so looks like I have a reason to go to your mother’s dinners then,” he chuckled, his eyes glinting with mischief. Well, she wasn’t sure if it was mischief or pure, unadulterated evil. That was actually the first time in a long time that she was reminded of what he really was.

                “Don’t do anything to embarrass me.”

                “I won’t,” he grinned before setting his chopsticks back in to the container. He got up and started walking back towards the bedroom but paused and turned back to her. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Gayun finally realized that he was actually waiting for her. Her eyes widened slightly but she followed him anyways, making sure to turn off the kitchen light of course.

                Gayun stumbled through the darkness before a hand reached out to guide her. She only bumped into one more wall on the way back to the bed they were apparently sharing. She fell on to the mattress before Seunghyun wrapped her up in his arms and a few more blankets.

                “You’re okay with this, right?” he asked, his arms feeling a little stiff around her.

                “Just because I don’t like doesn’t mean I don’t like to cuddle,” she answered and he pulled her closer. The heat that came off of him helped soothe her back in to the world of dreams. Though she may have fallen asleep securely in the demon’s grasp, Gayun woke up alone in a slightly chilled bed.

                She sat up in bed and groaned before getting back up out of bed. She had no idea what time it was but light was spilling in from the windows. She rubbed her eyes as she walked back down the hall towards the kitchen, hoping she had something else to heat up otherwise she would actually have to cook something that morning. One thing is for sure, coffee would be a necessity.

                She strolled in to her kitchen, ignoring the mewls of her many cats as she the coffee pot. Gayun smiled sleepily at the sound the machine beginning the brewing process. She turned back to the fridge, scratching the back of her head, as she stared at the slim food choices available before a voice broke her out of the morning drag.

                “Hello, Gayun-ssi,” a familiar voice stated, “Looks like Seungri isn’t here to interrupt our conversation anymore, is he?”

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Sorry that this has taken so long guys but I recently started by job at my college which meant that I had to do about two weeks straight of training. So, my life has been a bit hectic because I'm also prepping for college. Anyways, I hop ya'll enjoyed this update and I'll try to add more soon