i.)

Nayeon first meets Jihyo in a dingy, low-end club. Their encounter is nothing short of anti-climactic. With led strobe lights dancing and painting multiple colours on her skin, Nayeon barely manages to squeeze past sticky bodies to make her way to the bar. Someone crashes into her and the next thing she knows, her jeans are drenched with cheap, watered-down beer. Mumbling a curse, she finds the washroom quickly, not even bothering to stop and hear an apology.

This is not what she came here for. Perhaps the club is not the best place to find a temporary lover, but the city bars downtown are filled with people who ask for more than a one-night stand and Nayeon hardly has the patience for that.

The washroom is dimly-lit and littered with cigarettes and poorly rolled weed joints. It smells putrid, a combination of smoke and vomit. She tries her best to ignore the stench, turning the tap to wash her hands. Nothing comes out of the soap dispenser no matter how hard she presses. She can feel the frustration wear her down as she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Bad day?” a sultry voice asks.

Lifting her head, she catches a raised eyebrow and a shadow of a grin in the stained mirror. Even through the distorted reflection, she can make out dark brown tresses, the swell of s, and the smooth curve of apple hips.

“It’s starting to feel like the end of it,” she smirks.

She turns off the tap, flicking her hands before wiping them on her soiled jeans. When she turns, she feels her cheeks getting warm with the way the stranger is staring at her. Her gaze, hazy with liquid courage and lust, wanders down to Nayeon’s lips. Nayeon’s tongue darts out to wet her lips and she can only giggle as the stranger’s eyes seem to darken.

“It’s Nayeon,” she offers. “In case you’re wondering.”

“Nayeon,” the girl tries, rolling her name around her tongue, nice and slow, testing out how the name sounds.

The stranger’s voice sparks a delicious heat between her thighs and she would love to hear more.

The girl has a lopsided grin, almost as if she knows, “It’s Jihyo, in case you’re wondering what name to moan later.”

Jihyo closes the distance between them, leaning in to swipe her lips against Nayeon’s. It is a chaste kiss, a promise of more, all to build anticipation and desire. Lips ghost against her chin before coasting the length of her jawline slowly—tantalizingly.

Nayeon finds what she is looking for—and suddenly, her day isn’t so bad anymore.

ii.)

Jihyo is not one for pillow talk, Nayeon learns.

Somehow, their one-night stand extends beyond one single night. Nayeon doesn’t mind—Jihyo only comes to her for and she is really good at making Nayeon come apart at the seams. It becomes an unsaid arrangement and Nayeon starts to learn things about Jihyo.

During the , Jihyo never allows Nayeon to leave any marks. After the , Jihyo never stays for pillow talk; she always leaves Nayeon’s apartment when the both of them are satiated, no longer dripping with desire. Right before Jihyo leaves, she checks her phone for messages (there will always be one) and replies. Nayeon doesn’t miss the way Jihyo’s eyebrows pinch together or how her shoulders slouch forward when she leaves.

Jihyo has a lover (and it’s not her).

Nayeon doesn’t mind and she doesn’t pry. She can hardly give a about who Jihyo is dating because her relationship with Jihyo does not extend beyond . She also doesn’t care if she is a supposed third party and a homewrecker of sorts. It’s not her problem.

But curiosity gets the better of her one night when Jihyo slips out of bed for a quick shower before heading out. Jihyo’s phone is left on the nightstand and Nayeon blames her curiosity on boredom and the brief flash of light emitting from the phone screen.

Rolling over to the space Jihyo previously occupied, she picks up the phone and presses the home button. The screen lights up and as always, there is a message waiting to be read.

Mina: You’re working overtime again? I saved dinner for you. You just need to heat it up later. I lov…

Nayeon doesn’t need to open up the message to know what the last sentence is.

The phone background is a picture of Jihyo and a girl. Their cheeks are barely touching, and they look happy, wide smiles for the camera. The girl—presumably Mina—is pretty. Nayeon thinks Mina might even be prettier than Jihyo. She stares and stares until the phone screen goes dark.

When Jihyo emerges out of the bathroom, Nayeon is still clutching the phone, staring at a blank screen.

“What are you doing with my phone?” Jihyo sounds wary and Nayeon knows it is with good reason.

She does have the power to sabotage Jihyo’s relationship with her lover. But she won’t. Nayeon doesn’t care.

“Mina messaged you,” she says nonchalantly, tossing the phone aside. “Don’t worry, I don’t care enough to bother with anything.”

Nayeon wonders why it sounds like a lie.

iii.)

Nayeon does not stop engaging in ual shenanigans with Jihyo. Jihyo also does not stop showing up at her apartment with dark eyes and a hungry mouth. Sometimes, Nayeon thinks that Jihyo should stop. There is someone in another apartment, waiting for Jihyo to come home to her, and yet here she is, warming Nayeon’s sheets instead. But then she realizes that that’s Jihyo’s problem, not hers, and Jihyo is really