Track 27. WATER by Kehlani | ♩ 

Stupid idiot got chocolate all over me. Rara took one wet tissue after another, wiping the chocolate off of her face. She then realized that she ran out of wipes, and she hadn’t even cleaned off her chocolate-smeared neck. Groaning, Rara decided to rummage through her luggage to get her pajamas ready. She put it on one of the tables and when she turned around the Other Baekhyun was standing in front of her.

“What?” Rara snapped, as she crossed her arms, looking up to him.

“You still got chocolate all over your neck.” 

“Yeah, some put it all over me.” 

He took a step closer, causing Rara’s back to bump against the desk behind her. His eyes held onto hers like he was hanging from a skyscraper; so intense, that it appears as if he’d fall to his death if he lost concentration. Eyes were where one’s emotions would egress, and once people catch a glimpse of these feelings, they become elephants in the room—impossible to mask, necessary to address. The Other Baekhyun’s eyes were no stranger to Rara, the emotions it flashed even more so. 

“I told you earlier, didn’t I?” Rara said sternly. “Your blood doesn’t affect me the way Baekhyun’s does.” 

“So why am I still looking at you and seeing an aerial image of two glasses full of red wine?” 

“My red eyes equate to a plethora of emotions.” She explained. “It doesn’t necessarily mean desire. I was worried sick because one of my kind attempted to turn you into someone like me. I got mad because, for some unknown reason, you turned into a 5-year-old and thought it was funny to terrorize my face with chocolate. It could be any of those.” 

“So what could you possibly be feeling right now?” 

“Anything but lust.” She deadpanned.

The Other Baekhyun raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really?”

Rara shrugged and let out a deep breath. “Try me.” 

I shouldn’t have said that. 

The Other Baekhyun’s arm s through her waist, pulling her closer; unbothered by his bold move and with her arms still crossed over her chest serving as a barrier between them, Rara continued to look at him as if he had not just closed the gap between their bodies. He gingerly flipped her hair over her shoulder with his free hand and looked at Rara one more time before his nose traced the curve of her neck. 

What are you doing...? 

Rara could feel herself gripping her sweater tighter and tighter, but to show such discomfort will just encourage him—that’s the Other Baekhyun’s game. Once she flips, he wins. She could feel his warm breath against her skin; it dawned on her, ever since he had appeared in place of Baekhyun, she had never been intimate with him. Ever. Given that she misses the affection that Baekhyun offered her, she might be at a disadvantage here. And she realized the gravity of such consequence as he caressed her cheek; the touch of his fingers, a little bit cold from the weather, sending Rara’s skin into a higher level of hypersensitivity.

I shouldn’t have said that. 

Electricity coursed through her body as he deliberately slid his hand under her sweater, running his thumb in circles against her waist. She felt her brain sh