Indifferently, Ara stared at the bad hand of cards she held in annoyance. This would've have been the 20th bad hand she'd been dealt all night. Okay, fine, maybe just the second bad hand, but it was making her itchy, and annoyed. Of course, she was winning the game by a mile, but she was playing poker. Anything could change in the game with just a round, and she didn't like losing. Not that she'd ever know what that felt like--she assumed it wasn't a position she'd like after considering the defeated expressions of her foes. She wanted to sigh and yell at the cards for being so rude to her this night. She had had a good day until this second crappy hand had decided to make her the receiver, but if anyone knew anything about poker, they'd know that facial expressions and actions were the key to winning. If she so much as blinked incorrectly, she'd be found out, and then all of this week's salary would be gone if someone called it, and she was almost positive everyone had higher cards than she.

  Withholding the breath that she so painfully wanted to let out, Ara looked up scanning everyone around her until she spotted an old man directly across from her and not paying attention to any of his surroundings. If she'd remembered correctly, he had placed quite a sum of money up for grab. She liked cash games; cold hard cash was right on stake every hand. She loved it.  

Having found her target, she examined the man much more than usual. His slips twitched slightly upward, a smile he was holding in. A gleam reflected from the dark of his eye and she shook her head. Like hell she was folding. Even with this crappy hand, but she was last in this drawing round, and she loved that.

Calmly, she drew another card. The silence between the players was tense. All eyes were on her as she gracefully lifted her card away from their sights and into her own. She stared down at the card and for moments the only thing she could register was the overwhelming aroma of tobacco and liquor. She didn't quite enjoy either smell, but they were familiar. Like the smell of freshly mowed lawn--it was common and always recognizable. 

She smiled and put out three weeks’ salary just to match her opponent.

"Unbelievable, she made the call!" The old man stared in horror as he blanked out, cards dropping to the ground. He only had one pair, and she'd known that from the moment he switched. He was far too happy, even if he did have a high hand. She flipped her cards pushing them onto the table. 

"Flush." Everyone else had either folded or kept a hand of one or two pair. She gathered all the bets, pulling toward her vicinity.

Oh yeah, this was the life for her. 

"Araaa!! You've won again! You're like a jewel to the club!" She simply gave a light smile to her boss as she began to count her earnings. 'Thank you, crappy hand.' She muttered gratefully, eyeing the chips like tomorrows dinner and counting with her eyes.

No, she wasn't the greedy type, but this meant more money for home to support her family. Maybe then her brother could finally come home.. It'd been a while since she'd seen him, hasn't it? 

Still, all thoughts ceased when the sound of wood scraping against the tiled floor caught her ears. Looking up, she noticed a man with short, but slightly waved hair. It was dark chocolate in color and somehow very shiny. He was a well taken care of man, she assumed. He wore the normal black to white suit with an abysmal black tie. He was far taller than she, but her pride made up for it, so it was okay. Noticing her prying eyes, he returned the look with a gentle smile, a dimple cutely appearing on the side of his face. If he hadn't sat down as an opponent, she may have tried to make a move toward him. But this was poker, and poker was her territory. 

She returned the smile with a sarcastic one. Unsure what was going (or more like what this tense aura was), all previous players backed out, including the poor old man. No one had any idea what, but something was definitely about to go down. 

"Do you mind if I join?" He asked boldly. She wanted scoff. Excuse him. Instead she smiled bigger.

"Help yourself. You can go first, too." AKA 'You're not going to win.' The words were polite, but she sized him up as the dealer began to give out the cards left and right, keeping silent. At five, she allowed him to lift his cards before she repeated the action.

She was actually dealt quite a good hand. A card or two away from a full house. She glanced at her opponent, but he kept his cards neatly in one hand as he removed only a single card and replaced it. But his next action shocked her.

He smiled at her, pushing out a few significant chips before motioning to the deck.

"Your turn." She gaped in horror. Everything he'd just done broke nearly every rule of poker out there. She couldn't believe it.

Cautiously, she discarded about three cards and replaced them, but she blinked. She had just received a straight flush. Out of nowhere. There was no way he was winning now. No way. Unless... She shook herself mentally. If he was really that good of a player, then what in the heck did he just do all that for? Copying him, she smiled as well, pushing chips and bills back on the table--the exact amount that belonged to the man she'd defeated only minutes ago. Her new opponent seemed unphased and pushed out twice the amount she'd put in play. 

"Cards?" The dealer questioned, hoping he wouldn't be attacked for ruining the silence that had been far too uncomfortable for him or anyone else watching.

Confidently, Ara played hers down first.

"Straight Flush." 

Her opponent tsked, and set down his own set of cards.

"Royal Flush." Her face imitated that of the old mans. Wait. Had she just lost? In one round? That quick? Everything around her slipped seeing as the only thing of focus was how she was going to have to destroy this man, take the money back, and get a new identity. She'd just lost. Kim Ara never lost. 

The man chuckled a little at her expression.

"It's alright. I'm not really in need of money right now, so..." He tapped his chin devilishly cute. "I'll give you back half of what you bet." Her flaunted his dimple once more, and turned to cash in his chips. Ara couldn't believe it. A newcomer had beaten her. A newcomer that didn't follow any of the poker rules had just beaten her. What was life anymore? She stared blankly ahead, and it was then she'd noticed. The smell of tobacco and alcohol had long left since that mysterious man arrived, being replaced with the scent of sweet shampoo and crisp night air . 

"Ara? Are you alright?" One of the regular staff pressed a hand to her shoulder, breaking her out of her trance just in time to see the man taking his cash and leaving. Nothing mattered right now. She was going to find this man and-- Ugh! She stood up, pushing her chair back and accidentally sent the staff member behind her crouching in pain as the wood collided with his shin. 

"Sorry." She said monotonously, a hollow apology. She pushed her way out of the club and outside just catching him getting into his car. She cleared her sour expression and walked to the passenger with him seeing, put herself into the vehicle, buckled up with her arms crossed. Confused the man refused to get into his car and strolled to the passenger side and opened the door leaning against it. 

"Miss, would you like to tell me what exactly do you think you're doing?" He questioned calmly, obviously amused by her actions. She huffed, keeping her eyes straight in front of her.

"I'm not moving until you tell me what just happened." He chuckled and scratched the back of his head before leaning closer on his car door.

"I don't mean to sound rude or boasting, but I just won, and I need to get home. Spare me, I even gave you half of the winnings back." She shook her head, not moving an inch from where she was seated.

"Nope." He  smiled with a shrug and closed the door to the door, walking over into the drivers' seat. She actually hadn't expected him to be all right with her being in his car, but it was as if the thought didn’t bother him. He strapped himself to the seat and cranked the ignition, gently pressing his foot to the gas pedal. 

"Wait, stop! What are you doing?! My shift isn't over, in fact it jut began! What are you doing?! I have to work!" He merely smiled, continuing to drive.

"Too late now."

"Welcome home." He introduced sarcastically as he lifted the garage like entrance. Unamused, Ara turned to him, but rather than look at him, she found herself staring at all the things behind him. He'd brought her to a lesser traveled part of town (by day, that is, it was a nightlife hotspot) and now he was telling her lived here? Behind him stood all tables of gambling, where she noticed a blackjack table and a Russian roulette setup. He lived here? Amazed, she found herself removing the seatbelt and stepping past him into the mini-casino like building. 

"Who in the world are you?" He shrugged, kicking his shoes off to sit on a cough which she noticed was pushed up against one of the walls. There were gaming cards everywhere. She could tell they belonged with different decks, and dice were scattered all over the tables. It was so...messy. 

"Well now you see why I'm so good right? It's because I live here." She stared at his face and narrowed her eyes. He was lying. Why he felt he had reason to, she didn't know, but she just knew he was. Just-- As she was going to continue that thought she realized something. She was in the 'house' of a stranger she'd only met tonight. It hadn't even been a day. More than that, she didn't even know his name, or even a nickname. Not that she liked nicknames.

"Who are you?" He whistled and ignored her, picking up a magazine near him and flipped through the pages in attempt to find something worth the interest of reading. Ara twitched. He was just so...rude. "Exc--"

"Get me a drink." He turned facing her. She blinked and stared at him as if her were crazy. She was the guest, in his house,

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? 

"Bu--" 

"The fridge is there." He pointed toward, indeed a small refrigerator in the corner of the room. Though she could have stayed to insult him plenty more, Ara found herself huffing and puffing to his own fridge, her mind an array of colorful things. Blankly, she opened the refrigerator expecting to find the whole fridge stuffed with only one type of drink. It was a Japanese brand, so she couldn't really tell what the can was saying, but other than that she noticed that there was no food. Anywhere. He definitely didn't live here, but to play along, she grabbed a can and walked back, tossing it to him, which he skillfully caught. She noted that.

"Well assuming from the long time it took you to stare at my fridge, I'm assuming that you've already found proof that I don't live here. But, to you, this is where I live, and I have no other house. Besides, we're strangers. Can't have you in my house yet, right?" He joked as he opened the can and took a few sips.

"Can I at least get a name?" she requested. He thought about it before flaunting his dimple again. She looked away ignoring the blush on her cheeks.

"Zhang Yixing. Or Lay. I've found that Koreans prefer Lay much better." She nodded.

"So..Yixing..What were you doing at our club?" 

"Personal Invite. It was quite nice actually. He actually invited me just to play you. " He pulled out a small envelope, and threw it at her, which she skillfully caught. He noted that as well. Like a curious child, she opened the invitation and read through it, confirming it with her boss's signature at the bottom.

"Right. My skills aren't that great, so I don't know--" 

"On the contrary, they're quite good. You actually escaped my first trap by allowing me to start first. I can tell by your habits. You're good, but you play by the rules too much. I could tell by the way you looked when I smiled." Ara averted his eyes, hoping he meant when he had smiled during the game and not her admiring expression when she'd first caught sight of him.

"Well. I look forward to seeing you at the club again. I have to go back to the shift that you've made me miss, remember?" She replied before standing at the lift-up door, waiting for him to open it. Yixing couldn't help but grin as he lifted the garage-like door for her once more. 

"I'll definitely be coming around more often." He muttered quietly from the other side of the door, knowing she couldn't hear him. "It might just be to see you." 

Ara stared at the garage door having heard his words loud and clear, but smiled and shook her head, walking off.

'Oh yeah,' Yixing thought back a few minutes later. 'How is she going to get back?'

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