The sound of tables scraping against the floor, woke me up. My eyes fluttered open and the first thing or rather person I saw was Lee Ji-hoon.
Staring at me, his chin was propped on his palm that was resting on the desk. My eyes drifted to a beauty mark beneath his lip, one I had not noticed earlier.
How long has he been staring?
I slowly sat upright. "You know it's considered weird to watch someone sleep" I said with a soft yawn.
"I was actually wondering if you were dead" he replied with a small smile that somehow ticked me off.
My classmates moved about the room, tidying up everything.
Why is he always smiling?
There was a carton of strawberry milk perched on my desk and my eyes lit up. I opened it up and dawned the whole thing in one go.
"Ready to get your ears pierced?" I asked as I stood up from my desk. I pushed the notebook Woo-sung had given me into my my bag.
"I was born ready" he replied, practically bouncing off his seat. He strolled behind me, all chipper.
Sure you were.
I rolled my eyes, I stopped infront of a window and gazed at my reflection.
Messy crimson hair that resembled a wildfire, emrald green eyes that could cut through the toughest jewels. Most people stopped to stare at me as though I was a rare piece of art simply because of my odd appearance.
My eyes often left people wondering about my authenticity, the reason my mother went crazy. All because of a simple mutation.
We arrived at the place I had gotten my ears pierced before, delinquents hovered around the place smoking, drinking and kissing.
I snuck a look at Lee Ji-hoon, expecting him to be shivering in fear but he was unfazed.
I led him inside the store.
The person that pierced my ears stepped out, his name was Gyong-si . "You here for some new bling?" He asked as he dapped me up.
I shook my head sideways. "Nope" I threw my arm around Ji-hoon and brought him closer to me. "He is."
He eyed him up and down, unconvinced but he disappeared into the backroom.
"Wait here" I ordered. I followed the body piercer into the store room and closed the door behind myself.
He glared at me, his guard was up.
"I have some new stuff" I pulled out some pills from my bag. I rose them up high enough for him to see them and his eyes widened.
"Is that Ecstasy?" He asked, eyes glinting in glee. I nodded my head. "How much?"
"120 000 won per tablet" I demanded. He tried to get closer but I stepped away, he chuckled at how cautious I was.
Gyong-si rose up his hands in mock surrender. "Make it 90 000 per tablet and I'll take all of those of your hands" he bargained, a smirk plastered on his face.
He was the one that introduced me to the drug world so I trusted him much more than the other dealers.
"How many do you have?"
"Thirteen."
I liked the sound of that. "Deal."
"Turn around" He ordered.
I obliged, I heard the sound of a safe beeping. I did not want to break the code of trust so I did not try to turn around.
For a split second I caught a glimpse of a brown eye peeking through the slight crack of the door.
Why is Ji-hoon watching me?
My heart tightened in my chest.
"Here's the money," Gyon-si interrupted my thoughts. I whirled around and my eyes brightened up at the stack of cash on a table.
I unzipped my bag and handed him the pills. He examined them for a second.
"Take it," he ordered.
I shoved the money inside my backpack and quickly zipped it up.
Gyon-si forced a smile on his face and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Just one question, where did you get this?"
A darkness swam in his eyes as his as the words rolled out from his mouth.
My heart thundered in my chest but i could not let him see through my calm facade.
I shrugged my shoulders, "my secret admirer," i answered half-honest.
I slapped of his hand. "Also don't touch me," I hissed.
A surprised expression contoured his face and he rose his hands up in mock surrender.
"Relax, I was just asking" his lips twitched into a lazy grin.
I turned the handle and glanced back at him, "be quick."
I returned to the main store and Ji-hoon was sitting on a chair, druming his fingers on his lap.
Why were you spying on me?
Gyon-si returned with a body gun and the items he needed.
"Where do you want it?"
Ji-hoon trained his coffee brown eyes on me, almost like he was urging me to answer.
So now he gets nervous?
"His left earlobe," i answered with a small sigh. "Are you sure about this?" I probed.
I was expecting you to run off, the only reason I even suggested this was so I wouldn't have to come alone.
Not even Seok-jin should know about this.
Gyong-si held the gun piercer, eyes moving between Ji-hoon and I.
He nodded his head, "i already came here so why not do it."
I could not properly read him, I nodded my head signalling the body piercer to proceed.
To my surprise he did not flinch when the gun punctured his ear.
"Is it over?" He asked in his monotonous voice.
I guess you're tougher than you look.
I nodded my head impressed, i forced a mirror in his hand.
"What you think?"
He examined his earlobe and sighed. "I think my dad is going to disown me" he joked.
"A strict dad?" I wondered outloud.
"Pretty much."
The piercer glanced up at me. "My money" he demanded, i pulled out some cash from my pocket and gave it to him.
"It was nice doing business with you," a smile curled up on Gyon-si's face--it did not reach all the way to his eyes and something about it threatened my whole existence.
My stomach twisted.
"Let's go" I demanded as I encircled my hand around Ji-hoon's wrist and i gasped surprised at how soft his skin was.
I did not look back.
We walked through the city, my hands burried deep inside my pockets.
The walk was quiet—no not an awkward silence, it was a peaceful silence.
Was Ji-hoon really spying on me or am i just being paranoid?
From time to time he would rub his ear and I would pretend not to notice.
If it hurt, he would surely tell me right?
Well no he hadn't, about twenty minutes had passed and he said nothing.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes"
I stopped infront of him and caught his hand in mine. His brown eyes slightly widened as he gazed into my eyes.
His eyebrows were knitted together.
Why does he kinda look pretty when he's irritated?
I shook away my thoughts and shifted my eyes to his ear it was red and swollen.
It looked awful.
"Heh? Why are you acting like an idiot?!" I yelled at him, flicking his forehead. His hand moved to the place where i had hit him.
"If you're in pain, you're supposed to say something."
He remained silent as I led him to a convenience store.
"Wait here" I ordered.
I disappeared inside and returned back outside with a bottle of ice cold water. "Put this against your ear, it will ease off the pain" i handed him the bottle.
He stared at me, dumbfounded.
"Are you actually dumb?" I retorted, cocking my head sideways.
He burst out laughing, a small blush dusting his cheeks.
Huh? What is going on??
"Who would've thought you were so mom coded" he said in between giggles and i clicked my tongue annoyed at his words.
"It just really annoys me when people do that" i muttered as i plopped down on a chair, my exhaustion catching up with me.
His chuckles dissolved. "I'm sorry" he bowed his head apologetically and settled down on a seat across Tae-hyun, the water bottle pressed to his ear. "I don't like feeling like a burden."
"Pretending to be okay when you're not is only gonna create a situation where you're actually a burden. It's best to say when it's early."
He kept his eyes on me. For a second i saw a darkness lurking in his eyes but it quickly faded away.
He pointed his finger at my hair. "Why the red hair?" He grinned.
My stomach roared in hunger.
Ji-hoon's eyes fell to my stomach and i simply shrugged.
He got up without a word. I thought he had ran away but the chiming off the electric doors of the convenience store melted away the idea.
He took about five minutes inside and returned with two cups of ramyeon noodles.
He set one infront of me and settled back into his seat.
"So the hair?"
I opened the noodles, the saliva in my mouth overflowed at the scent.
He smiled at my reaction, as i began to shovel the noodles into my mouth.
"It just occured to me one day" I answered in between bites. "You think it's weird?"
I guess red hair was weird to most people but it felt the most like me-wild and unpredictable.
He shook his headsideways, "it reminds me of a wild fire."
I looked up at him, through my eyelashes and he just sat there examining every single detail about me.
"Why try to fit in when you were meant to stand out" I quoted a line from a tacky movie i once watched.
His eyes softened at my words, they seemed to touch a place in his heart that the light could not.
But then again, what problems could a rich boy have?
"Tae-hyun, you sell drugs right? I accidentally heard you and that man when i was looking around."
I paused momentarily and slurped on my spicy noodles. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" I barked.
He had not touched his food, he just sat there watching me eat.
"No, i think it's pretty cool."