"Do I make you horny, baby?"

~D.C

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"Oh, hey! I, uh, didn't know you'd be coming by," I say, pocketing my phone hastily and standing. You close the door behind you and look around the space, eyes shifting like you're afraid of being followed. Nothing to see, really—a few cardboard boxes with bags of tea and shelves to store the extra goodies. It feels more like a closet than a room if you're in here long enough.

I clench my jaw as I realize I can see the outline of your nipples through your shirt. Fuck.

"Your coworker said you were probably back here... Jimin, is it? Yeah, real nice guy. He asked me some questions about you and me. He says you... um..."

You falter at the expression on my face. What's the reason you're stalling? You aren't like this, Naomi, stumbling over your words like someone who isn't sure of their place in the world. After all, I fell in love with you because of your sure-footedness, and we as humans are attracted to parallels.

Because, in a way, that sure-footedness is a gentle reminder that dominance doesn't mean pain.

"Why are you here?" I ask. I'm careful to keep any indication of annoyance or even desperation out of my voice; I'll let the psychologist in you over-analyze to your heart's content.

"Um, well..." you start with a deep breath, "I just wanted to say sorry." I raise my eyebrow and open my mouth to speak when you stumble on.

"I-I shouldn't have let you leave the apartment just because he wanted me to stay. That was so fucking rude of me. Like, who does that, right?"

You pause, as if to let me answer, but you draw another breath and keep talking. "If you give me another chance to make it up to you, you won't even have to take out your wallet. I'll pay for everything, and I mean everything because that's the least I could do after fucking my professor behind your back. Yeah, I didn't tell you. Well, it's not something to be parading around to the guy you met a few weeks ago. I never thought I'd be that girl to be in a relationship with her professor just to get good grades. So cliche, right? I mean, we're not really a thing, anyway, but, well, apparently he's dead now so it doesn't even fucking matter-"

I cut you off with a tight hug, smothering your excuses in my chest. Jumbled words become silence, and before long, you're sobbing into my shirt with abandon. You don't try to pull away when I begin stroking your hair. You only hold on tighter, and the scent of rose water and tea tree envelopes me in heaven.

It hurts me to see you like this, especially over someone that is so far from deserving a place in your heart. I know the wound he left will heal with time, because you, in your heart of hearts, know he deserved it.

Eventually, you sniffle and pull away from my grasp, but I still hold onto your shoulders for a bit before letting my arms drop to my sides. Mascara drips down your cheeks as you look up at me with pursed lips. I wish you knew how beautiful you look right now.

With a bashful smile, you ask, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad do I look?"

"Same answer as the last time you asked," I say, then see you look down, tears welling in your eyes again. My usual charm doesn't distract you completely.

What are you thinking, my dear? I wish I could know all the time, maybe have a direct link to your mind at times like this when I can't interpret your thoughts. I'm more of a one-track mind type of guy, focusing on one thing at a time, but I have a feeling you're the total opposite.

"She was too young," you say, voice thick with emotion. "Eve... She was my friend, you know? We weren't as close as Lily and Hoseok and me, and we didn't really hang out after class or anything like that, but..." You sniff. "She was so fucking smart. I mean, she didn't even need the fucking grade boost like I do. She just messed around for fun, but she threw it all away for a pig like him. I knew he was a piece of shit, but I didn't know he had it in him to actually do something like that to anyone..." 

My heart hums in excitement. You feel the same way about him as I do. You're not upset about the death, but rather mourning the hole he created, both him and Eve.

But I'll be the one to patch you back up, Naomi. Please believe that.

Something clicks in the both of us as we notice how close our bodies are. Faces mere inches apart, I can see how intricate your eyes are. Stars come to live and die in them, cosmos crashing into each other to create universes from the fragments they left behind. All that vitality encased in a thin sheet of crystalline glass. How could that protect such a wondrous thing from the world we live in?

"What can I do to make it okay?" I murmur. Your fingers latch onto the fabric of my shirt. I can practically feel your heart beating as you let out a slow breath.

You tighten your grip. "I want you to make me feel good, Taehyung."

My fantasy pouring out of your pretty little mouth, with your lithe form creating that friction I only dreamt of until now. My delight can't be put into words, so I let my body speak for me.

With another glance into your eyes, I eliminate the stifling gap between us by grabbing your waist and locking my lips with yours. My passion is calculated to yield results, and it certainly bears its fruit.

At first, you try to go slow and ease yourself into me, setting down grief one by one. I can feel the energy you hold back, bubbling right below the surface, and it excites me to no end.

Finally, after some stimulation, your pent-up energy explodes as you tug at my hair with a fervor I didn't know you possessed. Blue fire burns to the touch, and the embers in your eyes only catch the heat kindled by our traction.

Everything is so perfect I almost groan out loud: the way your hands trail lower down my body, the fact that I can feel how perky your nipples are, how you're kissing me like you've been starved your whole life.

I can taste strawberry lip gloss on my lips, but that only drives me further, and you let out a breathy moan when I squeeze your waist tighter. Tears and memories are erased by tender kisses down your neck.

The temptation to leave marks on your virgin skin is overwhelming, but I don't want to make things complicated just yet. Though, you wouldn't have come here if you wanted the nice-boy-next-door act. Isn't that why you wore the sheerest shirt possible, so my own desire would drive me wild?

"Taehyung..." you whisper as my thumb brushes across your nipples. Your hand snakes up my torso, then catches the first button of my shirt. There's a pause. Are you going to cross the threshold?

You know it's not a good idea, but glistening honey skin that waits to be discovered beyond the barrier is too much to resist.

I pretend to be concerned by your hesitance and draw back.

"Should I stop?" I ask, my voice husky from arousal.

"N-no!" you exclaim. You're desperate for skin. "Keep going... Please."

I smile as my hands slide lower down. "Whatever you want."

You squeal as I pick you up and hoist you onto an empty shelf next to me. The frame rattles when you make contact with it, but with my hands firmly on your body, you have nowhere to go.

Ivory thighs pull me closer to salvation. My patience becomes paper-thin with your legs spread like that, and you know it. You flash me a coy smile, as if to beckon me closer with a hook.

I groan softly as you palm my bulge with delicate fingers. You don't bother hiding the fact that you have ample amounts of experience and rub through my pants, savoring how I worship every inch of you.

Despite myself, I push myself into your hands, wanting more. Sweat glints off of my half-naked chest as I trail my hand along your thigh, then to your panties. Your moans are music to my ears, but the thought of Jimin walking in on us is more than off-putting. So, with my free hand, I put my index finger on your lips to signal you to be quiet, while my hand goes deeper into your panties. It's so close, I can feel your heat.

Imagine my surprise when you lick my finger.

Slowly at first, but before long, you've put it fully in your mouth with a sigh. You suck on it all while looking up at me, eyes beholding nothing but innocence. I don't even feel my jaw drop as I stare at you. If you're that good with just that...

When you eventually pop my finger out of your mouth, I can't help but want to do it all over again. Your swollen lips are parted to let out little puffs of strawberry-scented air. Your hair is disheveled, but so is mine. A glow has replaced the desolate stare you gave me when you first walked in. But before long, a mix of confusion and incredulity flashes across your face.

For a psychologist, you're quite easy to read. You can't believe you actually did this. You think you went too far. You're trying to determine if I feel the same way.

I don't. The way I feel about you can't be analyzed by the average mind, and that's why I'll take it to the grave.

Our surroundings settle in like a film on water, and we both know the moment's come to its natural close. I help you get down from the shelf, and we scramble to fix ourselves up. Hair combed back into place, shirt buttoned, skirt pulled down. Just like that, back to square one.

You're the first to speak in the wake of our shared silence.

"I, um. I have to get some stuff set up at my new practice, and it's kinda far away, so..."

"Right. I gotta go back to work, too. I don't trust Jimin to be alone out there." You giggle as you rock back and forth on your heels.

"I'll see you around, then?"

I smile. "Definitely. You know where to find me."

"Good."

With a quick peck on my lips, you turn and practically run out of the storage room, unable to contain your excitement. I watch you leave until you push open the door to the tea shop, and it feels all too familiar. But instead of the quiet relief I felt so many times in the past, this is a new kind of emptiness that's almost worse.

And now, this is when I begin to doubt my sanity. With everything exactly the way it was before, I wonder if that really happened, or if it was a figment of my imagination. I feel a migraine coming. My body aches for you to come back.

My demon feels heavy on my shoulders as I walk back to the front of the store. It's the product of losing my delirium, my syringe filled with jet-black poison.

But don't worry about straying too far, love. The leash has a way of tightening when I want it to.

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안녕 여러분! I hope everyone enjoyed
this chapter! It was honestly just an
excuse to have them make out if you
didn't notice... lol. Anyway, what did
you guys think? Any theories for the future?
Please let me know!

QOTD: What's a fun fact everyone should know?

Fun fact: Some species of male pufferfish build nests to attract females! So weird.

Until next time, happy reading!

Love,
Haneul