sugar baby

Tae always went through the same routine. Got up extra early to avoid getting beat for trying to eat, eat breakfast at school and tried to avoid the school day with out getting beat, then get home late, avoid getting beat. That was his life and he was used to it. However, the few times he got caught by both groups, his grandmother and the bullies, his life was truly hell.

This was that occasion. He didn’t see them coming. He was limping down the hall, back hurting from getting his by the end of the old hags belt when he was snatched by the back of is shirt and yanked backwards. When eyes met them, he gritted his teeth when the beating start. They got board of teasing long ago, since he was almost mute in nature, but he also got tired for calling for help. help never came. 

People have walked passed the seen, ignoring him and the situation in a whole, then helping him in some way or form. He didn’t have anyone who would want t anyways. Shock took him when he heard a sudden noise, closing is eyes tight, hugging himself in his fetus state. He waited for it, but there was nothing. He heard foot step walk off and he opened one eye, meeting her eyes. he had noticed her before, though he would never think she would talk to him, let alone approch him. 

“w..what…umm” He forced himself to sit up, just fully in pain. “I’m…ok”

Her usual routine for today was beyond repair. Any repercussions might have been achievable if only she did not took the flight of stairs earlier. At this moment, as the clock ticked by and the sun slowly sinks down for its long awaited slumber, Hana stood before the other student, begrudgingly reflecting over what she had done a few minutes ago and quietly assessing her next move as she observed him.

"Alright. If you say so," she muttered and took a few steps away, sticking to her apathetic nature. However, something stopped her and made her turn. The thought of the dinner her mother probably prepared for her before she left for work wasn't enough for Hana to keep on walking. She has no idea why. Perhaps it was pity? Perhaps it was because she can relate to what was going on with him? Perhaps he needed a friend? Perhaps she needed one as well?

Hana crouched down and picked up his stuff sprawled around the ground, placing them in what she assumed was his bag. She heaved a long sigh. What a bother, she thought, and yet here she was, helping a stranger. She noticed how his things were frayed and worn out. It was a habit she cannot break out of. Surrounded with nothing but silence itself, keenly observing over the minuscule to the extreme have become a part of her life.

kihyun quickly stuffs his chubby hands into his pocket and shrugs his shoulders at her question, avoiding hana’s gaze. again, they were together at kihyun’s place awaiting for their mothers to come home, and kihyun thought it was the perfect moment to gift her a little rectangular box. what he didn’t know was how shy he could become in front of someone that had seen him wearing only underwear (it was an accident). 

“open it.” he tells her, watching as the lid lifts up and reveals a pink crystal bracelet he had bought not long for her. “i saw it when i was at the market with my mom… i just thought it’d look pretty o-on you.” he shrugs again, looking at her eyes for a quick moment before looking back down at his feet that shifted from side to side.

“no- i mean you said you were scared of going to the doctor, so just wear the bracelet and you won’t be because i’ll be there with you.” still avoiding her gaze, he sits besides her before his knees gave out of nervousness and took the bracelet from the box. “gimme your hand.” he stretches the elastic just enough for it to slip right onto her wrist. 

His eyes were trying their best to adjust to the newly found darkness, his skin moulding at its grace. He loved darkness, and all it brought with it, although he should be afraid, he should be trembling and melting into the very fabric of the ground they were standing on. Darkness provided him with a blank canvas, on which his ideas could bloom in colour, and shapes, and emotions. It was a fresh start, a rebirth and something he would often use when he needed an inspiration. Closing his eyes often provided a useful instrument, something he could use when light could no longer communicate ideas. He found out based on his experience that murkiness often touched his unwanted senses, it opened the door everyone so harshly fights to close. Just a soft material over his eyes, enhanced his power of creating, of hearing, of feeling. Any touch in the dark is magnificent, and it is not that he does not want to enjoy every piece of flesh in front of him. Every body embraced by the mad touch of tenebrosity breaks the impenetrable barrier of magnificence, it shapes a new narrative and it becomes increasingly beautiful as it moves up and down.

He felt her insecurity run through her voice, he was certain she was in a state of panic, if not a state of breaking down. It made him wonder what demons lurk under a surface he has never met, or touched. Her fragility made him think of the fairest maidens painted by the skilful hand of a pained artist. Her strength, however, reminded him of an amazon, a strong female-figure any girl would love to be. She bloomed right there in the gloom box-like room, filled with mechanic noises and thuds. She was fascinating and he needed no more proof but her lone figure mingled on the black canvas. “It usually does not take long, but who knows?”, he spoke, his voice unchanged and unmoved. He felt entrusted with being her pillar, the body she would lean on in case of a fall. His body was stable enough to stand, he asked himself if hers was. He asked if she was able to stand, to hold her frame. “They did not made this problem public, hence why I am not baffled that you did not hear about it. So do not blame yourself one second, this is their fault”, he continued, assuring her of her innocence. “Well, we are here now. So, we can talk about anything you wish. The words you will tell me here, will remain here”.

She rubbed her bare shoulders to encapsulate some warmth. As the citizens of Seoul attempt to escape the heat of the summer solstice, they were unaware that such diversion can be found under the ground without hiking up their electric bills. She should have worn something warmer than this. But no one could have ever predicted the apocalypse, hence the over-sized shirt and a pair of cotton shorts were her humble pieces of armor.

"I do hope it will come back soon," she expressed, squinting her eyes in hopes of finally adjusting her sight through the obscurity they were caught in. There were some shadows she can regard, but they may be only tricks to the slowly dissolving yet still persisting fright. The laundry area have been really neglected and left to dust by the administration when there are no more further efforts made to even just place emergency lights on the walls.

It was pure irony when mere moments ago, she regarded his presence as useless. Nothing but a tiny ant compared to her extensive plans. He doesn't have a place in her world. Yet now, Hana trusts her whole life to him, albeit not knowing his face, his name, nor the distance between them. As the seconds tick by, it felt like an eternity for her, but the awareness that he was there with her became more tolerable. A proposal was offered to her. The proposition seemed so sweet as honey. The anonymity shrouded by the darkness is the perfect way to release one's demons. Still, she weighed her chances. She is not some naive tourist checking out the wares the flea market has to offer.

Drumming his fingertips against the cool glass, his suspicions gradually disperse once his companion’s pretty convincing signs of frankness seem to finally begin peeking through the crevice. Shot glasses suit her more than a martini, decisively. “We will have such a ball,” not straining to nurture his feigned grin anymore, Jiyong wryly snorts before nimbly gulping down his honey-coloured refreshment. Plonking the drained cup down, the bartender probably senses they will keep his hands continually busy. “At least the nearest bar isn’t miles away,” averting his eyes from the refill to unhurriedly turn his head to Hana, he soon reaches to his pants’ pocket and swiftly pulls out his custom cigarette case. Flipping the cover open, with a smirk suavely twisting his lips, he offers her the Marlboros. “Care for a smoke?”

There was an ominous twinkle in her eye upon heeding to his ambiguous response. She couldn't help but to mirthfully hum along. An answer to a confounding cipher only them could break yet have made a pact to eternally repress their knowledge about it. Hana deemed herself to be on the gray area when it came to morals. The middle ground between the good and bad, despite how sinister the schemes she has yet to execute in the near future.

Perhaps this was the reason as to how fate have always dre them together, although she wasn't quite doubtless as to how Jiyong would stay on it for too long. She was, however, extremely gratified that he has kept his mouth shut for many years, seeing how they are still roaming free and not behind the iron bars. This person pampers his self-preservation to the highest degree just like her.

It has became an inside joke between the two of them, a mischief with an obscure nature and severe casualties. There would probably a time where what has been humoring them will return with a vicious bite, but the sun is high and the alcohol is still pouring in their glasses, thus the only thing left to do is to bask at their moment of freedom.

She mirrored his actions and made them as her own, resting an arm on the surface of the ornate counter and settled her chin on the open palm as her eyes flickered with malice. The slow and smooth voice of a faceless jazz musician crooned to the patrons of the hotel bar who were rekindling the conspiracy they committed when they were young. "Be careful now. You might burn the whole place down with that spirit of yours," she murmured that only him could hear.

Her eyes roamed at the grand interior of the hotel. Their mission to provide their guests a luxurious and one of a kind stay ingenuously shrieks with their overpriced services. "But it will probably cover the insurance so I believe it will be fine even if you set ablaze two more of their hotels," she unshackled the laugh bubbling up her throat, a little too giggly and peppy for her standards, but the effects of the liquor have slowly ripped off some of the corsets she wore to be prim and proper.

With her free hand, she idly reached for her own glass and childishly raised it up. A salute to the hotel and its guests living in an expensive fantasy world for a few days. Hana took everything in one shot. It burned, but the feeling was something what she has grew accustomed to. She can feel her cheeks heating up with the rush of alcohol swimming in her bloodstream. It was time to take things slowly, but when the bartender replaced her empty glass with another fill, she knew she is going to break her rule again and again.

{ . . . }

A voice brought him back, startling him a little since he absolutely forgot to check if he was alone or not. Apparently, he was not alone. Her voice rang in his ears, the shaky undertone dictating him that she was not as comfortable, perhaps even scared. Nobody could blame her, all bad scenarios happen in the dark. Maybe that was why he felt at home in a small room reeking of detergent. “Yes. Seems like we are stuck here, huh?”, he replied, in an unthreatening voice. He felt his way closer to her, not wanting to perturb her personal space, but looking for a way to offer comfort. He stopped nearby, leaning against the - what he assumed was – wall, breathing in. “The pertinent service will in trouble, they messed around a lot this week”, he continued, trying to start a small-talk.

Her terrors over the pitch black darkness did not befell on her in one sitting. Various traumatic experiences have arose in several points in her life, leaving her in a trembling mess every time she happens to encounter the obscure. The unforeseen departure of her source of light always takes her into a state of flimsiness. An astonishing disquietude for the famed starkness of Yoo Hana.

It all began with a simple blackout. A cause of the delay of payment on electric bills in their little home. She was left behind to her own devices, a situation she has become used to whenever her mother heads out to elate the callings of the flesh. Little Hana was in a stipulation of hysteria as she wept and screamed for someone to help her from the murkiness that ate her whole.

The second time was not amiable for Hana as well. She just returned from the mortuary to confirm the cold and stiff body lying on the metal platform that it was indeed her precious mother. Her somber gait was halted at the eerie darkness of their apartment. She used to be consoled by her mother whenever the shadows arrive to torment her. This promptly created an awakening that she was now truly alone.

Three times the charm, one would say, but on its third attack, Hana have never felt so helpless in her life. Young tyrants in the making have became a permanent fixture during her time at Cheongnam High. However, during a one fine day, she was caught by surprise when they dragged and dumped her inside a dark storage room, making her authenticate the lies Gossip Girl have been spewing about her in exchange for the freedom from the cramped space they have trapped her in.

It took a long interval before she finally grew out of this fear of hers. Adapting to the darkness, this has became a part of her life, an old anecdote to humor herself from time to time. In spite of harmonizing with the blackout, she found herself once again as that terrified little girl screaming for her mother to come home.

{ . . . }

“Here you go, miss. Anything else?”

With cold glares and serrated words, Hana managed to keep everyone away from the path she walks on. The aftermath of Gossip Girl's continuous attacks have left her fortress in shambles. Nonetheless, she has rebuilt it with impregnable walls, shunning everyone including the companions she has unconsciously held dear. In just a few more months, she will be out of this nefarious vicinity. Due to the actions she has recently committed, her father has decided to exile her out of the country as soon as she graduated. It was a punishment, yet it echoed like an angelic hymn to her ears.

He was right. And she hated him for it. The grievances that have punctured her heart with a witch's stake metamorphosed into a lighter state. The outburst from her was probably what she needed after keeping all of her misery to herself. Jiyong just happened to be at the zone of explosion and had to endure the shrapnel she have propagated everywhere. Despite her tenacity, Hana was willing to apologize from her sudden rapture, but when he chose to vulgarly taunted her on the little cabaret she performed, this has amplified her exasperation towards the young master.

She glowered at him, throwing daggers on his every step when he decided to approach the fuming volcano named Yoo Hana. "Honestly, I can't stand you," she asserted with scorn when the distance between them was reduced to an arm's length. She may have used her good hand after a short brawl with some stupid jock, but the other can still keep up with its potency. Hana earned a week's detention because of her insurgency and at this moment she wouldn't mind to double it up just to knock off his vexing simper.

Still and all, Hana has to bear in mind that she has to finish up their science project. "But for the sake of this thing we have to do, I guess I do have to withstand your incompetence," she callously sneered back at him before yanking away the white lab coat from his grip.

Perhaps if the force she executed from that act would have ended in a different way. This might even wrap their little project in a surprisingly harmonious way. Maybe a bond so innocent and pure will be created, and not a red thread that will strangle them together. However, a rewind button never existed in this universe. It was all too late.

As she forcefully grabbed the article of protective clothing from him, the feedback of her actions were too strong, concluding them to collide with the Bunsen burner she ignited mere moments ago. Everything happened in slow motion. The clatter made her swiftly turn her head towards the source and she helplessly followed its tracks as the burner smoothly rolled towards the pool of gasoline her partner neglected to wipe away.

With the contact of the two elements, a fiery red spirit woke up, enraged and fuming. Its scorching heat would make anyone dash away with terror, but Hana was firmly planted on the ground as if green vines have erupted underneath her and twisted around her legs, initiating her to be immobile.