Blackened Heart

He scoffed at her actions, amused and unwilling to admit that he was somewhat worried for the young girl. Zacharie was well screwed over and there was no saving him from the mess he’d become, but she was still young and capable of change. “You only win because they have no sense of humour,” he teased, teeth holding onto the cigarette, “So the competition isn’t exactly tough.”

He could tell that she was flirting with him; it wasn’t a rare occurrence and Zacharie thrived in it. Flattered as he was though, he was still unable to see the girl as more than a younger sister - a child much too eager to grow up. “Don’t you have elsewhere to be? Study academy?” he chuckled, leaning back to take another drag of his smoke, out of the girl’s reach, “Or friends your own age?”

Zacharie never could have a normal conversation with his other and so, when ever she called, he would duck away into the dressing rooms to answer. He never allowed anyone in, except Ginny, of course but then again, she was never the annoying nosy type and he trusted her to keep his secrets. “For the last time, Mother, I don’t care what it is but you’re not staying at my- No! Get a fucking hotel!” he snapped, pacing the room, “I- No, I don’t mean that- Mother, will you stop crying already?”

She didn’t have a crush on the doctor at all. Even if the other students like to tease her about it, Sophie would swear on her life that she would never develop feelings for a man as strange and awkward as Doctor Do. But still, he was a rather remarkable man and his intelligence was much more attractive than some bad boy smirk - which, admittedly, was all it took for her to fall head over heels for a guy a few years ago. About to slip her phone back into her coat pocket, she was surprised when it buzzed again - so he decided to reply. 

[ Text: Wier 도 ] You’re a terrible liar, but I’m sure someone had told you before. [ Text: Wier 도 ] At least you’re not dead.

Her fingers paused over the keyboard. Usually manicured nails were bare and cut short; there was some vanity that she had had to give up but she didn’t mind. It gave her more time to focus on the things that mattered - and that didn’t include dating.

Though, of course, there was no way that Doctor Do meant it as a date, even if it sort of sounded like one.

[ Text: Wier 도 ] Yeah, sure. I don’t have other plans anyway. [ Text: Wier 도 ] What did you have in mind?

( sms : Soap ) I’ve heard that approximately 8 times in my lifetime. (I think.) ( sms : Soap ) Congratulate me for not dying.

Relief washed over him like waves cast from the ocean, refreshed with the fact that she still talks to him that way. Sophie was still Sophie. A small woman with a sharp tongue—hostile yet accomodating. His thumb hovers over the screen, reeling up some ideas on how to bridge the small gap he had created between them. ‘Should we do this? Or that?’, he asked himself.

( sms : Soap ) I was thinking about that movie you asked about. Didn’t you rent it out for the weekend? Or did you purchase a DVD copy of such? ( sms : Soap ) And I’ll bring some food or whatever. How about that?

Only a minute had passed without her replying, still, so he sends in a follow-up in case she wasn’t in the mood for it. Or if she wasn’t in the mood to do anything with him at all. His paranoia got the best of him.

I have a gigantic crush on you and you called me on the phone while I was masturbating but I picked up anyway and you caught on to what I was doing but you didn’t hang up??? Does this mean you like me??? Does this mean we’re gonna have phone sex???

You’re a dancer and I come and watch you in your studio sometimes but today you did a really provocative dance and I don’t want you to notice how turned on I am please don’t come talk to me right now

We were joking around and you picked me up and spun me around with no trouble and I had no idea you were so strong is it weird how turned on I am by that fact?

I hid in your closet to scare you as a joke but when you came in you started masturbating and I can’t just get up and leave but if I get caught in your closet you’ll think I’m a pervert I regret my life choices

We’re roommates and we always look through each other’s mail and I certainly was not expecting to find a vibrator when I opened your package how much time do I have to re tape this before you get home

I walked into the house to find you looking at the new vibrator I ordered and I tried to leave without you hearing me but I ran into the table by the door please just let me die of embarrassment

I bought dick popsicles as a joke but you look really hot how you’re sucking on that fuck 

You spanked me as a joke in front of our friends but it turned me on and now I’m trying to find excuses to go run off and masturbate where I 100% definitely won’t think about you spanking me definitely not

I was teasing you and I called you vanilla and now I’m laying with my hands and feet tied and a gag in my mouth and, shit, is that a vibrator?

For @faithlessloyalties

Once the bartender brought over the two glasses, Sophie pushed one over to Hamin. An unreadable expression was on her face - not exactly upset but bothersome memories having been brought up by the drunken man that tried to hit on her earlier in the night. “Alcohol makes people pretty shitty,” she said with a sigh, “There’s no other way of putting it. Back when I was a kid, I thought that that sort of behaviour was cool - you know? I was pretty wild back then. Not anymore, I guess.”

Of course, Zacharie had only expected so much. It was the main reason he’d never been able to really date an idol – their image meant too much and, comparatively, his antics were too much of a scandalous hazard. Somewhat adored by the gossip sites, there were so many photos and videos of his hard partying, womanising ways that no idol would be able to keep up. And yet. he treated a few people as exceptions to that. Taeyeon was one of them, the few whose cautious ways he did find a little endearing.

“Do you have to ruin my fun, mon canard? Rien ne sert d'être vivant s'il faut qu'on travaille,” the fluent French ran off his tongue like a melody and, really, Zacharie was much more charming when no one knew what he was saying, “But fine, we’ll do something nice and safe for you. I’ll sacrifice my evening of wild adventure for your manager’s blood pressure.” Reaching out a hand, he ruffled her hair softly before standing with a chuckle. There were places that they could go to in Seoul but, discounting all of the night clubs and bars that might have been much too dangerous for the women, there was only one place that was really worth going. It’d been a long time since he last visited and, in his memory, Zacharie had only brought one girl up there many years ago – Sophie; the woman who was the start and the end to everything for him. He’d always been hesitant about going back there since she left him but, well, Taeyeon wouldn’t have been too bad.

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand, “I’ll surprise you. Get your things and I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

Ever since she had met the man that was currently sitting in front of her with a smug expression on as if he was the owner of the place, Taeyeon was given the chance to break a few walls and get to know him better than people that classified him as trouble, fact that made her stay close even despite her principles and the shaking head of her managers. Underneath everything he might have put on as a mask or a protection shield, Zacharie was still a caring, sweet friend. That loved to tease her in french sometimes. French that the woman rarely understood, today not being the case.

He leaned forward, voice dropping as though he were telling her some sort of secret, though the smirk said otherwise, “I really, really don’t give a shit.” Perhaps if Zacharie had had any interest in the film industry, then he would actually attempt to be decent at what he did. However, the thought of even being distantly involved in the same work that drove his father away from their family was enough to make his head hurt. Fashion was good, though he didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight as a model either.

Turning away, he leaned back in his seat, gaze travelling out the window of his studio apartment. He seemed a little introspective for once and, when Zacharie spoke, his words were quiet, “You know the only thing I’m remotely interested in is music - and I refuse to pursue that professionally. If it’s a job, then I’ll hate it.”

「 ♡ 」 … *┊                                FINE BUT WHY WAS she giving a shit now? Sometimes Hyorin wanted to slap herself for being so dumb. She thought that if she could help him, he would have a better image and— no, she shouldn’t care. Slowly, she straightened up again. It was probably for the better if she would stop worrying about people like Zacharie because, in the end, she would be the dumb one.

He didn’t let go of her, regardless of how she struggled. Instead, toned arms wrapped around her as Zacharie held her against his chest, eyes closed as he tried to both control his frustration and work out another option - he had money, there was always an option. “You calling when you get home doesn’t mean bad shit can’t happen on the way there,” he insisted, voice just a little softer, “Come on. Let’s go.” Releasing her, he instead took hold of her hand and led her back the way that they had originally came and back into the five star hotel.

“Room for two; get me the presidential suite,” he told the reception, handing over his card before turning back to the girl. He hadn’t asked but, then again, Zacharie was always assuming that the world revolved around his antics. “You said you didn’t want me to drive you home, so we’ll go home tomorrow.”

        ♡       “Neither do I,” Zacharie grumbled, annoyed that he’d been put in this situation by his agency again, “You watch; I’m going to go on the broadcast and say all the shit they don’t want me to. Just to piss them off.”

“I know it’s really handy to have a friend who is a doctor, but you can’t come to me for everything,” she sighed, closing the fridge as she tossed a bottle of water to the male, “A hangover; that’s my diagnosis. You have a hangover and you need water.” It was late in the afternoon already but, for someone like Sophie who worked overnight most of the time, she was still half asleep.

His voice was heard first - boyish but masked with the rasp of his nicotine addiction. It cut through the quiet tension of the studio before the first chord was heard, slow and heavy. As with every song that he wrote, they were all heavy drenched in emotions - usually pain and self loathing. It was what he was best at.

Retracting his hand, Zacharie watched Ahyeon in silence, looking out for any change in her expression. He had been working on the song for well over two months, constantly tweaking and rewriting. The idea of being a burden to someone, of holding her back with his own issues - it meant a lot to him. It was only when the final arpeggio played, ending the track, that he made a move to pause it. “Well?”

     Authenticity was key. Real emotions. Real experiences. That’s what made music an art. She could appreciate his music even if was heavy. It was more sincere than singing something churned out. A formula of a successful song. Purely trendiness.

He shrugged, a smirk on his lips, “Well, I like all of them. You can’t deny me the pleasure of taking you out in every single dress – it just means that we’ll have to do this more often.” Most of the others girls he’d taken out would have expected to be showered by Zacharie Kwon but, of course, he’d somehow taken interest in the one girl who seemed hesitant. It was refreshing though, and he wasn’t planning on letting it stop her anyway. The assistants had already taken the dresses to be packed and couriered back to his apartment; after all, he was a regular and they knew he took his girls home.

“You know we’re not done yet, right?” Zacharie added, gesturing across the street - Manolo Blahnik and Cartier, “You can’t go there with no shoes and all right?”

Stephanie had her lips parted and arms outstretched, ready to stop the employees from taking all the dresses but before she could even utter a word, her inner voice stopped her. Don’t make their job harder than it already is. And with that, her mouth snapped shut and she dropped her arms to her sides. She looked back to Zacharie, her bottom lip near trembling as her voice came out in barely a whisper, “Dummy”.