#ahyeos

        “If I give you the scissors are you going to return them?” He doesn’t look up from the magazine, he sits in comfortable silence. Things are never really silent when Ahyeon walks in. She brings in every last deed she’s done on her shoes, on her fingers and most of all in her hair. He comments on neither. Usually she gets his full attention when she walks in but today he thinks if he looks up she might incinerate him. That’s the thing about girls born of flames, always setting fire to the world around them as if it’ll cleanse the body. He twirls the scissors in one hand, baiting destruction at his fingertips. She could take it if she wanted. It was an admirable trait to the less courageous but tempting to the curious. Daewon was one such person. So he continued, eyes glued to the magazine even though they should be on the door waiting for customers.

( @ahyeos )

‘so I heard about this girl, ahyeon?’

not this shit again. honestly what made him think he wouldn’t be dealing with this shit again. he came all the way back to campus, after deeming it taboo, dressed up particular for this little meet-up only to be met late and with a posse of self-entitled pricks. button-downs, ascots god forbid and their hair slicked up in the winter. in the fucking winter. if kihyun wasn’t getting something out of this he’d be choking himself with the sleeves of his sweater, or choking them. he was moving between two extremes quite easily.

they’re so predictable, with their smug grins and stuffed wallets. thinking they’re smart because they live on the value of a piece of paper but don’t know what others will do just to get it. he thinks of ahyeon as he sits there, stuffy and plastic. he hasn’t felt this way in a while and if it weren’t for his fingers tightening around the lighter in his hand he might’ve walked away already. for their sake he’s hear.

“you’ve got some nerve speaking her name like that. i mean, do what you want but, that’s some nerve.” there’s something there, not fondness even though kihyun’s smiling. amusement. everyone here pretends they’ve got so much fucking nerve. fake puffed-out chest bullshit. kihyun imagines ahyeon slicing through them like butter. her laughing and tearing them apart without moving a muscle. she’s in a league of her own. he also imagines her smiling at this, playing along if only to give herself a laugh. he imagines ahyeon or tries to and thinks he’s coming up short, empty. it doesn’t bother him as much as it used to.‘what you’re scared?’ it’s said with a sneer, because the guys in here have so much nerve.“speak of the devil and it shall appear.” that gets a laugh from them. snide, mocking.‘yeah well, if she were anything to be worried about we could handle it.’“sure.”

he knows he didn’t have to come here for her. he doesn’t know why he agreed to it. he thinks about ahyeon laughing in his face, maybe yelling, maybe thanking. they work around the same business now, her more efficient, more spacious. kihyun more closed, more unorthodox. “so, which one of you stole, and which one of you is spreading?”‘what are you a lapdog?’ that one spread.‘it’s not a big deal is it? i mean deals have bad ends right?’ that one stole.“mmm she’s not going to like that.” he can tell they don’t care, he can tell they’re not here to hear the truth. he doesn’t know what to give so he tries again.

“so what did you need me for?”‘you’re good at selling right?’ kihyun’s good at a lot of things. “i’m good at what I need to be good at.” recently that’s a lot of things.‘good enough to tell us what’s the deal with this b****’ his nose curls. kihyun doesn’t have a clean mouth at all. he shifts in his seat and fiddles with the lighter. ‘well let’s hear it.’“mmmmmmm she deals in a lot? not your crowd though but the stuff she deals is a decent grade. honestly speaking she can’t stomach your crowd so she doesn’t. you can’t cheat her or I wouldn’t? your best bet would be a fight, but try five on one and everyone else will eat you alive.” he sighs, at one point he would’ve been bouncing from the sheer excitement of it all. “basically, it’s not child’s play.”‘she’s a girl.’“reputations speak more.”‘she’s a fucking kid.’ so are they. kids playing grown. kids trying not to grow up in whatever way they can. they don’t know the joy of having it stripped away though, of having no choice of picking one. kihyun is a middle ground. he’s childhood stripped, childhood pasted and childhood abandoned all at once. maybe that’s why he’s here.

another sigh. “so what did you really need me for?”‘info.’“the info I gave you you can get anywhere.” and it’s still not enough. it’s a scratch on the surface. “if anything, it’s advice. don’t play around with her.”

‘I say we just corner the b****’ he shakes his head. ‘just send someone else.’ he laughs. ‘just pay her to work for us.’ he sighs again. ‘how hard could it be to screw over some kid?’ he thinks of them, placed in control without knowing how to work it. he thinks of ahyeon out of control and always in control. it’s supposed to be a dog eat dog world but these are playpen warmups.

kihyun sits back now, taking in their strategies, their remarks, their blissful game of pretend and lets his phone sit snug in his lap, finger over the record button. now he’s excited. for the aftermath of this travesty, for the climax.

who cares. it’s their funeral. 

“you’re going to break him hun.” minhee wouldn’t mind if she did.

ahyeon is all fire and no forgiveness. minhee is all talk and all bite. they’re both all consuming one carefully destroying and one recklessly. they don’t match, they shouldn’t complement but when they get together the blaze is too beautiful to ignore. ahyeon burns and sears and minhee can’t help but smile. 

she plays at boredom if only briefly. what was supposed to be a good night has taken a turn for the better. they simply cannot have a normal night, they cannot get along without something being trampled under their path. they don’t live like queens because they live to destroy kings. it’s a necessity and when ahyeon’s hands curled in anticipation minhee couldn’t fight the desire curling in her chest. she admits she doesn’t know playfulness unless it’s malicious and her expressions says such. black lips curled in a smile, black boots posted up against concrete, and black nails crawling across skin, minhee carves a promise into his skin.

he trembles. she smiles.

“he didn’t mean to snap at you,” he did. he’s spotted minhee. it’s always late in the night when men got a little too bold, a little too confident. it’s under cover of moonlight that minhee is most deadly as they come to find out. a stroll down hongdae, her arm around the younger and her boots digging into the ground, minhee radiates freedom and he has a problem with it. he associates money with ownership and yanks them apart under the pretense of control and the haze of alcohol. minhee had been calm, ahyeon not so much.

ahyeon’s a true testament to her reputation, always lit and never dormant. she’s got his arm twisted behind him and minhee’s hand pressing his cheek into the wall. crushing, snuffing, under the cover of moonlight they come alive.