Stray Dogs

i. Tainted Mind, Body, and Soul

ONE. TAINTED MIND, BODY, AND SOUL.

There was always a lingering fear of sneaking out of an unconscious man's embrace. Yena had done it so often that she should have been used to such a feeling, that the fear should have merely been numbed away. But it just never was. There was an art to it, to a degree, and she had learned to perfect it at times. Yena could be nimble, but it did not mean she always succeeded. That is where the fear made her heart beat uncontrollably, and that is where she grew afraid. She couldn't lose control over herself, or she was done. She wouldn't be able to escape. Carefully, Yena's every movement was painfully slow. Just a little further, don't be impatient. So slow, even her expression grew strained. Lowering the man's grubby, fat fingers off her waist, it was when he snorted in his sleep that she stilled completely. Had she fucked up so soon? Instead, it was a miracle. He suddenly flopped over after a small bout of silence to further sleep. She had been holding her breath to such a thing, but she didn't dare release it, not so early as to wake him up. Letting her gaze linger a few moments longer, she lifted her body up off the floor with a certain precision, a frown etched on her lips. Just the sight of this sad man alone was enough to make the image of her brother appear in her mind, and her weary eyes suddenly fell to a close to erase him entirely.

She was exhausted.

It wasn't over, she still had yet to leave this man's home, but she couldn't leave empty-handed. It had become abundantly clear to Yena the night before that this man would not pay her for anything that she did. Greed. Such emotion was always so clear to her, but being Yena, she had a small hope that maybe if she did good enough, pleased this dirty man enough, she would've gotten something. Anything. Regrettably, she was fooled once again. Tiptoeing around him to gather her things, she slid her worn shirt over the white lacy bra she had worn, glancing around for the rest of her belongings. Sometimes, after doing this, she would think of Ji-hun. His hopeful expression when he talked of that well-dressed man back at the station. Anytime the thought came up, it faded just as quickly. So? What good would that do them? Being scammed when they were already scammed in everyday life by simply breathing? The Park siblings had been dealt a bad hand in life, but Yena knew that even if that was the case... no. She didn't think that anymore. Ji-hun did.

Ji-hun was the one who believed things could turn around. Yena did not.

Peering over her shoulder, Yena looked at the man to see if anything had changed. She was satisfied with the sight of him still snoring like some hog. Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, as if karma would strike her at any moment, she turned around to grab her bag after fixing the shorts she wore. She had considered it, leaving empty-handed, perhaps coming home with absolutely nothing that day. Her escape was already going so beautifully well that she didn't want her own greed to fuck that up. Her gloomy gaze suddenly trailed to where the man had carelessly left his pants the night before, a pair of jeans that she knew his wallet resided in. Don't fuck yourself over, Yena, she reminded herself. Pressing her lips together and sparing the sleeping older man nearby one last glance, Yena cautiously began to approach the article of crumpled clothing. Almost automatically, she wanted to turn around and leave, she wasn't like this. Yena was low, but she wasn't this low. Plus, she was now closer to him than she would've liked. One wrong move could wake him up, and they would have to do this all over again, something she didn't want. Park Yena felt more than filfthy after a night with this man, and she wanted to leave before anything else could ensue. Fishing around until her fingertips grazed over a certain leather material, her dark eyes glimmered with a certain delight as she pulled it out, only to find her face falling whenever she began filtering through it. With her fingers brushing against each bill, she tried not to release a sound of frustration. All she ever did was set herself up for disappointment. It was when she took all that there was out of the wallet, not bothering with the cards, that she finally snuck out and left.