IF I WERE THE DEVIL ; YANG JUNGWON

CARD XX: I failed to say the unspoken.

"You are quite famous now, Lim Jieun," Ni-ki said, his confidence replaced by confusion the next minute.

"Kim Jieum? Lim Eyeon?" The teasing smile on his lips grew wider as more versions of his mistake slipped out of his mouth.

"Help me, what was it?" He scratched the back of his head in obvious embarrassment.

"Ahh!" The boy's eyes widened with the right one coming to his mind. "Kim Eyun." He grinned at the slightly irritated look on her face.

"Anyway," he chuckled at himself before straightening up in his seat. Completely ignoring the other two players, he came closer to her.

"There is this rumour about your life-exchange deal. I can't help but ask, is it true?" His eyes sparkled with curiosity, even if they seemed to reflect something dark. His gaze travelled behind her for the next second, his eyes widening once more as a new realisation hit him.

"Oh! It's her, this life exchange student... What was the name? Shit... what wa— Ah! Lee Mino's sister." He covered his mouth in shock. "Whoa, so it's true!"

He closed his eyes in embarrassment. "Argh, how could I not recognise her?" He found his mistake rather amusing, laughing briefly.

"They look the same." He paused to make eye contact with Minhee, who was already staring back at him, all the emotion drained from her face. "The same naive and deceitful face." He sighed sorrowfully. "Sadly, they didn't get to share the same fate." He shook his head bitterly with a sad pout on his lips. "It is really a pity you messed things up, Eyun-Noona."

The round had continued: 7-3, 3-5.

The other two players had an easy time of it, taking advantage of the boy's talking to distract Eyun, her jaw tightening with each word that followed.

The angel exhaled and placed her next stone on the table, 5-4.

"What are you trying to do here? There is no point in trying to psychologically manipulate," she said calmly, thinking she could stop his plan before it got out of hand.

Eyun had caught a glimpse of Minhee's face. The girl's hands were clenched into fists, a suppression of her true feelings. She didn't know if it was fun for him to talk about someone like that in such a condescending way.

"Manipulation?" He chuckled. "I am just saying it's surprising to see someone like her here." Hurt by her misinterpretation of his intentions, his eyes shifted back to Eyun.

"Isn't she traumatised by this greedy scrounger's treatment of his poor sister's life?" He asked with all sincerity he could express. "As if she were only a simple coin found on a dirty street..."

Ni-ki's eyes wandered to Taehyun as he continued. "A first year who you can draw to the table and cheat on without their knowledge, because they're so intrigued by the things they don't notice."

The corner of his lips rose in a smirk as he watched the silver-haired boy's piercing look towards him. Those doe eyes appeared so threatening all of a sudden.

"The easiest victim out of all." The demon acknowledged the desire that filled them so strongly , so obviously. It was downright an invitation to take advantage of it.

Taehyun blinked shortly. A red flicker. The boy who was provoking the hell out of him by hurting Minhee like that — most probably deliberately —had a red flicker in his eyes as Taehyun locked his own with them.