To love and to Hate

11: Questions of the mind

The hallway suddenly felt very small, and the heat crawling to Jisung's face wasn't helping as he stared at Minho. "You're insane."

"Am I?" Minho paced forward slowly, his mismatched eyes flitting over Jisung for what felt like the hundredth time. "We took out some of our frustrations, and we felt good while doing so."

"I'm really trying to forget about it, Minho, and you're not helping."

"Then don't forget about it." The water mage was much too close now. 

"Jisung backed up a step, but there wasn't much room with the door right behind him. "So what, you want to sleep with me again and then you'll be satisfied? You're such an asshole."

Minho let out a dry laugh, one filled with patience ready to break. "How much paint must I add before you see the whole picture?"

Of course Jisung knew what he was hinting at, and the idea of it brought a storm of confusing emotions crashing through his head. If he felt so much pleasure while very drunk, he couldn't imagine experiencing Minho sober. But at the same time, sex was supposed to be a connection, not an outlet, and he didn't want to connect with his enemy in any way.

"I'd rather not see the whole picture. I have enough on my plate with these new rules Enforcement has put out, I don't need to deal with you on top of it all."

"How about you just deal with me on top of you?" Minho countered smartly, twitching an eyebrow up and smiling as pride flashed in his demeanor.

Jisung snorted and rolled his eyes. "You're terrible with jokes, you know that?"

"I do believe I heard a laugh out of you just now, darling. Now," Minho pushed a finger under Jisung's chin, "are you going to hear my idea?"

The fire mage had always found Minho annoyingly attractive, but he wasn't used to reacting to him in the way he'd been experiencing lately. Jisung acted like he didn't just feel those chills. "If I listen to whatever absurd thing you're about to say to me, will you let me leave in peace?"

Victory sparked in Minho's eyes. "Of course. I can be civil when necessary."

"Spill it."

"So impatient." Minho scanned Jisung's features yet again, clearly taking his time in answering. "When the desire arises, why don't we fuck each other instead of finding random strangers? We don't have to get along, we don't have to be friendly, we don't even have to speak. We'll find pleasure and part ways. No hassle. Thoughts?"

Jisung shifted his weight slightly, the heat blooming through his system beyond distracting. "You know things like that never work out."

"Between friends, perhaps not. But we hate each other, that simplifies everything, don't you think?"

"That logic is a little skewed, don't you think?"

"The point is not to think, darling." Minho finally stepped back. "Just think about it, Jisung. I leave for a job in two days." With that, the water mage left, that irritating swagger only furthering Jisung's mental conflict.

He shouldn't feel conflicted about this at all. The answer should be a simple and intense no. So why couldn't he disagree with it right away?

✿✿✿

"You're perfectly healthy, Jisung. But you do need more sleep," Seungmin said, stepping away as he dropped his hand from Jisung's back. "Why did you need me to read your body?"

Jisung stood from where he was sitting on the sofa beside the healer and made his way over to their empty plates on the table across the room. "I've just slept around a little and I wanted to make sure I didn't catch anything nasty." He began cleaning up the dirty dishes.