YOU, ME, & SHE • |KTH AU| •

ten

As the cruel hands begin squeezing my throat harder, my survival instincts kick in and my good hand flies up to grab my adversary's own neck.

I grit my teeth, my muscles straining against their weight. Grunts and gasps fill the room as we roll and tumble on the floor. My muscles start to scream with exertion, plus I'm an arm short, but I grapple on, refusing to give in.
And then with a final burst of energy, I manage to gain the upper hand, pinning the other person beneath me.

Breathing heavily, I stare down at my foe in shock.

"Daeun?!" I grab a fistful of her hair and pull hard. "What the fuck, bitch? What the fuck is your fucking problem?!"

"I knew it!" She screeches angrily, shoving me off her. "I fucking knew it!"

Huh???

"I knew," Daeun continues, leaning closer. "That you're not the soft, meek mouse you try to make everyone believe you are. The way you barbarically came at me proves this."

"You're the one who fucking attacked me, you skank!" I scream, nursing my bad arm. "Are you nuts?"

Daeun folds her arms, face contorted with pure hatred. "Who do you think you are, Narae? You think just because Iseul likes you, you can strut around acting like you're better than us servants? It doesn't matter that you got a fancy makeover, you're still just a stupid pizza girl - a fucking plebe, just like me. There's nothing special about you, don't get stuck-up just because you've caught Jimin's eye: All he wants is in your pants. And after he's had his with way with you, he'll toss you aside and move on to new prey."

She pushes herself up from the floor, cackling with glee. "You know what, I'm so glad that just like me, the Madam can see through you. I've seen the way she looks at you, she hates how chummy you've become with her daughter. She'll find a way to kick you out of here soon enough, and you'll have to return to whatever hole you climbed out of. I'm looking forward to the day this will happen."

With one last sneer, she turns around and stomps out of the room.

I slam my palm against the floor hard. That's it. If I don't get rid of that bitch one of these days, the very fabric of my sanity will unravel.

_______________________________________

I continue to lie low for the next couple of days, but this it's time out of strategy.

My first few days here during one of my walks, I discovered - at the very end of the grounds, hidden behind tall hedgerows - the outbuilding where the domestic help of the household stay. I've came to learn that not all of the people who work here live there, but I definitely know Daeun does.

The moment she and the other maids file away for some big chore, I sneak out and head for the outbuilding. If I find the coast clear, maybe I'll be able to pinpoint her room and sneak inside, try and look for something, any information I could use against her.

I am halfway there when I find myself stopping by a different outhouse, this cute, little cottage nestled among the trees.

My heart skips a beat when I notice that it's quaint little door is wide open today; It'd been locked the last time I was here, much to my disappointment.

I step toward it, throwing a few cautious glances around, and go inside.

My eyes widen with pleasure as I step into the cozy, welcoming space. Soft sunlight filters through the lace curtains, casting gentle patterns on the polished wooden floor. The air carries a comforting scent of old books and worn leather, sending a sense of ease washing over me.

A plush armchair sits by the window, bathed in sunlight, a cozy knitted blanket draped over its armrest. There's a small side table next to it, holding a stack of books. But it's the corner of the room that really captures my attention, where a large desk stands, covered with all these puzzles - from pentominoes to a pyraminx to a burr puzzle and everything. My gaze is especially drawn to the Tower of Hanoi piece, some of it's colorful discs scattered out of and around the three rods, as if someone was in the middle of trying to solve it but eventually gave up.

I gingerly approach the desk, sit on one of the couple of chairs in front it. Slowly, I lift one of the discs, a smile tugging at my lips. When we were little, Thea and I used to love this game a lot and we played it all the time. The goal is to move all the disks to the third peg, but there's the catch: you can only move one disk at a time, the top one of a stack, and you can never put a larger disk on top of a smaller one. It's all about strategy, a little bit of logic, and a whole lot of fun.

I start by stacking the disks in decreasing size on the first peg, the largest at the bottom. It's a bit harder with only one good arm, but I soon get to work, eager to play again after so long. With only a handful of moves, I'm placing the final disk at the top.

"Wow, you're good,"

I yelp and jolt in surprise, whipping my neck around.

"Taehyung...?"

He stands there gazing at my Tower, a soft look of wonder on his face. "I've been watching - you finished in a record number of moves."

"Uh, I'm sorry for just waltzing in," I say, grimacing a little. "The door was open so I just..." I trail off awkwardly.

"It's okay," He replies, taking a seat beside me. "I've been trying to finish faster for hours, you know. It's a piece I recently added to my collection."

I nod, glancing from the puzzle collection in front of us to around at the room. "This place is really cute. I'm kind of into puzzles and stuff, too."

Taehyung gives me a small smile, making my heart flutter. "It's my little haven in here. I come here every time I need to unwind," He reaches for the puzzle and flips it around, making the peg with the stack at the leftmost one. "So, you wanna show me how you did that?"

I offer what I hope is a very casual smile. "Yeah, sure," I reach for the smallest disk from the first peg, but Taehyung stops me.

"How about you just tell me what I need to do," He says, nodding kindly at my bad arm.

"Right," I say, and I point at the top disk. "So, first of all, we want to move that to the second peg." He does so, and I continue. "Now, the next move is to take the next disk from the stack and move it there." I point at the third peg.

Taehyung continues moving disks, following my instructions, and soon, the puzzle is solved with all the disks on the third peg.

"And there you have it!" I chirp, admiring the outcome of our collaboration. "You've cracked the Tower of Hanoi!"

This is met with silence, so I give him a sidelong glance - find him staring at me, a bemused expression on his face.
But he snaps out of it in, like, a millisecond, and he flashes me this big grin.

"That was dope - I feel so smart," He beams at the finished puzzle, and I chuckle a little. How can he change so fast from being all hot and mysterious to utterly cute and adorable?

"So, do you like pentominoes?" He asks, sliding over the velvet mat holding the scattered geometric shapes. "Let's play."

"Okay, let's do it," I pipe up, readily reaching for the wooden pieces.

"We make a great team," He murmurs, as we leisurely work on the puzzle. "Feel free to drop in here anytime you want - I'll start leaving the door unlocked for you."

I bite down the stupid simper that's threatening to take over my lips. "Awesome, thanks." I say, as calmly as I can.

Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Who'd would've thought we'd end up bonding over puzzles, of all things...?

I shift giddily in my seat, throwing a quick, furtive glance in his direction.

I don't care what you think you feel for your overhyped, actress girlfriend Jennie, I will make you belong to moi. Slowly, but surely.

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