'You're toxic, I'm slipping under'
A random hookup with bass player Park Jisung sends Liang Xia into a downward spiral of toxic behaviors and salacious addictions.
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Started: 06112024
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"Why didn't you tell me that you have a girlfriend?"
Jisung removed the makeshift ice pack from his cheek. It was only a handful of ice cubes wrapped around a towel, but it did the trick.
The irritated skin still stung to the touch. He knew that there was going to be a solid bruise afterwards, one that he was going to have to conceal at work.
"Because I don't," he simply replied.
Xia remained quiet. Partly because she thought silence would urge him to continue and divulge more details, but mostly because she was trying to balance herself while cleaning and bandaging her scraped knee.
"I didn't think Jurin would show up. I'm sorry."
The girl scoffs.
"Sorry that you lied or that I got hurt?"
He wanted to argue that he didn't lie, that he just didn't tell her everything. In his defense, he'd only known the girl for a few hours.
Instead he opted for a more sympathetic approach.
"Both. You didn't do anything wrong... it's just Jurin. She's like that, you know?"
Xia didn't know. She was thrown into the mix of this crazy situation. Now trying to make sense of what happened.
"Like a psychotic bitch?" She replies under her breath, loud enough for him to hear clearly in the quiet room.
"Don't."
The dark tone unsettled the girl. His already deep voice went an octave lower in warning.
Finally looking up from her knee, Xia caught the dead serious look in Jisung's eyes. It wasn't a glare but it came pretty damn close.
Regaining her resolve, she gave an indignant look, knowing full well that she was in the right to talk about the other girl like that.
What else would you call someone who is unnecessarily violent and rude?
Despite Xia's initial impression of the boy —that he was a pushover and easily influenced— he didn't back down from his stance.
He stood there, leaning against the wall and looking down at her as if she was some petulant child that didn't know any better.
The small back room suddenly felt smaller.
Uncomfortable with the switch up, she went back to taking care of her knee. The balancing act proving to be unsuccessful once again.
Who even was that girl, Xia thought. To have this man smack dab in the middle of the palm of her hand?
Jisung's demeanor changed after seeing the girl's struggle.
"Let me help you with that."
She pulled herself away hastily, giving him a look.
He held his hands up as he slowly made his way to the ground. Now in a crouched position he set the ice pack next to him and carefully reached out for her leg.
His hands were cold.
Xia wanted to take a step back but something about his touch kept her still.
It hadn't even been that long since the last time yet she missed it like she'd been waiting her whole life for a moment like this.
Jisung took the cloth out of her hand and began dabbing the small wound. His fingers wrapped around the back of her knee.
"I really am sorry," he says softly.
"I know."
That she did know. Normally she can tell if someone is being genuine or not, and the serious look on his face while he concentrated on her knee said it all.
After briefly struggling with the bandage — something that had reluctantly endeared Xia — he gently placed it over her cut, smoothing the ends out with his thumbs.
His face was so close to her leg, she could feel his breath.
She wondered what it would feel like if he placed delicate kisses along her skin.
Would they be quick and chaste, or long and drawn out like the ones she left on his neck.
Suddenly he was looking up at her, an apologetic expression on his face mixed with hurt.
She wanted to be mad at him. He almost turned her into a homewrecker, pretending to be single when he wasn't.
Anger should be the proper reaction, or at least the correct one.
But something she would soon realize is that things were never 'proper' or 'correct' with Jisung.
Xia stared at the red mark on his face where the Jurin girl had slapped him. The slight embarrassment flashing across his eyes led her to believe that this wasn't a unique situation for him.
Instinctively her fingers drew closer to trace his injured cheek.
Before she could, he turned his head away and stood up.
"We should head back," he stated just as cold and distant as before when she insulted the girl.
Without any other words, he walked out the door, leaving the ice pack and the girl behind.
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cont.
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