off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ eighty eight

Going on dates was supposed to be a fun, exciting thing. At least, that was what Lilah had gathered from all the romance movies she'd watched in her life. But somehow, even the makeover montages and clothes-trying sequences hadn’t prepared her for how hard it was to pick an outfit. Of course, one had to be mindful of where they would go, and make sure to be comfortable, or else they might need to end the date early. But there was also this deep desire to please, to impress, to receive all the praise in the world. It was with those two conflicting goals that Lilah rummaged through her wardrobe.

Tucked in a drawer, under a top that was way too small and a turtleneck that did not fit the season at all, something caught her eye. She still hadn’t given back the sweater Gyuvin had lended her that one time they'd gone to a restaurant together. Somehow, its existence had completely slipped her mind. As she held it in her fingers, Lilah paused. Was it totally foolish to maybe, just maybe, wear this sweater on their date today? Lilah wasn’t quite sure whether he would be weirded out by it, or if he would find it adorable. But if there was a chance it would be the latter...

Lilah slipped the sweater on, and patted her hair down. Finally ready, she walked out of her room and ran down the stairs, aware that she was already a little late. Before she could reach the front door, she bumped into someone — someone who shouldn’t have been here. Matthew was in the entrance hall, waiting like a dog for its owner to come home. When she crashed into him, he caught her and pulled her upright, a look of confusion on his face. Lilah immediately felt a stinging feeling rise to her face.

"Ah, um, Matthew," she stammered. "I thought you were supposed to be out with Jaewook."

"Yeah, actually, she wants to talk to our parents, so she's coming here. Should arrive in ten minutes."

Well, it was a relief Lilah had been careful and had asked Gyuvin to wait for her down the street. If he'd come up to the door, the two of them would have been in hot waters. One could never be too careful, was what she had learned after Hao had caught them red-handed. Their district was not big enough to guarantee never meeting anyone they knew. If they wanted to keep their relationship a secret, the two of them needed to be a lot more discreet.

Speaking of discreet, Matthew's eyes drifted down to Lilah's torso, and a sudden jolt shook her body. She'd completely forgotten what she was wearing, hadn’t she? Panic rising in her throat, she hurriedly put her shoes on, eager to get out the door before he would ask anything.

"Well then, I'll just—"

"Um. Is that a man's sweater?" His voice was calm, yet she could feel a slight tremble at the end of his words. He looked back up into her eyes, and his piercing gaze froze her into place. "Lilah, whose sweater is that? Don't tell me you have a boyfriend..."

All of a sudden, Lilah's brain was running a mile a minute, and she could feel cold sweat running down her back, trying to find the perfect answer to defuse the situation. Always one to catastrophize, she could already imagine Matthew connecting the dots, and beating the lights out of Gyuvin. Which, obviously, was not the wanted outcome. Her breathing ragged, she opened and closed her mouth again and again, hoping and praying the perfect words would miraculously spill out of her mouth.

Her reputation as a clothes thief finally had a good side, for once.

"It's one of yours!" she blurted out, her voice far too loud and high-pitched. "I stole it years ago. How silly, you don’t even recognize your own clothes, haha!"

Lilah was far from an actress, and her performance could not be very convincing, she wagered. She had clenched her hands into fists so tight she was surprised she hadn’t drawn blood. As Matthew looked back at her wordlessly, she held her breath, the pulse in her throat blocking her airways. Sometimes, Lilah wished meteorites could just fall out of the sky, and right onto her.