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'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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Tags:
love triangle
arranged marriage
affair
smut
best frien...
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"... the ball landed on her desk and spilt her coffee ALL over our tests. And then—"
Sungchan tried to finish the story but Xia was laughing so hard that he had to wait.
The two were supposed to be working but they easily got distracted by reminiscing about the past. Each finding little stories or details that the other hadn't heard of before.
"Mrs. Lee was so mad, she made Chenle stand outside the classroom with his arms raised for, like, 20 minutes."
The girl messed with the paperwork in front of her, an easygoing smile on her face.
She was enjoying all these anecdotes about her soon-to-be husband. They reminded her of a simpler time that had disappeared all too quickly.
"I wish I could go back and relive that moment again," Sungchan said, leaning back in his office chair. "The look on her face was priceless."
"Not me," Xia disagreed. "I'm glad high school's over. I don't miss it at all."
The man nodded in understanding. His expression switched to a sympathetic one, losing some of the lightness from before.
"Yeah, it must've not been easy with that whole... Chenle and... Yizhuo..." he was cautious with his words but that didn't stop Xia from getting defensive.
"What do you mean?" She asked plainly, trying her best to conceal her true emotions. "Why would I care that—"
"Oh, come on Xi," Sungchan cut her off while rolling his eyes. "I know how you felt about him. It was pretty obvious."
She gulped, swallowing down her feelings. That familiar tingling in her eyes as they began to water.
Had it really been that obvious?
The air in the office suddenly seemed dense.
"I'm not the only one who thinks he was stupid for letting things play out like they did. He felt the same way about you."
Xia scoffed. "He had a real funny way of showing it."
First the 'crush' comment from earlier and now this. She had a hard time believing it, but she supposed that Sungchan might have more insight than her on this topic.
He had been one of Chenle's closest male friends.
However, Xia actually lived through those years, she experienced everything first hand, and she knew he hadn't felt the same.
He wouldn't have treated her like that if he did.
"Don't hold it against him. We were kids, we did dumb things back then. Especially us boys."
More than you know.
He let out a deep breath and sat up, leaning his arms against the wooden desk top.
"Look, Xi," Sungchan started in a serious tone. "I've seen what these kinds of marriages can do to people. My sister was a mess before hers, and she and Doyoung had known each other for years."
The girl listened to him attentively.
"But it worked out for them, and it will for you guys. I know it. What you two have is... real. I've never seen two people more meant for each other."
She just shook her head. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
It was more to herself than to the man sitting across from her, but his inquisitive demeanor showed that he had heard her anyway.
"That we're 'meant to be'," she clarified. "We're best friends. Of course, we get along."
"'Get along'," he joked, "I've been friends with the two of you for, what, 17 years now? I don't think I've ever seen you get in a genuine argument."
"We've gotten into arguments," Xia said matter of fact.
"Petty arguments maybe, but I mean those kinds of arguments that you both leave mad and don't talk for a while. The ones that take time to make up from. You guys always make up immediately."
Her mind went to a specific place, one that she didn't want to revisit.
"We've had those," she said somberly.
Sungchan, not paying close attention to her tonal change, challenged the girl to prove him wrong. "Oh yeah, like what? When?"
Xia was in the mood to put him in his place, especially after bringing back some suppressed memories that only made her upset.
She racked her brain for any memory of a serious argument or fight between her and her best friend that wasn't that specific one.
Finally, she thought of one.
"Okay, we were 9 or 10 years old and Chenle just wouldn't leave me alone..."
• • •
New cover/description. Thoughts?
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