Blaze

Slap & Kiss

She freely turned to face him, "Do you trust me even a little bit? Just a teeny bit at all?"

"I'll have to think about that."

A baffled snort left her. "Why? What is it about me that you dislike so much? Even if you don't like me, just an ounce of respect toward me will do. Has it always been so hard for you to accept the help of others? Or have you always been like this?"

"Why is it so important that I trust you? We have our own duties with our own goals. You have your people to help you and I have mine, why is it so important I trust you?"

Victoria was frustrated. They would never ever see eye to eye. She lifted her head up and suppressed her anger, "I can't talk to you like this. If you want to hear about who I went after last night, I will only talk about it in front of the others."

"Is it such a big deal that you can't even say it here?"

"Yes!" she slightly raised her voice. "Because you would never listen to me or hear me out."

"Alright, fine," Donghae sounded upset for whatever reason he had, "we'll have it your way."

~_____~

Namjoo's food was good. Tao fought to keep that expression of satisfaction from climbing onto his face and continued eating hungrily.

"What's with that face?" Namjoo asked him.

"N...nothing," he stuttered.

She frowned before clearing the rest of her plate and got up to wash the dishes. "Are you almost done? We should be heading in for work soon."

"Ah...yea," Tao stood up and handed Namjoo his empty plate.

She eyed the clean plate before glancing up at him and took it.

"Do you...I mean...are you going to be ok going in to work?" Tao asked.

"I'll be fine," Namjoo nodded wondering why he was acting awkward. "Oh, do you need money for a cab?"

"No, I'm fine," he refused. Tao slightly glanced away before looking back at her.

To ward off the awkward atmosphere she reached a hand up to the back of her ear, "Thanks, Tao, for you know...staying with me."

Tao slightly nodded and began to turn to go. This was an awkward farewell even though there was practically no reason for all this awkwardness. Namjoo frowned and slightly tilted her head to the side confused when she began to turn back to the sink. Upon Tao's loud step she turned to see him facing her.

"The food was good," he complimented and released a shy smile.

Namjoo was caught off guard a little stunned to see it. She half laughed and pointed at him, "Oho! Did you really smile? You smiled!"

Embarrassed he turned away and waddled toward the door quickly. Namjoo followed to chase him.

"You look nice, Tao! I'll see you at work!" she shouted at him before he closed the door behind him.

She snorted with a smile and shook her head before returning to finish up the dishes. After drying her hands she slowly walked into the bathroom. Facing the mirror she pushed her hair behind her ear to stare at the stitches on the side of her head. They were so visible...

Turning her eyes elsewhere she opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors before setting them on the counter of the sink and glanced at the band-aid on her neck. She thought back to the conversation she had with the girl at the brothel before pulling the band-aid off. The love mark was starting to fade in color, but it was still as visible as ever. Namjoo ran her fingers over it before covering it with her whole hand.