lacuna

lacuna | two

in which a contract is made, but your new client has no intention of letting you fulfill your end of the bargain...

There weren't enough cups of coffee in the world to rouse you after the sleepless night you had endured. Once Jooheon ended the call, you searched the building for him, ultimately alarming security with the way you frantically checked every exit.

Eventually, you gave up, but his words haunted you and replayed in your mind the entire way home. Back at your apartment, you stripped to nakedness and collapsed on the bed, leaving your new violet gown lumped on the floor. Resting on your stomach with a pillow crammed between your arms, you felt your pulse quicken as you played his decadent conversation over and over in your head.

It seemed Jooheon had finally found you.

Your entire focus was fixated to him and refused to let go. Your heart raced out of control, practically dancing in your chest at the realization you were to be reunited with the boy you had once loved. Yet bitter tears pricked at your eyes, because you knew there was no reason Jooheon should bear anything other than hatred for you after you left him.

He had tapped into the poison coursing through your home. He entered the perilous world of the gangs, vowing to surge up their ranks and provide some sort of stability for you in a town going under. But you loathed him for it. You despised the gangs with every fiber of your being for what they had done to your beloved hometown. When Jooheon joined them, you ran. No, you abandoned him.

And understandably, he never forgave you for that.

Tightening the sheets around your naked body, you struggled with sleep. Jooheon was your prospective client; the man who was willing to pay your bills in exchange for loveless sex. On your back, you pictured him above you, fitting himself between your thighs and owning you in every possible way.

God knows you had dreamt of this day since you left. What would happen when you were forced to reconcile with the boy you had promised never to leave?

Tears burned your eyes. You imagined Jooheon taking his pleasure from your body, fucking his anger and stress out on you. Once upon a time, you would have enjoyed that, but now your mind warned you of an image of him pulling away from you and leaving a couple hundred dollars on the dresser.

Would that be your fate with Jooheon? Was there a chance the love you both had shared was long gone and replaced with unadulterated hatred?

With a heavy sigh, you decided it was worth the risk. You had to know where this would lead or you would regret walking away. Again.

Staying in bed until the day was half over, you eventually crawled out from under a pile of blankets and called Sungmin to tell him you were ready to proceed. If he prepared a contract with your new client that entailed you sleeping with the man for money, you were ready to sign it. But you said nothing of Jooheon.

Sungmin returned your initial call a few minutes later to inform you the client had agreed to a meeting and you needed to be at the office in an hour. Panicked, you quickly rushed off of the phone to shower and make yourself look as much like a prize as possible.

Despite arriving to the meeting by the skin of your teeth, you were still the first to enter the room. Of course, Jooheon would be fashionably late. He probably wanted to ensure you had to wallow and wait for as long as possible.

Sitting at the conference table alone, you mulled over the decision. With your back to the expansive windows, you let the chair swivel to and fro as you tapped your bare toes on the floor. You had slid out of your high heels momentarily, stretching the bridges of your feet of their tension.