Nepenthe: Kim Hyojong/E'Dawn

Strawberry

The taste of cheap strawberry wine stayed on Jihye’s lips as she laid back on an old lilac quilt she dug up from her closet, it smelled of dust and moonlight. She had her hands above her head, her fingers gently playing with a frayed piece of the cloth, eyes focused up on the sky. “Hyojong, what are you doing?”

Hyojong stopped mid movement, about to drink straight from the half empty wine bottle with one hand, a lit cigarette in the other. “I’m slowly killing myself.” He said as he raised both items and finally sipped from the bottle before putting it down. “What are you doing?”

Jihye shrugged a bit and finally sat up, taking the bottle and took a sip from it. It was honestly awful but they couldn’t care enough about paying for good wine to get fucked up, but enough to get fucked up in general. She looked at the bottle and swirled the contents around a bit as she hummed.

Tonight was the third night they had met up on the roof. Although they met under… unorthodox circumstances, it was clear that the two enjoyed each others company. The other night wasn’t as morbid as their meeting was, they simply chatted on the ledge just as they had done before.

Hyojong got up on his feet and took a drag from his cigarette, tilting his head as he blew the smoke up into the air. He was dressed in a slightly baggy shirt that would hang just a bit off his shoulder, his tattoo peeking out just a bit. Without a word, he stood by the ledge and held the cigarette by his lips and threw his hands in the air, giving a loud triumphant yell.

“Hyojong, are you trying to wake the whole damn city up?” Jihye scolded him, but a small smirk cracked through her lips. She loved to look at him, especially when he would stand and look down at the city. He looked so ethereal, untouchable.

He turned around, putting the cigarette out between his fingers and flicking it off onto the street below. “I’m filling the void.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jihye asked, leaning back a bit.

With a few steps, Hyojong was in front of her, and crouched down. He took the bottle from her hands and pointed at it. “This is filling the void. Drugs, sex, adrenaline. All of it. It numbs you because that’s all you think about in that moment. You don’t think about that ledge or flying or any of that shit.” Hyojong brought the bottle to his lips once again and drank from it, licking his lips afterwards. The little dip in his top lip stuck out to Jihye the most, she loved looking at it after he wet his lips.

Jihye blinked and watched him for a moment without saying anything. “I honestly never really did any of these things,” She said gently, “I just let the void do its thing.”

Hyojong noticed the waver in her eyes and shifted, rolling his feet forward until he was on his knees. The tattoo on his neck became more clear, the reflection on his pupils sparkled, everything got louder. “What?”

“What do you mean what?”

His hands went to the side, each by her thighs as one of his knees automatically fit between her legs as he made his little advancement. “Your eyes keep dilating, Jihye.” Hyojong’s voice was low but his tone was teasing.

“I’m drunk.” Jihye justified, but he wasn’t making it any better. “Filling the void, you know?”

Hyojong barely let out a chuckle as he got closer. “Jihye..”

“What?”

“Shut up.” Hyojong said simply before closing that little bit of space that was left, placing his strawberry lips onto hers. It was perfectly soft for the pure intention of acceptance; if she wanted it. There was a small break, a centimeter between their lips and a breath connecting the two.

Jihye closed the gap again as her hand went up to his cheek, pulling him in. It was rougher, stronger. Her teeth pulled his bottom lip and he easily got her on her back, a small dust cloud leaving the quilt. Strawberries and smoke, that’s what he tasted like, with a hint of cherry. His tongue danced with hers as his hands ran up her thighs and her fingers went through his hair.

As his fingers went higher, their voids got smaller and smaller; and soon it closed completely.