"Want to go do something?" Yugyeom asks me. I look at him skeptically. "Like what?"
"Like play poker."
I shake my head. "I don't gamble."
Yugyeom snorts. "Of course not."
Something in his tone makes me angry. "You know what," I say, standing. "Let's go play poker. And I'm going to kick your ass so hard you'll be crying back to Cheshire."
Yugyeom's smile widens and he stands with me. "Not if I beat you," He says, raising an eyebrow.
I smile back at him. "Best of luck," I say.
Yugyeom stares at me another moment before turning and leading me to his car. I feel like I've ridden in this so many times at this point, I can‘t say I mind now. I mean, when we first met, I would have never thought I'd be voluntarily going to play poker with Yugyeom. Maybe I'm doing this to spite Jb, but either way, I don't care.
"Where is this place?" I ask Yugyeom.
He half smiles. "The closest thing to Portland's got to a casino."
I furrow my brow. "Aren't we underdressed, then?
Yugyeom looks at me from the corner of his eye. "No, we're fine."
He soon pulls into the lot of a building that's close to the river. The building is all black, with tinted glass doors. A tall man stands out front, his arms crossed over his chest.
"There's a bouncer?" I ask Yugyeom as we walk up. Yugyeom shrugs as we approach the man.
"Kim," The man greets Yugyeom. "Good to see you."
"You too, mate," Yugyeom replies.
"Busy tonight?"
"Nah, it's a Monday. Only three or four tonight."
"Cool. See you around."
The man nods to Yugyeom and we walk inside. "Three or four what?" I ask Yugyeom.
"Fights," Yugyeom replies.
I swallow trepidation that has begun to spark inside of me. Why did I agree to this? I know what types of people Yugyeom's involved with. Hell. I was attacked by two of them.
Inside, lights are dim and it looks like a legitimate casino. A bar is in the middle, and cigarette smoke fills the air. I feel like I've been transported to Vegas, with all the glamor this place holds.
Yugyeom leads me to a poker table in the far corner. I recognize Bambam, the guy I met when I first moved in, sitting at the table. He smiles at me in recognition.
A few other people sit around the table. A girl with long, black hair and olive skin smiles at me as well as a boy with fiery red hair. My heart almost stops when I recognize one of my attackers, Mark.
"Hey," Bambam greets us. "Nice to see you, y/n."
Yugyeom sits at the table next to the boy with beown and motions for me to do the same. I feel incredibly out of place in my black skirt and grey sweater, when I look at the other girl she wears a pretty red dress with a plunging neckline.
"This is Leigh-Anne, Jungkook, and Mark," Yugyeom says. I chew on my lip as I look at Mark.
He notices my expression and smirks. "Don't worry, I'm off tonight," Mark says.
This statement doesn't make me feel too much better but I nod anyway.
"Nice to meet you,y/n," The girl, Leigh-Anne says.
"You too," I say.
"Alright, enough shit, let's play poker," Jungkook says. Yugyeom cracks his knuckles. "Anyone got a smoke?"
Bambam nods and brings a pack out of his pocket. Yugyeom takes one and looks at me.
I haven't smoked since high school. I wouldn‘t mind it, but I decide against it. I shake my head and I know he's trying to hide a smile.
"I don't want to play poker," Leigh-Anne whines. "Can't we play 21 instead?"
"Leigh," Jungkook sighs.
"We always play poker," She says. "Always."
"I'm fine with 21," Mark says.
"Fine," Jungkook grumbles. Yugyeom brings the cigarette to his lips and blows out a puff of smoke. Jungkook shuffles the deck and gives everyone two cards.
"Everyone knows how to play, right?" Bambam asks, looking at me.
I nod. I used to play 21 with my father and brother on Saturday nights.
"Wait, everyone's got to contribute," Mark says. He looks at Yugyeom and I.
Yugyeom reaches into his pocket and slaps a fifty on the table, the cigarette caught between his lips.
"That’s from the both of us," He says.
Mark shrugs and adds it to an already piled high stack of money.
I pick my cards up from the table, studying them. I have a relatively good hand, amounting to about fifteen. I just need a six...
"I'll go first," Leigh says.
"All right," Jungkook says. "Draw or pass?"
Leigh bites her lip. "Draw."
Jungkook hands her a card and she curses. "Pass," She mumbles.
Jungkook smirks and looks at Mark on his other side.
"Draw," He says, Jungkook gives him a card and he draws twice more after that.
Now it's my turn. "Draw," I say.
Jungkook hands me a card and I internally do a victory dance. It's a six.
"Pass," I tell him and he moves to Yugyeom.
"Draw," Yugyeom says, his voice raspy from the smoke. He holds the cigarette between his fingers as he examines his cards. He looks so exquisite, dangling the cigarette between his fingers, wisps of smoke escaping his pink lips. "Pass," he says to Jungkook after.
After everyone has had their turn, we all lay our cards down. Leigh has twenty six, Jungkook has nineteen, Mark and Bambam both have twenty, and Yugyeom and I have twenty one.
"Looks like it's a tie," Yugyeom says, his voice slow and deep. His eyes seem to drink me in as he leans lazily on the table.
I half smile. "Looks like it."
"Flip a coin," Leigh suggests.
I'm about to open my mouth to reply when my phone buzzes in my pocket.
It's Jb.
"I should take this," I tell them. I slide out of my chair and walk through the area and out to the parking lot.
