CINDERELLA'S CONTRACT | pjm √

twenty three

"His secret."

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Kim Taehyung.

His voice reminded me of a gentle river, a deep sensation that resembled water. Like a stream.

Like water on rock.

His eyes were another story. They pierced through you, and an electric current runs down your back as he watches you. A physical feeling that leaves you breathless...and strangely, wanting more.

"What? Do you like me that much?"

I jumped a little at his sudden voice. He stares back at me in amusement, subtly shifting closer to me.

"Did I..." Did I read out my thoughts, or did he read mine ?

"You were staring lovingly at me. If you like me, tell me." He goes around the table again to tie bandages on his hand, pulling it into a knot with his teeth. Damn.

"I was just wondering about something." I looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"You mean, you were wondering about me." Taehyung continues to tease me. I was about to answer before he begins to take off....his shirt?

My eyes directly landed onto his built body. Holy. It was lean but althetic, and slightly muscular. He threw his oil stained shirt to the side before tying an apron over his bare skin, and reaching for a hammer.

"Follow me, Yona." He stares at me before walking towards the heavy metal door behind the counter. With careful steps, I kept a distance as we walked through a dark stairway down to what seems to be a basement. The dimly lit lights showed off his back muscles, and I couldn't help but stare.

Another person greeted us as we reached the workshop-like room. "He's Jin hyung." Taehyung gestures.

Jin seems quiet as he stares at me intently.

"Don't be alarmed, he's too handsome so many girls try to suck his dick. He's careful with them." Taehyung explains, and started hammering a nail on a wooden board.

I nodded and watched as the two of them worked on the materials on the table, the little sawdust flying to the sides. But the sawdust didn't bother me. What bothered me was two hot, sweaty men hammering nails in the same room.

"Did you bring her here to show off your muscles? You normally don't even come dow-

Jin was bickering before a weird sounding bell rung in the workshop. It hummed a tune from an old movie I knew— the sound of music.

"It's a customer. Let's go." Taehyung puts down his hammer and slides his hand into mine, pulling me along gently. His sudden flirting startled me— and when I was about to speak, a figure stopped me in my tracks.

Jimin.

When his eyes landed on our interlocked hands, I immediately let go. Taehyung looks down at me, his curious brown eyes questioning who he was.

"Park Jimin. He's-

"Boyfriend." Jimin completes my sentence, his icy stare on me.

A shudder runs down my spine. The elemental, gentle water on rock imagery was now replaced with the sharpness of glaciers and ice...Jimin. The way he stared at me was protectively intense. Like a predator. Like— a tiger with his prey.

"Can I have her for a minute?" Jimin's intent stare on me was getting tense. He slowly slips his cold hands onto the warmth of my cheek, caressing it gently.

Taehyung hesitated for a little, before nodding.

The two of us locked eyes when I follow Jimin out of the store. Taehyung seemed a little disappointed, somehow.

"Where are you taking me?" I tug on Jimin's sleeve, and he smiles lovingly at me.

"A nice café. The one you'd like. The....rustic kind."

That smile of his sent me into a sweet madness again— a trap so divine that I do not notice I am a prey, bound to be eaten. A gentle, gentle prison....with consequences.

Even when I knew that this love was dangerous, I still fell in it, I was attracted to it. Like a lure so lethal that I can't get away— can't escape. And so I blindly follow it, letting myself indulge in this guilty pleasure.

"What are you thinking about?" He cuddles into me, arms tight around my waist.

"....nothing." I forced a smile.

The two of us soon sat down in the corner, and tension begin to rise. Thoughts about the fight we had emerges.

"Hey." He leans a side of his face onto his palm, staring at me intently. "I want you to....listen to what I have to say."

"Yeah?"

"The reason I had the contract on you was because I was afraid of losing you. That you'll find out about the dark parts of me, and you'll leave me after that. The truth is....I planned this all along. I fell in love with you years ago— so I was curious what you were doing. I found out that your family was in debt, and that your cousin was unable to help you. Because of that, I took this chance— and invited Anna to my party, hoping that she would bring you along."

"And when I saw your name on the list, I rushed down— but I couldn't find you. So I went outside, and before I was going to leave, you came. I couldn't breathe after that."

"Yona...I no longer bound you to the contract."

As he finishes, silence took place between us. His hand had slipped up to cover his face, a gesture of fear. It was as if— as if he's told his biggest secret.

"Why did you tell me all these?" I asked gently.

"Because..." He hesitates.

"Because you are important to me."

And like a breeze, it hits me. The feeling of flutter, everytime I had when I was with him.

"I-I have to get back soon. Taehyung will worry." I say, and Jimin's eyes boiled with a certain jealousy.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow." He hides his reddened ears, pretending not to be bothered by Taehyung.

"Alright." I laugh.

I watch as Jimin's car drove away, everyone's attention on his flamboyant vehicle. When I turned to walk back, a familiar face greets me— and my heart stops.

A silver haired man.

...with his camera.