He Hacked My Heart (a.k.a Beauty & The Geek)

Step 8: Regret

Zico woke up as the sunlight was hitting his eyes. He tried to put his arm in front of his face, but something blocked him; his hands were still tied together. He opened one eye, then the other, and gave the small room a circular look.

Taeil was absent, but his suitcases were still there, sign that he didn't leave the room yet. JiHo sat on the bed even though he still had the handcuffs on, and looked around for his pants. A flow of feelings, thoughts and emotions were passing through his mind: was his eomma worried? Where was Mr.Lee? Why was he still handcuffed? Was he going to leave soon?

Every question was torturing him mentally, as he finally reached his pants to grab his phone. Sitting on the dirty floor (that had suspect stains on it), Zico was turning himself into a pretzel trying to get that damned phone out of his pocket.

Once the mobile was finally free, he had to turn around to face the screen. He unlocked the lockscreen with his nose and went to the 'Phone' app, about to ring Pyo, when the door of the room opened slowly. He stopped his movement, slowly sliding to the side. He looked up, and he saw the grin of the teacher.

- "I can see that you woke up, JiHo", said the small man.

- "Why am I still handcuffed?"

- "Because I knew you were going to leave if I left you your complete freedom. I don't want to hurt you anymore or force you to do anything, if it can make you feel better", he said, wanting to make himself more reassuring.

He walked towards his ex-student and grabbed his shoulders, helping him to get up.

- "I'll let you take a shower, and I'll let you put your arms in front, then I'll put the handcuffs back so you'll be able to wash yourself. Understand that this is just so you won't hurt me, or at least, won't be able to.''

Jiho patiently turned around, and Taeil took the small key out of his pocket to free the hands of the teenager. The blond guy slowly put his hands in front of him, without even trying to assault Taeil in any way. The man handcuffed him again, and lead him to the bathroom.

- ''I guess you know how a bathroom works. Soap and shampoo in the shower, towels on the rack. I bought you some uh...'' He coughed a bit. ''... clean clothes. I'll just drop 'em here.''

He got out of the small room and put a jean, boxers, socks and a Nirvana shirt on the sink. Taeil gave an awkward look to the bathroom, then turned around and closed the door behind himself. Inside, JiHo quickly got in the shower, turning the hot water on. As the liquid was running down his bruised body, he broke down in tears and had to sit down in the shower.

- ''Why does this needs to happen to me...?! Why?! He could've choose someone else! Anybody else! But no... He had to pick me, the poor, harmless Woo JiHo. Why the fuck did you choose me, Lee Taeil?! I fucking hate you!'', he said, screaming his last sentence as hard as he could.

On the other side of the door, Taeil listened to JiHo's soliloquy's in silence. He could understand him. The night before, he was in a weird state, and that made his dominant side pop out. He felt guilty for what he did, alot. So, that morning, by the time Zico woke up, the teacher decided to go walk around the motel to think about all this situation.

«JiHo was my student. Even if he has that secret, he could say ''Fuck off, I'm not dealing with this shit any longer'' and simply report me to the police for rape or sexual harassment. I would go in prison and, therefore, permanently lose my job.

Or, I could completely change my attitude and act differently with him. With a little bit of luck, he's going to forgive me and stay quiet about what happened between us.''

When he heard Zico say that he ''fucking hated him'', it made Taeil sad. Even though he acted like the dirtiest jerk the night before, he didn't want JiHo to perceive him as one. He actually found his ex-student extremely interesting.

Even though he was not the brightest person Taeil knew, Zico was really special. A good kind of special, understand me.

Fifteen minutes after JiHo entered the bathroom, he got out of it with simply his jeans on, exhibiting his naked chest.

- "I can't put my t-shirt with the handcuffs..."

He threw the shirt on Taeil, who caught it in time.

- "Oh, I'll help you. Anyway, I wanted to free you."

He took the small key again and took the handcuffs off. He put them in one of his three suitcases, which he didn't use alot. He grabbed the keys of his car and handed the Nirvana shirt back to the blonde guy.

- "I'll drop you home... If you want. Also, I know that what you lived probably wasn't really enjoyable but..."

He bit his lower lips while the teenager was putting the t-shirt on.

- "I'd like to have a date with you. Like, not under the threath of showing your secret to the world, but... A real date. I-I am interested in you, even if you were one of my students, and... I feel bad about saying that... But if I acted like that yesterday night, it's because I didn't know what to do to catch your attention. So... Do you accept my offer?"

JiHo simply walked to the center of the room and got his dirty clothes back. He then turned to Taeil.

- "So, are you dropping me home or not?"

~¤~

In his entire life, Taeil never lived a car ride that was so awkward. Never. He simply drove, silent, just as his ex-student. JiHo had his arms crossed over his chest and he was looking outside, keeping that heavy atmosphere of regrets. Finally, Taeil stopped in front of the yellow house, and smiled a bit.

- "I guess we'll see each other at school mon-"

- "I accept the date. Message me."

And he got out of the car.