Afterglow | K.TH

Twisted Beautiful

RIEUL

"Here."

He raises an eyebrow when I hand him a canned coffee, opening mine and taking a long sip.

"Is this what you meant when you said we were getting coffee?" He says flatly, and I shrug my shoulders, sitting down next to him on the park bench.

"What— you want me to get you another brew? There was a lot more at the machine."

He shakes his head, and I lean back into the back of the bench. I'd brought him here— because it was the only thing I could think of after he'd said something like that.

And one of the first guidelines of a psychiatric doctor was to never leave someone alone by themselves if they were speaking of suicide.

He pulls me up.

"We're going."

"What? To where?" I call, following his brisk steps across the grass. I hadn't finished even half of my coffee when he takes it from my hands.

"To a café, Miss Jeon. This is ridiculous."

The entire way there, I grumble under my breath. What was wrong with having some nice coffee and relaxing? What was wrong with looking at—

"Go in." He cuts off my thoughts when we get to the front of a dimly lit café, opening the door with a click. No one's here, except for the cashier.

She comes over as soon as Taehyung points at a table in the corner.

"What can I get for you?"

And I sigh into my hands when Taehyung smiles at her. He has that look in his golden eyes again— that psychopathic look. The need to charm every single person he meets.

I kick him under the table when he starts talking, in that smooth, fake voice.

"Two of the best things you sell here." He says, his hooded eyes turning slightly upwards. That woman is already mesmerized, I can tell.

I hiss at him when she leaves with a bashful smile.

"Stop that."

"Stop exactly what, Miss Jeon?" He murmurs under his breath, his expression sweet. It's fake, I know.

"That." I say, narrowing my eyes. "You need to change this habit. Do you do this whenever you meet someone? Make them go crazy over you— and all that? Don't act like this. It's not who you are."

His expression morphs so back into the real one that it makes me blink.

There it is.

"So you want me to act like myself."

Then I look up when the woman comes back, a platter balanced on her hand. She beams at Taehyung, who just stares back at her with his eyes dark.

"My best lattes." She says proudly, putting down a cup in front of me. It is really pretty— the white swirls on the top almost like art.

Then she hands one to Taehyung.

"Pretty, isn't it." She laughs under her breath, and I try a sip at the edge. "I tried my best. Beautiful art for a beautiful person, am I—"

Taehyung looks straight at her as he drops the mug.

The woman screams when the cup crashes to the ground, hot coffee soaking the pieces of shattered glass.