KINK LIST ʲʲᵏ

↻ four

사 ┃❛❛ This is probably why you shouldn't judge by appearance. ❜❜

━━━━━━━

I look away in utter embarrassment. There you go. Jeon Jeongguk knows the entirety of my unusual likings in sexual activity, aka, kinks.

"Did you read all of it?" I sigh.

"I'm a curious person."

Although I'm trying my best to not look at him, I can tell he has that damn smirk plastered over his face. "I'm surprised," he states. "I thought you'd try to deny its existence as a whole."

"What's the point?" I sit down on my bed, gesturing for him to come inside. "Even if I snatched that piece of paper from your hand and burnt it, it would still remain what it is."

He chuckles. "This is probably why you shouldn't judge by appearance. I mean, who would've thought that you could have a whole list of kinks?"

"Do you really have to tease me about it?" I finally look at him. "Isn't knowing them enough?"

If anything, the playful glint in his eyes sparks once again. "What's the point of knowing if I can't tease you about it?"

I'm already defeated at that. If I were him, I would've teased myself a lot more.

"Why did you say that?"

"Say what?"

"That I don't appear as a person who could have... a kink list?"

He finally walks in and takes a seat on the armchair. For the first time since he has showed up at my door, he isn't smirking. "To me, your first impression was ── Park Jiyeon, the A-grade student that does not break any rules. Probably the student body president in high school, pro in co-curricular activities. The one that does not party but instead takes mock-up tests for college entrance, because she actually likes them."

"You mean, you thought I was the nerd," I correct. "And is that impression ruined now?"

"Not really. That... kink list, as you call it, just says that you're a lot more than what I thought at first."

"How so?"

"You're the academic ace without being the nerd, the girl that can get anyone she likes, but she's simply not interested," he answers. "You might have a methodical approach to life, but that's only because it's what you want ── not because someone says it is."

Silence prevails for a good minute before the words pour out of me like water bursting through the dams.

"I was the vice-president, before I resigned. I avoided parties to just lie around at home and watch something, not study. And I'm not sure about the getting-whoever-I-like part. But other than that, pretty much. Can you read everyone like that?"

"On the contrary, my first impressions are rarely correct," he pauses, "except maybe Namjoon hyung. I always thought he was cool."

The admiration is evident in his eyes, so much so that it almost radiates off into the air. It almost makes me want to smile despite the load of embarrassment that hit me a few minutes ago.

"You don't sleep early," he points out all of a sudden. "I mean, I was walking around in the hall the other day and I noticed your lights were turned on."

"That's very likely."

"But it was around three in the morning," he objects. "You shouldn't be awake till that late."

"Noted, Dad."

He laughs. "I'm just saying that's bad for your health."

"Okay, Dad." I chuckle. "I don't stay up every night. There are days when I can't sleep or just wake up in the middle of the night. If the latter happens, I can never go back to sleep, so I read instead ── but you already saw that two days ago."

"What do you read?"

"Uh, literature." He doesn't need to know everything I read.

"Yeah, no shit."

I crack a smile at his reply. "Fantasy is one of my favourite genres; non-fiction, too. And of course there's the classics I re-read once in a while."

He scans the stack of books on my table and all of a sudden, I'm aware of how messy my room is. The second shot of embarrassment seeps in on its own.

"Would you lend me some of that?" Jeongguk asks, breaking my chain of thought. "Preferably easy ones, since I'm not good at English." He smiles shyly, looking away from my eyes.

How did he go from the guy who was teasing me about my kinks to this flustered little boy?

"Of course. You're welcome to take any you like." I smile. "And you don't need to feel hesitant about your English. I've heard you speak before. You have a great accent."

This time, he laughs, red creeping up his cheeks. It makes him look rather cute. He is not good at receiving compliments.

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. You really do." I laugh along. "I respect you for all the effort you put into it. All of you."

He smiles again, even more flustered. "I mean, we do owe Namjoon hyung that much."

We've been talking for the past and Namjoon has already come up twice. They weren't lying when they said he was the younger's role model.

"Besides, we're all fluent in Google translate anyway──"

Before he can say further, a knock sounds on my door. Our heads turn to its direction at once, eyes widening when a familiar voice reaches our ears.

"Jiyeon, are you awake?" asks my mother.

I glance back and forth between Jeongguk, the door and back to his surprised eyes again. My mother would probably demand an explanation if she sees Jeongguk in my room at close to midnight; an explanation that I, naturally, don't have.

He opens his mouth and I clasp my hands over his lips at the same moment. Don't, I mouth.

Clearing my throat lightly, I say out loud, "I'm changing, Mom. Don't open the door."

Jeongguk looks at me with a questionable expression. I choose to look at the door instead.

"It's midnight, Jiyeon. Go to sleep this instant," she yells back.

It's not until her footsteps fade away completely that I turn back to look at Jeongguk, whose lips (that I'm still touching) have curved into a playful smirk. As I hastily withdraw my hand, he asks, "You want some help with changing clothes?"

"Oh, shut the fuck up." I'm sure my cheeks are scarlet as I move away from him. "You've embarrassed me enough for tonight."

He only laughs before getting up and moving to the door. Just before disappearing, however, he leaves one last statement.

"In case you dream of me tonight, remember I like it rough."

Before the pillow can hit that pretty face of his, he's gone, closing it behind him.

━━━━━━━