Her Image (NAMJOON FIC)

Chess pieces that have no board

Now 

Namjoon knew of the shopping mall trip, but he had not previously heard of the phone call. Though, he had to admit, Nicole was a great actress. For Gia to notice something was off with her, something had to be majorly off with her. The girl got through an entire long-term relationship breakup almost unscathed, almost as if it were a relief  to let go of the dead weight her ex-boyfriend was placing on her.

"She's a pretty heavy sleeper," Namjoon noted, watching Tea firing up her loud coffee maker in the kitchen, which seemed not to bother sleeping Gia at all.

"She's exhausted," Tea said, not offering any further explanation, economizing words as if they costed her money. Perhaps that was how she amassed her fortune. 

"Hey, I have a question," Namjoon asked, "Gia said one day a few months back, you all went to the mall and Nicole got a strange call, and-"

"I've already spoken with Shaw. She knows everything that I have to say," Tea cut him off, coldly. 

Namjoon then realized he was never really able to get close to her like he did with all of Nicole's other friends. He could tell Tea had high walls up that were painfully selective about who they let in.

"Everything you have to say?" Namjoon asked, paying close attention to her word choice, and skeptical. 

"I don't think Shaw needs to know every detail of our interactions."

"No, not everything, but anything that might help," he told her. 

Namjoon knew people like Tea- they did not get to be successful for being kind towards others and cooperative. Her moves were carefully calculated, like moves on a chess board, for her own victory. Even as much as Nicole and her were close friends, Tea would not move any pieces that made her lose, even if it meant potentially saving her friend Nicole, the one who had watched her grown from insecure college nerd to insecure finance nerd (with a fortune and fame). 

"You're withholding," Namjoon accused. 

Being incredibly self aware, and at that, aware how much he hated confrontation, he knew Tea could sense that, and based her moves on it. Tea was banking on him not directly attacking her base, and thus had planned no moves, so he knew switching up the game play would put her in a vulnerable spot. 

"What's it to you? You come into her life a few months ago, and suddenly, you think you know Nicole better than all of her friends," she said, surprisingly calm and collected. 

Namjoon knew it was all a part of her act. Working in finance, Tea had grown used to facing highly stressful situations with a blank expressionless face, but he knew deep inside, she was aching. Aching, because of how much she hated not having the upper hand and being vulnerable. People like Tea liked controlling everything, from calories to their partners in bed. 

"You're absolutely right, I'm full of shit," he joked, trying to lighten up the room. That was another move Tea was unfamiliar with.

She laughed, meaning it worked. As she poured a cup of coffee, full for herself and half for him, he carefully kept planning his strategy. The devil was smart, but in a match of wits, he could not even come close to beating Tea. Namjoon, on the other hand, was confident he stood a fighting chance. 

"I'm sorry for coming for you like that. I'm just tired of keeping secrets all the time," Namjoon told her.

"Oh- um, you're good," she replied. Long before, Namjoon had realized Tea was extremely bad at basic manners, like saying "bless you" when someone sneezed, accepting compliments and apologies- almost as if she were highly unfamiliar with the concept.