Now and for the Last Time

8 장

"Did you see the ears on that guy? You think the world sounds really loud to him, like, all the time?"

I was trying to catch my breath, which was made harder by the worry that I might not be able to do it. For once, I was glad for Sehun's talking, if not clinging to his stupid words with every inhale.

"I mean, I'm all about distinctive features," he continued, as I looked over to see his curl, damp with sweat, tumble over into his eyes. "And it's not like he can help it. Cards you're dealt, and all that. But I bet we was called Elf a lot as a kid. And if he didn't, someone was falling down a job. Hey, are you going to drink that?"

I blinked, then looked down at the cup in my hand, which I'd forgotten I was holding. "It's blue," I managed to say.

"Pie in the Sky, Blueberry Punch and vodka, Cheap, strong, and yes, blue. What, you don't like it?"

I handed him the cup, still focusing on inhaling as he took a big slip, winced, and then set it down between us. We were outside Blinks, on the front deck, where we'd ended up after our conga exit from Chanyeol and the dance floor. Nearby, in a dim corner, a couple was making out. It wasn't cold outside, but I had the chills. Still.

"Sehun!" One of the boa girls, tall with red-orange hair, stumbled through the door and over to us. "There you are. I lost you!"

"And now I'm found," he replied, smiling. "You're amazing, Lisa."

She beamed, her face seeming to almost light up in the dark. I had a flash back to the girl at his mom's wedding, looking at him in the same way. Attention from a cute boy - you could power the world with it.

"Dance with me," she said now, extending her hand to him. The outside light was behind her, catching feathers of her boa as they fell in the mild breeze. Too much, all at once, again. I looked away. "You promised, remember?"

"I am a man of my word," Sehun replied, reaching out to her. Instead of taking her hand, though, he opened his palm, gesturing her to do the same. "But Suzy and I here are talking business. I'll come find you."

Lisa dropped her hand, her mouth forming a pout. "I don't like waiting."

"Five minutes," he told her. He spread his fingers, and I watched the mechanics of her moving her hand into his, suddenly so intimate, so quickly. Then he let go. "Meet me at the punch bowl. I'll be the one about to sweep you off your feet."

There was that look again, like a surge of electricity moving over her face. "I'm counting on it," she said, and then turned, walking away slowly the way someone does when they want to be watched, and know that they will be.

Once she was back inside, Sehun picked up my cup again, finishing off the contents. As he crumpled it in his hand, I said, "Are you serious, with all this?"

"What this?"

I nodded at the door, which Lisa had left slightly open behind her. "The way you talked to her. Is it a joke or not?"

"I never joke to pretty girls," he replied.

Of course he didn't.

"Don't feel bad about not understanding me, though," he said. "I'm kind of an enigma. Mysterious, hard to know."

"People that are hard to know don't often announce the fact that they are hard to know," I pointed out.

"That's the part of the enigma thing. Always staying unexpected. So what happened to you back there?"

I blinked, surprised by this suddenly topic change. "It was hot," I said. "I got light-headed."

"So old Elf groping you wasn't an issue?"