escort | njm

sixteen.

"Provided you let me have some fun with you... On the bed...?"

"You make me lose my shits, Na fucking Jaemin." Her teeths gritted, ignoring the fact that somewhere in her organs is exploding with fireworks and heartaches knowing he'll never mean it that way, the way she wants it. Areum's in the motion of swinging the pillow she has on her couch against his cheeks, and he ducks just before it is implanted in his face.

"You love me though." He's sticking his tongue out at her, glee written all over his face knowing how soft she gets for him. "Yeah but fuck you with much hate, respectfully." Perhaps he was true, it was a fact, she loved him but would he ever realise, maybe not due to his blindness. In the crevices of her heart, it's exploding but mostly sorrow took up the space of the empty heart.

Jaemin scoots closer to her on the couch, hand on her head as it gently forces it onto his shoulder for her to lean on. "Are you okay?" He's whispering into her ears, fingers caressing on her earlobe with the piercing she had as they matched, his on his left earlobe.

Areum wonders if he can feel the way her heart skips, if he can feel all the little shooting stars in her chest crashing into the pit of her stomach, tiny little explosions of endearment and fondness and love. "Of course I'm fine, don't you have any dates tomorrow?" Her questions came off as a mumble to refrain him from hearing a crack in her voice. "Yeah, like seven in the evening with Min Rae I think?"

"Oh, don't you need to get going then?" Her voice was shaky, tense and upset. He felt his heart break just a little, small cracks like spider veins fracture the surface when he hears the way her voice shakes, like she's trying so hard to hold on to the anger she felt and not let the hurt, the betrayal and the sadness seep through. "No, I could call it off."

He has all rights prioritising his only source of income over his best-friend she thought and she's not going to be selfish. Areum isn't going to be that type to hold on to one and never let go when he wasn't hers to begin with. "No Jae, you need the money. Go on, go home and have a good rest so you'll get energized for tomorrow's party."

There's a smile on her face, one so sweet, like butter melting on a sizzling piece of fresh french toast straight out of the oven with honey drizzled all over it, it's so calm and comforting to him. "What if I don't want to? I feel like you've been avoiding me, angel." And he's speaking nothing but facts, she doesn't want to make it hard for her or for the both of them.

If she gets too attached, waking up to an empty bed beside her would be excruciating pain, a pain more painful than the pain of him staying with her. It wouldn't benefit either of them either ways, nor is she risking her heart for it to be broken like she was his emotional piggy bank, then smashed it with his rage when the once filled up object is now nothing but hollow.

"I'm not Jae, you're just thinking too much into it, that's why I told you to head home and get some rest." Jaemin furrows his eyebrows, is he really reading too much into it? No, he felt how she's distancing herself from him, how she wouldn't take the initiative to text him and claims she's busy but god knows she's free of homework when she completes all of it in the library. He knows that fact because he sneaks up behind a shelf in the library, watching over her silently with a book covering his face just before he leaves to tidy up himself for the date at night.

"Don't you want me to stay the night?" There's slight desperation laced in the sentence he murmured in an adorable voice with his cheeks puffed up with air. Jaemin's arms are hooked onto Areum's shoulders, closing the non-existence gap between each other as he digs his face into her the depth of hues in brown strands is as the finest cathedral choir, perfect pitch coming together in a soul-warming symphony.

"You should be heading to sleep, not staying over." She maffled into his coal hair, one that she finds peace, comfort and safety in. He's adamant on staying over, his lukewarm hands are placed on her thighs, caressing it soothingly. "I am not going home and that is it, the topic is sealed." Areum sighed like a slight spring breeze, soft and gentle, almost lost against the drone of the traffic, a yawn escaping right after.

He gingerly runs his pad of his thumb against her thighs, fluttering her eyelids with her arm enclasped around his neck and leg settled comfortably on his lap while she nestled herself deeper into his neck. She feels safe, she feels at home. Home isn't just a mere building where one seeks shelter, it could be a person where they seek shelter, warmth and comfort.

He is her home, she strongly believes.

A soft chuckle leaves his dry lips when he glances at the female in his embrace, soft snores escaping her and the leakage of saliva from the tiny opening at one end of her lips. Just a little while back, she's practically begging him to go home and get some rest, whereas now she's in his hold with him admiring her in a platonic way.

"Weren't you begging for me to head home, why are you asleep now, angel." It's a quarter past four, which was why she urged him to head back to his apartment as soon as possible but failed miserably. His free hand goes up to caress her on her head, cautiously pushing back the bangs covering her face with his finger which he worried might bother her in her sleep. It's such a rare occasion where Jaemin finds Areum asleep at four in the morning based on his knowledge of her, she would still be tossing and turning under the duvets.

He leans in closer to her.

"Sleep well, angel."