Matter of Desire || Oneus Xion

Beauty and the Beast(9)

Xion's PoV

I watch as my mother takes another bite from the dish in front of her. We always meet as if it's a formal thing, dressed properly, arrive at the right time. Do this and eat in this way. Curiosity, but a restrained one, she'll play the game slowly if I don't nudge her. Let's get to the point and end this anguish for both of us.

"Is this about the last party I attended?" I ask "You can ask openly, no need to hold back, we are son and mother aren't we?" She smiles and dabs her mouth with a napkin. Victory and burning curiosity. "Well then my Dongju, I did want to ask about that. I heard you were with a woman." She takes a sip from her drink. Normal families would talk about these things over the phone or with a text I make a guess. But what'd I know about normal families?

"Is she your girlfriend? Who is she?" finally, I sigh "Yes," I answer confidently "It's Kang Yuri, do you remember her?" confusion "We used to be neighbors. She's Kang Yoonah's daughter." Surprise, relief, pride.

"And you're dating her? You're dating Kang Yoonah's daughter?" "I am," I say simply. I can tell how she's thinking that Yuri's the heir and it irks me but I sit there with a blank face and stir my drink around to distract myself from the anger.

"How romantic, you were childhood friends!" she claps her hands "I'm really happy to hear this news." Relief and greed. "Do you really like her?" she touches my hand. Not at all, I think. I'm just using her. She's fun to be around and nothing more, "I do, as you said we are childhood friends. It's hard not to fall in love." The words are ashy in my mouth. I want to leave now, I want this conversation to end.

"I would love to meet her." I hear her say but I stand up without replying "I need to leave now."

...

Xion's PoV

I need to keep going with my plan with Yuri. I'll convince her to meet my brother first, go to some other events together. Until our relationship is indistinguishable from a real one. If I want to convince my grandfather it will take more than pleasant smiles and some skinship. I need her to open up to me completely, fall for me a bit if possible. But it's turning out to be harder than anticipated.

It's not about her opposing what I force on her, she follows for some reason or the other but there's something wrong with my approach to her. Often I find that I lost my grasp on her feelings, that I'm somehow distracted by my own thoughts instead of paying attention to her, instead of trying to bend her to my will.

I watch her now as she gets ready for a scene in the distance. We are in the conference room of the university the drama is shot in. She looks elegant, sure of herself as she practices lines by herself. Effortlessly beautiful. She keeps wearing the necklace as I asked, that's a good sign. I go through excuses to spend time with her in my mind, should we eat together, should I take her for a walk? My eyes focus on a beam above her. Just on time. My body moves before I can think.

Yuri's PoV

It's been more than a week since the night of the party, the night I unintentionally stayed at Leedo's house. His mother was so kind and the twins were incredibly cute. He keeps telling me his mother invites me to the little restaurant but the drama shooting has been too busy.

Xion feels more distant, however. He talks less when he does my makeup and its absence makes me realize how much I came to like the teasing banter with him. He's a headache and a half but it turns out I like the challenge of navigating a conversation with him. I sneak a look at him as I practice my lines. He's assumed an unassuming pose in a corner, leaning against the wall slightly. I follow his gaze that points up at a point above my head.

Things happen too quickly. He shouts "Move!" but before I can he launches towards me. I close my eyes and hear the loud crack as we tumble to the ground together. Around us, people yell and run. My heart beats in my ear. Xion slowly pushes himself up on his arms and looks down at me with worry. "Are you ok?" he asks "I am fine. Are you?" I breathe. He traces a line on my jaw "No, you're bleeding." He stands up and I catch his small wince. Staff members run and talk and ask if we are ok in a flurry.

Xion helps me stand up and then pulls me out of the crowd. We get into the small room backstage where he makes me sit down and gets a first-aid kit. "This might hurt." He cleans the cut on my jaw, it's not very deep, I only have some scratches from the debris that fell down but I'm quite certain about the pain I saw in Xion's face as he stood up. He's covering it. "Xion, I'm fine, I think you might be in worse shape than me." He pays no attention to my words and turns the chair to check for other injuries. When he finds another shallow cut on my arm he starts working on that. I watch him move, he must have injured his right leg with the way he keeps his weight off of that.

I catch his hand and make him look at me "Stop. Your leg is injured. Someone else can take care of me, so just sit down." I stand up and push him down to the chair. The director Ms.Park shows up at that moment with a medic behind her. A set assistant explains what happened, how the beam fell down, and how Xion threw himself at me to get me out of the way. "I only have mild injuries, a few cuts," I explain before Xion gets to talk, "Take care of him first please."