Tangled Strings

Chapter 30: No-Strings-Attached

Ahyeon pulled away, eyes dark and searching. "Why are you letting me do this?" she whispered, her breath warm against Chiquita's lips.

Chiquita smirked, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Because I already know how this ends."

Ahyeon swallowed hard, but she didn't stop. Her lips found Chiquita's jaw, her neck-soft, lingering kisses that made something deep inside Chiquita twist painfully. This isn't real. It never was.

Yet, she let it happen.

She let Ahyeon hold her like she was something fragile, something important-when they both knew she never was.

When Ahyeon finally pulled back, her breathing ragged, Chiquita saw it-the hesitation, the regret.

And she hated it.

Because Ahyeon had always been like this.

One step forward.

Two steps back.

Always running when things got too real.

Chiquita forced a smirk, tilting Ahyeon's chin up. "See? It didn't change anything."

Ahyeon's expression flickered, something breaking in her eyes. "Chiquita-"

But Chiquita had already stepped back, fixing her shirt as if nothing had happened. As if Ahyeon hadn't just kissed her like she meant it.

She turned to leave, but paused at the door, glancing over her shoulder.

"Next time," she said, voice dripping with cruel amusement, "make sure you actually want me before you touch me."

And with that, she walked out-leaving Ahyeon behind, alone, with nothing but regret.

Chiquita didn't expect to hear footsteps behind her as she walked away. She certainly didn't expect Ahyeon to chase her.

But she did.

"Chiquita."

That voice-it carried a weight that Chiquita wasn't ready to face. But she didn't stop. She kept walking, her heart hammering, her nails digging into her palm as if to keep herself steady.

Then-a firm grip on her wrist.

Ahyeon yanked her back, not roughly, but with enough force that Chiquita stumbled slightly. She turned, glaring, but Ahyeon's expression stopped her breath.

Her usual cold mask was gone. Instead, there was something raw in her eyes-something vulnerable.

"Let me go," Chiquita said, but the words didn't have the same venom they usually did.

Ahyeon didn't.

Instead, she pulled her closer.

And before Chiquita could protest, Ahyeon crashed their lips together again.

This wasn't like before-this wasn't just desperation or frustration. This time, Ahyeon was claiming her.

Chiquita hated that it made her knees weak.

She hated that she let Ahyeon press her against the hallway wall, hated that she kissed back with just as much hunger, hated that her fingers tangled in Ahyeon's hair, pulling her even closer.

Damn it.

Ahyeon's hands were on her waist, gripping tightly as if afraid she'd disappear again. When she finally pulled away, their breaths mingled, chests rising and falling in sync.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Ahyeon whispered, "I don't want to lose you."

Chiquita froze.