Part 38: Collapse
"Kyun," Anya tries to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Been a while..."
She doesn't want to show him how much his appearance throws her off guard, doesn't want him to see how angry she is. He doesn't deserve to know all this.
With shaky legs, she kneels down and begins to collect the broken glass from the floor while mumbling curses underneath her breath.
"Yeah, three weeks if I remember it correctly," he says and sounds just as chill and confident as he used to.
Asshole.
While trying to control her breath, she opens the trash can underneath the sink and throws the glass into it.
"I actually came to ask you what's going on." These words make her look up to him for the first time. "Three weeks and no new deal..."
Anya scoffs inwardly.
Of course.
She won't let him ruin her again; she had a wonderful day and is determined not to let him bring her down now.
"Yeah!" She dries the floor with an old towel. "I was busy..."
"Busy?" Kyun replies as she gets up and walks around the island to put some distance between them.
"Yeah...busy!"
She's trying so hard to avoid his gaze while pretending to tidy up the kitchen. But this becomes impossible when he moves closer and she feels his warm breath in her ear.
"Look at me, babygirl!" he rumbles and she gulps heavily, takes a few deep breaths, and turns her head.
The moment his crimson eyes meet hers again, this entire house of cards built up on lies falls together. Her heart begins to pound in her chest and a huge lump builds up in her throat.
Kyun comes closer and with each step he takes forward, she takes a step back, until the fridge against her back stops her. His hand wraps around her neck and Anya's breath hitches.
"I am so fucking sick of reminding you over and over again how important this is! When are you going to get it through your head? You have eleven weeks and twelve dudes left. Your math doesn't work here!"
His closeness and the way he seizes her neck make it impossible for her to speak, or even think.
She only has two options now: Throw a tantrum because he dares come at her like this or—
No.
She won't give him that kind of satisfaction!
With newfound confidence, she puts on a smile. "Don't worry about me!" She takes his wrist and pulls his hand away from her neck. "I will go on with the deal, I was just busy, like I said!"
Hoping he doesn't notice the clamminess of her palms, she pushes him away gently, turns and opens the fridge. She's definitely not hungry—all the Korean food she ate suddenly feels like a lead weight in her stomach—but she needs something to seem busy.
Without a word, she takes out the ingredients for a sandwich.
"Excuse me!" She smiles at Kyun after she's grabbed the stuff and pushes him away again to put it on the counter.
His low chuckle fills the room but besides that, he remains silent. Anya wonders if she just made him speechless or if he's considering whether it would be easier to just kill her.
"When?" he asks as she smears some mayo on her bread slices.
"Soon!" she replies without looking at him.
"When, babygirl?" he insists and she can sense that he's close to losing his patience with her. "Yes, you're famous, but the victims won't come knocking on your door, you have to go out to find them!"
To provoke him even more, she rolls her eyes as she licks some mayo off her thumb.
"I know! And don't worry!" Anya makes perfectly sure her voice is nothing but the sweetest caress. "I will go out, okay? Just not today, I'm tired—and not tomorrow. Cause I'll have a date..."
From the corner of her eye as she puts lettuce on her sandwich, she sees Kyun's head shooting over to her.
"A date?" he asks and she can't help but grin. "With whom?"
"Joo!"
He scoffs. "The musician from that event?"
She nods, still busy with her snack.
"That's a start at least...but don't forget the contract!"
Wow. Does he really think that's this kind of date?
"I won't let him sign a contract, Kyun!"
The moment those words come out of her mouth, she feels the mood shifting. Kyun grows unnervingly still and she herself becomes tense.
The demon raises his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Why?"
She doesn't dare speak because she has no idea how he'll react. So she remains silent.
For a long moment, the silence in the kitchen is deafening and by the time she cuts her sandwich in half, her stomach is turning so hard that the sight of it makes her want to vomit.
Suddenly, Kyun throws his head back laughing. "Oh my god!" This unexpected reaction makes her look up to him. "Are you for real, babygirl? I mean...really? You have feelings for him? Are you really this stupid?"
Him insulting her after all these weeks makes her blood boil but she still tries to keep a straight face.
"That's none of your business!"
Feels good coming at him with these words after he did the same to her three weeks ago. But the dark look on his face makes her regret it instantly.
"It is my goddamn business!" he snarls and slams his fists on the counter.
Anya flinches back. She looks at Kyun wide-eyed at the sight of the cracks in the marble.
Doesn't he realize that this is the exact same thing she replied to this sentence three weeks ago? Doesn't he notice how completely unfair his double standards are?
"For nine damn months, I did everything—everything to save your goddamn life! We are so fucking close and now you wanna ruin all of this cause after being single for eleven years you suddenly decide that you want a relationship again? Are you crazy?"
He isn't shouting anymore. But that doesn't mean his words are less effective. On the contrary, his calm voice almost scares her more.
"Tell me, babygirl! What is your plan, huh? Maybe I'm just dumb! Maybe you have a master plan I can't see yet cause I'm no genius like you are!" His voice drips with sarcasm as bitter as poison. "Let's say you go to this date—"
"I will!" she says firmly.
"Okay!" he says and smiles. But the smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Let's say you have a great night and you dance under the stars and then he leans closer to give you a gentle kiss and asks if you wanna start a relationship. Then what? Are you gonna cheat on him with twelve people?"
Anya has to admit she didn't think this far ahead. In the moment, she'd just pretended she was just a normal girl.
But...in the end, she doesn't have a choice. And she wouldn't cheat on Joo with cruel intentions. She'd be doing it to save her life...
"He doesn't have to find out..." she mumbles sheepishly, and again the demon laughs.
"Are you listening to yourself? For the past eleven years, you avoided relationships, too scared to get hurt again, too scared to get used, to get betrayed again! And now you wanna do the same to this guy? You're fucking crazy..."
Finally, she loses her cool.
"Why do you even care?" she yells. "You left me alone for almost a month! You left me here and I had no idea what the fuck is going on! Don't pretend to care now!"
"I cared the whole time!" he growls and she scoffs.
"Yeah, sure!"
Kyun closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Don't you dare come at me like this now, don't you dare question my integrity!" he rumbles after opening them again. "It doesn't matter if I'm here or not! What's important is that you have a second chance to live and now you're going to just blow it—for someone like him? Why the fuck?" he yells. "Why?"
"Because I fucking deseve it!"
With all her might she tries to keep her tears under control. If she dares to cry now, he won't take her seriously anymore. "I deserve this after all these years!"
"But you are not in a position to demand something like this, babygirl! Not now, for fucks sake!"
"Why not?" Her voice echoes through the apartment as she walks around the counter over to him. "Why am I not allowed to? I deserve to be loved and I deserve to be adored, I deserve to be—"
"You do." Kyun's softly spoken words make her choke on her own.
How dare he say something like that! How dare he hit her with these words when she's in a fragile state like this! If he feels like she deserves it, why did he leave her in the first place?
She hates that all she wanted was him, that he was her happiness but never saw it. She hates that even in this moment of their worst fight...he makes her weak.
While fighting her tears, she looks into his crimson eyes and it feels as if they're piercing directly into her soul.
Neither of them says a damn thing and this shatters her even more. So many questions are hammering in her head.
The worst thing about all this is that he didn't touch her, he didn't kiss her, didn't give her anything that could explain this feeling inside her chest.
The desire in her.
The need for him to touch her. All she wants is to feel him, feel him like she felt him when he ate her out, when he made her cum by sucking her blood.
At the sight of his crimson eyes, Anya realizes she doesn't have a single ounce of strength in her body left to resist him.
She just can't.
Suddenly it all seems so clear and she knows exactly what she wants. Before she's even able to vocalize this, she's already taken a step toward him.
"Babygirl! If you take another step, there's no going back!" he says, as if he can read her mind, and she's not sure if this is a warning or a plea.
Fuck this!
Desperate, she closes the last inches between them and throws herself at him.
Their lips collide as Kyun catches her body. He lays his hand on the back of her neck, and holds her close as his tongue meets hers wildly. Gasping, she clings to him, buries her hands in his hair, moans against his lips.
Oh, god, his venom. Anya didn't even realize how badly she'd missed it. It's like the more she tastes it, the more she needs it. Last time she'd taken a huge hit of the stuff, and now she is finally getting her fix after three long weeks.
Her hands slip down his body, which flexes and arches into her touch. She traces over his chest, his stomach, down to his hard crotch and he growls against her lips before his mouth wanders over her neck and he bites into her skin.
"I want all of you this time, Kyunnie!" she gasps and rips his jacket off his shoulders. "I want everything!"
"I'll give you everything, babygirl!" he rumbles against her lips. "All of it. And more..."
~*~
Take a deep, deep breath, babes 😮💨😂
Love ya! 🖤