ARE YOU JUST NOT ALLOWED to catch a break, or something?

Today, you had intentionally organised to go to the chic cafe near your University since you wanted to have a 'productive study session'. After seeing so many people rave about the pleasant environment online, whether it be on twitter or on the school forum,  along with everybody you followed sharing their aesthetic pictures on Instagram, you caved into the hype and wanted to have a look at it yourself.

You had done everything right in order to settle in for a study marathon where you would actually get shit done. First, you had tucked your phone away into the pocket of your bag to ensure that you had no distractions whilst you were doing your work. You originally wanted to put it on silent, but you knew that Ayaka would throw a fit if you did not answer any of her calls immediately. So you kept it in its usual mode, but out of sight, and out of mind.

Secondly, the café definitely exceeded your expectations. Your first order was an iced mocha, a drink that you believed was a safe option if it turned out to be bad. So when you took the first sip, your eyes widened from surprise by how amazing it tasted. It was safe to say that you swallowed the whole drink down in record time — and after that, you had 2 more of the same kind. And just like that, your weekly allowance went down the drain in a matter of minutes.

For an hour, you had actually managed to complete some of your assignments (which does not happen often, even though you were embarrassed to admit it), typing furiously away at your computer. Your fingers were beginning to cramp up when your phone begun to ring in its designated pocket between the confines of your bag, the repetitive ringtone quiet but still loud enough to be heard by you.

At first, you try to ignore it, convincing yourself that it was just some scam caller that would get frustrated after not being answered after a couple times. You continue to work on your assignment, bottom lip tugged between your teeth as you attempt to finish a paragraph, but the sound of your ringtone persisted. People are beginning to look in your direction, glares and furrowed brows across all their features as they wait for you to pick up the damn phone. Unable to take it anymore, you frustratedly reach into your tote bag to retrieve your phone and see who was being such a pain in the ass right now—

10 Missed Calls from JONGSEONG (DONT ANSWER)

Great.

Fucking fantastic.

Absolutely phenomenal.

With a sigh, you practically punch your phone with your finger as you answer the call and aggressively put it up to your ear. And just like always, for what seemed like hundredth time this week, you hear the annoyingly attractive voice of your ex boyfriend over the phone, his deep voice tickling uncomfortably at your ear as if he was actually standing right next to you.

"I'm thirsty." Jay said simply, and even though you are speaking to him over the phone, you can already tell that he has a bright smirk slapped across his dumb face.

"Okay, and?" You answer exasperatedly. "If you hadn't called, I would've been on a studying grind right now. Just tell me what you want."

"Oh, what a shame. I feel—so sorry for interrupting you." He replies with pretentious sweetness, to which he then returns to his usual voice as he says, "Get me the usual please. I'll be waiting for you to drop it off at the building in the East Wing. Be quick."

"Anything else, your Highness?" You cannot help but roll your eyes.

"Actually, yeah. Get me a chocolate chip muffin too, while you're at it! ~ See you in twenty minutes." Jay ends the call before you can retort, making you curse a string of vulgar profanities as you begin to stuff all your belongings back into your tote bag. Unfortunately, you have to leave the cafe before you could get your fourth iced mocha (which would have been discounted, according to the staff!), making you pissed beyond words as you storm out through the entrance.

Just when you had wanted to finally have some peace to yourself, this devil of a man just had to ruin it for you.

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TWO DAYS AGO

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" You force yourself to look up and meet Jay's victorious gaze, immediately grimacing when he chuckles at how disappointed you appear by his decision. Around you, everyone is looking back and forth between the two of you, speechlessly confused at what they are witnessing before them. In the corner of your eye, Riki quietly picks his cola up from between his legs, taking a small sip as he watches the scene unravel before him. On the other hand, opposite you, you try to draw your eyes away from Sunghoon and Jaeyun as they exchange questionable looks, Jaeyun hitting his shoe into the side of Sunghoon's repeatedly.

However, the reaction you did not manage to observe was Heeseung's. He  is watching this quietly with the ends of his lips tilted downwards, wondering to himself, since when did they know each other? He does not miss the way that you look up at Jay with this emotion that cannot be easily described, as your eyes seem to twinkle at the sudden attention of the boy in front of you, whilst they also appear to flash with displeasure upon having him do as much as look at you.

"Let me repeat it for you." Jay leans down, coming insanely close to your face with a wicked simper. Unknowingly, your heart speeds at the proximity between you both, even though it was against your will. "Areum, I've chosen you to do my penalty for me."

Out of everyone here, he decided to choose you, after ignoring you for years and never sparing you more than a minute of his attention at a time? You are rendered speechless, unable to put words together to make a comprehensive sentence as your eyebrows furrow. As much as you want to refuse in this moment, to yell at him why he's only deciding to properly speak to you now instead of any other possible time beforehand, your tongue ties in your mouth and instead you find yourself just saying—

"Why?" You reply hesitantly.

"Well, you see." He grasps his hands together behind his back, beginning to pace around your bowling lane with the same menacing smile smeared across his lips. Pridefully, he walks back and forth with confidence, feeling no guilt as he starts to justify his reasons for choosing you. "I've been very busy, lately. Haven't had much time to really enjoy my college life for what it is since I've had to spend a lot more time on my assignments."

"You literally still party every weekend though." Sunoo quips with a laugh, stuffing chips into his mouth in the process. Jay gives him a hard glare, silencing the boy's laughs as well as his chomping sounds.

"So I thought it would be good that for my penalty, I could get someone to do things for me so I wouldn't waste so much time." He continues to explain. "That's why I want you to become my little errand girl for the week."

Silence immediately follows.

An errand girl? Is he expecting you to follow him around 24/7 and do whatever he wants, or grant whatever he requests, like a maid?

"Are you fucking serious—?"

"Hey, hey! No arguments allowed. I'm the winner here, so my decision is final." Now Jay shuts you up with his cold finger that presses itself against your lips. You halt your actions in shock, overwhelmed by how everything was escalating so quickly, because Jay was talking to you again, and now his finger was right up against your mouth. "You got that?"

"Lowkey kinky, with this whole power dynamic thing going on right in front of my eyes." Riki tries to use a cough to hide his comment, yet everyone easily manages to hear it. Jay's eyes widen as he glances over at the younger boy and retracts his hand away from your face, whilst Jaeyun's jaw almost falls off from how wide his mouth is opened.

"Shut up, Riki, you child—!" Jungwon slaps the boy on the back.

"I'm 20, I can say what I want!" Riki argues back.

Since Riki is sitting right next to you, you take pride in kicking him in the shin, making him yelp in pain as he quickly mutters a falsetto apology in your direction.

"Am I really not allowed to say no to this?" You glance over at Jaeyun with pleading eyes. He twisted uncomfortably in his seat, mouth opening and closing, but eventually gives up and shakes his head.

"Fine." You scoff. You get up from your seat, holding your purse close to your chest. "I'm not in the mood for another game, so I'm just going to go home. I'll see you all later."

Jay shows no signs of guilt as he watches you leave with a smile, waving you off with a, "I'll call you when I need you!"

And because you were so furious, since Jay's only reason to talking to you was purely for his own benefit, that somewhere deep in your heart you were actually excited that he made the initiative to speak to you first, that you were almost on the verge of tears just from one single interaction with him, your mind brushed off the idea that Jay had kept your number in his phone after all these years.

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Jay's wearing a white blouse when you find him. It's one that makes you instantly recognise him, because everything about it is just his style. There are black hearts patterned along the whole fabric, and its loose but fitted in all the right places. You were never one to go crazy over branded things, so you did not know which chic brand he's wearing currently, but all you know is that it definitely looks designer. The front of it is tucked into his black denim jeans, and then everything is pulled together with the seal of a white belt.

He's reading a book on a bench as he waits for you, one leg crossed over the other as his eyes scan up and down the pages. Everything about him seems relaxed, with how his fingers rest calmly over the pages, how his hair is not styled and just fans over his forehead. You watch as he laughs, holding a palm up to his mouth so that he does not seem so loud, shaking his head with disbelief before turning the page.

As you watch him, it reminds you of the person he was like in High School. Where he was a book nerd, always taking you to the library with him so he could borrow another book, but also he could steal a kiss from you from behind the shelves. Where he would laugh and slap a palm over his mouth to lower the volume, making you smile widely when he ended up getting reprimanded for the teachers by it anyway.

When you see him like this, it makes you want to fall in love with him all over again.

That is when Jay glances up from his book and makes eye contact with you.

"You're five minutes late." Jay sighs with disappointment, smacking his lips together as you pull yourself together and walk up to him. He firmly closes the book, hides it into the void of his bag, and a frown easily falls onto his features.

"At least I'm actually getting these things for you." You reply with a roll of your eyes, willing for your cheeks to not be burning in this moment. "The muffin needed to be warmed up, after all." Hesitantly, you hand over the paper bag that contained his chocolate chip muffin, along with the grape juice that he always asks for. His cold fingers ghost over your own as he takes them into his grasp, plopping them safely down into his lap.

"Great." He swallows, a thin line stretching his lips. Despite asking you to do this penalty for him, he still seems somewhat uncomfortable. "You can go now. I'll call you later if I want anything else—"

"What book were you reading?"

Even now, you still try to make conversation with him when you have the opportunity. You hate yourself for it as the question leaves your lips, still attempting to rekindle your friendship with him.

"It's nothing." He simply looks at you.

No glare, no affectionate stare, just looks.

Of course he would not talk to you more than needed.

"O-kay." You nod uncomfortably. "I'm—I'm going to go then." Slowly, you take steps back, waving an awkward goodbye, before spinning on your heels and clutching your tote tight against your chest as you walk away. You hear approaching footsteps behind you, and for a moment you smile, stealing a glance over your shoulder to expect him running after you.

Instead, you find your heart clenching as another girl approaches Jay with a flirtatious smile on her face. And because Jay is no longer busy with you, an enticing grin returns to his lips, patting the spot beside him on the bench as he asks for the girl to sit down with him.

Of course the girl just has to be gorgeous. A winning, charming simper takes over her lips as she invites herself to sit next to Jay, perfectly displayed for everyone to see as her hair is held back into a half-up half-down hairstyle. Her clothes are made up of pastels, a frenzy of delicate and pretty lace that makes up the outline of her skirt and top. You have no idea who she is, yet you cannot stop yourself from looking as Jay focuses all of his attention on her, eyes intent on her and only her as she continues to speak to him.

Tears fall down your cheeks before you could stop them.

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The next time Jay contacts you is seven hours later.

You hunch over your laptop on your bed, mindlessly watching an episode of a reality dating show. Having not expected any more messages from the boy, you are currently dressed in your softest pyjamas, a mask covering the whole of your face in an attempt to get rid of your post-period acne breakout. You sigh, already beginning to get bored of the episode in-front of you, yet you still try to focus on what exactly is going on. The clock nears eleven at night when your phone dings on the edge of your bed, the phone lighting up the darkness of your room. With a tilt of your head, you lean over the screen, having to squint your eyes to make out the incoming messages in the dark.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Hungry.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Drop off some fried chicken for me, will you?

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : No need to make up excuses that you don't know where I live, because we all know that you've come here before.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Don't be late.

You write up a response before you can recompose yourself.

YOU : You better give me a tip if you want me to ACTUALLY do this for you. Because this is an actual fucking waste of my time.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Hmm,

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : I'll give you a $5 tip.

YOU : $25, take it or leave it.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : $10.

YOU : $20.

JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Okay. But be here by 11:45.

YOU : When I arrive, I expect $20 in cash being handed to me.

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YOU AND JAY used to get fried chicken together a lot, when the two of you were still dating. During the times when you were High Schoolers that lived off of your parents' money, you always felt guilty having to spend their money buying lunches for yourself every day, let alone using their money even more to use to go out on more dates with him. So you would settle on making fried chicken your comfort food, the one that you can always resort to with bottles of soda if you did not feel like choosing anything relatively fancy. A big plus — fried chicken was delicious. At least, from the place that you and Jay had grown a liking to.

You had bought the usual order that the two of you would get on instinct from that same place, and by the time you had realised it, you had already paid and had the bag of it in your hands. With a heavy sigh, you shook your head with disbelief, solemnly walking back to your car so that you could drive over to the boys' place. Slamming your door shut, your head flopped against the front of your steering wheel, letting out a groan you had been containing for the whole day due to the piling amount of stress.

Let's just get this over with.

So you drive over to the guys' place, and when you arrive, you find most of the front lights off, except for the one that illuminates the kitchen. The lighting is warm, dim even, so you do not pay much attention to it at first as you climb out of the car, carrying the errands Jay had asked you to get. Today was not a night where you should have gone out in your pyjamas, the thinness of the material making you squeak as you trudge to the entrance of their house in the cold. It's almost as if frost tickles at the tip of your nose, making you huff impatiently as soon as you ring the doorbell because someone needs to answer the bloody door, or I'm going to—

"Oh? What brings you here?" Jungwon grins as he swings open the door. Underneath the warm light of the entrance hallway, his skin appears golden from where it peeks out underneath his royal blue silk top, paired with white sweatpants that are tied together in a loose bow. He simpers, leaning against the door frame, eyes immediately darting towards the takeout bag you're holding.

"Fried chicken! My favourite—god, Areum, you're such a sweetheart." You practically melt at the way the pet name rolls of Jungwon's tongue so easily, squirming a little as he chuckles after making his comment. He takes the bag into his hands, a small smirk that almost went unnoticed flashing over his lips as he peers into the takeout bag.

"As much as I wished I had bought this for you, unfortunately I was following Jay's orders of buying it for him." You sulk, still shivering as you are still a step from being inside their house. "Mister Entitled wanted me to stop by and drop it off because he was too lazy to get it himself."

"Jay?" Jungwon grimaces, pouting with disappointment when he realises the food is not actually for him (yet you do not know why he even assumed so in the first place). "He's taking this all a bit too seriously. He seriously summoned you at almost twelve at night to buy him this? If anything, I deserve the chicken more than him."

"It's fine. Really, I–it's only for a week. I can handle it." You laugh awkwardly, coming up with excuses after excuses even though the person you are talking about would not even care that you are doing so.

"Come in. It's freezing out there." Jungwon ushers you in, hand gently resting on the small of your back to accompany you inside. "If anybody heard that I left you to rot out in the cold, I would've been dead meat." He laughs to himself, a hand messing through his hair before turning to you. "You want anything to drink, or—?"

"I think it's better if I say no. It would mean that I would have to stay here for longer than I have to." You twiddle your fingers in front of you as you refuse his offer. Wordlessly, you follow Jungwon into the kitchen, unable to see his reaction as his back is turned to you.

"Do you and Jay have some history, or something like that?" He asks, pouring a glass of water and sliding it across the kitchen island in your direction. Even though you had initially refused to accept anything, you still bring the glass of water up to your lips, feeling relieved as you rehydrate yourself.

"I—" You sigh. You're not willing to say anything on the topic.

"It's okay. Forget that I asked." Jungwon smiles comfortingly. "I just figured so when you agreed to come over at this time of day. Strangers don't do those kind of things for each other." Once he finishes his sentence, the two of you stand in silence, across from one another at the kitchen island. His breath shallows as he pours himself a glass of water too, shakily bringing it to his mouth to take a sip. It's clear that he wants to tell you something, by the way his mouth opens and closes, yet no words come out. Awkwardly, you finish the remains of water in your glass, putting it down gently and taking the fried chicken takeout bag into your hands.

"Um, thanks for the drink." You say, starting towards the staircase to lead yourself to Jay's bedroom. "Looks like I'm going to go and give the chicken now—"

"He's got a girl over." Jungwon finally manages to say it, a heavy breath following right after. He glances over at you, surveying your face.

"What?" You croak, your lip already beginning to tremble.

"He's—fuck, don't make me do this." Jungwon spits. "It's best if you don't go up there. The both of them are in his bedroom, and if you go in there, I have no set idea of what you might witness. But I know that above all, that, if the two of you actually do have some kind of history between you, that anything you would end up seeing would just hurt you all the more." He rants and rants, spilling all his thoughts out like vomit.

His rant is interrupted when he looks up to meet your eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I should've told you the moment you walked in through the door." He heaves, swallowing hard. Jungwon immediately regrets saying it all as he watches your eyes become bloodshot, in an attempt to keep yourself from crying. You stand frozen in place, looking down at the takeout bag that you want to chuck into the rubbish after hearing what Jungwon has to say. With a sniff, you take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, before turning to Jungwon with a forced smile.

"Right." You nod slowly. "Um, that's—good for him. It's good that I bought so much, that way he'll be able to share...with her."

Your heart drowns even more.

Jungwon makes his way over to you, hesitantly taking the bag from your hands. His breath hitches when he finally sees your face up close, overwhelmed with tears as you try to make yourself stop. Because let's be rational, it's been years, years that should have passed by easily so that you had gotten over him already, years that should have been spent well because you should have just forgotten about him entirely. Instead, you cry pitifully, the tears continuing to roll down your face even as you wipe them away again and again.

"I'll give it to him. You should go home." Jungwon whispers, the pad of his thumb swiping underneath your eyes. Unlike Jay's voice earlier, his voice shows that he cares, hushing you to stop crying as his smooth fingers cradle your face. You stay like this for a while, the boy in-front of you frantic as he tries to get your tears to stop. Reluctantly, you let go of the bag and let it fall into Jungwon's hands, making your way to the front door with nothing but bucketloads of sadness. Jungwon finds himself wincing again as you turn the doorknob and walk yourself out, not before saying one last thing.

"Why do I even try?" You question, before leaving the house without turning back.

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Jay's words are all slurred together the next time he calls you, a whole day later.

Your phone reads 2:49 in the morning when your ringtone interrupts your sleep, making you groan inwardly as you sit up to check who's calling you. You could almost explode from anger right then and there, rubbing your eyes to make sure you were seeing everything correctly when Jay's contact was displayed across the screen. No matter what he says, you tell yourself that you must say no, because all of this was getting too ridiculous. And after everything that happened two nights ago, you are not too sure if you could even face him.

"What?" You speak into the phone, voice low so that you do not wake up Ayaka in the next room.

"Oh, good! ~ I'm glad you picked up." He giggles, voice slightly masked by the booming music and chatter in the background.

"What do you want, Jay?" You hiss.

"Please come pick me up. Pretty please. I've been—bleugh, this drink is shit, Jun!—stranded here by my friends, and have no way to get home." His voice sways.

"Well then, that's your fault. I've had enough of your bullshitting, Jay, so no, I'm not going to come and pick you up and act like I'm so parent who has to clean up after you." You raise your voice over the phone, even though the sound would just transfer all the same on his end. You hear him whine, a pathetic, entitled whine.

"Come on! It's part of my penalty. You have to do as I say, Areum ~ you didn't even get your $20 tip last time! I was going to give it to you." He replies in a sing-song voice, ignoring your serious tone as he continues to giggle over the phone.

"Fuck the penalty, okay?! You've gone too far." Now you are shouting. Ayaka peeks into your room, eyes squinted from her groggy state as she confusedly watches you shout to someone over the phone. "I'm not going to pick you up, so find somebody else who will, Jay. Won't that be just so easy for you? I'm sure there are plenty of girls lined up waiting to bring you home, anyway. In fact, I know there are. So go ahead. Make somebody else's day miserable by getting an unwanted invitation into doing something that only benefits you, because you're acting like a fucking child. That's what you like to do best, right? Use people."

"You're fucking unbelievable. Do you really think you have the right to say that to me, after everything you've done?" Jay's voice is now raising itself. "This is only my way of getting payback!"

"I. Did. Nothing." You punctuate. "So I have no idea what you're talking about when you say, 'getting revenge'. If anything, it just makes you seem all the more immature."

You hang up on him, feeling as if you would implode if you heard his reply.

So he texts you instead.

PARK JONGSEONG (DO NOT ANSWER) : Fuck you.

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That was the last time Jay contacted you that week.

And just like that, with it all ending bitterly for the both of you, your penalty service had come to an end.

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