No Love Allowed

One

Sehun barely smother a grimace.

Across the table from him, Irene burst into tears. He hated how good he had gotten at predicting when the emotional crap would hit. The chin quiver, the reddening of the nose, the welling of the eyes - he had memorized all the signs. What grated most was that the skill came from years of experience. He could teach a class of Jerkology. In his defense, he thought he had made things clear at the beginning of senior year. Irene had quickly agreed to no-strings-attached fun.

The original plan was to break up with her before he leaves for Europe with his cousin, Chanyeol. Unfortunately for him and his carefully spoken speech, she had other plans. Yesterday, at her graduation after-party, she invited him out on the dock behind her house and broke his number one rule under the moonlight. If he were less messed up, he would've been happy to have someone like Irene in his life. Beautiful. Rich. A girl his father would approve of. Instead he kissed her on the cheek, made some excuse about some unexpected errand, left the party, and then sent her a text asking to meet him at a restaurant for lunch.

He pushed a napkin that was nearby toward her. Ignoring it, she opened her purse she had with her and pulled out a neatly folded tissue. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes and sniffled. He suspected a waterfall to fall from the way her actions seemed so rehearsed. Each sniff and silent sob tugged at his heart, or whatever was left inside his chest. As far as he was concerned, the muscle had been buried along with his mother years ago.

Tapping the table with his index finger, he admitted to himself that asking her out to lunch to break up with her might not have been the best idea. He definitely shouldn't have started the speech right after ordering a burger and fries for himself and a salad with croutons, anchovies, and dressing for her. But he'd had to stop this before Irene's feelings dug in deeper. In his mind, he was doing her a favor.

Heads turned their way from curious audiences. Since it was the weekend, the dining room was packed. Another strike against him. Sehun close his eyes to keep them from rolling when the women began whispering. Before sunset, news would reach all over South Korea. He could see the headlines in big, bold letters: FAMOUS LAWYER'S SON BREAKS UP WITH IMPORTANT CLIENT'S DAUGTHER.

"Irene," he said, his eyebrows furrowed. She gasped as if he had threw a grenade at her. He sighed and fixed his features into a more charming covering. "Look, I'm sorry."

"But . . . but . . . you and me . . ." Her shoulders hitched up every time she attempted to say. Hiccups prevented her from continuing. Thank goodness for small miracles. This situation was painful enough without her having to justify why they were perfect for each other.

No longer interested in Irene's actions, Sehun waved one of the waitstaff over. A girl about his age shuffled toward him. He froze.

Her eyes startled him - warm brown eyes with a hint of gold specks. Yet there was no lgiht behind her remarkable irises. It was like she looked past him. Her dark brown locks fell in a messy braid over her shoulder as if she didn't have time to comb it before weaving them together. Her milky white skin stood out despite the blandness of the restuarant's uniform of tan bottoms and button-down in a color Chanyeol called salmon - whatever that is.

This time he didn't bother hiding his grimace when an ear-piercing cry accompanied Irene's hiccups. "Can you bring us two glasses of water?" He glanced at her name tag. "SooJi."

___NO LOVE ALLOWED___

Bae Sooji, or Suzy as they call her, forced a smile on her face when it's the last thing she wanted to do. She nodded at the trust-fund brat who had reduced the poor girl sitting accross from him to a mess of tears, and then turned on her heel to do as she was told. She should probably care more, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. If she wanted to make it through this day, she had to keep it together.