No Love Allowed

Eleven

As Sehun parked in front of her house, an immense silence spread between them that Suzy didn't quite know the source of. She thought she played her part well. She even thought she'd done the right thing by pissing off Irene. She had been happy to do it, owing the girl for all the harsh words she had said to her on that day they'd met. Sehun had seemed okay with it. No admonishments had come from him. She had followed all his rules. Interacted politely. Her smile had come from a sincere place. So why the silence? He had been quiet since they left?

Playing with her fingers on her lap, she finally said, "If I did something wrong, tell me so I can improve, change things."

Sehun startled as if realizing she had been sitting beside him this whole time.

"Suzy . . ." He whispered her name so softly she almost wouldn't have caught it if not for the movement of his lips. He took a lock of her hair and twirled it between his fingers. "Did I get a chance to tell you how much I like your hair?"

Resisting the urge to run her fingers through the strands, she clutched her hands together. "Why the sudden cold shoulder? I mean, I thought I did okay today. Is it the Ingrid thing?" She shifted in her seat so she faced him. His hands fell away from her hair. "Please, you have to tell me. I don't want this to end. I'm having way too much fun. Did you see how Mr. What's His Name . . ." He snapped her fingers. "That bald guy."

He laughed, breaking the uncomfortable tension that had built between them. "You mean Mr. Cheong?"

"Yeah, him. When we talked about the Impressionists and how I believe the Expressionists were better?" She spoke with her hands, motioning like she was picking words out of thin air.

Sehun slapped the steering wheel from laughing so hard. "And his face got all dappled?"

She laughed too, feeling some of the icky tightness in the air ease. "Oh yeah!" She clapped once. "I actually thought he would die on the spot."

"I think he did just a little bit." Breathing hard, he settled heavily against the seat.

"Then why so quiet?" Suzy pushed her thumbs together.

Shaking his head, he sighed, then ran his fingers through his hair, further disheveling the dark locks. It took all of her self-control not to follow the path of his fingers with her own. In her mind she convinced herself the touch would've been for research purposes. For her painting, so she could accurately capture him. But maybe he had reached PDA limit for the day. Besides the few minutes with Irene, Sehun hadn't stopped touching her.

"I really feel like I'm not doing enough to help you."

"Hey, you picked me up, gave me a new look civility of fabulous Chanyeol, and brought me to a party." she said in all seriousness. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Especially during that bit where I thought Ingrid's head would explode." When he gave her a bland smile, she sucked her lips into her mouth from saying anything else.

Maybe because she was making a funny face,or maybe it was something else, but Sehun's face softened. "I know you said no, but . . ." He reached into the backseat to get a box and handed it to her. "Here."

She opened it and found an iPhone 6 inside.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"You said yours doesn't work anymore and that you didn't have money for a new one. This one is fully paid for the summer."

She blinked fast to keep tears from falling. If he had intended to keep her feelings from him nonexistent, he was succeeding. At the moment, she only had room for annoyance. Trust him to ruin a nearly perfect day.