Youth

#32 - Hating You

    She had no idea how long she'd been standing outside Kori's door.  She could see her terrified expression in the gold nameplate, warped by the engraved name that bent the metal slightly.  It was completely silent in Kori's room; [Y/n] could only assume he was waiting for her, which unsettled the female even more. 

    Hesitantly, she placed her hand on the cold door handle and pushed the door open.  Kori sat in the corner of the room.  There were no lights on inside- the only thing that allowed her to see him was the light from the hallway, though even that was slightly dim.

    "Be a dear and close the door, would you?" he hummed, picking up a candle from beside his bed.  [Y/n] hesitated, clearly not wanting to.  Kori turned his gaze back to her with a warning look which caused the [h/c] haired girl to push the door shut.  The room was pitch black.  It stayed like that for a moment, and [Y/n] could've sworn she felt a breeze rush behind her.

    Click.

    A lighter clicked open, faintly illuminating the corner of the room where Kori sat, though [Y/n] could only just make out the outline of his figure.  He held it in front of him for a little bit.  Standing up, he made his way over to [Y/n]. 

    "Hold out your hands," he instructed.  [Y/n] hesitated.  "Hold out your hands or I'll burn you," he muttered.  [Y/n] held out her hands in response to the threat and felt the cool waxy texture of a candle.  The little flame in front of her lowered and the candle lit up - she could now properly see Kori.  His pale blue eyes stared down into hers, an emotion in them that [Y/n] couldn't decipher.

    "W-where should I put it?" [Y/n] stuttered, looking around.

    "Keep holding it," Kori responded simply.  His tone was very dull and cold.  He sounded angry.  [Y/n] nodded at the injunction, before taking a small step back from the male who still held the lighter in front of him as though it was going to magically answer all his questions about life and existence.

    "You took a long time to get here after Laion left," he hummed, finally flicking the lighter shut.  [Y/n] nodded succinctly.  "And then you spent ages at my door," he added, sounding a little confused.  She nodded again.  "It seems to me like you'd rather be anywhere but here," he laughed dryly.

    "I'm sure there are worse places to be," [Y/n] whispered.  Unlike with Laion, [Y/n] knew that she couldn't be rude to Kori.  The last time she'd been 'insolent' things hadn't gone so well for her.

    "That's neither a reassurance or an insult," he chuckled, walking over to his writing desk and sitting on the chair, "so I assume you want to insult me but can't bring yourself to."

    "I'm sorry," [Y/n] said quietly, staying where she was.  Kori hummed at her words curiously, clearly trying to decipher her meaning.  Why apologise at such a statement?  Well, the obvious conclusion was that she was apologising because he'd been right about her wanting to insult him.  Though she could've just stayed quiet to indicate such a thing, so perhaps she was trying to show him that she was scared of him.  A frown touched his lips at this thought.

    "You don't need to fear me," he sighed, before beckoning her over.  [Y/n] hesitated once again, though did as his gesticulation had ordered and walked over to him.  She then felt a pain in her right hand and looked down— some of the wax from the candle had dripped onto her skin.  It quickly went solid and the pain went away, though another drip on her other hand brought said discomfort back.  Kori noticed how she stared at the candle with concern.  Though he enjoyed the sight, he figured he wouldn't get anywhere by terrifying her.  "If it's too painful you can put it in one of those holders," he sighed, pointing over to his bedside table.