This isn't the first time Jaehyun has called off his arrangement with Eunjung. Every time he gets serious about someone, they stop meeting. It's clean and simple, because theirs is an arrangement about the avoidance of emotions and so far, it's worked.
But sometimes, the novocaine wears off and emotions slip through the cracks. Sometimes he misses her and considers taking her to a candlelit dinner to show his gratitude.
The past twenty-nine days, however, he hasn't missed her. He knows she hasn't missed him either. When he tells her about Kim Ahn Na, she isn't surprised. Instead, she wishes him good luck. Jaehyun laughs.
Guilt sometimes seeps through the cracks of his toxic skull, rattling his tainted skeleton. Just like every time Jaehyun settles. He reconsiders the casual-sex thing, or at least the "who." Because, even though they've agreed it's no-strings-attached, he has to confess: Eunjung has become a friend.
And she deserves someone better than Jaehyun. Someone who doesn't use her like nicotine. Someone who doesn't contemplate the galaxies and draws metaphors between his demise and the Big Bang. Someone who compares her to stars and dreams-come-true, rather than staring into her eyes and thinking they're almost constellations -- only almost.
He needs to talk to her.
⟿⬳
"If you continue to treat me like this, I'm gonna think you have feelings for me." Eunjung smirks, then crosses her long legs. She sips from her glass of wine, and she's as illustrious and seductive as the first day he met her.
He chuckles, swirling his own glass. "You might've won me over."
"Liar."
With a sigh, Jaehyun sets his wine on the table and scoots forward. "Okay. To be honest -- well, Eunjung, someday our arrangement is going to end, indefinitely."
She quirks a brow over the rim of her glass. "Are you trying to say that the great, untouchable Jung Jaehyun has finally settled down?"
"I don't know about that. But -- I just -- I don't want you to get hurt in the end."
Downing the rest of her drink, she readjusts and flings her hair over her shoulder. "Don't flatter yourself, babe. I know how casual sex works. And while I have grown fond of you, I'm not interested in you like that. So don't worry about me. You're not my only distraction." She winks.
Gravity releases its hold on his shoulders, and he breathes a sigh of relief.
Eunjung stands and slaps a handful of bills on the table. "You really do feel too many emotions, Jaehyun.
"But, if you ever want to start things up again, you know where to find me." She leans down and places a kiss on the corner of his mouth. She leaves him with the lingering scent of her perfume, the one that's been soaked in his sheets and his clothes and his bones.
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