nine

"Sure, of course." My eyes wouldn't quit staring down at my feet as we spoke. I jerked my head in the lounge's direction and then followed on to lead him through. He trailed behind me silently. "So… do you want to put that upstairs?" I pointed towards his bag.

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea." His smile made me feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, well, you know where the guest room is." I squinted one corner of my lip up as if I was smiling at a complete stranger. I wanted to slap myself for acting so strange. Zhan half-turned to leave, but stopped and twisted back to face me.

"Yeah, could you show me again? My head is just... pfft. gone at the moment." He chuckled, heaving his bag over his shoulder and waiting for me to lead the way. I wanted to avoid going anywhere alone with the guy, but clearly that wasn't on his agenda tonight. I set off towards the stairs, taking them two at a time and coming to a stop as I reached the top. When you're upstairs, it feels completely separate from the bottom half of the house. Almost Secluded.

Zhan moved past me and down the left side of the hall, straight to the bottom, where inside the last door lived my bedroom. I stared in wonder for a moment before chasing after him. My door was left open and Zhan had set his duffel on top of my double bed, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. I nervously peered around my door frame into the rest of my room, but in seeing no glimpse of him, I concluded he was hiding in the en-suite.

"Zhan? You realise this isn't the guest room, right?" I called, stepping cautiously into the room, my eyes locked on the closed door to my bathroom.

"Yeah, I know." His voice came from behind me, all smooth and dark and devious. I turned on my heels to see him pushing the door to my bedroom shut with a soft thud. I swallowed as he took a step forward.

You've been avoiding me,

"Have I?" My voice cracked into a high-pitched squeak as I spoke, a burn of embarrassment darkening my cheeks a deep red. He took a few more steps.

"Hmm. After our minor scene on the bridge, you just went M.I.A,"

I cleared my throat in order to force it out. "Really? I hadn't noticed." I blinked excessively when his right hand slid its way up my torso to rest against the back of my neck. He leaned his forehead against mine, peering up at me through his lashes. His blue eyes seemed brighter than ever at such a close distance.

"You have," he whispered. "I was a little confused. It's not like we left that night on an unpleasant note..." His voice was low and sad.

"I just needed a bit of time to"

"So you admit it?" He cut me off, pulling his head back - even if only slightly.

"Admit what?" My eyebrows furrowed, and my feet desperately wanted to take a step back. But taking a step back meant that I'd be moving closer to the bed, and that was something I really needed to avoid.

"That you've been distant." He replied.

"So how've you been?" My head shook of its own accord, my mind trying to keep up with the fast changing conversation. I could feel his other hand pushing against my chest, urging me to walk backwards. I ignored it, hoping he'd give up.

"Uh, oh-okay, I guess?" I stammered, not knowing what to expect from him. The hand on my chest pushed more firmly, his feet stepping forward in a way that forced me to take a step back.

"Good to hear. I'm great, too, by the way. I talked to your girlfriend the other day,"

I couldn't keep my eyes to stay still as they flickered from his left eye to his right. It wasn't the fact that he was so close that was unnerving me, but that he seemed to just be making idle chit-chat.

And then his teeth sunk down on his bottom lip and it was like my eyes instantly knew where to look right at the wrong time. I swallowed back the gasp, choking only a little.

His hand curled around my neck and slid down to the collar of my shirt, where it was joined by the other and, together, began undoing the buttons of my shirt.

"She told me she hadn't seen you for two weeks. Wait- wasn't that right about the time that we first started getting hard for each other, Yibo? Bit of a coincidence, hey?" He huffed out an emotionless laugh, his eyes engulfed by hunger. His fingers paused halfway down my shirt and, unexpectedly, shoved me back so my feet stumbled until my knees hit the edge of my bed and I had no choice but to fall back into the mattress. My mouth hung open, little gasps of air escaping in a rushed breath. I was inhaling and exhaling at an unnatural speed.

He loomed over me intimidatingly, his eyes raking over my body and stopping at the buckle of my belt - at least I hoped he was staring at the buckle. Before I could even register what was happening, his fingers were slipping the button of my jeans open and sliding the zipper down.

Eventually, I kicked my body into action, pushing my torso up and grabbing his wrists silently of telling him to stop.

But he just smiled, wrenching his arms free and, in return, fixing a tight grip on my own wrists. He pushed the top half of my body back onto the bed and straddled my chest, pinning my hands on either side of my head. That damn mischievous smirk curled his lips up at the edges, his teeth nipping at the inside of his bottom lip.

"I'm having a sense of déjà vu, Yibo. Except now I'm on top." He stated with a voice that sent my blood rushing in the completely wrong direction.