Page 92 of Villain
“She was the first person who was interested in my art purely because she enjoyed it,” Yejun spoke before Nix could. “Or, at least, that’s what she made me believe. Obviously I know now it was all a lie, but back then it was nice finally meeting someone who simply liked looking at my work. Who didn’t want to get close to me because of my last name, or the fact that I’m Essential, or that I’m a Demon of Foxglove. She never made any type of move on me either, so I knew she wasn’t after sex. I should have known it was a trap.”
“Why?” Nix frowned. “Because there’s no way someone could just be interested in getting to know you? Don’t think like that.”
“Why not?”’
“Because it’s not true.”
Yejun grunted. “Coming from the guy who is only here because he was forced to be? Admit it, Firebird, you wouldn’t have fucked me if you thought you could get away with turning me down.”
That was only partially true, but Nix didn’t feel comfortable enough in his own skin to admit as much. To either of them.
“I think you can waste your whole life judging yourself for the things that were done to you,” Nix said. “Or, you can choose to step back and look at the bigger picture.”
“Which is?”
“Half the time, the shit you think is personal isn’t. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up under Lake’s thumb. Could have happened to anyone. You didn’t know this girl beforehand, right? You’d never done anything to her in the past?”
“No,” Yejun answered without hesitation.
“Then it wasn’t your fault that you were played.” Nix glanced back at the drawing. “Stop blaming yourself. Everyone on the planet wants to believe they can be liked for who they are.”
“Who do you think I am, Nix?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”
He chuckled, but the mood seemed different. Lighter. “Fair enough. Well, right now, I’m hungry. I’m going to grab a change of clothes and go make breakfast. Interested?”
He’d skipped out on dinner last night because of the whole incident with the fake dead luk. “Yeah, food sounds great.”
“Cool.” Yejun undid the tie at his waist, laughing when Nix immediately averted his gaze when the towel dropped to the floor.
“I’m,” he scrambled for literally any excuse to escape the naked Demon, eyes landing on the open bathroom door, “going to use the restroom.”
“Knock yourself out,” Yejun said. “I’ll meet you downstairs after.”
“Okay.” Nix basically hid in the bathroom while Yejun dressed, not daring to come back out again until after he’d heard the Demon leave. Considering the way he’d been woken by a fervent tongue this morning, he wasn’t in the mood to risk being pinned down by another one of them.
As soon as he was certain Yejun was gone, he slipped back out into the main room. It was set up completely differently from Lake’s, most notably that it was square instead of circular. The window showcased a view of the stone pathways leading into campus, and Nix momentarily searched for his dorm building, only able to pick out the curved tip of the roof, the rest of the building concealed by others.
Yejun’s bed was set against the right wall, his dresser across from it, with the desk next to that. Even though the walls were the same dark wood as Lake’s room, the rest of the interior lacked the color scheme theme he’d gone with. Ironic, considering Yejun was the artist in the group.
He was also the slob, it appeared.
There were piles of clothing and stacks of art books. Canvases set against the walls, some already finished or started, others blank. Yejun’s computer was practically buried by paintbrushes and tubes of paint, the desk cluttered and hard to get to.
Nix found himself back by the drawing he’d been looking at earlier, mostly just stalling if he were being honest. Eating breakfast with the Demons like everything was normal felt…weird. Since he was already here, he opted to snoop a bit, opening one of the wardrobe doors almost absently.
The second he did, dozens of shoes toppled out, and he cursed, springing backward. At first, he thought it was just Yejun being a chaotic mess, but then he registered that a good portion of the shoes were high heels and clearly the size of more feminine feet.
“What the hell?” He stooped and picked up a neon yellow stiletto, searching through the mess for its partner. Which was missing. “Why does he only have one of each shoe?”
Not wanting to get caught, Nix began picking them up, opening both of the wardrobe doors so he could pile them back in. He’d only replaced a few before he noticed that there were also canvases in there, tucked behind hanging clothes, and he swept them to the side to get a better look.
There were only three, the first of a raven with gold eyes surrounded by pink flowers. The bird was perched on an extended wrist, the hand also painted, though the arm disappeared off the side.
The second and third paintings were side by side, but Nix didn’t really see the second, his attention instantly captured by the last one, half of which was visible.
He pulled it the rest of the way into view and it was like the whole world came to a screeching halt.