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She was exhausted. Ever since their last come back she hasn’t gotten a moments of rest. And now she was stuck attending some event abroad? Great.
voices sounded too close to her ear. Every camera flash felt delayed behind her eyes. She smiled anyway. After all muscle memory was hard to erase. This was taught to her since the beginning of her career.
Tilt your head. Laugh softly. Bow slightly. Accept compliments. Pretend your feet don’t ache. Act like your social battery isn’t hanging by a thread. Pretend the fabric of your dress doesn’t feel like it’s tightening around your ribs every time someone says, “One more photo.”
“Giselle-ssi, over here!”
Another flash as she smiled softly. Someone beside her was talking, and she nodded at the right moments without actually hearing a single word.
Her phone buzzed inside her clutch.
Ningning. They weren’t on their best terms at the moment so it made her sigh.
[Where did you go??]
A second message immediately after.
[You disappeared]
Giselle stared at the screen before locking it again.
Not now.
If Giselle answered, she knew exactly what would happen. One text. One call. leads to a quiet “talk to me.” And suddenly she’d be right back where she started.
Ningning was impossible to leave in pieces. Giselle had tried before, by muting her, ignoring her, swearing she was done. But the second Ningning slipped through the cracks again, everything softened.
It was pathetic, honestly.
Ningning felt like a drug disguised as comfort. One taste and Giselle was addicted all over again, letting herself believe things could be different this time. But they never were.
That was the problem.
Another buzz.
[Don’t ignore me]
Giselle inhaled slowly through her nose.
God. She’s irritating.
Someone touched her arm gently, trying to guide her toward another group for introductions, and that almost did it. That almost snapped the fragile little thread holding her together tonight. She smiled again instead.
“Sorry,” she said lightly. “I’m gonna grab some air first.”
Nobody stopped her. That was the funny thing about these events. Everyone watched you constantly, still nobody actually looked at you. So Giselle slipped out quietly past the ballroom doors, and through the hotel hallway lined with gold-trimmed mirrors.
Finally she indulged in the feeling of not having to perform. Her heels clicked against marble flooring as she walked toward the elevators, exhaustion sinking heavily into her limbs the second nobody was around to witness it.
Her phone buzzed again.
[Aeri]
Just her name.
Giselle shut her eyes briefly. She knew she should answer. Ningning was probably irritated already. Probably worried too. The two emotions always lived side by side with her. And Giselle? She couldn’t deal with that right now.
It scared her. How easily Ningning gets under her skin in ways no one ever does. A cold shiver ran down her spine as the elevator dinged open. Giselle stepped inside quickly and leaned against the mirrored wall the second the doors closed.
Her reflection looked perfect. Lip gloss still clean, and expression calm. It kinda irritated her.
The phone buzzed once more.
[Answer me.]
Giselle laughed quietly under her breath, though there wasn’t anything funny about it. In a way she found it enticing. “You’re scary,” she muttered to herself.
But she still didn’t answer. Instead, she opened her messages, stared at Ningning’s name for a long moment, then locked the screen again without typing a single word.
‘Coward’ she thought to herself. Accurate too. Giselle was a coward. Ningning would ask what was wrong, and Giselle didn’t have an answer that made sense. Nothing dramatic had happened. Nobody had hurt her. The event was successful. Everyone was happy.
But she still felt the sense of annoyance over the overwhelming amount of people attending. She closed her eyes, remembering what happened this passing year.
Giselle barely recognized herself anymore.
Ningning got into her head in ways she hated. Had her overthinking everything. One second Ningning could make her feel wanted enough to forget the rest of the world existed, and the next Giselle was lying awake at three in the morning wondering why she suddenly felt so small.
She hated how emotional she became around her. it feels weak. Ningning could ruin her entire week without even realizing it, and somehow still be the first person Giselle wanted to run back to after.
That was the humiliating part. Giselle kept letting her consume every thought she had like a fucking idiot.
By the time Giselle got back to the hotel, she felt exhausted.
She stood there after unlocking the door, hand still resting on the handle. She needed a moment to prepare herself for being alone. Then the door shut behind her with a soft click.
Silence. Immediately, her shoulders dropped.
Giselle exhaled slowly and tossed her phone onto the bed before peeling off her jacket. The room was cold from the air conditioning, but somehow her skin still felt warm and suffocated from the night. It feels like the event hadn’t fully left her body yet.
Her phone buzzed once. She ignored it and went straight to the bathroom.
The shower water was hot, steam quickly fogging the mirrors as she stood under it, eyes closed. She tried not to think. Tried not to think about Ningning’s messages or the look on her face before they split apart.
By the time Giselle stepped out, her skin was flushed pink from the heat. She changed into an oversized button-up, the fabric slipping loose over her frame, paired with nothing but underwear underneath. Comfortable.
Her damp hair clung slightly to her neck as she walked toward the balcony, grabbing the cigarette pack from her bag on the way.
The city below glittered with lights.
Cars moved endlessly down the streets beneath her, tiny and distant. The air outside was cool, brushing against her bare legs as she leaned against the railing and lit the cigarette.
The first inhale burned her throat. It felt good.
She let the smoke leave slowly through parted lips, eyes half-lidded as she stared out at nothing in particular. She sat herself on the chair, letting herself rest against the padding.
Her phone was still inside. Face down on the bed. Unread notifications waiting for her.
Giselle took another drag anyway.
After a good while Giselle heard the balcony door slide, she refused to acknowledge who it was. She leaned back against the seat, the cigarette balanced between her fingers as the smoke drifted upward and disappeared into the night, her attention fixed stubbornly on the skyline.
She knew exactly who had walked onto the balcony. After everything, her body recognized Ningning's presence before her mind could stop it.
The scent reached her next. Ningning must have showered recently.
Giselle hated that she noticed that too. Taking a slow drag from her cigarette, she exhaled through her nose and forced herself to keep staring ahead.
Ningning took a deep breath, her eyes lowered as she made her way towards the railings. She leaned against it, eyes locked on Giselle, who was laid back against the chair indifferently.
“Are we just going to keep pretending?” Ningning finally asked.
The words cut through the quiet rooftop air with more force than she intended.
Giselle sat slouched, her legs slightly bouncing due to her nerves as smoke curled from the cigar resting between her fingers. Her jaw tightened. Ash dropped onto the concrete as she flicked the cigar carelessly to the side, eyes fixed somewhere beyond the railing instead of on Ningning.
Ningning hated that.
Hated how Giselle always kept that stupid act of nothing could ever claw beneath her skin hard enough to matter. As if the last few weeks hadn’t been unbearable or the silence between them hadn’t eaten her alive.
“You haven’t talked to me properly for weeks,” Ningning said. Giselle let out a humorless laugh through her nose. “What’s it to you?”
The answer tightened something in Ningning’s chest.
But pride was an ugly thing, and between them? It had always been uglier than most.
Ningning leaned harder against the railing behind her, fingers curling around the cold metal as she stared at the side of Giselle’s face. She looked exhausted under the dim rooftop lights. lips parted slightly as smoke slipped past them, shoulders tense despite how relaxed she tried to appear.
And still, Ningning couldn’t stop looking at her.
“You don’t get to shut me out and then act like I’m the problem for noticing,” Ningning muttered.
This time Giselle looked at her.
And God, Ningning almost wished she hadn’t.
Because there it was again, that look that always ruined her. Something dangerously unreadable lingered there, something tired and angry and wanting all at once. Giselle looked at her like she was trying not to feel something she already felt too much.
“You’re still here, aren’t you?” Giselle said quietly. “So clearly it can’t bother you that much.”
Ningning’s expression hardened. “You think this is funny?”
“I think you should stop acting surprised.” Giselle brought the cigar back to her lips, inhaling slowly before speaking through the smoke. “You know exactly what kind of person I am.”
Ningning did know.
She knew Giselle was selfish. Destructive. The type of person who ruined things just because she didn’t know how to hold onto them gently. Every time Ningning tried pulling away, Giselle would look at her for too long, say one thing in that low voice that made her stomach tighten against her will.
And Ningning would come back anyway.
Something in her snapped. Maybe it was the way Giselle kept speaking like none of this mattered. Or maybe it was because she remembered too clearly what Giselle used to be like before everything between them became whatever this is.
That version of Giselle had been unbearable in an entirely different way, painfully devoted. Ningning used to catch her staring for too long, loving her so openly it almost frightened her. Back then, Giselle would’ve burned the world down if Ningning asked.
Now she barely looked at her at all.
And Ningning hated how much that hurt.
With a frustrated breath, she pushed herself away from the railing and crossed the distance between them. Her footsteps echoed softly against the concrete rooftop floor, stopping directly in front of Giselle’s chair.
Giselle tilted her head back slightly to look up at her, though the expression on her face stayed maddeningly unreadable.
Ningning swallowed.
Up close, the damage was easier to see. The exhaustion beneath Giselle’s eyes, tension buried in her jaw. Giselle felt that feeling anything too deeply had finally exhausted her. Ningning knew she was the reason of it all no matter how badly she wanted to deny it.
Then she found herself straddling her lap, their eyes locked. Their hearts hammered against their chest, driven by whatever complicated feelings they had for each-other.
Slowly, Ningning lifted a hand to her own hair, sweeping it back over her shoulder as she stared down at her. The movement felt like nothing, but the second she saw Giselle’s eyes flicker toward her throat for the briefest moment, something twisted tightly in her chest.
There you are.
For all Giselle’s pretending, Ningning could still feel it lingering underneath. The want. The resentment tangled so tightly with love neither of them knew where one ended and the other began anymore.
Without breaking eye contact, Ningning reached down and slipped the cigar from between Giselle’s fingers.
Giselle didn’t stop her.
Ningning brought it to her own lips instead, inhaling slowly despite the burn immediately scraping against her throat. The taste was awful but she forced herself not to react as she exhaled the smoke to the side.
“These are horrible for you.” Ningning whispered.
Something unreadable crossed Giselle’s face. She turned her head away with a quiet scoff, leaning back deeper into the chair, suddenly can't stand being looked at directly anymore. “Since when do you care?”
Ningning nudged the inside of her cheek with her tongue, gaze lowering briefly to the open collar of Giselle’s shirt where one button had been left undone carelessly. Just enough for the dim rooftop light to catch against her collarbone.
Ningning took another drag from the cigar before leaning closer.
Too close. The smell of smoke wrapped around her perfume, warm and dizzying, and Giselle immediately regretted looking at her mouth. Once she did, she couldn’t stop. Giselle thought Ningning was actually going to close the distance between them.
Instead, Ningning exhaled the smoke slowly between them, letting it ghost against Giselle’s lips before fading into the cold night air.
Giselle’s stomach twisted unexpectedly hard.
She swallowed, suddenly aware of how dry her mouth had become, and looked away first.
Ningning watched the reaction carefully, noticing the scar under her eye.
“There,” Ningning murmured quietly. “That’s the first real expression you’ve made all night.”
...
Ningning slowly moved backwards across the bed, her palms pressing into the cold sheets behind her for support as the mattress dipped beneath her weight. She lowered herself carefully, not fully laying down, stopping once her elbows caught her weight against the bed. Propped up slightly, she tilted her head just enough to keep her eyes fixed on Giselle.
She watched as she settled between her legs, hands running down the side of her thigh before parting her legs slightly.
Giselle looked at her, that hunger in her eyes betraying her act.
She tilted her head, leaning into Ningning. The kiss was soft at first, slow. Ningning following her lead. Giselle could smell the scent of perfume that wasn't properly washed off, it drove her crazy.
Using her thumb, she tugged on Ningning's lips allowing her to use her tongue. The sensation made Ningning sigh, she missed this. She missed how she made her feel like she was the only girl she needed.
her hands moved, sneaking to Giselle's jaw. She gently rubbed her ear, pulling back to tilt her head to the other side as she tried to keep up with how rough Giselle was suddenly getting.
She couldn't help but smile against her lips. As tough as she wants to act, Giselle was so easy to provoke.
Not soon, Giselle pulled back kissing her jaw. she was messy, leaving kisses against her neck. Ning couldn't help but let herself lean into it, her breath shallow as her hands moved to Giselle's shoulder.
"Mnh-" She finally lets out, swallowing down her pride.
Her breath hitched, feeling the sudden coldness from Giselle's finger tips sneaking under her shirt. She shifted, not knowing what to focus on.
Feeling her hands go higher, she remembered she wasn't really wearing anything under the night gown anyways. Ning's breathing deepens at the feeling of her palms rubbing against her chest.
her chest heaved, hands tightening around Giselle's shoulder. Giselle smiled against her neck, cupping her chest. "I almost forgot how sensitive you were"
With that, she felt Ningning tense, She was about to say something witty back.
But before she could, Giselle ran her tongue along the skin of her neck, preparing her for what she was going to do. her fingers rubbed against the bud, rolling it slightly.
Words were taken away from Ningning's mouth. She whined, feeling Giselle gently sucking on the skin of her neck. She shivered, mouth parting slightly.
"F-fuck..."
Giselle pulled back, admiring the dark purple bruise she left on her. Ningning's witty expression was replaced with something Giselle knew all too well.
She took her hands out of Ning's shirt, earning a soft breath from her. She kept her eyes on Ningning, watching her mouth tremble as her hands rested on her stomach.
She slowly reached lower, noticing how Ningning was suddenly avoiding eye-contact. "You seriously have a staring problem"
Giselle held in a smile, her fingers rubbing her against the now damp fabric. "Do I?"
Ning shifted, this felt humiliating. She turned her head to the side "Just hurry"
Giselle raised her eyebrow, her hands tugging on the hem of her underwear. She felt Ningning suddenly tense at the contact, her fingers rubbed gently.
She knew where Ningning liked it, she felt Ningning's legs press against her waist, trying to close it. Giselle's fingers rubbed circles on a spot that made her tilt her head back.
"Mngh.."
Ning felt her lower stomach twitch when she felt her fingers slipping into her. Her breathing was heavy as she took a moment to get used to it. It had been so long since they did this.
Giselle slowly kept a slow pace, being gentle on purpose at the sight of Ningning's winces.
"Y-yeah...Just like that" She mumbled, her eyes rolled as Giselle thrusted deeper. She laid her head back onto the pillow, letting out moans every time Giselle was deep enough.
She felt herself grind into her hands, chasing the high. She knew Giselle was being gentle on purpose, it drove her crazy. She needed more, so much more.
She couldn't even look Giselle in her eyes, her voice getting progressively louder as Giselle kept going.
Her hair messily sprawled under her, and she started to hear the dirty noises coming from her wetness. "You're clenching" Giselle suddenly said, it was surprisingly quick. "Were you that pent up?"
"You talk a bit too much" Ningning spoke, her voice breaking into a whine.
"Mhh," Giselle paused, picking up the pace. Ningning arched, sucking in air as she felt herself get closer and closer. "Does it feel good?" giselle asked, seeing how Ningning's night gown was slightly lifted, exposing hip bone.
She swallowed, her heart racing in her chest.
"Don't stop" Ningning breathed out, grinding harder onto her fingers. She was frustrated at how soft Giselle was, but what could she do?
Not long, her lower stomach tensed. She threw her head back, cumming onto her fingers. Ning's breath deepened, feeling Giselle take out her fingers.
but before Ning could process everything, She stared at Giselle, who was taking her shirt off. Suddenly her hands were tied with the shirt and slung over Giselle's head, resting on her shoulders.
"I'll fuck that attitude out of you" Giselle whispered against her lips. Ningning's expression changed, before she could say anything she felt the sudden change of Giselle's movement.
her fingers dipped into her once more, this time she wasn't slow at all. Her pace quickened immediately, fingers curling just right.
"W-wait..!" Ning was sensitive from the aftermath of her last climax. The sudden roughness made her screw her eyes shut. Her tied hands making it easier to tug Giselle in closer to her.
Giselle rested her face into her neck, smiling at how loud Ningning suddenly gotten.
“you feel so good” Giselle mumbled, her finger ramming into her.
she felt Ningning uncontrollably twitch and shake, her body trembling under her.
Ningning cried out, feeling hopeless. She couldn’t hold onto anything, somehow that made it worse.
Giselle fingers rubbed roughly on a spongy spot, pressing at it.
Ningning’s arms shook, whimpering into giselles ear as her hips raised slightly from the sensation.
Her moans got louder every time Giselle fucked deeper into her.
“Aeri“ she lets out. Voice trembling.
“you’re doing good” Giselle whispered
“Mm-“ She dragged out, not wanting to finish what she was trying to say.
Giselle knew what she was going to say, it made her heart race.
She slowed her pace, urging Ningning to finish what she was trying to say.
Ningning buried her face into Giselles shoulder, shaking her head no.
“No, no no.” She begged, her voice dripping with neediness. “No please. I need it”
“Say it” Giselle said, her voice soft but stern. “Say it or I’ll stop”
Ningning screwed her eyes shut. Her hips bucking at the sudden loss of friction.
”Fuck-!” she gritted her teeth. “Mommy, please”
There it was.
Giselle smile, her fingers moved once more.This time her thumb angled in a way that everytime she thrusted into her, it would rub against the sensitive bud.
”Good bunny” she coaxed, feeling Ningning desperately grind onto her.
pathetic mutt.
”youre close aren’t you?” She said, feeling her clench down on her fingers. Ningning could barely answer, her cries were probably loud but Giselle could care less.
“I’m so close..” Ningning managed to get out.
”go on.” She urged “cum for me”
Her hips bucked, with one last cry she shook uncontrollably under her.
Ningning felt her eyes well up with tears, lower stomach tensing as she came onto her fingers again.
Giselle fucked her through her orgasm, placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth.
She leaned back, staring at the mess she made with a smug smile tugging on her lips.
Giselle raised her hands, staring at her own fingers. She spread the two apart, looking at the mess on her fingers.
“I hate you” Ningning mumbled, her arm covering her mouth as her chest rose and fell.
Giselle said nothing. She kept her eyes on Ningning, hands reaching to her lips as she cleaned up her own fingers, tasting her.
Ningning watched as her tongue ran along her fingers, something familiar stirring in her lower stomach.
She was put of energy. Using up all she had left, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at her.