If there was any humanity left in her, she wouldn't abandon this poor guy. "Hey, are you okay?" Zen called out and immediately regretted her decisions. She had this unhealthy habit of poking her nose into other people's affairs –now a drunkard of all people – when it didn't require her to. And as a result, would often get herself tangled up in their mess and in the end, incarcerate herself. She thought she'd left this habit in high school but nope, it had been sitting in silence all for this moment.
"Who are you? Are you one of Kai's friends?" the man asked.
"No. Who's Kai?"
"Strange. I don't recall you drinking with us," he continued, trying to get up once again and failing miserably.
Like the kind angel she was, she hurried in to help the poor man who looked to be the same age as her in getting to his feet. "I'm just a nobody. Let me help you," Zen said. It had taken all her strength to lift his body off the ground without losing her balance in the process. She took a step back to support his weight and, unfortunately, stumbled over an empty bottle that just had to be lying around at the exact same spot where she tripped, as if it knew she was heading in that direction and was secretly scheming to punish her for reasons unknown.
"Ah!" Zen screamed, reeling back together with the man until her waist hit the railing from behind. Just as she exhaled a breath of relief, she turned her head back from the side but was not prepared for what she saw next. Her eyes were unconsciously drawn to his lips that were mere centimetres from her own. He had the most alluring lips she had ever seen in a man.
Streaks of moonlight filtered through the glass window above, and like a skilled painter painted his face with a gentle stroke of its brush, leaving her awestruck with the soul-gripping masterpiece. Midnight black hair in a ragged undercut style streamed down his head with front bangs obscuring half of his face.
He was an embodiment of a summer storm, with a tinge of spice thrown in for good measure.
"Fuck," the man cursed, snapping her back to reality.
Zen rapidly blinked her eyes, her mind unable to come up with an explanation to wrap up the feelings she felt for the strange and majestic individual.
"I'm feeling dizzy," he said, his body swaying and leaning backwards.
Zen clung to the man's sleeves in a desperate attempt to keep him from falling, but for a man who had an athletic body and height that could pass for a model, his weight was too much for a petite girl like her to handle. She eventually fell on top of him, her lips dangerously crashing into his unexpectedly soft ones.
For a moment, time froze. Then she realized the position they were in. Her left hand laid flat on the ground while her body was sprawled on top of him like a lizard looking for prey and her other hand seemed to have unconsciously wandered farther down an intriguing part of the man's body and had invaded a very private property that should've otherwise been closed off to strangers.
"Get off of me," the man shouted, shoving her away from his body.
Shocked, frightened and guilt-stricken, Zen abruptly stood up and apologised repeatedly. "I'm really sorry. I was just trying to help."
"Stop with your excuses. You think I don't know what you're trying to do," he yelled at her angrily.
"What?"
"This is why I hate gays like you."
Wait, what? Hold up. Rewind.
"Gay? Me?" Zen pointed a finger to herself, taken aback by the accusation.
"Yes. You. Just so you know, I'm not gay. You think you can take advantage of me when I'm drunk?" He wobbled to his feet and then glared at her with full intensity.
"Excuse me," Zen tried to appease him. "You got me all wrong. I'm not-"
"Shut up!"
The words instantly struck a nerve. Zen's once calm and collected face was replaced by a murderous scowl. "How dare you raise your voice at me? I don't even know you!"
"I don't know you either. Stop bothering me."
"I tried to help-"
"You tried to take advantage of me, you worthless gay."
[I can't, with this guy and his obnoxious attitude.] Zen darted her eyes towards the ceiling, hands gripping her waist in fury. The thought of hitting the guy in the face and breaking his entire front set of teeth felt very tempting, but she had so many problems piling up at the moment and didn't want to stack more on top of what was already there.
"Listen here, you homophobic asshole." [ What's the use of being handsome if he's worth only this much?] Zen pointed a finger at him. "I'm not gay. I was just-"
"You're gay. Don't you look at yourself in the mirror?"
"Stop cutting me off!"
"You're just ooomfhhghh-"
"Don't tell me you're about to throw up right now?" Horror was written all over Zen's face at the possible upcoming disaster. "Don't get close to me," she yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears.
The man stumbled in her direction, almost as if he was intentionally aiming for her. Trapped and frozen on the spot, Zen watched wide-eyed as the man seized her shoulders in a vice-like grip, and without giving her any time to prepare, he puked his intestines out all over her tiny body, showing no remorse for his sickening misconduct.
Zen could only close her eyes and wince in disgust, and would continue to do so until that supposedly warm welcome gesture from the homophobic stranger was over. She should never have come here in the first place. [Curse that dog, curse that warden, curse that bottle, curse everything!]
"That's enough!" Zen shouted, pushing the man who later fell on his butt. And without a word, she spun on her heel and skipped down the stairs, quickly grabbed her things and dashed out of the building.