Lee finished unloading a few extra blank cassettes into the supply room in the back of the shop. The record shop owner, Ricky, made mix-tapes so immaculate, people were willing to pay five bucks for them, though Lee thought they were pretty sub-par. She carelessly tossed the empty box that housed the cassettes onto the floor. She sighed and glanced at the cold black metal watch wrapped loosely around her wrist. 10:30pm. "Fuck." The tired young girl muttered under her breath. She was supposed to meet Nana and Yasu at Pig's Eye Bar and Grill about an hour ago. All this mindless work Ricky threw on her last minute, she's completely forgotten all impending engagements.

Lee ripped her name tag off her black tank top and shoved it into a drawer near the register at the front of the store. She grabbed her keys and slipped into a heathery gray bomber jacket with a black hoodie underneath.

A few hectic vibrations startled Lee. She took out her smart phone from inside her jacket pocket and unlocked the screen; no mystery to who had been blowing up her phone. "Hello?"

"Whadda mean hello?!" Nana's charmingly anxious voice found it's way into Lee's sensitive ears. "Where in the hell are you kid?"

Lee picked up the pace, turning corners and focusing on the street signs. "I'm coming, I'm on my way. Are you sure they'll let me in?"

Nana cackled. "Yeah, a friend of mine owns this place, he won't bat an eye."

"Alright." Lee hung up and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She ran across streets and shimmied past people on the sidewalk. By the time she reached the bar, she was out of breath. The bar was a lot smaller than she expected.

As soon as Lee opened the heavy oak wood door, she could hear Nana's intimidating voice hollering from the end of the bar. Lee laughed and pushed past grungy, greasy men to get to the end of the bar. There were several empty bottles of beer near Nana and an exhausted Yasu gripping his left temple. Lee tapped the drunk rocker on her delicate shoulder. "Hey."

"Who the hell are you-wait...LEE?!" Nana let beer drip out of her crimson colored lips. "YOU'RE HAIR?!" Her reaction was embarrassing, in an endearing way.

Nana hurled herself on top of Lee's tiny frame. She weaved her fingers into Lee's new, short choppy locks. Lee shrugged her shoulders. "Yup, I'm a sad, horny bottle blonde now."

Nana's arms hung around Lee's neck. "Yeessssssssss blonde Lee is my faaaaaaaaaaaavee."

Yasu shook his head, tight lipped and annoyed. "You came a little too late. Captain Corona over here is on her sixth beer."

Lee smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Yasu. I had work and-"

"It's alright. I just need to get this queen back home before she decides she hates some guy's face and I have to come to the rescue again." Yasu peeled Nana off of Lee's shoulders and hurled her over his shoulder. "See you later, Lee." Yasu gave the faintest of smiles, Lee was surprised by how handsome he was when he smiled. He'd only genuinely smiled at a handful of people in his lifetime.

Nana was pounding her fists on Yasu's back, demanding him to let her go. "I want to see Lee I want to see mmy babby!" Nana babbled about all the way out of the bar. Lee scratched her head, pressing her lips together. She sat on the navy blue bar stool and rested her hand on her forehead. Somehow, she had found herself often dreaming about him at night again. "You know that means you'll probably see him soon," Lee scoffed at the memory. Hachi and her wild theories. Nana lit up a cigarette. "Ha! Screw that guy."

Truth is, no one has seen him in over a month; since that night at Jackson Hole.

"I need to go, Nana." Lee was visibly upset, her hands trembling, her eyes avoiding Shin and the blonde curly haired girl. Her throat began to close, her skin itchy as Shin held the other girl with the same long arms he had held her with, burying his head into her neck.

There was blood in Nana's big brown eyes, and a bit in Hachi's sweet doe eyes as well. Nana walked over and shoved Shin off the bar stool, the blonde haired girl clearly shaken up by her sudden attack. Nana glared at her and the girl stumbled out of her stool and ran out of the bar. Shin picked himself up from the ground, giving Nana the 'bloody hell' look. Nana grabbed him by the neck of his t-shirt, seething with rage. "How fucking dare you?!"

"How dare I what? Enlighten me..." Shin smirked and drunkenly hung his arms to the side as Nana held his weight up.

"Oh so you think it's funny, huh?"

There was dead silence. The bitter wind whistled against the windows. Nana's violent voice echoed throughout the bar. "Toying with someone's heart is not even remotely funny, Shin." Nana's grip on his shirt grew tighter. Nobu anxiously stood. Yasu held him back swiftly with one arm and shook his head. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Lee is clearly in an inconceivable amount of pain, and you're just going to humiliate her like this?!"

Shin forced Nana's hands off of him and gathered himself. He looked at Lee resentfully, her unforgettably bright blue eyes swelling up with tears. He shook his head and laughed. "Well, if my presence brings this much harrowing pain then maybe...maybe...I'll just leave, then." Shin finished his whiskey in one swig. "For good." He slammed the glass on the counter.

Nana's eyes narrowed. She let her hands fall to her sides. "Yeah, Shin," Her voice began to crack. "just go ahead and leave us." The room was filled with a familiar heaviness. "Leave, don't come back, and if I ever see your face again, im going to smash it into fucking pieces, you hear me?!"

Nana and the rest of the bar watched Shin shuffle out the bar.

"Fuck you, Ren." Nana whispered inaudibly, tears rolling down her cheek faster than any rain cloud could even manage. She snatched a basket of tortilla chips and threw it against the door.

The strong smell of nachos and salsa woke Lee up from her trance. Pig's Eye had become a cloud of smoke in a matter of ten minutes. There was a lemonade margarita over a coaster directly in front of her. She didn't even remember ordering a drink.

The bar had gotten a bit less crowded than before. Some Death From Above 1979 album was playing in the background. Lee closed her eyes and soaked in the foul atmosphere.

"Vodka tonic, please." The breath of a familiar voice tickled her earlobe from behind. She gripped her fists anxiously, the lump in her throat already forming without even confirming that it was him. Though, she needed no confirmation, she'd recognized that intoxicating scent of cologne and nicotine under any circumstance."You know that means you'll probably see him soon." Fuck you, Hachi.

"Hello, Blondie." The words traveled from her ear into her bloodstream. Once again, that heavenly voice wrapped around her throat and squeezed it so bountifully. Lee turned her head slightly and noticed the 6ft ghostly figure hovering over her. Shin dragged a lanky finger along Lee's neck and traced along her jawline. His fingers felt like fire against her icy skin. She looked down, her vision blurry now, her hands a semblance of odd shapes. Shin took in her petrified reaction with hilarity. "Did you miss me?"

"Leave me alone." She wasn't going to play his game.

Her failed attempt at dismissing him aroused Shin even more. "I like you blonde." Shin took Lee's face into his palm and forced her to look at him. That famous dark, brooding expression made Lee want to spill into his arms one last time. The heat of their faces, inches away, could melt the sun.

She shook the thought and shoved his hands away before he could trap her. "Get away from me." Lee stood up from the stool and tried to make a run for the exit, and Shin predicted her every move. "Could you make it less obvious that you want me to chase you?"

Lee busted through the door and hurried across the street, tears were swelling up uncontrollably. Shin ran after her, one step for him was the equivalent to three steps. "This is what you want, Lee. I'm here. Now tell me how fucking sick I am."

Lee stumbled over piles of snow on every street corner.

Shin's voice grew louder and more intimidating. "Tell me that you fucking hate me. That you loathe me. Tell me you despise me and you wish I were dead."

His voice snapped like the first crackle of ignited firewood. "Tell me something to make me hate you. Please, just, tell me how fucked up I am. How I don't deserve you."

Lee slipped on ice but quickly got herself back up. Shin continued, his voice closer and closer with every step she took. He got quiet, then wailed. "Every time I see you, every time I inhale your scent, I become everything and nothing at the same time!"

Lee finally stopped in her tracks, turning around slowly to meet his gaze filled with shameless desire. There he stood, maroon leather letter-man's jacket unzipped, his cheeks frozen and red, his hair faded blue, disheveled and greasy. Lee shrugged her shoulders. "You were gone for a whole month."

"And you were gone for six...what was i supposed to do?" Shin took a few steps toward her. "You left without telling me. Your scent lingered and I hated how weak it made me. I needed to fill the void by fucking little blonde girls...and when you showed up, I-" He wrapped his hand around her neck, digging his nails into her delicate skin. "Lee you don't understand...I have you inside of me, like a disease." His voice trembling. The hauntingly poetic words spilled from Shin's lips so effortlessly, as if he'd been longing to let them out. Lee bit her bottom lip and clutched his chest. "Cure me." His lips parted as he leaned into her face. He whispered, "You are my venom. You are my magical elixir." Shin crashed his face into hers, brushing his nose along Lee's cheeks and nibbling the corners of her mouth, salty with tears. Every breath he exhaled, she inhaled.

Lee whimpered. With bated breath, she managed to speak."You're...too..late..."

He let go of his grip. The streets were empty, vacant, dimly lit and yet absolutely ethereal, like Shin's eyes at that moment. His lips were cracked and blue. "Poisonous." Shin dropped to the floor, his body completely limp, eyes rolled back to his head.

Lee screamed in absolute horror.