Nuri had arrived, domineering from the way she walked to her flagrant disregard for her own dress code.

There was music. It was awesome.

And she was ready to rearrange Monty’s teeth to the beat.

Or... she was ready to try unless Shay did something about it.

Monty getting the crap beaten out of him wasn’t in her best interests. He was supposed to be her investigative partner... investigating a certain blood-in-the-fridge-keeping vampiress.

Of course-- he absolutely deserved getting Tae Kwon Do kicked to the jaw. But concerning that he was only there because Tyvan insisted on the mission being super-professional, she couldn’t just let him fall prey to his own stupidity.

Also... Ivy would probably have something to say if another one of her battle-buddies ended up needing medical attention.

But anyway, in order to de-escalate the situation, Shay had to--

“Park...” Monty spat Nuri’s last name, low and slow. “What’s with the hoodie? Did you forget to dress up like a person?”

“Who the fff--” Nuri’s face scrunched up with clear, undisguised, and abject disgust. “Aren’t you... Monty fucking Majestic? The fuck happened? You get kidnapped and starved on a deserted island or something?”

“Basic-fucking-ly,” Monty growled.

Nuri wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. Going by the smell of dick on your breath, you probably got an ass-full of the natives, too.”

She grabbed Shay’s wrist and turned to leave. “Come on. Let’s ditch this loser.”

The wrist-grab was... a little forceful, but Nuri was a lot more trustworthy than that weirdo from earlier.

“Hey, hold on you ugly, flat-chested bitch,” Monty shouted after them. “My black cherry remains un-popped!”

Wait, what?

Shay glanced over to Nuri’s chest. She was not flat. That guy had a disproportionate sense of what was normal concerning bust size.

Nuri spun around, not about to let that comment go. “Dude. I don’t wanna hear about your un-washed, un-SHAven guy-butthole.”

“Oh, I shave,” Monty sneered-- “but for hygiene and comfort, not because I’m getting railed every night by seven-plus dudes like a WHORE!”

--”ooooOOOohhhhh.”

The crowd, again-- and even bigger since the last time Shay looked. Everyone had come to watch the drama unfold between the two most popular kids on the playground.

“My lifestyle choices are my OWN business,” Nuri said.

“That’s a fucking lie,” Monty snorted. “Everyone knows you keep your legs open to all kinds of business.”

--”ooooooooohhhh.”

Really? Shay rolled her eyes.

Nuri’s glare turned ice-cold. Shay and all the people close-by took a subconscious step or shuffle back.

“At LEAST I don’t need DICK PILLS to get my two inches hard enough to JERK OFF!!!”

--”OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“HEY!” Monty cried, “I’m at least three inches, HARD!!”

The crowd broke out into laughter. Monty held his head high as if he didn’t just say the worst thing Shay had ever heard in her life. Wow.

Shay tugged on Nuri’s sleeve. “I’d like to go now.”

It was a super-polite way of saying, ‘It really isn’t worth arguing with this level of idiot.’

“Che,” Monty scoffed. “I bet you can’t even handle the first three.”

The first three? What... was he even trying to say?

Suddenly, Nuri moved. Grounded step forward. Rear-leg snap kick-- right at Monty’s face.

Shay only registered what had happened after it happened, but Monty moved his head and upper body back, just out of her reach. And he was still wearing his stupid grin.

Nuri spun around, going for a low kick. Monty checked her shin with the bottom of his shoe.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Ugh. That probably hurt.

The words “dumb bitch” came out of Monty’s mouth-- which was completely unnecessary!

Nuri literally sNarLed in response.

She grabbed hold of Shay to stabilize herself. Then, she pushed off and rotated her body for a full-weight back kick.

Monty dodged to the side, just as usual. In those microseconds, though, Shay saw something different.

He’d planted his feet.

He was going to hit back.

--but something moved even faster than Monty did.

A loud, violent, and woody crack rang out in the hall.

It was the sound of Monty’s face crashing into the wooden tiles of the ballroom dance floor. For half a second, his hair stood up like it was a weird, ruby-red houseplant.

Tall. Even down on one knee, he was almost taller than Shay.

Nuri’s guard, Daegeum, had put Monty’s head into the dance floor and held him down with his gigantic hand. He was still wearing that weird, white-cloth mask despite no one else wearing masks at the gala.

Creepy. Not creepy like smiley-guy. Creepy in a way that was disturbing but socially more acceptable than the other way.

“What the heLL??” Nuri snapped, “I had him!”

“My apologies, Mistress,” Daegeum said, bowing his head.

Annnd... that’s all he said. No further explanation.

Monty twitched a little bit. He looked like he got knocked out cold-- but at least he was still alive. And... since he didn’t have any holes in him, Shay wasn’t too worried.

“Ooooh’kay,” she said, clapping her hands. “Nuri! Let’s go?”

Nuri let out a low growl of frustration-- “Fine. Whatever.”

----------------------------------------

Nuri brought Shay to a random, opulent office-- maybe belonging to whoever owned the building. Furniture: leathery and expensive. Art on the wall: abstract and nonsensical.

--but the tiling and the wallpaper and the rugs and light fixtures and other clutter...

Huh. It seemed like every other day, Shay got reminded that Tyvan and his decorated spaces were worth a lot more than she’d realiezd.

“There’s gotta be some booze somewhere here,” Nuri groaned. “No CEO of any decent company stays sober throughout their whole workday.”

That wasn’t true. Tyvan was different!

But maybe he was an extreme exception to the rule because Shay found a cabinet behind the desk that was actually a fully-stocked mini-fridge.

And from that treasure trove, Nuri pulled out a box of wine coolers.

“The fuck is this?”

“Those should be good, right?” Shay said. “They’re red? Like... like blood? I mean-- like your hair. It’s cute.”

“Aww, you think I’m cute?”

Nuri smiled and winked before diving back down to root through the fridge. When she came back up, she’d grabbed a regular-looking beer: yellow-ish and in a clear glass bottle. Cerveza.

“This is more my taste.”

She put the bottle top against the desktop and slammed the cap off. Then... she chugged the whole thing down and let out a melodramatic sigh.

“The fuckin’ nerve of that guy,” she mumbled. “You know him?”

“Ah... huh...” Shay found her gaze drifting away. She didn’t want to admit to that for... multiple reasons. But... it was the truth. “I mean-- I don’t really know him. He’s like... a coworker.”

“A coworker?” Nuri scoffed, “You work? Like... a fucking pleb? Gah~! Sorry to hear that.”

“It’s-- it not so bad,” Shay said, a little defensively. “There’s a lot more people I like than I don’t. They make me feel really welcome-- mostly.”

“Hmph.” Nuri desk-slammed a second beer open. She took it with her to the office couch, before plopping down on her side. “I mean-- I don’t wanna yuck your yum, but isn’t it kinda weird if you actually like hanging out with peasants?”

Her viewpoint was... how super-rich people were portrayed in films, out-of-touch with regular people and arrogant about it.

Was she serious, though? Nuri wasn’t exactly a serious person, overall.

Shay checked the fridge and grabbed a can of cola before sitting on an armchair, across Nuri. (She could’ve gotten diet, but she felt like she deserved better.)

“In case you’ve forgotten, Miss Park, peasants are human too.”

“Pff. Humans~”

Nuri started to giggle, repeating the word a few times in a sing-song voice. Her laughter suddenly got cut short by a high-pitched hiccup, though. (Cute.) She held her breath for a moment. Then, she sighed and started to relax on her couch-- but then, she furrowed her brows and sat up straight. “Humans? Why would you say it like that?”

“Oh. Uh... No reason.”

Nuri stared for a moment. Then, she shook her head.

“Look, Shay. I’m not tryin’ to change your mind about anything... but there’s a big difference between people like you and me and plebs from the lower and middle class. As a perfect fucking example, the son of a construction company only worth a million at most shouldn’t be allowed to talk trash to someone like ME!”

That...

That argument was a little weird. But Monty did cross a few lines.

“Yeah,” Shay said. “He was... pretty freakin’ rude. And he wasn’t being fair, at all.”

“I know, right!” Nuri said. She tried smiling, but that didn’t last too long-- “aRgh! It makes me SO MAD. But you... you get me, Shay.”

“But it’s not okay for anyone to just be an ass,” Shay added, trying to be a little bit fair. “That’s basic human courtesy. Also, that person-- considering all the good things he has, he should-- I dunno, be more modest?”

“Exactly!” Nuri said. “Basic courtesy... basic... human courtesy.”