A/N: Thanks for clicking! This is where I'm gonna keep all my little Xiaoyu/Hwoarang oneshots/drabbles/wtf-ever. I'm using the seventh set of prompts from Ficlets100 on Livejournal, so yep, I'm hoping to do a hundred of these little buggers. Well, I hope you enjoy the first of the set (which is word 53 'Dare') and let me know what you thought, okay? Always love to get feedback on this stuff.

Dare

The pub was a complete dive, yellowing wallpaper that looked like it had been there since the seventies, the usual framed prints of old adverts on the walls, the air thick with smoke, and in the corner a couple of battered, beerstained sofas covered in cigarette burns. Still, the barmaid was friendly enough, and more than willing to lend a sympathetic ear. Although, Xiaoyu supposed she wasn't really listening, just nodding and clicking her tongue at the right moments. It didn't matter though. As long as she was allowed to vent her frustrations, she didn't care if her whining was going in one ear and out the other. She took a sip of her third lukewarm alcopop and shook her head.

"So, I guess you'll be checking the 'wanted' ads tomorrow then?" The barmaid asked, wiping a glass clean.

"It's either that or selling my organs for profit." she complained.

"You don't wanna be doing that. Try selling your underwear to dirty old men instead."

"I'm sorry, who gave you permission to interrupt our conversation?" Xiaoyu asked haughtily, turning around on the barstool to face the guy who'd joined her. She blinked, wondering whether the alcohol was working on her already, or it was the damned cigarette smoke responsible for sending her vision blurry. It only lasted a moment before she was able to focus her eyes on him.

"Now there's a face I haven't seen for a while." she murmured, and Hwoarang grinned.

"Didn't expect to see a nice kid like you in a place like this. Get lost on the way to the champagne bar, did we?"

She fixed him with a glare.

"For one thing, I'm twenty-three. I haven't been a kid for a long time, and for another, you're looking at someone who's newly unemployed, soon to be penniless. So champagne's not exactly a priority at the moment."

"Sucks to be you, I guess."

"Thanks for your concern."

"So then, did you catch up with Kazama, or are you still stuck chasing him?"

"Most people would just ask what I've been doing these past few years."

"Yeah? Well, I'm betting it was Kazama."

She drained the rest of her drink and scowled as what he'd just said registered properly.

"Still making stupid jokes, I see." Xiaoyu put the empty bottle down on the bar. "And still obsessed with Jin. He doesn't swing that way, Hwoarang."

"Like he could handle me. Anyway, how do you know?" Hwoarang laughed. "Unless I was right. In that case, do me a favour and ask Kazama if he's ever planning on paying me back for trashing my bike. Five years and not as much as a deposit, the bastard."

"Sorry, but it's been a while since I've seen him."

"That so? I always figured you two would've got together."

She looked away, into the haze of smoke and dim light. She couldn't remember exactly when she'd last seen Jin. It hadn't been long after she'd realised that he could never love her the way she wanted him to. Sure, he cared about her, and she guessed she'd known all along that he saw her as the younger sister he never had. For a time, she tried to kid herself that that kind of love was enough, but then he'd flash her a smile that gave her butterflies, and hope would spark inside her again. It was futile, and Xiaoyu couldn't keep doing it to herself.

That had been about two years ago, and she hadn't spoken to him since. Completely cutting herself off was the only way she'd been able to truly get over him. The only problem she faced now was how to go about affording to live by herself. When she'd been a ward of the Mishima Zaibatsu, she hadn't had to worry about that stuff. And now she was jobless. Figures.

She turned to Hwoarang with a smirk.

"Like he could handle me."

"Well, since you're 'penniless' and all, want a drink?"

"Nice of you to remind me." she groaned.

"That mean you don't want one?"

"Shots."

"What?"

"The best way to kill the pain. Fact."

Vodka. Slam. Sambuca. Slam. Tequila.

Hwoarang watched in amusement as she slammed the shot glass down on the bar then sat back, holding the edge of the barstool to keep her balance.

"Maybe you should slow down..."

She rolled her eyes.

"I think I should speed up. I can still focus on stuff." She did another, wincing a little as the alcohol burned her throat. "And why aren't you joining me, huh?"

"Me and shots don't mix." he told her. "Learned that when I was fourteen and I woke up in a thorn-bush with one of my trainers missing."

Xiaoyu held the glass between her fingertips, staring into the remaining dregs of green liquid.

"That doesn't mean you can't drink shots, it just means you don't know when to stop."

"And you do?"

"Do you know how many calories are in a shot of apple sour?" she asked, ignoring him. "You're gonna get me fat."

"You're drinking it."

"You paid for it."

"That makes it my fault?"

"Yep." Xiaoyu laughed. "That's right."

He rest his chin on his hand, smiling.

"What?" she asked, brushing her hair back self-consciously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She regarded him through narrowed eyes, and he kept right on smiling,

"C'mon, what are you thinking about?"

"What it'd be like to fuck you."

Xiaoyu laughed out loud.

"Well, you're nothing if not honest."

Hwoarang took a swig of his beer, eyes glittering with mischief.

"Go on then." Xiaoyu rest her elbows on the bar. "What would it be like?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, satisfied by the surprise evident on his face. "Come on, tell me."

"Okay... think about the best sex you've ever had."

She turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Better."

"Confident, aren't you? Let me guess, you've never had any complaints?" She smiled. "That doesn't mean you're any good, it just means no one's complained."

"You wanna find out why no one's complained?" Hwoarang grinned.

"I think I'm about twelve shots away from that."

He smirked and pushed the last sambuca shot towards her, and Xiaoyu giggled.