The game

*DING-DONG*

The doorbell rings. Roca opens the door and sees Mani. "Hey Man!" Roca exclaimed pleasantly. "Are we ready!?" Mani showed Roca a large packet of chips that he had brought and shaked it, excitedly. The boys met to enjoy the ongoing soccer match together.

"Sit bro!" Roca said while he was setting up the laptop to watch the live streaming of the match. Mani sat down and opened the packet of chips. He emptied the packet into a large bowl that was already there on the tea table in front of them.

*commentary sounds*

The match was live. Roca wasn't wearing a shirt. This was suddenly noticed by Mani. However, he avoided it and focused on the match. "Look, the hero is here," Roca said. His favorite player was playing. Mani saw Roca being enchanted by the player as he was playing.

Mani and Roca have been best friends since 8 years old. Growing up, they have done everything together. They went to the same school and later college. They knew everything about each other, from their hookups to breakups. Atleast, this is what Roca believes. However, there were secrets of Mani, which Roca yet didn't know. For Mani, Roca was never really 'just a friend'. He adored Roca for the way he was, careless and fantastic.

"GOAL! " Roca shouted in amazement. He excitedly grabbed one of Mani's knees, who was sitting just beside him. Mani was blushing but he kept it up along with Roca and said, "What a move man!"

"I need to pee now" said Roca while giggling. Mani picked up two chips and put them in his mouth. Roca returned after a minute. "Gosh man! These days I feel hard after peeing" Roca. Mani was now feeling uncomfortable and moreover nervous. He clasped his hands and put one of his legs over the other. Roca was moving his fingers around his chest while gazing at the screen.

"Wear your shirt! " Mani suddenly said."You will feel better,``he added. Roca nodded his head in agreement. "Hmm… " Roca hummed and grabbed a shirt lying beside him on the sofa, where they were sitting. As soon as he wore it, Mani uncrossed his legs and sighed.

"This guy is going to make my day. 2 more goals and it's a win! " Roca commented on the match. "Let's have some drinks." He added.

Roca went to the kitchen to bring two cans of chilled soft-drinks. He gets them and puts them on the tea table. He grabs a can and offers it to Mani. Mani refused it. Roca didn't bother about it and went ahead with his can and suddenly,

"OUCH" Roca screams in pain. Mani immediately turned his head to see what's going on and found Roca holding his lips. "I think there's a cut! Is it bleeding? " Roca asked Mani. Mani couldn't look straight into his lips and so he didn't look at it at all. "No, no" He replied. "You didn't even look at it." Roca said back.

Mani, who was already nervous, felt his heartbeat rising. He didn't even want to look at Roca, let alone his lips. Roca however went on asking him to check if there was any blood on his lips. Mani could no longer resist him. He slowly looked at Roca and then his eyes moved towards his lips. Mani's mouth was locked, he couldn't say anything. His own lips trembled in nervousness. Despite several years of their friendship, they never reached this sort of physical proximity.

Mani's mind went blank. He swiftly leaned towards Roca and kissed him. For the next few seconds, Roca was shocked enough to react but then,

*SLAP!*

Roca pushed back Mani and give him a hard slap. Mani's face turned red. Was he expecting something different? How could he suddenly do something so absurd and out of context? Questions flooded Mani's head. His eyes we're full without him realising it. He could no longer look at Roca. He grabbed his cellphone and immediately left.