A Game of Tag(1)

Author: Hun Shi Xiao Mo Wang

For five years, I'd been pursuing a boy. Yet, I didn't succeed.

Yet, that day, I encountered him when I spent 105 dollars drinking at a karaoke bar.

1

It was my friend Eleanor Gibson's singles' party that day. It was to celebrate that she finally broke up with a scumbag and turned 25 as an eligible bachelorette. We arrived at the karaoke bar for another round of drinks, and I was so intoxicated that I felt numb.

"Darn it! Everyone must spend money today!" Eleanor stepped onto the coffee table with a wine bottle in her hand and shouted inarticulately, "Everyone must order a bottle each! Yvette Fairchild, you must order two bottles!"

"I don't think that's a good idea..." I had been drinking red and white wine simultaneously, and I was already so drunk that I barely knew what I was capable of. "What's the price of the wine here?"

"The corkage charge is 105 dollars for one bottle. There's a discounted price if you get two bottles, which is 225 dollars!"

Before I could react to the fake discount trick, I saw a handsome man among the men who came to deliver the wine. I pointed to him and said, "I want a bottle first, but I want him to open it for me."

Then, the light in the private room darkened, and on each person's side stood a handsome young man. However, the young man I chose seemed extremely cold and didn't even speak to me.

Handsome people always had their own temperaments. His aloof posture was so charming.

"Hehe! You're such a pretty young man." I decided to take the initiative and leaned in closer to caress his face. "You look like the person I liked when I was still in university back then... His name is... Oh, his name is Kenneth Sullivan."

"I'm Kenneth Sullivan."

Hearing that, I immediately cursed inwardly, "Oh shoot."

2

"So did you... sleep with Kenneth?" Eleanor asked.

"No." I was a little disappointed, and I dug my fingers into the printed edge of the blanket. "He said it costs another price for that, and then he ridiculed me for being extremely poor."

Eleanor was also silent on the other end of the phone. She smacked her lips and tentatively asked, "You don't even have 300 dollars? It was 300 dollars... You must have it, right?"

"I managed a measly 105 dollars from several bank cards. Do you think I have 300 dollars?" I sniffled and felt dizzy. "I was still devastated at the fact that such a handsome man like Kenneth was only worth 105 dollars. Yet, he rolled his eyes at me, saying I was a loser who needed to gather 105 dollars from several bank cards!" After saying that, I began to cry.

"Stop it. Even I feel like crying after hearing your words."

After finishing my phone call with Eleanor, I was just about to get out of bed and head out to buy breakfast when I saw a contact on my phone with the remark "Number One Creditor" sending me a picture.

I opened the text message and saw an invoice for a 30-dollar dry cleaning fee.

My eyes went dark for a split second. Then, the person on the other end shot me a voice message, which startled me enough that I almost threw my phone out. [Yvette, you puked on my shirt, so you're responsible for this.]

I stuttered. "Kenneth, y-you... Why must I believe I was the one who vomited on your shirt just because you said so? You're trying to rip me off. I'll call the police and have them arrest you."

"If you dare to call the police, I'll tell your dad about you going to a karaoke bar for a drink."

I was immediately rendered speechless upon hearing his threat.

Speaking of which, Kenneth was my childhood friend.

"I don't have any money left." I had to tell him the truth. "I'm poor and penniless now. Just call the police and arrest me."

It was but a few minutes, yet the situation had turned dramatically.

Kenneth let out a scoff and drawled, "Then you can pay off your debts using your body."

"Oh, my gosh! Kenneth. Although I used to fancy you for five years, you can't look down on me like that, can you? What do you think I am to have to pay off a mere 30-dollar debt using my body?"

"I meant that I wanted you to come to my house and cook for me!" Kenneth gritted his teeth because of my words. "Yvette, what are you even thinking about?"

My momentum was washed away by the word "cook." I kneeled at the bedside with my phone in my hand and listened to Kenneth's instructions sincerely. I accidentally knocked my head on the bed, which made me howl in pain.

"Yvette, what are you doing?" Kenneth asked.

"I bumped my head," I sobbed.

"Did all the wine you consumed drive you insane?"

3

Poor me. Before I sobered up from that hangover, I learned I owed someone a massive 30-dollar debt.

I wanted to borrow some money from Eleanor. However, at the thought of Eleanor using her credit card to pay for 750 dollars worth of wine yesterday, I felt sorry for her and stopped myself from asking her for a loan.

I rushed to Kenneth's high-end apartment following the address he had given me.

I looked at the 750-square-foot furnished loft, a fully automated smart home. I could see the bustling streets outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Immediately, I knew for a fact that Kenneth was rich.

It turned out that Kenneth was genuinely the son of a rich family, yet I was just a penniless and fake socialite. The realization made me want to cry.

"What are you looking at? Get ready to cook." Kenneth was wearing navy blue loungewear. He was leaning against the kitchen counter and drinking water. After adjusting his frameless glasses with his slender fingers, he opened his beautiful mouth and said coldly, "You owe me 30 dollars, and it's 15 dollars a meal. I want a five-course meal. The ingredients are in the refrigerator, so help yourself to them."

"Got it."

There was really everything I needed in his kitchen. It was exactly dinner time right when I finished cooking.

"Kenneth, time to eat." I carefully glanced through the door to look at him, trying to make myself look more obedient. "Your meal is ready."

Kenneth closed the book he was reading and put away his glasses.

I didn't expect that one needed to be well-read and educated even when one worked at a karaoke bar now. The rat race was genuinely horrifying.

"What are you thinking about?" he questioned.

"N-Nothing."

Hearing my response, Kenneth shot me a sideways glance.

I stood up straight and followed Kenneth downstairs. The five-course meal on the table looked very appetizing. Kenneth sat down on his own. Before I could ask why he didn't invite me to have dinner, I heard a growl coming from my stomach.

There was a brief silence.

"You can have dinner."

As soon as Kenneth finished speaking, I was about to go to the kitchen to get myself some pasta. Before I could reach the kitchen, I heard Kenneth casually saying behind me. "You can go have dinner outside."

I turned around and glared at him, then pouted my lips, wanting to cry.

"Don't cry." Kenneth looked up and rearranged the food in front of him. "You can eat. Since I bought the ingredients, it costs 30 dollars for each meal."

"How can these ingredients be 30 dollars?" I pointed at the plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes on the table. "You're extorting me."

"I marked the prices clearly according to the usual market conduct. Take it or leave it." Kenneth leaned back and looked at me lazily. "Or you can go eat outside. However, there is no food you can afford in this area."

Hearing that, I sobbed internally. In other words, I ran all the way here today and worked hard to cook for Kenneth, yet I was going to owe him another 15 dollars.

"Are you going to eat?" he urged.

"Yes."

I rushed into the kitchen and found the largest plate. I then filled it with pasta before sitting opposite Kenneth.

Kenneth was very good-looking. Attractive people always had a smaller appetite. After having merely half a plate of pasta, he placed his fork down. It was I who finished almost all the dishes on the table alone.

"Do the dishes now."

"I'm charging 30 dollars for doing the dishes." I leaned against the back of the chair and was sure that Kenneth, who was dressed properly like this, didn't know how to wash the dishes. Thus, I gestured three fingers and waved them. "I won't do the dishes if you pay me even a single cent less."

"There's a dishwasher."

"That's 30 dollars, too." I immediately used the skill I had just learned from Kenneth to raise the price. It was really easy since I just had to say anything that came to my mind. "If you try to bargain, then it'll be 45 dollars."

"Fine, you win."