Dimmed Lights

"Guess who's ready to party?" Kun yelled excitingly as he enters the door to Shio's apartment. The other two, Xian and Kagura, looked at their direction with no emotion shown in their faces. They have been waiting for almost an hour for their return and both have been feeling all sleepy because of their fullness.

"Oh, hey." Kagura greeted. Her eyes darting from Kun and onto Shio as their eyes suddenly meet, making Kagura a bit surprised and flustered. She quickly averted her eyes from his as she stood up from the sofa she was lying on.

"S-Should I go set up the snacks?" She asked, avoiding Shio's gaze that she could feel was on hers. Kagura has been feeling all weird and feverish these past couples of days and she is unsure of the reason for her feeling like this. This was the first time she had felt something so queer about her and it was slightly terrifying her.

"Sure," Shio answered, setting down the plastic bag of the cooked barbecues at the table. "Want me to help you?"

"Uh... N-No, no. There's no need."  She hastily replied, forcing a smile on her face as she went on to the cupboards and search for a bowl and some glasses. "Oh, alright."

"Huh." Kun let out, looking at the two all weirdly. Sure, they have known Kagura to be all flirty with Shio but that was only as a joke—now, it really seemed that there was something going on between them. He turned to look at Xian, who was still reading his manga, not giving any fucks about what's happening around him.

"Anyways," Kun started. He hurriedly went to one of the cupboards and grabbed a bottle cap opener. "Let's drink!"

He popped off one of the bottles' cap as he poured each three glasses full. Xian's attention suddenly diverted from his manga and onto the liquor. His nose picked up its scent as he rose to his feet, instantly grabbing a glass full of beer.

"Look at this alcoholic." Shio laughed.

"Ain't an alcoholic. I just simply enjoy them, they make me feel calm and all drowsy. Though some brands are giving too much hangover—and it kinda sucks." He answered, sipping onto the warm beer that was not very satisfying to his taste buds. "What the? Where's the ice?"

"Sigh... You shouldn't hurry too much, Xian. Kun's not done yet putting the ice onto the glasses." Kagura giggled. She laughed at the idea of Xian hurrying to down a drink onto his throat, he must have been feeling parched from alcohol since he hasn't drunk that much when training had started.

Shio laughed as well, opening the door to his fridge and grabbing the big plastic of ice. He then placed it into a small, stainless bucket and putting some tong there too. "There you go, Mr. Alcoholic."

"Tch." Xian scoffed. He then placed cubes of ice onto his drink as he let it sit there in the table for a while, waiting for the ice to cool down the drink. Feeling sheepish, he went to grab his piece of manga that was on top of the sofa and read it again.

Shio smiled at the sight of his friends as he took hold of the tong and put some ice into his drink, as well. He sat down beside Xian and turned on the television. It displayed a couple of channels, but he set it on the news channel.

"Why are you watching the news right now?" Kun confusingly asked. He looked dumbfounded as he watches Shio stare back at him. Kun has never seen someone drink alcohol and watch the news at the same time—well, who does that anyway?

"Why? Is there a problem?"

Kagura stifled a laugh at the two boys, her hands snatching bit by bit of the chips that were prepared on the bowl. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Shio's weird antics and Kun's flabbergasted face. Her hand was still holding a piece of chips as she couldn't eat it since she was still laughing at the two. The two males were hysterical!

"Why? What's so funny?" Shio asked, sipping onto his glass of beer. His eyes were locked with her blue orbs, her suddenly feeling all shy and uncomfortable.

"Well—"

"It's because you're watching the news when we're supposed to be doing karaoke or something." Kun suddenly said, interrupting Kagura's words.

"We can't do that," Shio answered, his face all serious and stern.

"Why not?"

"The walls aren't soundproof, plus it's already like eleven o'clock. People are already asleep."

"That sucks," Xian commented, suddenly rising up his head from the sofa that he was buried in. Shio sighed by the two of them, and also to the fact that there's nothing they can do to enjoy themselves while drinking.

As Kagura was pouring her drink in her glass, she suddenly thought of an idea that may excite her three friends. After all, she was bored just like them too and was craving for some activity of the sort. "Why don't we all watch a horror movie?"

"Horror movie..?" Kun slowly spoke, his slanted eyes growing in size. He was a total scaredy-cat than the rest of the group—and watching a horror movie while he's getting wasted is not a good idea.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Shio praised, hitting his fist onto his other hand while Xian said nothing with the idea—totally not caring about what the group is planning.

"Yeah? Let's go browse some movies then, on Netflix. We'll surely find something worthwhile there."

"Well, uhm. The thing is... I don't have Netflix." Shio replied. This time everybody facepalmed, they had forgotten the center of Shio's personality and that is—his stingy attitude towards money. He always saves money and prevents himself from buying unnecessary things like Netflix and such.

Kun sighed as he took out his phone from his pockets and sat down next to Shio. "I'll just connect my phone to the television. Surely, that thing is a smart TV, right?"

Despite being scared of horror movies, Kun still wanted to have some fun and be entertained. Besides, how else would they be enjoying their first time experiencing alcohol turn out to be fun?

"Yup. You can connect your phone to that TV, it was a gift from my father—well, more like it's their old television and I happen to be living far from them so..." Shio shrugged. The group sat all together in the bulky mattress of the sofa as they dimmed the lights dark in order for them to create a more creepy atmosphere.

Soon, their movie had finished airing and it was already very late—it was two thirty-four in the morning and one of them needed to go home.

"Hey, Shio. I'll be going home now, okay?" Kagura said, not making any eye contact with Shio as she was staring at the other two who were dead passed out from drinking. She giggled at the sight of them all feverish, with drool running down from Kun's mouth while Xian was loudly snoring and his abdomen was widely displayed.

Shio looked at the two as well, following Kagura's smiling gaze at his friends. He chuckled lowly as quiet as possible as he returned his gape to hers. She was standing near the doorstep while fixing her shoes, he then grabbed the keys to his home and went on to wear his jacket placed next to where Kagura was standing.

"I'll walk you to the bus stop. It's already late, who knows what could happen to you?" He said, his voice filled with concern as he made eye contact with her eyes that were a bit surprised with what he said. Her cheeks suddenly became all red again, feeling it all go in heat as her face was nearly close to his.

She hastily turned her head away from him as she went outside of the apartment and rest both her hands on the railings. She then looked at the stillness of the night and turned once more to gape on Shio, smiling.

"Let's go then."

Shio nodded as the two of them walked away from the apartment's door, locking it for safety. They both went down the building and walked at the empty sidewalk, where no other people could be found. It was very quiet, yet peaceful—after all, Shio has only experienced this peacefulness now within the area near his apartment.

"Hey, Shio," Kagura called out, breaking the silence that was between them. They were walking side to side from each other, both nearing the bus stop that was only a few walks from his apartment.

"Hmm?" Shio looked at her as his breath could be seen in the air, it was very cold outside as they were nearing winter season.

"What do you think about me..?" She murmured, cheeks all flushed from the cold, and from the romantic excitement that was flowing through her veins and onto her cheeks. She looked away from Shio and noticed the group of trees whose leaves were now white.

"What did you say—"

"Huh?" She looked up and saw that the snow had started plummeting. Her eyes turned wide and so as her lips, she could not help but let out a smile as she looked at Shio's way.  He was also looking at the snow and had caught a snowflake in his hand. He was stern yet now, he looked so gentle and beautiful, contrasting his personality.

Instead of gazing at the snow, her eyes were now planted on Shio, not taking her stare off of him as they soon reach the end of their stroll. They were now at the bus stop.

"We're here," Shio said, smiling at her so earnestly. The bus stop was near downtown and it was surrounded by busy stores and fancy clubs. Though some were not operating at this hour, there were passersby here now. It was not too busy here, and not too quiet as well unlike from his apartment complex.

The bus stop's canopy was now filled with snow and it was getting colder than before. Kagura smiled back at Shio as she suddenly shivered from the cold, she was not wearing any thick articles of clothing—she didn't even think that the snow would catch up to her before she even reaches home. Shio noticed her shivers and offered his jacket, directly placing it onto her shoulders as he was now in front of her.

Feeling all surprised from their close proximity, he hurriedly took a step back, missing one step that had separated the sidewalk from the highway. Since it was all amicable and serene, loud noises could be heard even if they were coming from afar.

And this time, what they've heard was the loud honking noises coming from a fast chiller lorry that was headed towards Shio. It had come from his left side and soon felt the impact between his body and the fast vehicle.

He could not feel anything, his ears were all ringing, and he could not move a single muscle.

His surroundings were all spinning around him as Kagura could be seen rushing towards him, calling out for some help as people soon crowded near him. The ambulance had arrived soon, but before he could reach the hospital,

Everything went black.