THE GAME

Leansei placed his towel on his damp hair as he ambled out of the shower room. He halted when he saw Xerchin staring at him with a flushed ears. He felt embarrassed and shy all of a sudden. 

Xerchin immediately diverted his eyes and spoke, "I think your short is too.." 

Leansei glances at his buttocks, or much rather the cycle he's wearing.

' It is indeed short and fitted. ' 

He always wear cycling every night time since he is comfortable using it whenever he sleeps. 

He scratched his temple and reconsidered of changing his lower garment. 

' Is it? Well, it's not like I'm the only person in this condo and Perial is also around.. maybe it's too awkward to wear this? ' 

"Should I?" Leansei said and walked towards the small cabinet and leant towards getting some Bermuda shorts instead. 

Leansei flinched when Xerchin suddenly stood up on his feet with reddening ears. He blinked and looked confusedly at him. 

"What's wrong?" Leansei asked innocently. 

Xerchin stood motionless, as if he had froze from the gelid in the avalanche.

"N-nothing! I-Is there any other bathroom?" Xerchin asked with a stuttering voice. 

"Yes.. in Perial's room---" Leansei was cut off when Xerchin rushed out of the room, as Lean looked at the short he took from the cabinet and scratched his neck in confusion.

' What's the matter with him? ' 

He shook his head and walked towards the bathroom, where he changed his lower garments. In a few minutes, he went outside of his room and saw the chaos in the living room. 

Corshe, Revin, and Xeilin were eating the chips while looking at the books. It looked like they were brainwashing. Meanwhile, Beidhen and Rell, along with Perial, are playing PS4 competitively.

Leansei gazes around, but he can't see Xerchin anywhere. 

' Is he still in the bathroom? ' 

"Gavin! Come here, we were just teaching Revin about the long test for tomorrow." Corshe said while eating chips. He walked towards them and sat beside Corshe as he looked at the books they were using. That made him realize that they were from Kean. 

"Oh.. sorry, but we saw your books on your shelves." Leansei halted as the loud beat in his chest began to pump loudly, as if it was going to bounce off his chest. 

"D-did you open my bag?" Leansei asked while looking at his fingers nervously. 

' I haven't taken the gun away yet.. ' 

"Ahh no, you were in the bathroom, so we saw your books and we can't just open your bag without your consent." Corshe said while munching the bag of chips we bought, or much rather, Xerchin bought. 

Leansei let out a deep breath as a sign of relief that they didn't open the bag. Just to be sure, he took the bag and placed the gun in the safest and most hidden place where only he knew. After hiding it away, he sat beside Corshe as he started studying for tomorrow's test. 

"HAHAHA I won lose--!" Beidhen said, teasing Rell, who had an annoyed face. 

Perial laughed hysterically, which made Beidhen halt and glance at her and back to the screen, "I'm the one who won, idiot." Perial said, flexing her tiny, slim arms like a wrestler. Rell and Beidhen looked at her with frowning faces as Xerchin came out of the room with still reddening ears. 

Leansei glanced at his side and immediately put his gaze back into the notebook. For a second, he was distracted, and he forgot what he was about to do. 

"Who invented Celsius?" Corshe asked Leansei, but he was dazed while looking at his notebook. Xeilin and Revin glanced at him confusedly and called him.

"Hey.." 

"Gavin!" Leansei flinched when he came back to reality and realized that he got distracted and his mind wandered somewhere else. 

"W-what? What's the question again?" Leansei asked.

"Who invented Celsius?"

"Anders Celsius." Leansei confidently answered. 

"Who invented Fahrenheit?"

"Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit." 

"Convert 40 degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit."

Leansei looked at his blank notebook and mentally solved the conversion in his own mind. 

"104 degrees Fahrenheit." Leansei answered. 

The three of them looked at each other with surprised and amazed faces. 

"I don't think you need to review." Revin said with a teasing tone. 

"Well, what do you expect from the vice president of the council?" Xeilin said.

Corshe fixed his round eyeglasses and said, "Wow, is this why you're the teacher's favorite?" 

"Shut up.." Leansei said while shaking his head as he diverted his gaze away from them and glanced at his notes. He thought that the long test has a 25% probability that all they reviewed will come out in the long test and the rest is probably the professor's own question. 

They studied it for a while as Xerchin just sat on the sofa with his usual look on his face. He was also secretly looking at Leansei, who was concentrated on studying for his long test. 

"Argh! I give up!" Beidhen said with pouty lips as he put away the dualshock controller and put his hands a few inches behind him and leant back. Perial put down her controller and raised her hand with a jolly look in her face. 

"I won again!" Perial said with a cheerful expression.

"You—"Rell couldn't finish it when his phone rang suddenly. He excused himself and took the phone call. 

"You're good at this. I can't believe that I let the girl win against me. " Beidhen said, He is completely dazed as if he just failed the championship in sea games. 

"Because you suck!" Corshe said with an unaudible voice since there was a lot of food in his mouth, making him unable to say it clearly. 

"Who's talking?" Beidhen said as he put his hand into his ears, pretending to be deaf. 

"You—" Corshe couldn't finish his sentence when Revin put a marshmello in Corshe's mouth to disable him from speaking. Corshe glared at him and chewed it instead. 

"Kean." Perial called Leansei. He glanced at her. "Are you excited?" She asked. 

Leansei knotted his forehead as he got confused about what she was referring to. Moreover, the meaning behind her words was complex. 

"Oh right. You don't remember? " Perial said and tilted her head and looked up as if she was reminiscing the past.

"Every summer or break, You always get excited about going to Levous City. You are ready to leave anything or do anything to get there. "

Leansei swallowed his saliva as his mind wandered. He thought that if Kean went to Levous city..

' Then maybe we had seen each other? or just walk past each other? That's impossible-- well it's not like I go to other places other than where I work and where I study. ' 

"Oh yeah, Gavin once told me that he'd do well for him to stay longer in Levous City and came back sad and jolly as usual." Corshe spoke as he fixed his eyeglasses. 

"He do?" Leansei said, whisperedly, unconsciously. He immediately took it back when he realized what he had just said. "I mean, yeah, I do." Leansei said, panicking and trying to think of an excuse. 

They all glance at him like they are waiting for an explanation, but Lean couldn't say anything and said this instead. "I do think that I feel that way.. but I can't remember anything." Leansei said as he scratched his neck. 

' Do I have to keep on lying to them? But it's not like I can explain this to them or much rather stay here. I'll probably need to leave sooner or later. ' 

"Enough of that! What if we just play live? " She said this with her jolly smile and turned her body facing us as she raised her hands up to her neck. 

"What game?" Xeilin asked. 

"So each one of us can ask everyone a question, and if you are that person or you tried that, you lose one life. The total life we all have is 10 and instead of counting it, We will use our hands as our life." Perial said while demonstrating. 

"It's lame." Beidhen whispered, but Perial still heard it. 

"That's why. The first person who runs out of fingers/life will be the loser, and one of us can dare that person." Perial said with her michevious smile. Leansei felt that he would lose this game since Perial gave him a suspicious smile, as if she was up to something. 

Corshe glance at Leansei who are hesitating to join, "Lets play? I mean, we studied enough and it looks like it won't take that much?" Corshe said, he was convincing Leansei to join. 

"Yeah, after let's study again." Revin said with a sweet smile on his face. He glanced at Xeilin, who was nodding his head. He has no other choice but to agree. 

They all sat on the floor, surrounding the round table. 

"So tell us how to play." Corshe said.

"I already did." 

"Do it in a way how!" 

"Argh fine." Perial said, raising her left hand. "If I asked a question like, put down a finger if you ever peed in bed." Perial put down her finger. "Then if another question was asked, like, put down a finger if you dislike one of the people inside this room." Perial fingers remain still. "Just like that. Easy p zy." 

They all nodded their heads and put their hands up. 

"Wait, I'm just going to ask, did you really pee in the bed?" Beidhen asked.

Corshe smacked Beidhen with the rolled notebook. "It's just an example.." Corshe glances at Perial with a look of doubt. "Right??" 

"It's just an example, idiots." Perial said. "Okay, let's start!" 

"Who will ask the question?" Corshe asked.

"Since you're the first one who asked, then you will be the one." Beidhen said with a silly smile. 

"You—"Corshe pouts and thinks about what to ask. "Oh okay, put down a finger if you are gay!" Corshe said with a proud smile. All eyes are drawn to Corshe, who is perplexed by his question.

Corshe's smile faded when his question didn't go as smoothly as he seemed to expect.

Leansei glanced at his hands and thought of it. He never thinks of his own sexuality, or moreover, if he is straight or not. But all his life he never got to spend time with a girl, or much rather, have a girlfriend, and now he thought of it. He can't conclude if he is either gay or not. 

Perial was in deep thought, same as Corshe. While Beidhen was glancing at Revin, Rell was glancing at Xeilin, and Xerchin stared at Leansei, who was dazed while looking at his hand confusedly.

Xerchin smirked and accidentally glanced at Beidhen, who was looking at Revin, who was preoccupied with Corshe's question. 

There was silence for the time being and no one folded their fingers the same as Corshe, who dazed as if he was thinking deeper about the question he just asked. 

"O-okay! Xeilin. You're next!" With the tense atmosphere, Perial said awkwardly.

"Put down a finger if you ever skipped a class." Xeilin asked while glancing at their hands.

"Oh, come on, not fair!" Beidhen pouts as he fold down his finger. 

"Not fair." Rell said as he put down his finger and frown. 

"I agree," Perial said as she folded her pinky finger. 

Leansei thought that he did once when he was about to go to school, but there was an emergency change of shift in his part-time job. He simply assumed that he could be absent from class rather than his part-time job.

He folded down his finger when everyone looked at him dumbfounded, as if he had just lied on the white sheets. 

"No way." Perial said, surprised.

"Yeah, that's a lie." Rell said that they were also surprised. 

"You have never had an absence since junior high school. Unless there's an emergency or you're hospitalized. " Rell said, in disbelief. 

' They really know Kean. But now I'm not Kean, I'm Leansei. I answered as me. ' 

"Okay, let's move on, next!" 

"Have you ever had your first kiss?" Revin asked. Leansei remembered when he was a child that someone took his first kiss. 

' Is that included? But I guess it is. ' 

Leansei put down another finger until he had one finger left and Xerchin turned to ask the question. He glances at their hands and finds that he is the only one who has one life left. He frowned when he realized that he was the target after all. 

"Put down a finger if the person inside this room makes your heart flutter." Xerchin asked sincerely and seriously. Leansei swallowed as he glanced at him, who was staring at him intently with those mercurial blue eyes. 

Revin looked at Beidhen, who was preoccupiedly looking at his hand. Rell glanced at Xeilin, who was troubled answering the question. Perial and Corshe glanced at them with a smug face.

Four of them folded their fingers at the same time. Meanwhile, Leansei hesitatedly nervously hesitating to responde. 

' W-what should I do? If I do, they may ask who it is, and I can't simply say... No! I mean, I have never been fluttered with anyone here, not even.. ' Leansei looked at Xerchin, who was gloomingly looking down. 

' Xerchin.. ' 

A loud ring of the doorbell diverted their attention and saved Leansei from it. He quietly thanked the person who rang the doorbell. Leansei immediately stood up. 

"I'll just open the door." Leansei said with an awkward laugh in the end, as he walked towards the door with a sigh of relief. He opened it and it was a delivery guy with a ton of food bags. 

"I—I didn't order anything." Leansei said, confusedly, while looking at the bunch of foods. 

"I did." Xerchin said, behind him. He immediately went to the side when he felt like his soul had left Kean's body. The sound of the heartbeat in his chest was like he had run 100 miles.

"Here sir, I have received 10 thousand." The delivery guy said as Xerchin carried the tons of bags. 

"I'll help you." Leansei said and took the other bags. 

"No, I can--"

He didn't let him finish and went inside immediately. He put down the bags on the table and that made their eyes sparkle as if they hadn't eaten yet. 

"Woah! My brother is such a material boyfriend. " Beidhen said while opening the bags. 

"Hey, it's not late yet. Should we watch a movie? "

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