Chapter 13: December 30, Wednesday– A New Year (Chapter .9 part 1)

"Who's watching the back?" Kaikai asked, aggrieved. "Someone help. Fuck! Cover me; someone cover me!" He almost fell out of his seat as he sprang up and crouched with his legs folded underneath him. "Hurry up! At five o'clock. Five!"

There was a big explosion on the screen. Daniel threw himself back in the ergonomic chair with a sigh, seemingly giving up.

"Shit!" Teo joined in, "Sae, where are you?"

"Instance dungeon." As it turned out, a person needed both of his hands to play decently. While the others got caught in a sticky situation, getting ganged up on, Sae was basically useless. Heh, okay, they were close to utter defeat. Only Susu could help, but no matter how they looked at it, she was one person and not unlimited. There were restrictions to being omnipotent by oneself.

At that moment, someone spoke, "Sae Hi, hi!"

Sae looked up at the newcomer's greeting. It was his neighbour Monori, followed by his little brother. "Gaming?" asked Monori.

Sae raised his chin in greeting, followed by his arm, the one with the cast. He could not use his right hand, as it was occupied by the game.

Monori stopped in his tracks. "Shit, what ever happened to you!?"

As Sae was about to answer, he noticed Shum Deil stepping up to the other two. His words got stuck in his throat.

Teo and Sae sat at the very end of the row of tables. It didn't take much of an effort for Monori to sidestep Teo and walk around the two chairs, arriving in front of Sae in no time. He looked him over from head to toe. "Even your leg, ah?"

Sae pulled his headset off and told him, "I fell."

"Stupid ass."

The others still immersed themselves in the game, Kaikai and Susu cussing with a flourish. Teo glanced over a few times but stayed quiet. And Daniel... he hadn’t a clue as to what was going on.

Little Mo looked at Sae before saying, "Big bro, we'll be off first."

"Ah," the older boy nodded his head, unperturbed. "I'll be there in a bit."

Little Mo walked off some rows away, followed by Shum Deil. Even though Sae knew the boy almost as well as his brother, and they were much closer age-wise, they really hadn't hit it off even after so much time. Sae always felt the kid acted like a brat, all big mouth and bellowing talk and no action. He used his mouth much more than his brain and in Sae’s book, that wasn’t anything to be proud of.

---

Shum Deil stalked away, his eyes stuck on Hoh Saering like glue, his legs moving slowly as if filled with lead. He almost fell over in his carelessness. Him and Little Mo planted their bottoms in front of the computers when Deil sprang back up, moving to the other side of Little Mo.

"What is it?" asked Little Mo.

Deil waved his hand, his impatience palpable, and positioned his chair so that if he straightened his neck all the way, stretching his spine, he could see Hoh Saering chatting with Monori. However, those two had sat back down. Deil couldn't see much besides the top of their heads.

From this distance, he couldn’t hear a thing in the first place. To add to his troubles, the kid beside Saering, the one named Bede Teo, verbally joined in on the heated din of the game as well.

Deil could have moved closer, but what would that look like?

He slumped back down into his chair with a sour look on his face and logged into his PC.

---

At this time, Sae's avatar had already been shot dead, so he took a break, exchanging some small talk with the older boy as he waited for the round to end.

The exceptionally good thing about Monori was that okay, he was wild but also smart and a good conversationalist. Never pushy or too meddlesome, Sae could talk to him casually even if they weren't that close.

"Friend of your brother?" Sae asked, earning a look from Teo – as if to say, What the hell? He never inquired about others, so his friend noticed the peculiarity of this question in an instant.

"You mean Deil?" Monori leaned back in the fake leather chair. On both sides of his head, he had a killer undercut, the hairs razed down to bare millimetres. He brushed a hand over his hair. "Yeah, he's alright; a bit pretentious. He transferred to you kids' school not that long ago, right. You must know him as well. Classmate of yours?"

Sae shook his head and pointed to their right. "Theirs."

Monori looked over and paused upon noticing Susu. The girl currently PKed enemy after enemy without missing a single target. Monori whistled. It wasn't clear if he appreciated her gaming style or, well, her presence as someone of the other sex. Without looking over, Susu raised her hand in a v-sign and killed another member of the opposing team. The girl was really too cool for them sometimes. Next to her, Daniel raised an eyebrow at this scene.

"Hey, big bro," Teo asked, leaning over Sae to look at Monori, "did you come to play or...?"

"Me? Ah, no," Monori said and rapped his fingertips lazily over the armrest. "I just had some time to kill. My brother called to say that they were in the area, so I joined. Will probably just pass the time until seven; I have an appointment then. Why?"

"Shame," answered Teo, his tone somewhat disappointed. "There's a tournament to celebrate the end of the year. We need another member for the team as Susu doesn't play that one."

The older boy let out a laugh, "Don't say no more, I have no insight into these things. Even if you mention the name of the game, I wouldn't know it. Ask Deil, he's pretty into these things."

At the mention of asking Shum Deil, Teo's expression instantly soured. Ever since that time Emi informed him about that person’s very possible involvement in Sae's broken state, he wanted to confront the bastard. He could not understand it. If even he felt suffocated with anger to such a point, then why did Sae pretend like nothing happened?

In the middle of squawking like a bird with its tail feathers on fire, Kaikai had the time to prick up his ears, curious about the ongoing chit-chat. After gathering some intel, he planned to ask Deil whether he was interested in joining them.

A few minutes later, Monori stood up to depart. He told Sae, “Take care of yourself.”

Sae nodded and watched Monori leave.

Unsurprisingly, besides Susu, almost everyone died in this round. They played some more, Teo making promises to buy anyone food who pushed them closer to victory.

Daniel asked, “And what if I die in my heroic attempt?”

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Teo pointed at him soulfully. “Then no food from my tap.”

---

 

An hour later, they saw the other three making their way to the door. Kaikai called out, "Shum Deil!"

The boy turned, raising his eyebrows at the sight of Kaikai’s wild beckoning. He said something to Little Mo and headed back.

Shum Deil walked to Kaikai without a glance in Sae's direction. "What's up?"

Kaikai's eyes shone with excitement. "Do you play <Monarda>?"

"Yeah," Shum Deil said slowly.

"You heard about the championship?"

Teo almost stood up then and there, but dammit, he wanted to play too. There were rare items and a monetary prize offered to the top three – a limited and generous offer for lovers of online gaming. It was a battle between principle and his youthful wishing heart, okay. But to actually ask for Shum Deil's help?

"Do you have time?" Kaikai pressed on. "Our team only needs one more player."

"You guys all play?" Shum Deil let his eyes roam around. He stole a furtive glance at Sae, who was currently yawning. An oppressive black aura attacked him from the end of the row. Teo did not know to stare daggers or quietly wait for the outcome. Unknowingly, he stared daggers.

"I don't," Susu chirped in, "No barely clad lolis for me. I refuse to play that game… that's why they're almost in tears."

No one objected. They really were almost in tears.

Deil hesitated. "Is everyone okay with me joining?"

Kaikai hesitated and clapped him on the shoulder. Although they had been classmates for months by now, none of the kids in their class was remotely close to Deil. Ah, the kid's aura was just too strong! Kaikai tried to go for an easygoing vibe, "Why would there be a problem? Don't be too polite, it'll only distance you from everyone else."

After this bit of back and forth, Kaikai successfully pulled Shum Deil into a game to bump numbers. The boy entered the competition as part of their team. He was a member of the cafe as well, so all he needed to do was sit in front of a PC and log in. He sat down in line with Sae but left one desk vacant between them.

Sae did not pay him any attention whatsoever.

Soon, Shum Deil realised Sae wasn’t actually suited for team play. He had too strong of an individual style – no regard for co-op. His precision of killing, however, was truly professional. So long he did not turn on someone, it counted as beneficial.

Good thing there was no such thing as turning against one’s teammates in this game. Shum Deil’s fingers flexed a few times, feeling like a big dark cloud wanted to shoot him down from the side.

---

 

In the end, even with the added number of Shum Deil, they weren't that better off.

Sae's hand got tired shortly. All this time, he had to ignore Teo's furtive staring as well. Every time Teo had an idle moment, he almost pulled out seeds to crack while enjoying the show. Although Kaikai and Daniel were happy to take part in the game, their real MVP, Susu, wasn't even playing. The girl watched make-up tutorials while munching on food non-stop.

“Thanks for joining,” Kaikai said after they finished. “Though we didn’t win...”

“It was a good game.” Shum Deil lit a cigarette as soon as they stepped out onto the streets. He put the pack back into his pocket without an offer to anyone else. “It was the first time I played with members of a team actually in the same building as me.”

The night was deep and it got even chillier. Sae could see accumulated hoarfrost on nearby car windows.

Susu and Daniel went to the train station, while Kaikai had someone come and pick him up. He wanted to talk Sae into letting them take him home, but Teo offered to walk back with him instead.

Teo was afraid that in his crazy mirage of goodwill, Kaikai would pack Shum Deil up as well to share a ride with. His initial opinion did not shift about Shum Deil, but it was true that from up close, the kid wasn’t nearly as vicious as he expected. Not like gaming together could trigger that much animosity, but still...

“Then…” Out of the ones remaining, Shum Deil tactfully excused himself first, “I’m leaving.”

“Ah,” Kaikai nodded. “See you in school after break.”

They waved back and forth, saying goodbye.

In the end, everyone went home feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

---

“Why do you act like nothing ever happened?” Teo asked Sae as the two walked back. “You should beat him up, give a few smacks with that hard sling of yours to the back of his head.”

Sae glanced to the side but remained expressionless. “Because nothing happened.”

They walked on without talking for a while, exhaled breaths blooming icy flowers in the cold night air. At the park, a couple of primary school kids whizzed by on skateboards. They were dauntless and looked a bit cool, albeit idiotic, skateboarding on ice in the middle of winter.

“You’re really not going to do anything about him? I wouldn’t take this lying down, and I hadn’t known you to do that either,” Teo broke the stretched-out silence when they arrived at the foot of the apartment complex where Sae lived. It was the first time he mentioned his conjectures about Shum Deil.

“There’s nothing to do,” Sae stated, “It’s none of your business.”

“Fuck,” Teo cussed under his breath. In his heart, he admitted it was best to give up for now. With Sae being so defensive of the topic – it truly was useless to try further. It would only cause a tear in their relationship. Teo swore to himself to protect his best friend from a distance, but if anything happened, he’d hold back no more.

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