“Mr. Kinn, sir…um…that is…”
I heard Pete’s voice as I woke up, but I didn’t dare to lift my head, afraid for a repeat of yesterday. Shit!
“What do you want, Pete?” Kinn loosened his hold on me but stayed where he was.
“Sorry, sir, but in ten minutes, the doctor will be here for Mr. Kinn’s checkup,” Pete said remorsefully.
“Hmm. Go wait for me in my room. I’ll be there in a minute,” Kinn told Pete evenly, before turning to hold me again.
“Get up!” I hissed, twisting away from his embrace.
“I can’t get up yet,” he said, holding me tighter. I felt something hard poke at my thigh.
“What are you kneeing me for?!” I complained.
“Heh heh, that’s not my knee…” Kinn chuckled before proudly declaring in my ear, “I’m standing for the flag and anthem in the morning.”16
I shuddered, understanding his insinuation.
“Perv!” I used my leg to push away from him. Kinn loosened his hold and lay flat on his back. I sat up, my traitorous gaze accidentally focusing on the part of his body making a bump in the blankets. “Ugh. Go take care of that!” I yelled at him, looking away.
“What’s the big deal? It’s a natural phenomenon!” he yelled back.
Whoosh! Kinn lifted the blanket just like that. I bit my lip, my heart racing. The same heat from last night flared up inside me.
“Kinn, you bastard!”
“Wanna raise the flag with me?” he laughed, smiling wickedly. I bunched up the blankets into a ball and threw them at his face and then scrambled off the bed, half walking and half running to the bathroom to hide from him. Motherfucking evil pervert!
I stayed in the bathroom for a long time, not wanting to leave. Kinn was so damned diligent about annoying me.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking on the bathroom door startled me.
“There’s no need for anyone to watch you tonight—I’ll come sleep in your bed!” Kinn yelled through the door. I threw a toothpaste tube at the door in anger.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted. Just you wait—tonight I’ll bring all my friends and relatives to stay with me!
I heard the door to the room close, signaling Kinn’s exit. I finally emerged from the bathroom and collapsed angrily on the bed, still mentally cursing at Kinn.
Soon the door opened once more, and I saw Pete enter with a wide grin. I pulled my blanket over my head and pretended to be asleep.
“Hey, what are you acting so embarrassed for?! Wake up and get your medicine and food!” he said with a laugh. What do you mean, embarrassed? Pete, you bastard, I’ll kick you in the mouth one of these days! “Come on, quickly. You’ll suffocate sleeping like that,” he continued, pulling my blanket off. I surrendered to my fate and sat up.
Pete pulled the overbed table over for me, along with food and medicine. I kept my head down as I ate, not looking at my friend at all. I didn’t know what sort of stupid faces he was making, but I could hear him laugh periodically. Motherfucker!
I leaned against the headboard with my knees up. I’d been glancing at the door repeatedly since early evening. I frowned, feeling paranoid. What am I so stressed out for? My finger pressed the buttons on the TV remote, changing the channels while I barely paid any attention to what was onscreen.
Porsche! What the hell is wrong with you?! Every time a shadow passed by the door my heart lurched. I was getting frustrated with myself. Fuck! Why did I have to be the one waiting for him? Why should I have to wait for that door to open? This was crazy. I was going crazy. I should have been hoping he wouldn’t come back! That they’d pump him so full of sedatives tonight that he’d sleep until he was dead!
There was another knock at the door. As soon as I heard the door creak open, I sat up with both legs crossed. I stared at the door, heart beating in anticipation.
“Oh…” I sighed at the man entering with a giant basket of fruit. Beaming, he headed straight for the bed.
“Why do you look so disappointed, hmm?” Vegas asked with a smile. I’m making a disappointed face? When did I do that?!
“Hi,” I greeted him evenly.
Vegas carefully arranged the basket on the bedside table and pulled a chair over to sit next to my bed. I was a little surprised that he’d come to visit me.
“Sorry for disturbing you so late,” he said. “I only just heard from P’Beam at dinner that you were in hospital.”
I nodded and glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine in the evening—it was true, he was bothering me quite late.
“It’s fine… Thank you,” I told him.
“Have you taken your medicine yet, Porsche?” he asked, as cheerful as always. I nodded. “You’re not upset at me for visiting like this, right?” he asked.
“Uh…no.” I wasn’t upset at him. I could say we were friends, even if we weren’t close enough to meet up that often.
“Are you feeling better?” Vegas was determined to continue asking me questions, apparently. His eyes roamed over my body.
“Much better, but it still hurts a little,” I said truthfully.
“Please, let me see.” Vegas abruptly reached out to gently take hold of my arm, slowly rubbing at my bruises. I froze at his touch. He leaned his face toward my injury and gently blew on my arm.
“Phew! Get better soon,” he said, looking up at me and smiling. I quickly pulled back my arm, skin crawling. What the fuck?! None of my friends would do that! It was the same shit as with Kinn all over again. But if I looked at it another way, it might not mean anything—just part of his caring nature.
“Thank you,” I answered, voice flat.
“Would you like some fruit? I’ll peel it for you,” he said with a smirk, turning to the fruit basket he’d brought.
“You don’t need to, it’s fine,” I replied quickly when he started looking around for a plate.
“Porsche, are you tired already?” he said. “Your eyes are still bright, you should have some fruit while you watch TV… Relax, I’ll take care of it.”
When he said it like that, how was I supposed to decline? I sat and watched him peel some fruit and arrange it on a plate. He went into the bathroom to wash more fruit, clumsy in that spoiled young master way—exactly like Kinn in the forest. Speaking of Kinn, when was he coming over? I’d been glancing at the door every now and then, but there was no sign of him.
“I’ll peel that,” I said, grabbing the knife from Vegas’s hand along with the green apple he was about to peel. Seeing how oddly Vegas was holding the knife scared me. He was acting like he didn’t know how to use it but was going to try his damnedest anyway. I could see the knife barely missing his hand and it frustrated me. If Vegas and Kinn went out in the real world with no one to serve them, they’d be dead in no time.
“Heh. All right, I’ll listen to you.” Vegas pulled the overbed table to me and silently watched me peel the apple as he grabbed some grapes to eat himself. I should’ve guessed it—urging me to eat, but he was the hungry one.
“Be careful of your hand… Is there someone at the door?” Vegas asked me. I looked away from the door and focused on peeling the apple. My eyes had a mind of their own, wandering back to the door constantly.
“No,” I muttered.
“Ah, eat this while you’re waiting for the apple,” Vegas said, holding a grape to my lips. I went still before opening my mouth to eat it. Yeah, this was weird, but Tem also liked to feed me things sometimes. It wasn’t a big deal.
I glanced at the clock, my mind wandering as I absentmindedly peeled the large apple. It was past nine o’clock and I was peeling a fucking apple—this was stupid.
Click!
I startled at the sound of the door opening. The knife in my hand slipped, cutting my finger. “Ow!”
“Hey!” Vegas quickly grabbed my hand.
“Vegas, what are you doing here?” came Kinn’s icy voice as he walked in with his IV stand. Vegas and I looked up at him at the same time. His expression was stern, his brow furrowed.
“Ah, big brother, I was about to visit you,” Vegas said with a bright smile, his hand not letting go of mine.
“What happened?” Kinn asked, getting closer. He looked questioningly at my hand in Vegas’s.
“Just a little accident,” Vegas said, turning back to stare at my bleeding finger again. Both he and I made the same shocked expression when Kinn yanked my hand out of Vegas’s grip.
“What’s wrong?” Kinn asked, irritated, before looking at Vegas.
“Just a cut, big brother,” Vegas grinned.
“I see. You won’t die, then,” Kinn said. He let go of my hand like he didn’t care. It was his fault—he was the one who’d come in and surprised me!