Delirium

~

The instant Raine slammed the door shut behind him, he yanked his bag off his shoulder with brute force and hurled it on the floor, half-expecting the ground to shatter from the impact. The insatiable anger raging within his body was so overpowering that he wanted to seize something and demolish it until it was reduced to nothing.

Running a hand through his hair in frustration, he stormed to his bed, dove right in, and began beating his pillow, letting out grunts of dissatisfaction in the process.

"Whoa, Raine. What are you trying to murder this time? Did something crawl up your ass and bothered you again?"

"The next thing I hit will be your face, Sean."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Sean mimicked in a babyish tone.

"What's your problem?" Raine sat up on the bed and looked Sean straight in the eyes. Every day, from the minute the sun rose, he had to see the face of his annoying roommate. He was sick of seeing his tangled blonde hair that was partially tied atop his head, his pale zombie-like appearance, his K-Pop-inspired clothing, and the way his absurdly punch-worthy smile made the corners of his eyes crinkle up, giving him the appearance of a sly, opportunistic fox that just escaped from the zoo.

It wasn't that Raine didn't like Sean; he did. But Sean could be too much of a people teaser sometimes; it was in his blood after all. Even though he was a nice person, a good roommate, and a helpful friend at times, Raine had to be wary about sharing his problems with him. He didn't want them to become another joke of the century at the mess hall dinner table.

"Chill, man. What's up with you?" Sean replied, picking up the bag from the floor and putting it on Raine's study desk.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Raine, laying back on his bed. Conversation exchanges were always like this between him and Sean. Ignoring each other was a very normal thing for them.

"Suit yourself," Sean muttered, more to himself than to Raine.

Soon after, Raine heard Sean flipping some switches in the room. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath as the bright display of light illuminated his room. The ceiling fan atop his head blowing cool air onto his hair and face did very little to fan his sweltering rage. Besides, at the rate it was spinning, he wouldn't be surprised if it became disjointed and slammed into his pretty face; he half-hope it would. Maybe that would wipe all his worries away.

It was a shame his day just had to be ruined by some unknown, never-before-seen individual who just so happened to be studying in the same university as him and in who-knows-what department. In addition to being a horrifyingly abusive, manipulative, deceitful, and wicked bastard, the guy was also a thief who'd stolen his mother's precious pendant. And to think that same guy was trying to take advantage of him just the night before.

Raine could tell how much of a dangerous person the guy was at just a glance, and the worst part of it all was that he turned out to be a gay of all people. His short ink-black hair was more voluminous and shinier than any other type of hair he'd seen on a man. But of course, he wasn't just any man. There was nothing masculine about him, nor was there any feminine side to him. His fair skin looked too smooth to be natural; it was pale and slightly pink as if he'd been taking great care of it from time to time.

So what, if that guy had the most alluring green eyes as serene as nature's most pristine rainforest set deep beneath thick black lashes, and a heart-stopping gaze that could make any random girl or guy do a double-take when they see him for the first time? He still couldn't charm him. Raine was different from the rest, and he was well aware of that himself. If that guy thought any gay could approach him when he was inebriated and drunk and take him to bed, he was completely mistaken.

Raine was, without a doubt, as straight as an arrow and nothing could curve or bend that uniformity. That guy could charm anyone he wanted except for him.

And yet...

Somehow and miraculously, no, scratch that, ominously, they bumped heads and like a testament sent from hell, the unknown stranger dressed in black scary clothing as if he were Death's hidden child tornadoed his way into his life, causing all this mayhem. Looking back at all the mess the guy created, Raine was glad he puked his guts out on that disgusting freak. He deserved it.

"Hey, guys? Have you seen my phone charger?"

A familiar voice disrupted Raine's train of thought, and he found himself reflexively opening an eye to see who had broken the ten seconds of serenity in his life. "Kai?" Raine called out.

"Hey." Kai waved his hand. "Did you use my charger?" he asked in his half-asleep state. He was clad only in his boxers, leaving the upper half of his body completely exposed for the chronically starved mosquitoes to enjoy an evening of free, uninterrupted blood-sucking galore.

"No. I haven't seen your phone charger, Kai," Raine stated flatly.

"Sean?" Kai's gaze was immediately drawn to Sean.

"Don't look at me. I haven't seen it either," came Sean's perfectly structured reply.

"Where have I kept it then?" Kai mumbled to himself.

"Go search in your own room," Raine said, and just as he was about to close his eyes and return to his daydreams, another uninvited guest entered their room.

"What's up, guys?"

"Oh, it's you, Braxy," Sean acknowledged his presence.

"Do you guys have any cash on you?" Braxy asked, "I need it urgently."

"I have some I can give you," Sean responded, rummaging under his pillow for some cash and when he couldn't find any, he flipped his mattress over, grabbed some very old, worn out, and hopefully not mould-infested cash that had been lying there ever since World War I and handed it to Braxy.

Why am I not surprised? It's Sean. Sometimes, it baffled Raine how Sean could be so disorderly, with no regard for cleanliness or hygiene. The fact that every single article or thing, be it lost stuff, newly purchased items, or even half-eaten meals, could all be found under his bed, pillow, and mattress and he would have no recollection of it baffled him even more. Raine was curious as to what more might possibly be hiding there under Sean's bed or mattress. Perhaps he would never find out until room inspection day.

"Thanks, bro!" Braxy smiled, knocking fists with Sean.

Raine wanted them all to leave as soon as possible so he could get some peaceful time to himself, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. For one, Braxy's excitement was palpable the moment he lay eyes on Kai's half-naked physique.

"Hey, Kai? Let's compare muscle mass," Braxy announced, flickering his eyebrows at Kai. He immediately took off his shirt and flexed his muscles.

Raine resisted the urge to throw his arms up in defeat.

"Mine's larger. See, the left side." Braxy showed his bicep, pointing his finger to the left side of his arm.

"I think mine is bigger though," Kai argued, flexing his muscles again.

"No. It's not. We'll ask Sean. Hey, Sean. Which one's bigger? My biceps or Kai's?"

"Hmm?" Sean inched closer towards Braxy and Kai, who were both holding their breaths to make their muscles pop out even more. Sean opened his mouth and paused halfway, taking a long, calculated glance at the two.

"So? Which one of us is-" Braxy grunted, his lungs on the verge of giving up from lack of oxygen.

"Kai? Are those my boxers you're wearing?" Sean questioned, having forgotten why he had to intervene in Kai and Braxy's heated argument in the first place.

"Wait, what?" Braxy gave up and scrunched up his nose in confusion.

"Yeah. I think it's yours," Kai said to Sean, pinching the fabric of the boxers he was wearing. "If this is yours, then where's mine?" Kai stared innocently at Sean.

"How am I supposed to know?" Sean responded. "Anyway, take it off." Sean grabbed the boxers Kai was wearing around its elastic strap and pulled on the material as Kai did the same in opposite motion, both less worried about decency, and more on who was supposed to come out victorious in the silent tug of war.

"Wait, are we not comparing muscle mass anymore?" Braxy stepped in.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but do you have any spare soap? I need to take a bath, but I ran out of mine."

Another unwanted guest invaded their room and Raine outwardly groaned in agony, which, unfortunately, fell on deaf ears inside the room. It was ironic how he could openly express his annoyance whilst his classmates seemed to disregard him, almost as if he had little to no existence in his own room. If this was going to be the condition of his room every time he returned from class, then he wasn't going to sit still. The next time, he was definitely going to lock his room and set up mouse traps all over the place in case anyone tried to break in, Sean included.

His room was no different than a public restroom now. Anyone could walk in, do whatever they wanted for as long as they wanted, strike up any odd public toilet conversation with practically any random stranger, finish up, and walk out like nothing ever happened, and nobody would ever question whatever shit transpired inside. The current situation in his room reminded him of that scenario although that much was to be expected; it was the boys' dormitory, after all, and situations like these weren't uncommon.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but we've also run out of soap," the ever-so-kind Sean replied with a dazzling smile.

"I'm okay if you have just a little bit leftover also. Even detergent will do."

That person was far more persistent than a girl vying over a limited-edition pop idol figurine from a fake online store. Raine shifted his weight to the corner of his bed, facing the wall.

"Is it really necessary for you to take a bath today?" Sean asked.

"I haven't taken a bath in a week, so yeah. I have to meet with my girlfriend tomorrow also, so..."

Five seconds of uninterrupted silence later, Sean suddenly exclaimed, "Wait a minute." He cracked his knuckles and grinned devilishly. "I just remembered." He bent over and pulled out a large cartoon box from under his bed, and proudly presented it to everyone in the room.

Curiosity got the better of him and Raine sat up without a word to see what was going on.

"These are all gifts from Raine's fan girls," said Sean, dusting his hands off as he stood up. "Shampoos, face creams, oil, deodorants, shirts, shoes, chocolates, anything you need can be found here. Take whatever you need."

"Really? Is it okay to take them all?" Braxy asked, his eyes shining like a toddler at the prospect of having discovered a hidden treasure.

"Yes, it's okay," Sean assured him. "Raine never uses them anyway. We should take it instead of throwing it all away, no?"

Sean was right about that one. Raine never used, let alone opened the gifts that his fangirls bought him. To him, those gifts were nothing more than a collection of valueless scraps of waste that would only clog up his living space. He'd throw them all away sooner or later.

"Cool. Then I'll take this and this for my roommates and this for my girlfriend," Braxy said, his hands digging inside the box.

"You have a girlfriend now?" Kai asked quietly from behind.

"Yup."

"Congratulations," the random guy who'd come to their room asking for soap commented.

Is that guy still here? Raine could not even voice his irritation. The image of his peaceful evening flew farther and farther away to the back of his mind.

"Hey guys, I ran out of toothpaste. Do you have a spare-" Another random stranger walked into his room yet again, and the moment his gaze landed on the cartoon box - which, according to Raine's vision, was emitting a glorious light as if to lure treasure hunters from across the globe - he swooped right into it. "Oh, never mind, I'll just take it from here."

"Whoa. Is there some sort of event going on in here?" A new voice stole the attention of everyone in the room. "Is anybody interested in playing cards?" All the occupants inside the room except Raine raised their hands as the unidentified stranger peeping through the door of his room waved a deck of cards.

Raine had had enough. He'd had enough of outsiders entering his room and invading his privacy. "Do I know you?" He finally snapped. "Are you even from this dorm?" he asked the new intruder. Everyone in the room was stunned into stillness and all eyes were fixed on him.

"No. I don't know you either. I snuck in here actually. I'm from Block B." The stranger flashed him the widest smile he had ever seen. "So, cards?"

"..." Raine wasn't even going to ask why. He was tired of it all.

"Come on, let's play!" Sean yelled, breaking the awkward silence in the room. Everyone was back to chattering non-stop and the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room disappeared as if it never existed. The noises in the room receded, the voices becoming increasingly faint as Raine shut himself off from the rest of the world. He fell back to his bed, ignoring the presence of every single living entity in his room.

Five seconds after he zoned out, Raine found himself surrounded by a mob of people in his dorm room, some of them he'd never seen in his life. He had no idea how all those people got into his room. Some were sitting on Sean's bed, some on the floor, some occupying his study desk, and some next to his bed, while his presence was rendered completely non-existent in the cramped living room. Even if he shouted at the top of his lungs, he doubted anyone would pay attention to him.

The foul odour of muck sweat and grime emanating from the crowd of half-naked, shirtless people who, obviously, didn't shower too often penetrated his nose, and he knew his room was going to stink badly for about a week or two. And the saddest part of it all was that nobody cared.

Raine let out a long sigh and was about to close his eyes again when an intriguing conversation reached his ears.

Raine wasn't one to eavesdrop on other people's conversations - and he supposed he wasn't since they were all discussing their issues too loudly for anyone to care - but he heard them talking about Braxy's new girlfriend, discussing choosing the best restaurants to take her out on a date, and what movies to watch after their romantic dinner.

What was so great about having girlfriends? Raine couldn't see past anything other than having a headache at the prospect of dating one. Girlfriends brought trouble; they took a lot of your time, energy, and effort. Trying to satisfy them was like holding on to a stray branch of some tree in the middle of a lake, reaching for its fruit while being surrounded by crocodiles waiting for you to fall to your death so they could gobble you up. He could even picture it clearly in his mind.

"Kai? Do you have a crush on someone?"

Raine's ears perked up upon hearing the words. Kai has someone he likes? How come I was completely unaware of it? He quirked an eyebrow and observed Kai from the corner of his eyes, curious about his answer.

"No, I don't."

See, he knew it. If Kai had a crush, Raine would be the first to know about it. Kai was his childhood friend; they had a very close relationship, and there was nothing Raine didn't know about him.

"What's your type by the way?" the person asked Kai.

"Hmm..." Kai looked to be deep in thought. "I don't have a type. But maybe short hair, jeans, and sneakers."

"Such kind of girls exist?"

"There's one in my class," Kai answered in a low voice.

"Boring. Might as well date a guy then," a random person shouted and everyone laughed.

Raine was surprised to see Kai joining in on the laughter, but he knew Kai well enough to tell he was faking it. As he observed him, Raine could easily catch the flicker of emotions reflecting in his eyes before he flawlessly concealed it with his smile. Kai was serious.

Well, whatever it was, was not his problem. With that thought in mind, Raine got out of bed and headed for the washroom but abruptly came to a halt when Sean spilt something he shouldn't have spilt from his mouth.

"Guess what, guys? Just the other day, this girl proposed to Raine," Sean voiced out.

"Really?" The united voices of the people in the room would crack the walls if the pitch came out a little too high. "Who?"

"There's this girl," Sean replied, sitting in the middle of the floor like a guru teaching his disciples how to meditate. "She's from our department. You all know her. That girl-," Sean said in a hushed tone.

With all patience thrown out the window, Raine hastily took off his shoe and hurled it in the direction of Sean's head, missing it by a hair's breadth. "Shut up, Sean."

"I'll tell you guys later."

Disapproving groans filled the room a full second before everything went back to normal, the topic of Raine's forbidden-to-reveal admirer abandoned and left forgotten in the dust. Shrugging his shoulders, Raine proceeded to the bathroom and was nearly knocked to the ground when someone suddenly slammed into him and grabbed the doorknob before he could reach his hand out to do the same.

"Bro. I need to use the toilet. The flush at my place broke. I just had spicy chicken biryani for lunch and now my stomach is not doing so good."

The look of pure anguish on the said man's face gripped him with a sense of pity, and Raine retracted his steps with a nod of his head.

"Thanks, bro."

How I wish someone would shoot me dead now, Raine thought and went off to collect the clothes he left in the laundry basket early that morning. He, most certainly, wouldn't be going out drinking again, especially when his drinking tolerance was as low as the ground, if it could go any lower. It was fortunate that his house was close to his university, and his parents were always away on business trips to keep a tab on what their notorious son was up to, but it was too much of a tedious task to go home and return to the dormitory early the next morning after a night out with his friends.

"Are you doing laundry today?" Kai approached him from behind. If it weren't for the loudness in the room, Raine would've jumped in alarm at the way Kai snuck up on him.

"Mm." Raine gave a slight nod of his head.

"Those are clothes you wore last night, aren't they?" Kai raised a quizzical brow. "Why'd you bring them back? You could've just left them at home."

"And who would wash them, idiot? Your mom?"

"Alone in your house again?"

"Obviously. You think I'll come back here in one piece if I went home drunk when my parents are home?"

"Nope. Anyway, it was nice to know you still have a pole stuck up your ass." With that said, Kai left him and went back to chatting with Sean and the others.

"Asshole," Raine muttered under his breath and went on with his work. As he reflected on his miserable existence, he scooped up his shirt and pants and hastily folded them together. That was exactly when he felt it: a round, hard object stuck in his jeans pocket. He fumbled with his hands a little before ultimately pulling out the object. A watch?

♩✧♪●♩○♬☆

This is it for this chapter. Did you like it? Is there anything I should improve on? Please let me know in the comments below.

Is the plot going too fast or slow?
Which character is your favourite up until now? I'd love to know your thoughts and views on it. Ideas are also welcome. So feel free to express them.