Mallory woke up from the smell of pancakes in the kitchen. As he rose up, his hangover caught up to him and made it feel like his skull was being bashed and cracked open. His roommate, Rose, left him a remedy, a cup of warm green tea, on his nightstand. He pinched his nose and reluctantly gulped it down. His face crumpled at the bitter aftertaste.

Every time Mallory was confronted with tea, it always reminded him of his introverted younger brother. He always had used the teabags nobody had wanted to drink in the house. 

He misses his brother sometimes. He would call his brother to cheer himself up when he was feeling down in the dumps. 

He looked at his phone and became upset as he remembered that he had forgotten to write his number down for Don to call. His head hurt again from the anguish, and he fell back into the pillows. 

A redhead with pink freckled cheeks and wide green eyes came through the door, radiating her unwanted morning person energy. "Rise and shine, gorgeous!" 

"Rose! Don't yell when I'm hungover! Argh!" 

Rose lowered her voice and apologized, "Oh, sorry. You know I have a loud voice." 

"It's okay," Mallory grunted. "Anyways, thanks for the tea, Rosie."

He squinted at her like the morning sun was hurting his eyes. Rose took the empty teacup from Mallory's hands as she warmly smiled at him.

"Will he visit again? He's pretty nice," She asked curiously.

"Yeah, later at noon."

She clapped and smiled. After that, she put her hand on her waist and changed her tone, "Also, I am not spoiling you with another breakfast-in-bed. Get up."

"Okay, mum."

"Stop calling me mum." 

"Okay, mum."

Rose stuck out her tongue in response and left the room. He looked at the clock to check how much time was left until the visit. Little less than an hour.

Mallory went out to the balcony after breakfast and looked down at the busy streets. He sipped the strong coffee and draped his shoulders with his black-checkered red scarf.

He rubbed his hands on the hot swan cup in his palms to savor the warmth. He closed his eyes and took in the feeling of the breeze, making him at ease.

Faint knocking on the door disrupted his peaceful moment, "I'll get it!" Mallory shouted, almost pushing Rose over. He stopped at the living room and felt nervous as he stared at the door.

A man's singing was heard from behind the door as Mallory inched closer. He put his ears on the door and indulged in the enchanting voice. 

"Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination..."

Rose came and shot Mallory a questioning glare before attempting to tell him off. Mallory covered her mouth so she could hear the singing too.

"...If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it..."

The singing stopped. The roommates became suddenly confused before a contagious chuckle erupted from outside. The man then calmly asked,

"Isn't it a bit rude to keep a guest waiting, Mal?"

Mallory's face reddened like a tomato as Rose discreetly giggled. She signaled Mallory to go back to the balcony so he can compose himself for a while. He dashed to the other room as she slowly but surely opened the door.

"Bonsoir," Don greeted.

Rose was greeted with a warm, friendly grin from Don. She paused to think from the foreign greeting and reciprocated with utter enthusiasm, "Good morning to you, too!" 

"Thank you; mademoiselle," Don nodded with a cheery disposition, his hands at his back. He scanned the tiny living room and tilted his head curiously, "Where is Mallory? I heard footsteps earlier."

"He's on the balcony. He was blushing hard," Rose chuckled as she pointed to the said location.

Delicate steps came closer to the balcony. Mallory turned around to see the blonde with a well-ironed suit.

Mallory casually put down his coffee cup and asked, "Why do you always wear suits?"

"I just came from work."

"Oh," Mallory curiously gazed at Don. "What work do you do? " 

"I do contracts."

"Contracts? Like an attorney?" 

Don joined Mallory's side and looked up at the sky. "No, I just make contracts on the sidelines. I cannot spare any more details since my work is very secretive. Government stuff."

Mallory looked at him skeptically, drumming his fingers on the rails. 

"Enough about me, how about you? Do you work? Besides looking like a hooker."

Mallory rolled his eyes with bitterness, "I don't look like a hooker."

"I was just kidding. It's just that... My superior thinks people who are goths or punks are promiscuous. It's kind of an inside joke with myself."

Mallory smacked his hand angrily on the rails in a form of protest, "That's pretty fucking stupid."

"Language."

"Sorry, that just... pissed me off! I get that sometimes from old people. It's completely disrespectful."

"Do they also think you worship the devil?" 

"Yes! It's the worst, but you know what? I don't give a single damn about them."

"That's the spirit."

Don glanced at Mallory and started staring at him all of a sudden. 

"What? Do I have some acne?" 

"No, I just realized you're not wearing make-up."

Mallory dramatically gasped and covered his face with the scarf, "Oh. I had no time to put on makeup." 

"No, it's fine. I actually prefer-" 

Police cars passed by on the streets below. Rose went out to check on and join the two on the balcony. "Oh, I wonder if something has happened like yesterday?" 

"What happened, dear?"

"A person disappeared without a trace. It was rumored they made a deal with the devil."

Mallory and Rose's heads turned to Don, who was snickering oddly. He sighed after giggling, and the sound of amusement still lingered in his voice as he spoke. "Come on, Rose. That's ridiculous."

"It's possible!" 

"Rumors are rumors. Let's think of a more rational theory of this thing. It could just be some Mafia gang who grounded him into a meat grinder. It's an effective way to dispose of a body."

Rose's nose crunched as she winced in disgust, making Don giggle silently with amusement. She jumped a bit as her watch beeped.

"It's my time to sleep for my night shift," She yawned. "Thanks for the nightmares, guys!"

"Au revoir, Rose."

"Stop showing off, will you," Mallory playfully smacked Don.

Don chortled. "I am just practicing my french. Keeping up with my Duolingo lessons."

"To impress chicks?" Mallory asked as he arched an eyebrow skeptically.

Don shrugged with a small laugh, "Haha, Well... That is not the main reason."

"Mhm," Mallory skeptically emitted as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Really, my mom is french. Just learning my bloodline's culture."

Mallory raised his eyebrows from the interesting revelation. 

"Oh, how is she?" 

"She's been dead for decades now," Don responded casually. 

Mallory coughed awkwardly and changed the topic. "Oh, how about your dad?" 

Don furrowed his brow briefly, "I honestly don't have a good enough relationship with my father to care."

"Oh, same here," Mallory replied with a deep sigh. "Some Fathers are not worthy of Father's day, you know?"

Don grinned from Mallory's attempt to make a somewhat decent joke. "Thanks, Mal. So, about the duet we were going to negotiate about..."

"Oh yeah, that. Let's see you demonstrate your skills on stage." 

"That sounds vaguely kinky."

Mallory nudged Don roughly, "No, you weirdo. Perform a song. I want to see your musical style."

"Ah, of course. Piece of cake. I thought I would have to bribe you."

"You can give me money to increase your chances," Mallory humored. 

Don shook his head and grinned.

"I know I have a good chance already though."

Mallory gazed at Don and scanned him for any signs of hesitance. Na-da. The blonde man's determined eyes were as bright as before. 

Don then reached out his hands to Mallory with a sure tone, "Alright. Is it a deal, then?" 

"Deal."

They shook hands firmly. Mallory tried to withdraw his hands, but it felt Don was not letting go yet. He noticed Don was... examining his hands.

"Your hands are manlier than your face," Don joked before letting go. 

"Are you going to stay a bit longer?" 

"Oh sure, why not-" Don's phone rang abruptly in his pocket. He grabbed his mobile device in a hassle, "Excusez moi."

He turned around and spoke to his caller with slight annoyance in his voice, "Allô? An emergency meeting?"

He glanced over at Mallory. The phone's loudspeaker was not coherent enough for Mallory to comprehend. 

"But that'll consume my break time... What? Come on!" Don complained on the phone. 

Mallory stared at Don and crossed his arms disappointedly. 

"Alright, tell that Mr. A that I will be going... Yes, yes... À plus tard-No, It's French for see you later… I'm a bit rusty, okay? Okay, See you later," Don said before he sighed faintly. He pocketed his phone and shrugged his shoulders at his host. 

"Who's Mr. A?"

"Mr. A-hole."

"Language, Vasco."

"Just kidding," Don laughed. He then rushed to the exit as Mallory followed along.

Mallory reached out to pinch Don's sleeve, which made the blonde man look at the wrinkle on his sleeve, "Wait, Don."

"Yes?" Don answered quickly as he patted and rubbed the wrinkle on his sleeve.

Mallory held Don's hand and placed a gentle kiss on his cheeks. As he slipped his hands away, the blonde man caught a glimpse of the small piece of paper with a phone number left in his right palm, "Call me."

Don couldn't help but to smile but didn't like to feel genuinely flustered, so he covered it up with a smug smirk. 

"You really have prepared for this moment, haven't you?" Don snided.

"Don't overthink it, Vasco."

"Fine, fine. I will call you if I have the time... for professional reasons, of course." 

Mallory held the door and swung it half-closed. He leaned his head on the side and gazed salaciously, "Farewell, you handsome devil."

Don smirked before turning around. He then walked down stairs as Mallory shut the door.