The living room couch had been pushed against the wall with the window in a moment of paranoia. I laid on it all night, staring through the blind folds with squinted, sleepy eyes. I fell in and out of sleep, till it was morning and I could feel the sore in my eyes from lack of sleep.

The car remained there. I'd seen many come and go from the neighbors, but that one stayed where it was, watching me. I couldn't see who was inside because they never left the car, but it was eerily uncomfortable how still they sat. This only made me more nervous, because they took their stalking job seriously.

I wish I had taken this more seriously—like listening to Cedric's clear instruction to stay away from the window. But how could I? Ever since I got kidnapped, I'd been nervous about it happening again. And here I was, in a possible similar situation and the thought of Elijah or Cedric not getting to me in time before they slit my throat was taking over my thoughts. I might not be so lucky next time.

So yeah, I sat on the couch, next to the window, trying my best to stay hidden while I watched my watcher.

Eventually I received a text in the group chat that they were on their way to get me. Like an excited kid about to go on a road trip, I ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and packed my belongings. By the time I heard the knock, I had my things by the door and I was ready to escape.

"Hello?" I whispered by the door. The peephole was too blurry to see through and I was too nervous to check the window. Nothing like getting shot in the face for letting curiosity win.

"It's me," Elijah said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Sorry," I replied as I opened the door.

He smiled big when he saw me and opened his arms for a hug. I let out a quiet snort and accepted his embrace. He smelled good, and his hugs were tight. I thought about how different Elijah and Cedric smelled. If warmth was a smell, it would describe Elijah perfectly. I wasn't sure if it was weird, but Cedric smelled like his car, and I liked it. I couldn't begin to describe what the scent was, but maybe it was from spending a lot of time in it. Pine? Forest-y? It was a pleasant nature scent.

Today, Elijah was wearing a black hoodie, black cargo shorts (which seemed to be his usual taste, whether short or long), black boots, and black sunglasses.

My mind was blown at the fact that he wasn't burning from how much black he was wearing. California wasn't exactly chilly . . . but maybe he was used to it? The temperature was sometimes nice and at least he was wearing shorts.

"You okay?" he said, breaking the hug and grabbing my suitcase and the black trash bag filled with extra clothes.

"Yeah, you?"

"Horny," he said, walking away.

My eyes went straight to his ass as I watched him walk away. That wasn't a joke. He said it so seriously that I looked for a bulge as he turned and walked down the stairs.

I swallowed nervously, thinking about the two moments we had, wondering how many more there would be in the future. If he felt that way, it wouldn't bother me if he wanted to . . . Okay, no. I couldn't think about this right now

"So, where are we going?" I asked as I caught up to him and tried not to look at the car that had been watching me.

"Don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "You wanna go and fuck all day at my place?"

I glared at him stupidly. "What?"

He smiled and jogged towards a big car with tinted windows, opened the backdoor and jumped in. I was reluctant to follow him because of how weird he was acting, but weird acting wasn't exactly something to be afraid of with Elijah. And it wasn't new.

As I stepped in, I pushed aside my suitcase, which Elijah had dropped on the floor. I sat down and almost jumped when I saw Cedric at the wheel, wearing a hoodie disguise with a fake beard, a mustache, glasses, and a blond wig.

"What the fuck?" I asked as Elijah crawled over me and slammed the door shut.

"Please put on your seatbelt," Cedric said.

Before I could do it myself, Elijah went and wrapped the seatbelt over my chest and locked it, tapping my chest and smiling again. I was too busy gawking at Cedric's look.

"Take us home," Elijah told him.

Once we were on the road, I noticed Cedric searching the streets with his eyes, and that was when it hit me. He was wearing a disguise and pretending to be Elijah's driver.

"We found a place you can be safe in for a while," Elijah finally told me.

"Could the stalker hear us?" I asked.

"Lords have a lot of money, we're fancy with our technology," he answered.

"We just need to be smart about what we do," Cedric said.

"I was so worried about how chill you were being," I told Elijah, looking into his eyes.

"Sorry. I forgot to warn you before we left. Once you opened that door and saw how cute you looked, my thoughts just disappeared."

Lucky for him, I used my brain and acted normal too. If I had freaked out or sent the stalker looks, it would've made it obvious that we knew. I understood now why he had talked loudly about wanting to fuck all day. It was so casual.

"Offer is still up though," he said, completely reading my mind.

"So where is this place?" I asked, ignoring him, trying to slap away those thoughts before I got hard thinking about . . . things.

"Do you remember Amani's brother?" Cedric asked, fixing his fake glasses.

"Jin? Yeah, I do."

"I talked to Amani last night, she's okay with you staying with him."

"Does she . . . know?"

Cedric shook his head, watching me in the mirror. "She doesn't. I had to lie to her."

"I know a little about Jin," Elijah said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. This caused Cedric to stop looking at the mirror. "Ziven is the older sibling of the three and they are in Lords. Ziven really wants Jin to be in Lords, and I know that Amani wants Jin to join Devilian. They're leaving him alone, since he's underage. But once he turns eighteen, they're going to fight big time."

"Does he have to join at all?" I asked.

"I don't think his siblings will give him a choice. They've been fighting for a long time," Elijah said.

I wasn't going to tell them what Jin told me—about me making him want to choose Devilian. It was all coming back to me, and to be quite honest, it stressed me out a little. I didn't want that responsibility on my shoulders. And I also didn't want another guy lusting after me. He flirted with me, I know he did. And if I was going to be staying with him, wouldn't it make it worse? There was no way I wanted to be the one that made him choose one over the other. What if Ziven found out that I made Jin choose Devilian? Would he be pissed at me? What if he went after me? When I came to California, I wanted an exciting life, and yeah, I understand that I got it, but I didn't want to make any enemies either. If he found out I was the whole reason his brother joined the other side, I'd be toast.

I took a deep breath, rubbing my temples, and thought about it rationally. What if during this time, I used however much time I had to make Jin not pick something just because of me. I could maybe give him a billion hints that I was not interested—especially in the underage kind. And that maybe I had my eye on someone else? It could work. That way nobody would be mad at me for something that wasn't my fucking fault.

Then again, was anything going the way I wanted? Ever since I came here with Dorian, it had been a non-stop rollercoaster of unfathomable situations that a person like me shouldn't be experiencing.

I slouched my shoulders as sadness hovered over me. Either way, I was going to keep trying my best. That was all I could do.

"You'll be okay," Elijah reassured me, noticing my mood change.

"You will," Cedric agrees. "Just keep your head down and don't attract any attention. If you have to go out, stay hidden. Devilian doesn't bother Jin."

"Lords either. It's the perfect place to keep you hidden for now."

I took a deep breath. "Alright. I trust you both."

"Unfortunately, I can't see you for a while," Elijah said.

"Why not?"

"From what I understand, Amani is breaking the rules she and Ziven created. They're both supposed to leave Jin alone until he makes his decision, to make it fair."

"Ah, right. She can't see you or know about you," I said.

"We're going to meet her right now before I drop you off, so she can't see Elijah," Cedric said as he adjusted the rear-view mirror.

"Are we being followed?" I asked, worried.

"No, we aren't."

If there was anyone I trusted with car situations, it would be Cedric. He did a lot of jobs in cars, so he was an expert. I believed him, so my nerves vanished.

Elijah moved his arm back and unbuckled his seat belt as Cedric took a turn and stopped at a parking spot in front of a random clothing store, where his car waited. We were hidden behind a few trees and large bushes, but we could also see all of the cars passing by and we'd notice if anyone was following us.

"Let's go," Cedric said as he removed his stupid disguise and threw it on the passenger seat.

"This is where I leave you, little one," Elijah said, staring at me sadly.

"I am not little," I stated with no tone in my voice.

"Littler than me."
I glared at him. "Okay."

"I'll miss you," he said, pulling me into his arms. He really loved hugging, or maybe it was an excuse to touch me.

"Am I not gonna see you for a long time?" I asked, pulling back, suddenly anxious about not seeing him for a while.

"You will see me again, but for now you need to stay safe. I'll be working a lot and I'll try to look out for anything out of the ordinary — like people stalking you. I need to do my part just like Cedric does."

"It's only temporary," Cedric added as he got out of the car.

"I'm gonna be gone for a few days, so don't be surprised if I don't answer any calls or messages," Elijah told me.

There was no way in hell I was going to ask what he was up to. I knew it was his job, and his job required him to be . . . a criminal. And right there, my mind started to spiral with thoughts about the situation I was in, thinking about the illegal things these two idiots did. If it weren't for Cedric getting into his own car and slamming the door shut, I would've just sat there staring, spacing out as my mind put me in unpleasant scenarios. One of them being the night I met Elijah, when he killed someone.

Ugh.

Why couldn't I just be normal? Maybe I was just meant for this life. If it didn't bother me like it was supposed to, then maybe there was a reason for it. It would be so much easier to think and understand if I hadn't joined two gangs. If it was just Devilian or Lords, I could have some peaceful time to think about if this truly was the life I was meant to have. But no, I was living in a world with zero regards to sanity and logic.

"I'll at least try to send you some text messages, okay?" Elijah said.

"I'll understand if you're too busy."

He smiled and sighed. "You're going to be such a good boyfriend."

I ignored him, like I usually did, and left the car as Cedric whistled impatiently. I took my things with Elijah's help and put them in the back of Cedric's car.

"Good luck," I told Elijah as I climbed aboard.

"Bye-Bye," he said, watching us as we drove off.

"He's weird," Cedric commented a few minutes later when we were on the road.

"You're both weird."

He was quiet for a while longer. And yeah, I could feel his energy. It was hard for him to hide his emotions—at least from me. It was stupidly obvious what this was about, and it put me in a tough spot. I knew what I had to do, but how could I do it? I didn't know the answer.

"Do you like him?"

Holy shit. I was not expecting that to come out of his mouth in at least a million years.

But how was I supposed to answer that? The clear answer was to say I liked them both. They were both my friends. They each had a unique spot in my life and I wasn't sure how else to say it. Was he asking if I was in love with him? Did he want me to say I wanted to be with him? Like . . . it was complicated.

"I do."

"Hm."

"Do you?" I asked, feeling like it was a good reply.

He looked back at me, slowly, then back at the road. He didn't say anything until we were at a red light.

"He's weird."

"That's not . . . Do you not trust him?"

"Of course I don't," he said in a tone that made me feel stupid. "I don't know him. I don't know what he does. He's in Lords, and I know enough about Lords to not trust a single soul inside."

"Then why are you doing all of this?"

Again, he looked at me with that judgmental face. "I'm not doing it because of him or for him."

"But you guys were together, without me. You talked to him on the phone, right? You planned all of this together. You told him things about Amani, so you must trust him."

"I only trust that you trust him," he replied. "I trust that he doesn't want you to get hurt. I trust that he will do anything to protect you."

"Okay, so you don't trust him. But do you like him?"

"No."

I almost wanted to laugh at how fast he responded, but he was being serious, so I held it in. "Why not?"

"Because you like him."

At least he was being honest. "Cedric . . ."

"Have you guys gone out?"

I paused for a moment, thinking about it. "Once, kind of."

He shot a look at me. "Kind of?"

I sighed loudly so he'd know how irritated I was starting to feel. "Yeah, kind of."

It was okay if he felt jealous. I understood why he would feel that way. I shouldn't have taken Sonam's advice to go on dates with different people. No way it worked out for anyone, right? Now he was jealous and I couldn't avoid it no matter how hard I tried. Not to mention the fact that I was the one that had to make a choice here. They were dating me.

"How do you have a 'kind of' date?"

"We went to a restaurant, but left like a minute after, so we just went to a tattoo shop and hung out with his friends for a bit before eating on the beach."

"Tattoo shop? Is this where—"

"No. That happened at the abandoned warehouse, I told you already."

"Hm."

"We also went on a 'kind of' date, you know? Except you invited other people, so it wasn't a full date."

"And you got Lucynapped."

I pressed my lips together as I attempted to not laugh at what the fuck just came out of his mouth. I hated how funny he was, because it was completely not on purpose, which made it funnier.

"Yeah, I did."

"Who do you like more?"

"Neither."

He watched me from the corner of his eyes, checking if I was being serious or not. I refused to give him what he was looking for. For asking that question, I was going to let him suffer.

"So, are you going to be busy as well?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"I'll be doing a few things, but even if I'm free I can't come around."

"I get it."

"I'll call you or whatever."

"Sure."

"I just can't risk letting anyone see me around Jin's place. Even if it's the safest place to be in."

Cedric pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He talked to Amani for a minute, letting her know we'd be at her location in around twenty minutes. She also couldn't be near his place, even though she broke that rule every now and then.

We mostly sat in silence for those twenty minutes. He put on the radio, changed the station a couple of times. I could tell he had a lot on his mind, and I wasn't a mind reader, but I knew. It made me feel bad. I didn't want anyone to go through so much doubt, especially after coming out to me. He trusted me and he liked me. He didn't have to say anything for me to know. I felt so guilty that I didn't even want to say anything either. Maybe if these gangs left me alone, I'd have some time to think and decide.

When we arrived, Amani was leaning back against her car, her beautiful curly hair flowing in the wind. We were in front of a beauty store, and it puzzled me considering she wasn't the type to wear make-up, but maybe it was another ploy to confuse any stalkers. Why would gang members go to a beauty store, right? It was smart.

But she could also just be here randomly or buying her girlfriend something. I was reading too much into it and I needed to stop.

This wasn't a movie, Lucian. Calm down.

"What up?" she greeted as she climbed in the back of the car.

"Hey, Amani," I said, trying to be friendly even though I didn't want to socialize.

"Lucian," she said back, nodding.

"Is Jin home?" Cedric asked.

"Yep." Then she turned to me. "So, I need to tell you a few things. First, if he does anything suspicious or invites anyone over, tell me. I don't care if you feel like a snitch, I'm trying to take care of my brother, and having someone on the inside would help a lot."

"I have to spy on him?" I said, worried.

"No, just tell me if he does stupid shit that could get him in trouble."

"Like what?"

"Like if he brings someone over that looks triple his age. Like if he leaves for days and doesn't come back. Like if he's not doing his school work."

"Like if his brother comes over," Cedric added.

"I don't know what his brother looks like."

"Like us, but they're usually wearing some stupid shit like a skirt or something."

"A skirt?" I said.

"Yeah, my brother is non-binary, and really takes it there."

I tried to imagine a half Native-American half black older brother with their good looks, wearing a skirt and going by different pronouns, who was also part of a gang, and I couldn't.

"He wears skirts?" Cedric wondered.

"Not like . . . girly skirts. Jeez guys. Have you ever seen skirts? Just because they're called skirts doesn't mean they're automatically girly and pink. Ziven wears these really long skirts, usually black, with heavy metal kind of boots underneath."

"Okay, I don't think I could miss someone like that, so I'll keep a lookout," I told her.

"Also, try not to call Ziven a he. He gets annoyed."

"But you just—"

She slapped her hand over her mouth. "Fuck! Goddamnit!"

"It's okay, I'm new at this gay shit too."

I tilted my head and gave Cedric the look.

"What?" Amani said, dropping her hand.

"Oop-"

Cedric, realizing he outed himself on accident, stayed quiet and leaned back on his chair, instead of just owning it and being okay with it, in front of a lesbian. Unless she was a homophobic lesbian, then that would make things interesting.

Amani just grinned at him, poking at him with her knowing eyes and teasing smile.

"Gay shit?" I said, not being able to hold it back.

"Oh, true," she said, wiping off the smile on her face. "That sounded stupid, Cedric. Ziven isn't even gay. It has nothing to do with being gay. Ziven actually likes girls only."

"Why are we talking about this?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest like a toddler who lost a game.

"Because I'm trying to warn Lucian about Ziven. If they come around, I need to know."

"Pft."

"Ignore him," I told her. "He's a big baby."

"Oh, I know."

"Oh, good. Someone I can bond with."

She chuckled, enjoying the poking game. "Yeah, so just let me know if anything happens. Sorry that you got kicked out of your place, though."

"Uh, yeah. Too many roommates, barely any space." Now I knew what the lie was, and it was okay. Getting kicked out of my place was a good enough lie. It worked because it was partially true.

"Also, if he skips school, tell me. They call Ziven when he gets in trouble, because they're technically Jin's guardian. And I know for a fact that Ziven doesn't care and lets him do what he wants. Somebody has to be the adult and I don't give a fuck if Jin doesn't like it."

I had a feeling the two older siblings hated each other, and Jin was unfortunately stuck in the middle of it. Amani's love was tough, but it came from a good place. I knew nothing of Ziven, so I couldn't judge that side.

"If . . . Ziven is nonbinary, then why are you calling . . . them, 'brother'?" Cedric spat out randomly.

"If you become friends with a nonbinary person, just ask them what they're comfortable and not comfortable with," Amani replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Ziven doesn't mind being called our brother. If you ever get to meet them, which I hope you don't ever have to, I'm sure they'll let you know if something bothers them. But yeah, Ziven lives a life in the middle, so they feel all of the genders and sometimes none of them, so I get if it's a bit confusing. Gender is just confusing overall. We all have traits that make us different from each other. Just ask people."

This was a teaching moment for me as well, not just for Cedric. We didn't have nonbinary people in my town — that I knew of. Just like how we had two gay guys in the whole town — that I knew of. There wasn't much there, and people were ignorant. I wasn't fully ignorant, though. I knew these things existed, but never had opportunities to think about them.

It was nice to get out into the world. Moments like this made me feel good about leaving that shitty town. There was so much color all around me.

"Can I have your number?" I asked her.

"Cedric didn't give it to you?"

"He wishes he could give it to me."

Amani snorted and started laughing. We exchanged numbers as Cedric brought up his arms on the steering wheel and hid his face. Amani repeated her rules, and added a few simple ones. She just wanted me to keep Jin safe from the inside and warn her if anything was going on that I thought was suspicious. She worried a lot about him, and it was sweet of her, considering her personality outside of caring about her brother was different.

"Sorry," I told Cedric when we were back on the road.

"Yeah."

"Come on, I am. Sometimes I just can't help joking around like that."

"It's fine. I blurted it out to her before thinking."

"I hope you aren't scared of her knowing. She's a lesbian, after all. There is nobody more perfect to tell you're gay, than another gay person."

"I know that. I'm just not really close to anyone, even her."

"Really?"

"I hang out with a lot of people from Devilian, but it's just because we're coworkers, you know? There's nobody that really knows me."

Sadness crept up his voice, and he became quiet again. Something in my chest was expanding, and it wasn't a good feeling. It was guilt — again. Why did I feel guilty? Because I knew he was holding back, and now he was slowly shutting himself out again, because he was afraid that Elijah would take me away and he'd be left with no one.

It made me want to tear up, because I didn't want him to have these feelings, but how could I stop it? There was so much that was new to me as well and I just wanted to try my best and do what I could to make people happy, but it seemed impossible without hurting others. So I was just as stuck as he was.

Hurting him was not on my list of things to do. If I could stop it from happening, I would. I had to use these days to myself and think of something, anything. If I was barely going to talk to them while they were busy, this was my one chance to be an adult.

Did I want to? Hell no. I was getting anxiety like never before. It was a lot of responsibility, but somebody had to start it.

When we arrived at the location, Cedric reminded me of his own rules about staying safe and hidden. It was mostly to just not go out unless I had to. Devilian knew what I looked like if they ever wanted to stalk me — which I was glad they didn't. And Lords didn't, which helped more considering they were the ones being suspicious of me. The longer it went without them knowing what I looked like, the better it was for me.

Jin's apartment building was a fancy black and white, with only three floors, and it wasn't too big, but it was surrounded by other apartment buildings that weren't connected. His floor was all the way at the top, and I had to carry my things on my own after Cedric left. I'd actually built up some muscle from working at the warehouse, but clearly it wasn't enough. Then again I had a lot of heavy things.

I pressed the button outside and was immediately let in without anyone's voice coming through the speaker. Jin was home, and he knew I was coming. I took the elevator to the third floor and found his door easily. I knocked and awkwardly waited, suddenly feeling nervous.

Was Jin even okay with me staying with him? It was so sudden and I never got to talk to him about it. I honestly felt like I was being thrown around a lot and wasn't making my own decisions — hence the anxiety. I had no control of my life at the moment. It was an overwhelming feeling I didn't enjoy.

Before I could reflect further about my life and fall into an unshakable depression, the door opened and a bright friendly face swept away my nerves.

"Wow, you shaved," was all I could say when I saw Jin.

He touched his face. "Oh no, does it look bad?"

I laughed. "No, you just didn't seem like the type to shave your face, sorry."

"Thank God!" he sighed in relief and stepped aside, holding the door. "Come in, Lucian."

I picked up my things from the floor and walked inside. I took in the view of his apartment and was pleasantly surprised by the theme. The whole apartment was dark, and the balcony was covered by black curtains, so no light was coming in, but it wasn't depressing, it was quite the opposite. While it lacked color, the furniture, the paintings on the wall, and even the floor, was all extremely comfortable looking.

"I know, I know," he said, walking deeper into the apartment. "I'm a basic guy with yet another black and white apartment. Revolutionary."

"I actually like it," I said.

The kitchen was the first room, followed by the dining section and then further down was the living room. Both bedrooms were on the right, split in half by the bathroom. The apartment didn't feel small, but for just one person it was more than enough.

"Oh, one second!" he told me, running over to the living room. There was a desk by the balcony door, perfectly positioned in the corner, with a whole gaming setup. Jin sat down and put on a headset as he stared at the monitor. "Sorry, guys. My new roomie is here, I'll be back later." He spun around on his chair to look at me and smile. "No, I won't ask that. No, I won't ask that either. Okay, you're annoying, bye." He pressed a button on his headset and the microphone turned red.

"Sorry if I interrupted something," I told him as he hung the headset on a stand.

"Nah, don't worry about it." I could see a game on the monitor and saw a bunch of players jumping around, riding dragons, and one flew around on a rat. "Want to put your things in your room?"

"Yeah, sure."

He stood up and fixed his hair with his hands after the headset had ruined it. He gestured for me to follow him and we went into the hall on the right of the apartment. He stopped at the door in the middle and waved at it. "Bathroom. It's always clean, so don't be scared. I'm not like most guys." He winked at his joke about not being like most girls. And yeah, I agreed. Men were gross.

"Thank you," I said, using a fake sincere tone.

"My room is to the left, and your room is — obviously, the right." I followed him with my things as he went inside and turned on the lights. "This was supposed to be a guest room for my brother or sister, but they're never here, so it's yours now."

The room matched the rest of the apartment. Even the bedsheets were black and white. There was a closet, a big TV mounted over the dresser, and an empty desk by the window.

"Thank you." This one was actually sincere.

"Everything is clean and fresh, so no need to stress about anything."

"Thank you."

He chuckled, but it sounded like he tried to hold it in. "Stop thanking me, this is the bare minimum."

"Still, after what I keep going through, this is nice."

"What do you mean?"

I dropped my things next to the bed and rubbed my hands together. "For starters, I used to share a room with my bestfriend, and since it was unplanned, we also had to share a bed — a small one."

"Oh, doesn't sound comfy."

"It wasn't." My mind started thinking about what things I should and shouldn't say. It was hard, because I could be caught up in a lie really easily if I wasn't careful. "Then I was homeless for like a day and had to stay at this weird apartment or motel — I really wasn't sure. I just had a mattress."

"Hm." He crossed his arms over his chest, listening to me without interrupting.

"I feel like ever since I joined a gang, everything's been . . . weird."

"How new are you at this? I know you said you were new at Devilian, but . . ."

"I used to live in a small town somewhere in Wisconsin. Been there my whole life. Nothing happens there. And now I am here, and so much is happening."

"Aww, you're a small town boy?" he laughed to himself. "That makes sense. You'll get used to it, even the weird things. You're just not used to it, and that's okay."

To be honest, putting it that way helped. I was just not used to this, and that was okay. Everything was new to me and feeling overwhelmed and anxious was an appropriate response to this life — and not just the gang part. Moving to a huge world like this after being stuck in such a small place was not an easy transition.

Now I just needed to figure out how to deal with the other side of this — the gang part. Was it also just a lack of experience? Cause I didn't think so.

"I guess you're right."

"Come with me," he said, stepping out and heading into the living room. I left my things behind and joined him. "What do you like to do?"

"As in . . ."

"Fun, hobbies, anything."

"I don't really know, to be honest."

"What?" he said in disbelief, his voice a high pitch. All I could do was shrug as a response. He was looking at me as if he was waiting for me to say I was kidding.

"Sorry, my life has been boring up till now."

Jin went to his desk and sat down on the office chair, rolling it back to me and motioning me to sit on the black couch. I obeyed his silent order and got comfortable.

"What did you do back home?" he asked, his fingers connecting with each other as if he was about to study me.

"I used to work every day, but when I was free I guess I'd just hang out with my bestfriend or my ex."

"What was there to do?"

I laughed quietly at that. "Nothing, really. Nothing that I liked, anyway. I'm realizing I'm making it sound like a barren town in an apocalypse, but I really just didn't care about anything in it. Sometimes we went to the movies when there was something new and interesting, other times we'd just go out to eat."

"What did you do with your ex?"

"Same thing I did with my bestfriend."

He placed his hand over his heart. "My condolences. That does sound boring."

"Usually if you wanted something exciting, you'd have to travel outside of town, but I couldn't really do that."

"Were your parents okay with you coming here?"

"My mom died when I was young and my dad is probably dead too. I've never met him."

His whole body slouched. "Oh, I'm sorry. My parents are dead, too."

"Yay. Now we have something to bond over."

He laughed at my sarcastic tone. "You're funny."

"I think it's the trauma."

"Stop!" he covered his mouth as he attempted not to laugh.

I noticed there was music playing softly by his computer. I couldn't tell who the artist was, but it was soothing to my ears. A little like Lana Del Rey's music, but I knew it wasn't her. It gave the whole apartment such a nice vibe. So chill, so relaxing, so non-threatening.

"Sorry about your parents, too, by the way," I told him.

"It's okay. Something for us to bond over, right?" He grinned, but even with the dark fact about our parents, he was still positively warm. "Did you have many friends?"

"Not really, just my bestfriend and my ex."

"How did you meet them?"

"I met my bestfriend in school. We were the outcasts."

His brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, my bestfriend is black, and my school was pretty much all white. People didn't treat him kindly and joked around too much about him being black."

"What the fuck?"

"It was infuriating. Basic human decency was non-existent."

"Small towns have that kind of reputation, don't they?"

I nodded in agreement with that. "Definitely."

"I'm glad I didn't grow up in those places," he said, staring at his tan skin.

"I met my ex in school, but we never really talked because we had different classes and shared no friends. We talked after school was over, since we were the only gay guys in the whole town — as far as I know."

"Oh, you're gay?" he said, shocked. I opened my mouth and closed it again. "Oh! I didn't mean to make it sound like that, my bad!"

"I thought you knew since you joked about kissing," I mentioned, feeling stupid.

"No, I didn't. I don't have a gaydar, at all."

"Or maybe I don't show up on the radar," I muttered thoughtfully to myself.

"So that's why you were an outcast? Seriously? Your bestfriend is black and you're gay, so everyone just didn't like you guys?"

I shrugged my shoulders, showing that I was used to it. "Yeah, but we've always been okay with none of them liking us. We didn't care if they liked us. They weren't people you'd want to be friends with, but it would've been nice to be left alone. If you don't like people that are different, then whatever, but why make their lives miserable?"

"That sucks. Everyone I know is accepting of everyone."

"Must be nice."

"I have a lesbian sister and a non-binary brother, so I'm pretty educated on everything. But I'm not really sure of myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know what I am. I don't have a label. I know what I like and who I like, but I'm not too sure about what feels right for me, you know?"

"You don't have to label yourself if you don't want to," I told him.

"I know, but it would help to understand what I am."

"Just give it time then. At least you're aware."

"I'm aware I kinda like everybody, and that's about it."

"Everybody?"

He rolled his eyes playfully and clicked with his tongue. "Not literally everyone. Boys and girls, they're all nice to look at — sometimes."

I giggled at the 'sometimes'.

Getting to know Jin was quite refreshing. His energy was so calm, even when talking about tense topics. Everything about him was welcoming, warm, inviting, like the perfect bestfriend everyone wanted. Dorian might have some competition.

God. He'd never let it go if I told him all of this. Jealousy was his biggest enemy, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"I guess I kind of get that vibe from you," I said.

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable back at the carnival — I flirt a lot. It's not that I lack experience, or boundaries, I just really like making people feel all warm and blushy inside."

"Blushy," I repeated in a mocking manner.

"Shut up." He grinned and flipped me his middle finger.

"Don't worry, I wasn't uncomfortable."

"Good, cause you're gonna get it."

Yet again, I was left speechless as I attempted to form a sentence to respond with.

"I-I meant like . . . I didn't mean I'm going to give it to you, that's not what I-" He stood up suddenly, an almost humorous angry expression on his face, and he spoke again with a louder voice, "BRO! Why are you making me nervous! Stop! I didn't mean it like that! I meant I'm gonna flirt more, you're gonna get more flirty Jin, because it's what I do! I'M JUST WARNING YOU, STOP!"

With serious eyes and a tone to match, I replied, "I'm not even doing anything."

Mentally, I gave up and accepted my fate. I was put on this earth to be desired by all — it was time I embraced it, because there was nothing I could do but exist and somehow I'd charm everyone in the room.

"What do you like doing for fun?" I asked, changing the subject to save him.

He sat back on his chair and waved his hand back at his computer, happily accepting moving on. "Games. I love games." Then he gestured at the consoles near the massive screen on the wall. "Right now I'm playing the latest expansion of World of Warcraft. Do you know about it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know many games besides the popular console games. I could never afford a computer, so I just stuck to using my best-friend's consoles."

"Aw, that's so sad."

"So what is World of Warcraft?" I asked curiously, and his eyes lit up.

"It's a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and I know that sounds nerdy as fuck, but it's just a big game that you play with other people as you fuck around and kill shit for loot while you try to make your character stronger."

I pretended to understand and tapped my chin with a finger. "Sounds massive."

"It kinda is, want to see?"

"I'd love to."

He pushed himself back to his desk and I got up and walked behind him, watching the monitor. He had another one to the right of it, but it was turned off at the moment. He showed me his character, which he said was a Nightborne hunter. I had no idea what that meant, but he was more than happy to explain everything. He even let me make a character and play around while he made us some sandwiches. He ended up showing me many games and we played all day until we went to bed. It had been an interesting day, a normal day, for the most part.

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[Author's Message]: HAHAHAHA. I bet ya'll thought I'll never update again, but here I am with a new update! I'm honestly so excited to keep writing omg. There's so much about to happen and the first 20 chapters are nothing compared to what you guys are gonna get. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, let me know your thoughts, leave me some comments for me to read <3 Do you guys like Jin? Do you like Amani? Does anyone think global warming is a thing? I love lady gaga. I think she's an interesting artist.