Harmless Game

Morning came, and Kane woke up to the scent of grilled bacon. He was no longer surprised to see King cooking again. He walked towards the dining table, and his eyes landed on a phone sitting freely on top of it.

"As promised," King turned and even winked at him. "Thank you for taking care of me."

King expected Kane to be mad again and to answer him sarcastically, but he didn't. Instead, Kane mumbled a "welcome," stunning him and making him smile.

Kane saw that, but he kept noticing-King's smile never reached his eyes, and that annoyed him, even though he was delighted by the device in front of him-a phone, indeed.

It had no SIM, as expected. No internet connection either. Just some applications.

Kane grinned. He was content with that. Especially with his own realization-the phone and the CD, he had hidden them somewhere. That meant this house had some secret places, and he just had to find them.

"I know you want to leave. But once again, I'm only asking for a month. Please bear with me."

He sounded kind of desperate and sincere, making Kane inwardly grimace. "As if I have a choice."

They finished their breakfast and lounged in the living room. King was watching a movie while Kane was watching and playing a game on his new phone at the same time.

He was just entertaining himself and allowing King to occasionally glance at the game he was playing on the phone until he asked King if he wanted to take turns playing "Angry Birds." King was taken aback by the gesture. Of all people, he knew how much Kane hated him. King accepted the phone with a smile, which made Kane laugh.

'If I want to break you, I'll have to build you first.'

He looked down at King's fingers tapping away on his cellphone. His decision was now final, and he had thought it through the entire night. Within a month, he'd probably go crazy from being cooped up. He needed a distraction, and so did King.

He decided to take this opportunity. He wouldn't lose anything, and it seemed like King didn't have any malicious plans for him either. If he did, Kane knew he was prepared because after everything that had happened to him and his family, he would never give his full trust to anyone again.

For now, he'd just play along nicely. It was only for a month, and he could endure that.

When King was finally defeated with a score of 181, Kane took the phone for his turn. They continued playing until Kane snapped at King. It took King too long to take his turns, and he always got high scores. Kane's frustration led him to get a score of only three, which King found funny, making him laugh, further infuriating Kane.

"I don't want to play that anymore," Kane said. "Why are all the downloaded applications like this? Can't we play Clash of Clans or Mobile Legends?"

"You do realize those games require an internet connection, right?"

King flatly looked at him, and his eyes were freakin' dazzling. The light from outside wasn't helping either-it reflected through them, making them glow even more.

Even though Kane wanted to curse the person in front of him, he avoided eye contact again. 'Sun-kissed moron.'

"And whose fault is that? Since you planned to get stranded on this island, you should've installed an internet connection too," he said, glaring at King.

"Kane... You are being chased by an underground organization," King calmly explained. "They have a hacker, and if that hacker happens to trace us here, we're both dead."

"Aren't you their Cabecilla? Why are you opposing your own organization?" That was what he couldn't understand. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who needed to hide, but both of them did. Those bruises... It wasn't like his subordinates would just let him get beaten up like that. Unless-they were the ones who inflicted those bruises, or someone higher up had, and no one had enough authority to protect their Cabecilla.

When King didn't respond, Kane asked again. "Those bruises, were they inflicted by someone from the organization?" He saw King's gaze darken, and he avoided eye contact. That gesture only strengthened his theory.

"I'll tell you everything once it's all settled. When everything is over..." King's amber eyes met his. "I won't even ask for forgiveness. You can kill me anytime, or I'll do it myself."

Kane was taken aback by King's words. He couldn't understand because King wasn't explaining anything to him. His chest felt tight when he heard King whisper afterward.

"I'm tired anyway."

King was about to stand up and leave him in the living room again, so before that could happen, Kane reached out and grabbed King's hand. He pulled King back down to sit and forcefully made him face him.

Those blank stares he was used to seeing were now enveloped with pain.

"And where do you think you're going? I told you, I deserve an explanation." He said firmly. His grip on King's arm was tight, as he had no intention of letting him go.

"My family," Kane merely said, but Kane could feel his anger starting to simmer again.

"You killed them." It was a statement, not even a question, and that made King tremble in his seat.

"Did you?" He continued.

That made King immobile for a while. That was the first time... The first time someone asked him. Most of the time, there were no questions, just accusations, and he wouldn't even deny it-he couldn't deny it.

Kane stilled when King carefully removed his hands from his arms and lifted them to mess with his hair like he was a child.

"You've been through so much, don't dwell on it anymore. I'll definitely pay for it with my life after death."

Kane wanted to smack the hell out of King.

'Who told you to die? You need to live so you can pay.'

"Want to go out?" King suddenly asked him.

"I'll watch a movie instead."

"Come on now, it's not too hot outside. It's a good time to swim."

Kane's p*ss*d off. Just who in their right mind would go swimming and bond with the murderer of their family? No one!

He really wanted to punch King for acting like nothing happened after what he just said.

He smiled sarcastically. It seemed like every day would be stressful. Maybe within a month, he'd go insane.

"You're really something, huh?"

"Well, first thing-make the most of this month. Then, we can go back to Plants vs. Zombies mode. Let's just pretend we're friends, shall we?"

He tsked. "You're obviously the zombie."

King just laughed, gesturing for him to follow as he advanced his way out.

Just like King said, it wasn't too sunny outside.

King removed his shirt, and Kane did the same.

They swam in the cold water to their heart's content.

"Do we have liquor in stock?" Kane suddenly asked.

"Yeah, want to take some booze to pass the time?"

Kane just smirked and splashed water at King before rising from the seawater.

He went straight to the veranda table and waited for King to fetch the alcohol.

He saw King coming in and out of the house quickly, holding a case of beer.

"And where the heck did you store that?"

"The refrigerator, Kane," King flatly answered, as if stating the obvious. "You haven't opened the fridge since you got here."

Kane just shrugged. "You cook, you clean, and you even get me water. Why would I need to open it?" He raised an eyebrow at him, making King shake his head.

"Want to do chores?"

"No, thanks."

"Suit yourself."

They stared at each other in silence until Kane broke it.

"Let's play a game."

King's lips parted for a bit when he saw Kane playfully smirk. "Never have I ever."

"Can I say no?"

"Come on, it's a harmless game, King. I just want to know you more. Like you said, let's make the most of this month."

He really wanted to say no because he had a feeling Kane was up to something again. "One condition."

Kane's eyebrow furrowed. "Yeah?"

"Don't mention anything about the organization."

Kane was easy to talk to and quickly nodded as if King's condition didn't bother him at all.

"No personal matters, and no bringing up each other's family."

They settled with the deal. It was a harmless game, right? Nothing would go south... right?