I Wish We Met Sooner (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 16

Oliver

I WOULD'VE DIED FROM embarrassment if I approached someone who I assumed was Daniel. But thankfully, it is him. That red hair with matching eyebrows is hard to miss. In fact, he's the only person I've seen with such a beautiful appearance.

I feel great surviving my regular life once again, but at the same time, it's not. For the last week, I was swarmed up with assignments and homework with deadlines by the corner. I've never gotten enough sleep nor eaten proper meals. Out of everything, making a thirty-minute video explaining the evaporation process for science class. Mrs Lee is a sucker for torturing her students, and she sure as hell tortured me countless times.

Thank God for Adriana and Victor for getting me through the days. I think I'd be dead without their support of taking breaks and hanging out at the mall, grabbing some sweet treats, or simply having a carpool while eating takeaways. I guess it's true when they say, "real friends are a blessing."

Though I've been hanging out with Adriana and Victor, I have entirely forgotten about Mr Tall, Dark, and Scary, Daniel. I planned on visiting him once again, but there wasn't enough time in a day to do everything. However, I had a hunch I was being followed when I spotted many red-headed people wherever I went. Sometimes I see Daniel himself, just with a face mask, assuming it's to hide his scar.

Oh well, even with the mask, his red hair and forest green eyes are a dead giveaway. And today, I finally approached my ex-kidnapper, who is also my ex-stalker. Adriana and Victor knew nothing about Danny, so they went back home than to join us. Unlike me, they're not open to new friends.

Maybe I should take a page from them, and from then on, I could be someone who others wouldn't take advantage of. Or see me as a weakling.

I wonder how Daniel sees me.

"Here's our stop," I scoot through the packed bus, heading towards the exit. I jumped out and then Daniel before the bus continued off. "Come on."

My GPS shows that we're in Los Angeles, but I don't have a firm location to head over to. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and left my hands there as I walked together with the crowd. It's after lunch hours, and the weather is at its perfect temperature for a stroll to god knows where.

"Where exactly is here?" He asked.

"We're in LA, but I do not know where we're heading," I really had no clue. I'm just walking wherever my feet take me.

"You do not know? Are you serious right now?"

"Pretty much," I said. "I had enough of the mall, so I wanted to walk under the sun for a bit. With you."

Since it's the weekends, the sidelines had more food salespeople. There is nothing but the delightful smell of food in the atmosphere. We walked past many food trucks, and each time we did, I got more tempted to get something, and I gave in and stopped by a bubble tea truck and got us a brown sugar pearl set.

"I hope you like bubble tea," I hand him his cup and a straw. He pulled the straw from its packet and jabbed it into the drink, immediately sipping it. The confusion in his eyes fled as excitement replaced it. Though he spoke nothing.

We carried our drinks and continued walking along the sidelines, watching the people with their miraculous choice of fashion liven the street. It took me a while to realize that we've stepped into a carnival as there were gaming booths by our sides, live performances echoing in the area, and kids carrying around their prizes. A boy had his arm wrapped around a teddy bear three times larger than him, and the poor toy was being dragged on the dirty ground.

I scoured the area and immediately noticed the same exact bear dangling by a tent.

"Up for a game?" I peered at Danny, who looked like he was scowling at me, but I couldn't be too sure because of his mask. "See that tent over there. The colossal bear is a prize for those who can shoot every bottle from a distance."

"You're into kiddie toys?" His husky voice croaked.

"Not really," I glance back at those bears. "It's just to get a sense of accomplishment, and you know... that I can actually do something."

My eyes travelled back to his, and it felt like they were drilling into mine. His eyebrow piercing was just the cherry on top to give me the chills. Maybe it's his way of saying, "I'm not interested." Nevertheless, I started heading for the tent, and he followed behind me.

"Welcome, welcome!" The employee gestured toward us. "Win this large bear if you can knock down all the bottles on that table."

Right then, I knew I couldn't knock down those cups as they were standing further than ten steps from where we were. Even with my glasses, I could probably hit some of them. I glance over to the row of giant teddy bears dangling from the tent, lined up in colours from blue, yellow, green, orange, and red. Just below them was a table of small prizes, shall someone were to score less than five bottles. There was a key chain, stickers, vouchers, and so on. I kept looking back and forth at the prizes and tried them.

I got us tickets just for this game because I don't think we're planning to stay long. With the tickets handed and the toy gun loaded, I held the gun and aimed it at the bottles. It felt like I'm in an action movie where the protagonist aims the weapon, waits for a moment of montage, and then fires the bullet.

Not me, though. When I felt my aim was on point, I fired, and the plastic bullet knocked down four bottles out of ten. It was a victorious moment, and I had two more shots to go, hoping I'll knock them all and win myself a red teddy bear.

I spoke too soon as I didn't get any bottles knocked down from my last few tries. My final score was four, and I won a padlock set containing two locks and a market. Some kind of prize, huh? It's like handing out toothpaste on trick or treats night.

On the bright side, I've also won a silver dolphin wristband. It's not genuine leather, but the pendant is stainless steel, which is more than perfect.

"Your turn, dude!" I pat his shoulders, to which he shot a threatening look. I pulled my hand back, and he removed his eyes from mine, walking up to the counter. I guess he doesn't like being touched, and I'll find out why someday. "You can do it!"

As the employee began explaining the rules, Daniel picked up the toy gun with just one hand and instantly knocked all the bottles down with one fire. I was baffled, and so was the employee who looked as if he would run for the hills.

Well, what do you expect from the Red Demon, who literally uses real guns when he hunts?

It takes all ten bottles to be knocked down to receive the giant teddy bear. Since Daniel got it on his first try, he didn't want to continue with his other two turns, to which he gave them to a little girl standing beside him, admiring his phenomenal action that just took place.

"W-What colour do y-you prefer, sir?" The employee's voice was shaky as he stepped back and gestured towards the row of bears.

Daniel turned around to face me. "What colour would you like?" He asked.

"R-Red," I, too, apparently.

"Got it," the employee unhooks the bear and hands it to Daniel as he turns around and holds it out towards me. "I hope you feel accomplished in a way even though you didn't knock down all the bottles."

"Thank you," I held the bear in my arms. Its soft hair feels nice on my skin as it glitters under the sun, and the strong chemical aroma meant it was still new. The bear had an adorable smile that made me want to keep him. "And yes, yes I do."

I didn't accomplish getting the bear myself, but I accomplished something. I accomplished my mission of becoming friends with my kidnapper. And for that, I shall name this bear Danny.

Danny, the Red Bear.

Huh, that sounds interesting.

"And this is for you," I held out the dolphin wristband. "It isn't much, but at least now we have something from each other to keep."

"Thanks," he picked it from my palm. His slender fingers felt rough when they brushed against my skin. He studied the dolphin pendant as if it was a magical orb before closing his palm and returning them to his jacket pocket. "I like dolphins."

"You're welcome," I flashed a genuine smile before carrying the bear in my arms and continued strolling the carnival streets.

I don't know where we were heading before, but now, I know exactly what I want to do next, eying the familiar bridge up ahead.