La Petit Mort

6

"And Iiiiiieeeeeeeiiiiiiiii, will always loveeeeeeeeee youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Kaveh screamed into the mic. Everyone cringed except for Alhaitham who had his noise-canceling headphones on before they even walked in. 

"Oh, my score is better than I thought," Kaveh grinned at Alhaitham. 

"You're doing wonderful, honey," Alhaitham turned the page in his book. 

"Shut up, I know you're not listening," Kaveh pouted. 

"Haaah," Baizhu sighed, downing another drink. "Say, what would you do if you thought your neighbor was a serial killer?" he asked Scaramouche. Actually, he was just talking to himself but Scaramouche was the one who answered. 

"Serial kill him right back," Scaramouche swirled his drink. 

"He is lying. He would just call the police," Kazuha corrected. 

"Hey," Kaveh sat down a little too close to Baizhu. "Did you always have this black streak?" He reached out and grabbed the few strands of hair, so Baizhu could see.

"What?" Baizhu stared, grabbing the hair from Kaveh. "No..." 

"I think it's cute!" Kaveh grinned. 

"Thanks?" Baizhu looked at the strands of dark hair. He was reminded, yet again, of that woman. Does this mean he is slowly turning into his neighbor's type? 

"I'm going to get murdered," Baizhu sobbed. Tears formed at the edge of his eyes and kept forming. Snot dripped down his face as his shoulders shook. 

"Hey, hey, hey, what's this about now?" Kaveh placed his hand on Baizhu's shoulder. 

"I got sick and ended up in the hospital," he continued sobbing. "But actually..." Baizhu stopped. His head hurt and he didn't want to get his friends involved with a killer. 

"Your neighbor is a killer?" Scaramouche snorted which earned him a slap on the head from Xiao. Baizhu's face grew paler and he stood up. He left the karaoke room and walked. He didn't know where he was going but his head felt woozy. 

"I'm...I'm going to get an Uber," Baizhu mumbled and grabbed his phone. There shouldn't be anything else in that room of his. 

"Hey, uhm, Baizhu?" Scaramouche appeared behind him to hand him what he'd left behind. It wasn't anything special. Just a jacket he'd forgotten about. "I'm sorry about what I said. Do you, uh, need help getting to your Uber?" 

"Yeah, thanks," Baizhu grabbed his jacket and accepted the extra hand down to the Uber. He got inside and watched Scaramouche walk back into the building. 

"Going home then, sweetheart?" 

Baizhu froze, feeling every inch of his hair stand on end. He saw him, didn't he? Fuck. If anything happens to Scaramouche now it'll be his fault. He saw him... He saw him!

"Well?" Dottore adjusted his rearview mirror, smiling at Baizhu. 

"Uhm, yeah, thanks," Baizhu grabbed the strands of his hair that turned black and toyed with them as the car moved. His body screamed for him to get out of the car but he just couldn't do it. He had to have been acting suspiciously. Dottore was going to have him on his radar. 

"Are you okay back there?" 

"I think I had too much to drink," Baizhu held his head. "I shouldn't have let them convince me. I need to study." 

"Med school, right? I can help you." 

"What?" 

"What? Do you think I stream for fun? Loans, sweetheart, loans," Dottore laughed. "I'm a surgeon." 

"What?!" Baizhu's voice raised three pitches. 

"What?" Dottore glanced in the mirror, adjusting his hands on the wheel. 

"No, I uhm... I just... wasn't expecting that." 

"It was just an offer. Feel free to refuse." 

"Thanks, I think I'll take you up on the offer." Baizhu hated that he agreed. He should've refused. He should've... but who else was going to help him study?