RUN

"Only thing I can do is run..." / "어차피 이것밖에 난 못해"

    He looked around. Not a single person, not a single sound. He closed his eyes. This is not happening. Yukio could handle getting arrested. His dad won't be happy about it, to say the less, but he would figure things out. If Masaki ever got arrested... It was another story. Masaki's parents were rich, and kind of famous. They're reputation was very important to them. They had to be the perfect family everyone admires. If their oldest son got arrested for painting on the walls of some random street... This wouldn't go with their scenario. Not to mention how guilty Yukio would feel. Because, it was his idea of course. Masaki would never have done this on his own.
    "Fuck..." he swore, taking out another cigarette. He looked at the flame lighting the tip of his cigarette with a crackling sound and pulled his hair back in an nervous gesture. He checked the clock one last time. Masaki should have been here since almost ten minutes. Something was wrong. Should he call him ? Or would he make things worse ? He kept looking at Masaki's name on his phone screen, his trembling finger hanging right above it, ready to press it and call him.
    That's when he heard it. The steps. He turned his head to the right, so fast he could have break his neck. Someone was running toward him. He bent one of his leg, ready to get up and run. He squinted his eyes to see better. His heart had started beating fast again. But there was no doubt, it was Masaki's silver necklace around that person's neck. He knew it, because he was the one who gifted it to him, for the first birthday they had spent together, two years ago. Two second before his friend reached his side, Yukio extended his leg with a malicious smile. He was so happy, he could jump out of happiness. Masaki tripped over his leg and almost fell. He glanced over his shoulder with dark eyes.
    "Are you stupid ?" He asked with a hard tone.
    "What the hell took you so long ?" Replied Yukio, ignoring his friend remark.
    "Were you worried ?" Asked Masaki with a fake innocent smile. Yukio never felt as worried as the past ten minutes but he would never admit it. He laughed like it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard.
    "You know I wasn't." He replied. Masaki sat down next to him in silence, he glanced over the cigarette. A second later, it was crushed on the floor. Yukio still rolled his eyes to pretend he was annoyed.
    "That man was running fast." Masaki answered finally, his voice got back to its soft tone. "I tr..."
    "You got hurt !" Yukio was glancing at Masaki's bloody knee. Masaki nodded with a thin smile, like it was something funny. His pants were holed. "We're going home." Yukio said, already getting on his feet. He turned to offer his hand to Masaki and help him get up but his friend was already on his feet. Yukio started walking.

    Masaki always walked five feet behind Yukio. He had that happy go lucky step that just fitted perfectly his character. Every time Yukio glanced over his shoulder to make sure Masaki was still here, he could see the hint of a smile that was printed on his lips all the time. It was not that Masaki was happy, Yukio could actually say he was thinking hard, it's just that his resting face was naturally welcoming. Masaki was a little taller than Yukio, and a lot thinner. Sometimes Yukio envied his friend's body, it was very well proportioned. Masaki was not very muscular, he was actually skinny, but he had large shoulders and a thin waist. And his hair was a lot softer than Yukio's. Probably because they didn't use the same shampoo brand.
    Masaki was not the quiet type. Actually, most of the time, Yukio thought he talked too much and that he would be nice if he could just be quiet sometime. But Masaki hadn't say a word since they left the park and now he was starting to wonder if his friend was not upset about earlier. Not only did he get chased but he also got hurt because of him. Yukio felt his throat tighten thinking about Masaki's injury, he felt very guilty about it. He needed to take care of it as fast as he could. He unconsciously hurried his step.
    "We're not doing this ever again." Warned Masaki all of a sudden. So Yukio was right, Masaki had a lot on his mind since the beginning of the walk. At least, he was not mad enough to stop talking to him. And the warning was useless. There was no way Yukio brought Masaki into such a situation ever again.
    "I know." He answered simply before turning in the metro station. Masaki badged his card and Yukio noticed he had paint on his fingers. This wouldn't do. Everybody was going to wonder why a high school student had paint on his finger so late in the night. They had less than thirty minutes to get back home before the curfew or they would seriously get in trouble. Yukio took off his jacket and handed it to Masaki who looked at it for a few seconds, visibly confused. Yukio let it drop in his friend's arm before getting in the metro that had just stopped in front of them. They sat down, Masaki took the window seat and let his head rest against it. Yukio looked at him for a few seconds. His eyes were getting heavy.
    "You tired ?" He whispered in his ear, not to bother anyone. It was enough to make Masaki flinch. He nodded and closed his eyes again. A few seconds later, his head rolled back. Yukio thought they should have come back home earlier. He looked over Masaki's knee again, then his hands. He had tucked his fingers in the sleeve of Yukio's jacket which was somehow very cute.
    Yukio checked his phone. He had finally received a reply from his dad : "alright" was all he would get after telling him Masaki's was sleeping over tonight. It had happened often over the past two years, and he knew his dad didn't mind but he still wanted to tell him every time it happened. His dad would get home after they fall asleep anyways.