Gun lowered his head and moved to the rear of the clownfish tank. His unfinished happiness shattered and plummeted to the ground. Right now, he just wished he could turn into a little fish that could only swim around, ending his suffering from this reality.
Gun knew that Tinn would never be ashamed of dating him, but deep down, Gun felt guilty that he had indirectly prevented Tinn from participating in the election, and now could still carry his cheering face to the aquarium with Tinn as if nothing had happened.
It's shameless.
It wasn't that those whispering words could easily affect Gun's thoughts and moods, but rather, it aroused the unease that had always lingered in his heart.
No matter what the circumstances, Tinn is always the one who stands behind him silently supporting everything for him. He was always like a little fish sheltered under the strong shoulders of the majestic coral reef.
Gun didn't want to cry, but he felt frustrated and angry, the tile floor under the soles of his shoes kept being obscured by tears of regret in his eye sockets.
Tinn's beautiful fingers lifted his chin slightly, letting him face him. Gun clenched his teeth and acted as calm as possible.
Tinn studied his face for a moment, his warm hand gently squeezing Gun's cheeks, making his lips pout like a fish about to release a bubble.
"How lucky," Tinn mused.
He squeezed the rosy cheeks gently once, letting the soft flesh spill between his fingers, smooth as melted butter.
"How lucky you're not a fish." Tinn's fingertips quickly blocked the tears that were forming at the corners of Gun's eyes. "Otherwise I wouldn't know when you were crying."
Tinn doesn't want Gun to be a fish, doesn't want his tears to quietly melt into the cold sea.
Gun's tears, whether happy or sad, will have to be wiped away and comforted by him. His joys and sorrows, forever treasures in Tinn's museum of emotions.
"I want to be a shark." Gun's plump pink lips moved when his cheeks were still squeezed, so cute that Tinn had to laugh.
"Sharks, they may bite you"
Tinn slightly relaxed his hand while squeezing Gun's cheek to gently caress and comfort his soft cotton cheeks, then took the opportunity to place a quick kiss on his lips like lightning.
"But I like you, no bite"
Gun's eyes widened in shock. Did Tinn just... kiss him?
"Tinnnnnnn"
"What" Tinn pretended to exclaim "I can't kiss you?"
Gun laughed at Tinn's childishness. Basically, it's not a kiss, it's obviously just a touch. A quick touch.
"So you're happy now" Tinn smiled, pulled Gun closer to him, and leaned down to whisper in his ear "It's our date, just focus on me, alright?"
Gun nodded, and Tinn dragged him to the next ocean.
_______
Sound felt his head throbbing. He seemed to have fainted and woke up again with Win's screams mixed with cursing from afar.
A torrent of cold water rushed over his head.
Sound stroked his face and coughed.
"Wake up? I thought you were dead."
Hall threw the bucket in his hand and Sound's body caught him off guard. The plastic bucket hit his chest wall and rolled to the side.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Sound spat out a mouthful of water, slamming his hands on the ground and crawling up.
Hall tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground with an annoying clatter. He is like a wild animal just waiting for its prey to fall into a trap. Outside, the sound of fighting still resounded incessantly, accompanied by Win's screams.
This guy is really stubborn. Sound sighed.
Sound staggered against the wall, shaking his aching neck joints. He calculated, maybe it's long past the contest time, he didn't know if the contest organizers were looking for the MC or just ignored it. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it was probably only for a short while, because Win still seemed to have enough strength to withstand Illus' blows and even fought back.
And he himself was now dragged inside the restroom by Hall and poured a bucket of freezing cold water. If he guessed correctly, he would definitely have to deal with everything with Hall here today.
Faced with Sound's wistful gaze, Hall did not flinch.
"You're looking at me like that makes me hard." He spitted out a disgusting sentence.
Sound seemed to be used to the sex jokes of this maniac, he reached into his pocket to find his phone, intending to call for help from his bodyguards.
"Finding this?" Hall's hand waved Sound's phone in his hand, then gently lifted it up, releasing each finger.
The phone fell to the ground, was trampled by the toe of Hall's shoe, and then kicked away, crashing into the corner of the wall and smashing.
"You want to completely settle the matter between us here, right?"
Hall seemed to read the thoughts inside the Sound. He asked scowling, not seeming to wait for an answer from the other one.
Sound silently listened to the movement from outside. Win's screams were getting weaker, at this rate the two of them might both die here before anyone could find them. Sound has been learning karate since childhood, but such a methodical martial art cannot be applied to these street thugs.
What's more, now he still has to carry his bleeding neck to face two ferocious guys with the task of saving one more stubborn guy out there.
Impossible.
"You can't beat me, brat."
Until now, there was always only Hall monologue, Sound silently watched his every move.
Sound knows Hall is a madman, and madmen are better than thugs in that we can sometimes negotiate with them, insanely.
Hall watched Sound's pale face, guessing that he was firmly in control of the victory. He unzipped his pants, waved his cock uncovered by the underwear in front of Sound's eyes, commanding loudly.
"Suck my dick. And I'll let you and your friends go."
It seems that negotiating with people like this is hitting yourself in the foot with a hammer.
Sound cleared his throat and sneered, glancing at him with disdainful eyes.
"Where? I can't see it. Are you sure that you have one?"
Hall rushed to grab the arrogant man's collar. Until now, he had always hated that gaze. The gaze of a superior was looking down at the worms trampled in the stinking mud. He hated the smug gaze of a prince that had soaked into this brat's flesh and blood.
Why do you have it all? From money, beauty, to even talent.
He hated the eager, admiring gazes of every audience listening to their band's performance, whose gazes would always be directed at Sound. Even if the prince stood in the swamp, he would shine like a god, and people like Illus would be like a bunch of disgusting insects that would stain their prince.
Sound smacked him in the stomach, but his rage won. If there was only one thing he had that could win the prince, it was this fist.
He jumped up and kicked the prince in the stomach, sending him staggered into a doorway.
The prince will eventually have to fall.
Sound felt his stomach rumbling painfully, he tried to rummage around to find something to cling to as support to slowly get up. Because he knew, in a battle, if someone couldn't get up, that person would surely die.
Hall watched in silence as the prince struggled to get up, like a butcher guarding cattle before slaughter.
He followed Sound with deep dark soulless eyes, looking at those beautiful, slender knuckles clinging to the door slit. That hand was now covered in mud, mixed with a few red scratches. However, all those dirty impurities still cannot cover the wings of deity.
That hand danced on each guitar string or piano key, gliding like a wave, attracting all the gazes of sentient beings.
Hall knew, by breaking the deity's wings, the prince would no longer dwell in the beautiful magic called music. The noble prince of humanity will have to rot like a decomposing corpse, letting the maggots flock to nibble his bones.
There will be no more musical princes in this world.
He laughed again and again, growling every word, there would be no more musical princes in this world. With every word he uttered, he slammed the door shut, like the sound of a guillotine slamming down on a cattle, and like the throbbing rhythm of a vibrant symphony.
He kept repeating his movements, until he was satisfied. He turned to leave, letting the red blood flow continuously to the floor.
At the door wall, the prince's hand, the deity's wings, were crushed in a sea of naked flesh and blood, white bones peeking out in awe-inspiring desolation.
_______
Gun held in his hand a bag of snacks in rapture that Tinn had just bought him. They slowly entered the theater and found themselves a seat in the farthest corner. The aquarium's special theater, where the main screen is a giant fish tank, where the trainers - mermaids will perform with their pets. Sometimes they will perform a circus under the sea, sometimes they will tell a story by a certain play.
Gun watched intently, dropping his soul into every movement of the glittering fish.
Today's story is about a beautiful and intelligent dolphin, chosen to go ashore and become the lord of all species. But the dolphin voluntarily gave up this opportunity, to stay with its beloved sea.
"That dolphin is so sublime."
Gun admired. Although he was not a child anymore, he still followed this performance with as much enthusiasm as children, to the point that he forgot to open his snacks. As a knight sitting next to him kept feeding him snacks from beginning to end of the performance, all he needed to do was just open his mouth and say "aaa".
"You really like the play, don't you? We can go see more together later." Tinn wiped the corner of Gun's snack-stained mouth.
Gun doesn't like empty promises, but Tinn's promise, though as light as a seed, is meticulously planted in his little garden, and it will surely sprout.
Gun suddenly thought of the bright eyes of that dolphin when it was jumping on the water. Perhaps then, it had seen the magnificence and sparkle of the ashore world. But in the end, it still chose to stay at the ocean, without regrets.
Did Tinn regret not being able to become school president?
"Tinn" Gun turned to Tinn, whispering mildly, he didn't want to disrupt the experience of the other spectators around.
"Yes, baby?" Tinn sat closer to him and bent his head slightly to hear him speak.
Gun's whole body stiffened not because of Tinn's touch, but because the words came out very softly from Tinn's mouth, as if he had just said it unconsciously without any intention of teasing him.
Gun sat in a seat right next to the corner, so Tinn's closeness was like creating a small cage for him.
Gun suffocated in front of Tinn's chest, but silently enjoyed this feeling of protection.
"Gun?" Tinn patted Gun on his cheek reminding him to get out of his daydream, but in return gets hit on the shoulder hatefully by Gun.
"Your hands are not clean. Why are you touching my face?" Gun glared at him.
"No, it's the other hand." Tinn waved his hand and explained with pitiful eyes. "Now you hate me already?"
Gun was helpless, so he patted Tinn's cheeks to make up.
"I'm not. Sorry, b-" He added, trying to make his voice as normal as possible "B-Baby."
At times, Tinn is still silly and cute. It is the thing making Gun feel that he is not too distant or noble to be touched.
"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Tinn seemed to be able to read his mind, continuing to drag the conversation back to the topic.
Gun looked at him silently. There were countless different voices in his head, creating a chaotic array of sounds.
What's that?
Who's talking?
No...
Who's crying?
The sounds were so noisy that they gradually turned into ringing bells, and then gradually quieted down again.
Gun felt his mind fall into an endless void.