Once Can is done washing because of stupid Tin pouring him a green slime which Can still thinks is so cliché, he nervously goes to Pete's house.
Pete and Tin are rich, just based on the look of the front house. It looks more of a mansion than a house, for real. They even have a fountain in the middle, Can's eyes almost bulge out.
The front door is what amazes him the most, on its sides are Corinthian columns... or are those Ionic? Can's not entirely sure but they are adorned with only what Can assumes ornaments they imported from Western countries looking more of those columns Can sees in Arch of Constantine.
No wonder Tin acts like a king. But still, how come Pete still be humble?
Bracing himself up in front of the door, he wishes not to see Tin. Can thinks it's possible because well, inside their big spacious mansion, what is the possibility of them meeting up? Definitely close to zero-
"Hey."
Speak of the devil.
Can rolls his eyes. Fate. Really.
Just as he's talking about the last person he wants to see, there, opening the door is none other than Tin himself, smiling at him like a Cheshire cat.
"Why are you looking very... green?" Tin asks, still smirking.
"Haha. Pun. Really? Can't you think of a more unique tactic?"
If Tin is gonna do shits to him, Can isn't going to back down.
"Oh. It's just the start, you know, a welcome party for you to know that I'm going to torment you until the end."
Or he is going to back down. Soon. Very soon. Like right now. Immediately.
Can gulps and regrets ever challenging this guy because Tin's grin makes him look like he's Satan's descendant. Can realizes something's wrong with his mouth, really.
"I-i-"
Just as he is about to say sorry, Pete comes out of nowhere. Can has the urge to hug him for saving him.
Gone are the thick glasses, he's now wearing contact lenses. He looks cuter.
"Hey Can! Come on in." Pete smiles at him then frowns at his half-brother. "Tin, can you not block the door?"
Tin rolls his eyes at Pete and grumbles, "Whatever. Just don't you go inside my room."
"There's nothing exciting in your room. Also, don't scare my friend away. Come here, Can."
Pete pulls him inside their mansion. Can looks around and almost faints, it's more beautiful inside.
"He's the one annoying me in the first place."
"Everyone annoys you."
Tin shrugs and looks like he's about to leave them but he faces them back.
"Oh yeah Ae-"
There it is again. Something about Ae makes Pete frown and turns poker-faced.
"I don't care."
"I was just saying that he's going to visit me so don't disturb me."
"Oh, we won't. We definitely won't. Come here now, Can."
Pete pulls him upstairs to his room. His room is adorned with bright colors. Can assumes Tin's room is dark, like his soul.
"Don't worry about Tin. He's usually that annoying. He scares everyone without doing anything."
Can nods and smiles nervously. "Yeah, it's okay."
"Oh and don't let him torment you, fight if you have to."
How very timely.
"I'm not sure I can."
"Of course you can. I know you're not the one to just easily give up."
Can just nods and they start talking about their pair project.
/
An hour of talking makes the two of them parched so Pete excuses himself to make them snacks.
When the door opens one minute after, Can looks at the door, surprised. Pete sure is fast.
"Oh, you're here-"
Whatever he has to say is cut off when he sees Tin instead, leaning on the door frame. Honestly? Whatever happens to 'Don't go inside my room'? Does that not apply to Tin?
Practice what you preach, bitch? Tin doesn't know that phrase, does he?
Pete's right. If Can wants Tin breathing away from his neck, he has to fight back or Tin may well do everything he wants to him because Tin might see him as a weakling and Can is not that.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you're fighting back again? Pete says something?"
"I asked you, what are you doing here?"
Tin shrugs. "This is my house."
"Yeah. But not your room."
Tin walks near Can and sits on the bed.
"Touché. I just want to inform someone about my plan for tomorrow. Does fake blood sound good to you?"
"What the hell? What are you trying to recreate? Carrie? You're so obsessed with movies."
"Then I'll think of another thing. In the meantime, it's a surprise."
Can rolls his eyes and with a voice laced with full of sarcasm, he responds. "Oh, I'm so honored, I'm so excited"
Tin's smirk widens.
Can grits his teeth. "Are you serious? What are you, a high school bully? What are you trying to accomplish here?"
"Just wanting to get revenge because you took something away from me."
"What?"
"My reputation."
"You're going Taylor Swift now? The hell are you talking about?! The people there hardly even cared."
"My friends did and now they are teasing me and I know some of the people there did too. Fuck, what if they took a video?" Tin glares at Can.
"If they did, it should've spread the moment it happened but nothing happened, right? Nada. And don't torment me just because your friends are idiots."
"But it wouldn't happen if you had not poured your food on me. Are you blind, ha?!"
"It's an accident. Do you know what that means? It means unintentional. It means I didn't want to do it."
"Just admit that you want to fight with me and now you succeeded. I won't let you leave until you regret doing it."
Can wants to hold his collar, you know, just to let Tin know that he's not intimidated. But surprise surprise, his laces are unlaced and therefore, throws himself at Tin who on the other hand opens his arms in reflex and catches Can who falls down on his broad chest.
Tin groans when Can bumps his head on his nose. "Shit."
Can pushes himself away but because his arms are placed on the wrong positions and therefore not sturdy enough to push himself up, he falls down on Tin again with more force and a louder thud.
"Fuck you, Can."
"Sorry."
Wait. Did Can tell Tin his name?
Can looks up and finds Tin staring down at him also.
And of course, since Can's life is so cliché, when they are staring (Can insists looking) at each other's eyes, Pete comes in. Surprised does not even come close to describe what look Pete has at that moment.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
Can immediately pulls himself away from Tin. Tin, on the other hand, looks very out of character. He briefly looks at Can and leaves. Can thinks he sees Tin's nose bleeding but he's not sure.
Pete immediately pulls Can to sit on the bed and smiles excitedly at him. "What was that?"
"What? Nothing happened."
"Yet. Wait, are you and my brother in a relationship?"
"Of course not!"
Where did Pete even get the idea? He saw them on that comprising position and now they're together? It doesn't make sense!
"So, it's a secret relationship and I accidentally found it?"
Secret relationship when Can just met Tin today? Right.
"What? No! I told you, it's nothing."
"It doesn't look nothing to me." Pete's eyes suddenly widen and he snaps his fingers. "That's why he's so excited when he learned a while ago that you're coming here."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, he asked for your name and he has this smile on his face. I think he likes you."
"Pete, what are you saying?! Of course not. He just wanted to torment me."
"That's true but Tin's not like that. If he's played with someone for once, then he'd drop them immediately. Say, did he do something to you?"
"Like what?"
"Like bullying you? Like pouring something on you, specifically green slime. That's his signature move-"
"Just how many people he bullied?"
"Tin's not a bully. It was his revenge on those people who had crossed him. Like, you know, instead of punching them square in the face and killing them, he's resorted to embarrassing them instead,"
Pete moves to the chair across Can. "Honestly, I don't know what's worse but Tin means no harm, he's all cold outside but he's a big softy inside. You just have to warm your way through his heart. But yeah, back to the green slime move, there was one time I saw him literally stacking his closet with jars of green slime-"
"What the hell?!" Can laughs hard, he can't imagine the look on Tin's face being caught by Pete doing that ridiculous thing.
"I know right? I was laughing all day and he was grumbling beside me. I swear, it's so funny. I mean, who does that? Tin's such an old school."
"Yeah. He is."
"But what I'm really saying is if he does that to you, then you're free to go. But if he continues tormenting you, then there must be something different with you."
"Yeah. Like he wanted to kill me, maybe."
"Why? What did he say a while ago, anyway? Why was he here?"
"Nothing." Can decides not to tell Pete what Tin told him afraid that Pete might misunderstand it again.
"Okay. If you need my help, I'm always free."
/
All throughout the day, Can doesn't see Tin again. He must've been in his room with Ae. Can ponders on Pete's words a while ago. Is it true? Tin sees him differently? Well, maybe it's because those people didn't embarrass Tin unlike Can who broke Tin's 'reputation'.
But what breaking his reputation was he saying? Only his friends and some of the people at the cafeteria that time knew and Can's sure it won't spread, he's sure no one had even captured that scene because it should've spread immediately, guessing from Tin's 'image' but no... It didn't, right?
So yes, Can's 100% sure that that embarrassing scene will be nothing but a myth. Hearsay without proof.
Right?
Wrong.
Because morning the next day while Can is walking in the hallway, he notices that the people beside him are whispering while obviously looking at him. Some even have the audacity to point at him.
Can feels his heart beating fast. He's sure something's wrong.
Yes, there is something wrong.
Because at the end of the hallway stands Tin, with his friends, glaring at him hard. In his hand is his phone, on the screen, the scene where Can accidentally poured Tin his leftover is playing. It's so high-definition just put music on it, it will look like a music video.
Can internally curses. Honestly, what's wrong with people creating a problem at night so that it can be the talk of the town at the morning? Is that an unspoken rule? To upload an embarrassing video at night?
He should've guessed that his life is getting more cliché than it already is.
//