At the small plaza, a big loop circled the different courts and rinks. It wasn’t a planned path but one that people had made over time, repeatedly walking around the place. The path was organic and uneven, unfit for running. Once in a while, however, some dauntless joggers – moderate in numbers but not in determination – ignored the possibility of a sprained ankle and took on the adventure.
Sae decided to meet Shum Deil for a run on this route.
“Meet me at the small plaza on Monday after school,” he had told Deil after their track practice.
Now, he arrived at the small plaza an hour early, sat cross-legged at the side of a court and thought about some problems.
Following his previous conversation with Deil about personal reading habits, Sae doubted that Deil did any kind of revision, but that didn’t mean he was the same. After all, they were officially in the countdown for midterms.
He took a piece of paper, held it to the asphalt with his right hand and scribbled down key points and partial results.
“According to Kepler's laws of planetary motion,” Sae muttered while writing down a few things. There was a question he couldn’t get right. It had two parts, one in correlation to the other.
Sae already had all the data and knew what formula to use. He knew all the steps to get the solution, ready to calculate it in his head, and still, in the end, he couldn’t get it right.
He had to find the point where he previously slipped up. “The centripetal force… mass’ ratio to Earth’ equals 317.83… given the condition that...”
“You misplaced a dot,” a voice said over his shoulder, followed by a long finger pointing at a part of the formula on the paper. “What is this kitten scratch? Are those even numbers or what?”
Sae turned to look at Shum Deil crouching beside him.
“Here.” Shum Deil pointed at the paper, “That’s one point forty-four multiplied by one hundred and six, not fourteen point four multiplied by one hundred and six.”
“I wrote one point forty-four, though,” Sae said.
“But then, at a glance, you read it as fourteen point four and calculated with that number. Pay a little more attention to your handwriting. Form nice and round numbers,” Shum Deil advised.
Sae frowned. What about your handwriting? Let’s not pretend that mess is legible, okay?
He cleared his throat and listened.
“Also, if you swap these two and calculate it first...” Deil took the pen out of Sae’s hand and crossed out one of the equations. “You can leave this part out.” He wrote on the paper, calculating the same question with two steps less than what Sae thought was required.
“Here, it’s much more effective this way.” Deil circled the answer and put the pen down next to Sae’s hand before looking up.
The two of them locked eyes.
“...Are you angry at me for helping out?” Deil asked, his tone uncertain.
“I’m not that petty,” Sae answered after a moment. His eyes roamed over the small, round numbers on the paper. They were pretty legible, curvy and neat looking.
“Thanks.” Sae memorised the way Deil solved this question before rolling the piece of paper into a ball, getting up, and throwing it into a nearby trash can.
Deil, who got thanked, then saw his help getting trashed in the same breath: “….”
His expression basically screamed, No, but is that the proper way to show gratitude?
Sae stepped close to Deil. “Where to?”
It was five in the afternoon. Sae had time until six twenty when he had to go and find a computer to buy concert tickets. At home, more revision awaited him. He had always been efficient, and time was crucial.
Deil had changed before coming here and now wore training clothes. After Sae got rid of the paper and put away his pen, he had nothing on him except a belt bag strapped over his chest. Essentially, they were good to go.
Sae started doing warm-up exercises, but Deil grabbed his wrist, pulling him back to stand still. “How do you usually run?”
Sae looked up, a bit perplexed. Since when had Deil been so particular about things?
“I usually warm up a little, jog some, then run fifteen hundred metres. Sometimes I take a break, eat something or sit down and revise things. If I feel good, I run fifteen hundred metres again.”
“How many rounds do you do?”
“Of this? In total?” Sae thought about it. “Two or three, nothing serious.”
He was obviously taking it quite seriously.
Deil looked him over. “Do you time yourself?”
“Yes?”
“Cooldown before going home?”
“I usually walk the way back.”
Sae thought he had a pretty decent plan. He considered how to avoid getting injured or overworking himself. He wasn’t out every day running those laps over and over again, only three or four times a week. Even this much effort showed progress. When they had trained together, Deil could see it after one lap around the track.
“When I said I could help you,” Deil said as he started his warm-up. “I really meant it.”
“Okay,” Sae agreed.
Deil jogged backwards. “Let’s go for now, and we’ll talk more after warming up.”
Sae was unaccustomed to things like this. Usually if there was an issue, a need for advice or help, even though he wasn’t the best at it, he was the one giving it. When he had a problem, that was entirely his private matter. His friends seldom knew of his struggles, and Sae never told others. He was used to this way of getting things done. The only person who could baby or pamper him was his mother. Even when he broke his arm, it was uncomfortable how much help he got, although he didn’t seem to need any of it.
So then, what was he doing letting Shum Deil, of all people, train with him purely for noticing that he was bad at pacing himself in long-distance runs?
It was rather funny. Wasn’t Shum Deil a person who usually sat by, not minding anything around him? Or maybe that was only true if the things around him didn’t hold any interest in his mind.
While they ran, Sae asked Shum Deil questions. He wanted to know what the other got out of this.
“How can you talk right now?” Shum Deil asked, fed up after only ten minutes. They were almost at the last leg of the 1500-metre distance, just passing the curve in the path. “We’re in a race...”
“So,” Sae pressed out between breaths, hell-bent on keeping up, “You think of this as a competition?”
Was that a type of incentive for him?
“No,” Shum Deil replied. “The one you’re up against isn’t me. It’s yourself.”
They came out of the curve, and Shum Deil furthered the gap between them. Seeing this, Sae accelerated sharply, the wind beating at his face.
In the end, they passed the makeshift finish line at the same time.
“Walk with me,” Shum Deil said and kept on going. “Have you thought about what we’re doing now?”
Sae looked around before answering. “Is that a trick question?”
“Just answer with the first thing that comes to mind,” Shum Deil told him. His breathing was short, but his expression didn’t change.
“You’re conditioning me to the best pace for the fifteen-hundred metres?” Sae asked.
Shum Deil nodded. “That’s right. But don’t forget this is the best pace against me, as I’m the only opponent you have here right now.”
Sae gave an appreciative look. “You almost sound like you know what you’re talking about.”
“Would Emi believe it?” Shum Deil asked.
“Not a chance.” Sae let out a little laugh. “I've told her a long time ago what to do if she meets a scammer.”
“Realistically speaking,” Shum Deil said as he slowed down. “I’m not asking for anything with this.”
“Yet.” Sae slowed as well. They almost stopped and turned to face each other. “A good scammer knows when to snare, hook and catch. So...”
Shum Deil appeared to be taken aback. “Why do I feel like you weirdly know a lot about this?”
Sae was quiet for a while. “Personal experience?” At the other boy’s dumbfounded look, he clarified, “You can get scammed out of a lot of things, not just money.”
Like a naive five-year-old kid, constantly getting beguiled by a father’s empty promises only to be put off time and time again.
“You’re right.” Deil saw Sae’s withdrawal, so let it go. He plopped down on the grass.
Sae knew his tone was too nonchalant. He was unsure if Deil noticed it or not, right up until Deil opened his mouth to say, “So you already had a tragic heartbreak. That’s quite unexpected.”
“Piss off,” Sae said, but he was laughing. It was nice, Deil giving him an easy way out.
Sae sat down. The grass underneath him was dry and warm; it hadn’t been raining for weeks. They sat at the edge of the green area, calming their breaths. Sae moved his arms and leaned back, kicking his legs out. He looked at Deil with an easy expression. “You won’t study for the exams?”
“Define studying,” Deil said.
“You’re a tutor. Why do I have to define what studying is? Just answer the question.”
“I wanted to know what studying is to you,” Deil said, “Previously, you said you got bored with revising, but what else do you do?”
“Solving questions. Doing practice papers...” Sae wasn’t sure why he had to explain these things.
“Like the one you just did?” Deil pointed in the general direction of the trash can. “There wasn’t a practice paper in sight.”
Sae was quiet for a few seconds. “I did that one from memory.”
“You memorise entire questions?” Deil sounded sceptical but thought about it. “Is that why you threw that paper out? I wrote down the process of solving it in the most efficient and practical way, and then you trashed it.”
Sae reached out to touch the side of his head. “Doesn’t mean I don’t remember it.”
“Nice!” Deil gave him a thumbs up. “What else?”
“Reading a lot, memorising books,” Sae replied. “Revising things I’m not sure about.”
“You memorise whole books?” Deil whistled, followed by a sigh. “Sure enough, honour students are something else.”
Sae became more and more unsure about the way a test paper god’s mind operated. He turned this string of questions around. “I replied, but you still haven’t answered. Won’t you study for the exams? I don’t believe you have test papers of that quality without any preparation.”
Sae had seen a few of Deil’s test papers, even if those were only his English exams. This boy barely got anything wrong, and if there was a deduction, it was for his illegible handwriting. Sae guessed the teachers had to slip into their palaeographer persona when grading Shum Deil’s papers. Short answers were easy to decipher, but the essay questions… If it was him, he’d too deduct points for the headache that kind of visual assault caused.
“If I say I’m mostly lucky, would you believe it?” Deil kept on grinning. He knocked Sae's knee with his own. “I don’t open course books or sit down and revise, but I do whatever else you said. I’m not a god, of course I have to put in some work. Doing practice papers, memorising shit… It’s all up to my mood. My grandmother always says I’m smart, so let’s not force things that won’t happen.”
“Does she mean that as advice on how to study, though?” Sae asked.
Deil gave a soft snort. “Either way, the point is that I can take any exam.”
Sae squinted. “You are quite obnoxious, pelting out lines like that.”
It wasn’t that obnoxious because Deil was right. He turned to Sae and smiled.
A quarter past six, Sae got up, dusting off his bum. He knew it was time to go because he made an alarm on his phone in case he missed the time to stop training. “Is this enough for the first time? I have to go now.”
“Oh?” Deil stood up, surprised. “Going home already?”
“No,” Sae shook his head. “I have to go buy tickets for a concert. It’s starting at seven, and I still have to get to the PC room.”
“Is it just you? How popular is the artist you want to buy tickets to?” Deil started moving with Sae as they made their way out of the small plaza. “You should log into at least three accounts if possible. Snatching tickets is all about timing.”
“I mean,” Sae licked his lips, “I don’t think it’s on that level. The concert is an additional venue for their tour. There’ll be four new dates in total.”
Deil frowned. “How can you not know the popularity if you want to go to their concert?”
“That’s an excellent question.” Although Sae agreed, he didn’t give a real answer.
On their way out of the plaza, Sae realised that they were passing a tea shop, the tea shop where the owner had the devil’s pet, Potato.
The store was good at camouflage, so much so that it almost faded into its surroundings. The storefront was nondescript. The windows were grubby, and only a pale sign flicked back and forth on a short pole, pseudo-welcoming customers.
At first glance, Sae thought this was a residential building.
A flaking wrought iron table guarded the entrance with a striped garden parasol stuck in its middle. The parasol was so bleached by the sun that its stripes almost faded to one homogenous colour. Two folding chairs accompanied the white table. A guy in his thirties lazed around in one of them. At his foot, a Jack Russell Terrier slept under the shade.
“Potato, come, come,” Deil said and crouched down to pet the dog.
A few things instantly clicked in Sae’s head. He stood there speechless, watching Shum Deil chat up not only the dog but its owner as well.
“Good day we have, eh?” the guy in the chair said after the initial greetings. He stretched his back, and the unnerving sight of long, unclad toes pushed into flip-flops peeked at Sae. “Considering this heat, I already know the answer but chilled or iced tea?”
“Iced,” Shum Deil said and turned to Sae.
Sae looked at him, his face void of an expression. He wouldn’t step closer, staying where he stopped on the pavement.
“Two ice teas then. I’m buying,” Shum Deil repeated.
Sae scraped together his remaining composure. His tightly-fisted hands went limp, and the muscle at his jaw relaxed. “This is the guy who set the dog on us,” he said, “This dog.”
“Aww, but Potato didn’t mean it. Right?” Shum Deil spoke to the dog while scratching its head. “Potato, that time, we still weren’t close...”
“Why do you keep saying its name? Is that, like, confirmation?” Sae asked.
“That way he knows we’re his friends.” Shum Deil looked at Sae for a moment. “Are you afraid of dogs?”
“No.” The speed of Sae’s answer was incriminating in itself.
The store owner watched their back and forth with a small smile. He stretched again and stood up, opening the door of the shop. “What will the youngsters’ order be then? Follow inside once you’ve figured it out.” He didn’t wait for them and walked into the store.
Sae pinched Shum Deil’s shirt, pulling him back. He repressed his voice and asked, “Did this man threaten you?”
“How could he do that?” Shum Deil laughed. “I just got to know him a little. We chatted when I came back to pay what I owed the stall owner, and he brought me here to clear things up. I couldn’t come to the plaza otherwise. They said Potato could remember my smell and would’ve chased me every time I came close.”
“That’s bullshit, right?” Sae glanced down at the resting dog. “So you befriended it to prevent danger?”
“He’s not dangerous. Look at this small dog. He’s so cute.” Shum Deil blinked at him. “You are afraid of dogs, right?”
“Not right. Why are you suddenly buying me tea?” Sae changed the topic.
“Aren’t you thirsty? I can barely spit anymore.” Shum Deil scratched his neck. “He actually makes decent tea. If you’re afraid because of the outside water thing...”
Sae sidestepped the dog in the direction of the store’s entrance, deeming that last jab too indecent to comment on it. “Do they have milk tea?”
“They do. Don’t you want to avoid unknown water sources?”
“It’s all boiled down. I’m not drinking anything with ice in it.” Sae waved a hand. “Won’t it take some time, though? I don’t have much to spare...”
“Okay, okay. Sit,” Shum Deil pushed Sae into one of the chairs.
The chair was so small Sae could’ve been sitting on the edge of the flowerbeds and still be at the same level of height. What’s more, the chair’s seat dropped back at an angle... Could this be comfortable for a human?
“I’ll order it and come out right away. Just wait,” Shum Deil said and disappeared into the store.
Sae stayed sitting in that ratty folding chair, not because he suddenly found what was so comfortable about it, but because as soon as Deil left, Potato sat up and groggily put his head on Sae’s leg, making it impossible for him to move.
Not that Sae dared to. He only reached up to massage the bridge of his nose, his emotional and mental state close to crumbling.
Under the warm sun, this tiny dog really didn’t seem so vicious, but whenever it moved, Sae froze.
“Po–– Potato...” Sae cleared his throat, “Could you please get off me?”
Potato kept sleeping, occasionally letting out a soft snore.
Sae, whose request got ignored by the tiny dog: “…..”
He looked at this phone, then wanted to call out to Deil but didn’t dare raise his voice. Awaken the dog or try to leave without actually disturbing said dog… What a dilemma.
A few minutes passed like this before Deil came out with two plastic cups. Once he saw the scene outside, he put the cups on the table and reached his hand out.
Sae didn’t get his meaning. “What?”
“Give me your phone,” Deil said, “Don’t forget to unlock it.”
“Can you help get the dog off me first?” Sae asked in turn.
Deil shook his head. “Give me the phone first.”
Sae could see the ridicule in Deil’s eyes. He crushed skulls in his heart. “Get it. Off me. First.”
Deil shook his head, barely able to keep back the laugh tickling his insides.
They stared at each other without a word while Potato slept.
With a sigh, Sae gave his phone. “If you don’t have money, why invite me––”
Snap.
Sae whipped his head up, only to see Deil taking picture after picture of him with Potato sleeping on his leg.
“Asshole,” he cursed under his breath, making the grin on Deil’s face widen. “Are you done?”
“Yea,” Deil gave the phone back, squatted down, and whispered something to Potato while holding his head. The pup opened his eyes but otherwise didn’t object.
After Sae stood up, he saw a dark splotch on his pants. “What the? He drools!” He blotted at the spot with a napkin, his face flipping through several expressions.
He had actually been afraid of this?! What was there to be afraid of?
If Sae had known of this beforehand, he would’ve shaken the dog off, got out of that awful chair and left the scene a long time ago, okay?
Besides embarrassment and indignation, there was a bit of disgust as well. No one had drooled on Sae in his whole life. What an ungrateful little animal. Sae raised his head to look at Deil. “What did you say to him?”
Deil snickered. “I didn’t tell him to drool on you. Relax. Maybe your leg was so comfortable that Potato got lost in a wonderful dream.”
“Then why didn’t I feel it before, hmm? My pant leg wasn’t wet until you came back.” It was quite foolish to say something like this out loud. Sae rubbed the spot again. He felt stifled with a fit of unknown anger, feeling like he got played, but for what or how he couldn’t say so.
Deil stood there and laughed really hard. In Sae’s mind, he got promoted from ex-academic paper peddler to dog whisperer in a matter of seconds. What brilliant prospects Shum Deil had!
Against his better judgement, the corners of Sae’s mouth wouldn’t stay down. He said with some character, “What a joke. And you tried to deny being on a first-name basis with Potato.”
They kept talking right up to the PC room’s front door. Sae couldn’t get it. He had been angry just a while ago, but between slurps of his milk tea and the questions coming from Deil, he kept answering and chatting back, his previous agitation slowly dissipating. It was mystifying.
When they arrived at his destination, it dawned on him: “Why did you come all the way?”
“Eh,” Deil looked up at the signboard, “I still have time.”
Time until what?
Deil opened the door. “I’ll help you get that ticket. I don’t want to go home yet.”
Sae hesitated. He didn’t require assistance to get that ticket, but when Deil said he didn’t want to go home, his tone tugged at something in Sae’s chest.
Sae shrugged, neither accepting nor trying to stop the other. He paid for an hour at three separate PCs, took over two and ceded the last one to Deil.
“Why are you paying?” Deil asked, flopping into the high-backed chair. “I have a membership card, you know.”
“I know, but you bought me tea and said you’d help with the tickets. Even if it only takes ten minutes, you can pass the rest of the hour playing or whatever,” Sae said.
Deil’s eyes curved a portion. “I insisted on helping, and you still buy for me, so generous!”
Actually, Sae didn’t plan on making Deil good on his promise. If the boy did nothing but play beside him for an hour, that was whatever.
Deil insisted on giving help, even when Sae never asked for it.
Sae didn’t like to owe people. A cup of milk tea and an hour’s worth of gaming were about the same price, so…was there a difference? He simply didn’t want to feel indebted.
After making space and pushing one chair to the side, Sae went to the ticketing site on both computers, sliding back and forth between the two keyboards.
Deil sneakily copied the information, clicking on the same URL and loading the site in seconds. Four long-legged, charming beauties graced the header picture over the price and sector specifications. Deil became speechless for a while. “You want to go to a girl group’s concert?” he asked, uncertainty evident in his voice. His next words were mumbled more to himself than anything, “It’s quite unexpected.”
“Mnm,” Sae glanced over and hummed.
Deil chuckled. “When I asked, you didn’t know their popularity? Look here. All of their recent shows got sold out. That’s why they added new venues and dates. It won’t be easy.”
Sae whipped his head to the side. “You know them as well?”
“Shit, you say that as if I’m some outlaw dweller,” Deil retorted. “Do I live without ears and eyes? It’s pretty difficult to be ignorant of these things if you’re our age.”
“Oh...no offence.”
“None taken,” Deil waved a hand. “Never mind that. You’re lucky I’m here. With three separate ways to try and obtain those tickets, it’ll be yours.” He scooted closer, a light glistening in his eyes. “By the way, do you know any of those fan chants? Who is your favourite? Or do you like every member the same?”
The expression on Sae’s face didn’t change, nor did he glance aside. “It’s almost time.”
Deil turned his head to face the screen. “How many tickets are we talking about? And which sector? Damn, did you see these prices?”
“Two tickets.” Sae scanned the list of prices. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the front row…or in sectors without a seat. Those places were the cauldron of war.
Sae heard Deil ask, “Who are you going with?”
“Emi, of course,” Sae said, “Who else?”
