_______________

If it was a simple game, I would probably not be here and most importantly, if Can wasn't in this same place now, then I would surely be packing my bags now, preparing to leave immediately.

"Truth." Can says.

He looks annoyed, just like me. Seems like he knows this is no longer a game between the tow of us.

"Why did you run away this morning?"

Needless to whatever you may say, I already know what your answer is.

"You know why." He responded defiantly or in what he tries to look like he is doing.

In these five days, I have learned that an angry dog is like an angry puppy and he actually only looks cuter when he's upset.

"That doesn't answer my question." I say sarcastically.

"It's because of you! Hmph!" He yells and crosses his arms.

I tilt my head, finding myself a little disappointed to receive the answer that I already expected beforehand.

Even after I answer that girl's question, he still denies it. Isn't it obvious that the person I like is him?

"Okay...what is happening here?" Asks one of his friends who sat next to him.

"Nothing!" Can says looking to the side.

"It's your turn Can..." Says the girl, he sighs and deflects his question to another person.

All he does next is ignore me, yeah...ignore me.

I clench my fists against the grass.

"Tin..." I hear Pete say at my side.

"I don't want to listen to you." I tell him with enough loudness that only he can hear.

"Continuing doing things this way and you won't achieve anything..." He answers me and I observed him carefully.

He knows, I don't know how he did or maybe I've been very careless, but he knows.

"It's none of your business Pete."

"If you keep attacking him, you will only scare him even more..." He gave his opinion, an opinion that I did not ask, however, I cannot help but feel frustrated by his attitude.

"You must be more kind...Can is very special."

"Haven't I been nice enough to him these days? Didn't I give him my dessert an hour ago? Didn't I help him when he got hurt? What else do I have to do?"

It makes me desperate, his attitude against me is desperate and I don't like it. I have never cared about the opinion of others, the murmurs, the looks, the invented ideas about me, all that is garbage but when it comes to him, I just can't take it.

"Specially stubborn." I answer.

"I don't know what happened between you two..." Pete says.

"Nothing he didn't like, I can assure you of that."

"...but I think you guys should talk about it." He continues saying.

How can I exactly talk to someone who jumped out the window right after he saw me ?

"Truth or consequence Ai'Can?" I hear someone call him.

"Consequence." He answers and a group of women begin to chat among themselves in a confidential way, one of them looks shyly at Can.

I can already feel that I won't like this at all.

"I dare you to kiss Chayanit,"

I feel my heart stop for a long time and instantly my eyes fall on him.

No...

Can seems to understand nothing at all until his friends start to talk around him, then he looks at me for a split second and I think I see him blushing until his gaze drops to the ground.

***

What?

Did they just say kiss?

I don't know why but when I hear that word, the first thing I think of is him, I've only kissed him.

I don't know how to kiss a girl.

I look at Tin and saw that his eyes are fixed on me, I lower my head to remember all the times he has kissed me.

"How lucky you are! That girl is very pretty!" Pond says elbowing me.

"Hmm..." Is all I can say.

She's cute, it's true but I don't want to...I don't want to kiss her.

"And?" I hear at one end of the round.

"Why does it take you so long, child?" Another person says.

"It's just a kiss" They make fun of me.

Only a kiss...in the end, only these details matter to me. Nobody seems to mind making out with other people, it's like it doesn't have a value to them.

It's just a kiss Can and it's not like its your first kiss.

It's just one more...

And he...won't mind.

"Okay..." I answered and Pond hits my shoulder, feeling happy for my answer, but I don't pay attention to him because all I see is how Tin gets up suddenly.

If before I thought he was a person who seemed constantly angry, now I see him like a person with hell on top.

He glares at me with his gaze for a few long seconds and we all look at him in astonishment but nobody says anything, they know who he is and that's why they fear.

However, his eyes are only fixed on me and not on others.

Then he just leaves. He walks away from us, I knew it, he doesn't care, he's like all of them, it's just a kiss and I'm the only fool who thinks it was something different.

It hurts me.

The only person who has kissed me leaves without giving a damn.

The only person who has kissed me, did it while liking someone else.

I see the girl get up and place herself almost in the middle of all of us, she looks at me, ashamed and with her head lowered, it is not a gentleman way to let her wait so I get up, planning to finish the dare.

After all...it's just a kiss and if I do, then he won't be the only person to do it anymore.

I should be happy to get his taste out of my mouth, to cover that memory, to know that that rich and idiotic boy will not have been the only person I kissed and..."Aaaay!! What the hell?!"

Someone tugs at the collar of my shirt and pulls me away from behind, dragging me out of the ring and into the dark forest.

I can only think of one thing, I am being kidnapped...

"Help!" I scream again.

And I can see is how my friends get up to try help me but my sister stops them almost to their fists.

Damn traitor, I always knew this would be her reaction in such a case.

"Put me down!" I scream and kick. "I have no money!"

Suddenly with a jerk, my body bumps into the bark of a tree that made my back hurts too much.

I immediately open my eyes and see my kidnapper head on.

Damn rich kid...

"Are you crazy?!" I yell at him.

I can't read his face, it's expressionless.

"Moron!" I yell at him again when I don't receive any answer because it's like my words don't reach him.

Tin approaches me and places both arms at my sides, I can't move.

"If you want to hit me then do it at once!"

He shuts me up.

Again...?

I don't even have time to react, no matter how many times he do this, it's like I can't help it.

He takes my face in his hands, my cheeks burning at his touch as his lips press against mine, roughly. Something wet enters my mouth and I close my eyes tightly.

My hands are placed on his chest, supporting me and I feel myself trembling in his arms. Tin takes control with his tongue while I can barely reciprocate.

The only lips I have ever touched and no matter how many times I do it, the result is always the same, I always end up losing to him.

He kisses me for a long time, long enough for some of my anger to dissipate and when he finally lets go of me, he rests his head on my shoulder, between the corner of my neck.

"Cantaloupe..." I hear him whisper my full name and then I feel a kiss on my skin.

A soft sensation that like how others, makes my body tremble.

"Tin..." I can only manage to say even with my heavy breathing.

"You are the worst..." He says and I can almost hear his teeth grind, his hands return to my shoulders as he squeezes them hard.

"You speak with your mouth full, you speak without thinking, surely you cannot read..." He sighs and nails his teeth on my neck as well as his tongue and although it is hard for me to admit, this feeling is very pleasant...only that my arms are trying to push him away.

"What...what are you doing...?" I say between gasps.

"This is your punishment." He answers and I think I see a side smile playing on his lips.

He seals his lips against mine again, his teeth biting and sucking over and over again, achieving confusion and a huge sensation of heat inside me.

You are cruel Ai'Tin ...you are really cruel to my heart...

When he finally separates us, my legs tremble, they have turned to jelly and I'm sure that if he lets me go I will surely fall to the ground.

"Punishment..." He says again. "For everything that you have put me through from day one...your punishment will be to stay by my side."

Hearing this make me feel shock and my heart start beating like crazy.

"Huh?" My brain takes time to process his words, and by the time it succeeds in doing so, his hand is already intertwined with mine.

"I like you..." He answers, his eyes decisive and his gaze penetrating...then another kiss.

This man...what kind of confession is this?

"Come on." He says and pulls me, going deeper into the forest.

"Shouldn't I even give an answer first?" I object but don't resist, my feet following him, they have betrayed me.

"Yes, but not now, I know that even if you feel the same, you won't admit it. It doesn't matter, I can change that over time. Like the image you have of me, I can change everything."

"Very cocky..." Is what I say in a tone way too sweet.

I guess this is my surrender tone...

Tin smiles and continued walking with his hand joined to mine.

Our fingers fitting together perfectly, even if we are different people, even if he is annoying sometimes, they still fit.

***

We arrive at the engineering cabins and I can hear Ae inside, surely packing the last of his suitcase for the travel in a few hours.

I find myself in front of the door with his hand still interlaced to mine, all the way to the cabin, I have not felt cold even though it is very dark.

"In an hour, I will come to look for you and we will return together to the city." Tin says. It is clearly not an option, it is an order that he gives me.

"It is not necessary..." I answer still a little unaccustomed to this.

"I will do it."

"Hmm..."

"Unless you want to spend the night in my cabin..." He says cheekily.

"No!" I answer, small beads of sweat form on my forehead, I feel as if my heart will shoot out of my chest at any moment.

"Well, then I'll come later..."

I nod, I should go in and he should go but nobody makes a move, we just look at each other and it takes a minute or two until he finally says goodbye and walks away.

I feel an emptiness inside me, the absence of his warmth and his company feels horrible even though he's only drifted away for a few seconds.

Maybe it's impulse or whatever it is but I run after him and grab his arm, making him turn to look at me again.

When our faces meet, Tin looks at me in surprise but he does not say anything.

I place two fingers of my hand on my lips and bring them to his, brushing and feeling the softness and warmth that comes from them, then I smile and run away.

I enter with my heart almost in my hand and totally agitated.

It is not a kiss like the ones he gives, not at all the same, but it is something that came from me.

"Are you okay?" Ae says running towards me at full speed, looking really worried. "Did that idiot do something to you?"

"Yes..." I answer, still confused by everything that has happened since I got here and that I still find it hard to believe.

I look in the mirror to see a Can all flushed, I touch my cheeks and they burn...then I open my eyes more, "He did something terrible to me..."

"What? What did he do to you?" Pond asks, also approaching me.

"THIS!!!" I answer, pointing to the huge purple mark that I have on my neck.

"WHAT?" They both shout.

***

I enter the cabin and see that everything is dark, Pete is probably sleeping.

"Tin..."

I turned around and see him leaning against his door frame.

"Shouldn't be you be already sleeping?"

"I have a little insomnia, the idea of leaving this place saddens me a bit..." He responds, I feel some of that too, I would like to come back here again with...

"Has it gone well?" He asks with an extended smile wide open that interrupted my thoughts.

"Go to sleep." I answer raising my eyebrow before entering my room, closing the door behind me.

I touch my lips the same way Can did a little while ago and smiled.

"Very good"

***

I wait at the entrance of the park while all students get on the buses of their faculties. Pete is by my side, arranging his car and just like the first day, he will take the misfits back to town.

"They'll break your car," I tell him.

"Tin..." He responds heavily.

If you expect my opinion of them to change, you are very wrong, the only person who is the exception to the rule is the child I can now see who is carrying a huge bag, almost dragging it, and has a scarf around his neck, despite now being 25 degrees, the others are still blood-sucking insects.

I approach Can and ignore his friends, take his bag and carry it to my car without giving him time for anything.

"Get up." I tell him, everyone's gaze fixed on us.

"But my friends...can anyone come with us?" He says and turns to see them.

At that moment, I grabbed his scarf and remove it from his neck.

"Hey!" He says while covering the mark I have left with his hand, his face almost as red as a tomato.

"It's okay Can, no problem, I don't think I want one of those on me..." Ae says.

"One of those? If that boy comes to bite our neck, it will not to leave a simple mark, he will do it to cut our main artery." Whispers another one of his friends, I think his name was Pond.

"Come on Can..."

Can looks at the last of his friends.

"Good...?"

At that moment my gaze grows cold on the boy and he begins to tremble.

"No, it's okay...I want to live..."

"Hmm...okay."

"Come on," I tell him again.

Can goes up and says goodbye to his friends from the window. On the way, all he does is touch each button he sees on the car, it is as if he had never gotten into one, he looks like a child who has been given a new toy, if it had been someone else, that person might have be thrown out the window at first but with him, I have discovered that I actually have a lot of patience.

"And what is this for?" He asks and touches the AirBag button on his seat, which crashes against his face and body.

Maybe too much patience...

***

"We're here..." He says and I stop my car and look outside, Can lives in a fairly normal house in my opinion.

"I'll put down your bag."

"Thank you..." He answers nervously, I suppose he does it because of the place where he lives and because I am outside his house.

When I put down his bag, I feel that as if someone is watching us from somewhere but I can't know from where...maybe it's just my feeling.

"Mmm...well that's it..." Can says with his head down and playing with his hands.

"Yes..."

"All right..."

We looked at each other silently for a few seconds which seems too long for me.

"I'm going to go in..." He says and my body can't resist it anymore, I pulled him from his shirt and bring him close to me to finally kiss him.