Chapter 32 - A BASEBALL MATCH
Chapter 32 - A BASEBALL MATCH
Kris's sharp ears caught the whisper that came from his side. He turned his head and found Kevin looking up at the tall building in front of them.
From the side, he could see the young scientist's eyes glistened as the dark obsidians veiled by glass-like liquid. Just by looking at the expression, he could tell how the young man felt.
His left hand stretched out, fell on top of Kevin's head, and stroke the head which was covered with soft ebony.
The surprising gesture made the owner of the head flinch in surprise. He turned to Kris and found the man who was taller than him was smiling softly at him.
"You miss them?" Kris asked in his very soft voice, which sounded different than his usual husky voice.
Kevin silently stared at Kris's handsome face, and next, he looked away to look back at the white building in front of him. "I always miss them every time I come to this place," he admitted bitterly.
Kris pulled his hand back from Kevin's head and followed Kevin to look at the building in front of them. "That's why you haven't visited this place in a long time?" Asked the tall young man.
The question made Kevin frown and looked back at Kris with a shocked look. "How do you know that I haven't visited this place for a long time?" He asked back instead of answering.
The other man did not immediately answer. What he did the next second was to take a deep breath through his nose while closing his eyes, then let the air out of his nose again, and he smiled. "Your scents are only faintly left in this place," he replied.
Kevin was amazed by Kris's answer. "You can recognize my scents here?" He asked incredulously. "It's been almost a year I haven't visited this place, but you can still recognize my scents here? I envy your werewolf abilities."
Kris opened his eyes again and turned to look at Kevin. The young man slightly bent forward, aligned his head with the head of the shorter man, then ignorantly asked, "You want me to bite you so that you can turn into a werewolf?"
The mischievous question made Kevin automatically step back. He did it in a rush, and he almost fell on his back if only a pair of sturdy arms did not quickly wrap around his waist to save him.
Chronos stopped working all of a sudden. Their pair of crystal-like orbs drowned into each other, diving bravely to the deepest trench underneath the transparent sea.
People said eyes never lie, and it was their chance to find each other's truth. It was an opportunity to find out what their respective hearts were hiding, things that had not been able to be conveyed verbally.
The minutes passed, and Kevin was the first to come back to his senses. He pushed Kris's chest and said in a slightly nervous tone, "You are not a vampire! I won't turn into a werewolf even if you bite me a hundred times."
Kris, who was now also standing back to his original position, chuckled softly and asked, "So, you want me to bite you a hundred times?"
He must be willing to get a hit in the arm that he dared to ask the question. Kevin's face was flushed red, either from anger or embarrassment.
The scientist, without saying anything else, immediately stepped into the house which he had not visited for a long time. Kris laughed at the young man's behavior, but next, he caught up with Kevin by not forgetting to drag his black suitcase.
They were already inside the big house left by Kevin's parents. Kevin was suddenly out of sight, perhaps went to another room. The fair-skinned man might have been sulking because of his tease earlier.
Was that Kris's fault? Yes, of course, but he didn't regret it at all. Flirting with a sensitive guy like Kevin turned out to be fun. He couldn't stop doing it under any circumstances. It made him seem like an insensitive guy, but he couldn't just stop his new hobby.
The house's owner left Kris alone, and he was standing solo in the middle of what looked like a spacious living room. All the furniture in the house was covered with a white cloth to protect them from dust attacks, so he was not sure what items were in the room.
The werewolf opened the curtains, letting the afternoon glaze penetrated through the tall windows and drove away the darkness. It was almost dusk, so the natural light was not that bright.
Kris was more interested in bringing his eyes around the walls of the room. His hooded eyes could see the number of picture frames hanging on the walls that surrounded the big room.
His long legs stepped forward to approach a photo that was on one of the sections of the wall. A boy who may be around four to five years old smiled at the camera. He wore a baseball uniform that looked too big on his tiny body, complete with his baseball bat. The black hair kid looked happy showing off a row of incomplete teeth. It was seen that one tooth was missing and had not yet grown.
The photo made Kris smiled tenderly. His eyes stared at the photo with a variety of undefined feelings, and only he alone could describe what he was feeling right now.
His legs moved again, bringing his tall body to move to other photos that adorned the walls of the room. The majority were photos of the boy, but with different age ranges, starting from when he was still a baby until he was maybe around ten years old.
Kris concluded that it was likely that the last photo of the boy was taken when he was ten years old. After which, there was no photo of the child when he was older than that.
Kris then moved on again, and this time he saw a giant golden photo frame that seemed to be the center of all the photo frames in the room. There was not only one person smiling in the frame, but there were three people; one boy, one man, and one woman. A pair of adult humans flanked the boy in their midst. The boy wore a baseball uniform, apparently having just finished a match because he looked sweaty and exhausted. The photo looked like it was taken at a baseball stadium.
"That's our last photo."
The sound from behind him made Kris turn his head, but he wasn't surprised because he had heard footsteps coming from behind him. The man who just came in, Kevin, handed him a can of cola, and he accepted the offer.
"I only found it in the refrigerator. It looks like you have to shop if you don't want to starve while living here," said Kevin.
Ah, it turned out that Kevin had disappeared to go to the kitchen and check the contents of the refrigerator. He probably wanted to make sure that there was a supply of food that could be consumed by Kris during his stay at the house.
But, it seemed that he had to end up disappointed because the refrigerator in the house was almost empty. Naturally, the refrigerator in that place was empty, the house too had been empty for a long time. It might even be a waste if the refrigerator was kept filled with food and drink when no one was going to eat or drink it.
Kris looked at the red canned drink and asked, "Is it still worth consuming?"
The young scientist grinned mischievously at the question. "I have checked the expiration date, and it's best before tomorrow," he replied.
Kris seemed to be glaring in surprise, and he hurriedly opened the lid of the drink can then took a quick sip. It seemed he did not want the fizzy drink to be wasted in the end. Kevin, who saw Kris's attitude, could only laugh with amusement.
Averting his gaze from Kris drinking a bottle of cola, Kevin stared at the gold-framed photo in front of him. "The photo was taken several months before the war ended. The situations were not good at that time, but the match organizing committee still insisted on holding the match even though it had to be closely guarded by special forces. My mom and dad were busy working, but they took the time to watch my match even though they only got a few last minutes. At least, it was not in vain because our team won the match," he explained.
Kris ended his drinking time and turned to stare at the photo frame that Kevin was still staring at intensively. "You look similar to your mother," he stated.
Kris's statement was unexpected by Kevin. He turned to Kris and said, "You are the first to call me similar to my mother. Usually, people call me similar to my father."
Kris stopped staring at the large picture frame and now turned his body towards Kevin. "You and your mother, not your faces that look alike, but your hearts."
Kris's statement made Kevin look at him in confusion. "Do you know my mother, Kris?"