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—Listen up, you little brats with a lack of parental love!— the teacher shouted —I don’t care if we enter World War III or if aliens invade the Earth, this play is going to happen even if the world ends!
Screams and more screams were all that could be heard behind the curtain; in just a few minutes, the play would start, and everyone in the cast—plus the director—was under immense self-imposed pressure. One mistake and everything could fall apart, so the director was making sure everything was in order because otherwise, she might end up in jail for killing someone because the play got ruined. So, even though everything was supposed to be ready, God seemed to enjoy human misfortune, and thus a problem arose that was wreaking havoc on the play, making the theater teacher, who just wanted to finish everything, very nervous and stressed.
In the audience, a mocking laugh could be heard.
—I’m sure the ones in the play are having a great time— he brought more popcorn to his mouth.
—Shalnark is going to give you gastritis if you keep putting sauce on your popcorn, or should I say popcorn on your sauce?
The blonde looked him up and down at that comment —You’re just jealous that I’m happy and you’re envious; anyway, leave me alone, I like them soggy.
Phinks looked at him in disgust when he said "envy"—If you want to roll on the floor in stomach pain, that’s on you! Besides, who doesn’t have envy, idiot!
—First stage: denial.
And for the next 20 minutes, Shalnark, out of boredom while waiting for the show to start, decided to have a little too much fun—being a little shit with Phinks, causing Phinks's patience to die.
—I’m going to throw your damn popcorn to see how funny you are!
Shalnark quickly stood up and started running while stuffing as much popcorn as possible into his mouth—No, Phinks, not the popcorn!
Despite everything, Shalnark laughed while being chased, as this way his boredom faded away. However, it didn’t go so well in the end, as during one of the chases, both Shalnark and Phinks felt a hand separating them by pulling their hair.
—Ouch! Wait, Uvo.
—What the hell do you think you’re doing?— Uvo held back the shout he was about to give them and, in the most civilized way possible, reprimanded them again—The play is about to start, and you’re just causing a commotion. Be grateful that I’m here to calm you down and not the teacher— he was really upset with them; the play was getting delayed, putting a lot of pressure on everyone, and those idiots were just playing around. They would pay for it later—Now go to your damn seats and be people for the first time in your damn lives!
The two boys went to their respective seats. On the way, Shalnark held his head, massaging it, as the force with which he was pulled had indeed hurt him, while Phinks was cursing internally.
—See, Phinks, it’s all your fault!
—Excuse me!?
The two were about to continue fighting, but from where they were, they felt Uvogin's intense gaze threatening them if they dared to do something stupid. They both looked back with forced smiles and a hand waving "hello," each continued smiling while walking arm in arm, showing that they were at peace and wouldn’t cause problems anymore. For now.
They were truly volatile together.
—Well, it’s me and my sauce with popcorn against the world— looking at Phinks with a judging gaze, feigning indignation.
—Shut up, Shalnark, they just turned off the lights; it’s about to start.
The blonde was going to make a sarcastic comment, but honestly, he wanted to pay attention to the play rather than to a fool who could annoy him every day. So for a few seconds, Shalnark turned his gaze toward the curtain, abruptly changing his facial expressions to a serious and emotionless one, although he quickly returned to his usual smile. It wasn’t that he was pretending to smile—not this time—but rather that his smile was part of his personality, and it felt strange not to smile, especially when he was excited about something.
When the play began, he was surprised by how genuinely good the students' performance turned out to be, since he had only accepted to watch any play just to see Chrollo shine. However, he should have predicted that this wouldn’t be just any play, especially with how dedicated Chrollo was to literature.
When he learned about the premiere of the play, he felt curious and went to ask Chrollo what it was about. Chrollo, who had shared everything with Shalnark countless times, explained the entire plot of the story, giving more details in the parts where he appeared since he knew Shal so well to understand what mattered most to him.
Normally, Shalnark continued eating the snacks he brought for the play, always maintaining a smile.
Even when a scene came up that he already knew—Chrollo had mentioned it—where the character his boyfriend was playing was supposed to kiss another actor on the lips. Even at that moment, knowing what was about to happen, Shalnark wasn’t disturbed by the situation. He kept a genuine smile.
Something very interesting about Shalnark was that he took a long time to process things; his brain usually took time to analyze situations—like a computer that takes time to finish loading—like the time his grandfather died, and in that moment, Shalnark hadn’t finished processing it and didn’t pay much attention, continuing normally in his room, listening to music while playing a video game, laughing from the adrenaline of enjoying the game. When he arrived at the funeral and saw the body at the end, he ended up crying because seeing the body made his brain stop analyzing the situation.
This was the same.
As Chrollo—HIS BOYFRIEND—got closer to that person, his brain finished analyzing, and little by little, his smile began to fade, and his heart raced overwhelmingly until he felt completely alone, facing that scene and much closer—not a few meters away. In the front row.
But like a strange and masochistic nervous tic, Shalnark forced himself to smile again, this time in the most fake way.
Shalnark was in the front row. In the front row watching his boyfriend. In the front row watching his boyfriend about to kiss someone else.
And Shalnark was in the front row to see how his boyfriend respected him and completely changed the scene with a kiss on the forehead.
Shalnark didn’t feel relieved because he knew his boyfriend would never kiss anyone but him, especially with him in the front row.
The blonde smiled. Genuinely.
Chrollo glanced at him quickly and discreetly, giving him a smile just for him. Only for his boyfriend who was watching him in the front row.
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¡Shal!— Chrollo ran toward his boyfriend, passing through the crowd of people—What did you think of my performance?
Good enough for me to take my hat off to you— and saying this, the blonde pretended to take off a top hat.
The two laughed lightly and prepared to join the others to go out somewhere. Chrollo wrapped his arm around Shalnark’s neck and placed it there while they walked.
Neither of them spoke about the scene. Shalnark didn’t thank anything; he didn’t thank his boyfriend for kissing someone else, especially in front of him. And Chrollo simply saw it as normal to respect his partner.