Chapter Text
“ME.
YOU,DATE!.
WHOEVER ASKS TO BREAK UP FIRST IS THE DOG.”
The most ridiculous challenge came from Shake— A white punk delinquent who spent his days pulling dumb stunts around school, the kind of guy you’d probably hate the moment you met in real life. Right now he was being shoved to the ground by Frylock, who was sitting on top of him, grabbing his shirt and beating him without the slightest mercy. From the brown hair that smelled like cheap all-in-one shampoo to the sharp bridge of his nose, there wasn’t a single place that wasn’t a crime scene of blood splatter. Anger. Irritation. And finally hatred mixed together, hanging heavy in the quiet late afternoon air behind the high school.
“Giving up would save you more words, Shake”
“Scared to accept?”
“Do you believe that I’ll knock every tooth out of your mouth so you can’t bark stupid shit like that ever.”
“So you are a fraud, huh?” Shake grinned, even as punches kept raining down on him. His confidence was too stubborn to be crushed, though it sure as hell wasn’t helping him win this one-on-one fight.
“ME??? A FRAUD????”
“Then take the bet. Secret dating. Just you and me. Only the two of us here in this empty lot know. Whoever exposes it or backs out first will lose 20$ and have to bark three times in the middle of the school admitting ”I’m a dog”.”
Frylock’s hands shifted, fingers locking tightly together around Shake’s throat even as the guy under him groaned in pain, struggling for air. Shake’s ego might be high but it couldn’t be high enough to crush Frylock’s pride.
His bet was damn near impossible to refuse. First of all, it was wildly unfair. Frylock was one of the highest ranking guys in the school’s disciplinary group—the ones who dealt with problem cases like Shake. Getting into it was hard enough already, especially for him as a black student. He’d spent an insane amount of effort proving the brains behind that short blond curly hair of his. If he got caught agreeing to some stupid bet like this, his chances of promotion would vanish instantly. But backing down would torture his pride even worse, refusing would basically be admitting the cowardice people loved to pin on him.
And second
This bastard,Shake, was fucking smiling.
A disgusting sense of humiliation crawled under Frylock’s skin. Even with his throat crushed shut, unable to move or breathe properly, Shake’s brain still seemed programmed him to sneer. He wasn’t laughing because his body was malfunctioning before death. No—he knew Frylock would take the bet. A reckless lunatic. A gambler who knew exactly how to manipulate the dealer. This guy was truly despicable—indeed the most wretched person in the world
“I accept.” Frylock released his grip and stood up, letting the guy in front of him a chance to reflect on life's profound impact after being reborn from the dead .Not out of pity, just practicality. If he accidentally killed him, his position would be gone. No student council presidency. No chance of organizations like NASA inviting him as a talent. All the time and money he’d spent would scatter like useless paper in the street. Agreeing—for now, was the better move. If their “dating” stayed secret between him and Shake, yeah, it sounded “kinda” gay. But still better than murdering someone here, or letting himself get stepped on, or getting expelled. Accepting was simply the most strategic choice. After all, once you knew the rules of the game, beating it was easy.
“But I’ve got one condition,” Frylock said coldly. “If you shake me off my position at this school, I won’t hesitate to kill you the same way I almost did just now.”
“That’s your business .” The brown-haired delinquent pushed himself up, wiping blood from his nose with his sleeve, still grinning through bruised teeth. “If it’s something that might happen,or might not,i’m not touching your precious ‘high seat.’ I’m not bored enough to shove you into the abyss.” Shake stepped closer until they were face to face, eyes locked.
“I’d rather watch you fall on your own. And I’ll be standing there when everything you worked for collapses.” His index finger jabbed Frylock’s chest, like poking the last thread of patience the blond had left.
“Enjoy driving me insane?”
“What if I say yeah?”
“Don’t push my mercy.”
“Then go ahead, I’m not holding back anymore.” (Even though in a normal fight, Shake is still usually the loser.)
“OH WOW—SO THAT’S WHAT THAT NOISE WAS. IT’S ALMOST EVENING AND SHAKE AND FRYLOCK ???YOU TWO ARE OUT HERE PICKING A FIGHT AGAIN??”
————————- “
……
”Shit.”
Both of them turned their heads at the same time.
“Fuck, it’s the teacher.” Frylock’s voice was frantic and worried “I told you we should’ve gone somewhere farther away if we wanted to beat the hell out of each other. SEE???.”
“Was that really necessary?”
“Of course????”
“Oh.”
“The hell do you mean ‘oh’???? You knew damn well. You wanted me to get caught red-handed, didn’t you??”
“Huh??? Why the hell are you stuffing words in my mouth?”
“You still wanna argue??”
“Yeah, damn it, I did it on purpose, so what??Come at me if you wanna argue.”
The two lunged toward each other again, fists already ready for another round, until the hall monitor yanked them apart like two magnets forced away from each other.
“I JUST CAUGHT YOU TWO IN THE ACT AND BOTH OF YOU STILL WANNA MAKING MORE EVIDENCE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME???!!!”
“He asked to hit me first.” Shake pointed straight at Frylock.
“THE HECK I DIDN’T???? Sir, he’s the one who did it first!”
“I only said we should step out and have a “man-to-man talk.” You nearly killed me for that.”
“You literally punched me in the eye first???”
“Does any of that matter more than both of you shutting your mouths and going to the office with me to talk things over?” The teacher grabbed both students by the shoulders. His face was dark with irritation, his forced smile barely hiding how fed up he was.
In the end, both Shake and Frylock were dragged into the discipline office to settle their pointless argument. Honestly, this wasn’t their first time being invited in here. In fact, it was almost routine. Shake’s constant idiotic troublemaking, and Frylock’s overly serious, violent, sense of discipline. They were practically born to deal with each other.
“Stand there. Now tell me, why were both of you fighting behind the school?” The teacher crossed his arms, sitting stiffly like an immovable wall of authority in front of the two unruly students.
“Shake kept following me around saying he’d gouge my eyes out.”
“I was just joking. He took it too seriously.”
“WHO THE HELL jokes like that???”
“Plenty of people. you are just emotionally sensitive, that’s all.” Shake rolled his eyes, denying everything.
“Then I’ll punch you again until you are foaming on the ground and blame it was an accident while joking.”
“Oh? Go ahead then.”
“YOU TWO???DIDN’T I JUST WARN YOU??? DO YOU THINK THIS IS A BOXING RING WHERE YOU CAN CURSE AND FIGHT WHENEVER YOU WANT???”
“Sorryyyyyy teacherrrrr.” Both voices dragged out from opposite sides, one out of suppressed anger, the other out of pure boredom from being stuck here.
The teacher sighed helplessly. It felt like a million gray hairs had just grown on his head at once. Every frustration in life seemed bundled right here, from the students of his own school. Crushing pressure, low salary, constant psychological exhaustion… staying late instead of going home to rest just to mediate nonsense like this wasn’t worth it at all.
“Seriously… you two have been fighting since first year all the way to third year. Aren’t you tired of it yet? you are both human, both grew up the same way. You are both orphans. Shouldn’t similar circumstances make it easier to understand each other and move forward together?”
“Sir, I don’t think we’re that similar.” Shake raised his hand to speak even though he clearly wasn’t given permission. “I mean, obviously I’m more handsome, cooler and way more stylish. Also I’m white and he’s bla—”
“Shut up, Shake.” The teacher cut him off immediately. After a moment of silence, he turned to the other student. His expression became heavy and troubled.
“You know, Frylock… I understand your feelings, you are very different from Shake. In fact, very special compared to him. So I understand why you react the way you do. People are born with different advantages, and they struggle for them.”
“You mean… because I’m Black?”
“I MEAN YOU ARE SMART.”
“Wait hold on teacher ,so you just calling me stupid???” Shake asked.
Except it wasn’t really a question. More like confirmation. This guy basically existed just to occupy space on Earth.
“If you could understand the implication just now, then that would count as intelligence.” The teacher waved a tired hand.
“So what exactly did you say to make him angry enough to bruise your neck like that? Frylock, what did he say?”
“Sir, he—” Frylock was about to answer when a sudden chill ran down his spine. He turned to look at the guy beside him.
“What are you staring at?” Shake looked completely calm.
No—something was off.
He was definitely smiling inside.
The kind of smile you didn’t say out loud, but you could feel.
Shit.
That bet still counted.
Losing 20$ was whatever. But losing dignity and barking in the middle of the school yard? Even in a nightmare Frylock wouldn’t imagine that happening. Frylock clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay calm and not let anger crush his judgment.
“I have nothing to say, sir.”
“You sure? Did he threaten you or something?”
“No, sir.” Frylock denied the dangerous truth.
“Fine. I don’t know what happened before this or how you two deal with each other afterward. But next time you two absolutely NOT allowed to fight before figuring out who’s right or wrong. IS THAT CLEAR?”
“But sir, if I’m right I should be allowed to defend myself.”
“Shake, when are you ever right?”
“You really want to prove I’m wrong with your own mouth that badly, Frylock?”
“If you like arguing so much, come stitch my mouth shut.”
“Oh… if you say so.” Shake cracked his knuckles angrily, ready to throw hands again.
“HEY!!!?????? DIDN’T I JUST SAY NO FIGHTING???? BOTH OF YOU!!. COPY THE DAMN SCHOOL RULES 200 TIMES RIGHT NOW!!! IF YOU DON’T FINISH IT YET THEN DON’T GO HOME.”
“Yesssssss teacher. ”Both of them answered together, clearly not happy about it.
——————-
“Fuck, my hand so fucking hurts.”
Night had fallen. The moon stared straight back at the earth. Cold wind slipped through skin and bone. The school yard was empty now, no one left except Shake and Frylock,the two walked side by side since the dorm was in the same direction. Their bodies were still full of bruises, and their arms throbbed from rewriting the school’s “civilized conduct rules” over and over again. Completely pointless and completely a waste of time.
Frylock sighed. One eye throbbed like hell, the rest of his body wasn’t doing much better, making it difficult to determine the path ahead.
“So you agreed to my bet, right?”
“Huh?”
“Idiot, the bet I mentioned this afternoon.”
“I thought we already settled that earlier???”
“Not yet, but since you didn't tell the teacher about the bet, I admit we really did bet”
……
Great.
So that bastard wasn’t secretly smiling earlier, his face was just naturally stupid like that. And Frylock had overestimated him. If he’d known the bet didn’t count yet, he would’ve smartly reported everything earlier and gotten bonus behavior points on his record.
Next time if he got into a fight, he would really needed to protect his eyes first.
“Then why are you asking me now?? If you don’t want the bet anymore, just forget it.”
“No.” Shake shook his head. “I’m not the kind of guy who backs out of a game. I’m the craziest guy in New Jersey. Why the hell would I quit? So obviously I agree. But i’m just wondering…when people date… what do they actually do?”
……
Huh.
This bastard was still a virgin.
Virgin in both body and brain.
Did people this innocent actually exist in real life? Or were they supposed to be some preserved specimen in a book titled “ The World’s Greatest Mysteries?”. Frylock himself was also technically still a virgin, but he at least knew the most basic thing about how humans were made (Sex) Or at the very least he wasn’t naively enough to think holding hands got someone pregnant like a toddler.
Seriously…what supernatural force had helped this dumbass keep passing biology class?
“…Are you seriously asking or messing with me?”
“I’m serious man. Why do you always doubt people so much, Frylock?”
“No… it’s just hard to believe you’d ask something like that.”
“Because I’m too handsome, right? Yeah, I know.”
…Well, not exactly.
But Shake actually did have a fairly good-looking face, not nearly as ugly as his arrogant personality. What was hard to believe was that someone like him, who always had to prove he could do anything—had apparently never even slept with someone. Maybe never even touched a woman.
“Answer the question,” Shake said again.
“Well… holding hands, hugging, kissing… calling each other sweet stuff like “baby” or “darling”, sharing memories together, and maybe eventually…sleeping together.”
“Then let’s start with holding hands.”
“Huh?” Frylock froze, his eyebrows twisted together.
“Why do I have to repeat everything? I said let’s hold hands.” Without waiting for an answer, the brown haired delinquent quickly slid his fingers between the empty spaces of Frylock’s hand.
Frylock tried to pull away, but Shake’s grip was too tight, too possessive, too recklessly strong with that wild teenage energy. It wasn’t embarrassment, this bastard had grabbed right on the pressure point of his palm that was still sore from all the punishment writing earlier. It hurt like hell.
“But we’re lovers, baby. Why the cold shoulder?” Shake grinned. Honestly, there weren’t enough words in the world to describe how annoyingly good this bastard was at reading people.
Oh.
So you wanna play that much huh?
“Is that so, darling~~? welll… I’m sorry for breaking your little heart earlier...Maybe… we should get a little closer.”
Frylock forced himself to lean in toward Shake. The word closer came out painfully stiff. This wasn’t his kind of game. But that didn’t mean he’d lose. If he could just be shameless enough, humiliating victories were still victories.
And so the two of them walked hand in hand under the quiet night, streetlights humming softly like background music to a love song. Except the musicians had clearly been forced to play because the scenery looked dreamy, but underneath it felt more like a cheap B-budget horror comedy.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“If I was a worm…would you still love me~?”
“Shake… what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Ahem.”
“Oh…Fine…umm…If you were a worm… I’d turn into a worm too so we could stay together.” God, that sounded disgusting. Like acting in one of those cheap romance movies every DVD store had,corny and painfully unrealistic. Of course, if Shake actually turned into a worm, Frylock would kiss him through the sole of his shoe and bury him in the dirt as fertilizer for roadside trees.
“If I refuse to cooperate and make us look like an unhealthy couple, does that count?”
“Nope. That’s not dating then. But if you try that with me, I’ll find other ways to mess things up.”
“So it still counts, right? Damn, then let go of my hand.”
“No.”
“This isn’t exactly mutual consent between couples, you know, you are supposed to indulge me, darling~.” Frylock said sweetly, feeling nauseous at himself.
“Does my sweet baby want to push me away that badly?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmmm.” Shake hummed thoughtfully, or more likely he was preparing his next scheme. Option two sounded more believable. The guy didn’t have enough brain cells for option one.
“Kiss me then.”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t make me explain again. Give—me—a—kiss—and—I’ll—let—you-go.”
“HELL NO???? GET THE FUCK OF MY HAND.”
“Don’t be rude like that, my sweet little chocolate~.” Shake suddenly pulled Frylock closer and hugged him from behind. He wasn’t much taller, maybe only two or three centimeters difference due to different growth spurts. But the difference in strength was obvious. One guy spent all his time studying. The other lived by the rule: “if it won’t kill me, I’ll try it anyway.”
His arms wrapped tightly around the waist of the person he’d just labeled “the love of his life.” It was the most physically painful hug imaginable.
Damn it. After getting beaten up and writing punishment lines, this bastard was still ridiculously strong.
Frylock struggled, kicking and shoving while trying to escape the warm prison of Shake’s arms but none of it worked. Even worse,he was extremely ticklish, so feeling someone’s breath brushing his neck was like medieval torture: tickled until you cried and suffocated laughing.
“So what’s your choice, my baby~?”
“Fine…let’s hold hands… but let me out first.”
“Alright, good boy.” A victorious smile spread across Shake’s bruised face, he released Frylock and held out his hand again, ready for another round of hand-holding.
But instead, Frylock punched him straight in the face.
“FUCK—THAT HURT????”
“This one is because you are not listening to me.”
Another punch landed on the other side of Shake’s face.
“And this one… is because you are way too cute.”
This time, the one laughing was Frylock. Obviously, this bet was ridiculously easy to manipulate, at least all those years of studying and doing lab experiments hadn’t been completely useless, though that had nothing to do with the situation right now. Still, it wasn’t worth the effort to come up with a logical example for it anyway.
“If you want to hit me back… that’s fine… we’re lovers after all… if you want to, I’ll endure it…” Frylock pretended to look hurt, covering his face with both hands and bowing his head like he was crying crocodile tears.
“No… I won’t… because I love my baby the most in the world.” Shake rubbed his swollen cheek, clearly pissed but unable to do anything .After all, this whole thing was supposed to be a revenge game. Unfortunately, the counterattack he’d put the most effort into had just been stolen by his opponent.
“Alright then, Shake. If you pull that again, there won’t be any teeth in your mouth left. Got it?”
“Yeah yeah, whatever.”
“If you want to quit the game, I’m generous enough to let you back out.” Frylock smirked, lifting his chin up.
“NO???? WHEN DID I SAY THAT?”
“I’m just saying.”
“Frylock, I know you look down on me. But remember, the one standing right in front of you is the peak of this school, the king of the game-Master Shake, M-a-s-t-e-r. I was born to be a master, got it????” Shake jabbed a finger at his own chest proudly.
“Masterbate.”
“?”
“Nothing.”
“HEY I HEARD THAT. YOU SAID THAT SHIT ON PURPOSE.”
“Oh? Why are you getting mad at me? Does that mean you don’t love me anymore?”Frylock’s eyes shimmered like an innocent puppy apologizing after accidentally burning down an entire house by knocking over a candle while playing.That same pitiful gaze looked up at Shake. For a moment his heart actually wobbled. Obviously that wasn’t part of this fake relationship script. A strange tickling feeling spread through his nerves, like the two of them really did have some kind of weird, ambiguous relationship.
“……” Interesting, Frylock. I always thought you only knew how to study and scribble notes, always obsessed with writing my name in those stupid discipline reports everywhere like some robot programmed to punish me.
I’ve never seen you this… lively before.
Very interesting.
“Well, looks like it’s about time. I’m heading back.”Frylock turned around and walked away from his “beloved,” not the slightest bit reluctant.
“Huh? you are that much of a goody-two-shoes and your roommate never comes looking for you? Or call someone to check on you?” .Snapping out of his thoughts, Shake asked with the concern of a boyfriend who sounded great in theory but couldn’t be bothered to actually practice it.
“I live alone.”
“Damn, that’s cool. How’d you pull that off???”
“Hell if I know, just go home already.”
“Okay goodbye my love~~.”
“Shut the hell up.”
The moon cast the shadows of the two of them onto the ground, their warmth slowly separating as they walked in opposite directions through the cold of affection. Could love really was something that slaughtered one’s will and spirit until decay, until the quiet footsteps drifted endlessly toward the far end of loneliness.
Today was truly a huge disturbance in Frylock’s life. Because of the way he decided to deal with trouble… by (fake) dating it.
And of course, that trouble had a name.
Shake.
That bastard Shake was the most ill-mannered jerk Frylock had first and ever met in his life. Arrogant, smug, ridiculously full of himself. The enemy of every decent person alive. His brain barely worked beyond causing problems that made others want to kill themselves just to avoid being near him.
The two of them were supposed to be parallel lines, but somehow accidentally, they crossed paths.
It started the day Frylock found him alone in the sports area, his head was covered in blood, barely breathing through his mouth in their first year, about three or four months after the school year began before Frylock had even joined the higher council of the school, he had carried that idiot to the infirmary with both hands and stayed there taking care of him.
When Shake finally woke up and turned to look at him with those big brown eyes.
The first thing he said wasn’t “thank you.”
It was:
“Is that your fucking business?”
Right then Frylock knew he had to remember this bastard’s name for the rest of his life.
Before that they hadn’t fought, just threw a few sarcastic comments at each other. But after Frylock joined the student council, that guy started growing hostile, jealous of every achievement he made, letting hatred settle into his blood and gnawing at him like a parasite ,ironically.
By the time Frylock reached the dormitory building reserved for students with special circumstances, he stepped inside the cramped little room. It was standard with a table, a stove, and a small bathroom. Honestly not bad for something free, maybe a little mercy from God that he wasn’t completely lacking in necessities thanks to donated items and the things Frylock himself worked to earn. Of course there were also two narrow beds pushed apart on opposite sides of the room. The room was meant for two people but for some reason nobody ever wanted to move in with him.
Damn, a bunch of racists.
Other than the streetlight outside the window, not even a ghost would bother haunting this place, it was exhausting. Frylock dropped himself onto the empty bed on the right side. His body smelled faintly of blood(though not his own)mixed with sweat and salty disinfectant from cleaning the bruises that burned across his skin. If he wanted to shower he’d have to wait until sunrise, when the dormitory water supply unlocked.
No lullaby echoed in the room but exhaustion knocked him unconscious anyway and dragged him into sleep.
There was a sound at the door.
Strange. He had locked the front door earlier, and the window had been jammed shut for over a year.
So what was that noise?
……
Whatever.
Tomorrow will be fine.
—————————
Morning came again.
But it didn’t feel like the start of a new day.
More like labor time for people with low responsibilities struggling to earn a little money for their future. The weather was warm, yet his body felt heavy and cold from head to toe.
“Why does my body feel so damn heavy…” Frylock’s eyes were still half closed. The injured eye didn’t hurt as much anymore, but the rest of his body ached deep inside his bones and muscles as if some huge lump of flesh was taking up all the space, pushing him closer and closer against the wall of the narrow bed.
When Frylock decided to turn his face to the right.
It was Shake.
That guy was snoring loudly, hugging him tightly, refusing to let go.
…..
?
?
?
WHAT.
“NEBEUAHWBEJSS WHO THE FUCK IT THIS??????” A thousand words like cats fighting on a keyboard, messy, unclear and completely meaningless were burst out of Frylock’s mouth. Without any mercy and a second thought, he kicked the other man straight off the bed. His face was a mix of shock and fear at Shake’s sudden appearance, the self-satisfied bastard who had somehow snuck into his dorm room.
But how, since when and most importantly, WHY?
“Damn, it’s barely morning and you are already yelling loudly.” Shake sat up, rubbing one eye with one hand and yawning lazily as sleepiness spread through his body.
“HOW THE FUCK YOU STILL ASKING WHY??? WHY THE HECK ARE YOU HERE?????”
“Why are you so surprised when your love is right beside you, baby.”
“CUT THE DAMN JOKES. HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN HERE??? THIS IS THE FIFTH FLOOR, SHAKE. THE WINDOW IS LOCKED TIGHT.”
“I asked the dorm lady here.”
“HUH????” Frylock stepped closer and grabbed Shake by the collar, trying to interrogate him by throwing as many suspicious questions as possible.
“Calm down, man.” Unlike the confusion on the other man’s face, Shake casually brushed his hands off and mocked him. “Last night I ran straight to the dorm manager’s door and asked to switch rooms so I could stay with you. You said nobody ‘wanted’ to live with you, right? You should be happy about this surprise. I begged her all night before she finally gave me the key.”
“I'm not happy.”
“I'm though.”
“Then I’ll move somewhere you’ll never find.”
“So cold gezz.” Shake laughed. “Do couples in love treat each other like this?”
Frylock raised one eyebrow, not even trying to hide the look of contempt for how Shake would do anything for money. Suddenly he stood up, grinning wide enough to show his braces, and stretched out a hand in a fake friendly greeting.
“Well.”
“Then welcome to be by my side, baby.”
Shake looked stunned for a moment.
But slowly he reached out and grabbed the hand anyway, answering with a grin that squeezed his eyes shut.
“Please take good care of me, my love.”