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It’s your roommate’s birthday today, and you can’t help but feel like the universe is pulling a cruel joke on you with the way things are going.
You love Mualani, you really do– she’s a great roommate, and an even better friend. So when she asked you to attend her birthday party, of course you agreed! You truly wanted to celebrate your friend– but now that you were actually at the party, your mind was elsewhere.
People all around you were drinking, chatting in the pool, playing games… you felt lost, sitting alone with your thoughts.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all around for you!”
You looked up to see Mualani herself, offering her hand to you. You let her pull you out of your seat, trying to quickly think of a believable excuse for your forlorn expression, were she to ask.
“We’re about to play 7 minutes in heaven inside, you should join!!” She exclaimed, before her beaming smile softened with concern. “Hey, are you doing okay?”
Under normal circumstances, you probably wouldn’t join a game like 7 minutes in heaven. But seeing Mualani’s worried expression made you feel a little guilty. Seeing as she had taken good care of you and your fragile emotions during the past few weeks, you figured you at least owed her this.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just thinking. And… sure, I’ll join,” you said, mustering up a smile.
“If you say so!” Mualani said, leading you inside of the house. “Hey, maybe you’ll find someone special to replace that idiot,” She said suggestively, referencing your ex.
“Yeah, yeah…”
It had been what, 7 weeks since you’d broken up? The break up hadn’t been going very smoothly for you. The first week, you spent crying in bed– Mualani had to drag you to class most days. Today’s sorrows were a far cry from that, but you were still feeling down regardless. It wasn’t quite the loss of your ex themselves that you mourned, no, it was about time you ended it with them. You mourned something more akin to the loss of companionship. Sure, you had plenty of friends in university, including Mualani, but it didn’t change the fact that you were single now.
You recognized most of the people in the circle, many of them being your friends. One such friend, Ororon, waved you over to sit beside him.
“Hey! You showed up. It’s good to see you out,” He said, offering you a friendly smile. Before you had time to reply, he turned to look at the person sitting on his other side– another friend of yours, named Ifa.
“Oh, hey there, [name]. We’ve been missing you at the study group,” Ifa said. As you exchanged greetings with Ifa, you noticed Ororon glaring daggers at him. Ifa stiffened up in response, eyes widening.
“Uh, I’m gonna be back in a second,” He said, standing up and hurrying away into a different room. After he left, you narrowed your eyes at Ororon.
“What shenanigans are you two up to?”
“Oh, Ifa just…had too much to drink, I…think…” It seemed he hadn’t come up with Ifa’s excuse before it escaped his lips. “But, um, how are you doing?”
You decided to entertain whatever Ororon and Ifa were doing and allowed yourself to become engrossed in a conversation about the best growing conditions for radishes. Not long after he had left, Ifa returned with someone else in tow– Kinich.
Kinich was another one of your good friends, but your friendship with him differed in that you could never seem to tell what he was thinking or feeling. While Ororon, Ifa, and Mualani were relatively straightforward, speaking their mind more often than not, Kinich was rather reserved– definitely more of a listener than a talker. It certainly didn’t help that the two of you seemed to be drifting apart in the past few months, either. Sure, he wasn’t actively avoiding you, but he used to make a greater effort in asking you to go out with him or hang in his dorm. Come to think of it, this change in behavior started around when you began dating your ex.
Maybe Kinich just didn’t like your ex, or didn’t approve of your choice. Since he was so reserved, you figured he wouldn’t bring it up if he actually felt that way. In any case, he was there at the party, so you looked forward to interacting with him. After all, even though you weren’t as close as before, there was no way Kinich hated you.
As he talked to Kinich, you saw Ifa gesture to you from afar. Kinich rolled his eyes in response, making you doubt your thoughts from before. Maybe he did hate you. You tried not to think about it, you were already in the dumps about your ex.
So, you smiled at Kinich as the two men came over to the circle. “Hey Kinich, been a while,” you greeted.
“Hey [Na-”
“OHHHH!! Oh, oh, oh, uh… I gotta go! To the… I need to go!! Kinich you can sit here!” Ororon rambled frantically, gesturing to his spot beside you before stumbling away. You look to Ifa for answers, but he, too, has disappeared.
“What’s up with them?” You ask. Kinich shrugs in response and takes a seat where Ororon was previously. Before you can initiate further conversation, Mualani entered the center of the circle with a small bag, presumably of names written on paper.
“Everyone here is playing, right? I’ve got all your names down already! The rules are simple: you draw a name, then spend 7 minutes with them in the closet,” Mualani giggled. “Let’s see who’s going to go first…”
Her hand rustles around in the bag and pulls out a small sheet of paper.
“Aww, none other than my wonderful roommate, [name]!”
Just your luck. Who gets picked first in a game of 7 minutes in heaven? You try to maintain a calm and collected countenance, hiding your exasperation and nerves. Beside you, you hear Kinich let out a barely audible sigh.
“Here, pick a name. Let’s see who the lucky person is…” Mualani offers the bag to you, and you pick up the first paper you touch, eager to get this game over with.
“...Ororon.”
From the distance, you hear a muffled “I’m not here! I had to go!” followed by “Bro, shut up!!! They’re supposed to think we left!!”
“Uh… ” Mualani laughs awkwardly. “Wanna just select again?”
You set Ororon’s name aside and thrust your hand back into the bag, this time taking a little longer to select a paper. Your breath hitched when you read the single name written on it.
“...Kinich.”
You look at him instinctively, nervous to see how he would respond. Even Kinich, in all his nonchalance, was blushing ever-so-slightly. He cleared his throat and stood up.
“Okay! [Name] and Kinich, follow me!” Mualani said. You heard some whoops and cheers from the circle, and you didn’t know how you felt about that.
“It should be easy,” you thought to yourself. Kinich was your friend, after all. You would just sit in the room with him for 7 minutes, catch up a bit, and you’d be on your way! Hopefully Mualani would be satisfied with your participation in just one round of this racy party game.
“Alright, you two. See you in 7 minutes!” Mualani said. The last thing you saw was her bright smile before she shut the door behind you.
With your back to the wall, you slid down to sit on the floor, bringing your knees close to your chest. Kinich followed suit. It was dark, but you could make out his inquisitive expression.
“So,”
“So–”
You both spoke at the same time. If it was awkward before, this made it ten times worse. Sighing, you looked away. Maybe you could let these 7 minutes pass without conversation.
“I didn’t expect you to play this… game,” Kinich said, breaking the silence.
“I’m just doing it for Mualani,” You chuckled. “It’s her big day, after all.”
“Oh. Uh, same, that’s why I’m playing.”
Another awkward moment passed.
“You’ve been quiet. Is something wrong?” Kinich inquires as if he hadn’t been doing the same.
“Oh, um…” On one hand, you were still a little bit uneasy at how Kinich had rolled his eyes earlier. What could you have done? You didn’t want to irritate him more. But on the other hand, he was asking you what was wrong. Maybe it was a good opportunity to get some things off your chest. With such limited time, it was probably better to be straightforward.
“...Uh, nothing much, just… my breakup.”
Kinich seems surprised at first, then almost relieved. “I didn’t know. That’s good to hear though, they were nothing but trouble. Wait, hey– are you crying?” He moved closer to you, looking unsure how to comfort you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
You wiped your eyes, embarrassed. “No, no…You’re right. A lot of people have been saying that lately.”
“I didn’t mean to overstep in any way, I just think that someone like you deserves so much better,” Kinich said with an unexpected vehemence. This response was quite uncharacteristic of him and piqued your curiosity.
“...What do you mean?” You asked, peeking out from the gaps between your fingers.
“... I just mean that you’re… a good person, and a great friend. You deserve to be with someone who appreciates those things about you… someone who will treat you right,” He said, looking away. These were very kind words from the usually nonchalant and passive Kinich. And they certainly didn’t sound like words that would come from someone who hated you.
“Thanks, Kinich. That makes me feel better. I think I just got caught up in my own head, thinking that I was unloveable or something.”
He stares at you with another unreadable expression. What was going on in that analytical brain of his?
“No, definitely not. It’s easy to love you.”
You freeze upon hearing his words. What was he implying? Maybe he wasn’t implying anything. Friends love friends, after all!
But at the same time, Kinich barely spoke, even to your other friends. And when he did speak, it was usually accompanied with his trademark monotone voice and affinity for logic. Emotion and vulnerability scarcely found a place in Kinich’s actions. Furthermore, these increasingly heart-rending statements didn’t align with his behavior as of late.
You resolved to gather your courage and ask him what was up, but when you opened your mouth to speak, nothing came out. It was simple– Kinich, why have you been avoiding me lately? But only a squeak came out.
“Kinich, do you hate me?”
That was not what you planned to ask, but it was okay. You could work with that.
He gave you an incredulous look, stunlocked. “What? Of course not, that’s ridiculous.” He pauses. “Far from it… What makes you think that?”
“Well, for starters, you rolled your eyes earlier when Ifa pointed to me.”
Kinich immediately blushes and looks away with a sharp inhale. You’ve never seen him this flustered before. “I wasn’t… Ifa was just saying that I should join the game to…be with you. But him and Ororon have the wrong idea,” He cleared up, saying the last sentence quite frantically. He’d been making you raise an eyebrow ever since the door to the closet closed. This was not the Kinich you knew.
“I guess I misinterpreted it. But you’ve definitely been distancing yourself from me in the past few months, what’s up with that?” You were more frank this time, emboldened by his anomalous forthrightness and sincerity.
It seemed he had to think about this one, though. You’d almost forgotten that the two of you were on a seven-minute timer. Hopefully, you’d get the answers you wanted before time was up. He gazed at you, lips trembling ever so slightly as if some forbidden truth was threatening to spill out.
“... I was just busy,” Kinich said quietly. His answer could barely be heard over the muffled sounds of the rest of the party.
It was a bit disheartening to hear an answer that was so clearly a lie after all of those genuine and vulnerable responses he had been giving you. You took solace in the fact that at the very least, you were quite certain Kinich did not dislike you at all.
Another moment of silence fell over the two of you. Why did you feel like you wanted to hear more of Kinich’s sentiments, beyond basic curiosity? Were you just intrigued by this novel side of him?
“My… schedule is cleared up now. Do you wanna go out for dinner tomorrow? My treat.” Kinich interrupted your thoughts. Maybe all was not lost– and maybe this particularly sincere version of Kinich was here to stay.
“I’d enjoy that,” you said simply. The prospect of a fun night out with Kinich sparked a sense of warmth within you that you couldn’t remember when you last felt. As you began to put the pieces together, you heard a familiar, cheerful voice from the other side of the door.
“Knock knock guys! Hope you’re decent, because your time is up!” Mualani joked, swinging the door open.
Kinich stood up first, offering you his hand. He pulled you up with ease.
“6 pm work with you?” He asked, hand lingering beside yours before quickly pulling away.
“Yep.”
“Cool. It’s a date then,” He said before walking away, gradually quickening his pace as he turned the corner.
You were shocked, but perhaps not as flabbergasted as Mualani, whose jaw was glued to the floor after watching the events that just unfolded.
In the distance, you hear Ifa’s concerned voice. “Hey, hold up Kinich! You look as red as one of Ororon’s tomatoes, do you want me to take a look? Kinich!”
From around the same corner, Ifa and Ororon emerge. The moment they catch a glimpse of you, they share a knowing smile. The two dap each other up while you continue struggling to process Kinich’s words.
Ifa slings his arm around Ororon’s shoulder and the two walk away.
“All in a day’s work, bro!”