Arrived at the movie theatre, Malak stood near the entrance before looking at the time. He waited the remaining ten minutes before contacting Kian if he didn’t see him then.

As the minutes slowly went by, Malak played a game on his phone to distract himself. Since he was standing near the entrance, many people were walking in and out of the building. Therefore, the young adult didn’t notice when Kian stood next to him for a few minutes.

“Is it fun?” Kian asked as he startled Malak, who nearly dropped his smartphone.

“Kian!”

“Yes?” the man smiled as Malak tried to calm his erratic beating heart.

“D-did you wait for a long time?”

“I just arrived,” Kian lied as the teenager sighed in relief. “Let’s go inside, shall we?”

Malak nodded and followed his friend into the movie theatre. Inside, the noise of the arcade games and the brouhaha of the people greeted them. Getting in line to buy their tickets, they both looked at the movie’s schedule displayed.

“What do you want to watch?” Malak asked as he tilted his head to the side.

Kian hummed while observing the screen with the schedule. “What about Giggling in the Graveyard or Ruins of the Dead?”

Malak nervously swallowed as he heard the titles of the horror movies. “I-I think Ruins of the Dead looks more interesting.”

Kian observed Malak from the corner of his eyes. “But then again, The President also sounds interesting.”

Once he heard the name of a movie that wasn’t in the horror genre, he quickly accepted without double-checking what it was about.

“Are you sure?” Kian smiled innocently.

“Yup, let’s go with that one,” Malak smiled back, making his friend chuckle.

When it was their turn to buy the movie tickets, Kian insisted on paying for both of them. However, they weren’t committed to a relationship and therefore, Malak refused and wouldn’t budge from his decision. In the end, they both paid for their tickets before going in line to buy some popcorn.

With everything they needed, they went to enjoy the movie they both chose. While munching on the popcorn, Malak enjoyed the romance movie while Kian eyed him by the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t interested in the movie at all. The movie was only a reason to lure Malak out, so he could proceed to the main dish later. He was almost positive that the teenager had feelings for him, but was too shy to act.

Around halfway through the movie, the room was filled with sexual moans and grunts, causing Malak to blush while hiding behind his bag of popcorn. It wasn’t like it was the first time for him to see sexual acts in a movie. It was more the fact that Kian was sitting next to him that made him uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Kian whispered as Malak sat straight in his chair while hoping the darkness of the room was hiding his red cheeks.

“N-nothing,” he whispered back as he tried not to squirm in his seat.

Kian nodded and turned to face the screen once more. The man and woman were still engaged in their sexual activities as he blankly stared at it. Although he was staring at the screen, he was not seeing or hearing the movie. Instead, he filtered his thoughts on something more appealing, and that was the young man sitting next to him. He kept thinking how cute Malak was as he got embarrassed and flustered at the erotic scenes. Because of that, being unable to touch or sit closer to him was an extremely hard task.

Two hours and a half later, the movie ended and Malak sighed in relief. He couldn’t believe he accepted to watch an erotic movie so eagerly.

“Did you enjoy it?” Kian asked calmly as they remained seated while the others were slowly leaving the room.

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“Uh?”

“The movie, did you like it?” he chuckled as Malak’s face was burning hot.

“I-it was alright? Did you like it?”

Kian shrugged. “I rarely watch movies. Is that how they all are?”

“Haha,” Malak laughed softly. “Of course not! Didn’t you watch the television when you were younger?”

“They kept me busy in my childhood. I had little free time,” Kian explained as he seemed lost in his thoughts. “Are you hungry?” he smiled once he snapped out of it.

Once the room was empty, they gathered their things before leaving, as the staff was already cleaning up the popcorn spilled on the ground. Like when they arrived, the movie theatre was still crowded with people. As they walked by the arcade, people of all ages were all sporting a smile as they were having fun. Kian and Malak didn’t get distracted and left the building while walking side by side.

In the parking lot, Malak followed Kian to fetch his car. Inside the vehicle, the dark brown-haired man inserted the keys into the ignition. Seconds after, the car roared to life and both of them were on their way to eat.

“Where are we going?” Malak asked when he noticed they were getting out of town.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Tell me,” Malak smiled sweetly, although Kian kept his eyes on the road.

“Nice try, but you still have to wait,” Kian grinned as he quickly gave a glance at the boy sitting next to him.

“A hint then!”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes?”

“That’s your hint,” Kian winked playfully

“That’s not fair,” Malak pouted as his friend laughed.

The rest of the drive was silent, with the radio murmuring soft music in the background. It didn’t take long before they arrived at their destination. Confused, Malak observed his surroundings, but there was nothing there. The car was parked in a barren land with nothing around for kilometres.

“Where are we?” Malak got out of the car when he noticed Kian doing the same.

The man opened the trunk of his car, and Malak got nervous for a second. He really hoped that it wasn’t a mistake to trust Kian so much. If he was a serial killer, Malak promised to come back as a ghost and haunt the man to insanity.

“Hungry?” Kian smiled as he took out a picnic basket.

“Yeah,” Malak answered, relieved that he was wrong. “But it’s getting dark already,” he added, as the sun was already setting down.

“Don’t worry. We will eat in the car.”

Back inside the vehicle, Kian opened the basket and revealed French baguettes sandwiches. They were filled with Camembert cheese, salami and ham slices, lettuce, pickles and spicy mustard. There were also two bottles of orange juice and a plate of grapes and cheese for dessert.

With the sandwich in his hands, Malak waited a little longer before taking a big bite out of it. He moaned as he chewed on his first bite.

“Did you make it?” Malak quickly asked before taking another bite.

“I wish I could, but I bought it from a French bakery,” Kian answered after eating half of the sandwich in one bite.

“It’s delicious!” Malak exclaimed before taking another big bite.

“Slow down, there is more.”

In less than thirty minutes, they both finished everything in the basket. Each time they met, they always ate something delicious, and it was making Malak fat, or so he thought. He decided he should start working out, especially after noticing how well-built Kian’s body was. He never gained much height or weight, even during his growth spurt. He wasn’t small, but for a man, he was on the short side. Secretly, Malak was jealous of his friend. Why couldn't he develop muscles and body hair as well?

“Thank you. It was a fun day,” Malak thanked his friend after wiping his mouth and hands with a napkin.

“But the day is not done yet?” Kian answered before pressing a button.

A window on top of their heads got uncovered as a blinder automatically retracted. With no light in their surroundings, the sky was shining more brightly than in the city. The sky was filled with tiny little specks of lights as the moon provided the only source of light in the surrounding areas. It was a view that was impossible to bear witness because of all the artificial lights.

“It’s so beautiful,” Malak whispered as his eyes were reflecting the beautiful sight he was enjoying.

“Yes, it is,” Kian answered as his tone grew emotional. Without a word, he gently took Malak’s hand in his.

He tensed and hesitantly met Kian’s eyes. His hand was warm, as well as the expression in his eyes. Slowly, Kian leaned closer to him until their noses were almost touching. Even then, Malak could not look away from the man he liked, nor could he move. It was as if he was frozen into place. Not meeting any resistance, Kian leaned even closer until their lips touched. It wasn’t anything like the Hollywood kisses Malak saw in the movies. This one was gentle and soft as only their lips touched each other with nothing else.

Briefly after, Kian pulled before asking the long-awaited question. “Will you go out with me?”