Page 25 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 1-4
Bak huffed. “Don’t worry about them. No one is going to sweat it until after New Year’s.”
“And then I’ll have other things to do.” Jun raised and dropped one shoulder again. “Anyway, your guys swiped the key card by accident with the bank cards and I need to do laundry. And I need to take these songs down to the music room and play with them.”
There, Bak. I’m playing your game. I’m not going to say you locked me in to give me a time-out, but I’m going to tell you what you’re missing out on if you keep me here.
“So that’s why you never came down to see me?” Bak said.
Jun waved at the hall. “Not really going anywhere with those doors, boss.”
“Well, at least you had some peace and quiet. Here, lassi, your favorite.” Bak put the drink down.
Jun looked at it. It was one of his favorites. But it was also packed with calories. Considering how little he’d had to eat that day, he could afford them, but it just felt…wrong.
“Thanks. I’m watching my weight, though. Probably shouldn’t drink all of it.”
“It’s the holidays. Relax a little. At least give yourself a bit of a treat. It’ll settle you down so you can sleep.”
“Hmm. Maybe.” Jun sighed and made a show of drinking from the straw, but he didn’t actually put anything in his mouth.
Bak smiled and nodded and backed out the door.
“Make sure they bring the swipe card back,” Jun tossed out after him.
“Sure. Sure.” Bak moved away.
It’ll settle you down so you can sleep. The words played over in Jun’s mind. Why would Bak bring him a treat? Was it just Bak pretending everything was all right again, or was there some other motive?
It didn’t matter. His mind was made up.
He stood up, stretching and moving around the room, pretended to drink a few more times, stretched, and yawned, then took his notebook to the bed and chanted the words he’d written out loud while he tied his extra duvet cover and a bunch of scarves together under the duvet where a camera wouldn’t see his hands. He had to estimate how long it was when he’d finished, but he was in very good shape. If he could get even halfway down the building, he’d be fine.
He stood up and drank the very last of his water. He hadn’t had enough to drink today, a quarter of what he normally had. Muscles were tight. Eyes were crusty. Too much more of this and he’d be sick. But that was a problem for another day.
He lay in bed and tossed and turned, using the movement to hide the fact he was bundling up his “rope” and putting on his sneakers. Hugging his “covers” to his chest, he went to the window, pretending to yawn again, and opened it, screen and all, hanging his head outside.
Then he shoved the bundle out the window, the end already looped to the headboard of his bunk, and jumped out after it.
The cold air hit him hard. He hadn’t been able to dress for winter, but he had gotten a jacket on over his sweater right before he jumped.
Ten seconds flat, and he was down the side of the building. Gigi would be so impressed. His feet hit the sidewalk. Someone was walking toward him, head down against the wind. He turned before they could see his face. Somewhere, an alarm went off deep in the building.
Time to be gone.
He took off into the night, running into the first alley he crossed and doubling down through a bisecting back way.
Fuck, he wanted Damian right now. It would be perfect if he’d pull up in a cab, open the door, and tell him to get in. Christmas lights inviting couples in for a holiday date at bars and restaurants only made the feeling worse. He and Damian had never done that. They’d never dared.
Rain coated Jun’s face. It wasn’t a heavy downpour, just…enough. His feet slapped on wet pavement.
Keep it moving, Jun. Just keep it moving.
The lights of the streets blurred past him, their shine dissected by rain.
Episode 2
Jun walked in the dark from streetlight to streetlight, shoulders tight against the cold. Rain misted down, droplets gathering on the polyester of his jacket, then running down in thin lines when they grew too heavy to cling. He kept his back hunched and the hood up over his face. December was not the time for a midnight walk. His pants were damp, and his shoes were starting to leak. Wherever he’d ended up was far away from the modern high streets and malls decorated for Christmas. There were only hints here and there of the holiday.
He’d torn himself from the place he’d been assigned and relegated himself to the no-man’s-land of the streets. None of the landmarks were familiar. He couldn’t have pointed north from south under the dark drenched sky.
