Chapter 5

Afterward, they decided to go to the mall since it wasn't too far from the boba shop. It was a good place to hang out since there were many places to go: clothing stores, food stalls, and other places. As they were walking around the place, something caught Kevin's eyes.

He lightly poked Arjun, "Hey, do you wanna go there?"

"An arcade? Do you like those kinds of things?"

He shook his head, "I don't know much about it to like it. I just want to check it out."

When they entered the arcade, there were a lot of people playing or watching other people compete with each other. While there are a lot more people playing virtual reality nowadays, there are a lot of people who choose not to play since it's considered too mainstream. Now arcades are considered a "retro" kind of thing which led to it have a relatively large amount of players. Depending on how big the arcade is, sometimes the arcade will hold small competitions. They bought a couple of tokens and tried to find a game that wasn't busy.

Arjun pointed at a machine, "Ah, there is a racing game. Do you want to play in together?"

"Sure! But just so you know, I'm not gonna go easy on you!" Kevin said smugly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

They inserted the tokens, and the game starts. Immediately, Kevin lost control and crashed into the wall. Turns out the steering wheel on the game feels nothing like the one in the VR. It took a bit of time for Kevin to get control over the wheel while Arjun was able to play with little issue, probably because he knew how to drive. Within what felt like a blink of an eye all three rounds were over, and while he didn't do as bad as the first round for the other rounds, it was still bad.

"I'm surprised, you're a lot worse than I thought you would be."

"Yeah...me too." Kevin continued to stare at the screen, "...But it was fun"

"Yeah, do you want to go again or play something else?"

Kevin looked around the area when something caught his eye.

"How about rock climbing..?"

Arjun looked over at the wall, saw how tall it was, and sighed, "Um, I think I'll just watch you for that one..."

They continued to play games for the whole day, trying to play all of them. After they ran out of tokens they walked around the mall for some time. They talked and laughed together until night came.

"It's getting late out there, do you want to go home now?"

Kevin looked up at the glass ceiling and saw that the sky had turn purple and orange. "I guess it is getting late...Do you want to talk a little bit longer? Not here but maybe in your car?"

"Alright. That's not a problem, let's go then."

They went to the car, but even though they said they would continue talking, neither of them said a word. Instead, they stared out the window for a couple of minutes. When the sun had fully set and the stars began to shine, Arjun drove Kevin to his home. They both got out of the car and when they did a sense of dread washed over both of them. Neither of them could say anything or do anything.

"Hey... I had fun hanging out with you today." Arjun was the first to speak.

Kevin stared at the ground, not saying a word. They both stood there, neither making a move. Some minutes pass before someone spoke.

"...I'm going to miss you." Without thinking, those words slipped out of his mouth. "I'm happy I got to see you again today."

His chest felt heavier than it has ever felt. It felt like he couldn't breathe and his head was getting lighter. Suddenly he felt his body being squeezed. Arjun hugged him as tightly as he could like he was scared of letting go.

"...I love... I loved hanging out with you."

Kevin paused before speaking, "Do you like we'll get to do this again?"

"...I don't know, but I would hope so." Arjun forced a smile as he said that.

Neither of them knew when or if they would see each other again. The last time they met in person was a year ago and they also rarely meet online as well. While they would likely see each other again in the game world, they have no idea how long that would last. Kevin put his hand over Arjun's. At that moment, it felt like there was no one else in the world but the two of them.

"Thank you for being with me today," He slowly moved his arms and walked away, "Goodnight Kevin."

Arjun got into his car and turned it on. Kevin watched as the car drove down the road until it disappeared. Now it was just him. No matter how long he stared at the empty street, it would still be just him. He eventually started walking back to his home. He opened up the door to his now clean apartment, the one he cleaned that morning. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. But no matter how much time pass, he couldn't fall asleep. He put his hand in front of his face and opened and closed it, over and over again.

"Why am I..?"

He looked around his room, his eyes falling on the headset. Tomorrow is likely going to be the same. He looked at his hand again. Sighing, he turned to his side and tried closing his eyes again. He never had a problem playing all the time, so why is it a problem now? 'It's not a problem,' he thought. Everything is fine as it is now.

"...I want to get better."

Those words slipped out of his mouth. He didn't realize he had said it at first. It had shocked him at first, yet those words also felt comforting.

"I want to get better."

Those words felt powerful to him. It was a small promise he made for himself. A promise for change and happiness.

"...I want to get better!"

Whether those words are a step to change or meaningless, is unknown at this moment. Only time can tell.