CHAPTER 03

Kelly visited his cousin.

"Hey, Seb, how are you?" Kelly greeted her cousin.

"I'm doing well. Oh, by the way, I saw you with someone the other day," Seb said.

"Huh? When and where?" Kelly tried to remember.

"At the barbecue place," Seb said.

"Oh… wait, you usually go there when you want to date someone," Kelly remarked.

"I went there with Mark," Seb said.

"Where is Mark, by the way? I have a surprise for him," Kelly looked for Mark.

"I'm here!" Mark exclaimed.

"I have a gift for you; here it is, a VIP front-row seat at the T. Drix concert," Kelly handed the ticket.

"Really?!! Thank you, Kelly! But there are only two?" Mark asked.

"Well, you and Seb will go there. I'm busy that day," Kelly explained.

"That's sad. I wanna go there with you too," Mark said with a sad tone.

"Aww, you're so sweet, but I have a shooting. I should be going now, bye," Kelly said in a hurry.

Kelly left, and Mark was really happy to be able to attend the concert.

"Seb… what should I wear?" Mark asked.

"Anything that you are comfortable in; it will be too crowded in there, and we'll probably be sweating in the arena," Seb said.

"Then I should wear something sleeveless…" Mark suggested.

"Sure, oh, I remembered I bought some merch for T. Drix; I'm going to take it," Seb recalled.

Seb took a paper bag from his cabinet and went back to Mark.

"Here, check it out," Seb showed the merch.

"What is… no way, it's a light stick and clothes!! Thank you, Seb!" Mark was overjoyed.

Mark jumped at Seb in gratefulness, but as he realized he was too close to Seb's face, Seb kissed him, and Mark tried to struggle but ended up kissing him back.

Seb started the car as he waited for Mark. When Mark sat in the shotgun seat and closed the door, Seb began to drive. They played T. Drix’s songs until they arrived at the concert venue.

Mark looked at the stage; the venue was still not full since they were early. Mark and Seb went to their seats and waited for the concert to begin. Everyone gave a round of applause as T. Drix entered. He started to play and sing the songs until he had to sing the last one. When he got close to the audience to sing the chorus, he was left dazed when he saw someone familiar.

"Evan?" Theo said, as if he saw a ghost.

Everyone was confused, including Mark and Seb.

"Evan? Who is Evan?" Mark looked at Seb.

"I don't know who the hell that is. Uhm, baby, we should be going now; I have to work early tomorrow," Seb said as he pulled Mark out of the crowd.

"Well, I guess it's kind of late too…" Mark said with a sad tone.

"Don't worry; I'll ask Kelly for a sign from T. Drix, okay?" Seb assured him.

"Yes, thank you, Seb!!" Mark replied, filled with excitement.

Mark kissed Seb. As they were leaving, Dominic and Cris accidentally bumped into them, leaving the two in shock. Mark walked away in confusion, while Seb drove them back home. Upon arriving, Seb asked Mark to go to bed while he would check something. Seb went out to look through all of T. Drix's files and found something alarming.

MEANWHILE

"Papa Theo! We saw…" Cris didn’t continue.

"Bro, Theo! We saw…" Dominic was halted.

Ring~~ ring~~

"Kelly? What is it?" Theo answered before he could hear the two.

"Can we relax for a while? We should go to a café," Kelly said.

"Sure, why not? How about this weekend?" Theo replied.

"Yeah, see you!" Kelly replied, then hung up.

Theo looked at Dominic and Cris.

"He is dead; you never saw him today," Theo said.

As Theo walked out, the two were left more confused.

Seb looked for more information and ended up finding more, but,

"T. Drix is really a mysterious guy; his personal files always lead to U.WE.AS.TE. This doesn't add up," Seb said confusedly.

The U.WE.AS.TE is a system created by the Ueiss family, especially by Tezkhen Ueiss, who developed this system for security purposes. The Ueiss family has not been traced by the government and the International Satellite and Geographic Information Association or ISGIA. Tezkhen is the so-called "Underground TechWest," and he is also behind the confidentiality of Theo's details on the internet. The U.WE.AS.TE stands for Ueiss Web Ascending Technical Error; it doesn't just show up on the web, but instead, the U.WE.AS.TE is a portal, and in just 20 seconds, the portal will open and a massive intrusion of viruses will enter the gadget’s system.

No one knows the exact meaning of U.WE.AS.TE because the meaning never shows up on the web; instead, only the acronym appears. Only the Ueiss family knows the meaning.

Seb quickly exited the web and went to bed to sleep with Mark.

"I never let go of you 'cause you are mine, only mine," Seb said.

And Seb kissed Mark on the lips.

"Uncle Dom, can we go to the amusement park this weekend?" Cris asked.

"Sure, I'm going to ask Ren," Dominic agreed.

"Okie dokie," Cris replied.

Seb checked the calendar as he just woke up; it was already Friday, and he quickly rushed as he noticed it was 6:50 AM already. A few minutes later, he went to work.

"Babe, I'm going to work now. Bye," Seb said.

"Bye, take care," Mark replied.

Seb kissed Mark before heading off to work. Mark thought that their relationship had been very fast-paced. 'Did Seb ever ask me to be his boyfriend?' he asked himself, but all he knew was that he loved Seb, and Seb loved him in return.

Mark began listening to T.Drix's podcast, which had been recently posted. As he listened, he felt something upon hearing lines spoken by Theo.

"Evan, I wish you had heard me… it's been years, but still, my heart misses you. I think it's time to let you go. I love you so much, but all I can say is goodbye," Theo said.

Tears fell from Mark's eyes; he didn't know why, but he felt pain in his heart.

"Theo…" Mark unconsciously said.

TO BE CONTINUED