“Why?”
“To make up the couch.”
“No need. I’m sleeping in bed with you,” Ody said casually.
Mano stared at him.
Ody shrugged. “What? We already cuddled.”
“I’ll go get the sheets anyway,” Mano muttered, heading to the bedroom while Ody chuckled and pulled out his phone. He opened a battle game and queued into a match while he waited. Sharp bursts of gunfire erupted from the phone speakers as the game began.
Mano took a sheet and a pillow from the closet and walked back into the living room. As he approached, a distant sound reached his ears.
He froze mid-step.
The sheet and pillow hung loosely in his hands, his gaze unfocusing.
There it was again. Gunfire.
His right ear felt clogged, a faint ringing buzzing through it.
Ody, focused on his screen, didn’t seem to notice him.
Mano pressed a hand over his ear and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Move! What the hell are you staring at?”
His stomach twisted.
“Shut the fuck up.”
A gunshot cracked through the air.
His legs gave out, and the sheet and pillow slipped from his arms as he collapsed to his knees.
That’s when Ody heard the noise and turned to look. “Mano?” His eyes widened when he saw him hunched over, clutching his ear.
“Anybody else wanna try tricks on me?”
“We gotta hurry up.”
“Mano!” Ody jumped to his feet and rushed toward him. “Can you hear me?” Panic crept into his voice.
Then it hit him. Mano’s reaction at the cinema. The gunshots.
What was he doing? Playing a shooting game with the volume up?You fucking idiot!
“Mano…” He grabbed him by the shoulders, but Mano was already breathing in fast, shallow breaths.
“Shut up and help them with the money.”
“Hurry the fuck up! The cops are coming!”
Another gunshot.
Mano’s breaths turned quicker and more frantic, but no air seemed to reach his lungs.
Fear crashed over Ody. He had never seen him like this.
