On a cold chilly night, a lonely thin figure was sitting slumped on a hammock chair, slowly swinging along with the gentle blow of the wind. Next to it was an overturned wheelchair, a clear indication that the one who uses it despises it so much.
Without the lights illuminating the balcony and only relying on the glow of the moon, the surrounding was dimmed and gloomy creating a melancholic effect to the atmosphere.
A full hour of nothing but silence, yet it somehow brought a fleeting peace to the person in the hammock chair. Free of negative thoughts and forgetting the pain even for a short period of time was enough for him.
Moments passed, and the sound of the glass door sliding could be heard, especially in the quiet surroundings of the balcony.
"Hirose!" A tall and handsome man, wearing a doctor's robe, and a stethoscope hanging around his neck, called out as soon as he stepped outside to the balcony.
"Ren! Ren Hirose! Answer me! Damn it!" He called out again. His voice was a little stronger this time when he heard no response.
Still, it remained silent. He scanned the dimmed area with difficulty and found the overturned wheelchair beside the hammock chair that was facing the dark view of a forest. He sighed helplessly as he walked towards it. Bending a little, he reached out his hands and properly put the wheelchair back in its place.
After doing what he did, he suddenly heard a low and lifeless voice of a young man. His tone carried a sound of hopelessness like life had given up on him.
"Cousin? Kyo, is that you?"
"Yup. It's me." Kyo hurriedly replied. He waited for Ren to continue speaking but after a whole minute, his cousin didn't make a sound anymore. He couldn't help but blow a loud breath out of frustration as he went in front of the hammock chair.
He couldn't see Ren clearly since it was dark, but he already had an idea that his cousin was slumped in his seat, almost lying on a hammock chair.
"Ren, why are you outside? It's cold. What if your feet ache again--"
Kyo's words were cut off when Ren finally spoke again.
"So what if I'm outside? So what if it's cold? So what if I'm in pain? I'm already crippled, what's the use of going inside?"
Ren's tone was harsh, but he conveyed it from the bottom of his heart.
Kyo's eyes watered hearing Ren's words. His heart tightened in discomfort as he felt sorry for his one and only cousin who not only lost both of his parents in a car accident but also lost his ability to walk in the same tragedy. And it just happened recently, more precisely, last month while they were on their way to celebrate his cousin's college graduation.
He cleared his throat, trying to speak normally and to stop himself from crying. "Ren, I told you, didn't I? You're not a cripple, you're just temporarily disabled. The fact that you can still feel pain in your feet proves that you can be cured. I'm not kidding. Trust me."
Ren didn't speak. Kyo doesn't know what's going on in his cousin's mind so he just continues convincing him. "Come on, Ren. Don't give up. Losing your ability to walk doesn't limit you from doing the things you love. "
"I'm bored." Ren opened his mouth to speak. "I want to do something that could make me forget the pain but I don't know how."
Kyo sighed and just as he was about to answer, he suddenly thought of something. He contemplates for a second before telling his cousin about it. "You remember my buddy, Pancho, right?
"Hmm."
"Well... His company recently developed a new online game. I think it's an MMORPG kind of game. He wants me to be a beta tester but you know that I'm not really into games. So..." Kyo trailed his words. "I want you to do it instead since I know you love playing."
A few minutes had passed and Kyo didn't hear Ren's response, but he waited patiently. He knows that he will get answers tonight, and indeed he was not wrong.
"Okay. I'll try."
Kyo smiled widely after hearing Ren's answer. "Then, I'll send you the invite and the link later." He took a deep breath. "For now, let's get you inside so you can properly rest."
THE NEXT EVENING, Ren was in front of his PC, sitting on his hated wheelchair while creating a character in the game his cousin sent to him. His face was devoid of emotion as he smoothly modified his avatar to make it look exactly like him. Afterward, when he was satisfied with his creation, he entered the game.
It loads for a few seconds and upon entering successfully, a breathtaking display of a rice field greeted him. It was bath with the blessing of the sun creating a warm tone in the surroundings. And within his view, his gaze caught a tall man wearing a nice-looking armor and whose back was facing him.
Ren thought the man was an NPC, so he controlled his character to go near the man to ask what he needed to do. But to his surprise, the man suddenly turned around and a speech bubble appeared on his head.
"Ah? Is that you, Kyo?
Ren froze. He was not expecting to meet another player in the first seconds of entering the game.
"I didn't expect that you would try the game. You told me that playing games is not your thing."
It's only been a month since Ren last talked to other people aside from his extended family, but he felt like he couldn't socialize anymore. He couldn't find a word to say to the player in front of his character.
"Hey, Kyo! Why aren't you responding? AFK? Seriously, brother? It's too early to do that."
Ren took a deep breath before slowly typing a reply.
"I'm not Kyo."
"What?!" The man exclaimed and the next second, the speech bubble above his head suddenly disappeared. After a while, a husky voice could be heard from the speaker. "Who are you? I only gave the beta-tester invitation to Kyo so how come you appeared here?"
Ren was surprised that the man was talking to him using voice speech. He couldn't do what the man was doing and only typed his reply.
"I am Ren."
A momentary silence happens in a few seconds before the other party on the other side of the screen speaks again. "R-Ren?" The man cleared his throat. "As in Ren Hirose? Kyo's cousin?"
Ren's eyebrows raised hearing that. He knows me?
"Yes. You know me?"
"Fuck!" The man cursed away from the mic but Ren still heard it. His eyebrow subconsciously raised at that person's reaction across the screen.
"Is there a problem?"
The man cleared his throat. "No. Ahm... I know you... from Kyo. He talks about you all the time."
Something snapped at the back of Ren's mind upon hearing what the man had said. His emotion surged and he couldn't help but force a smile as he typed.
"He talked about me all the time? What did he say? Did he tell you that he had a crippled cousin?"
After he sent the message, that's when Ren was pulled back to reality and realized what he had just typed. He sweats cold and his heart beats so fast as he quickly sends another message.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way. My emotions really got ahead of me. I'm so sorry."
The other person across the screen went silent for a while. Ren thought that the man was offended or something and he got teary-eyed. He suddenly felt vulnerable. He wants to escape. He wants to hide from people, especially those who know him. Just as he was about to log out and turn off his PC, the man spoke again in a serious tone.
"You're not cripple, Ren. Please don't speak negatively about yourself. I can't bear it." The last sentence was spoken in the man's thoughts.
A tear slides down from Ren's cheek as he listens to the man. His heart tightens but there's a feeling of relief that comes from his body and soul. It's just a stranger's words but it has an impact on him making him feel lost and confused.
He wanted to stop but it feels like his hands have minds of their own.
"Do you know what happened to me? Did my cousin tell you?"
Maybe. Just maybe he really wants someone to talk to, someone to listen to him, and someone to comfort him.
"Hmm..." The man hesitated to speak but still chose to answer. "I was there... I'm on my way to a business trip but Kyo called me. He said that you had a car accident... I panicked and had to cancel everything. I was there when you got rescued and I was also there at the hospital... outside the ER, waiting for the result."
Ren was taken aback. He was not expecting the answer and was even more confused.
"Why?"
The man went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "I... Ahm... Kyo looks shaken up. He looks like his soul flew away from his body so I came for moral support." For some reason, his voice was quivering a bit and he sounded nervous.
Ren nodded. Yeah, his cousin values family so much and it's understandable for him to be shaken up.
"Thank you for being there. I appreciate it so much."
"No problem." The man cleared his throat. "By the way, let me introduce myself properly. I am Francisco Zamora, but you may call me Pancho. I am 28 years old. I've been single for eight years now. I owned REcon Entertainment. If you don't know, we develop and produce games. That's all."
Wow. He introduced quite a lot. Ren thought as his hands started moving. It's rude not to do the same, right?
"My name is Ren Hirose. I don't have another name so just call me Ren. I am 23 years old and I've been single since birth. I don't have a job or business, but before my accident, I planned to work at a game company. I love games... but it's impossible to do that now. I am gay, by the way."
Ren didn't know why he felt the need to include the last sentence but it just felt right.
After their introduction to each other, Ren loosened up, completely letting go of his tense self as Pancho toured him in the game that he personally made with no help. Ren didn't ask why he made it alone because something tells him that it's for a personal reason.
Months passed by in a blur, and Ren was still playing the game. He enjoys it so much. The game is like a virtual pastoral life. He can farm. He can tend to animals like chickens, cows, sheep, and pigs. He can fish in different locations. He can forage in a forest. He can build a house to his liking. And the most important reason that made it enjoyable was because of Pancho's presence.
Pancho can only play at night because he has a company to run during the daytime, but he hasn't missed a day to accompany Ren. As they play day by day with only the two of them in their own lovely world, they become unknowingly closer to the point where they crave each other's company every time they are alone or away from one another. Hence, if there are other players were to see them, they would probably think they are a married couple in real life.
TONIGHT was supposed to be just like any other night for Ren but something is bothering him. He feels uneasy and restless for some reason. His heart was full of anticipation and disappointment at the same time. He couldn't explain it.
No... He could actually but he didn't know how to voice it out.
Ren was inside their newly built two-story villa. Yes, he and Pancho decided to live together since they are the only ones in the game for the time being.
Ren was crafting small trinkets to decorate the inside of the house when he noticed a chat from the world chat.
"Ren-ren, can you change your perspective to a 3D view and come out of the house?"
Even though he's confused, Ren still did what Pancho had said in the chat. His view now is in 3D as he opens the door. And the moment his gaze landed outside, a burst of colorful fireworks exploded in the dark sky.
One after another, streaks of different light shot upward, disappearing for a moment into the darkness before erupting into brilliant cascades of color. The echo of its explosion felt like thunder rolling in Ren's heart. He did not know if it was the sound of the fireworks or it was the beat of his heart, but it was so loud. He can hear it clearly in his headset.
The fireworks lasted for ten minutes, and in the last set of them, there were beautiful words that made Ren sob.
"Happiest birthday to my handsome Ren-Ren!"
Ren burst out crying after seeing the words in the sky. Then, just as the silence took over, two arms suddenly wrapped around his character in the game. It was Pancho's character. It's inside the screen, but he didn't know why he could feel it in real life.
"Happy birthday, Ren-ren," Pancho whispered solemnly.
Ren could feel Pancho's emotion through his headset and his heart beat so fast. "How do you know?" He asked, sobbing.
Pancho chuckled. "I've always known."
"Really?" Ren continued sobbing. "I'm glad someone remembered my birthday. I was actually waiting for someone to greet me. Idiot Kyo even forgot. Thank you, Pancho." There, he said it.
"Kyo didn't forget. He even reminded me, but I told him that I have a surprise for you so he should keep his mouth shut. He probably didn't contact you because he's afraid he might spill something."
Ren wiped his tears. "Is that so?"
"Yup." Pancho, on the other side of the screen, took a deep breath. He was extremely nervous as he continued speaking. "Ren, remember when I said that I made this game personally with no help from anyone?"
"Yes."
"Well, I made this entire game for this exact moment." Pancho slowly revealed his thoughts that had been hidden for a long time.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ren asked in confusion.
Pancho made his character let go of Ren's and control it to stand in front of Ren. Then, he took another deep breath. "I... I made this game for you. You once told Kyo that you wanted this kind of life but couldn't, so I made this. This world is for you and only you. Ren, I like... No. I love you..."
Pancho almost fainted from nervousness after speaking.
Ren was frozen in shock, but he calmly digested Pancho's words. He was not expecting to be confessed tonight, on his birthday, but deep inside, he already has an answer, and he feels happy.
Taking a long deep breath, he responded from the depths of his heart. "I love you too, Pancho."
After confessing their love and attraction, the two established a new relationship that solidified their connection with each other. They talked and bonded until morning, completely forgetting the outside world.
Because of his newly found motivation in life, Ren finally let go of his hatred and resentment toward the world. He talked to his cousin and agreed to the treatment and rehabilitation that were presented to him. He wants to get better. He wants to be with the love of his life in the real world and not just on screen.
In the following days and months, Ren spent his time rehabilitating in the daytime and playing games at night. He did not tell Pancho about it because he wanted to surprise him. His boyfriend has long desired to visit him but he always refused, telling him it's not the time yet.
Fortunately, Pancho is an understanding and patient man.
Also, their contact has been upgraded alongside their status. They do video calls now every time they play the game. It's more convenient and they can see each other's faces whom they missed so much during the day.
As their relationship progresses, some secrets will be revealed as well. Ren finally knows that his cousin has long known that Pancho was in love with him and even admitted to being a bridge between them.
IT WAS A NORMAL NIGHT for Ren so he logged in to the game as usual but he received a text message from Pancho telling him that he was busy with something and couldn't go online.
Ren was an understanding person so he didn't mind. While playing alone, he suddenly heard a burst of fireworks from outside his house. Confused, he went to his balcony to see it because it's rare to have a fireworks display in their area.
As he looked outside, he suddenly had a feeling of deja vu. He remembered Pancho's action for him in the game and couldn't help but smile gently.
At the end of the fireworks display, the feeling of deja vu intensified when he saw the sentence formed from the light of the fireworks.
"Happy Valentine's Day to my handsome and kind Ren-ren!"
Ren gasped loudly as the beating of his heart became fast. He was about to turn around to call someone when a warm and muscular arm suddenly wrapped around his waist. Then, an extremely familiar voice whispered lovingly in his ears.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ren-ren."
