For the past couple of weeks, Sohal and Rune texted regularly. The conversations would quickly go from one topic to the next and Rune even texted first more than once. Sohal was eager to make plans with Rune and spend another carefree evening at Vein.

That was until Sohal got to the location. Police officers were milling about Lazy Crown Bar and Grille, clearly looking for something. Had Vein been outed? Would this be the end to his adventures of visiting regularly?

Sohal sat at a table, tapping his foot on the ground. He didn’t know what to do. He had plans to meet up with Rune at Vein, but with the cops around, it wouldn’t be wise. Should he just text Rune and tell him not to show up? He stewed in indecision.

“Hey, you made it.” Sohal turned around and Rune was there. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses even though they were indoors. “Did you eat yet? Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, um… food is good.” His eyes darted to the nearest police officer. The stocky man was busy writing something in a notepad, but he glanced at the two every so often.

“I’m so excited to go see that movie. Should we stop by somewhere for lunch first?”

Sohal was confused. They didn’t plan on going to a movie. “Yeah, I think…”

“Great, let's go.”

Rune turned to walk away and Sohal got up to follow. At first, Sohal struggled to keep up with Rune’s pace with how fast he was going. Eventually, they got far enough from the bar that Rune slowed down his pace before stopping beside a wheezing Sohal.

“What was that?” Sohal wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“I’ll tell you later. You okay with coming to my place for a bit?”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“If you’re still hungry, I can whip us up some food.”

“Now, that does sound tempting…” Sohal’s stomach growled at the idea. Normally, he’d just order a basket of fries at Vein when he got there, but the option was off the table today.

“It’s only a short walk away. Just follow me.”

“Promise you won’t run this time?”

“No promises,” Rune said, laughter filling his voice. “Just try and keep up, slowpoke.”

〜

Rune was right about it not being too far, which was a relief because Sohal got more exercise that day than he had gotten in months.

It was a nice apartment. Larger than he imagined. The living room had a large taupe sectional sprawled out with the biggest television in front of it. Unsurprisingly, Rune had his own game console setup. The television was part of a larger build-in and the shelves were filled with so many books, each row color-coded according to its spine.

Rune locked the door behind them and made his way to the kitchen. “Have a seat. I’ll be there in a second.”

Sohal sat down on the couch and his body sinked into it.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Rune shouted from the kitchen.

“Water is okay,” Sohal replied.

He couldn’t help but gawk at all of the things in Rune’s apartment. It was so full of life and personality. Just looking at all of the things Rune owned, it made Sohal feel closer to him. His own apartment, by comparison, only had the barest of essentials.

Rune joined him in the living room, handing him a glass of water. He sat down on the couch, holding his own glass. “We should be safe to talk here about… Vein.”

“What happened? Why were there so many cops around?”

“Vein had to go undercover for a while. Things like this just happen sometimes, especially around election season. They’ll be back in a new location sooner or later. We’ll have to lay low until then.”

“Does that mean we’re in trouble?” Sohal reached for the glass and took a sip.

“No, you should be fine. If we were, the cop would’ve been chasing after us.”

His finger tapped the glass. “How do you know? Maybe they needed a warrant or they weren’t sure it was us.”

Rune leaned back into his seat and tilted his head. "Why do you think Vein would get you in trouble?"

“We have to keep the place a secret and a cop was hanging out there. What will happen if we do get caught? It’s not like Vein can do anything at that point.”

"Vein will do a lot more for you than the police. I can guarantee that." There was a bitterness in Rune’s voice. Sohal had never seen him this upset before.

Sohal furrowed his eyebrows. “But Vein is where all the trouble is. We could be in jail because of it. How are you not as worried about this as I am?”

"Vein isn't the problem."

“Then what is?”

“Fated is. Why do you think you can’t delete the app?”

Sohal fell silent and wouldn’t look Rune in the eye. He took another long sip of water as he tried to think of a reasonable explanation. He never tried to delete the app before. But if that was true, then what kind of company was Fated?

“I had to have someone hack my phone to get the app removed. They can help you, too.”

Sohal clenched his jaw. “That would just put an even bigger target on my back. Going to Vein is already a big risk but removing the app will make me a criminal.”

"Sohal, you would've gotten in trouble even without going to Vein just for being different." Rune seemed calm but his eyes were sharp. “Trust me on this.”

“How do you know?”

“Hey,” Rune said. “I think we should put a pin on this for now. I invited you over for food, so let’s eat. I have leftovers in the fridge but I can order take out if you prefer.”

“Leftovers are fine. I’m not picky.”

The conversation may have ended but Sohal felt a weight on his chest and he just couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. As much as he wanted things to be okay, he wasn’t sure if that was a guarantee any time soon.