There were many booth games Chorei had seen before on television or on the boardwalk. Some were in reference to thriller movies, but most were games disguised in horror-esque themes with the same prizes. He didn’t understand the appeal of it as someone who had never gone to a festival. What was the point of buying overpriced tickets to window shop when he could just visit the boardwalk in October?

He was hoping to win him something cute as he said, or else it wouldn’t be long until he became bored. The first game he tried was balloon popping with air guns, which he won on the third try. Then Reoni attempted a game that required killing every zombie cardboard cutout with baseballs to win. Two thousand yen later, Chorei won for him. The last one they won was a strength test and… Reoni chose his legs as his weapon.

“Which prize do you want?” Chorei asked, scanning the wall of plushies.

“You can pick!” 

“You said that the last two times!”

These games were hopeless.

They dawdled a little more, but Chorei felt an aura of lethargy circulating Reoni. He appeared to twirl in circles joyously when he wasn’t filming, but what if he was just doing that because he was bored?

“Where did you find that claw machine game, Reoni?” 

He swung his head to look at him. “At a mall!” 

“I see…” Pure dread shrouded his face as he slumped his shoulders. So he knew he was late after all. 

Then, another thought grazed over him. “What about food? Wanna get something to eat?”

“We can if you want to,” he said, hooking his arm around his. “I’m having fun just walking with you, Chorei.” 

He relayed a large, gleaming smile that contaminated Chorei. Damn, it’s hard to tell if he’s lying to be nice or if he is that nice. “Okay, I’m fine with walking,” he agreed.

Out of nowhere, Reoni pushed his phone in front of Chorei’s face. It was a picture of the events in ThrillerFest, and the one he was pointing at in particular was the last event: an outdoor film screening of Murder for Hire. This festival was built around a concert venue with a hill as a natural elevation for the audience. 

“I’m most excited for this.” He turned off his phone and stuffed it away. “It’s one of my favorite movies of all time!”

“We better choose our seats, then. The good ones fill up fast,” he said.

Murder for Hire detailed the beginnings of a corrupt CEO in power after the previous one died unexpectedly. He abuses his control of a hospital to sell information from donors and hosts a black market business inside the basement of the building. A chief police officer discovers malpractice in the hospital one day and now he has to build a case to provide legal evidence to shut the CEO down. But while trying to do so, the officer is being hunted for what he knows…   

The movie is terribly gruesome and could either be taken as a comedy or a horror film depending on the person. Reoni was one of those people who laughs at a death scene, which was one of the reasons why he’s watched every horror movie imaginable. There was no question why he loved this movie so much.

The spot Reoni chose for them was by the back on the hill, that way they would be able to lie down. He turned on his side and laid his arm and head over Chorei’s chest. Chorei propped his arm over his body to keep him bundled up, and occasionally looked down to see Reoni watching the trailers on screen. For how adorably nervous he always is, he was incredibly bold.

Once the movie started, Reoni adjusted his head on Chorei’s shoulder so both of them were able to see. It didn’t take long for the film to make its presence of gore known. A patient had been ordered unnecessary surgery and instead got his kidneys harvested.

Reoni stamped his hand down on Chorei’s chest and hugged his shirt inside his fist. This got Chorei smiling. He wanted to tease him for being scared, but he would just have to wait until the end.

The pressure he placed on Chorei’s chest hardened a second time at the first murder scene. He expected to hear Reoni giggling, but his voice was too quiet to perhaps hear over the film. 

Chorei picked his head up to capture Reoni’s expression, and his anticipating smile dropped. Reoni’s eyes hid under tears and he realized that the heat from his shoulder wasn’t coming from his body heat, but from the stress exploding on his face.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he whispered, shaking his arm to wake him out of the movie.

“I can’t watch any more,” he said. 

Chorei slipped out of Reoni’s hold to get on his feet, helping Reoni up. He led them to an area of the festival where stands were already closed and stole a few napkins from one, handing them over to Reoni.

Reoni patted his eyes as he faced away to keep his embarrassment out of sight from Chorei. “I’m sorry. You can watch it by yourself if you’d like, but I can’t watch films like that anymore.”

He must have been ashamed for pulling them out of the movie. But that wasn’t what mattered to Chorei; What mattered was for Reoni to have a good time. He couldn’t bear to stand back while Reoni cried.

Suddenly Reoni was enveloped into a mass of comfort that wilted the distress in seconds. He lifted his head to see Chorei’s hanging over his shoulder, now linking the weight he felt around his chest with his arms. He raised his hands to hold onto Chorei’s arms, sinking into the embrace.

“I’m not leaving you,” Chorei muttered into his ear. “We’re on a date. I don’t care about the movie.”