Katy gets excited when she sees that the bottle points to Felix. I wonder if there’s a specific reason behind it, or if she would have gotten excited regardless of who it landed on? Felix hopes it’s the second option, because if Katy were to deliberately throw a low blow at him, he’d never forgive her.

Katy crosses her legs more comfortably, pulling her ankles with her hands as she leans slightly forward. "Felix, Felix, Felix... Truth or dare?"

Normally, Felix would have chosen the "less bad" option, but in this case, what’s the lesser evil? Either way, something’s going to happen that will make him regret getting out of bed that morning. Actually, it will definitely happen. In fact, it’s already happened at least three times.

"Truth," he says in the end, hoping Katy doesn’t ask him something too specific like, "How long have you been in love with Chan?"

Katy squints her eyes thoughtfully, then lets her gaze roam over the other players. Finally, her eyes lock back on Felix, and she says, "Have you ever had an erotic dream about one of the people here?"

Jisung chokes on what he was drinking and starts coughing loudly. Felix wants to kill him, strangle him, shake him, but then... he realizes that, in fact, this reaction is incredibly convenient. Because if Felix says yes, everyone will think it’s someone Jisung knows well. And Jisung doesn’t know Chan at all, so Chan is immediately crossed off the suspect list.

Right?

"Yes," Felix says, making sure to look at Katy and no one else as he confirms. "It’s happened."

"Ooooh," Katy smiles mischievously, then presses on, "Who?"

"Sweetheart," Felix says, syrupy. "My turn is over. It’s time for me to spin the bottle."

The bottle spins quickly under Felix’s fingers. One, two, three spins. It slows down pretty quickly, then settles on Robert, and... the excitement, the thrill, the intrigue: it all disappears in an instant.

Felix feels so bored that he only now realizes how much the risk had made him feel adrenaline.

Or maybe it was just the alcohol circulating?

"Truth or dare?" he asks Rob, who laughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his head.

"I don’t want to be a coward, and truth was chosen last turn, so... dare."

Dare.

Felix thinks of many options. He could punch Chan in the face, for starters. Tell Chan he’s annoying and should stop bringing his little sluts to every social event, fooling them into thinking he loves them for one night just to sleep with them and then disappear from their lives.

No, too direct.

And it wouldn’t be fun if someone else were doing those things.

Felix narrows his eyes.

He wants to strike, it’s obvious. He gets a weapon in his hand, and there’s only one target among these people. But hitting directly through Rob would be a wasted opportunity. An intermediary for an intermediary, on the other hand, seems much more fun.

"Hmm. Dare, then. I think I’d like to see you make out with... what’s your name, sweetheart? Dana? Dana, then."

Felix can’t hide his smirk. He covers it with a hand, pretending to cough as Chan pales and mutters. "Hey! That’s not fair, Dana is..."

"One of your friends?" Felix says, looking at him innocently. "Who decided to play this stupid game? Come on. It’s just a kiss. What’s the problem?"

Dana, who doesn’t seem at all shocked by this, laughs and playfully shoves Chan. "You’re not jealous, are you?"

Meanwhile, Rob moves closer to Dana, a little awkward. "We’ve introduced ourselves, right?" he asks, looking Dana in the eye. It’s clear he feels a little self-conscious about her good looks. Rob is also a handsome guy: he practices swimming, and his physique shows it. Maybe he should have made Dana kiss someone less attractive... but then, Chan’s reaction wouldn’t have been as much fun.

Robert leans forward, his mouth brushing Dana’s full lips. Dana parts her lips and, with mischief, licks Robert’s lower lip. Chan clenches his right fist and curses under his breath, Felix thinks this night couldn’t go better. He pours more whiskey and enjoys watching Rob and Dana kiss like it’s the new Britney MV.

When they separate, the two have flushed cheeks and saliva-coated lips. Chan’s expression is so angry that Felix almost wants to stand up and applaud for the performance, but he holds back.

Robert sits back down in his place and reaches for the bottle. For several turns, truths and dares alternate. Jisung is forced to reveal his spiciest secret and talks to everyone about his vibrator collection, Chan picks dare and ends up drinking five shots of vodka in a row, then it’s Dana’s turn to answer the question, "How long was the biggest guy’s dick you’ve had?" 23cm. Impressive, Felix thinks, drinking more whiskey.

Everything becomes confused and hazy. Felix is really too drunk at this point. He rests his temple against Jisung’s shoulder and constantly looks over at Chan, who, having gotten a taste of the vodka, seems pretty tipsy himself. Chan’s eyes stare intensely into Felix’s, but it seems like a playful challenge, like: "If I catch you, I’ll make you pay." Felix would love for him to try. He’d really like to find out what ridiculous idea is hidden in that coconut shell Chan stubbornly calls a head.

And, in that moment, the bottle stops on Chan. This time it was Jisung who spun it. Felix sits up straight, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. Jisung knows. Jisung could... No, he would never. Oh no, yes, he would. If Chan chooses dare, Felix is done for, he’s sure of it. And when he looks at Jisung’s face and notices the sly grin on his lips, his certainty becomes mathematical reality.

Felix is about to have a panic attack.

Or two.

Or maybe a whole series of panic attacks, one after the other.

"Dare or truth?" Jisung teases.

Chan bites his lower lip, thoughtful. He seems hesitant. Felix doesn’t believe in God, but he starts praying to every deity that comes to mind to spare him. He even thinks of the Olympian gods, the Celtic ones, any deity.

"Truth," Chan says, and Felix deflates like a balloon losing air. Thank you. Thank you, he repeats. He doesn’t know which god saved him, but he definitely believes in him a little more now.

Jisung is caught off guard. It’s clear that by choosing "truth," Chan has ruined his plans, so he has to think of something else, but the malicious excitement has gone out of him. It seems to have faded.

"How boring. Okay, then. Truth... let’s see. If you could... No, wait," Jisung chews on his thumb skin. "If you could get out of an uncomfortable situation other than this game, what would it be?"

Chan furrows his brow. "I don’t know. Let’s see – ah, yes."

Chan’s voice a bit slurred by alcohol. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "My rich, boring parents are organizing a gala dinner next week, and God, it’s going to be a real fucking torture," he mumbles. "I can’t not go. But I’d do anything to... I don’t know. Make it less boring."

Jisung raises his hands, satisfied. "Good, your turn, then."

Chan grabs the bottle and spins it without even thinking. He stares at it intensely. Felix wonders if he’s calling on some deity himself.

When the bottle stops dead on Felix, he realizes he must have really done it.

And that the deities must have heard him.

"Dare or truth, Lix?" Chan asks, his tone feignedly bored, but in his eyes, Felix reads a desire for revenge.

And God.

Felix is an idiot, a total idiot.

But he really hopes Chan is drunk enough to ask him to kiss him.

Maybe it’s Felix who’s too drunk, if he thinks such a scenario is possible, but...

"Dare," he says, eyes locked with Chan’s.

Chan smirks. He was expecting nothing less. Maybe it was even too easy. Felix should have pretended to hesitate at least for a while, made him think he was considering different options. Instead, Chan got his sweet treat in his hands, and now he has to do nothing but bite into it.

"Good," Chan’s voice is calm, but now he doesn’t even try to hide his malice. "At my parents’ boring party, you’re coming with me."

From the pause of silence he takes, it’s as if Chan expects some kind of reaction from Felix. Honestly? He’s a little disappointed. Is that it? He shrugs and indifferently says, "Ah. Fine, no problem."

Now it’s Chan who’s disappointed. Felix wonders if it was a mistake to react like that because it’s clear from his expression that Chan is immediately ready to raise the stakes. And in fact...

"Wait!" he says. "I’m not done. You’ll come with me. Dressed as a woman."

"What?" Felix asks, more to give him the chance to change his mind than anything else.

To his horror, he understands perfectly.

"Yep. And you’ll have to pretend to be my girlfriend the entire time."

Jisung squeaks in surprise at his side, hands flying to his mouth to cover it, then glances at Felix quickly, not wanting to miss a single moment of his expression.

Felix is simply stunned.

Okay, Chan is definitely messing with him.

There's no way he’s serious.

Right?