[Mad Dog: Can you take a call now?] 

Once Leo entered his car, he turned on Bluetooth and called Niko before driving off. 

“Did you enjoy your meal?” Niko asked. 

“Yeah. Thank you for paying, you didn’t have to.” 

“I told you, I have money with nothing to do with it. I don’t mind spending it on you.” 

Leo blushed, biting the inside of his cheek to calm himself. “It really isn’t necessary.” 

“Leo, be good and let me do what I want.” Niko’s tone made it hard for anyone to disagree. It only left Leo flustered. 

“Okay.” His mind went blank for a second. Lately, he felt like Niko was taking control of their conversations. But he could be overthinking. Plus, even now, how Niko said his name made him too heated. 

“I will be home soon, and then I will be streaming for two hours today. Once I am done, I will see you in the game.” Leo cut the conversation short, feeling too nervous to continue. 

Niko chuckled, almost like he knew what Leo was trying to do, “I will see you then.” 

“Bye.” Leo ended the call. He tightly gripped the wheel, feeling out of place. He couldn’t lie and say that Niko does nothing for him, but it is not something he can pursue or is ready to try. It may be the first time feeling something for someone, but it could only lead to failure. 

With his aversion to pheromones, how could he try anything with Niko in person? Plus, Niko had the same disorder as him; they couldn’t do anything together. It is better to stay online because everything hidden hits the surface in real life. 

Once again, he decided to push everything to the back of his mind and lock it away. 

After streaming, Leo logged into the game and landed in the last spot he and Niko were last at; this is where they planned to meet. 

Grim's character appeared, wearing the new outfit that hit the game's shop two days ago. 

The outfit was a couple’s set; the guy had black leather pants with belts surrounding the leg in bandage form. The satin top was sleeveless, with three buttons missing to show the male's chest. There were even accessories: the arms had belts surrounding them in bandage form, one long black diamond earring in one ear, while the other had a small black stud, and what finished the look was the four black, sharp wings with an aura spilling from them. 

The girl's set was similar in the accessory style, minus the crystal crown. Instead of pants and a shirt, the woman had a long, satin black dress with the sides and front open. 

The set even changed the characters' hairstyle, giving them long black hair. 

Since Grim's character is female, he wears a woman's set. Grim twirled his character around Zero and asked, “Cute, right?” 

“Yeah.” Zero agreed. The outfits were beautiful, and many people wanted to buy them when the set hit the shop. But the set was expensive because it gave your stats a boost. 

〔Grim sent a gift〕

Zero saw the message pop up and asked before accepting, “What did you send?” 

“Open and you will see.” 

He accepted the gift as another message popped up once he did. 

〔You received the Fallen Couple Set〕

“Grim,” Zero swallowed. “You already paid for my meal with my friends, which was expensive; you didn't have to buy me this, either.” 

“Zero, what did I say before? Come on, repeat it for me.” 

“To be good and let you do what you want.” Leo bit his cheek once more as he typed his answer. He felt like he was losing the plot. 

“You know,” Grim started circling Zero's character like a predator who found the perfect prey. “You are perfect. Put on the outfit.” 

“What?” Zero was lost. 

“Put on the outfit, Zero.” This time, Grim turned on the mic so that Zero could hear how serious he was. 

Zero could only wear the outfit as his ears started to turn red in real life. Once the outfit was on, Grim circled Zero one last time. “Beautiful,” he commented before changing the subject. “What do you want to do tonight?” 

“Do you want to PVP?” 

“The winner could make a wish for anything?” Grim asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Then, I am all for it. After we can do some quests.” 

Zero sent the PVP invite. Grim quickly accepted. 

They appeared in an arena. As they stood inside the arena, no one was in the stands. The ground had marks on it, with broken weapons and dried blood scattered everywhere. The developers probably wanted to make it feel like they were in an actual arena. 

They took a few steps back as Zero pulled out his dual swords, while Grim pulled out his scythe in one hand and held a book with his other. When he opened the book, it began to glow, causing the ground to shake. Hands burst from beneath the ground, crawling from underground as they rose. Grim called for almost fifty undead. 

Zero swiftly cut through the undead, making his way towards Grim. As he got closer, Grim threw out a blasting spell, causing Zero to cross his swords in front of him and form a shield. He fell back, hitting the wall, but the swords forming a shield lessened the damage. 

Zero’s HP: [███████░]

Zero stood back up, using his speed skill to close the distance between him and Grim. He slashed the one sword towards Grim’s head while the other moved towards the character’s torso. Grim blocked the swords with his scythe, thrusting toward Zero; he wanted to create space. 

He called another undead, a human, to attack Zero from behind. The undead human held a heavy sword, dressed as a knight, as it swung towards Zero’s head, trying to cut it off. Zero, feeling the undead’s presence, ducked and rolled before standing. He charged towards the undead, swiftly striking it in a vital spot. The undead broke apart. 

Before Zero could rush towards Grim, another spell wrapped around his head, blocking his vision. Zero could feel more undead surrounding him, causing him to continue to slash through, even if he couldn’t see. 

However, even though he cut through the undead, he did not notice Grim appearing behind him, holding a dagger dripping in poison. The dagger stabbed Zero in his side. 

〔You have been poisoned〕

Zero’s HP: [██████░░]

“They were right about you being hard to defeat.” Zero commented as his vision came back. He stumbled away from Grim, swallowing a potion to cancel the poison effect, as he watched Grim’s character smirk while twirling the dagger. 

“Are you surrendering?” 

“No.” Zero thrust forward, catching Grim off guard as he stabbed his character’s stomach. 

Grim’s HP: [███████░]

Grim chuckled, “Oh, this is how you want to play?” He raised his book as it started to bleed black, falling onto the ground. The ground began to shake once more, worse than last time. Over a hundred undead rose from the ground; skeletons, zombies, and even undead humans mixed. 

The scene appeared from a zombie horror movie. The undead surrounded Zero, attacking him from all sides. Zero held on, slashing through the undead with each precise strike. 

Zero’s HP: [█████░░░]

Zero’s HP: [████░░░]

Zero’s HP: [███░░░]

Even though he fought perfectly, his HP kept going down due to the sheer number. Grim stood in the back, smiling as he held his book. He walked through his army, making his way to Zero. Once he reached him, the undead stopped moving as Grim held his scythe near Zero’s neck. “How do you plead?”

“Just do it.” 

Grim sliced Zero’s head off. 

 〔You were defeated〕

 〔Grim won〕

The game teleported them back to their original location. “I won.” Grim declared, twirling his scythe. 

“I should have known it would have been a losing battle. Why is your necromancer character so OP?” 

“Because I am amazing.” 

Zero laughed, shaking his head. “I feel cheated.” 

“You agreed to the fight, so there are no take-backs.” 

“I know.” Zero didn’t mind that he lost. “What is your wish?” 

Leo’s phone started vibrating. He glanced over and saw Niko calling. He answered the phone. 

“Tell me, Leo, how good can you be for me?” Niko’s low and velvet voice filled his ears, causing Leo to feel restless. Leo gripped his pants tightly, his breath feeling heavy. 

“What do you mean?” Leo swallowed.

“I want to spoil you, but I don’t want to push you too much. So, tell me, can you be good for me?” 

“I.” Leo may not fully understand, but he knew that once he said yes, things would change. They would open a new door. And it scared him. But he couldn’t stop the rush coursing through him. He wanted to ignore and push his feelings away because he knew he wasn’t ready. 

But, simultaneously, he has never been the one to back down. 

“I can be good.” 

“For whom?” Niko pushed. 

“For you.” 

“Good boy.” 

Leo’s fingers dug into his pants as he felt how tight they were. He was breathing hard, feeling the floodgates breaking. 

And it was like Niko knew how much he was pushing him to the edge because he said, “Relax, the time isn’t right.” 

“Right for what?” Leo quickly responded. 

Niko chuckled instead of answering. “Let’s get back to the game. I want to finish five quests tonight.” 

Leo relaxed his hand, rubbing his leg as he tried ignoring the elephant in the room. “Okay.” 

Even though they went back to the game, Leo could not stop his mind from racing due to the previous conversation. 

He was sinking and didn’t know if he wanted to be saved.