Isaac jumped in his seat upon seeing Thales's face. Thales leaned down, peering over Isaac's shoulder to see everything going on on his screen.
Although Isaac was in a public Internet cafe, he hadn't expected to see Thales here. After all, Thales was rich enough to have a top-tier computer at home. What would he need to come to a mere Internet cafe for?
"Damien Frasier arrested," Thales slowly read aloud. His eyes drifted down, and saw the thread directly below. "Damien Frasier—leader of the Eagles."
Thales stayed silent for a moment. His mind simmered in the information before fully processing it. Suddenly, his mouth dropped open as he realized what was going on. "Oh shit!" Thales said. Isaac wasn't able to tell if Thales was excited or disappointed.
"How did that happen?" Thales asked as he pulled up a chair beside Isaac. He lazily propped his leg up on the desk, and Isaac eyes Thales's shoes that were dangerously closet to the pristine keyboard of a nearby keyboard. "People found out? No way! How was he arrested?!" Thales's barrage of questions continued.
Isaac merely shrugged. "Not too sure about it myself." He bit his lower lip, not wanting to reveal all the details to Thales.
The subtle motion was noticed from the corner of Thales's vision. Thales leaned in toward Isaac's lips and raised his hand. The proximity between the two cast a red hue over Isaac's cheeks, but Thales seemed to be oblivious to the awkward position.
Isaac could feel Thales's warm breath brushing against his skin, which further reddened his already pink cheeks. For the first time, Isaac noticed Thales's abnormally long eyelashes, that fluttered elegantly upon each blink.
Just as Isaac was about to push the other boy away, Thales's hand gently pulled Isaac's lower lip from his mouth. "You're lying," Thales accused.
"Huh?" Isaac gaped. Isaac wasn't lying entirely. It was true that he wasn't aware of all the details, but he knew more than what he was letting on.
"Don't act dumb." Thales leaned back in his chair, and the distance between the two widened once more. "You bite your lip when you lie."
Isaac touched his lip in shock, and a doubtful expression crossed his face. "Uhuh, sure," he said sarcastically. Isaac himself didn't even know he had such a habit, so how would Thales know?
"Believe what you want, but I know you're lying. And you know it to. Now, why don't you tell me what you know?" Isaac asked.
"And why should I do that?"
"Well, we're friends, aren't we?" Thales raised a brow.
"Were friends," Isaac corrected him.
Thales chortled. "I'm hurt." He placed a hand over his chest to feign hurt and leaned back in his chair. His chair tipped backward on its hind legs, dangerously balancing his weight. One push would have him falling backward, slamming his head onto the cold, concrete ground.
"Watch out," Isaac muttered. Instinctively, he found himself reaching out to slam Thales's chair back on the ground.
Thales scowled. "Since when did you age so much?"
Isaac was flabbergasted. "Pardon?"
"You sound like an old man," Thales chuckled. He stood from his chair and snatched Isaac's student ID from the scanner. Immediately, Isaac's computer shut off. Without the student ID, he didn't have access to the computer.
Isaac angrily sighed and stood up. "Give it back." He extended his palm out, patiently waiting for Thales to return his student ID.
However, instead of returning the card, Thales gazed at Isaac's student ID cackled. "What kind of expression is that?"
Isaac flushed. It wasn't a photo he was proud of. Much to his misfortune, his eyes were half-closed when the picture was taken. To make matters worse, his mouth was half-open, in the midst of finishing a sentence.
Thales covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he stifled his laughter at Isaac's portrait.
Isaac attempted to swipe the card from Thales's hand, but Thales raised it about his head just as he was about to. "Come and get it," Thales taunted as he spun on his heel and strode away from the Internet cafe.
Isaac rubbed his temples. The two weren't even friends, and yet, Thales was acting strangely friendly. Isaac had more important things to worry about than his student ID. For example, Rem, but without his student ID, he wouldn't be able to log into the computer to access the internet and all the information he needed.
In frustration, Isaac threw his head back and let out a feral growl from his throat. The throaty groan was a mixture of frustration, impatience, and confusion. Isaac exasperatedly followed Thales's retreating figure.
"Come back!" Isaac yelled at the quick Thales, whose footsteps showed no signs of slowing down.