My Virtual Lover

Live 41: Hanging Emotions

Kevin and Jury hold hand-in-hand, they’re going to the entrance of the Chinese food restaurant. The young man says his pieces, he’s responsible for taking her outside thus he offers to pay for the taxi. They escape from the Chinese Restaurant to the nearby mall, he tells her that they should only hang out for an hour since there’s a possibility that the party might be over soon.

Jury agrees, Kevin orders an online Taxi from his cellphone as the two of them go to the mall. They’re looking away from each other eyes shyly, it’s a risky move for both of them but they want to spend more time with each other. When the driver takes them to the lobby, the two set off at a lightning speed.

“Let’s go to the game center!” he follows Jury from behind. “Show me the way to the game center! I don’t know where it is”.

Jury nods, she shows the way to the clueless Kevin to the top floor where the game center is located. They use the elevator, their feet tap on the floor impatiently, the two are being watched by the crowds since their outfits are too fancy for just a casual outing. After they reach the top floor, Jury speeds up and shows Kevin the game center.

Various LED colors flash on the ceiling, apparition, and techno decoration with the writing ‘Timezone’ makes it clear for both of them that it is indeed the game center. 

Jury and Kevin refill their game card with funds to play the various arcade games and attractions in the game center. Kevin plays a first-person shooter game while Jury plays a similar game with an apocalypse concept. They play their individual games as soon as they reach the game center, nothing binds them anymore. 

Not the party, not the parents, they’re as free as the bird momentarily. Kevin is defeated right after a few stages left, he changes his game to basketball. He throws the basketball flawlessly into the hoop, his height makes it easier for him to score the basketball easily. It doesn’t take too long for him to reach two hundred points in a short time.

Jury who is puzzled about what to play next decides to peek at Kevin who’s enjoying the basketball game all by himself. She looks at him in awe, his fair skin along with his somewhat athletic body faze her. After that, she braces herself to stand next to him to take a closer look. His thin slender arm is somewhat sexy for Jury, the size of his hand with hers is far different.

She can sense it when they danced earlier, the size of his palm is bigger than hers. It’s the sole difference that differentiates their gender. Kevin still throws his basketball, clearly loving his hoop more than before. He’s focusing on the game until the timer runs out, Jury is standing next to him, still looking at the man.

At that moment, his score is already above three hundred since all of his shots never miss. Kevin solely focus on the constantly moving hoop, his basketball goes into the hoop easily. After the timer runs out, Kevin’s score reaches the top score. His score almost reaches five hundred at that point.

“Cool, you’ve beaten the previous high score” Jury claps her hand slightly. “Not bad at all”.

“Your compliment seems forced, you dumb-dumb” Kevin chuckles. “I’m sure you can’t beat me in this game”.

Jury’s rival sense is activated, her competitive side suddenly rises since he challenges her into a basketball game. She knows she might end up losing, but her competitiveness can’t be tamed. Jury swaps her game cards, preparing her stance as she looks at the basketball machine in front of her.

The basketball roll over to her, cueing her that it’s her time to shoot the ball into the hoop. Jury shoot the first ball, the ball bounce from the ring since her aim is off-mark. She can hear Kevin’s slight giggle from behind her, Jury continues with the second ball and it ends with another failure on the dot.

She tries her best to jump, aiming at the moving hoop with all she had. Nevertheless, the ball bounce once again, sweat is starting to pour from her forehead as she continues to shoot the basketball. She jumps every time she made the shot even if it ends up in a failure, she wants to add her height with the power of her jumping.

“There’s this certain anime where the main protagonist can jump almost as high as an eagle in a volley anime movie!” Jury exclaims. “I’m going to copy him! Just like one of the members from the Generation of Miracles!”.

“Are you a chuunibyou or something? Jury, please” Kevin cover his mouth from exploding with laughter. “You’re inputting lots of anime references there”.

She ignores her as she makes another shot, memorizing the anime character she adores in her mind. The short man with the spiky orange hair that resembles the gem in her eyes, her aspiration. Jury closes her eyes, focusing on her energy at the tip of her toe; she has to be as nimble as that anime protagonist.

“You’re a chuunibyou, unbelievable” Kevin chuckles. “Older than me! But more childish than me! Splendid!”.

Some of her shots are missed, but some enter the hoop, the woman is frustrated at her lack of talent in the sport. Then again, she rarely does sport, rather she sucks at it since her stamina is lacking in that department. She watches her scoreboard goes up to one hundred, but her time is almost up.

She keeps jumping until she runs out of breath, her dress makes it hard for her to breathe under circumstances. Not to mention, the fabric isn’t comfortable enough for her when she’s sweating. When the timer reaches zero, she only manages to enter one hundred and ten in the hoop. She lowers her face as she puffed her cheek, thinking that she has been defeated by Kevin once more.

“Come on, it’s alright” Kevin smiles. “I mean you’re a shorty, the result is expected”.

“Shut it! I swear if I’m taller and more sporty than you are, I will win!” she growls at Kevin. “Just you wait until the day I defeat you in something!”.

Kevin pats her hair, ruffling her fair playfully with a joyful look on his face. His awkward expression at that moment becomes more playful and childish, Jury blushes when she sees the man smiles childishly at her. Her beating heart triumphs over her anger and sense of defeat, nervous.

“What are you we going to play next?” Jury tries to switch the topic. “You can pick, Kevin”.

Kevin proposes playing the dancing machine, the arcade where everyone wants to look cool and admired. Jury memorizes the time when she plays with her friend in London, it wasn’t exactly a good memory since she remembers that she’s being beaten by her friend completely. It was an F mark with the A mark, a big difference in their result.

She can imagine that Kevin will mock her again for losing, surely that would be a nightmare. Losing Kevin damage her pride as a gamer, she doesn’t want to lose. Suddenly, an idea pops out in her head. She asks Kevin if they can play with any style they want, to which Kevin replies with a simple nod.

“Are you sure about that? I can do anything I want to win?” Jury grins. “I bet you will lose instantaneously!”.

“Interesting, you’re coming after me? You’re going to come closer? To the almighty me?” he smirks as he beckons her to come closer to the dancing machine where he walks to. “I’ll bet you will end up losing again”.

Jury smiles slyly, she draws closer to Kevin as she clenches her fist.

“Of course, I’ll come closer! Otherwise, I can’t beat you in a dance-off!” she says proudly. 

*   *   *

“THAT’S CHEATING! YOU MONSTER!’ Kevin gasps at the sight of him losing against Jury in a dance battle. “Stand up with me shorty!”.

“You said I can use any style to win! So I’m doing this to win!” she smacks her hand on the top-left direction pad along with her feet on each button. “I can win this easily thanks to you!”.

“That’s not fair!” Kevin still tries his hardest to clear the hard difficulty with only his two feet. “You have four, I only have two feet geez!”.

Jury chuckles, they don’t set a rule before the game starts hence it is allowed for her to use such a way to win against him since he doesn’t mention sitting and crawling. Kevin tries his hardest, he gains A while Jury gains A+ on her point. The young man scoffs at her tactics, telling her that it’s cheating.

“That’s how the young adults work boy” she smiles proudly. “I’m sure you’ll be smarter like me once you grow up”.

“No thanks” he answers solemnly as he gets off the machine. “By the way, I think we should head back”.

Jury agrees and the two of them go to the lobby to call a taxi, this time Jury is offering him to be one who pays since she doesn’t feel good about letting someone who is younger than her pay for her. Kevin nods, letting her pay her share as they speed off to the Chinese Restaurant from before.

They can only hope that the party is not over yet, none of their parents call at least.

“You know, I had fun today” the young man speaks to the woman, turning his face away from Jury whilst watching the passing vehicles outside the window car, possibly blushing. “Thanks, I wish we can play together again”.

Jury smiles when she looks at the reflection of the car window, Kevin doesn’t seem to realize that the reflection could reflect his current expression. His curling lips along with his reddened face are visible for her to see through the glass reflection alone. Jury says the same thing, hoping that they can be reunited at another time.

“I want to meet you again” Jury lets her inner wish escape her small lips. “Can we do that?”.

“Sure, I want to! But, I’m not sure either” Kevin clenches his fist, lowering his face. “I’m still incapable of working on my own, don’t you know my age?”.

She nods, fully knowing his true age rather than the fake one he posted on Holorealm’s profile. He’s still a college student while Jury is already a working young adult, he’s uncertain if they should meet again under these circumstances. Seeing his hesitation, a part of Jury heart cracks since it seems she expects too much from him.

She should have known that the young man she had a crush on is a college student, falling in love with someone who is younger than her is a risk in the first place.

“I’m a dumb person! Jury, you’re such a big i***t!” Jury crumples the edge of her skirt. “That is why you need to use your brain at a time like this!”.

Sh

Jury doesn’t speak a word after that, silence fills the car in naught. The restlessness in the air permeated in the car, Jury is disappointed immensely at herself. Kevin doesn’t seem to want to show his face at Jury after what he says as if he was hurt by his own stuttering and uncertainty. They arrive at the party in time before the photo session.

As soon as they get off the car, Jury asks the young man bravely with a sullen expression. 

“Kevin!” Jury calls his name in desperation. “Can I ask you something?”.

The young man who already walks ahead of her turns his face toward the heartbroken woman once more. 

“What is it, Ms. Jury?” he asks nervously. 

Jury’s glassy eyes reflect her current emotions, the circling emotions inside her chest. A mixture of anxiety and hope spiraled inside the young woman's chest, hoping that the introvert crab in front of him consider her feelings.

“Can I put my hope on you?” she asks while sobbing, tears flowing from her eyes, somewhat glad that the previous makeup artist use waterproof makeup since she can’t stop her tears. “Are you the right person for me?”.