Three hours of waiting is tiring. If he could, he would just leave the police office to return to BattleLion. With that officer who arrested him, his mission failed, and now he has wasted three hours doing nothing but waiting for Charles to finish meeting with the commissioner. He is tired. Jared just wants to go to sleep. But this officer named Richmond has been told by Charles to make sure Jared doesn't leave. And now he is handcuffed, hand in hand, with this huge officer.
What does Charles want from him?
The boring ambiance of the police office is suddenly disturbed by a group of people—mostly teenage girls—protesting in front of the police office, demanding Jean Arvin to be found as soon as possible. Jared has nothing to do now, so he peeks outside the window. His smirks raise as he sees how crazy Earthlings are when it comes to their idols. They cry, scream, and basically express their agony at missing their favorite idol.
"Aren't they supposed to have something better to do? Homework, maybe?" Jared mutters mockingly to himself. Earthlings are so difficult to understand. Why would you waste your time, energy, and love for someone who doesn't even know you? It doesn't matter male or female Earthlings, no matter how old they are, they always show the same behavior when they love something so much.
Charles is also an Earthling. He's similar to them in his obsession. The fact that he has been following Jared, knowing everything he did since leaving law enforcement, is crazy. It seems to Jared that Earthlings have problems with setting up healthy boundaries.
"We stand by you, Jean Arvin!" a voice shouts from the crowd.
"They ignore us because we're just a bunch of 15-year-olds!" another voice cries out in frustration.
"Police are being biased!"
The crackle of the officer's comm interrupts the noise. A commanding voice comes through clearly. "Bring the Argonarian to my office."
"Yes, sir!"
The big officer grabs Jared by the arm, treating him like a criminal. He gives Jared a rough shove to keep him moving.
"Easy there, big guy!" Jared grumbles, stumbling forward but holding his ground.
Charles' office is simple—not too large, but very neat. Just like its owner, Charles always cleans up and makes sure everything is organized. The citrus aroma therapy, his favorite scent, fills the air. The scent somehow reminds Jared of his teenage life.
"Thank you, Mr. Richmond," Charles nods to the big officer, who immediately leaves the room. As soon as they are alone, Charles gives Jared a warm hug, but Jared keeps his hands slipped into his pants' pockets.
"Alright, I've been waiting for three hours and I'm so damn tired. Can we just get to the point so we can get back to our own lives?" Jared raises one eyebrow, trying to sound unbothered, even though it's clear he doesn't feel comfortable around Charles.
"We just met again after three years, why so cold? Come on, I know you're hungry, let's eat."
"Charles, just. Get. To. The. Fucking. Point," Jared clenches his jaw, his lips tightening.
Charles takes something from his desk drawer and throws it to Jared. Whatever it is, Jared reflexively catches it before it hits his chest. It's a dog collar.
"I found your dog," Charles says, waiting for Jared's reaction.
Jared's eyes glare. Because it has dried smears of blood on it.
Charles' prediction is right. Now, they are both in his car, driving back to his house. Rain falls on the car's windshield, and Jared looks so stressed. Not only has he figured out that his dog is probably injured, but he is also being dragged to Charles's house. Charles definitely wants him around, even though Jared has tried to escape. Jared is just slipping deeper into the trap. It's a gentle and obvious trap, but it's arranged so well by someone who knows him too much that it doesn't even seem like a trap.
What's next? Charles's bed?
"The dog came to my office and sat there obediently, ignoring everyone until he saw me," Charles explains. "He wanted me to pet him, and afterwards, he kept nudging his necklace with his paw. So, I took it. Apparently, it was bloodied, and there's a memory card attached to it."
"Okay, I'm going to ask again," Jared smacks his lips. "Did he get injured or not? Whose blood is it?"
"Ah, yes, you've been wondering. Hold on a second, let me park my car..." Charles is dragging out the suspense, keeping Jared captive by withholding the most important answer. It feels like hours as they wait for the garage door to slide open, and the car enters the garage.
When the garage door shuts, Jared feels like he's in a birdcage. Trapped.
"Let's eat, my assistant already bought us dinner. You love steak, right?" Charles locks the car's door and rushes inside without waiting for Jared. Of course, he's not waiting. With the dog card in his hand, he already knows Jared will follow him—and he does.
Now, there's steak! He knows Jared always loves steak.
Grunting, Jared enters even deeper into the trap. Food! Always food! Whenever he feels sorry, he gave food. Whenever he did something bad or wronged Jared, he gave food. When he's about to meet another guy, or doing something that he didn't like, yep, food. Always give food instead apologize, always food instead of respect. For so long Charles had been compromise Jared's pride and needs with food!
Now with food on the table, and Herman kept in the dark, it's been clear that Charles want something from him that is not going to be easy to get.
But what is it? What does he want?
He can't stay like this forever, or Charles will never respect his boundaries. He swears to himself he will never touch the steak!
However, the steak's appearance and smell in front of him seem to question him: Are you sure you don't want to eat me, Jared?
Jared clenches his jaw and crosses his arms, not touching the food he's craved for years! He just stands there, watching Charles eat, his stomach growling.
"Come on, eat. I didn't put poison in it," Charles points at the steak.
Jared knows his mouth is watering, but he makes sure Charles doesn't see it. Once again, his stomach growls.
"Jared, your belly is asking for help..." Charles giggles.
"Are you going to answer me or not? Where is my dog? Was he injured or not? And when can I take him home?" Jared asks. Now, he'd rather stay curious about how the dog found Charles, where Logan is, and the other background stories that Charles might hold. He just wants his dog back and to get out of here as soon as possible.
The twink Major puts a chunk of meat in his mouth. "Relax, you'll get your answer… after you listen to what I'm about to propose."
"I knew it," Jared rolls his eyes. He doesn't want anything to do with Charles anymore, and now he's using his dog to make Jared give him what he wants.
"You know it's going to be a long night, so you better eat that steak so we have energy to finally talk about the point of all this," Charles points at Jared's plate. "Eat, please."
"No, I'm good," Jared shakes his head. "And I plan to make this night short."
Jared sits on the sofa, resting his eyes while waiting for Charles to finish his steak. Apparently, the couch is so comfortable, it feels like it's embracing Jared's tired body, wrapping it with comfort. It's as if Jared is lying on clouds.
Without realizing it, his mind drifts back to the time when he and Charles were roommates. He was always the neat boy, organized, sticking to a routine and predictable. While Jared was just unbound. At first, they clashed; Charles complained about Jared's recklessness, and Jared called him boring. However, when they grew tired of hating each other, they tried to build a bridge. Charles agreed to join Jared's mischievous plans, and Jared started respecting schedules and stopped being late.
But somehow, out of all the memories from their younger days, this one surfaced: someone had thrown a birthday party, and Charles had been tossed into the pool. Everybody love to pick on him because of his small body. The twink boy pretended to drown, prompting Jared to jump in and save him. But as soon as Jared reached him, Charles suddenly wrapped his arms around Jared's neck and started choking him underwater. They wrestled beneath the surface, and Jared still vividly remembers Charles's hands around his neck, gripping so tightly it felt as if he were genuinely trying to kill him right then and there.
Stop! Charles, stop!
I'm not the one who threw you into the water!
Jared wakes up in shock. His eyes are red from fatigue. A glass of water is offered to him, and Charles's gentle smile makes him look very trustworthy. Jared clears his throat and takes the glass, but he can't drink it. He shall not take anything Charles gave, not even mineral water. So he puts it back on the table.
"If you keep refusing the things I give you, you will only hurt yourself," Charles sits beside him, opening his laptop.
Nah... I'll stop hurting if you just straight to the point and let me go already! Jared think to himself. "I'm not hurting, I'm saving myself from upcoming troubles."
Jared is still groggy from the memories that seem like a dream. It felt like he was asleep for a moment, but it was only brief. He inhales deeply and watches Charles operate his laptop, opening a folder.
"I was wondering if you know this woman..." Charles opens a video file in the folder.
The video plays, a very blurry recording of a woman with wet cheeks. Her hair is a mix of pink, green, yellow, and cyan.
It's Logan.
"I don't have much time," she clears her throat, looking terrified. "I killed one of them, and now they're all after me. I need help. I sent my dog Herman to the nearest galactic police, and if you're watching this, I'm probably already dead...."
Charles paused the video and so it shows clearly that it is Logan, Jared's ex-partner.