Even If You Beg

Chapter 19

Third Person POV

The following day, Monday, was uneventful until evening came when Can's dad got back home from work.

Can was upstairs admiring Rainbow as it went about swimming here and there in its bowl. Suddenly he heard some commotion downstairs in the living room, his mom's excited voice, his dad's voice and some other voices. He heard some footsteps running up the stairs.

Lay did not even bother to knock on Can's door. She flung Can's door wide open.

"P'Can!" she cried excitedly. "Dad's boss and Tin are downstairs! Dad brought them home with him. Or wait, no, his boss had asked to come visit us and I heard him say that Tin came along because he wanted to see Rainbow."

Suddenly Can heard another pair of footsteps coming up the stairs and heading for his room. He ran to the door and banged it shut.

"Cantaloupe! Open this door, son." Oh, shit, it was his dad.

Can slowly opened the door.

"Son, I want you to go downstairs and say hello to Mr. Medthanan and his son. Mr. Medthanan said that his son gave you his pet fish Rainbow, and now he is missing his pet and wants to see him. Mind you, he is not getting it back. He just wants to visit it."

"Shit, dad, if he's gonna keep coming to visit Rainbow, I might as well give it back to him," Can said in frustration.

"Son, please, just come down and politely say hello to Mr. Medthanan. Don't forget he is my boss," said Can's dad.

Can sighed and braced himself to go down and face Mr. Medthanan and his arch enemy Tin.

"Hello, Cantaloupe! We meet again," Mr. Medthanan's booming voice reached Can as he was going down the stairs.

Can put his hands together and bowed in respectful greeting to Mr. Medthanan.

"Hello, Cantaloupe," said Tin, winking at Can.

Can gritted his teeth. He could barely hold himself back from punching Tin on the nose.

"How is Rainbow? Can I see him?" asked Tin.

Before Can could reply, Can's mom invited everyone to go to the dining room to have some late afternoon tea and fudge brownies.

Tin asked to be excused. He said he already had something to eat before coming over. He asked if he could already spend some time with Rainbow.

"Son, why don't you accompany Tin upstairs to see his Rainbow," Can's dad suggested.

"It is no longer his Rainbow! It's mine now, dad!" Can protested.

"Of course, of course," Tin's dad assured Can.

Tin hid a smirk on his face. He followed Can silently upstairs. Tin stopped in front of the first door.

"That's Lay's room," said Can, "unless you want to visit Lay as well."

Tin shook his head. "You're such a brat, Cantaloupe," he said.

"Not as much as you are," Can shot back.

"And stop calling me Cantaloupe or I won't let you visit Rainbow," Can threatened.

"Then I'm gonna tell your mom," said Tin. "She's on my side," he added for good measure.

Can still could not believe how his very own mother could so easily fall for Tin's false charms. Tin was so skilled at faking his charms but Can was not falling for any of it one bit.

Can opened his bedroom door and stepped aside to let Tin in.

The moment Tin stepped inside the room, he closed the door, grabbed both of Can's hands and raised them and pinned them against the door.

Then his mouth swooped down on Can's lips.