BXBX NOVEL Chapter 15 - A CAN OF BEER
"I\'m Kris, not Blue."
Kris\'s voice on the other end of the phone woke Kevin up again from his reverie after his eyes managed to read the words "BLUE" on the cover of the document which was almost burnt. He just remembered that his phone line was still connected to someone who was none other than Kris.
"Oh, sorry. I\'m reading an article, not calling you Blue," Kevin explained.
"What article are you reading?" The other man asked curiously.
Kevin considered it to himself. Should he tell Kris about the documents his parents left behind that might reveal secrets about werewolves?
After pondering for a moment, he then answered, "Just an ordinary article, Kris. It\'s nothing." He decided to lie in the end.
He was still not sure what the words "BLUE" on the cover of the document left by his parents meant. Even though it said "BLUE," it didn\'t mean it had anything to do with the Blue he knew. It could be a secret code made by his parents. And if it was a secret, then he should keep it a secret too.
Kris did not reply to Kevin\'s words for a long time. The scientist patiently waited for a response until a moment later, his ear caught a long sigh.
"Okay, I understand. Aren\'t you coming home yet? I\'m still in my car right now and haven\'t come home yet. When you come back, let me know."
And Kris unilaterally ended their phone call after saying that.
Kevin stared at his cellphone screen in disbelief. "Did he just sulk to me?" He asked to his phone dumbly.
The scientist could only shake his head realizing the possibility that Kris was angry with him because he did not tell the truth to the man. He then brushed off the uneasy feelings and returned to the document.
He had kept the document at his desk for a long time, but he felt that the document was almost destroyed and there might not be much information he could extract from there. That\'s why he was only now looking at the document and was very surprised to find the words "BLUE" written on its cover.
His long fingers began to turn one page at a time, trying to find a sheet where writing was still readable. But it was not an easy job. The document was damaged severely.
It took a long time for him to search, but only a few unclear words could be read by him. Until finally he found a small piece of writing on the back cover of the document. It was an email address. Judging by the name, it seemed like the email belonged to her late mother.
"Did my mom keep a backup of the document in the cloud storage?" Kevin\'s eyes lit up after realizing that possibility.
The scientist immediately moved to the computer desk and opened a browser and then typed in his mother\'s email address. And at that moment he realized something was missing; he didn\'t know his mother\'s password.
Annoyed, Kevin hit himself on the forehead for forgetting about such an important matter. How could he open his mother\'s cloud storage without a password?
The scientist again racked brains. The title of genius that was pinned on him since long time ago should not be wasted. Now he had to use his brain to open the account that belonged to his mother.
He then remembered how his mother created an email account for him when he was 10.
["This is your email account, Kev. To make it easy to remember, Mom used your dad\'s birthday as the password combined with his name. Now you try to open it with the password."]
Yes! That was right! His mother simply used a combination of name and birth date as passwords. Eventually, the first try fell on his father\'s, so he slowly typed in his father\'s name combined with his father\'s birth date, resulting in the combination \'Joseph1010.\' His father\'s name was Joseph, and was born on October 10th. But apparently, it wasn\'t the right password.
Next, he tried using his mother\'s name and her date of birth which resulted in the combination \'Selena0208,\' but again it didn\'t work. On the third try, he used \'Kevin1212\' but also to no avail.
And at that point, he was asked to do the attempt again 24 hours later because he had entered the wrong password three times. Damn, he almost got blocked!
Kevin tiredly leaned his back against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. "Mom, what password did you use?" He asked his mother who of course was not there at the time. If his mother was there, it would be terrifying.
Kevin knew he couldn\'t give up. He was sure there was an important clue stored in his mother\'s cloud storage. He didn\'t know where that belief came from, but his instincts told him so.
But never mind, tonight it would be enough for him to struggle. He could continue his fight tomorrow. If he wanted to, he could hire a professional to hack his mother\'s account, but that was too risky. He didn\'t know how important the documents on the storage.
Deciding to end his work, Kevin finally took off his laboratory coat, then immediately put on his cotton jacket and tidied up his belongings. The young man then turned off the laboratory lights and walked out of the place. Not forgetting, he locked the laboratory\'s door so that no one could enter the place without permission.
Kevin brought his long legs walking towards the car park, but suddenly he was surprised when his eyes caught a bright red luxury car parked right beside his car, and a tall man leaning against the car door.
The tall man saw him and immediately smiled at him. His right hand that was holding a white plastic bag raised into the air. "Let\'s drink together," said the tan-skinned man.
Kevin smiled a little, then continued his steps toward the young man that he recognized. Who else could it be if not Kris?
"How long have you been here?" Kevin asked when he got in front of Kris.
The man who was asked the question raised his left hand to look at the watch, then answered, "About 2 hours and 43 minutes and 22 seconds."
Kevin\'s eyes widened in disbelief at Kris\'s answer. "Why didn\'t you say that you were here?"
But Kris just shrugged and took a can of beer from the plastic bag, then handed it to Kevin. "I\'m not in a good mood. Let\'s get drunk tonight," he said.
Kevin grabbed the beer, then sat on the hood of his car which was parked right next to Kris\' red car. Kris copied the action, he also sat on the hood of his red car.
The black-haired man opened the lid of his beer can, then took a slow sip of the alcoholic drink. "What\'s making you feel bad tonight?" He asked after one sip.
Kris himself did not immediately enjoy the beer in his hand. Instead, his head looked up at the starless sky. "Blue finally agreed to be adopted by me," he replied.
That answer made Kevin frown. "Isn\'t that a good thing? Why does that make you feel bad?" He couldn\'t help but ask again.
This time Kris\'s hands started opening the lid of his beer can and took a quick sip of the contents. After a few sips, he answered, "Because I know Blue doesn\'t like me. I know she is forced to accept my offer because she has no other choice."
Kevin watched Kris who looked so messy tonight. He didn\'t expect that Blue\'s bad attitude to Kris could have such a big impact on the tall man.
The fair-skinned man no longer made a sound. He just once again sipped the beer in his hand, then silently stared at the green beer can with a blank look.
A silent atmosphere engulfed them before suddenly Kevin hopped down from the hood of his car and walked toward Kris. He then stopped in front of the man and placed his hands on the sides of the man\'s body; trapping him mercilessly.
"I thought you\'re a tough man, Kris," he said in a soft voice just like a whisper. "But I was wrong. You have a weak heart." He pointed at Kris\'s heart. "You\'re sulking just because of a teenager."
The tan-skinned man froze. He held his breath as he looked at Kevin\'s face that was close to his. "You\'re drunk, Kevin," he stated as his index finger gave Kevin\'s forehead a slight push.
Now it was Kevin who was startled. It was the first time Kris called him by his name. "Say that again," he ambiguously ordered, making Kris frowned in confusion. "Say my name again, Kris. I love the way your lips produce a sound to call my name. It sounds like a magic spell. Are you a witch, Kris?"
Kris didn\'t know what to say anymore so he just kept quiet. And his body was getting tense even more when Kevin suddenly rested his forehead on his shoulder. He felt like stop breathing.
"You know what, Kris? My co-worker just told me about the rumors of re-appearance of werewolves," Kevin mumbled on his shoulder. "Do you know what my co-worker said? He said werewolves now can consume alcohol, yes they can drink alcohol like we are doing now. The werewolves are undergoing another evolution and it seems like their abilities are rapidly expanding. Does that scare you, Kris?"
Kris was still tight-lipped and his body stiff like a stone.
He was not uttering any words for a long time, until finally, whether he realized it or not, he asked back, "If I were one of the werewolves, would I scare you, Kevin?"