Chapter 66: Together, Harolin’s Warning, And Seo Knew!

Ruaan looked at the water bottle in his hands.

Harolin was still crouched in front of him, waiting with the patience of someone who had decided this conversation was happening and was not going anywhere until it did.

"I was jealous," Ruaan said.

He said it to the water bottle first. Then he looked up.

Harolin looked at him. "Of Lev."

"Of whoever the new inmate was," Ruaan said. "Oren told me there was a beautiful one. Long hair. And that you walked them to their cells yourself." He shrugged with one shoulder. "I didn’t even see you with anyone. I just heard it and went to my room and got sick."

Harolin was quiet for a moment.

"Did you see me with Lev?" he said.

"No."

"I met him yesterday for the first time. During processing." Harolin’s voice was even. "I walked three new inmates to their cells because I was already there and it was faster. That was all of it."

Ruaan looked at him.

"I’ve known you for two weeks," Ruaan said. "I had no reason to trust that."

Harolin looked at him for a moment.

Then he said, "You knew me for two weeks. I’ve known you for two years and eight months."

Ruaan stared at him.

He thought about the file. About Dominic feeding information. About Harolin in the dark on the other side of the world building a picture of someone he had decided to punish. Two years and eight months of knowing Ruaan’s schedule and preferences and allergies and the bakery in Palermo.

His cheeks went warm.

"That’s not the same," Ruaan said.

"No," Harolin agreed. "But it means I know you well enough that Lev has nothing I would look at twice."

Ruaan looked at his lap.

Harolin reached forward and took both his hands.

Ruaan looked at him.

"I need to correct something," Harolin said. "About what we are."

Ruaan swallowed. "What? The rules—"

"I brought the suggestions to the director," Harolin said. "The games, the recreation centre, the meals. All of it went through me first. If I can suggest those things and have them approved, I can also suggest that officer and inmate relationships be made official." He paused. "Or I reduce your sentence and we do it properly outside."

Ruaan looked at him. "You can reduce my sentence."

"Yes."

"Just like that."

"Not just like that. But yes."

Ruaan thought about the two years he thought he was going to spend here when he first arrived. About the Thursday games and the hierarchy and Cullen and Blackmere’s smell and the grey uniform he had worn for a week. About all of it being something that could be shortened by one phone call from a private general who had apparently been doing things quietly on his behalf since day one.

He laughed.

It came out a little wet at the edges.

He pressed the back of his hand to his eyes quickly and Harolin watched him do it without saying anything which was exactly the right response. Ruaan laughed laughed died slowly as he looked back at Harolin.

"I can’t believe this," Ruaan said. "After everything I did to you. After what I did to Mara."

"That’s between me and what I’ve decided," Harolin said. "It’s not yours to carry anymore."

Ruaan looked at him.

Harolin held his gaze and didn’t offer anything else and didn’t take it back.

"We’re not enemies with benefits anymore," Harolin said. He squeezed Ruaan’s hands once. "We’re together. I apologise for not having a ring."

Ruaan laughed again. Properly this time. He held his stomach and leaned forward, almost resting his head on Harolin’s shoulder.

"A ring?" Ruaan asked, sitting back straight.

"For the proposal."

"You called that a proposal."

"It was a proposal."

"Harolin."

"It was a very practical proposal."

Ruaan shook his head and looked at the ceiling and felt the last of the fever warmth leave his face and replace itself with something else entirely. Lighter. Warmer in a different way.

They talked for a while longer.

About nothing specifically important. About the announcement and the recreation centre and the pool that had been closed for three years. About the revised menu. About small things that were easier than the large things and still felt like building something.

Then Ruaan looked at his watch.

"I need to eat breakfast," he said. "And I want to find Seo and Cullen. To thank them for what they did yesterday."

Harolin’s expression changed. It was not much, just slightly.

"Cullen is fine," Harolin said.

" Cullen is fine? What about Seo?" Ruaan asked.

Harolin looked at him directly. "Don’t trust Seo too much, Ru."

Ruaan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. There’s something about him that doesn’t fit. He’s not who he’s presenting himself as." Harolin kept his voice even. "I can’t tell you everything yet because I don’t have all of it. But trust me on this."

Ruaan looked at him. He surely can’t see what Harolin was seeing. He was sure he was close to Seo to know a few things about him, but... Maybe he was wrong.

Seo, to him, was a simple person.

Even if he has a Lego box filled with sex toys and the broken glasses that he refused to replace. He manga volumes he read every day. The time they’ve spent together in his room at midnight and the bathroom at 1am, all of it had felt completely genuine.

"Seo is my friend," Ruaan said.

"I know," Harolin said. "Just be careful of whom you call your friend."

Ruaan didn’t agree out loud. But he also didn’t argue.

Harolin stood up. He straightened his uniform and looked at Ruaan once more. "I’ll come back tonight."

Ruaan nodded.

"I’ll wait for you then,"

Harolin left after pressing his lips on Ruaan’s forehead.

.

.

The corridor outside was already busy with the post-announcement energy. Everyone is talking about sports day and the pool and the new menu. Ruaan moved through it and felt easier than he had since Sunday. Something had settled.

He found Cullen near the east corridor about to put his fist into someone who had walked into him.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!," Ruaan said, rushing to him. "Just forgive him, Cullen. I don’t know what he had done, but you don’t have to punch him."

Cullen looked at the man, looked at Ruaan and looked at the man again with the expression of someone choosing between two options.

He shoved him away and fell into step beside Ruaan.

The man looked back at Ruaan with the expression of someone who had just been saved from something and was aware of it.

"You’re feeling better," Cullen said.

"Much better. Thank you for yesterday." Ruaan looked at him. "You didn’t have to do that."

"I know," Cullen said.

"You carried me yourself and—"

"I know what I did," Cullen said. Not dismissive. Just closing that particular door before it opened too wide. "You’re fine now. That’s what matters. And for the record, I didn’t carry you myself..."

His ears flushed red. He couldn’t tell Ruaan that he got hard just by wiping the sweat off his body.

They walked together.

Ruaan thought about what Cullen had said in the breakfast room on Saturday. About his mother. About the four years. About extending his sentence because there was nowhere to go.

"I get sick easily," Ruaan said. "I always have. But I recover fast too. Don’t worry about it happening again."

"I’m not worried," Cullen said.

They turned the corner toward the grey cafeteria and Ruaan was about to suggest they find Seo when he heard his voice.

From just around the next corner.

Cullen heard it at the same time.

He grabbed Ruaan’s arm and pulled him back before he could call out and pressed them both against the wall and put his hand over Ruaan’s mouth.

Ruaan frowned and grabbed Cullen’s wrist but Cullen shook his head.

’Don’t say a word.’

They listened.

Seo’s voice was low and clear in the way voices were in empty corridors. It was different from the easy chattering Ruaan knew.

"I don’t care why you agreed to the suggestions," Seo said. A pause. He was on a call. "But I need you to do something for me. The next game. I want it rigged so that Ruaan and I end up bottom ten."

Ruaan went completely still. Cullen’s hand tightened slightly.

"Why?" Seo’s voice again. Another pause. "Because bottom ten shares cells sometimes after being beaten up. If we’re in the same space I can be close to him. And if Harolin comes to visit, I’ll be there too." A short pause. "Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. I’ll be waiting."

The call ended.

There was a brief silence. Then Seo’s voice, different again.

"I know you heard that, Ruaan darling," Seo said. "You can come out."

Ruaan stood against the wall with Cullen’s hand still over his mouth and stared at the corner. He felt the specific cold of something he had not wanted to be true being true anyway.

’Harolin was right...’