Chapter 33: A Sudden Call
"Finally…" Red exhaled out loudly as his back touched against the soft mattress.
Exhausted, he immediately laid down on the bed as he arrived back at his apartment late at night.
Red reached out for his phone in his pocket. Receiving a lot of notifications, his phone kept vibrating and ringing since earlier.
It seemed like finally, his friends knew about what had happened.
Red took a deep breath. As he opened his phone, he was bombarded with different messages. It didn't just come from his former teammates, but also from his other friends in Esports.
Most of the messages that Red received mostly asked if it was really them who played it or just a bunch of kids who tried to copy them.
As he still hasn't talked to his former teammates, Red chose to ignore the messages in the meantime
A call notification appeared on top of Red's screen after just minutes of being online. He immediately pressed the green button, sliding it to the right to accept it.
"I'm glad you answered already!" Solar's voice, filled with worry, greeted Red's ears.
Solar immediately called Red after he went online. She had been trying to contact him for hours already.
"I was busy with work," Red sighed.
"I know, but we have a big problem here!" Stressed, Solar let out her frustration.
"I already knew about that since earlier," Red chuckled, knowing that Solar called because of the same thing.
Red knew that Solar and the others must have been worried when he wasn't answering. He remembered that it was his first reaction too.
Solar's eyes widened. Her grip on her phone tightened as she stood up and looked unbelievably at her screen. She couldn't believe that Red didn't say anything to them!
"Why did you not inform meeee!" Solar's eyes widened as she cried out. She dived into her bed, covering her face with a pillow.
"I told you, I was busy with work. I was planning to tell it now, but it seems like all of you knew it already. But, what happened, huh?" Red questioned after hearing Solar's reaction.
It seemed something happened just by the way Solar reacted.
"I was streaming earlier and my chat box got flooded with questions about that," Solar's voice tinged with frustration and embarrassment as she complained to Red, who was attentively listening.
"I didn't know what to answer, so I panicked," Solar confessed, her tone heavy with regret. "After just three games, I ended the stream!"
"Hahaha" Red couldn't help but chuckle at Solar's confession. He found it funny, despite hearing the seriousness in her voice.
"Don't laugh at me," Solar's face reddened. It was because she didn't know what to do earlier.
Afraid that she'll answer wrongly to the questions, Solar had to quickly think of a petty excuse just to end her stream.
And among all the excuses possible in the world, the one thing that she really said out of panic was that nature was calling her.
Solar buried her face in the pillow even more. Embarrassment filled her.
What will the people think of her now?
"That's fine, Solar. I know that you're embarrassed right now, but that single thing won't make you look bad," Red assured her.
Red understood what Solar felt. There must be turmoil in her mind right now.
Solar wasn't used to act like that in public. Even in dire situations, she always acted prim and proper. She was always calm and collected. Always kind to everyone around her.
Solar sighed as she removed the pillow from her face. She sat on the bed and slowly nodded, even though Red wouldn't be able to see it.
"How will I face them, then?" Solar did not know what to do.
Aside from her what she did, she still needed to think of the outcome of her actions.
"It's up to you, Solar. You can pretend that it never happened or apologize. The first one was the obvious better choice." Red stated the options.
Doing the second one seemed more of Solar apologizing for doing something wrong, which he found inappropriate for what she did.
They were, after all, humans too. Doing those things was considered normal and part of everyday life.
Who doesn't even poop?
"I will then…" Solar breathed out, even though she knew it would be a hard thing to do.
'It seems like I wouldn't be doing any streams for a few days,' she thought.
Solar wanted to think. She also needs to wait for the topic to die down first. It would be impossible to stream peacefully at this point.
"What are we going to do with the trending topic, then?" Solar's curiosity resurfaced, after remembering it.
Solar realized that the topic wouldn't die down unless they will do something about it.
"We keep it as it is first. If it's still going on after days, then that's the only time we'll do something."
Red sighed, hoping that the topic would only last for a few days.
"Alright, I'll tell that to others then. You go rest, Red." A smile appeared on Solar's face as she said her goodbye in a soft tone.
Red chuckled once again after hearing the shift in Solar's mood.
"I will. You too," he answered for the last time before dropping the call.
Red tilted his head to the side. Even though the call had already ended, he still wanted to laugh.
Having this rare interaction with Solar was surely amusing.
"Hays..." As silence ensued, Red stared blankly at the white ceiling of his room, undecided what to do.
After a long mental battle, Red decided that it was time to sleep. He wanted to play, but, oh well, he might fall asleep in the middle of battle.
Red placed his phone on to the table beside his bed. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep, when his phone rang.
Annoyed at it, Red ignored his phone. He ended the incoming call without even looking at to whom it came from.
However, just seconds of silence had passed by and his phone rang once again.
"Arghhh!" Red frustratedly rolled at the side of the bed. He was about to end the incoming call and mute his when he saw the caller's name on his lock screen.
Answering the call, Red took a deep breath first before putting his phone on the side of his ear.
"Yes, Mom?" Red tried his best to not let his frustration sound against the phone. He still greeted Eniah with enthusiasm.
"Red…" However, Eniah answered Red in a weak and low voice. She couldn't stop her silent cries from sounding.
"Mom? What happened?" Red's brows furrowed. His mind quickly woke up, afraid that something bad had happened to his parents.
"Red, you brother…"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone