Wild Young Miss: Mister, Let's Kiss!

"That damn Owen and Carter…!" Through his gritted teeth, Ryan grumbled as he sprinted away from the kitchen. As he did so, he collided against a pillar. "Ah!" He squealed, nearly losing balance at the sudden collision.

Fortunately, his hands instinctively held onto the pillar, hugging it with both his arms. His chest moved in and out heavily, panting as he dashed too fast while enduring the pain in his shoulder.

'If I'm considered bleeding out, I still have a good amount of time before the game ends.' He thought internally, his hand groping around himself.

Upon the touch of the bandage he was carrying, he immediately wrapped it around his shoulder. Ryan leaned his back against the pillar, slowly sliding down as he plopped down to rest. 

After the earlier events, Ryan's mind switched from game mode to a real mission. This wasn't a game anymore, but to him, he should treat it as if his life depended on it. After all, the pain in his shoulder wasn't fake nor were his colleagues fooling around.

Therefore, Ryan put pressure on his shoulder even though it wasn't bleeding. In his mind, despite that there was no real wound inflicted upon him, the shot was enough to affect his shoulder. 

Needless to say, with an injured shoulder, his precision would be affected. The reason he needed to calm down and focus on his other senses instead of focusing solely on his photographic memory.

'Ahhh…' Ryan calmed his raging heart down, his chest still moving heavily as he closed his eyes. He calculated the distance from the kitchen and the steps he took. 

'Right now, I've reached the living area, further the left wing.' He glanced up, his left arm sprawled to his left, groping the floor and anything that he could reach. By doing so, Ryan could guess his exact location.

Soon, as he groped his hand further, he touched something cold. Without further ado, he flicked his finger against it lightly, hearing the faint sound of something fragile. 'Going here, there were five entryways; one from the kitchen, one heading to the garden, one going to the basement and wine cellar, one from the main entrance, and then from the back door.' He reviewed, his mind laid out the floorplan of the entire floor, visualizing everything he had remembered.

'If I'm on the further left side of the living area, then, meters away from me is the door towards the garden. On my right, the main entrance -- not good.' He thought, assisting himself up as he dragged his feet towards the corner.

'This is a good spot.' He said internally, plopping down on the corner of the living area. 'From here, even if someone turned Johnny Rambo again, the couch near me will cover me. Also, whichever way they planned to take, I have an advantage.' Ryan nodded his head, pressing on his shoulder as hard as he could before he retracted his hand and prepared his rifle.

'I'll end those two here!' He oathed, knowing how to reload and fix his rifle as if it was child's play. 

Soon, after minutes of waiting, Ryan's shoulder stiffened. His sense of hearing heightened, trying to detect the slightest difference in the sound wave as the air in the living area suddenly grew thick. 

He could hear his own gulps and heart beating, holding his rifle in the same position. Just the slightest move and Ryan would open fire. This time, he was determined to win this.

Just like how Owen and Carter planned to win, Ryan figured out that taking this half-heartedly would lead to his 'death'. Indeed, it might sound a little foolish to consider dying, but deep down, the three had already considered this as a real battlefield.

'Come on…' Ryan's forehead broke out in sweats, his anxiety creeping into his heart as he waited for the right time to execute his plan. 'Come on…' He repeated, his finger playing around the trigger as he stabilized his breathing.

*click*

Upon the faint sound of the gun cocking, Ryan moved away from behind the couch and shot at the direction where the sound came from. "Ah, sh*t!" Owen cursed loudly, running to the side.

Owen bumped into furniture, hearing that the bullets were shot behind him. If he was a little slow, Ryan would surely hit him. "Ah!" Just then, he felt a pain in his ankle, causing him to drop to the floor.

"F*ck!" Owen cursed, shooting randomly in the direction where the shots were being fired. Everyone who was watching him could vouch how reckless it was. "Sh*t!" Once again, an aggressive curse slipped from his lips as he emptied his magazine.

In a fraction of second, Owen was about to pull out a pistol to buy himself some time. However, even before he could shoot at Ryan, he stopped due to the pain in his chest. 

"One man down." From the earpiece, they all heard Paul's voice as he announced Owen's instant death. Although he wasn't truly dead, Ryan hitting his chest, a spot straight on Owen's heart, would mean an instant death in real battle.

Thus, Owen was out of the game. "Goddammit!" Out of frustration, Owen cursed as he ground his teeth. Immediately, he removed his visor and threw it to the side.

However, just as he did, his eyes widened and heard Paul's voice come from the earpiece. "Another man down. Congratulations, Carter." Paul's voice was as usual solemn, congratulating Carter who was holding a fake dagger -- those fake ones that went inside its handle once pushed against a solid surface -- on Ryan's nape.

"Ahh… you got me there." Ryan slowly removed his visor, narrowing his eyes until his vision adjusted to the lights.

"You two are reckless, but…" Carter sighed heavily, sitting down next to Ryan as he bent his knees closer to him. "Well done." He darted his gaze from Ryan to Owen.

After a moment of silence, Owen chuckled as he shook his head. As he laughed, Ryan laughed along and then Carter. "Aiya! That was fun!" In between his chuckles, Ryan remarked.

"Damn right…" Owen nodded in agreement. The laughter of the three men resonated across the living area as if they didn't want to take each other's lives earlier.

*****

"Interesting…" Matthew nodded his head lightly, watching the three men sharing a good laugh after their battle. He was amused at the turn of events as Matthew didn't think Carter would win with how aggressive the two were.

"You have good men." The side of her lips curled into a satisfied smile, turning to Matthew as she complimented. 

"Did you expect the outcome?" He asked, arching his right brow as he noticed that Zoey wasn't surprised at the results.

"More or less." Zoey shrugged, the side of her lips stretched wider. "If the victor didn't listen to me, then, the results would be a wild guess." In a matter-of-fact tone, Zoey said which caused his brows to furrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked, recalling that earlier when they were preparing the battlefield, Zoey approached the three. Since he was busy, Matthew just thought that she was just trying to ask a few questions like a little girl.

'She talked to Carter?' Matthew wondered, curious as what Zoey meant by listening to her.

"Hehe," Just then, a playful chuckle escaped from her lips as her mind recalled what happened.