"Just like that. Yes."
Marcus paused, tilting his head toward the wall.
"Those noises again. That damn bastard. Always at the worst times."
He turned up the music volume, his jaw tightening as the sounds persisted. Something inside him twisted, a feeling he didn't want to examine too closely lest it lead him astray.
His gaze returned to his screen, where fictional characters lived lives that were worth reading, unlike his.
"Some people," he muttered, scrolling faster.
His stomach growled shortly after.
Luckily when he took his headphones off, the sounds had stopped.
"Damn it! Where is that bastard of a deliveryman?" He snatched his phone, checking the tracker. "At the door? Why isn't he knocking?"
Marcus heaved himself from his custom gaming chair.
The third one this year. Normal chairs surrendered to his five hundred pounds within days.
Each step toward the door sent ripples through his massive belly.
Huff-Puff
His breathing became laboured, as though he'd run a marathon instead of crossing his parents' small basement.
"Coming!" he shouted as the driver's knuckles finally rapped against his door.
He yanked the door open, a little sweat beading on his forehead from the exertion.
"Marcus?" The deliveryman said his eyes not leaving his neighbours window.
'No wonder it took him so long. The bastard is peeping at another bastard.'
"Yeah. That's me."
The guy reluctant pulled away his gaze from the window and took out three sixteen-inch pizzas from his thermal bag, along with two sides of fries and a two-litre soda.
There was no judgment in his eyes, it was just another delivery.
"Your order, sir."
Marcus nodded, grabbed his feast, and kicked the door shut with his foot.
The delivery driver did not mind and turned back his gaze towards the window. Although there was a curtain, there was still a small hole that he could see through.
Back at his desk, he arranged his meal like a general planning a campaign.
On his Left side were the pizzas stacked. Whilst on his right side were the fries and dipping sauces. In the centre was the massive drink within reach.
He took a huge bite of pepperoni-extra-cheese as his eyes returned to "Empress Empire," his favourite novel.
The protagonist had just been chosen to enter the best academy in that world, where all the students were females...except him.
Men in this world existed only to serve, to pleasure, or to die. Yet somehow, the main character kept defying the odds.
"Lucky bastard," Marcus mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.
Three slices in, he reached for his drink. The sweet carbonation hit his throat as his eyes scanned the latest chapter.
Burp!
The teacher's fingers trailed across his chest. "I could have you executed for such insolence."
"Then why don't you?" he challenged.
"Because you amuse me, little man."
Marcus stuffed more pizza into his mouth. His breathing felt heavier now, but he ignored it.
"Choose," the teacher commanded. "Servitude or exclusion from the academy?"
"I choose option three," the protagonist replied.
Marcus leaned forward, eager to see what happened next as his sight started blurring. His left arm suddenly felt numb.
"Damn jt," he muttered, fixing his seating position.
The numbness spread across his chest. And a sharp pain followed, explosive and searing.
"Argh!"
The pizza slice slipped from his fingers and fell on the ground.
"What the—"
His massive body stopped responding. The crushing weight he'd carried for years now crushed inward, collapsing his heart from the inside.
Marcus gasped for air that wouldn't come, no matter how hard he tried.
The screen blurred before his eyes, the words of "Empress Empire" fading as darkness crept in from the edges.
His last conscious thought wasn't about his mother upstairs, or the life he'd wasted.
It was about option three.
The option no one ever gave him.
A few hours later...
"Marcus!" Caroline shouted as she descended the stairs.
Knock-Knock
No response.
Once again, she knocked heavier this time.
Still, no response.
Anxiety spread through her chest as she immediately opened the door, to find her son on the floor without any sign of life.
"Marcus!" She cried out loud, as she immediately rushed to him and kneeled down.
She checked his breathing and pulse with shaking hands. After a few minutes, there was still no signal of life. Her eyes had already cried a river in the span of minutes, and her chest heaved as she called the ambulance.
The paramedics arrived shortly after.
"Sorry for your loss. We will do the appropriate testing to check the cause of death and time."
Caroline nodded with her hand on her closed mouth, fighting tears.
...
Inside the ambulance, the paramedics gossiped.
"What a weird person."
"Why?" The driver of the ambulance asked.
"Did you not see the screen? It was blank, a book without words, no title?"
"That's weird..."