Purple Ink (SatoGou)

Chapter 8

I'm about to leave, feeling my presence isn't entirely welcome, when the door swings open again and Cilan strolls in, beaming. I see Goh shrink a little further into the couch. "Hey! I thought I heard someone in here."

"Hey Cilan," I mumble, taking a sip of the water.

"Oh, you're drunk," he says, shooting me an amused look. I scoff.

"I was out with Serena and May."

His eyebrows raise up, and I don't like the look he's giving me. "Were you now?" He starts walking towards the sofas, and plops himself down beside Goh, who looks like he's planning his escape. I walk over and sit on the other one, feeling my body start to shut down. Cilan laughs when I lay my head back on the cushion and groan.

"It's not like that," I grumble, because Cilan is still giving me that stupid grin.

"Why not?" He shrugs. I know they're both very attractive, but just not in that way- not to me. I know people will probably think I'm dumb for ignoring Serena's advances, if that's what they actually are. If I were more casual about this sort of thing, I might have been interested in one of them, but that's just not me. I don't know how to say that though, so I just shrug back. Cilan smiles. "You got someone back home?"

"No," I say quickly, shaking my head, the room spinning. "Nope. Not anymore. Do you?"

His brows dip a little, and I realise I said not anymore, which sounds like I'm hinting at some sort of pre-uni breakup, which I guess did kind of happen. I brace myself for more questions, but he just smiles. "Yeah. Her name's Burgundy." His head suddenly whips to Goh. "What about you Goh?"

I see the way he tenses up, and he clutches the mug tighter in his hands. He shakes his head slightly. "No, I don't."

I swallow the lump in my throat. So he's single. That information shouldn't matter to me, since I've already decided to steer clear, but... I can't stop staring at his face. He's like a magnet, drawing me to him. Cilan just nods, then pulls his phone out. A few seconds later, I get a notification, my own phone vibrating from my back pocket. It's Cilan, sending me a friend request on several social media accounts. I laugh, looking up at him. "Really?"

"I can't find you," he says to Goh, ignoring me.

"Oh," Goh says, smiling sheepishly. "I don't really have social media."

I barely know him, but that doesn't surprise me. It seems like he prefers to keep to himself. For a moment his eyes meet mine, and I feel all the blood rush to my face. I look away quickly, worried the blush will be obvious. It's stupid- so stupid that this is the first person to ever visibly make me feel this way after just a couple of days. I'm not sure I've ever felt this sort of physical attraction before.

I ask Cilan about his girlfriend to fill the silence. We sit there for a while, talking back and forth, him telling me all about her. Goh rarely chimes in, but he does seem to relax a little. Then Cilan asks me about previous relationships, and I tense up a bit.

"I've only had one," I admit. His eyebrows shoot up, and even Goh blinks at me in disbelief. "What?"

"I don't know, just... Looking at you, I thought you'd have had more."

I have no idea what to say to that, especially in my drunken state. "I'm not... That's not- I mean, I just don't care about that sort of stuff much."

"Fair enough. Hey, why don't we all go to that society fair tomorrow morning?"

"What time is it at?" I ask, relieved at the topic change.

"Eleven."

I check the time on my phone. It's almost two. Soon Serena and May will be coming back, and if they find us in here there's no chance we'll be getting any sleep anytime soon. I groan and rub my face again. "Okay. But I'm going to bed now."