Mesmerized

Chapter 17: Doing

Ugh, he's no help. Simon frowned. Damn, that's such a beautiful smile. What the hell am I thinking? This is not the time for...his smile really is...NO! He shook his head. I have to stay focused.

"We've either freaked him out so badly that he's hiding in his mind palace, or he's searching for a solution for the dilemma we've currently put him in." Timothy derived.

"Nope," Johnny disagreed. "Look at the way he's gazing at Instructor Xu. The boy is infatuated."

Timothy tilted his head to take a better look at Simon and chuckled. "You're right. Instructor Xu, Simon is so into you. There's only one problem. He doesn't realize it."

Jaysen smiled brightly at the two's words. "I guess I need to work harder to make him realize it."

"Oh, yes. Very hard." Johnny grinned.

Waking from his trance, Simon suddenly blurted out. "What's that I hear? That's my cell phone chiming. I better go answer it." With that, Simon shot up from his seat and dashed into Jaysen's bedroom.

"As expected," Johnny voiced, "he made a run for it."

"That's our Simon." Timothy took another sip of the coffee. "He didn't take his plate with him this time."

"That's because he already finished eating." Johnny pointed at Simon's empty plate. "I'm going to have to teach him to be a better liar. Saying that his phone is chiming when there isn't even a sound is a total fail."

"That's not going to happen," Timothy enlightened. "Simon is too kind a person to be as sneaky as you."

"Baby, I have to be sneaky in order to protect the two of you. It's my responsibility to take care of the bottoms."

Timothy elbowed Johnny on the side. "Quit calling me a bottom."

"You seriously need to stop working out." Johnny rubbed at his ribs to soothe the pain. "You're becoming way too strong."

"Good." Timothy nodded.

"Why are you so aggressive toward me?" Johnny attempted a pout.

"Don't even try it." Timothy warned. "You're not Simon. Your pouts serve no purpose."

"Hey, it was worth a try."

"No, it wasn't. You just managed to burn some calories on your face. That's all."

Jaysen continued to chew his food as he listened to Simon's friends bickering cutely. Shortly after, Simon emerged from the bedroom with the phone in his hand. He returned to his seat and smiled sheepishly.

"So, who called you?" Johnny purposely asked.

"Who?" Simon wondered what he was talking about.

"Exactly." Johnny chuckled. "Who called you on the phone?"

"Oh," Simon remembered, "the caller got the wrong number."

"Really?"

Noticing that Johnny wasn't convinced, Simon quickly switched the subject. "S-Since today is Saturday, let's go out!"

"You want to go out with me?" Johnny inquired in a teasing manner.

"I was talking to..."

"To whom?" Timothy cut in. "Instructor Xu?"

"Y-Yes," Simon responded.

"So, you're talking to Instructor Xu while you're staring at me?" Johnny nitpicked.