SUGAR & ICE. － lbc

° epilogue °

The lectures for the day were finally over and after hours of being apart, Can found Tin waiting for him outside of his class, hands in his pockets and expression deadpan.

"Ai'Tin!"

His voice carried to the opposite side of the hall, the wall of which the brunet leaned against, bag dangling from his shoulder; and Tin's head turned to him, like a switch his mouth forming a smile and his eyes lighting up.

Can jogged towards him and Tin pushed himself off from his support, and together they began making their way through the Thai Programme department as they had been doing for the past three weeks.

While doing so, Can chattered on about how his day had gone by and Tin quietly listened, humming from time to time or slipping in short replies to show he was paying attention.

The students who lingered around them were not blind to the couple who strangely walked side by side, baffled by the sight as they all knew Tin disliked poor people and never spoke to anyone other than his best friend. Yet whilst the former didn't notice their hushed voices, years of being popular having gotten him used to such a thing, Can noticed, and oh, how it irritated him.

What was worse was that wading through the mass of students, the stares of numerous girls lingered upon the male abreast him, giggles drifting in the air and swooning occurring left and right.

Again, it seemed Tin was blind to it all.

Even as Can babbled on, bouncing from one topic to another, catching the admiring stares and excited whispers directed at his boyfriend made something within him twist.

He couldn't describe it, but he was definitely frustrated and somewhat angry at everyone who drooled over Tin so shamelessly.

In what way could he make them understand that Tin wasn't single? The two of them hadn't held hands in public until then, let alone spread word of their relationship. Can briefly worried whether Tin was embarrassed to let others know he was dating someone of a lower social status than his own, but if that were so, he wouldn't have waited an hour for him to finish lessons and another and a half to finish football practice almost every day, where they could all see.

Unbeknownst to him, Tin did desperately want to hold his hand, but how and when should he do that? Was it too soon? Would Can feel uneasy? What if his palms were too sweaty? They were probably sweaty.

He was nervous merely at the idea and subconsciously pulled them out of his trousers' pockets to wipe them on the same black material.

Just then, Can made the decision and took the opportunity.

It appeared he would be having to take the initiative for many things in their relationship, for it was him to grab Tin's left palm and clasp their fingers together, words still falling from his lips.

They both tensed, a heat spreading from their point of contact and setting alight both their cheeks, but neither let go and Can found immense pleasure in feeling his hand being held by Tin's larger one.

The action did as Can wanted and finally the girls stopped ogling at the taller and the guys' comments faded into nothing, as those who were interested in the scene began piecing the facts together.

Can wanted to puff his chest in pride, because yes, Tin was his and only his, and now everyone would begin understanding that vital fact.

Feeling happy at achieving such a small but important feat, Can lightly swung their joined hands between them, still talking about the accident his math professor had had with a whiteboard marker, as they made their way out of the college and into the parking lot, directed towards the sports field.