call out my name [2gether]

CH 32

Ah, even a stoic guy as Sarawat could act cute, Tine thought giddily. Now if he could only understand what all of those eerie visions meant. Tine chewed absently on his lower lip while staring at their entwined hands, afraid to let go. Soulmates were meant to stay together, right?

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Tine blinked up into the yellow sun, shielding his squinting eyes with one hand, his nose scrunching up slightly. He was walking back from the main university building and over the empty campus grounds, heading for the entrance where his brother was waiting for him. Tine's messenger bag was weighting him down, full of extra curricular material for him to catch up on for his classes. He was going to reenroll with the freshmen at law faculty during the next semester to get back on track with his studies. Ah, Tine was not looking forward to that one in particular.

As soon as he had been discharged from the hospital it became evident that the real world was not going to wait for him. Tine had moved back home with his family, quickly settling back into a normal everyday life, or as normal as it could be now with everything turned upside down from how it was before the accident. His family barely let him get out of their sight, fretting around him like some kind of a fragile doll. It was fricking annoying. He had not even been able to see Sarawat or his friends as much as he had wanted because of all the documents and other shit Tine had to fix to get reinstated back into society, not to mention the hours he spent doing physical therapy every day to maintain the movement in his joints. It was even a small miracle that Type had let him go off on his own to the teachers' office just now.

And honestly, it felt good to be alone with his thoughts for once. Tine needed some time to get away from everyone and clear his confused mind. It had been overwhelming to suddenly stumble into this happy mirror land, where everything was perfect; the sun was shining and birds were chirping. His parents were doting on him and he was dating the guy of his dreams. However everything felt like a charade, like he was in some kind of episode of hidden camera and the other shoe was just about to drop. He felt like an imposter, living someone else's life.

But fuck! Did Tine really have to nearly die for people to start appreciating and noticing him? Tine had mixed feelings about his whole situation and it was slowly eating away at him, both guilt and frustration. Why had he been so undeserving before of their attention? Everything felt so damn shallow. It did not make him feel special in any kind of way, getting all this left over attention. But on the other hand, did he really have to nitpick so much, why not just let himself feel happy?

Tine exhaled shakily, getting riled up by his own stupid thoughts as he kept walking over the campus, missing the hurried footsteps closing in on him.

Tine was about to readjust the bag strap that was cutting into the skin of his shoulder when the weight was lifted off of him suddenly and Tine turned his head around sharply, only to find Sarawat stoically shouldering his bag. His two friends were crowding a little ways away, waving at Tine when they saw him looking. Tine recognized one of them as Type's boyfriend, Man, so the other guy was Boss then.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming in today?" The guitarist asked, expression unreadable. Uh oh. Tine flashed a cheeky grin, looking back at Sarawat while rubbing at his neck.

"Surprise?" He made a poor imitation of jazz hands, throwing out his pale arms. Tine was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of light blue, ripped jeans, eerie reminiscent of the clothes from when he was a ghost.

Sarawat squinted minutely at Tine, before simply shaking his head exasperatedly, sending fluffy bangs flying around his face. He then reached out and ruffled Tine's soft hair, warm hand sliding down to grip at his nape as he swiftly pulled Tine in for a quick kiss on the lips. Tine swallowed down a squeak as his insides fluttered, lips tingling from the lingering touch. He did not even notice how his eyes had fluttered close while he savored the pleasant sensation, dark lashes grazing his rosy cheeks. Mmm. He had missed this.