"So you guys are childhood friends, right?" New asked, staring at Gun.
The three are currently in the library so Off and New could help Gun with his upcoming chemistry quiz (that Gun had blurted out about when they were in the cafeteria).
Off nods on behalf of the two of them. "Yeah, we are."
New just looks at him and looks at Gun again. Off's brows furrowed.
What the fuck is this guy's problem?
"Did Mild not attend any classes today?" Gun asked as he played with the pen in his hand.
Off forgets about his annoyance and shrugs, turning to Gun. "No idea... she probably did but did her best to avoid us as much as possible..."
Gun frowns at what he says. It has been 4 days since the Mild-almost-slapping-Gun situation and he finally gets what New was saying earlier.
"Off, we really have to see Mild soon..." Gun says, looking at his best friend.
Said best friend turns to him (after a glaring competition with New) and raises an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"It's been four days! If we stretch this thing out any longer, we might never get out of it, Off." Gun frowns.
New smiles. "He's right, Off."
"I'm older than you." Off spoke.
New scowled. "P'Off."
Gun watches the interaction, extremely perplexed. "Um, are you guys mad at each other? Why are you guys talking as if you want to shove daggers down each other's throats?..." Gun jokes but instantly stops when he notices they were serious.
"Did you guys already know each other? No, that can't be possible, you asked for New's name earlier..."
The two males turn to Gun.
"I just don't like him." New claims.
Off's eyebrows furrowed for the umpteenth time. "And why the hell is that?"
Thitipoom smiles (what a fake ass smile!). "Do I need a reason to not like you?" He asked. "Can you give me a reason why I should like you instead?"
The eldest frowns and his hands turn into fists not long after. New notices and smirks even more. "I'm just annoyed because Gun was dragged into a fake-dating type of situation because you decided to confess like that."
Off was about to speak up, but Gun reacted first.
"HEY!" Gun shouted and stood up, pushing his chair back.
"New, I don't know why this situation bugs you so much, despite you not being at all involved, but it's not Off's fault that I'm... we're in this situation. I had to keep Mild with me the whole time during the game, and I FAILED to do so." Gun inhales deeply, glaring at New.
"This is all on me and if anything, Off was the one who got dragged into this mess. Don't blame him for anything he didn't do."
His best friend stares at him in shock.
They hear footsteps behind them and Gun sighs.
"What are you boys shouting about? This is a library!" The librarian spoke sharply from behind Gun. "This is your first warning!"
"I'm truly sorry, miss. It won't happen again," Off says, smiling as politely as he can.
The librarian stares at him up and down, "Very well." And with that, she leaves.
New watches as Off gently drags Gun back down to sit and rubs his back to calm him down. He glares at Jumpol before packing his things and leaving the library, not uttering a single word.
"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Remember, we're in a library." Off whispers to Gun.
Gun fully calms down after a few seconds. "I'm sorry for exploding like that. What he said just made me so mad..."
Off grins at him. "Thank you for standing up for me, but don't take all the blame. I also had the choice to put a stop to the confession when I noticed Mild wasn't there but I didn't."
Gun sighs and nods, accepting Off's reassurance. The latter grins at this, but the grin almost instantly disappears when he notices the library's entrance.
Oh, fuck.
"Mild..." Off mutters under his breath.
Gun brings his head up in question, "What? Did you say something?"
"Don't look behind you but Mi–" and Gun did the exact opposite, not even waiting for Off to finish. However, he regrets it once he sees Mild walk in.
"Oh shit."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Why are we doing this, Off!?" Gun whispered to his best friend. "Is it because she came with Mek?"
Off's eyes widened. "T-That's the Mek dude you were talking about?!"
Gun nods.
"He looks like he can beat me to a pulp if I make him mad..." Off cringes at the thought and Gun snickers.
"And why would you make him mad?"
"I-I don't know, just an imaginary situation. Pretty sure I won't have any interactions with him... hopefully."
"Gosh, someone's talking a lot at a place like this." Off and Gun heard Mild say with an exasperated sigh.
Mek laughs. "Yeah, but don't mind them... they'll probably get scolded by the librarian soon. Anyways... how's it going with... them?"
Gun notices the stress on the word them and furrows his brows. "It seems like they're gonna talk about us..." He whispered to Off.
"What perfect timing, huh?" Off whispers back and Gun nods.
Mild frowns. "How's it going with them, hm... I don't know. I haven't talked to them ever since the day I came over to yours."
Off's forehead creases and he frowns. "What the fuck? She went to his house?"
"Calm down, don't cause a scene," Gun warned, holding onto Off's fists for dear life.
"Seriously? Are they even trying?" Mek says, clicking his tongue.
"Hey, don't say that about them. Frankly, I've been trying to avoid them, and I guess I'm doing a pretty good job. I even skipped my classes with them." Mild responded and Mek nodded.
"But don't you think it's better to just confront them?"
"Why should I have to do that, though? For the sake of being friends? Eh. Plus, even if we do get along again, I'm sure it won't be the same as before."
Gun frowns and his shoulders slump down.
This is all my fault.
This is all because of me!
Our friendship is falling apart because I couldn't do my job prop–
"Stop thinking so loudly. Your face screams 'I hate myself so much'." Off comments quietly after giving Gun's head a smack, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I already told you, right? It's not entirely your fault."
Gun doesn't look at him. "It's frustrating to know the fact I started it, though."
"I know..." Off pats his shoulder.
"Then are you just gonna let them confront you?" Mek spoke again.
They see Mild nod. "Yeah. It's their choice if they want to still be friends with me... I admit I was about to do something I probably shouldn't have done to Gun since he still is my best friend."
"You mean when you almost slapped him? I don't know, Mild... in my opinion, he kind of deserves it. You told him you liked Off and he suddenly goes and steals him away from y..."
Mek's voice faded away and soon enough, Gun could barely hear anything. He feels a large pair of hands cover his ears and he turns to Off, who was grinning at him.
"Don't listen to what he was saying," He hears Off say once the older one pulled his hands away. "Got it?"
Gun... feels his heartbeat quicken and he looks away, nodding. "Got it."
"Now, let's stop eavesdropping on them and get out of here?" Off suggested, standing up from their spot. Gun looks at him with a confused face as he stands up.
"But what about class...? I have English next."
Off laughs slightly and grabs Gun's hand, leading him away from Mild and Mek and going to the direction of their table. He asked, "What about it?"
"It's not like you understand anything in that class." Off added.
Gun tried taking his hand back but Off held onto it tighter. "W-Whatever! We can't just skip class!"
The older one ignores what his best friend says and grabs everything from the desk, shoving Gun's things at his chest before dragging the boy out of the library, making sure Mek and, or, Mild didn't see them.
"Off, we aren't gonna skip class, are we!?" Gun tugs at his hand, wanting to let go of Off.
Off lets out a big, proud HA HA and turns back to Gun. "You have no choice in this. We're skipping for the day!" He cheers.
Gun sighs. Knowing he can't change Off's mind, he lets himself get yanked to their university's parking lot and to Off's motorcycle. "Where are we going anyway?" Gun asked, packing his stuff into his bag.
The older one does a thinking pose, his right hand on his chin with his left hand on his hip as he tilts his head up. Off looks at Gun and smiles for what seemed like the hundredth time today.
"Dunno!" He exclaims and gets his extra helmet, placing it on Gun's head and locking it for him.
"Ai'Off!" The smaller male calls out, hitting Off's arm.