{Jumpol}
Off watches his feet as they move, one in front of the other, striding slowly across the tile floor of the school's large hallway. He knows it's noisy, and he knows it's crowded, but he has his headphones in, so he's successfully managed to escape all the ruckus. He kind of likes it like this; knowing his surroundings are chaotic, but not really getting to experience it because his earphones are flooding the air with nothing but melodic piano tunes.
When he finally decides to lift his head up, he realizes that he did it just in time, because New is walking up to him, a sheet of paper in his hand as he looks at Off with happy, bright eyes. Off immediately pulls his ear buds out, rolling them up as he gives New the same look back, even though he has no idea what he's supposed to be excited about.
"An A!" New exclaims, practically bouncing off of his feet as he holds the paper up to Off and points at it with a stern finger. "In math, Off. I aced a freaking math test."
"That's my boy," Off replies, holding up a hand for New to slap. New pulls him into an unexpected hug once they join hands, taking Off by surprise and filling his entire body with a pleasant coziness.
"I guess you won't need my help anymore?" Off asks, continuing his stride toward his locker as New walks alongside him.
"Are you kidding? My grades will fall into a downward slope if you stop tutoring me," New replies, his tone offended.
Off stops at his locker, his eyes concentrated as he works the combination. "Well," he starts, opening up his locker and proceeding to shove books inside. "I think Tay would like if we stopped."
Off gets pulled away from his task of taking two pencils off of the holder in his locker when New grabs him by both shoulders, forcing the boy to face him, and proceeding shaking him like crazy.
"Would you stop?" New asks, his eyebrows furrowed. Off stares at him for a moment, before giggling with amusement.
"Stop what?" Off asks, turning back to continue what he was doing. "You really don't think Tay's at all bugged by this?"
New's silent for long enough that Off pauses completely, turning so he can face New and try to register his facial expression and maybe decipher an answer from it.
New finally shrugs his shoulders as he picks at the fabric on his jeans. "No. I really don't."
~*~
"You understand this, New," Off says with a laugh, tucking his feet under his body as he shifts on the bed. "You don't need tutoring."
New leans back where he is next to Off, putting his weight on the palms of his hands. "I need you to make sure I continue to understand it. Isn't that what tutors are for?"
"You should really start paying him for this, actually," Ciize says from where she's laid across the rug of Off's room. She strokes a hand through her ponytail as she laughs into the other. "Off will finally have a job. Mom will be proud."
New glances at Off, an amused smile on his face as Off rolls his eyes. "I'm willing to pay, honestly."
Off shakes his head shyly as he shifts on the bed. "I'm not going to charge you. You're---no. We're too close."
"What does that mean?"
Off laughs a short, hesitant chuckle as he glances between Ciize and New. Ciize had seriously been challenging him all evening, and he's getting quite sick of it.
"We're. We're friends, right?" Off asks, punching New in the arm with the casual air of a robot who doesn't understand human interaction. He doesn't know why it's so hard for him to admit New is his friend out loud. It used to be easier, he remembers.
"Friends?" New asks, his eyes studying Off's every movement. Off has no idea what the question means, and he's sure New didn't intend to make it so open to possibility and interpretation.
His mind is genuinely pondering upon the possibility that maybe he's an ant, and someone is shining a magnifying glass on him, burning his insides to shreds and leaving him exposed. The pressure is more than he can handle at the moment.
Ciize points at Off, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Look at his face! He's all flustered. This is so fun to watch."
New lets out a sigh as Off gives his sister a stern look, implicitly telling her to shut up, but as usual, she doesn't budge even one bit. Sometimes he yearns to be the more intimidating type.
"We're best friends," Off finally says, the words unusually bitter in his mouth. "I don't charge best friends for anything."
There's a short beat before New wraps an arm around Off's shoulder and pulls him in, nuzzling him obnoxiously. "Aw, look at him! He said I'm his best friend. How cute."
"Very cute," Ciize replies, nodding while her chin rests in her arms.
Off's going to explode with a frustration he can't even pinpoint. The knowing way his sister keeps looking at them, increased every time Off has fumbled over his words or looked down at his lap when New has held his gaze too long, is driving him nuts. He hasn't always been fond of how intuitive Ciize has always been. She's usually one to pick out Off's emotions before he even feels them himself.
Off playfully shoves New away from him with some difficulty, before reaching over for an actual textbook, just to give a proper excuse.
"Okay, Ciize, we have to do some actual work, so I would appreciate it if you would occupy yourself in some other area of the house," Off says properly, offering her a kind grin at the end.
Ciize remains in the exact same position, unmoving. "Watching you guys interact is way too much fun."
"We're not entertainment for you," Off replies, still keeping his tone nice and easy.
There's a long pause after Off speaks, both New and Off not knowing what for as Ciize's eyes start to gradually widen.
"Wait," Ciize says slowly, her eyes narrowing just a bit as she exchanges glances between the two of them. Off can already feel something really shitty coming on. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows his sister's just realized something no one else has realized yet.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, he figures.
"If you don't get out, I guarantee you I'll tell mom all about the festive study group weekend you had---"
Ciize is already on her feet, flashing dangerous, warning eyes at Off. "Don't you dare," she hisses, her voice threatening. She shrugs her shoulders and lets out a defeated sigh, leaving Off more than content. "Fine, I'll leave."
With that, she finally leaves Off alone with New, the way the universe intended, and Off is left with a grin on his face and the sight of New in front of him, laughing lightly to himself.
"I love her," New says, picking lint off of the socks on his feet. "I'd trade Alice for her."
"Can I get that in writing?" Off asks, pushing himself off the bed so he can set his textbook on his desk. He wasn't really going to start tutoring; he just needed Ciize and her prying eyes out of the room.
"So, are we gonna---"
Off's already shaking his head as he makes his way back over to New, sitting down on the bed next to him, just a little closer than before. New's face sinks and Off hates that, but he really can't get high with New anymore. Tay didn't explicitly ask him to stop, but he made it clear that he's not at all in favor of it, and Off is more than tired of giving Tay more reasons to hate him.
"You're obsessed," Off says, leaning over and pinching New softly in his side. The boy squirms with a chuckle before swatting Off's hands away. His fluffiness deflates once again however, and it becomes clear to Off that it's not just about smoking weed.
"It just...really relieves my stress," New replies, now looking down at his fingers as he furrows his eyebrows. "I've been stressed about a lot of things lately. I want to escape my stress. Pretend it's not there."
Off shakes his head slowly as he studies the side of New's face. The boy seriously has one of the most artistic profiles Off has ever seen, but he'll save the flattery for another time, when things aren't so...annoying.
"There are other ways to relieve stress, Newwiee," Off says, setting one gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "I don't want you to get into a habit."
The boy's brown eyes looks straight ahead as he starts messing around with his fingers, clearly a bit insecure and unsure of how to handle whatever he's feeling. Although Off doesn't know the specifics of what New's so sad and stressed about, he's pretty sure he has an idea. He scowls for probably half a second before wiping it off his face.
"What's bothering you?" Off asks, concern in his features as he leans in closer to New.
New shifts his head down to look at his restless fingers. He shakes his head, as though his worries are trivial. "It's just---me and Tay haven't gotten a lot of time to hang out lately. He's always busy...it's nothing, though. There are other things I'm stressed about, but..." his voice lowers. "...that's one."
The beautiful curves and gloriously defined cheekbones of the side of New's face only make the fact that he's so down cause pain in Off's chest. It's rare to ever catch New at moments like these; where he's almost one hundred percent vulnerable and his mouth starts allowing him to be free and say what's on his mind. A person like New, who infects people with happiness whenever he comes near, whose smile could bring flowers back to life, doesn't deserve to have moments like these.
He knows New absolutely despises it too---appearing weak and frail. He's probably the toughest person Off knows, and that's because it's the way he always portrays himself. He doesn't want anyone to think of him as helplessly small, and he remains closed off in order to get that point across.
Off holds his hand out towards New, palm up. New glances down at it, his eyebrow quirking up in confusion.
Off giggles. "Give me your hand."
New's lips curve into a lopsided grin as he slowly lifts his wrist and places the back of his hand on top of Off's. His hand is a bit cold, which contrasts with Off's warm one, but somehow it still works, and Off wouldn't mind staying like this forever, his palm to dorsum with New for no reason at all.
He shifts his focus to what he had originally intended to do, instead of daydreaming about things that won't happen.
Off lifts his hand that isn't under New's, and brings his index finger and thumb to the boy's palm, drawing circles in it. He lets his eyes flutter shut, and tries not to smirk at the sound of New starting to laugh.
"What are you doing?" he asks through short chuckles.
Off shushes him as he continues tracing over the boy's calluses. "I'm reading your palm." He doesn't have to open his eyes to know that New's giving him a look that shows how ridiculous he thinks he is. Off isn't bothered by it; he knows New loves him.
"So you're a nerd, a genie, and a palm reader?" New asks incredulously. "What else do I not know about you, Off?"
Off giggles, letting one eye open to peek at New, getting a brief view of his now smiling face. He shuts it before speaking again. "A lot of things."
New lets out a dramatic sigh. "Guess I'll spend the next hundred years figuring you out." Off's face scrunches up as he holds back a grin. "Now, tell me what my palm is saying, or whatever."
Off slowly opens his eyes, scooting in just an inch closer to New. New doesn't flinch, doesn't try to create more area between them.
"Your palm says," Off starts, making his words come out low and tender. "In the near future, you won't be stressed anymore. That you deserve to be happy, and that very soon you'll figure out how to be exactly that." Off hadn't even realized he wasn't tracing New's palm anymore, his hand now lazily resting on top of the boy's palm. "Because seeing you sad is like waking up to cloudy, dark day, New. You brighten everything."
Off isn't really one to make too many social faux paus, because he's not even social enough to begin with, but God, he really hadn't realized how sappy and over the top that sounded until he already said it. Internally, he goes into panic mode as New stares at him, the brown of his eyes seeping into Off's sockets, freezing his entire body from head to toe. He really wishes his brain had assessed the outcomes and possibilities of how things would go after Off says such a flattering array of words. He hopes New isn't too thrown off.
After a few more seconds of New staring at Off, motionless and bearing no distinct facial expression, his mouth opens, and out comes a gentle breath, as though he had thought to say something and then ended up speechless.
All Off can think about is how effortlessly breathtaking he is.
The thought causes Off to grin a little wider, his head tilting ever so slightly as he holds New's gaze. Everything in the moment is so soft, sweet, real...
"Thank you," New finally says, nearly whispering. "I better get going, though. My mom's probably looking for me."
The stupid grin is wiped off of Off's face, and he slowly releases New's hands, shrugging his shoulders as though they were having a casual moment. "It is late, yeah."
New breathes heavily as he packs his stuff into his bag and swings it up onto his shoulder. "Yeah."
Off watches as New moves toward the bedroom door, shooting Off a bashful grin in the process.
"Bye, Newwiee," Off says, receiving a "Bye, Jumpol," in response.
Off remains in the same position on his bed as he hears New's feet shuffle down the stairs, and then he listens to the sound of the front door to his house opening and closing. He rises to his feet to walk over to his window, reaching it just in time to admire New as he opens the door to his car. Off doesn't even realize how wide he's grinning as he watches the boy struggle a bit to get his heavy bag into the passenger seat. The boy is beautifully elegant in everything he does, and he doesn't even have to try.
It's then, as Off fantasizes about telling New how absolutely stunning he is, how their tutoring sessions are the favorite part of his day, how he deserves so much more than a boyfriend who refuses to put him before all else, that Off realizes quieting his emotions won't do him any good. He has to be fully honest with himself on why he doesn't like Tay, why he's so obsessed with spending time with New, why he's always so concerned about the boy's well-being.
Off is completely gone for that boy, and he knows it. He feels like he's known it for a while.
He bites down on the corner of his bottom lip with his teeth as he continues to admire New, who is now in the driver's seat, texting away on his phone. The knowledge that he's most likely texting Tay sends a faint, weighing feeling through Off's chest, down to his stomach where it continues to remain for a few moments. He finally pulls his eyes away from the window, wistfully throwing himself on his bed and attempting to figure out how he's going to go about all this.