Gun meekly followed Tinn to check each booth, he kept his head down on the ground and ignored all the introductions of any clubs. Gun enjoys entertaining games, but after an afternoon of roaming around the booths, the games of the clubs are precisely the same as what he is used to playing, plus there was a sudden added an invisible wall between him and Tinn, dramatically reducing Gun's enjoyment over time.
The truth is that Tinn saw Gun from the time he stepped out of the classroom, but Tinn still had to tell himself that he could not be too tolerant and yielded to Gun, otherwise Gun would become terribly mischievous. Although that's the case, as soon as the sun was slightly in the opposite corridor, Tinn still condescended and called Gun over.
And the expression of over-indulgence, certainly lies in the fact that Gun will sulk back at him.
They finally made it to the culinary club's booth when it was already dark. From afar, a series of sweet aromas from various foods and drinks flew to Gun's nose invitingly.
In order to please the representative of the student council, the members of the culinary club excitedly dragged Tinn to each display table, where the dishes were presented artistically and attractively.
Gun looked on with lust, but he still had to pretend to listen intently to the master chefs' presentations.
Perhaps because they were so passionate about the dishes that the culinary club's presentation took up to over twenty minutes, and Gun could only watch as the dishes on the table gradually cooled down.
He sucked in a determined breath and reached out to pull the corner of Tinn's shirt, but Tinn's hand clasped behind his back was a step faster when he shoved a fat candy into Gun's hand.
Gun was so over the moon that he wanted to jump into Tinn's back, he held the sparkling candy in his hand and could not help but imagine that the two of them were secretly dating like Tiw and Por, which is extremely exciting.
Right now, he has a realistic fantasy in which he and Tinn are on a romantic date like a couple at an amusement park. Balloons of illusion whirled brightly in his head, making him giggle until his ears grew scarlet.
"Gun"
"Gun"
"Gun"
Gun jerked out of his dream, as Tinn shook a spoon full of beef in front of his lips and stated.
"Open your mouth. Let me feed you."
This was the time for Gun's stubbornness to rise. Gun puffed his cheeks, seemingly unsatisfied with the order Tinn gave him. Partly because he did not like to eat meat, and partly because he did not want them to give up on things so easily.
As for Tinn, he wanted Gun to have time to reflect and repent, since Gun did not fulfill his promise to sit in the classroom until the end of the class anyway. Tinn did not wish to use silent violence against Gun since he is not easily irritated or holds a grudge. As long as the problem is solved, Tinn will not bring it up again.
No matter who we are, getting acclimated to suffering is difficult but for being blissful, it is very easy. Gun used to suffer when he could not get a look from Tinn, and when he returned to enjoy Tinn's endless pampering, so he was still used to testing Tinn's tolerance to the limit.
"Gun"
Tinn knew that Gun was kittenish about being ignored all afternoon by him. He poked his index finger into the bulging pocket on Gun's cheek.
"Don't be sulking naaaaa, please."
Gun cocked his chin, still showing no signs of giving in. The scene inside the culinary club room at this time was so facetious that no one could imagine.
"Okay then. Maybe we have to say goodbye with those beautiful cupcakes" Tinn turned his eyes towards the cake table, smiling "As our president of the music club isn't interested in them at all."
Tinn wriggled his arm, making the spoon in his hand like a zigzag plane waiting to land on Gun's lips.
Gun had to laugh at this stupidity. He obediently ate the piece of meat, silently praising the delicious food, and thought that if only he could bring Chinzhilla to come here to devour them. Surely on the day of the fair event, they would lead each other to destroy this booth.
Tinn asked someone to bring them two tiny cupcakes. The culinary club further emphasized that they had to bake nearly ten batches of cakes to produce such adorable decorated cupcakes.
Gun reached out to receive the beautiful orange cupcakes, but less than a second later, it was on the toe of Gun's shoe, and that gorgeous orange cake turned into a tangy orange cream in his socks.
Gun mumbled looking at the ground. Did God intend to let him play the leading role of a tragic movie or something as lately he has been so unlucky.
Before he had time to apologize, a pair of clean shoes was placed beside his feet. Tinn knelt down and helped him take off his shoes, making his whole body stiffen like a wax figure. The many glances around made him cringe to the point of shrinking his legs, but Tinn's strong hand was faster when he gripped Gun's ankle and spoke softly.
"Gun, stay."
Gun did not know how he got through this endless minute-long period of time. Finally, by some sort of magic, he left the culinary club room with Tinn's rather large shoes under his feet, and Tinn in slippers with his cake-stained shoes in Tinn's hand.
"Tin. You don't have to do that. I can take it home to do the laundry." Gun chirped.
"It's okay. Actually I did it on purpose to coax you."
Tinn gave a half-truth and half-false answer, making Gun only stare at the two people's silhouettes that were reflected on the ground.
"Have you been happier?" Tinn asked, knowing that Gun was also very depressed when he was forced to stand outside the classroom. "We can stop by the music club booth if you want."
"I went to check out the music club booth this morning" said Tinn. "This year the music club has improved a lot. Your booth is properly designed, no problem at all. You don't have to worry."
Gun nodded, then realized he still had the heart shaped cupcakes in his hand. He stopped and held it out in front of Tinn.
"You don't eat it?"
Tinn asked, worried that Gun was embarrassed by what he had done in the culinary club room. Maybe he went too far by not consulting Gun before helping.
"No. I want you to eat with me."
Since it was the cupcakes that Tinn gave to Gun, he did not want to share it with anyone else. Perhaps this was the only thing he wanted to selfishly keep for them.
He broke the cake in half, the heart-shaped icing instantly split in half, but he believed this could mean nothing about his love affair with Tinn. He put the cake in front of Tinn's mouth and smiled comfortingly.
"Mr president, please say "aaaa""
"I'm not the president yet." Tinn shook his head helplessly but opened his mouth wide.
No, you are always my school president.
Tinn's cold lip touched the tips of his fingers, making Gun numb from the emotion. Gun blushed because of the shady scenes that flashed through his mind, but judging from the look on the school president's face, it certainly was not intentional.
Tinn saw that Gun hesitated so he took the initiative to feed him the rest of the cake. The soft ice cream that melted without warning was placed on Gun's lips. He obediently opened his mouth to take a sip, the sweet cake like a dream slowly caught his taste, the tip of his tongue and the back of his throat could smell the fragrant rose scent.
Tinn gently stroked the corner of Gun's lips with his thumb, then brought his hand back to his mouth to suck on the cream he had just wiped. Gun felt like his brain was being ground into a paste, surely the person in front of him was deliberately teasing him.
However, he had to admit that the culinary club's dishes and cakes were so delicious that he could not get tired of eating them. If only they could open a restaurant, Gun would come to eat every day and forget about his mom's cooking.
Wait...
Gun felt as if electricity had just passed through him, not in the way of a lightning strike, but in the manner of enlightening a unique and daring idea.
If in the School's Activities Fair this time, the clubs could be able to sell their food, drinks or souvenirs, and a part of their revenue will be deducted to return to the student council, then the problem of budget reduction will be completely resolved.
He was so excited that he had to immediately share this idea with Tinn. Despite facing many possible risks, Tinn still fully believed in his solution and wanted to give it a try.
"But why do you know that we still need money from the budget reduction?" wondered Tinn.
Gun had to tell him the whole story.
"Actually this morning I overheard the school board meeting. I know you don't want me to be upset or overthink so you didn't tell me. I really understand."
Both of them did not want to rely on others, and did not want to be a burden to each other. But that's not how love could work. Without communication, there is no relationship.
"From now on, can we stop being like that?"
Can we... trust each other?
Tinn did not answer, instead, he slipped his hand into Gun's, squeezing it slowly. They looked like they had just finished a sacred ritual, from now on, their souls were tied into a dead knot. A knot that will make them find each other in any universe.
_______
They were passionately holding hands until they heard the loud singing from the music club room.
Gun remembered that Por said he had a date to have mookata with Tiw today, so their band would not practice but instead gave time and space to their juniors to decorate the booth.
Tinn and Gun entered the vibrant space like a miniature disco, where a series of music club members were sitting on the floor and cheering like a believer seeing an epiphany. Above the stage is an image of someone that we all know who he is, to be soloing an electric guitar.
Gun looked at Chinzhilla sitting dejectedly on the bed, with Yo reading a book and Pat flipping through the phone with his legs crossed. Their rapper, Win, sitting with his back to the stage, wearing headphones and intently playing computer games.
"P'Gun. I heard SoundAbout transferred to your class, right?"
"He plays super well and is super cool."
"Yes, yes, he's so nice. We invited him to play a song and he agreed immediately."
"If our club had him, we would definitely win Hot Wave again this year."
"P'Gun, could you invite him to join our music club?"
Gun did not dare to extinguish these burning hopes of his juniors. But it must be said that he himself was also surprised when Sound agreed to go to the music club to play the guitar, even if only for a moment.
"Long time no see, Tinn"
Sound finished his performance. Despite having to perform on someone's cheap guitar from the music club, Sound still knew how to let the notes dance under his fingers.
"We just met this morning."
Tinn stared at him and replied, as if the one who put a bundle of money in front of him this morning was not Sound.
Sound did not reply, just gave him an unfriendly look.
And Gun became the only one confused as to what was going on.
"Here you are."
Sound placed the envelope on the table, directly expressing his wish.
"I know you need money to help your stupid council or something. This is for helping me."
"I won't tell anyone."
Tinn was silent. He was intended to go to thank Sound for the incident at the bar, but he did not expect this person to call him out first. Remembering the moment when he left the meeting room and found Sound waiting at the door, Tinn could not help but wonder about his intentions.
"I didn't help you."
"You did, Tinn"
Sound affirmed firmly.
"Take the freaking money and go, that's all."
"No" Tinn stood up and refused. "Sorry. I can't receive money from unknown sources."
"To be clear. I'm not gonna take this for any reason."
Tinn wanted nothing to do with Sound. Ever since middle school, when he learned that Sound's family was politicians, there were many people who came to flatter and befriend Sound. But someone as smart as Tinn understood that behind the bright aura, the lives of those powerful children are not smooth at all.
"I've always been jealous of you, Tinn."
Sound repeated a sentence he had told Tinn many times.
"You're just too righteous"
_______
Tinn had thought about that statement so much that he could not remember how he left the music club room. It was not until Gun accidentally bumped into his back that he regained consciousness, and realized that the two were already on their way home.
The large shoe made Gun easily tripped, and his steps were slower than usual. His shoes were now placed in a bag and carried by Tinn. He noticed that since returning from the music club room, Tinn had been silent for a long time.
Tinn looked down at Gun's feet and sighed.
"Do you want me to carry you?"
Just waiting for that order, Gun hastily took off his shoes and jumped in a complete stagnation on the taller's back. Tinn took hold of his leg and jerked it slightly to correct his position. Gun's arms wrapped tightly around Tinn's neck, like the body of a vine, enveloping Tinn in a milky, candy-scented warmth.
Gun quietly enjoyed this luxury service. He rested his head on one of Tinn's shoulders, inhaling the scent that belonged only to Tinn. It was like a tranquilizer that helped Gun fall into a calm and safe state because he was fully protected, mentally and physically.
Gun wished that his way home could be endless, so that he could stay on Tinn's back like this.
Cause you've always got my back.
But if this road drags on forever, Tinn will break his back for sure.
"Tinn, could I come over to your place?" Again.
Gun buried his face in the back of Tinn's neck, mumbling out of embarrassment.
Tinn dropped Gun gently in front of Mrs Gim's shop, which was still bustling with so many customers. Tinn gave him his slippers so he could walk more easily.
"We're not even dating yet and you've been wanting to sleep with me that much?"
Tinn lowered his head slightly to tease him. Gun felt the back of his neck heat up. Apparently he was the one who confessed to Tinn that day, why the situation changed to Tinn teasing him so much that he was always as red as a boiled shrimp.
Tinn laughed at Gun's goofy reaction. He gently patted his head.
"Just kidding. You've been there a little bit long, you should go home so Mrs Gim won't miss her son."
Gun's cheeks were even redder because it was like he was so absorbed in love that he forgot his own mother.
"Alright then. You must be tired today. Go get some rest soon."
This time, Gun decided not to let Tinn easily be the only one teasing him. He pulled Tinn's hand back before he could go.