Gawin withdrew his legs a little to escape the sunbeam darted on more than half of the table in the library, moving slightly towards the person next to him. He ignored that person's head that was tilting towards his shoulder, he knew the distance between them was safe enough so that the girl couldn't 'accidentally' lean her head on it.
Podd set him up with an appointment with a girl.
That friend of Gawin called him and said that he felt bored hanging out with his sister, she only wanting him to go to carry her shopping bags. So Podd begged Gawin to join him. His friend obviously wasn't the type complaining about this kind of thing, and his sister, in Gawin's memory, was definitely not a girl that was hard to please. Gawin immediately realized Podd's intention when seeing them with another girl.
It was interesting to know that she had almost everything he liked in a woman, with long curly hair, a beautiful smile and fair skin, she spoke in a soft, sweet and gentle voice without acting naive, she was mature and understanding. Like other girlfriends who had appeared in his life, she was the type making everyone feel good from the first time they meet her, to be honest, his impression would be the same. He tilted his head when she talked, smiled a little when she did not know what to say, he just ignored the pair of big round eyes staring at him with fascination. The things he wants was no longer the same as before, he ironically thought.
Even though he didn't place his phone on the table out of politeness, he knew that it also didn't vibrate for even a second in the pocket of his jacket.
Krist was probably busy today as well.
The smaller guy must be literally busy, unlike Gawin wasting a whole day to listen to his friend's arrangements, and now Podd and Pat were busy fighting over there over some books, leaving Emi sitting next to Gawin. She was attentively reading a medical book, while he was glueing his eyes on a photography book.
Emi spoke softly in the quiet space...
"P'Gawin likes coffee, right?"
Gawin looked straight into the eyes that were wearing the silver round glasses frame and smiled in a way that made the girl flutter right on the spot, "How do you know that?"
"You have the smell of fresh coffee."
Emi bowed her head and smiled shyly, shifting her eyes back to the book, but he guessed maybe she was no longer reading them. Gawin was certain that he couldn't have the coffee smell with just one cup he drank this early morning, not even after the four of them had lunch and sat in the library until dusk. Perhaps Podd told Emi a bit about him, that he liked drinking coffee. He would not ask his friend why he planned all of this, if ignoring everything could reassure them, he would do that.
Therefore, Gawin simply replied in a delicate and calm way, " I hope you're not uncomfortable with the smell of coffee."
"No no no, I like it."
Emi had a light scent of lavender, but Gawin thought it was better not to talk about that. He turned his attention back to the flat-lay photography tips on a page that still had the smell of fresh ink. Flat-lay is the art of telling different stories through the arrangement of a number of objects on a flat surface. When he glanced at the sample photos, there were a few things that he found adorable, a striped baseball cap, a triangle silver earring, and a wrinkled long sleeve shirt, and a perfume bottle that wasn't his familiar brand, he wasn't sure if it was the one Krist often used or not, opening with grapefruit, gently giving way to the heart note which is blood orange, mixed with the coffee aroma as the base note.
Emi couldn't smell the scent of coffee on him.
Gawin also couldn't smell the scent of coffee on Krist because he didn't like coffee.
But only him could smell the jasmine flowers on Krist. Gawin really likes the smell of jasmine, sweet and lingering like caffeine. Gawin usually put on fragrances having fresh mint scent or agarwood, later he should ask Krist about the perfume he preferred.
"You two seem to get along well hah."
Podd showed up from behind the bookshelf, ignoring the fact that both Gawin and Emi were actually just paying attention to the books in their hands. That friend grinned as he grabbed the photography book from Gawin and closed it, looking at the other's dark eyes, "It's getting dark, let's have dinner."
Gawin waited for Emi to put all the stuff in her bag, Pat wore her jacket back on, while Podd went back to their table after returning the last book to the shelf. Gawin opened his phone to check if Krist texted him anything, but there had been no response since three hours ago. This could be the reason why the smaller guy seemed skinnier in the last time they met. He decided to send one message before putting the phone back into his bag,
"Don't skip meals, Krist."
...
Krist read Gawin's message an hour later, a stupid smile was seen on his face, when he woke up on the couch in the break room after a narcolepsy. Poon, a young choreographer, walking out from the bathroom, seemingly has just finished taking a shower. Krist spotted two servings of steamy fried rice on the table.
"Already wake up? I bought you fried rice." Poon put the towel over his head and excitedly opened the food bag.
It was already past seven at night.
"You're still not going?" There was a small gathering of industry insiders at Joss's studio complex tonight. Joss knew a lot of people in the entertainment industry, and his bar became one of their favorite place to visit every weekend. Noise free, no prohibited substances, enough privacy and they could get what they wanted within the allowed limits. It was the place where even the most unpredictable person like Dew, another excellent drummer that Krist knew, had nothing to complain, but Poon refused to come.
"Nahhhh, I really don't like parties."
"Just ignore him, Krist... what a boring kid!" Dew walked in the break room, exuding calmness, he gave Poon a glare and then sat down on the empty chair while Poon was faking a smile. Krist could see that Dew had two more new piercings on his right eyebrow. If there were someone criticized those skinny people as weak and unhealthy, they would have to change their mind immediately once seeing Dew. That guy has a serene face with an enviable beauty, and he also seemed to not know what pain was, or that he was very good at enduring pain.
"So, what is your plan tonight, kid? Going home?" Dew asked while snatching the can of coffee in Poon's hand.
"Yessss, it's a great time to stay at home. I have a long list of series to watch." Poon stuffed fried fries into his mouth and reached out to get his coffee can back. It was difficult thought because Dew was sitting on the other side of the couch, behind Krist, who was giggling as he was having his dinner.
The boy only sat still when Dew gave him some useful advice, "Coffee is not good for your sleep, look at the dark circles under your eyes. Tsk, tsk, i'm helping you, kid."
Krist guessed Poon was cursing the other in his mind.
Him screaming before Krist and Dew left the room was the proof, "No one will fall in love with you, Dew... and with that personality, you can't love anyone as well."
...
Halfway through the night with the nearly empty bottles of red wine, Luke nonchalantly played with the cards alone while Joss was focusing on adjusting the height of the cue tip towards the cue ball, aiming to pocket the 6-ball, his last ball before pocketing the 8-ball to end the game. Bright stood facing Joss, analyzing the path of his three remaining striped balls. He was two moves slower than Joss. Some guests had left due to their early schedules tomorrow, and now only Bright competing against the studio boss in the last 8-ball pool match.
Krist sat on the edge of another pool table beside theirs, observing the situation while surpressing his laugh because Boom was leaning on his back to sleep and snoring.
Luke had just finished a 6-floor tower with a deck of brand new cards.
Dew prepared a glass of wine for the loser and then excitedly walked to stand next to a person whom Krist had never met before, Kay - the bowling coach.
"Joss is gonna make a miscue." Kay muttered something that Krist had to tilt his head to make sure the one had just spoken was the guy next to him, Krist was sitting on the edge of the table while Kay was leaning against it, so Krist could only see the other's side profile, his smile was wide, making the lovely dimple in his cheek sink in.
Just as Krist was about to ask Kay the reason for his guess, the sound of the cue hitting the balls rang out along with a deep sigh. Joss really missed the shot, he missed it three times in a row as the stubborn 6-ball refused to go into any pocket.
Kay instantly turned to wink at Krist and showed an 'I-was-right' smile.
"Joss is the type that has full of effort but on the other hand he's too competitive. You know, he threw about fifty bowling balls constantly on the first day he practiced at my place. Now he's quite drunk, Bright is not a formidable opponent of his obviously, but Joss caused himself to lose the opportunity, how can he hit the ball when he gripped the cue too tightly?"
"Why don't you join them?" Krist asked and Kay chuckled again. Unlike his wise judgment, this guy has a 'Prince Charming' face, with curly brown hair and flawless skin, he also has dimples like Krist.
"I'm not good at playing pool, I'm just a good observant. If Bright misses this shot, the game will end with a tie." Kay winked mischievously. Unbelievably, within just a minute, the game came to a deadlock and Dew was upset because no one would have to drink the wine that he prepared.
No one had gathered around the pool tables by this time, there were a few guests enjoying the rest of their weekend in private rooms. Boom woke up from a quick nap to take the place of the bartender who was about to go home. Joss only hired the bartender to work until nine thirty at night, since Boom and Perth always slept at the studio, they were in charge of the bar from nine thirty till when it closed.
There is a separate area for Joss, almost like a cocktail lounge but was decorated entirely in the dark green color, the square wooden coffee table was neatly cleaned and a luxurious wine bottle was placed there in advance.
None of them wanted to leave, so Luke decided to have fun with some card games. The losers would have to choose to either drink, or tell the truth, or dare, which was not really something new but still attracted a bunch of tipsy young men.
Joss won the first game and Luke was the one who lost. It was quite strange that Luke was the first loser when his forte was cards. "He did it on purpose," Krist and Bright whispered to each other and then giggled excitedly.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Joss looked straight at Luke who was sitting across from him, that boyfriend of his didn't even want to sit next to him.
"Yup." Luke replied with only one word. Everyone secretly exchanged glances, wondering what was going on between Luke and their boss, who was frowning uncomfortably.
"Okayyyy... Let me deal the cards." Bright picked up the deck of card, shuffled it, and dealt the cards to 6 players in clockwise position. Luke simply ignored Joss' stare and calmly picked up the cards.
This time the winner was Luke, the loser was Kay.
"Truth, or dare... or drink, Kay?"
Luke asked slowly but didn't want Kay to choose 'drink' at all. Coincidentally, Kay didn't choose 'drink' as well, he chose 'dare,' looking at Luke with a gently smile on his face and full of expectation.
"Okay Kay, kiss someone on the cheek."
"Wowww." Dew let out a small sound of surprise. The game had just begun, and Luke already came up with a challenge that wasn't easy. Even the stupidest person could figure it out after connecting Joss's question in the first round with Luke's behavior toward Kay now.
Luke was targeting Kay.
It seems like there was a small misunderstanding between Luke and his lover's new friend. They were sitting in a circle in the clockwise order, starting from Joss, then Bright, Krist, Luke, Dew, and the last one was Kay. Except Joss, everyone including Luke had just met Kay for the first time, but Joss and Luke were a thing, obviously no one was appropriate to help Kay complete his 'dare.'
Krist saw the look of surprise on Kay's handsome face, though it last only a few seconds. He probably already knew the reason for Luke's lack of enthusiasm with his appearance. Kay had to quell that misunderstanding. It was a bit difficult to choose someone here who could help him.
Just as Dew was about to open his mouth, Bright spoke up first.
"If you still don't know whom you should ask, then I don't mind. I'm already used to these things when filming my music videos."
"Oh... then thank you." Kay said and stood up quickly, placing a light kiss on Bright's cheek. He noticed how Luke's pursed lips immediately relaxed on his right. That misunderstanding really had him in tears, thinking that Luke was "jealous" with him.
The game started again with Dew as the 3rd loser of the night, he chose 'drink.' That was understandable! A clean freak like him might be scared seeing how Luke 'attacked' Kay in the previous round. Bright lost the next game, as a result, he gritted his teeth, unwillingly revealing an unfamiliar name because Krist asked about an ex-lover of his whom he had never mentioned publicly in the past. Unpredictably, Dew was a good player as well when he won two games in a row. The wine bottle was already empty at that time. Therefore, Kay - the loser - had to choose one of the two remaining options, he decided to choose 'truth,' although Dew seemed like he's not going to ask easy questions.
"Kay, do you have a girlfriend?"
Wait!!! that was not even a normal question, it was too suggestive.
"I don't have a girlfriend."
"So, how about a boyfriend?" Dew acted like he was joking, but Bright gave him a brief, mysterious smile. If Bright is the type of person who can open his heart to both men and women as long as they are compatible in personality, Dew is also this type, he is even much more open than Bright because he is not a celebrity.
Joss knew a few things about Kay, surely, they were quite close. It was often said that people with the same worldview could easily recognized one another's true self.
"I don't have one currently."
Dew felt that he couldn't take his eyes off of those dimples, a prominent beauty. Kay said that he didn't have one now, Joss knew that he had a boyfriend in the past, Dew and everyone could tell that he might have a boyfriend in the future.
Krist was quite amazed by the conversation of Dew and Kay. He realized that everyone in this room was the same, some were gay, some were bi, and no one bothered to hide their sexuality. Krist's mind wandered in his own world till Luke successfully beat him in the next round. Luke's eyes were filled with mystery and provocation, his thin lips opened rhythmically like the low, soothing voice of their owner, but his words could be a great attack to others.
"I'm out of questions so... Krist, do you like any men?"
Krist heard a bell ring loudly in his chest, tugging his heart. The face of Gawin appeared before his eyes all of sudden, the image of the taller guy serious in a white blouse or masculine in a brown jacket often leaning against the car to wait for him, or when he sipped a cup of coconut coffee while sitting at the working desk occupied by the sun, the corners of his lips pulled up gently and his black orbs were deep as ocean, and Krist found himself drowning in it.
He likes Gawin.
Krist had been aware of this for a while, when facing with jealousy and waiting, he knew it was no different from the feeling of loving someone, everyone in this room had been in love, no one included Krist could deny those feelings and gave it another name.
But when Luke unexpectedly brought it up, it made Krist freaked out.
That's right..!!!
Gawin is a man, so is he.
Krist was shocked with the person he has become.
"I don't--"
Luckily, Luke stopped staring at him and returned to the cards, everyone didn't seem to care whether his answer was true or not. However, Krist felt like he was sitting on the burning coals. He swallowed lightly and picked up the cards dealt in front of him, then just one glance, he saw Kay discreetly looking at him. Krist looked away and tried to focus his mind on the cards in his hand.
He heaved out a sigh, this was really a bad set of cards.
This time, Dew was the winner. Krist saw that the clock had pointed to twelve. The air hung thick with Dew's 'dare' mission, before Krist could even choose between 'truth' or 'dare.'
"Kiss one person in this room, Krist..."
.
.
.
"...on the lips."
[END CHAP 14]