Ohm and Flex said they were starved so Mick ordered food that would be waiting for them. Phun got tricked into answering the door by Dye so he ended up paying for it but he didn't mind because there was enough for everyone. His lack of any reaction made Dye and Ex like him even more and they finally softened up around him. Soon they were sharing stories about Noh and Ohm including the night after the soccer game when Noh got shit drunk and acted like a boss.
"That's why he hardly drinks. He said he doesn't know himself when he drinks and Ohm tends to start adding water to his alcohol after a while."
"Yep. After that night, there were a couple of other times he acted out and I am usually the one who intercedes. Noh freaks out when he hurts me. We had a talk and realized there may be situations when drinking is going to happen so he practices moderation and keeps Ohm for backup."
"Well it's working perfectly."
Next to them, Noh, Per and Film were catching up on shit they hadn't covered during the dinner they had.
"Pong and Nong Carp are still together? Holy shit!"
"Yes. He never told you but at Pharma camp, she saw him naked. That's how it all started." film revealed.
"She saw him naked?" Noh felt overwhelmed. When the hell did that happen?
"Yep and that cute little Chinese buns wasn't exactly tiny back then. She landed something great and then when you look at what they have planned, they are pretty much set for life."
"His 5 Star Bed and Breakfast idea he came up with in Senior year? Awesome. I can't wait and if the band or Phun and I need a place to get away, we have options now."
"A place to get away?" Phun tuned in. He pulled Noh into his arms and buried his face into Noh's neck, kissed him softly. Noh chuckled and pulled away slightly but didn't get far.
"Remember Pong?"
"With Nong Carp? Ohm's precious Carp?" Phun grinned.
"Hah! That's the one. They're planning a Bed and Breakfast. He's in culinary while she's in business."
"Ah! A getaway spot. I see. That's a great idea but I still like Bang Saen."
Noh's face went soft and loving. It was so strange to see for Ex and Dye that they sort of gaped. This was a side of Noh they had never seen. This was the side where all that love and sex music flowed from. That made so much sense now.
"You two really love each other. You shouldn't have bothered with the breakup." Dye blurted out.
"Can you really call it that?" Film asked Dye. "I mean the point was to explore relationships with other people. Did Noh even do that because this guy sure didn't."
"No way. Noh barely looked at others. He might check out a girl now and then but that's it. Something was always wrong with her in the end." Ex shook his head. Most of those girls paled in comparison to Phun just in looks anyway.
"No one will ever measure up to Phun. I have accepted that reality a long time ago and as long as he is in play, there can be no one else. If Phun were married to someone else and came after me, I know he would be able to wear me down little by little until I sinned my soul for him. That is how much I love this guy. I just can't stay away. But at the same time, if he did that to me, I would try my best to run from him."
"it is the same for me." Phun said simply and openly. "If I were with someone, forced to be with them or marry them for whatever reason, Noh couldn't be around. I would never sleep in my wife's bed. I would go to Noh always. He would literally have to be dead or in a country far away. If you told me Noh was dead so I moved on then I found out Noh was alive, I would leave my family. I have never loved anyone even half as much as I love Noh."
"Not even Her?" Per whispered.
"No. I loved her but it was no where near as close as loving Noh. I would willingly leave her. I wouldn't willingly leave Noh. Not without looking back and dragging my feet. I couldn't help it."
There was a noise down the hall and they all turned. A big mouth strutted into the room.
"Ok, I'm here now. Worship at the temple of Ohm." No one moved are blinked. His face fell. "Really? This is what I get?"
"I have the videos," Flex said behind him and suddenly everyone was moving. Noh and Ex began bowing and chanting Flex's name while Dye offered him feed as alms. Flex winked at a disgusted Ohm and offered the phone to the closest person. Phun took it and didn't even blink at the porn videos he found in the phone library.
He played the recordings randomly and everyone listened as Ohm and Flex stuffed their faces.
"P'Min and the boys sound as great as always." P'Min's group actually had a great contract but they kept coming back to gather more fans and to finally win the competition. They were always in the top five but never #1. "Wait! Did he mess up in that last part?"
"I thought you would catch that. The keyboard went to hell right then but they powered through. They had to change the piece of junk after that, right in the middle of their lineup."
"But they made it through?"
"Yep. It's P'Min. Play that one next." Phun followed instructions.
"Is that Mezmerize? What shit is this?" Ohm and Flex laughed.
"We thought you would say that. We said as much to Earn."
"Well this is shit. Mez has gone down. Is it just him or the whole band?"
"They were all acting shitty. Earn even had a talk with them. It was useless. I don't know who told them, this shit was cool but that player got them all suckered. Fools. They barely made it too. I was shocked they even passed."
"What did Earn say?"
"Basically told them shit music wasn't going to get them far and to re-evaluate what they want to really do and who they want to reach. How can he make shit music that goes against his beliefs and still want people to respect him?"
"Did he give Earn any explanation?"
"Nope, just brushed him aside."
"That fucker. I had a feeling he would pull some shit like this. What did I say last year?"
"I know." Flex said. He remembered Noh's comment after the band's reaction to third place. "As soon as I saw them, I thought about what you said. You read them perfectly."
"Well, lets wait and see. Anyone else?" Eskimo King's came on and Noh grinned. They all enjoyed the live performance.
"I like them though they need some work," Dye said.
"They have great energy. You can actually feel their youth from this," Film pointed out, proving that he wasn't that out of touch with music. "They need some more lessons. If I was a PD, I would either wait for them to grow then offer them a good contract or be willing to invest some money for polishing."
"Heh. Film is bilingual too. But I agree." Per said with a nod. "I was music club president after Noh. I still notice the important things." Noh nodded. He had stuck around in his final year as a regular member but Per had done well, mostly because Noh's delegation skills had worked and Per knew who he could call on for what. He had also listened to Noh's advice and trained backup so when people were missing, others could fill in.
"I could see them beating out Mez and a few other Veterans for the top 10. They have a way of catching your eye and your spirit. That guy on the drums is actually the band leader. He moved to Canada as a child and was raised there. He came back recently because the guy on the keyboard is his cousin and he wanted to start a band. The both of them recruited so they got Eskimo from Canada and King from his cousin."
"You got to chat with them," Noh noted absently.
"Yes. They really wanted to meet you. Apparently King was influenced by our first video."
Noh looked up. That song was bout him missing Phun that first year and the video was amateurish as all get out. "He loved Pieces Left Behind?"
"Yes even thought you hate that song, I don't know why."
"It was about us right? You missed me or something like that?" Phun asked quietly.
"Yes. That's exactly it. It's not my best song."
"But it's still one of my favorites." Phun admitted quietly. "That line about your breadcrumb trail of blood drops from your torn and shredded heart really killed me because I was feeling just like that when I heard the song for the first time."
They locked eyes and Film signaled Ohm who opened his big mouth.
"That's the last of the videos so you two can go hump each other now." The others started laughing to change the heavy mood.
"We already did that on your bed," Phun stated calmly. Ohm immediately looked disgusted.
"I hope you changed the damn sheets."
"Why? You and Mick are going to hump now anyway. You can have our sloppy seconds."
Now Ohm was triggered but Phun was fast. He was up and down the hall in seconds with Ohm behind him in a dead run. The two could be heard shouting then a door slammed and Ohm's howl of disgust was clearly heard as Phun shut him out. They couldn't hear Phun but Ohm was clearly heard raging at him. Noh just shook his head and strolled after them.
"You have to come out sometime you shit."
"Do you really want my votes? Then don't make your band suffer." Phun wasn't serious and he know Ohm could tell but the guy made a show of it and loudly backed off.
"Ok. I'm stepping back but I better hear Noh moaning from our room or I'll be back in your ass tomorrow."
"Why? So you can record it?"
"That too but I didn't hear a thing last night so how do I know you did it?"
"Want to count my hickeys?"
"The only person seeing your hickeys is me. Now open the door."
Phun opened the door with a laugh and Ohm was stunned on the inside once again by how gorgeous Phun was. How did Noh handle all that intensity and insanely good looks? Ohm remembered how even adults used to check out Phun and ask for his number and he would just brush them off.
"Hey. You better take care of this friend of mine." Don't cheat on him or throw him away or I will kill you.
Phun must have read something in his face because he nodded seriously. "That you will never have to worry about. He means the world to me and that will never change."
They locked eyes and nodded at each other while Noh looked at them all confused.
"Why are you reassuring him?" Noh asked as he brushed past Ohm and shut the door in his face.
"Because he's your best friend. It's like that time we played spin the bottle and he asked me about what I said by the F Building. He has a right to look out for you."
"The F building? That time when you shouted you liked me? What spin the bottle?"
"The night I found out about A_"
"Stop." Noh cut him off, suddenly serious. "I try to forget about that night as much as I can. Please ignore any questions I just asked."
"Noh are you ok?"
"That night almost did me in Phun. Just getting to you was a nightmare and when you wouldn't answer the phone? I thought you were done with me. I kept telling myself to trust you every time I rang your number. When you texted me? I felt relieved and hopeless at the same time."
"You never told me this before."
"Because... Phun. I felt guilty. Like I was the one who did this to you simply by not telling you. I was selfish because I wanted you to be happy even if it meant you were living a lie. I just wanted to see you smiling and then you weren't and I realized how I messed up. I should have told you sooner, especially after she came on to me but you seemed happy with her so I_"
"No. No way. You made me happier than Aim ever could. Just seeing you at a distance made me want to smile while with her, I was the one who felt like all the happiness was being sucked out of me. If you hadn't called a halt to us in Bang Saen I would have left Aim sooner. You were the reason I stayed with Aim. Just you and your feelings. You were unhappy so I did what you wanted because I hoped that you would be able to resolve your feelings then we would be together. Aim cheating was a betrayal of what I thought was the truth but I betrayed her with you. It was nothing I didn't deserve."
"Do you know what your saying? Phun? You would have left Aim?"
"The very next day if you weren't so uncertain. I was already thinking about it. That's why, when you asked me about forgetting the front because I tried the back, I said I couldn't forget. It was because I was thinking of breaking her heart."
Noh looked down for a long minute then looked at Phun again. "I'm glad I stopped us when I did because back at that time, I wasn't ready for you Phun. I would have wrecked us. We wouldn't have been the people we are now, here at this very moment. I love you Phun."
"I love you too Noh. And I have for a very long time. Maybe since that tug of war when we both skinned our knees."
"What? That long ago? Really?"
"Well I didn't know it then but that was my first memory of you and you were pretty awesome then, worrying about me when you were hurt too. You were so adorable and you had a cold so your nose was red. I remember it so clearly and since then I watched you and laughed with you and cried with you. You were always doing some shit with Ohm and the two of you just made my day. You had your heart on your sleeve most of the time. I'd be smirking and grinning like I was right next to you instead of across the court yard. I wanted to see you everyday and to always be next to you. When you came to me that day after school, all I could think was 'Perfect! Here was a guy that would help me and I would have fun because I trusted you. I also wanted to be close to you but I sort of ignored the reasons why. I didn't want to think too deeply about it then."
"Fuck. I'm sorry. I always thought you were cool for some rich boy but my feelings for you didn't really develop until after you asked me for help."
"Why are you sorry? I'm just glad that your feelings developed at all. Besides I may never have figured things out. I might have just been content to watch you, still with Aim, becoming a doctor and living the quiet life."
"Er, er, er, no paps outside, no dashing here and there and hobnobbing with stars and famous musicians."
"Yep. Just boring, smart Phun being fooled by Aim. I'm glad I met you Noh. No matter what. I have no regrets."