Techno stirred up to the buzz on his phone. His eyes stung badly as he tried to open them and he was thankful for the darkness provided by the thick curtains hung on his windows, preventing any daylight entering his messy room. His temples throbbed and his nose was clogged due to relentlessly crying for the past week.
His phone buzzed again, No rolled on to his other side and curled up to a ball with a small whimper ignoring the fact that he hadn't once checked his phone for the last seven days and there might be his friends' messages asking how he is coping. Some part of his consciousness pathetically wished one of them was Kengkla's. The thought of the younger caused him to bury his head hard into the pillow and choke back a sob. He was both mentally and physically drained.
'Thursday 15th August'
It was only ten days before the trials. There was a trace of his enthusiastic Bizzare writing over the 25thof August, circled with red platignum, now blotched and ruined just like his hopes and dreams. Another helpless whimper escaped his lips but his tired eyes were no longer capable of making any tears.
Techno dozed off after some time, his body overtaken by the toll of dehydration and lack of proper sleep. The snacks and drinks Technic bought him remained as a pile at the foot of his bed. Their parents eventually left town for work and his brother was the only person knocked on his locked door. No only unlocked his door when Nic went school, he'd take in what's left on the front of his door so he won't be upsetting his brother or taking his help for granted.
The next time he woke up it was because of the faint rapping sound on his balcony door. His eyelids drooped down only to blink in alert at the cracking sound. Draping the thick blanket like a cape, Techno dragged his wobbly legs towards the curtains and unwillingly parted them squinting at the glaring sun. He went temporally blinded by the light and had to cower under the back of his hand. A figure impatiently paced back and forth in front of their porch and Techno's eyes quickly darted towards the locked gate. Technic has no reason to climb over their gate or destroy his balcony glass door.
With trembling hands, he pushed open the sliding door and peered down without stepping into the balcony in case the burglar or whatever he was- looked up. Techno winced at the breeze and hugged himself bundling up his blanket in a death grip.
Suddenly the silhouette was nowhere insight and his tired eyes enlarged with fright. The balcony railing rattled and before even he could think of retreating back to his room someone jumped over the railing nearly crashing on him.
Techno couldn't bring himself to squeak or shout, too shell shocked to do anything besides blinking wide-eyed. The stranger reflected the same expression before clasping his mouth shut and pushing him against the cold glass with his entire body.
In panic Technotried to push him off about to break down into tears again, his muffled whimpers starting to get louder underneath the strong palm until his assaulter removed his cap in a haste and clumsily shook him by his shoulders.
"Shit, hey hey it's just me"
Tew fumbled like an idiot not knowing how to salvage the situation. Taking in Techno'sdisheveled state and bloodshot eyes he cursed again and pulled the trembling frame to his chest in an awkward tight hug.
"It's me Tew pipsqueak calm down"
Techno ceased his wiggling and settled down to harsh pants and trembles as a warm palm glided over his blanket covered back in a soothing manner. The familiar smell of pink pepper and mandarin invaded his nostrils reminding him of the expensive brown jacket hanging on the back of his chair.
******
Tew awkwardly paced inside the darkroom looking out of place. The balcony door was closed again and the curtains were drawn back in place, Technoremained on his bed covered by a mountain of blankets and pillows. His weak frame still continued to shiver unrecovered from the cool breeze he exposed himself into.
"Uh.." Tewcleared his throat looking at the unresponsive lump on the bed.
"...."
When the silence became unbearable, he started towards Techno's desk and plopped down on the rolling swivel chair leaning his chest and elbows on the back of it. His fingers mindlessly ran over the texture of his favorite jacket before letting it go and instead rested his chin on the folded arms. He made no comment about that.
"This room is stuffy and you look like shit"
It was hard to breathe with all the windows closed and the damn curtains blocked any sort of ventilation. Techno's room was too cramped and messy to begin with so it didn't have the most pleasant smell. Tew ran his fingers through his hair at the lack of response, wondering why he came here in the first place. He's completely a fuck up when it comes to consoling someone, moreover showing kindness, not that he had much in him anyway.
Techno flinched when he mercilessly ripped open the blinds and kicked the boxes laying here and there to aside. Noticing the shivering mess that wasTechno, Tew sighed and let the closed windows be, then went to the nearby wardrobe pulling it open and rummaging it for something comfortable to wear. Techno was far too gone to give a damn even whenTew was being noisy and annoying. He was in no mood to meet anyone, however, it was out of choice now that Tew had officially broken into his room.
"Here" Tewchucked a pair of shorts, a cotton black T-shirt and a comfortable hoodie on the bed. "Take a shower and change into those" He then threw a clean towel on top of it. "Get up". When Techno made no move, "what are you a caveman? Hurry up and take a shower"
"..."
"You better washup before I come back, I have no patience for babysitting"
Tew's eyes comically widened when No blatantly tuned him out and turned his back on him like a petulant child. He scoffed in disbelief.
Techno was about to dose off again when a hand pulled him on to his back making his head spin and his blanket was hurled out of the bed. Hands tugged at the hem of his days-old T-shirt, trying to take it off while he flailed his limbs like a madman. Tew cussed loudly when he was accidentally elbowed on his rib cage.
"Fuck! Your bony elbows can do serious damage"
Tew snatched the flailing hands and swiftly pinned them above No's head with his left, bringing the hem of the loose material up to the neck with his right. "Hold still!"Tew was half leaning on the bed in an awkward angle so one of Techno's wrists easily slipped through his hold and went down to pull down his shirt back. It also smacked Tew across his nose making him snap. "That's it!" Tew pounced on top of the bed and straddledTechno's squirming hips in an attempt to make them still, Techno'sfree hand came up to push him off but this time he successfully pinned it beside his head. Locked in the tight hold No finally went limp in exhaustion, panting hard underneath him.
They stayed that way for a couple of minutes. Without much hassle this time Tew shrugged the T-shirt off No's lanky frame and pressed his palm over his burning forehead. Techno's breath hitched at the cold sensation he received from both cold breeze and Tew's palm. However, the coldness on his forehead numbed the constant throbbing on his temples and he almost whimpered at the relief it brought after days of pounding headache. Tew brushed back his sweaty bangs looking rather closely at the fluttering eyes and eventually rolled off the bed with a sigh.
"You have a fever so don't spend too much time in the cold" He was torn in between making Techno take a wash in such delirious state and letting him just be. Helping him shower was out of the question. Tew was already far up ahead of his own comfort zone. "Just... don't die, I'll be back"
Techno cleaned himself as best as he could, his arms were almost numb as if he had not used them in years. The tug and war he had with Tew earlier rendered him woozier and drained. When he braced himself against the sink his reflection glared at him back making him even more sick. For a second he almost couldn't recognize himself. Dripping dark locks drooped over his tired-looking eyes but they didn't do much to coverup horrible eye bags. His lips remained dry and deathly pale even after spending the last twenty minutes under scorchingly hot water. And he was wirier than he remembered.
No slipped into his clothes and sighed tiredly snuggling into his hoodie. Tew had made his bed, even going as far as to change his bedsheets, replacing them with clean ones. His balcony door rattled again just when he was about to drift into sleep, the sound of familiar impatient steps and rustling of polythene bag tugged him back into reality.
Tew was back.
"Here, get up"
The side of his bed dipped, Tew shook his shoulder not so gently and he was once again reminded this was not Kengkla. When he leaned back on the headboard tiredly Tew retracted his hand with a look of remorse, bit ashamed about his own careless behavior. There was another awkward silence, Tew grunted in annoyance and threw the slightly damp towel on Techno's head and dried the dripping hair with surprising gentleness.
"You're so careless P'No~"
"There! Now eat"
Tew thrust a bowl of congee in his hands with a spoon and wandered around the stuffy room again kicking things aside as if to tidy up things a bit.
"What? You are not going to eat?"
Techno looked down at his bowl to escape from the glare. It had both pork and eggs in addition to chicken broth. His stomach growled in response but it was hard to swallow up a heavy meal after starving himself for so long.
"Be grateful I bought that with the last 85 baht I had"
Tewgave him another glare and slumped again on the chair playing with his phone. Heaving a sigh Techno forced himself to swallow a spoonful and another, then another when Tew narrowed his brows above his phone. He managed to finish a little more than half of it and decided it was all enough for today. Tew took the bowl off his hands with a scowl but no longer bothered him about it, instead, he placed a fresh water bottle and a set of pills in his hands.
Technoremained silent even then but Tew didn't seem put out by that. He was broken and abandoned more than once and he knew pitying wasn't going to help anyone.
"Get back to school before this month ends" He said setting the rest of the medicine on the nightstand then turning on his heels and stepping back into the balcony. He momentarily paused to look at the jacket hanging on the chair but in the end, decided to leave without it with a shrug of his head. "Or I'll bully you again"
..........................................................................................
Please don't forget to vote and comment. I want to know your thoughts so I can decide what to do with the rest of the chapters.
#TeamIwantTew
#TeamfuckoffTew
Don't worry Kla is coming for his bae and Tew won't interrupt anything because he's straighter than a pole..... I hope xD