Gulf sat on the grass, sweat dripping down. His shirt clinging to him. His face was flushed and his hair messy, wet and falling in front of his eyes. He took the water bottle Bright handed him and chugged half of it in one go. His lips were swollen from biting them as they played.
"Wow you guys play intense" Perth said while laying his head on Saint's stomach.
Saint laughed as he laid on the grass one arm over his eyes the other over Perth's chest "It's Bright's and Gulf's fault, they play like the country depends on them!" He said teasing.
Gulf smiled at Bright who winked at him. Bright looked in the cooler he had brought and handed a water to Perth.
"I hate all of you!" Mild said laying down on the ground breathing hard snatching the new water bottle Bright had taken out.
"Did you have fun?" Gulf asked Win
"Tons!" He answered excitedly "I haven't played like this in a long time!" He said chuckling "you guys make an amazing team together, I'm happy y'all let me join"
"Are you saying our team sucks?!" Mild asked eyeing him.
"Ah! No of cour-"
"He's just teasing, relax" Bright said laughing at Win's reaction, the guy smiled.
Gulf laid on the grass and closed his eyes enjoying the breeze, allowing it to cool his flushed skin.
Suddenly he felt little licks all over his face. He began to giggle. "What?!? Who's attacking me with kisses" he chuckled and sat up, he looked at the little fluff ball staring at him happily on his lap.
"Chopper?" He asked, the pup barked in response.
"Gulf?" He heard Mew's voice behind him. He turned and saw him standing there staring at him. Zee and the woman from last time standing beside him. "Suppasit?"
Mild sat up. He looked at the arriving group. Mew staring at Gulf and Zee looking at Saint who still had his arm over his eyes and Perth laying on him. He arched a brow realizing no one was saying anything.
"Hey Mew. What brings you here?" He asked.
Gulf slowly got up with Chopper in his arms licking at him.
"Hi Mild! Nice to see you again!" Nida said smiling. That caused Gulf to look at Mild confused and then it clicked, this was the woman Gulf must've been talking about. Mild wanted to burst into laughter at the situation but decided to watch.
"Hey Nida!" He said standing up, he glanced at Saint who was now leaning on his elbows glancing between Zee and Nida. Oh this was getting better and better!
Nida nudged Mew who was practically gawking at Gulf.
"Oh sorry, Nida this is Gulf, Gulf this is Nida, my sister"
Nida watched Gulf's face go from confused to embarrassed to blank. She stretched out her hand "Hi pleasure to meet you!" She said smiling widely and winking at him, he grabbed her hand and smiled back causing her to gasp. Fuck what a smile!
"Nice to meet you too" he said.
Everyone was up now, shaking grass off themselves. Mild was watching all the exchanges.
Brights unfriendliness towards Mew. Mew gawking at Gulf's flushed appearance, Gulf staring at Nida who was staring right back. Zee frowning as he watched Perth run his hands down Saint's back taking off the grass, and Saint ignoring his existence.
"Well then how bout we do quick introductions!" Mild suggested. No one said anything so he continued.
"This handsome man is Win! Brights friend, that's Bright with the scowl on his face, you've already met Gulf " Gulf nodded "that's Saint , and the one cleaning him up is his boo Perth!" At that Nida glanced at Zee and then Saint. Oh interesting , Mild thought. "And well you all know me!" He winked.
"Ah and guys that's Mew" he turned to the new guys in his group " the owner of the fluff ball Gulf is holding which is Chopper" Chopper barked at the sound of his name "that's Zee his best friend, and Nida his lovely sister" They all waved.
"Well that covers introductions, anyone else hungry?" He asked.
"Yes!" Nida said excited "let's all go eat together are you guys okay with that?" She said looking at Gulf.
"But we're all swea-" Gulf started to rebut but Nida cut him off "No worries I know a place me and my friends go to after they play soccer here! You guys down for some bbq?" She said smiling.
"Yes!" Mild said before anyone could refuse, earning him some glances from his friends "lead the way!"
——-
Gulf and the others had changed into the spare t-shirts they carried in case they decided to go eat after playing. They sat awkwardly in the round table at the patio of the BBQ place Nida had lead them to.
Nida looked around. It was obvious the Bright guy hated her brother, but she was confused, was the Win guy not his partner. She glanced at Zee who was not even paying attention to the menu in front of him. His eyes glued to the smiling Saint who kept a light conversation with the guy named Perth.
Mew kept glancing at Gulf's flushed face, Nida wanted to smack him but she couldn't blame him, he did look great specially when he smiled at Chopper sweetly who was enjoying all the attention he was getting on his lap. Her eyes landed on Mild and she realized he had been observing her. Oh? Interesting it seems like I found someone who can help.
"So is everyone ready to order? It's my brothers treat so don't worry!" Mew didn't even flinch
"I can pay for my own plate and Gulf's" Nida glanced at Bright who had spoken. Interesting. So he was not with Win who was now glancing between Gulf and Bright. Gulf completely oblivious. She looked back at Mild for confirmation and he smirked and nodded.
She smiled widely and looked at Bright "So how long have you two been together?" She asked and glanced at Win and him. Win's cheeks flushed and she found it adorable "We're not together, he's just my friend from work" Bright said coldly while glancing at Gulf.
"You guys make a cute couple though!" Nida said excitedly "Don't you agree Gulf!?" She felt her brother nudge her under the table but she ignored it. Gulf looked up at Bright and Win.
"Yeah actually now that you mention it, they do" he said smiling softly "Win would deserve a medal if he can handle Bright's temper though!" He teased. Win blushed harder but Bright looked hurt for a moment but he quickly recovered.
"That would be punishment for Win! And I doubt he deserves that" Saint teased breaking into the conversation, Bright reached around Mild who was in between them and pinched him "Ow you fucker!" Saint said rubbing his arm. Perth grabbed it and kissed it.
Mild and Nida both watched the scowl on Zee's face deepened. Nida watched carefully, yes Perth definitely liked Saint, and Saint seemed to have an interest in the guy, but she had caught Saint glancing at Zee over his lashes multiple times, so she knew there was still an opportunity there.
That's why on her way here she had called someone and was waiting for her to arrive.
——
They were half way through the meal, having small talk, telling each other a bit about themselves. Nida had revealed some funny stories about Mew and Zee that had them groaning. Saint had been laughing more freely which made Zee relax a bit and Gulf kept eyeing Mew with a small smile on his face. This was good.
"Hey!" A voice broke the chatter, Nida watched as Saint tensed, it was obvious he recognized the voice. Zee glanced up at her and looked away.
"Hey Pufai!" Nida said "Sorry guys I forgot to mentioned I had invited my friend!" Everyone greeted her, she sat down next to Zee who visibly tensed. Nida smiled she had already updated Pufai on the situation and this was her chance to fix things. She went around the table and made introductions.
"Oh Saint! Zee's Saint?" She asked when they go to him, Saint coughed choking on his drink spilling some. Zee glared at her "Pufai..." he said warning.
Perth looked between Zee and Saint while he helped Saint clean the drink he splashed.
"Oh my bad! Did I get it wrong I had seen his name appear on your phone I thought..." she said trailing off, she turned to Saint "Actually I wanted to apologize for teasing you last time we spoke! I'm glad I got to meet you!" She said smiling "Zee hasn't been wanting to speak to anyone for some weeks now so I've been acting as he's firewall I didn't know you were a friend and I overstepped my place"
She grabbed Zee's hand and Saint eyes followed the gesture "He's like my big brother so I was being overprotective, I apologize if I caused any misunderstanding, I felt really guilty once we hanged up and ended up deleting your message and our phone call, so Zee had no idea we had spoken" she looked at Saint and smiled sincerely "I'm sorry"
Saint glanced at Zee who was looking down at the food in front of him. He felt Mild nudge him.
Saint smiled at Pufai "Sure no problem. We're friends" Zee looked up at that "Right?"he asked glancing at him. He smiled at Saint and nodded.
Nida smiled. Perfect.
——
They were all saying their goodbyes, getting ready to leave. The sun setting in the background. Time had flown by as they shared stories. Mild came up to Nida smiling.
"Very well played" he said. She glanced at the guys and back at Mild. "Thank you" she replied tongue in cheek.
"It seems you and I have some common interest and are aiming for the same thing, am I wrong?" She asked.
Mild looked over at Gulf who was still holding Chopper, Mew was standing next to him playing with Chopper's ears and smiling. "Yes, it seems we do"
She smiled wickedly at him "Great! We can help each other" she glanced at Zee who kept eyeing Saint over Pufai's head. "I think we have the people we care about best interest at heart. Don't you think?"
Mild nodded.
They heard Mew's phone go off and he stepped aside. The conversation was brief, as soon as he hanged up, Saint's, Mild's and Gulf's phone went off. They all looked at each other.
Mew looked at Zee and them.
"We have a new body" he said seriously "Looks like our killer is back on track."