New felt something wet and sticky on his shoulder as he opened his eyes the next day.
His body felt heavy and he could barely move.
He could also hear loud snores beside him and that was when he realized he was not in his room.
He looked at his side and saw a sleeping Tay Tawan who was leaning over his shoulder and he couldn't help but let out a shrill as he watched Tay's drool slowly dripping on his shoulder.
"AI'TAY!"
He shouted as he pushed Tay's head away from his shoulder and abruptly sat up in the bed.
"Whaaaaat? Why are you so loud?" Tay groaned.
He watched as Tay slowly got up while rubbing his eyes.
"Urgh! You're so gross! How could you drool on me?!"
He was having a slight mental breakdown but Tay just turned to him and smiled, still with his eyes half closed.
"You should feel honored. My saliva's quite expensive and you're the only one with the privilege of swallowing it."
"Urgh! I hate you, Tawan!"
"Oh really? Hmmm. I wonder what happened to 'I like you Tay Tawan.' You confessed to me right."
"I-I, it's been years! Of course I al-already got over my feelings for you!" New stuttered as Tay went closer to him, slowly crawling as he lessened the gap between them.
"Oh really? Hmm. Then why are you blushing right now, Newwie?"
"You're just imagining things! I'm taking a shower!" he exclaimed as he pushed Tay and climbed down the bed.
"Want me to help you scrub your back, baby?"
New glared at Tay but the latter only chuckled and went back to bed.
_____
Tay was about to doze off when New's phone rang.
Planet Earth calling...
Tay chuckled as he read Earth's name on New's phone.
"He's really silly."
He immediately grabbed the phone and smirked as an idea crossed his mind.
"Hello New. Where are you? I am coming to fetch you. Can we eat breakfast together?"
Tay chuckled and leaned his back on the headboard, his legs crossed and his left hand placed on the back of his head.
"I'm sorry but Newwie's not in his unit right now," he answered, slightly changing his voice to deceive Earth on the other line.
"Wait-Who's this?! Why do you have his phone?"
Tay licked his lips and smiled as he heard Earth's reply.
"Oh, you don't recognize my voice now? It's his bf."
"Bf? Which one? He has a lot of best friends tho and you don't sound like Gun."
"I didn't mean best friend tho. Actually it's boyfriend."
"Wai-Wait. Tawan? Is this you??"
"Oh, so you recognize my voice now?"
"What the- Why do you have New's phone? Give it to him. I need to talk to him!"
"I can't though. But if you insist, I can open the bathroom door and call him. But I don't think you'll be able to talk to him... because we might do something else instead. You know, stuff couples do in an enclosed space especially...the bathroom, where you should be naked and..."
"Stop! I swear to heavens Tay Tawan if you do something to New, I'm gonna kill you with my bare hands!"
"Oooohhh. I'm scared. Remember, I'm his boyfriend. You even acknowledged that fact earlier. I have to end this call. New's calling me. He wants me to scrub his...lower back."
"ARGH. TAY TAWAN. I"M GONNA-"
Tay let out a laugh as he abruptly ended the call, not even letting Earth finish his statement.
He was rolling on the bed laughing when New went out the bathroom.
"Are you possessed or what?"
New asked him with a judging look on his face.
"Nah. I'm just happy," Tay replied as he surveyed New's body.
"Are you trying to seduce me by going out of the bathroom with only a towel? Because if you ask me, your plan's starting to work."
"A-are you crazy! I don't have anything to wear. Let me borrow some clothes for work."
Tay went down the bed and dragged New to his dresser. He grabbed a pink button down shirt and a black pants.
"Here. You can wear this," he said as he handed New the clothes.
"Pink?"
"Why? You look good in pink though. I have unused underwear on the topmost drawer. You can get whichever you like... Orrr. You can get my already used one."
"You're out of your mind! Why would I use yours?!"
"Get dressed. I'll just take a shower," he said and lightly tapped New's cheeks.
_____
Countless times. Countless time did New check his neck on the mirror. The bruise on his neck was still evident and the cut on his lips, the one Tay bit, was obviously red.
"Are you trying to break the mirror or what?"
New looked over at Tay who was currently buttoning his blue button down shirt.
"Do you have a turtleneck or something that can cover my neck?"
"Why?"
"Can you not ask stupid questions? Look!" he exclaimed and showed Tay the visible mark on his neck.
"Why? I don't see anything bad about it. I even think it's beautiful. Come on. We'll be late. We still have to grab breakfast."
New could only sigh in surrender as Tay grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the door.
_____
"What do you want to eat?"
Tay asked him as they approached the counter of the fast food restaurant.
"Just order anything," he replied as he covered his neck with his hand as the person in the next line was looking at his neck.
They settled down on a table by the glass window.
"How much do I owe you?" he asked as he started munching on the food Tay ordered.
"Uhhmm, considering the amount of food I ordered, you owe me... two hours of endless French kiss."
New coughed as he choked on his food.
"You're crazy!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the glass of water in front of him.
"What? Don't you know that kissing is considered an exercise? But if you want more sweaty activities, well, we can always talk about it."
Tay's laughter reverberated in the area as New threw him a piece of fries.
"You're just sooo damn gross."
"You look good in my clothes though...Hin."
New's eyebrows furrowed as Tay uttered the last word.
"Hin?"
"Yeah, because you're strong as a rock,
but you're still weak whenever you're underneath me though."
"Fuck you, Tay."
New rolled his eyes and continued eating his food, munching it a little bit harder because for some reason, he felt giddy at the thought of Tay giving him an endearment.
"Hin."
"What?"
"Hin."
"Whaaatt?"
"Hin."
"Whhhaatttttttt?!"
"Hiiiiin."
"Whatever, Tay."
"Hin...amorato."
"Huh? Is that a new word or what?"
Tay just chuckled at his question and continued eating.
"Let's continue eating. We still have work," Tay responded with a wide smile on his face.
_____
"What's that on your neck?"
New almost lost grip on his phone as Earth tried to look closer at his neck.
"H-huh? Why? What's wrong with my n-neck?" he asked as he covered his neck with the collar of his shirt.
"I think I saw some bruise."
"Ha-ha-ha. What bruise? I think you lack some sleep though. You're imagining things," he walked as fast as he could to his office but Earth was tailing him.
"HIN! Why did you leave me?"
New doubled his pace as the two were at his back and he knew they were gonna follow him to his office.
And he was right because as he was about to lock the door of his office, Earth and Tay pushed it open, leaving him with no choice as the intruders were already inside his territory.
"Hin? What hin? Why are you calling him Hin?" Earth raged as he glared at Tay who was also glaring back at him.
"Why? Do you have a problem with that? I'm his boyfriend! I can call him any name I want!"
"Boyfriend? Seriously, I know you're not in a relationship! You can fool anyone else but not me!"
"Oh really? Then who do you think did this?!"
New almost lost his shit when Tay pulled him and grabbed the collar of his shirt, completely exposing the reddish purple bruise on his neck.
"Huh! Cat got your tongue, eh?"
Earth just glared at Tay before storming out of his office, furiously closing the door behind him.
"You stupid!" New exclaimed and pushed Tay away as soon as Earth left the room. "Are you crazy?!"
Tay just shrugged his shoulders and sat on the nearby couch.
"What? I'm just claiming what's mine. That was the very reason I made a mark on you."
"Wa-wait what? Oh come on Tay. You don't own me. You don't own anyone. Nobody owns me but myself! I may have liked you way back in college but we both know nothing we have right now is real. I don't even know what tricks you have under your sleeves for doing all of this shit. I admit, you make my heart flutter for I have always been weak when it comes to you, but please don't take advantage of my weakness. I-I admit, I still like you but-but I hope you won't use my feelings to feed your ego. Please, don't use my feelings to hurt me. Just-just stop whatever you are doing right now."
He straightened his shirt before going out of his office, slamming the door behind.
_____
"So what's with the sudden invitation? You've got problems?"
Off asked as the waiter placed bottles of beer on the table.
"Nah. I just wanna loosen up. How about you? It seems like you're already a resident in this club eh."
Off puffed a smoke on his cigarette before taking a sip of his beer.
"I still couldn't contact Gun. He changed his number and no matter how many private investigators I hire, they could no longer find a trace of his whereabouts."
Tay nervously drank his beer. One of the reasons he wanted to talk to Off was he wanted to tell him that New still had a communication with Gun.
It might be stupid of him but that was one of the reasons he kept on approaching New.
He wanted to get some information on Gun's whereabouts to help Off but after their fight earlier, he felt guilty.
Earlier this morning.
Tay looked at New's phone on his hand. New was still getting dressed in his bedroom's dressing area and he saw it as a perfect opportunity to spy on his phone. He swiped the unlock icon and was welcomed by the passcode screen.
He tried entering his birthday but it didn't work.
"Shit."
He didn't know New's birthday so he tried the most basic passcode he could think of.
000000
111111
123456
654321
But none of them worked.
"Hey Tay! Can I borrow your belt?"
He almost dropped the phone as New entered the bedroom.
"Ye-yeah! You can! Just get whatever you want."
"What are you doing with my phone?"
"Huh? Oh! I-I was checking the time. Yes, I was checking the time. I'm taking a shower already."
He placed the phone on the bedside table and hurried to the bathroom, his wristwatch ticking along with his heartbeat.
"Hey are you listening?" Off snapped his fingers in front of him.
"Ye-yeah. What were you saying?"
"Tss. I thought you were listening."
Off took another sip of his beer. Tay grabbed his own bottle and notice a small box on the table.
"What's this?" he grabbed the box and opened it. Inside was a plain silver ring. "Friend. I love you but not to such extent of marrying you."
"You're crazy! I-I was supposed to give that ring to Gun but he-he ran away."
"So you mean to say, you've been bringing this ring ever since?"
"Yeah, I was hoping I'd see him again. I was gonna propose to him but when I went to his house he was no longer there. He already left."
Tay took out the ring and looked at it closely.
"Can you keep it for me?"
"H-Huh? Why me?"
"I don't wanna see it every day. It just reminds me of how Gun left me. I don't wanna throw it away either."
"Then you should keep it somewhere safe! You know me Off! If my head's detachable, I had already lost this numerous times."
"I trust you Tay. If I know where I keep it, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from bringing it wherever I go."
"Ha-ha. You put so much trust in me when I can't even trust myself when it comes to things like this."
Off just smiled at him and took another sip of his beer.
He put the ring back in the box and placed it inside his bag.
"Okay fine. I'll keep it for you. But I already warned you of the possibilities."
______
Tay slowly opened the door of his unit. His body felt heavy but he was still sober.
Luckily, he was able to control himself from drinking too much unlike Off who literally sprawled himself on the table while screaming Gun's name at the top of his lungs.
He massaged his shoulders. He just came back from sending Off home and he badly wanted a shower.
He suddenly thought of New and felt guilty.
He admitted, he planned of getting close to New to gather information about Gun's whereabouts but the more time he spent time with him, the more he got confused of his real intentions.
Was he using New to know Gun's whereabouts or was he using Gun to stay close to New?
_______
Tay pressed the buzzer on New's unit.
He could just easily enter his unit but he hesitated.
He planned to talk to New for he couldn't sleep properly last night while thinking about what New last said to him.
"Hi."
He greeted New as the latter opened the door. He was half-naked and his hair was still dripping wet signifying that he just came from the shower.
"What do you want?" New asked nonchalantly while wiping his hair with the towel on his neck.
"I-uh."
He didn't know what to say so he just slightly pushed New aside and entered the unit.
"I just missed being here. Why? Don't you want me here?"
"Tss."
"I-uh. I'm here to pick you up. I don't wanna eat breakfast alone."
"Whatever. I'll just get dressed," New said and went inside his bedroom.
Tay sighed. He usually didn't run out of words to say but at that time, his heart was beating profusely that he couldn't even think straight.
He started to get dizzy and he didn't even know why.
"Shit. I was not even that drunk last night but why the hell am I getting dizzy?"he muttered as he felt his heart beat even faster.
He reached out to his bag to get the essential oil he always used when he got dizzy.
He rummaged his bag looking for it but he couldn't seem to find it. He reached out to the deepest part of his bag, his hands moving through several bottles of supplements and amulets he always had in his bag and exhaled a sigh of relief when he felt the familiar small container.
He immediately pulled his hand out of the bag and almost let out a cuss when something else flew out of his bag and landed in front of New's bedroom door.
"Oh shit!" he exclaimed as he recognized the box of ring Off told him to keep.
He quickly walked towards the door and knelt on the floor. He immediately grabbed the small box, and nervously checked it for any damage and released a sigh of relief when he saw none.
Still on his knees, he slowly opened it to check the ring inside as he muttered a silent prayer.
But as he opened the box, another thing opened making his heart completely stop beating in utter shock and he swore to heavens his hands and feet got cold.
"Wha-what are you doing?"
A completely flustered New asked the moment he saw him kneeling in front of the bedroom door. In his hand was the box now completely open, totally revealing the silver ring inside.
"OH MY GOD! MY SON IS GETTING MARRIED!"
They both whirled their heads around and Tay almost fainted upon seeing New's parents by the front door.
"Oh shit."Â Â â The only words Tay could ever mutter in his mind.