Kit:When Kit awoke the next day, his body was sore from last night’s activities and P’Kim had already gone to work. Nonetheless, Kit forced himself to get out of bed—the time on his phone read 7 AM, and he still had class at 9. With the finals so close, he couldn’t even dare miss classes, no matter how much his body protested.
He swiftly got ready, and by 8, he was ready to go. As P’Aawut was off to duty with P’Kim, it was P’David who drove him to school this morning, and the ride went by fairly quickly.
As he made his way to the canteen to meet up with his gang, immediately he sensed that something was off. He hadn’t had the best morning, but he was still in relatively high spirits, so the mood within his circle of college friends was quite glaring, to say the least.
He snuck a glance at Prem, who seemed quieter than usual. Since Kit already knew that he had a lot on his mind—especially things regarding Nong Wayo and their fight earlier, so he didn’t bother the guy much, not wanting to involve other people in his troubles.
He looked around at his other friends, but they seemed to be no different from Prem. Even Earth and Ben sighed like they had all the weight of the world on their broad shoulders.
“Uh…” he started to break the silence. “What’s wrong, everyone? Why do you all seem so… gloomy?”
Nobody wanted to answer first, and for a while they sat there quietly, until Earth finally said, “Well, finals are fast approaching, first of all, and of course we’re all dreading it. For me, I’m moving houses with my parents, and it’s been really hectic, so I hardly have any time to study.”
Prem weakly made the same excuse, “Yeah, me too.” He hung his head low. “I’m just really tired; I wish I hadn't chosen to study medicine. Even after fourteen hours of study…it still doesn’t feel enough.”
“Exactly,” Earth agreed. “Sometimes I regret choosing this course.”
“Well, that’s true,” Kit said with a nod.
Having that out of the way, they all turned to Ben, who hadn’t said anything yet, raising their eyebrows to prompt him to speak. “What about you?” Earth asked point blank.
“Huh?” He shook his head briskly as though to wake himself back to the present. It seemed that he had been out of it and was not listening to their discussion at all. “What are we talking about again?”
“What’s going on with you?” Kit asked, frowning. “You seem to be going through something too. Is everything alright, Ben?”
“Ah, me?” Ben laughed but it seemed forced. “This is nothing. Just going through some family issues, is all. I’ll take care of it soon, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Kit pursed his lips, furrowing his eyebrows as he inspected Ben, but seeing the bags under the other man’s eyes, he decided to keep quiet in front of their friends and refrain from pressing him.
Suddenly, Earth started laughing, pointing at Kit. “Well, well, well. What’s going on with you?” he teased. “You certainly seem to be enjoying your life to the fullest!”
Confused, Kit tried to see what he was pointing at, his gaze following Earth’s finger to his neck. That was when he realized…the hickeys P’Kim had given him last night were out on full display. “ShiaBut he couldn’t finish his sentence because they all turned on him, whatever issues they had now forgotten. “Now we know why he was so confused as to why we seemed so down early in the morning!” Ben deduced, raising an index finger playfully up the air. “It’s because he’s been having the time of his sex life lately and couldn’t ever imagine being all sad and mopey!”
“Why don’t you share what's been going on in your life recently, too, Kit?” Prem teased. “Go on, don’t spare a single juicy detail.”
“Ai Hia! Yut leWhen they kept poking and teasing him, he sat up straighter, chest puffing and rolling his eyes, “You’re just jealous that my boyfriend is hotter than any other man.”
That seemed to have done the trick, because they shut up immediately.
At first Kit thought that the silence was because he had managed to shut them up with his retort. However, when they continued to look at him wide eyed, he could help but feel like something was wrong.
“What?” he asked, frowning as he looked at his friends.
“You called him your boyfriend,” Ben pointed out. “P’Kim is now your boyfriend?”
The lack of a label on their relationship had never really bothered Kit. He wasn’t like those other clingy people that demanded labels for the sake of security. All he knew was that he and P’Kim loved each other, and that was enough.
Until now?
Because now that his friends had pointed out the obvious…he couldn’t help but overthink all over again.
What wereBut to his friends, he simply smiled and said, “Isn’t that where we’re headed in the end, anyway?” To which they nodded and said, “That’s true.”
Kit tried not to let that sinking feeling in his chest get in the way of his day. He was not about to let doubt and insecurities ruin his happiness, so he put the thought at the back of his mind, secured it with chains, and locked it inside a vault, never to see the light of day ever again.
Thanks to that, he survived the day without any breakdowns.
After his last class, he informed P’David that he was ready to head home. As he waited for P’David to pick him up, he bumped into Ben, and the latter nearly fell to the ground from the force, if Kit hadn’t been quick enough to set him upright.
Which was weird to begin with since Ben was a lot bigger in size that Kit.
“Woah,” he said, firm hands on Ben’s shoulders. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Ben looked pale and, once again, out of it. “Ben? Are you seriously okay?”
Ben only nodded wordlessly.
Kit tried getting his attention again, placing a hand on his chin to make him face forward. “You don’t look too good, Ben,” he said, but he could feel the warmth of Ben’s skin. “I can get you to the hospital if you need me too.”
Ben shook his head. “No need. I’m just… overworked; it’s because of my part-time job. I should be alright soon, once I get some rest.”
But even as he said that, he started to sway backward, until gravity had its firm claws on him and began to drag him down. Before Kit could catch him as he fell, someone else beat him to it.
Kit looked up…and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the last person he expected to see on campus.
“P’First…” To say Kit was stunned would be an understatement. “What are you doing here?”
P’First glanced at Ben, who he was still holding tightly in his arms, before he straightened him to rest his head against his shoulders. “I’m here to pick him up.”
“Ben?” Kit was surprised, yet again. “But—”
“As you can see, your friend here isn’t looking too good. He needs to get some rest,” P’First interrupted before Kit could formulate his question. And then, without any further explanation or reason, he started to walk away, Ben still in his arms.
“Wait!” Kit called, and P’First stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn around. Encouraged nonetheless, Kit asked, “What’s Ben’s relationship with you?”
P’First didn’t answer right away; he seemed to be thinking. Then, he merely turned around to whisper, “It’s a secret.” And then he was on his way to his car, without a second glance.
Kit watched him bring Ben to his car, helping him into the passenger seat, before getting into the driver’s seat himself and driving away.
As Kit watched the car drive away, he couldn’t help but wonder what their relationship actually was, and how on earth Ben had even managed to get involved with P’First in the first place.
He didn’t have all the answers yet, but he fully intended to find out the truth, soon.