Forbidden Lovers (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 26

🌞

"Hey, Mew!"

Mew was passing through the courtyard when Bright called out to him. His old teacher was sitting by the window of the staff room, smoking a cigarette.

"Ah, good afternoon." Mew walked across the lawn and leaned against the window frame.

Bright smiled and said teasingly, "You look a little more grown up, huh?"

"You never change, do you, Teacher?" Mew retorted.

Bright looked healthy and cheerful as always.

"I'm not a high school student! It's not like I'm gonna change that much at my age," Mew had meant it as a compliment, but Bright took it as a stab at his age. "Have you seen Gulf yet?"

Bright knew that Gulf hadn't been in charge of Mew's grade, nor had he taught him in any class ever. It wasn't normal to go speak to a teacher you didn't have any kind of relationship with. So why was Bright asking Mew this? Then it came to Mew, Bright knew.

"From far away," Mew mumbled.

"From far away?" Bright asked, surprised. "What are you thinking? Isn't he why you came to this festival?"

"N-No, that's not why I came," Mew quickly denied.

"Really." Bright gave a meaningful smile, and then suddenly made a serious face. "He's lost weight, hasn't he?"

"He has," Mew agreed.

He hoped that a new relationship wasn't the cause for it. But it was none of his business. What Gulf did was no longer any of his business.

"You guys are close, huh?" he couldn't help asking.

He wondered if Gulf had told Bright about them. That must be the reason. They were close enough to use each other's baths, after all.

"Well, he's my ex," Bright divulged.

"I see."

He knew it. Mew nodded and remained silent.

"That's a pretty quiet reaction," Bright remarked. "Aren't you surprised, Mew?"

"I had suspected it," Mew admitted.

"Hmm," Bright said noncommitally.

But even if Bright was Gulf's ex, Gulf had gone out with him because Gulf loved him. They had been actual lovers. He hadn't forced Gulf to go out with him like Mew had, in essence, done. That made Mew unbelievably jealous. And on top of that, even after they had broken up, Bright got to work at the same as Gulf.

"Damn. That was going to be my bombshell announcement. Aren't you worried about Gulf?" Bright asked lightly. He lowered his voice. "Is it over?"

"Is what over?" Mew asked.

"You secretly dated Gulf, didn't you?" Bright asked.

"No, I didn't," Mew quickly denied. "It was a one-sided thing. All I did was drag him into it."

He couldn't call that dating.

"That's not true," Bright said seriously. "He loved you too."

"What?!" Mew squawked.

After getting over his shock, he figured Bright was just teasing him, and looked at his teacher suspiciously.

Bright laughed. "I finally surprised you." He was extraordinarily satisfied.

"Did you tell me that joke just to surprise me? It wasn't very funny, Teacher," Mew grumbled.

"It's not a joke," Bright denied. "He sold that car before he even had it for a whole year. It's so easy to see through him."

"What? Teach Gulf sold his car?" Mew asked.

"About two or three months after you graduated," Bright told him. "He said he didn't use it very much, and keeping it was too expensive."

"H-He should have used it for his dates," Mew said.

Bright hadn't exactly said that he and Gulf weren't going out now. After all, they had gone out before and they remained so close.

"Ha," Bright scoffed. "You're forcing yourself."

"I am not," Mew said stubbornly.

"You're right. He's the one that's been forcing himself this whole time." Bright inhaled his cigarette deeply, and then exhaled a narrow line of smoke. "He's been spacey ever since you graduated. He hasn't eaten much."

Gulf was almost too painful to watch.

"I don't understand!" Mew didn't know where Bright was going with this.

"I don't really understand either." Bright whispered as he remembered that important conversation.

TBC