Blank Slate

Chapter Twenty-One

In which Bam has bad luck.

Bam's POV

Saturday. Bam woke up in the late morning, feeling rather empty, considering he had been waking up with his boyfriend for the past couple days. He sighed, picked up his phone, and texted him a good morning.

Just as he was going to set his phone back down, it dinged. He quickly went to see his boyfriend's text, but there was no reply. Just a text from Isu.

Hey have you been by to see Khun recently?

Bam felt his heart drop. When was the last time he saw Khun? He had been spending so much time with Michael, now that they were officially dating. Besides, Bam had stopped by every day for a considerable amount of time, and Khun had shown no signs of waking up. He hesitated in his response.

Haven't had the time with finals, why?

Bam's heart stopped beating at Isu's reply.

I just stopped by. Reception lady said he woke up so he's not allowed any visitors right now

Khun woke up? How long had it been? Bam struggled to remember. He'd been spending so much time with Michael lately; time felt like nothing more than an illusion.

Isu, Hatz, Endorsi, and Bam met together for a quick brunch. Isu caught the others up on what the receptionist had told him, and they were all a mix of excited and nervous. They still didn't know exactly what caused Khun to pass out, much less what kept him in a coma.

"I know exactly what to do!" Endorsi claimed after swallowing a rather large portion of pancake. After a dramatic pause, she said, "Let's just get him a get-well basket!"

Hatz scoffed. "As if anything we can buy would mean anything to him."

Endorsi huffed. "Actually, Khun fully understands that it's the thought that counts, unlike your materialistic ass."

Hatz tried to pull off an unaffected look, but his eyebrows twitched angrily. Bam wondered if he would fight Endorsi right here, right now.

He didn't. He just sighed deeply and sat back in his chair.

"I think a get-well basket is a great idea!" Isu chirped. "Seriously, I think he'll enjoy it, even if he doesn't keep everything we buy for him."

Bam agreed, making it a majority vote in favor of Endorsi's idea, all for it but Hatz. But what's new?
Endorsi paid for brunch, and they headed for the closest supermarket they could find. They got to work.

Isu ran to find Khun's favorite snacks, Endorsi ran to get more aesthetically-pleasing items (everyone knew Khun loved his aesthetics), and Hatz and Bam were left with the miscellaneous category.

Bam pointed out a succulent. "Maybe that?"

Hatz shook his head. "He hates plants."

"He does?" Bam questioned, only to have Hatz wordlessly nod in response. Bam didn't recall Khun hating plants. Then again, he never really discussed something small like that.

"Hey," Hatz said out of nowhere, "what's up with you and Michael?"

Bam raised an eyebrow, wondering what this had to do with anything. Isu had said Hatz liked Khun, so he understood why Hatz was asking, but it wasn't like Hatz and he were close friends. Hatz kept his distance, and Bam even caught him giving him some pointed looks at times.

"Michael is my boyfriend," Bam answered shortly.

Hatz stopped in his tracks. "You. . . You're. . .?"

Bam didn't stop for Hatz. He kept walking and only nodded in response.

Hatz sped up to catch up. "What about. . ."

"He doesn't like me back," Bam replied. "He told me so." Pause. "So I moved on."

Hatz thought a moment before replying. "How long?"

"How long what?" Bam asked, even though he knew the answer.

"How long have you two been dating?" Hatz demanded.

"Since Monday."

Hatz almost laughed. Almost. It still turned out to be his signature scoff. "You started dating while Khun's been in a coma?"

Isu interrupted what could've turned into an ugly fight.

"Guys!" He called. "I got saltine crackers, Khun's favorite. And some Goldfish."

Endorsi met up with them just seconds after. "I got some succulents! I thought they would look nice in his room. Plus, they're easy to take care of, since he doesn't always have time for them."

Bam looked at Hatz, who refused to look back.
"Oh, and some helium balloons because I thought they would be fun to play around with."

The two looked at Hatz and Bam, both with empty hands.

"I have something!" Bam defended himself. "It's actually something at home. I thought it would mean more than anything I could buy."

Isu put his hands to his heart. "That's so sweet!" He cried.

Hatz sighed. "I just didn't find anything that I thought he would like."

The others just shrugged it off, found a classy wicker basket and tissue paper, and checked out. In the car, Endorsi insisted on putting it together because "only a girl of high class like myself would know how to appropriately design something as sophisticated as this."

When she was done, Bam had to give it to her. For only having some snacks, plants, and balloons, the basket looked pretty professional.

They stopped by Bam's house so he could grab his "thing", which ended up being two things: Jurassic Park, and a handwritten copy of the ramen recipe.

Bam could tell Hatz thought very little of his additions to the basket, but Isu and Endorsi loved them.

Soon, they were on their way to the hospital because Isu had insisted, "The reception lady should let us in."

And she did, under one condition: only one person was allowed at a time. Reluctantly, they agreed. Endorsi, of course, went in first, basket in hand. It was her idea, after all. The three boys stood outside the room, hearing indistinct chatter on the inside.

Bam hated to admit it, but Khun and Endorsi were simply on a different level. They both lived lives full of luxury and grand balls and fancy dresses, and Bam often considered the idea that, even though Isu had said Khun was gay, maybe he was bisexual for Endorsi. He could see the two getting along just perfectly. Arguing, sure, but in the we're-rich-so-it-doesn't-really-matter way.

After Endorsi came out, Hatz went in.

"He's still the arrogant brat he was a couple weeks ago," she said coolly, but her voice was full of affection. "Always acting like he's so much better than everyone."

Isu and Bam laughed as Endorsi filled them in on what they had talked about, which wasn't too much.

Hatz came out after about half the time Endorsi took, refusing to talk about his conversation with Khun. Isu and Bam played rock-paper-scissors, which Isu won, leaving Bam to be the last one to see their newly-awakened friend.

Isu spent several minutes, more than Endorsi, in the hospital room. Bam wanted to peek his head in and tell his friends to hurry up, but he knew he would hate it if someone did that to him. So he waited.

"Uh, Bam?" Isu inquired, looking at his friend with nervousness.

"What?" Bam asked. He wondered if he had food on his face from brunch.

"Um. . . Khun fell back asleep."

"Excuse me," a nurse said, running a cart into Khun's room. "No visitors for the rest of today. Thank you for the basket and everything, though. See you tomorrow!"