gotta watch you walk in the room baby, gotta watch you walk out

Chapter Two

Sharing your living space with six other people was sometimes the best thing ever. There was always someone to talk to if he wanted, and if he didn't Can could hide in his room with his headphones on. It was a different world from living with his parents.

When Good's uncle had offered him the use of the apartment, Can had been the first one he'd asked to share with him. It was a good deal. 'Rent free'. At the time he had just started a part-time job at a local café because his parents couldn't afford to pay him much allowance and support Ley on her upcoming nursing course at the same time. They had relocated to Chiangmai for Pa's work so Can couldn't live at home. At Good's, Can only had to pay his share of the bills and for food.

Most of the time living with that many people was actually fine as they all had different schedules, so it didn't get too crazy. They had agreed on two evenings a week that they would all try to eat together and usually there was at least five or six of them if they all couldn't make it.

They arrived home from the bar in two waves. Ae, Bow and Mai had taken a lift with Pete, an offer Can had pretended not to hear when it had been issued. There was no way he wanted to be trapped in a confined space with that Tin guy. He'd walked home with the rest of his flatmates after they'd stayed for one last drink at a drunken Techno's plaintive whining.

Can went straight to his room, declining Bow's pleas to join them for a few more drinks. He had to work the next day and even though he didn't have to go in until eleven he needed a good few hours before then. He was nearly running on empty.

He cleaned his teeth and sat half-naked and cross legged on the end of his bed distractedly watching out the window at the fourth floor of the adjacent building where he could see a man and a woman engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion as the woman paced back and forth in front of the floor length window and the man leant back against a table with folded arms. When the man reached out and grabbed hold of the woman's arm and she went into his arms for a kiss Can got up and shut his blinds. He didn't want to be privy to that kind of show, but those guys' lives regularly played out like a romantic K-drama and he couldn't help but be fascinated.

He climbed into bed and turned out his light and stared unseeingly into the dark, and as he recalled the events of the evening his fists clenched and he muttered to himself, "Urchin." He kicked his legs in frustration and added, "Asshole."

-o-

"Why do you keep watching the door?" Fong asked, draping herself along Tin's side, clawing his arm with her long fingernails. "Are you waiting for someone?"

Ignoring the question Tin sighed, unpeeled her grip upon him and took a step sideways. "Why are you here exactly?"

"Aw, Tin, don't be like that. Are we not friends?" Now she was pouting. Tin was completely immune to it and frankly amazed that she was still trying to get close to him even after over three years of his disinterest. Sometimes he'd been forced to partner with her for projects — only in classes that he didn't share with Pete — no one else ever dared approach him and Tin still wasn't quite sure if it were because they were scared of him or Fong and her poison glare.

"We are classmates, that's all," he said, taking a further step away from her. Unfortunately, they had recently been paired again for another project and she'd taken that as a green light to ramp up her pursuit.

The woman was persistent he'd allow her that. He just was not interested, not least because he was gay and even if he wasn't she was the very epitome of exactly what he didn't want...someone who only saw his wealth.

What the hell was he even doing here at a birthday party for someone he didn't even know? It was some friend of Ae's, and Ae had invited Pete. Tin didn't even know the name of whoever it was. As the captain of the football team Ae appeared to have many friends. He was one of those people, an all-round nice guy, someone like Tin would never be. He was the one everyone avoided, and most of the time that was how he liked it.