frozen • sarawattine ✓

04. unpredictable

"Tine, wait", the mellow voice called me for the umpteenth today, and as usual Tine ignored it. He had been ignoring it since that day in the library.

It is very embarrassing to conclude how he actually has feelings for him. A 'stupid crush' as Ally, Fong, Ohm, and Ayu told him.

He sighed, shoving his hands further in the pocket and putting all his concentration on the music playing in his earpods.

A sharp tug on his hand made him face his walking winter's fuming face.

"What?" Tine asked, looking anywhere but him.

"You are avoiding me", he answered furrowing his eyebrows.

"I wasn't", he answered, rubbing his nose, "I was minding my own business".

Sarawat sighed, "I am sorry if I have hurt you in any way. I wanted to return your jacket that's all", he handed it back. It was filled with powdered snow.

"Tha-thanks", Tine uttered, taking the cold fabric on his palms. He had stopped his further movements when he felt a hand on his head.

"Snow", Sarawat explained, pushing his fingers across his locks, patting and rubbing them. Tine blushed to feel the circus of butterflies inside him, juggling around in glee. He looked up to find the pretty face of his walking winter. For him, it was the epitome of perfection!

He wanted to get away from him, but he don't want to at the same time. The weird jumbled-up feeling was crowding his head, suffocating him. He was holding his breath, blushing all the while. What exactly did he have to do?

"Thank you, I–I gotta go. To the classes", he hastily took a few steps back from him and brushed the rest himself.

Sarawat nodded wordlessly. His handsome pale feature was ghosted by slight disappointment as Tine turned to his heels swiftly, hearing his heartbeats beating like drums.

"Uh, do you", he stopped in his tracks, "do you know how to melt something that's frozen beyond repair?"

Another weird question.

And oddly, the odd and mysterious questions were uplifting his mood, warming him up. He felt happy somehow thinking how someone is actually asking him questions that might not have some sensible answers. And someone like his walking winter, who he might have a crush on, is just asking him some questions, it doesn't matter if it makes sense not if it just makes them keep communicating.

Tine smiled involuntarily, looking down at his fingers, before looking up to find his walking winter looking very confused and sad.

"Warm it up a bit", he simply answered adding an assuring smile. When Sarawat returned a confused smile, Tine ran away all flushed and his heart beating like drums.

Next week was filled with exam chaos, extra shifts in the cafe, and news updates about how their little town might experience the strongest blizzard of the decade soon.

The weather was and is indeed an unpredictable thing. The more is the unpredictability, unknown-ness of a thing, the more it is found alluring. It is funny how groups of meteorologists around the world are busy researching accurate weather information, yet nature stays to be a complete mystery.

Its unpredictability somehow matches with Tine's walking winter. It's weird how since the time he came here, the weather got colder and colder within a matter of few days. His mysterious aura is maliciously suspicious and alluring at the same time.

"Why are you smiling like that while making a cappuccino?" Ally asked, peering out of her book.

Now that she has pointed it out, he grew conscious about his face. He was seriously smiling!

"I- I wasn't", Tine bit his lips to stop smiling any further. Fuck, he just couldn't stop smiling!

And that's the moment he knew it wasn't just a crush.

•••

Tine hadn't seen his walking winter in days. As if he had evaporated from the world just as fast as he was here in the very first place.

His thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell of the cafe. The cold air hit his face without shaking him as usual. The brisk footsteps of a boot-clad foot echoed and then came a shuffling sound of snow jacket.

A short throat clearing made him snap his head up. It was Ohm.

"What's up?" Tine asked with s subtle smile while stirring a coffee order for him.

"You wouldn't believe, Tine! We have got some sizzling pieces of stuff about your crush", Ohm grimaced his face.

"Go ahead", he asked, his heart beating faster now.

"I, Ayu, Ally, and Fong were searching about him around our campus. Phuak wanted to join the expedition too, but he's got a bad fever", Ohm explained flipping open his blue notebook, "Your crush, he's called Sarawat Guntithanon. He's a Political science major student".

Tine furrowed his eyebrows, "what do you mean-"

"Let me finish", Ohm raised an inpatient hand on his face, "He is one of the few people from the Political science department who lives in the campus hostels. He has no social media account. A socially awkward person. He is even weirder than this... You wouldn't believe this but, he wears gloves all the time! Even in summers!"

Tine's eyes widened, "wait... Why would he wear gloves in summer? Does he have some tactile dysfunction or something?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions right now. I have more!" Ohm scoffed, "he is a pure stalker. He has been stalking you for days now."

"What?!"

"P' Tul has seen him following you."

"Okay, now it's really creepy", Tine gulped.

"There's more. He is from our school too. He was a member of Music Club in high school."

"But I have never seen him there", Tine furrowed his eyebrows.

"No surprise. You were there eating your books half of the time. An exaggeration, don't worry", Ohm joked.

"Shut up. I hate you", Tine threw a sugar cube at him.

"I love you too. Now! The students of Political science told us, Guntithanon line is very... Um, different".

"What do you mean?"

"Sarawat is cursed".

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