Regret

Chapter 2

"I can't believe you're moving on with this sick plan, Ai Dean!", Win's voice was showing his despair and the whole Swimming Club's members were trying their best to pretend not to hear. Their President and Vice-President were at the locker room arguing for a good 30 minutes now and they really wanted to go home, yet no one had the guts to interrupt them.

However, Team wasn't the one to wait when he was hungry. This was the reason why the pouty lips popped up at the corner of the room, making the two seniors finally take a break from their fight. 

"What are you doing here, Nong?", Win asked to his favorite freshman.

"Hiaa~! I'm hungry, I just need to grab my pack of potato chips and promise to let you guys argue freely again, ok?", the naughty boy entered the room and went directly to his locker.

Team was a bit oblivious about several things, but even for him it was clear to see how Dean was about to lose it. For a second he feared for his favorite Phi, but they were long time friends as far as he knew, even if the taller one had transferred a few weeks ago. The freshman sighed and took his way out of the war zone.

"Quit it now, Ai Dean!", Win said facing his friend without a trace of doubt in his tone as soon as they were left alone again. From the first time Dean had told him about his plan to seduce Pharm in order to take his revenge for Del's death, the blonde was adamant to say the other was absolutely crazy for even thinking about such nonsense. However, nothing was capable of moving Dean from that idea and here they were.

Win had heard first hand from Team that his best friend, Pharm, was completely in ecstasy after being asked by Dean to be his boyfriend. The chubby cheeked boy shared the news happily, but Win felt his blood turning cold. He had to do something to stop Dean before his plan took the worst out of him.

"Shut up, Win!", the thickhead replied. 

"I can't let you do this, Dean!", Win ran his fingers through the golden strands of hair. "Pharm is Team's best friend and I love him to the point to know pretty well that if you hurt the cook and my man get to know I was involved in all that, he would hate me 'till death!", Win sighed in distress.

"So your biggest problem is that my plan is working like a cockblock for you, huh?", Dean smirked bitterly.

"You know this isn't true, Dean! I've been trying to show you how crazy this is from day one! But you seem too lost in your pain to see clearly."

"What do you mean?", the tanned man asked confused.

"Have you ever noticed how that sweet kid looks at you? His feelings are written on his face when he smiles at you, Dean… Will you say to me that you don't feel anything for him as well?", Win tried his last shot. It was quite risky to bring that card right now, especially because he wasn't so sure about it, but Dean has always told him about a certain mysterious person he had dreamed about for his whole life. If his hunch was right...

“To be honest… I never meant to let it get this far...”, Dean said lowering his head. Bingo! The cold mountain still had a human heart inside him. He just needed to poke it a bit more and maybe he could make this all work out.

"Are you going to tell him?", Win pressed.

Before Dean had the chance to answer that, they were both interrupted again. This time, it was Pruk, their friend and also a member of the Swimming Club. The tall boy was panting hard and had to catch his breath before trying to say something. He looked worried and this made the other two anxious to hear whatever he was about to say.

"D-Dean, your--", he was still breathless.

"What now? Say it already, Pruk!", Dean demanded.

"Your boyfriend! He is at the infirmary!", Pruk finally let out his message.

Suddenly, the third-year student felt his life changing.

Dean was a professional swimmer, his marks were one of the best among the Club members, but his nice body gave him advantage outside the pool as well and he ran for his life. The sweat made its way through his naked torso and the scene made a few heads turn to his direction -- not that he paid attention to them.

Dean had never imagined that hearing such a sentence could make his whole being react instantly like that. Yet, with his heart thumping hard, he felt the same urge only once before he had experienced in his life. It was when he got a call from his parents saying Del was in critical condition. He got the first flight he could get to Thailand and got a cab when he arrived there. He ran like his feet were the medicine his sister was needing to recover from the accident, but it wasn't enough. She was dead when he finally got in front of her room. Their parents crying in despair after hearing the doctors' bad news were the only thing he had as a welcoming.

Back to the present, he tried to clean his head from those heavy thoughts. "Please be fine!", he whispered under his breath while running to the infirmary.

"Calm down, sir! No running around here, okay? Who are you looking for?", the gentle nurse interrupted Dean when he finally got to his destination. It took him a few times to explain his presence there, he was visibly shaking, which made the woman sympathetic towards him.

Pharm had an anxiety crisis, but after resting a bit, he was fine. The nurse said they could go home and gave Pharm a prescription in case he needed something to ease his nerves to sleep that night. The boy was discharged with the promise to go to see a doctor as soon as possible.

"P'Dean, I'm so sorry, I--", Pharm tried to say, but the taller didn't gave him the opportunity. Dean hugged the smaller body against his, leaving no space between them. He needed to feel Pharm was still alive and well. "I'm fine, Phi…", the nong said, hugging back his boyfriend while giving him light taps on his back.

When Dean could control his breath again, he parted from their hug, but let his hand interlock fingers with Pharm. The smaller male looked at the other with worry in his eyes and then said:

"Phi Dean, I guess I need to talk to you…"