Feel Something (BounPrem FF)

Chapter 30: Old Friend

Sinn dragged Chan to a store where he bought the boy a sleeve for his leg. At the food stall, he made Chan sit down so he could put it on. Chan blushed as Sinn held his leg and slipped the sleeve up.
   
“How does that feel?” Sinn held the calf in his hand.
   
“Hia, I told you I’m fine.”
   
“Fine my ass. There’s already a huge bruise forming on your shin, but you’re telling me it doesn’t hurt?”

Sinn went to poke the bruise, but Chan stopped him. “Okay, okay! The sleeve feels nice. I’ll wear it.”
   
Sinn took it off. “You can wear it when we walk back. It’ll help.”
   
He was putting Chan's sock and shoe back on when they both heard a familiar voice. “Nong!” They both turned to find Mon. Sinn stood up and was face to face with his once-best friend. “Sinn…”
   
“Mon…”
   
“You know each other?” Chan stayed sitting, smiling like an idiot who wasn’t understanding the tension in the air. “Mon, you should join us.”
   
His two seniors stayed looking at each other with blank faces, until Mon put on a fake smile. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”
   
Sinn sat next to Chan, with Mon on the other side of the picnic table. The food was brought out to them and Chan began moving the vegetables and meat between his and Sinn's plates. Mon stared at the unusual sight and made Sinn uncomfortable. “So, how do you know each other?”
   
Chan thought that was a dumb question to ask, because he thought his actions made it clear. “This is my boyfriend.” He spoke with confidence before slurping up his noodles. “How do you know each other,” he asked with his cheeks full. Sinn held his hand out under the boy's face, in case any food fell out.
   
Mon looked at the hand, then between the two in shock. “We went to school together until college.” Chan looked at Sinn as he chewed. His boyfriend had never spoken about life before college, so majority of his life was a secret to Chan.
   
“No way! How was he back then? Tell me everything.” Chan leaned forward eagerly.
   
“Ah…well we weren’t that close…,” Mon lied.
   
“Awwww…” Chan was disappointed. He felt somewhat left in the dark about Sinn.
   
Sinn was just glad Mon didn’t say anything. They had parted ways for a reason, but Sinn didn’t go about doing it in the best way and there were bound to be misunderstandings.
   
“How was the practice game? I heard there was a menace on the other team.”
   
“He was a total dick! He messed my shin up, but I should be fine. Sinn went out and showed him up for me, though.” Chan gave his lover an admiring look. He really appreciated Sinn, even if he didn’t say it.
   
“Really? Sinn was on the field?”
   
“Yea, you should’ve seen him. He was like the flash or something, he was so fast.” Mon was surprised by the news he was hearing. He hadn’t seen Sinn on the field since they played in junior high.
   
“That's great.” Mon watched as Chan wiped some sauce from Sinn's cheek. It made him feel uneasy. Their sexuality didn’t bother him, because he was bi. It was seeing them two, of all people, together. He thought back to the day that Sinn had cut himself off from the friend group for good.
 

  *~*Flashback*~*
 

It had been months since Sinn's mother remarried. His friends could sense a sudden change in him, and tried everything to get him to talk to them. He only ever hung out with Dee and the rich kids after a while. They felt ditched, and weren’t sure what to think. Sinn didn’t talk much anymore, and they felt him distancing further.
   
It was the summer before high school, and they wanted to finally have a heart to heart with Sinn. Noo, Mon and Som spotted him on the football field, watching the snobby kids play. They planned on simply going over to talk to him, but Han saw them and kicked the ball to hit Mon, making him fall over.
   
“Oi! Get off the field!”
   
Mon stood up, already enraged because he hated Han's guts. “You don’t own this field!”
   
Soon the two groups met in the middle. Dee and Sinn were in the back, with the younger trying to see what was going on.
   
Mon stepped up to Han, but Han pushed his chest, erupting the volcano. The two groups clashed immediately. Punches were thrown, some were pushed down and kicked, and cursing was thrown around. Through the chaos, Han had Mon on the ground. This was before the boys hit puberty, so Mon hadn’t surpassed the obnoxious one yet. Mon watched Sinn put a hand on Dee's shoulder and turn him away from the fight, looking Mon straight in the eyes as he turned his back. He didn’t know a friend could ever hurt him that bad.
   
Later that night, Mon went to Sinn's family home. Kaew answered, and left Sinn to speak to him in private at the door.
   
“What the hell happened today? Who's side are you on?” Mon was furious, and he was hoping deep down that Sinn had a good excuse.
   
“I’m not on anyone’s side.” Sinn had kept that straight face for months. It frustrated Mon. Everything out of Sinn's mouth was so flat and emotionless.
   
“Shia! You left us there to get beaten. How could a friend do that? What do you have to say?”
   
“I'm not your friend anymore.”
   
Part of Mon knew it was coming, but he didn’t want to accept it. “Sinn…you can talk to us. We’re here for you. Tell us what’s going on. We can help you. Don’t rely on Han and those other assholes anymore.”
   
“I can’t be your friend. I don’t want to be seen with you.” Those words hurt Mon more than he imagined.
   
“Why? Are we that embarrassing? You can only be seen with those wealthy pricks?” Mon was on the verge of tears, but they were angry tears. Sinn's were swelling up, but his were different, they were full of sorrow and regret.
   
Sinn nodded, keeping a straight face as his eyes watered. Mon's were already streaming down his face. They used to be so close. They used to tell each other everything. They were best friends from the time they entered school.
   
“Fuck you. Keep your new friends.”
   
Mon turned away and Sinn let his tears fall finally. These would be the last tears he would shed for a long time.
 

*~*End of Flashback*~*
 

Chan shot up excitedly. “I’m going to get ice cream from that shop, do you two want any?”
   
Mon and Sinn shook their heads. Neither were in the mood for ice cream after seeing each other again. They watched Chan walk away happily. Mon was still pressed about the whole situation. This was the last thing he expected to come across.
   
“Chan is from a poor background, you know?” Mon said without directly looking at Sinn.
   
“I know.” Sinn kept his eyes on his drink in front of him.
   
“Is this a joke?” Mon had a serious face, and Sinn knew what he was getting at.
   
“Far from it.” Sinn hadn’t been more serious about someone.
   
“You're going to hurt him. When he likes something he goes all in without thinking things through. He has abandonment issues, and that’s what you’re best at.”
   
Mon's words pierced Sinn's heart. He couldn’t even imagine abandoning Chan. The boy stuck beside him through all of his stubborn excuses. Chan was the only one who kept coming back when Sinn told him to go away.
   
“I don’t plan on leaving him.”
   
“A lot of things that you didn’t plan on doing seem to happen.”
   
“Here! I got you both ice cream anyway.” Chan placed cups in front of them, then sat down beside Sinn again, digging into his own.
   
“I should head home, I have a busy day tomorrow. I’ll see you around.” Mon left some money on the table for his food and left.
   
Chen frowned. “He didn’t take his ice cream. More for me.” He shrugged it off and pulled the other treat closer.
   
“How do you know Mon?”
   
“His coach took him to recruit me for their football team when I was a senior in high school. I had already made my mind up, though. He became like a mentor to me since then anyway.” Chan scooped some of his ice cream and put it up to Sinn's mouth and his boyfriend opened without hesitation. He was already used to Chan feeding him randomly. “Why? Are you jealous? Mon is just a friend.”
   
“No, just wondering.” Sinn was partly jealous. Jealous that Mon got to meet Chan first. If Sinn's life hadn’t changed so drastically, he might’ve met Chan back then, too.