Playdate with Fate (A Chris & Keith AU)

Strange Absence

===TIME SKIP===

One day, three months since Steve confessed his feelings to Chris after picking him up at the KFC when he met up with Keith, both of them, as well as the rest of their class, were being taught by their professor at a class scheduled after lunch time.

While in class, Chris' body suddenly started flaring up. Because Steve wasn't sitting beside him, nobody noticed. Once the class professor dismissed them, Chris drank a paracetamol tablet kept in his bag, which he did not let anyone see him do.

His fever subsided a few minutes later.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Chris' body did not flare up. When his class' final professor dismissed them, Chris noticed Keith's class being dismissed as well, so he walked up to him. Then, he said, "I don't have plans, so... let's go home?"

Keith smiled at him and nodded.

Once he ordered an Uber for both of them, Chris and Keith immediately left the university's premises. While the driver was on the road, Chris suddenly started coughing. Keith noticed this and asked, "You OK, sweetheart?" Chris nodded.

Keith had a hunch that Chris was lying, so he sat closer beside him.

Then, he gently tapped Chris' back and softly said to him, "Cough it out, honey. It's OK. I'm here with you." When Chris stopped coughing, he kissed Keith's cheek and told him, "Thanks for being here for me, honey. I highly appreciate it."

Keith smiled at Chris after that.

An hour passes, and the Uber driver pulled over to the front of Chris' house. Before Chris got off the Uber, he kissed Keith's lips for a while and said after pulling away, "Thank you so much for being there for me, even when we rarely kiki now."

Keith smiled and simply nodded.

As Chris waved goodbye shortly after, Keith asked the Uber driver to drive a couple more blocks ahead to reach his house. When the driver pulled over to Keith's house, he paid for the ride and got off as soon as he took his belongings along.

Days pass by, and Chris' coughing persisted. His fever was unpredictable, however, since it came back for one day, then will suddenly subside the next. On the days that Chris was having episodes of fever, his throat got sore, and he was experiencing an unbearable headache. Then, on the days that his fevers subside, Chris felt random chest pains, while his nape felt as if it was heated over a stove.

One day, about two weeks later, Keith woke up early so he would not be late to his first class. He ate breakfast, took a shower, dressed up, and waited for Chris to leave his house. A few minutes pass, and Keith noticed that Chris hasn't left yet.

This confused Keith, as both of them always came to the university together.

He thought to himself, "Why isn't Chris outside yet? Did he not hear his alarm?" Because Keith did not want to be late for his first class, he ordered an Uber for himself. As he arrived to the university, he paid the Uber driver and got off the car.

Eugene walked up to Keith after noticing him arriving to the university.

When Keith noticed him, he waved at Eugene and said, "Hey, miss thing. Did Chris happen to arrive earlier than usual?" Eugene looked at Keith with a confused facial expression and replied, "Um, no... I was just about to ask you where Chris is."

Keith felt confused as well.

He then asked Eugene, "Do both of us always arrive together?" Eugene chuckled softly, nodded, and replied, "Yeah, miss girlina. This is the first day that you arrived earlier than Chris did." Keith pinched his chin and asked, "Why isn't Chris here yet?"

Eugene shrugged his shoulders.

He said, "Come to think of it, I've been observing Chris these past few days, and he seems like he's sick." Keith got curious and asked, "What do you mean, miss thing?" Eugene replied, "Well, let's talk about this in somewhere more... private."

Once Keith agreed, he and Eugene walked to the university's cafeteria.

After looking for a vacant table, Eugene and Keith sat down on the chairs provided. Then, Eugene said, "These past days, I've noticed Chris taking paracetamol after we've been dismissed by our professor teaching us a class after lunch."

Keith nodded slowly.

Eugene then continued, saying further, "Chris also seems to be frequenting visits to the university's nurse in the middle of classes lately. He seems to constantly excuse himself to our professors, saying that his head and throat hurt like hell."

Keith nodded again.

Keith then said, "Maybe he's pushing through with coming to school while having a fever. But hey, at least he still attends classes, right?" Eugene sighed and replied, "That's not even the fishy thing about him." Keith told Eugene, "Tell me more, then."

Eugene further expressed to Keith that Chris seemed to seldom help out during group works.

Keith asked, "Has any group member of his try to confront him about not helping out? Or even you?" Eugene nodded and replied, "No matter how many times I tell Chris that our professor will find out his lack of contributions to group works whenever we get grouped together, he literally would not budge." Keith then said, "Well, something's definitely up with him. What could it be, though?"

After Eugene shrugged his shoulders, the university's bell rang.

To be continued in Part 14...