Mystery of Love

14

Theo carried the laundry basket and shoved the clothes into the dryer. It had been pouring the whole day. 

There was a love-hate relationship with the rain since, despite ironically cooling the air, it dries the skin. Also, the rain posed as a hindrance especially when one is travelling outside. 

Fortunately, he had no plans that involved going outdoors on that day. After he clicked on the buttons of the dryer's interface, he watched through the transparent shield as the machine started vibrating and clothes oscillating. 

Lying on the couch, he turned his phone on and tapped into Instagram. He recently had a habit of toggling into Kaleb's account. Perhaps it was his curious, subconscious desire to check if there were any updates on his socials. 

"Pretty sure he only uses Instagram". Theo thought to himself. 

He decided to slide into his private message to drop his first text via Instagram with Kaleb. 

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟒𝟓)*
Hey

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟎)*
Sup

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟏)*
What u did

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟏)*
I just woke up 

Honestly, Theo wasn't surprised. 

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟏)*
Damn I thought my sleep cycle was messed up

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟐)*
Can't help it...I mean I can only sleep at a certain time

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟐)*
oh

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟑)*
I'm so bored

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟑)*
Same

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟑)*
We should go out sometime

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟒)*
Want to eat lunch tmr?

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟒)*
Sure

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟒)*
What do u like?

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟒)*
Anything

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟓)*
U sure? Thought u're a picky eater heh

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟓)*
Let's decide tmr then

*𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟓)*
ok

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟒:𝟓𝟓)*
See you

He couldn't believe it. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦?

His heart was pounding in excitement at the prospect of a date. He scrolled back to read the texts between the two of them again, another odd habit he had developed. Maybe he just wanted to relive the feeling again. 

Fast forward to the next day, Theo found himself shuffling through his closet in search of the most suitable outfit for the occasion. It wasn't like he was going to a luxurious hotel or anything similar. Yet, he wanted to dress in his Sunday best. 

The plan involved lunching at a nearby mall that was close to where both of them lived. He decided to wear a tight T-shirt and short pants which he thought would emphasize the shape of his body. After all, he had a basic sense of fashion. 

Grabbing his headphones, wallet and handphone, he slipped into his grey sneakers that had no laces and left the house. He boarded a bus that just arrived and sat at the window seat. Putting his headphones over his ears, he shuffled through his playlist and settled on Style by Taylor Swift. 

He felt like he was living his 'main character' moment, observing the adults dressed in their corporate outfits on their way to work while he was going to the mall. 

Within 15 minutes, he arrived at the train station where both of them agreed to meet. In fact, the train station was walking distance from the school both of them went to. 

*𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 (𝟏𝟑:𝟏𝟏)*
I reached the station

Just as he was about to send the text, he saw Kaleb from a distance, strolling towards the station from the direction of the school. Their eyes met for a brief second before Theo quickly looked away. He noted that Kaleb was staring at him with widened eyes which demonstrated his interest in what he was seeing, which was unlike his usual nonchalant, almost tired-looking expression. 

He also noticed that he was dressed in a T-shirt and short pants. The T-shirt was from a school event which every student had to buy, so he essentially had no choice but to buy it. 

Hence, Theo made a silent remark about the both of them having similar, basic fashion sense. At least that helped in making him feel less insecure. 

"Yo." Kaleb greeted. 

"Hii...Let's go the train is arriving soon." Theo tried his best to hide the tremor in his voice. 

In the train, it felt awkward because both of them didn't know what to say to each other. Eventually, the conversation ensued because of the prolonged silence. 

"So what do you like to eat?" Theo began saying. 

"Hmm...you decide?"

Theo began proposing names of various restaurants to which Kaleb responded by saying that they were too expensive. They eventually settled on a place that sells Korean-style fried chicken. 

"omg I suddenly remembered how often we used to eat cup noodles back in middle school." Theo brought up. 

"Yea...Geez we ate them almost everyday."

"I know right...It was so unhealthy." 

The conversation continued as they talked about school and their friends until they arrived at the station where the mall was located.

Theo felt tempted to hold his hand but resisted because he thought about how same-sex relationships were frowned upon in the society they lived in.

It made it difficult to express his feelings in a genuine manner and  often found himself suppressing them.

As they arrived at the outlet, only a handful of diners were spotted. As a result, there was no need to wait in line for seats.

Theo ordered first followed by Kaleb, who simply copied his order. They sat down facing each other and munched on their food.

"Are the drinks refillable?" Kaleb blurted out.

"Uhm...I don't think so...Look it says no refill on the machine."

"Damn I really want a refill of coke...Should I just do it the person at the counter is busy taking orders so he won't see."

"Erm..."

Without waiting for a response from Theo, he stood up and sneaked to refill his cup.

Theo was enticed by his cheeky behaviour.

"See, it's that easy." Kaleb responded with a grin.

He felt a desire to squeeze Kaleb's baby face until he displayed signs of pain. He didn't actually do it though, it was just a thought. It was that aggressive feeling when one is met with something or someone that is overwhelmingly cute. 

He often had this feeling that Kaleb was always trying to turn him on through the little things he did. By the end of their meet-up, they really just appeared as two friends who went out for a casual lunch rather than a date. However, Theo cherished every second of it.