A fool. [ONESHOOT]

What a Fool.

His name is Noah Carter.

He was two years older than him, a senior at the same faculty. A man with amazing achievements, amazing drawing skills, several of his paintings have entered the national level. He was his idol, his role model, his love.

Michael stared at him from a distance with longing eyes. His blonde hair looked longer than it had been in months, those wooden brown eyes were sharp as usual, his posture was stiff even though he seemed relaxed even in the cafeteria, his pale hand moved a mechanical pencil over a sketchbook. No matter how long he gazed, he would never be satisfied. For him, Noah was the art itself.

"Michael! We looked everywhere for you and it turns out you're here stalking Carter again?"

"Stalking—I'm not stalking him!" Michael quickly turned his head back with his cheeks red from embarrassment, finding his three friends there with different expressions; Mark looked annoyed, Simon looked incredulous, and Alec looked like he was holding back laughter. "I was in the cafeteria earlier than Noah and then he arrived, so I wasn't stalking at all."

Mark rolled his eyes lazily. "Same thing," he replied as he pulled a chair to sit next to Michael, while Alec and Simon sat opposite them.

The Afton grumbled softly. "You act like you never stalked Daniel."

"Hey!"

"Come on stop it," Alec eventually intervened even though he was laughing amusedly. "Well, even though Mark used to stalk Daniel, at least they're together now. Well, you? You just watch hi from afar but never try to take the next step."

Michael threw Alec a surprised look. "I thought you were on my side, Ale. You're so mean, Ale. Now you're siding with this bastard, Ale?"

He only got a small snort from Alec. "A relationship without status is unpleasant, Michael."

Alec glared at Simon, Simon immediately glanced away.

"Besides, you guys have been talking a lot lately, why not take advantage of the opportunity?" Alec raised both eyebrows curiously as he sipped his vanilla milkshake. "Ask him out, or play a game together, I heard he also plays the game you like. You can take that moment to get closer to him."

"Yes, yes," Simon chimed in. "Instead, you'll lose to other people. Do you really want someone else to date him first? A lot of people like him."

"Certainly not!" Michael replied automatically, his voice rising and once he realized it, his cheeks were red again. Moreover, several pairs of eyes were directed at him, including the owner of those wooden brown eyes. "I don't want that ...." His voice became quieter before long.

Mark nodded. "Of course, that's why you better quickly ask him out," he said, before his phone rang and he stood up to take the call, positioning himself further away from them.

The blue-eyed man felt a dilemma, he really liked Noah, but what if Noah didn't like him back?

"Don't worry, Mike." Simon smiled at him. "We're always here if you need help." The dark-skinned man patted his shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

"Simon's right, Mike," Alec said softly. "You should just confess as soon as possible."

"That's easy to say," Michael whined lamely, his eyes glancing again at Noah who was drawing in his sketchbook.

"Stop being a coward and just do it."

He seemed annoyed at Mark who returned to their table while putting his phone in his pocket and taking his bag, then he tilted his head. "Where are you going?"

"Daniel asked me to accompany him to the library," Mark answered casually while waving his hand briefly as a sign of farewell to his friends. "See you later." He immediately left them in the cafeteria.