Your Name

18| "I hope I will marry P'Yin."

╰┈➤𝐘𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕*ೃ༄

My heart pounded like a drum in my chest as I sat alone at the cafeteria, reading a message from War. My lips involuntarily stretched into a broad smile as his picture popped up on the screen. War sent a picture of him looking sleepy before his next class, making me chuckle.

"Hey, have you noticed something about him lately?" Jimmy chimed in, his curious eyes locking onto my confused expression.

Startled, I quickly lowered my phone. "Huh? Something about who?" I stammered, attempting to mask the awkwardness that War's message had stirred within me.

"You, of course!" Jimmy exclaimed.

Mook, sitting across from me, chimed in with a sly grin. "Yeah, you have been acting all mysterious lately, disappearing on us and everything."

Fourth leaned in closer. "Come on, spill the beans! We all know you have got a secret lover hidden away somewhere."

Their playful assumptions made me choke my own saliva. "Stop being silly. It's not like that. I have just been busy with stuff, you know."

Mook's eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Busy, huh? Doing what, exactly?" She asked.

I found it hard to give a convincing answer. The truth was, I had been spending a lot of time with War and...somewhere along the way, I started to show my real feelings for him. I treat him differently now. It all comes from one deep fear...losing him and him choosing a life that doesn't include me.

When he began to pull away, thinking I was angry with him, my emotions turned messy and overwhelming. The thought of him finding comfort in someone else hurt so much that it felt almost too heavy to bear.

Yes, I was beginning to prioritize War over my usual hangouts with my friends and perhaps more significantly, had stopped joining them at our favorite nightclub.

Fourth raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Come on, you can tell us. We won't judge. Is it someone special?"

We won't judge? What bullshit to hear that. I know them well enough to know that they would judge me negatively and said I was disgusting if they found out that I have grown closer to War. This attitude is rooted in their belief that man and man's relationship is somehow distasteful.

This deeply ingrained bias had me trapped in a dilemma. On one hand, I was eager to foster that I feel something towards War. Yet, on the other hand, I found myself hesitant and apprehensive because I knew all too well that my friends would not hesitate to mock and ridicule me.

I let out a heavy sigh and stood up from my seat. "I will go now. See you guys in class," I said and walked away.

"Aww, our class is in an hour, Yinnn. You don't even eat anything yet," Mook said and I simply waved at them.

━◦○◦━◦○◦━

A soft chuckle escaped my lips as I stared at War wholeheartedly savoring his lunch, seated alongside me in the secluded space behind the hall. It was just the two of us.

"P'Yin won't believe it!" He said, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "The lecturer praised me today during class!"

I leaned forward while smiling. "Really? What for?"

He smiled widely as he recounted the story. "Well, we got our test results back and I scored the highest in the class! The lecturer even mentioned it in front of everyone, saying I had set a new benchmark," he said while grinning.

I smiled. "You have been working so hard and it's fantastic to see your efforts recognized like this."

I reached out to gently caress his hair. He blushed. His eyelashes fluttered as he closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, enjoying my touch. I marveled at how something as simple as a caress could evoke such a beautiful response from him.