Bad Boyfriend

Unpretty

"Rain?" Prapai calls his name after an extended period of silence. "Who is making you date Phayu?"

The boy snaps out of his racing thoughts and concocts some quick and hopefully believable excuse. "A-ah, you misunderstood me, Phi. I was...talking about Sky." Rain chuckles awkwardly. "He, uh, screwed up my application back then and sent it to this school instead of my first choice. If you put it into perspective, I have him to thank because otherwise, I wouldn't have met P'Phayu."

But Rain's internal celebration for weaseling out of that one ends when he realizes one thing. "Oh, you...heard, huh?" Referring to dating Phayu.

At this, Prapai nods with a pursed smile then says, "Only everyone is talking about it."

Rain's eyes suddenly fall from Prapai's face to his shoes, finding them interesting all of a sudden. And when he pipes up, his voice is small as he asks, "How do you...feel about it, Phi? Do you...think we're a good match?"

"Mm...that depends." Prapai replies then turns the tables and asks Rain, "Do you...really like him?"

Those rounded eyes flick up to him once more and Rain almost wants to blurt out, "No! The one that I like is you, P'Pai." But then, he remembers who they're up against. Phayu may have been laying low as of late but he isn't notorious for nothing.

And Rain doesn't want to be responsible for waking the dragon. Also, what if he beats up Prapai? The latter might get injured and never play soccer again. No, no, Rain can't even stand to imagine being the cause of all that.

So, albeit begrudgingly, he says in a quiet voice, "M-mm, I...like P'Phayu."

A flash of disappointment crosses Prapai's eyes but Rain misses it as he can't look the other in the eye.

"Is that so?" Prapai forces a smile. "I didn't even know you two were acquainted."

"I, uh, admired him since I was a freshman." Rain isn't exactly lying but, of course, he omitted the part where he stopped admiring Phayu as soon as he learned what a troublesome student he was.

"Mm, I see."

Just then, Rain gets this weird feeling that Prapai is sad to hear this and although he knows he shouldn't as he's currently "in a relationship", he feels hope blooming in his chest. Could it be? Does his P'Pai like him too?

But before Rain could let his impulsiveness take over, someone calls their attention from a distance—Prapai's to be exact.

"P'Pai!" A beautiful girl who's tall and has slender legs comes sashaying towards them in a cheerleader uniform. She has pretty light brown eyes, looks like she's mixed race and has brunette curls tied in a neat ponytail.

"Shirley." Prapai utters her name and somehow, it rolled so smoothly off of his tongue as though they're very closely acquainted.

She stops beside Prapai then looks at Rain. After a brief thought, she goes, "Oh, you're Rain, right? P'Phayu's boyfriend."

Rain doesn't really appreciate her saying it so bluntly and in front of Prapai too, but he timidly nods anyway.

Shirley hums and gives him a once-over, making Rain feel suddenly self-conscious. Rain never really had self-image issues but ever since "dating" Phayu, it's like people expect Phayu's boyfriend to be someone extraordinary and somehow, Rain just falls short.

And now, with this beautiful foreigner with a well developed body standing a little too close to Prapai, Rain can't help but feel so...unpretty.

"P'Pai." She chirps his name and links arms with him. "They're looking for you at the field already."