Something, Nothing

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6 — IS IT TOO SOON?

"What time did you even get back?" I inquire Jomar as soon as I wake up.

I fell asleep quite late and even then he wasn't back yet. I must have been in a deep sleep to have not heard him come in. For someone who probably stayed up till late night and I doubt he got any sleep at all, he hardly seems tired at all. He's busy packing.

"Like an hour back," he shrugs, folding one of his shirts, "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

I shake my head and then nod at his bag, "Are you leaving today? I thought you and Sun Ling were going to spend some time together before leaving,"

He grimaces, and if I'm not mistaken, his face darkens a little, and he averts his gaze, "Yeah, we are going to. Just...," he lifts his shoulder almost shyly, "... I found this place not far away, near a big lake, and I booked it for a couple of days for the two of us. So we're going to go there,"

My eyebrows climb up a few inches. I absolutely failed to notice that my friend has such a romantic side to him. "Whoa. Good for you. Have a great time,"

"Thanks," he laughs, and then a few beats later, he puts down his clothes and turns to me, "Is this too much? Am I being too much?" he asks with knitted eyebrows, massaging his own hands.

That takes me aback a little; for the months I've known Jomar, I've never seen him nervous once. In fact, I don't think he was even this worse when he first asked Sun Ling out.

"What?" I chuckle, "No. You're doing a nice thing for your girlfriend. I think it's incredibly sweet of you,"

"So, it's not too soon?"

"What — spending time with your girlfriend?"

"No. I, uh...," he looks almost like a deer caught in headlights, "I think I might tell her,"

"Tell her what?" and then not long after, it dawns on me, "Wait — you love her?"

He nods, a small but sure smile growing on his lips, "I thi– no, I know for sure. I've been wanting to say it for a while and I'm sure I will lose my mind during the break if I don't tell her first. So, yeah. I'm going to tell her,"

"Dude!" I jump up from my bed, "That's... I'm so happy for you!" I don't usually do hugs, but this time I'm making an exception — I hug him.

"Thanks, man," he laughs, and then pulling back, he returns to his initial doubt, "So, it's not too soon?"

"Does it even matter?" I ask him, "If anything, I'm pretty sure Sun Ling feels the same way about you too. Actually now that I think about it, it's actually shocking you guys have said 'I love you's yet," he rolls his eyes, and punches my shoulder, "No, really. You literally can't stay away from each other,"

He puts up a hand right in front of my face, "You have no right to talk about this until you get a girlfriend of your own,"

That sentence, that single sentence, it sucks up all the happiness I just felt for my friend, but still I try to keep the smile on my face and force out a chuckle, "Yeah," I move back to my bed and sit down.

"Oh, wait," Jomar talks again, and to himself, he says, "I shouldn't assume," to me, he says, "Or boyfriend, a partner, whatever you want," he shrugs, and then in explanation, he adds, "I got a whole lecture from Sun Ling about this,"

"Right," another nod, a very familiar heavy matter sets at the base of my throat. For a moment, I do consider telling Jomar, because how easy it would be to do just that but that heavy matter doesn't let me. And so all I do is nod.

"So," he clasps his hands together, his whole face is grinning really if that's possible, "I'm going to tell her,"

"Yeah. Good luck," I tell him, not that he needs it.

There's a series of knocks on our door, "Jo, it's me," of course, it's none other than Sun Ling.

Jomar turns and puts up a finger to his lips, mouthing, Don't tell her.

I roll my eyes inwardly. Of course, I'm not going to be blabbing to her about this but I understand his nerves.

"Yeah, come in. The door's unlocked," Jomar replies, a little waver to his voice.

"Hey," Sun Ling steps in and in follows Ken as well.

I quickly look away. Friends — we're friends now, I have to remind myself.

"Aww, I'm going to miss you, Vinny," Sun Ling attaches herself to me. I don't particularly like that nickname, but I didn't know how to say that to Sun Ling, so I've just let her call me that.

"It's only for three weeks,"

"Three whole weeks," Sun Ling emphasises putting both her hands on her cheeks, "Are you not going to miss me?"

To be honest, I didn't think so, but I'm not going to tell her that so I just give her a pacifying nod, with a small smile, ruffling her hair a little. Fortunately, that response satisfies her and she moves her attention to her boyfriend to help him pack.

Ken is still standing by the door, and he's yawning. He's clearly still half-asleep, I wonder what he's doing here then, instead of sleeping in. Maybe he's leaving today as well, who knows.

"Hey," he nods at me and then walks to my bed and plops down without a word.

As discreetly as I can, I take a few steps away, and try not to focus much on the fact that he's sitting on my bed.

"Hey," I clear my throat.

"Jomar didn't let you sleep either, huh?"

I shake my head, "No, I just woke up," and then it occurs to me, "Wait, did Sun Ling wake you up?" I make sure to drop my voice a little so that she doesn't overhear me.

He rolls his eyes, and glances towards his friend before replying, "What do you think?" another yawn overtakes him, "I'm probably going to be seeing her everyday anyways since we live close to each other, but still she woke me up to say goodbye and dragged me here,"

I cough out a small chuckle. Right, I almost forgot that these two knew each other since before college.

"I'm sorry,"

He shakes his head, "It's fine. I'm used to her antics by now. Are you done packing? When are you leaving?"

"I, um..." I scratch the back of my neck, "I'm only leaving next week," I disclose, not knowing what reason to give him for me not leaving.

"Really?!" but instead, he grows a little excited hearing that, "Same! I was wondering what I'm going to do all by myself. Glad to know I won't be alone,"

Oh, fuck.

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