Love sick series: the Mick Diaries

Chapter 5 Sparks

Ohm eventually returned to the table as if nothing had happened. He looked at Mick closely and asked "Is it better now? It does look like the swelling has gone down."

Mick nodded. He didn't trust himself to say anything. Did he dare hope that Ohm was feeling the spark of something just now? He searched Ohm's face for any sign that he'd shared Mick's feelings, but the senior was looking intently at his phone.

"Hia Moon says your phone is ready now," Ohm said, standing up. "Let's go."

Mick followed Ohm, and surreptitiously pocketed the latter's damp handkerchief as they left the food court.

Mick was overjoyed to find his phone was as good as new once they returned to Moon's stall. He couldn't stop thanking both Moon and Ohm, especially since Moon gave him a substantial discount on account of being Ohm's friend. In the end Ohm dragged him away before he could embarrass the both of them any further.

"P'Ohm, I haven't paid hia Moon yet!" Mick protested, stopping in the middle of the walkway.

"I've already taken care of it," Ohm said carelessly. "Are you coming along or not?"

"I can't let you do that!" Mick said stubbornly. "Let me pay you back."

"I've already forgotten how much it was," Ohm said, obviously lying. "Do you want to check out Siam Square since we're here? Or maybe Kinokuniya. There's some books I want to see."

"P'Ohm you're changing the subject!" Mick pouted, and almost stamped his foot before remembering he wasn't a child anymore.

"Yes I am. Now keep up or I'll leave you behind," Ohm said, walking towards the exits. Mick stared at Ohm's retreating back before shaking his head and hurrying after him.

***

"What kind of music do you like, Mick?" Ohm asked him all of a sudden. They were at a music store in Siam Discovery Center, looking through CDs, although Mick wondered just who bought physical CDs anymore nowadays.

"Um...I like...Deftones?" Mick heard himself blurt the words before his brain could stop his mouth. Good job, Mick.

Ohm turned to look at Mick, a skeptical expression on his face. "Really. You like alt metal? Name one song of theirs."

"7 Words," Mick said without hesitation, since that was the song he'd looked up the other day while stalking Ohm's Facebook. It was the one he couldn't finish listening, with all the bad words in it.

"Wow. Okay, I'm impressed," Ohm said, nodding. "You're full of surprises, little mouse."

Ohm grinned. A little white lie couldn't hurt if it served to bring them closer, could it?

"What about you, p'?"

"Anything that's got a good tune," he shrugged. "I like rock, metal, ska, as long as it's got a badass riff, I'm there."

Oookay. Mick stared wistfully at the new Taylor Swift album. I guess I won't be picking that up in front of Om anytime soon, he thought to himself.

"Have you thought of joining our Live Show?" He asked. "The finals are next month."

"Yeah, but don't you need a band for that?" The Live Show was one of the highlights of the music club events, when bands comprising of students from the whole school would compete against each other. It never failed to turn out to be a mini rock concert with very high-caliber acts performing and students dancing and clapping in the stands. It was where he'd first seen Om, along with Noh and Film last year.