Hold on Tight

1. Before Time

» Beam «

"Oi, what are you staring at?" I heard my best friend, Kit, ask all of a sudden. His familiar voice managed to reel me back into reality and I hadn't perceived that I had been glancing off into space the whole time.

"What?"

Kit rolled his eyes at my dumb answer. "Where is your mind drifting to at this time of day, Beam?"

To be honest, I did not know.

Me and Kit were at the university hall, by the benches outside, waiting for Phana, our other best friend. Pha was chosen as the moon of our faculty, the medicine faculty, and they were having their first rehearsal.

Pha had forced us to accompany him as he practiced. Even though it was a huge hassle— since I really wanted to roam around the campus and look for girls to hit on— we agreed. Us three have been friends since we were still in diapers so it had to be done; our loyalty was no joke. And Pha really made the most out of it. Bastard.

While Pha and the other faculty moons and stars were being oriented inside the spacious hall by the pageant staff, me and Kit had nothing else to do but watch them silently.

The moon and star competition was really famous, even outside of the university. And it would seem like the selection would be fiercer.

Beam's eyes wandered from the gorgeous stars (I really should find a way to get their numbers) to the handsome moons.

We were well aware about how handsome Pha was. He was very famous for his looks even back in high school. At some point, we were confident that our faculty would win (Pring, our star, was also beautiful). But...  everyone else was. The moons from the other faculties were a force to be reckoned with— especially that guy beside Pha.

"Stop doing that," Kit said.

"Doing what?"

"Staring like a creep. It's weird."

I was tempted to smack Kit in the head but I restrained myself. You're lucky I'm being nice today. "I'm not staring."

"Yes, you are," Kit countered. "Who are even looking at?"

"No one."

But of course, Kit wouldn't believe me. He gazed at me with judgmental eyes but I didn't took it to offence and focused my attention somewhere else.

Despite his striking features and model-ish demeanor, Pha was a total snob. He wouldn't talk to anyone that he wasn't close with and had always came across as mean since his face would turn passive or disoriented if one attempts to talk to him. So it was somehow a big mystery for me how Pha was able to freely engage in a casual conversation with the other male who sat to his right. Pha was even smiling as they talked and it was a rare sight.

Who was that?

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"Kit. Beam." We heard our names being called close by and we turned our heads from our seats. We had lost track of time and when I checked my wrist watch, it was almost 7. Damn, it was already that late?

"What took you so long?" Kit whined beside me. He was grumpy and looked very unamused but I was certain that he was just acting up because he was hungry. Aww, poor Kitty.

"Sorry, I thought it wouldn't be that long. Sorry na?" Pha apologized when he approached us. I had my arms crossed in front of my chest and was acting disappointed to guilt trip Pha but he sounded sincere with his simple apology so we let him off the hook. And besides, he offered to buy us dinner so it was somehow a win-win situation for all three of us.

"By the way, I want you to meet a someone," Pha said then gestured at the person besides him. Only then did I actually noticed that Pha wasn't alone, there stood the exact same guy he was with at the hall earlier. I looked up at him. He's freaking tall! Probably the same height as Pha and our friend was already a giant! Wow. How could I be so blind not to notice him sooner? Was I really that hungry that my eye sight had gone bad?! "He's the Engineering Faculty's Moon," Pha introduced. "And these are my friends. Kit." He pointed at Kit. "And Beam." He gestured at me.

"Nice to meet you," Kit said as he reached out his hand to offer an handshake which the other guy gladly accepted before he turned to my direction. I had already seen his face from afar and admitted he was handsome even with the obvious distance, but up close and personal? He was deadly attractive. Looks like Pha has some real competition for the title. He shouldn't be overly confident that he would win. But knowing my friend, Pha wouldn't care either way. Cheeky, right?

"I'm Beam," I said and offered a handshake as well.

His palms were warm when his hand was enclosed into mine. It was big and rough. An engineer's hand. But it felt nice for some reason. Wait. What the hell am I thinking?!

He smiled widely at me as he continued shaking my hand, showcasing his perfect array of white teeth and his eyes crinkled slightly as he grinned and I swore I sucked in a breath. Fucker. It's illegal to be this handsome. "Hi. I'm Forth."

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A/N: Everything started when they were still freshmen so I'm going with that idea. Lol. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.