SOTUS: The University Days (and Other Universes)

Broken

"Hey, Arthit." Prem uses his lips to point to the junior heading towards them.

Arthit is expecting to see Kongpob, but he's wrong. Afar, M is approaching the table they're occupying. He's accompanied by Tew, Maprang, and May.

"P'Arthit," M reluctantly starts after being pushed by Tew. His best friend might be dating Arthit, but his fear of their head hazer still hasn't subsided. "Uhm, Kong didn't go to class today, and I called him to ask why..." He starts to fidget when Arthit's face becomes serious.

"...he said he's just not feeling well and there's no need to worry, but I feel there's more," M continues. Arthit's eyebrows furrow.

"It seemed like he was crying when I talked to him, but he doesn't want me to go to him..." Arthit now stands up, which startles M. Worry is obvious in his face.

"So... I think maybe you know why."

"I don't know why, nong" Arthit says as he starts packing his bag. "I'll text you later," he adds, patting M's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me."

Arthit faces his friends and mutters a short and low "I need to go" before rushing towards the gate. "Call me if you need anything!" Knot offers.

His friends and the juniors watch him run. All of them are worried too.

Arthit tries to call Kongpob, but he doesn't pick up his calls. It's bad timing that he didn't bring his bike today. He has no other choice but to run.

His heart pounds heavily because of exhaustion and worry when he reaches his boyfriend's dorm. He knocks four times, but he's impatient to wait for his boyfriend to open it, so he uses his key instead.

He nervously steps inside the room, and his heart sinks when he sees Kongpob sitting curled on the floor beside the bed, covering his face with his arms.

"Kong?! What happened?"

"P'Arthit you shouldn't be here." His voice is muffled.

"What do you mean? Hey, talk to me. Did I do something wrong? I told you to tell me right away if I did something, right?"

Kongpob just shakes his head without lifting it.

"Phi, let's just talk tomorrow." Arthit is sure he's crying.

"I'm not leaving you like this, Kong. Tell me what's wrong. Please. I'm really worried now."

Kongpob just stays still, and Arthit starts to get annoyed.

He's used to his boyfriend not asking help from his friends, but it's unusual that he's acting this way even to him. It must be really serious.

"Kongpob, I need you to talk to me. You trust me, right?"

His boyfriend finally nods. He takes it as a signal to lift his head.

Kongpob's eyes are red from crying, and his face is uncharacteristically plump.

Arthit wipes his tears with his fingers. "What happened?"

Kongpob's mouth remains shut. He just gazes at Arthit's legs in front of him.

"I need you to do more than showing your red eyes, 0062."

"I'm showwy... P'Arthit."

He finally opens his mouth, which shocks Arthit.

"Kong, your mouth! What happened?!"

When Kongpob spoke, Arthit caught a glimpse of the bloody cotton stuck between his teeth.

Kongpob, then, removes the cotton and comes clean to his boyfriend. Arthit gasps.

His right front tooth is broken. Kongpob opens his palm and shows Arthit the broken piece of his tooth.

"I wash eating frozhen blueberriesh thish morning. I bit too hard, but I didn't know the blueberry ish harder."

Arthit wants to laugh, but he knows it will upset his boyfriend more, so he tries his best not to and just lift his mood.

"You're crying because of a broken tooth?"

Kongpob shakes his head. "I'm crying because I can't shmile for you."

Arthit rolls his eyes. Even at times like this, his boyfriend won't miss the chance to tease him. He thought his boyfriend is just flirting with him, but tears flow down his face again. He can't be serious.

"Hey, stop crying. You'll still have the best smile even you lose all your teeth."

Kongpob cries harder.

"Kong, you know that's easy to fix, right? C'mon, let's visit a dentist."

Kongpob wipes his tears and forces a closed-mouth smile. Before they stand up, Kongpob hugs Arthit. "I'm shorry for making you worried." Arthit hugs him back and ruffles his hair.

"You also made your best friend worried. Do you know how painful it is to look at M forcing himself to approach me?" Kongpob suddenly feels guilty.

Arthit grabs Kongpob's phone and copies M's number to his. Keeping his word, he texts M, telling him Kongpob's okay and there's no need to worry. He also asks M to save his number and text him if he needs something or if something happens again.

After some preparations, the couple goes out of the room and heads to the lot where Kongpob's motorcycle is parked.

"Sit at the back. I'll drive," Arthit says when Kongpob hands him his helmet.

On their way to the dental clinic, Kongpob can't help but smile while hugging Arthit's waist, thankful for the tinted helmet because nobody can see his broken tooth.

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a/n: yes i did that to kongpob and what about it?