Roommates - Not in Bangkok anymore [completed]

Chapter 10

Can's POV

It had almost been a month since Can arrived in England.

For the first few days of school, he had been occupied with so many things that he didn't know whether he was coming or going: training, team instructions and of course regular classes – they were as tough as that witch Maria had warned him about. Even though he already had an adapted plan that took into account that he still had to catch up on English, it was by no means easy.

Things had gotten a bit less intense after the last remnants of jetlag had disappeared and even better once he also stopped getting lost in the corridors and on the grounds all the time. But being here still wasn't a walk in the park.

The rumours about him being gay hadn't blown up as much as Tin seemed to have feared after the run-ins Can had had with the rugby team captain on his first weekend.

Indeed, Thomas had been suspiciously quiet about everything.

Still, the majority of the gossip part of school – which really was almost everyone – was hotly debating whether Can was dating Jonathan or Tin, despite the fact that both these boys currently had girlfriends.

The moderately saner part of the gossip part of school was only debating which one of these guys he should date.

An underground betting group was even running a bet with real money wagers on his relationship prospects. Can really didn't get this school's obsession with relationships. He was friends with many people, Jonathan and Tin among them, but that didn't mean he wanted to be their boyfriend.

And he was pretty sure they didn't see him that way, either.

While Can wasn't surprised that he got along well with Jonathan – you could really not wish for a better captain to lead a football team – it still astonished him how well being roommates with Tin had worked out after their rocky start. Tin had even removed the masking tape from the floor after about a week of living in the same room with him.

Can often remembered what P.E teacher McNeil had said to him on his first night, about how he shouldn't trust easy judgments, even if everyone called his roommate the Ice Prince, there might be more to him.

He had been right.

They didn't meet often in their room, since they both had their own demanding schedules and were attending completely different courses – but contrary to what Can had feared in the beginning, the Ice Prince façade hadn't returned, at least not towards him. Tin had even sometimes helped him with his homework for classes if he struggled with high level English.

About a week ago, one of the cronies of the rugby team had pulled Can aside and had told him in a conspiratorial voice about the infamous incident surrounding Tin that everyone seemed to know about. Can thought it was all very transparent, how these people tried to manipulate people's reputations.

Apparently, this guy had thought that telling Can about the drug habit Tin supposedly had and the truly dangerous crowds he allegedly frequented outside of school would make him wary of his roommate.

Can didn't believe any of their bullshit.

He had had no qualm telling that idiot that he didn't believe that Tin had a drug habit and he should know, sharing a room with him and all. Can also let that guy know that he was sure there was more to this story and that he wouldn't be surprised if Tin had been set up.

He didn't deem it necessary to inform Tin about this conversation – though the odds on the running bets on whom he was dating had mysteriously changed in favour of Tin after that.