Ketterdam University

{six}

            The front door banged open and Jesper jumped at the sound. He had been staring at his phone for who knows how long at the kitchen table. Wylan and Kuwei made their way through the door and set their belongings on the counter. Kuwei was wearing a low-cut tank top and pastel shorts. No straight man could ever pull that outfit off, Jesper told himself, locking away that potentially vital piece of information. Kuwei was talking nonstop about some sciencey stuff that Jesper was simply too uninterested to ever understand.

"Hey, Jes," Kuwei greeted and made his way to the couch.

Jesper murmured a response, somewhat distracted with Wylan's current demeanor. He held his head low and was gnawing on his bottom lip, swollen and red. He stood in the kitchen, eyes glazed over, facing the fridge. He swung his arm to catch on the handle and yanked the door open haphazardly and stared inside, showing no expression.

Jesper glanced over to Kuwei, who was sipping from a cup they got from whatever restaurant they were at before. He looked completely undisturbed by Wylan's state, just happily slurping down his Coke, twiddling his thumbs.

The atmosphere seemed to change, and Jesper hopelessly tried not to notice. Everything was too quiet, and Wylan was moving too slowly. After a few minutes of suffocating silence, Wylan slowly slugged up the stairs and closed his bedroom door behind him.

Jesper furrowed his brow and went to sit next to Kuwei on the couch, who was watching cable.

"Hey," Kuwei said, glancing at him and flipping through channels.

"Hey," Jesper replied quickly. "So...?"

Kuwei cocked his head to the side. "So what?"

"What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"That." He pointed to Wylan's bedroom door.

Kuwei just smiled curiously. "What do you mean? That's just Wylan."

"Is he always like that?"

"Like what?"

Oh, for the love of God, Jesper ran a hand over his eyes, already feeling a minor headache coming on. "Like...mopey, and quiet."

"Well...yeah, kind of. How long have you known him?"

"Only a few weeks," Jesper said.

Kuwei chuckled, "That's why. Yeah, he gets this way sometimes. I used to get all butt hurt about it, but you just have to not take it personally."

Jesper shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What causes it?"

Kuwei shrugged, still staring at the television. "School, mostly. Social life, work, his dad...stuff like that."

"His dad?"

Kuwei turned up the television's volume. "It's kind of personal. He'll tell you about it eventually. Long story short, his dad is not all kittens and rainbows."

Interesting, Jesper told himself. Would Kaz be interested in such information? He probably already knows.

"Ah," was all he could say. They sat on the couch, absentmindedly watching the Food Channel. That is until Cutthroat Kitchen comes on the screen, and then there's shouting and frustrated cries omitting from them both throughout the entire episode.