Island of BL

Chapter 57: Mike, Joss, Singto

A/N:  The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

This is a continuation of chapter 48

Mike's POV

I looked wide eyed first at Singto and then at Joss.

I wasn't expecting Singto to have a violent reaction to Joss' offensive words to me.

I ran over to Joss who was still on the floor of the open deck, gently rubbing his jaw.

"Joss, are you alright???" I couldn't help my concern from showing through my voice.

Joss looked up at me. His facial expression was unreadable.

Then suddenly he spoke up. "Tell that gangster boyfriend of yours not to lay a hand on me again or I'm gonna give him a double dose of what he just did."

"Joss!" I scolded him, "stop jumping to conclusions! He's not my boyfriend!"

"How about, you do what you preach! Stop jumping to the conclusion that I am after Tay!" he was raising his voice now and a couple who had just come through the door and had walked into the open deck stopped to look at us.

I quickly stood up and held my hand out to Joss to help him up.

He took it and muttered his thanks as he got up with my help.

I noticed that Singto was still standing by the rails looking at me and Joss.

I quickly walked over to Singto.

"If you don't mind... " Singto did not let me finish my sentence.

"Don't worry about me," he said with a wave of his hand, "I'm heading back to my cabin now."

As Singto walked past Joss who was glaring at him, Singto said, "If you want your man to stick by you, treat him well."

Joss could not think of a comeback to Singto.

I got a big surprise when Joss suddenly called out to Singto just as Singto was walking out the door of the open deck, "You're actually right, bro!"

"Did you mean that?" I asked Joss, my voice just a little above a whisper.

For an answer, he suddenly moved forward to give me a tight hug.

"I'm sorry for my behavior tonight, Mike," he said, "can we start fresh with our friendship?"

"Of course," I said, my heart suddenly beating faster than usual.

"Let's sit over there by that bench," he said, breaking the hug and leading me by the hand over to a bench by the wall on the far side of the open deck which was not as brightly lit as the other areas of the open deck. In fact, it was very dim in that area, with only a small flickering bulb close to the bottom of the wall.

"You wanna listen to some music?" he asked after we sat down together.

"Sure," I said.

He took out his phone and ear pieces from his pocket.

"What music did you have in mind?" he asked.

"What about you?" I countered.

"No," he said, "we are going by your choice of music."

I stopped to think. What if my choice of music wasn't his cup of tea. Right there and then that would be one point against our compatibility.

Well, I thought, if we were not meant to be, that couldn't be helped.

"Let's listen to "Cry Me a River"," I suggested.

"Who's the artist?" he asked.

"Justin Timberlake," I replied.

He looked at me long and hard before he tapped on his phone.

I wondered what he was thinking about my song choice. His facial expression was unreadable as he handed me one end of his ear piece.

I plugged it into my ear.

"Ready?' he asked.

I nodded.

You were my sun, you were my earth

But you didn't know all the ways I love you, no

So you took a chance

And made other plans

But I bet you didn't think that they would come crashing down, no

You don't have to say what you did

I found out from him

Now there's just no chance for you and me

Suddenly Joss tapped on his phone screen and the song got paused.

Joss looked at me and said, "I'm sorry but I don't like the lyrics of this song."

"Well, then, let's listen to your song of choice," I said, mentally taking note not to invite him to listen to my song choices ever again.

"Do you like K-pop music?" he asked, with a hopeful expression on his face.

Oh dear, it has been officially confirmed. We are not compatible. At least in the area of music.

"I've never listened to any K-pop song," I said, "but I'm open to it."

"Great!" he exclaimed, his facial features lighting up. Oh dear, his handsome face was doing things to my heart rate, and making my heart beat out of rhythm.

I watched as he made several taps on his phone screen.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I nodded, not knowing what to expect.

It was a song called "Rhythm Ta" by a K-pop group called Ikon.

"You don't have to read the lyrics," he said, "just listen to the beat and the music."

I did as he suggested.

To my surprise I liked it. I actually found myself moving to the rhythm. I noticed that he was doing the same.

Okay, so if I were to judge by his choice of music, he seems to be the fun loving kind, not given much to serious thoughts. I couldn't decide if that was a plus or a minus.

But dammit, I liked the music. So, we'll see.

When the music ended, he said, "I'm sorry that I made you listen to my music."

"I actually liked it," I confessed.

"Really???" he looked at me in happy surprise.

Without warning, he hugged me tight again. I felt his hand rubbing my back gently up and down.

My heart was beating fast again.

Then he broke the hug and placed his phone and earpieces into his pocket. I knew what was going to happen next but I wasn't going to stop it from happening.

He placed both hands on either side of my face.

Slowly, his face moved closer and closer to mine. I found my own arms moving to encircle his waist.

My mouth was already slightly opened, ready to receive his kiss.

"Ehrmmm!"

Oh shit! Why would the ship's security officer be making his rounds at this time???

Was the cruise ship's administration expecting passengers on vacation to be committing any crime on this ship? Damn!!!

"Let's go to my cabin," Joss whispered, standing up and taking me by the hand.