Beyond the Screen

5

Off has just left Gun's apartment to ride with his friends to Pattaya and man, Gun misses him so much already. He already knows how miserable he is going to be without having Off around. It's like there is never enough time in the world to spend with his, with his..boyfriend. Gun blushed at the thought of Off Jumpol being his boyfriend. Although they haven't had a discussion regarding the degree or definition of their relationship, they have been doing things that people in romantic relationships do. The only thing missing was the validation of a label. A label, something that can both simplify and complicate a precarious situation. The passing thought of describing the relationship between Off and himself as 'precarious' surprises Gun for a quick second and he shakes his head as if to shake the thought of out of his noggin. Be that as it may, the time passes by so quickly when Gun is around Off and time seems to progress at a snail's pace when Off is absent.

What is Gun possibly going to do for the three days for which Off would be away? He could go shopping and stupidly aggravate his savings account or he could go out with his friends and have a couple of drinks. Gun sighs heavily at the realization that those things do not seem as appealing as just being in Off's arms and watching that dumb cooking show that Off likes on cable tv even though Off cannot cook to save his own life.

Gun grabs at his head in frustration. If he continues doing this every time he can't figure out something, he is going to be responsible for tearing all his hair out before he even reaches the age of balding. Nevertheless, Gun's thoughts continues to be constantly inundated with Off whether rereading past texting conversations, or reliving their moments together on and off set and thinking about what to do in the future. His life is now intricately woven Off's and there is no escaping from this. Even when he sleeps, he dreams of Off.

"Bro, you seriously need to chill." He tells himself out loud when his heartbeat accelerates.

Is that what falling in love feels like?

***

On the other hand, several miles away, Tay begins walking down the bus aisle with a small bucket in hand.

"Ok boys, time to give her up." He announces and quickly grabs onto a seat for leverage when the bus swerves a little. The only person missing in action is P'jennie who fell sick the night before with a sore throat.

"Who?" Chimmon asks, not even tearing his eyes away from his phone screen.

"There is no 'she' here." Drake says in a confused tone, trying to decode what Tay is getting at.

"Your phones! Now." Tay shouts, hoisting up the bucket for emphasis and effectively garnering everyone's attention because, honestly, what did he just say. "This trip is for us out to plug out and reconnect with each other." He pauses to swipe Nanon's phone from his lose grip.

"Hey!" Nanon yelps in shock to which Tay flashes a wide tooth grin before resuming his speech. "Now, we can't have that if we are going to be glued to our phones and constantly checking our Instagram feeds."

A series of scoffs and groans flood the bus.

"Come on guys. Tay is right." Off pipes up from the rear of the bus. "As close as we think we are, there is so much more to be learnt about each other. This can be seriously good for us to recharge and reenergize and best believe we need it."

Off's addition seemed to have bode well with the others who finally yet reluctantly relinquish their mobile devices to Tay's bucket.

"Thanks babe." Tay winks at Off and beckon for him to also drop his phone in the bucket and all of a sudden Off regrets opening his mouth. With a tight-lipped grin and a heavy heart, he gently added his phone to the collection and while doing so, his cell seems to acquire a mind of its own and vibrated in objection. Just then Off tries to assemble every fibre of self-control in order to not grab his phone and check his messages.