In It To Win(win) It

14 - Ah, Come On!

"Did I see him makeout with you when he was dropping you off?" Ten asked Si Cheng a few days later.

The latter had just come back studying with Yuta; they were in one of the study spaces in the library, going over statistics. Yuta dropped Si Cheng off at the Mexican restaurant where he was going to meet Ten for dinner.

And no, they did not make out. They just kissed a lot for a good minute or two. Ten was exaggerating.

"Ten, get off your fantasy world," Si Cheng said, looking around the very full place. It was funny to him, seeing only Asians in the Mexican place. The owners were also Asian, but the wife was half Hispanic, her father coming from Mexico, so that's how the family knew how to make Mexican cuisine. "I'm hungry."

"Why would my fantasy be watching you two make out?" Ten asked him. "You're delusional."

"You know what I meant," Si Cheng said. Thankfully, the conversation came to a close when one of the waitresses came over to attend them.

They were seated in a booth and ordered their drinks, a mango jarrita for Si Cheng, and a Coca Cola for Ten; both were in the glass bottles, which made them taste better, nobody argue with them.

When the waitress went away, Ten flipped through the menu without really looking at it; his eyes seemed to be in a daze. "Si Cheng, can I ask you something?"

Si Cheng nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Do you think Johnny is cheating on me?" Ten blurted out, immediately covering his face in embarrassment.

Si Cheng was confused? "What? Why would-why would you think that?" He whispered, making sure other customers couldn't hear them.

Because the thing was, Johnny loved Ten. You could see in the way that he always talked about him, how every time Si Cheng saw him, he was doing something for the latter. Si Cheng had always looked up to the couple, wanting a relationship like theirs based on how they trusted each other.

Ten flipped through menu, this time staring intently at the menu. "I just don't see him anymore. He cancels our dates, he doesn't want to study together, not even let me sleep over. I don't know what to do anymore. What if he found someone and-and-"

"Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul," Si Cheng said correctly, which surprised Ten; people weren't good at pronouncing his name, especially out of memory. "I don't know much about Johnny like you, but I don't think he's cheating on you, at least I hope not." He reached out for Ten's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, okay? You know how Johnny gets with work."

Ten looked down at his lap. "But what if he is, though?" He whispered.

"Then fuck him," Si Cheng said. "Que vaya a la chingada," he recited correctly in Spanish, right when the waitress came up to take their order. "Oh, sorry, can you give us a few more minutes?"

"But-But I don't want to fuck him- well, in that meaning," Ten said. "I just-I don't know, well, you know he was my first," he explained. "And he's a good person, and-"

"Exactly, he's a good person so he won't cheat on you," Si Cheng said. "If you want, I'll ask Yuta to help me stalk Johnny this week to see, okay? Just don't think about it for now." Si Cheng let go of Ten's hand and picked up the menu. "We have some food to eat."

"Time to eat fucking arepas," Ten said, picking up his as well. "Gonna order five of those bad boys."

"Arepas aren't Mexican," Si Cheng said. "I think they're Venezuelan."

"Their Hispanic, so what-oooh, look, they have the shrimp ones! Ima order five."

Si Cheng rolled his eyes and looked at the selection of tortas. Even though this was a Mexican place, they offered a lot of types of Latino food.