Chasing the Sun

019

The whole time we went down the rooftop our fingers were intertwined. I had no idea if Tawan had no idea he was still holding my hand, but it really didn't matter to me.

I could get used to this.

When we got to my room, I noticed Tawan was still holding my hand firmly.

"You can let go of my hand now."

As if he'd already realized that he was still holding my hand, he quickly let go of it and wore an awkward look.

"I'm going inside now, you should too before the teacher comes.", I said as I entered the room. When I sat and turned to Tawan's direction, he was still standing there looking at his hand. After a few moments, he left and made his way to his room.

That was the very first time I saw him reveal himself to me. Not the usual cold and expressionless Tawan, but the fragile and sentimental side of him. Between the two of us I was the one who was terminally ill, but with the way he cried at the rooftop, I felt like his pain was beyond excruciating.

My classmates kept asking why my uniform was soaking, but I couldn't answer them because my mind was still filled with the thoughts of Tawan.

When the class ended, I came to his room to look for him. When I got there, he was standing in front of the blackboard cleaning all alone.

"Looks like someone got assigned to clean the room today.", I said as I entered the room.

"Yeah...it's not like I go to school everyday so my classmates grabbed the opportunity to have me clean the room today.", he replied, still brushing the writings off the board.

"Well, it will take you a whole day with all this mess. Let me help you.", I replied as I started arranging the chairs.

"Suit yourself."

Little by little the messy room got cleaned, and I don't know if it's because we shared doing the task, but it didn't feel exhausting at all.

"I'll bring you home today, to thank for your help."

"Okay."

We got into his bike and he drove me to my unit.

"Thank you for giving me a free ride, you should go now and rest or else you'll catch a cold.", I said as I handed him the helmet. Just as I was to enter the building, he caught my hand and stopped me on my tracks.

"Can I sleep at your place tonight?"

I was surprised at his question. I thought it was pretty obvious to him that I was surprised as he smirked when he saw the change in my facial expression.

"Don't worry I won't do anything to you."

"Then why do you want to sleep at my place?"

His cold face returned again. I've already forgotten how he looked when he's serious because of the emotions he showed me today, but seeing him in wear that cold expression made me remember how scary he looked.

"I can't go home today. Not when I feel like this."

I sighed at his reply and remembered about what happened at the rooftop awhile ago. He still must be feeling heavy that he couldn't bear to go home.

"Okay, I'll let you sleep at my place tonight. But don't blame me if you don't get enough sleep."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Let's go, all that cleaning had me starving. And you're gonna cook for me.", I said as we both entered the building.