Just One More Night

Chapter One

Do you ever wonder why things have to turn out the way they do?

"So, what do you think?".

It had only been a few minutes since Gulf arrived, but he already loved everything about Chulalongkorn University. He had heard so much about it, mainly because Mild – his annoying best friend – had talked about it non-stop for the past year. Until Gulf had finally decided to enroll at the University too. He had enjoyed his sabbatical, but now he felt ready for this new experience. He was excited to finally study something he was good at, considering how much he had missed playing football.

"Still need to actually start some classes before I can say anything".

Mild pouted, his excitement vanishing for a moment. "You always know how to be a turn-off. I mean, you're actually starting your University life: parties, new friendships, parties...did I say parties?".

Gulf rolled his eyes and then laughed at his best friend. "Yeah, only a thousand times already".

Gulf loved to tease him, even if he was also secretly happy to be there with him. Unfortunately for Mild, he was not the kind of guy who admitted things easily. That's why they worked so well: they were complete opposites, but they accepted each other's characters without judgement. It was like that since kindergarden.

"Gulf?".

Hearing someone call him by his name, Gulf turned in the direction of the voice. He was surprised when he realised that the voice belonged to one of his old classmates from high school: "Saint?".

Mild didn't know him well, considering they were in different classes at that time, but to him it was just an excuse to make new friends. Saint's smile grew wider. "I almost didn't recognize you! You're so different".

Gulf smiled back, happy to see another friendly face, even if they didn't keep in touch. "You're looking well too".

Only at that point Gulf noticed there were other people next to him, studying him with curiosity.

"Are you one of his exes?".

Gulf blushed so hard that his ears turned almost purple. "What? No...".

Saint slapped Run's neck for that silly interrogation. "Stop it, we're just friends".

Run laughed, glancing at Zee, who was pretty quiet, even for him. "I was protecting him. The guy can't even hide his jealousy".

Zee glared at him. "I wasn't jealous".

Saint smiled, brushing his hand against his.

"Nice to meet you Gulf. I'm sorry for Run, really".

Gulf shook his hand, seeing him more relaxed now that things were clarified. "Nice to meet you. I guess I'm sorry for Mild too".

Gulf and Zee exchanged an amused look, waiting for Mild ti realize they were talking about him. "Hey!".

It was then that two other good-looking guys joined the group. "What do we have here?".

The first one smiled at Gulf, reaching out to him to shake his hand. "I'm Tong".

But Gulf was briefly lost in his own thoughts, staring at the guy next to him. Was he...?

"Mew, there you are! We were talking to Saint's friends".

Mew stared at Gulf for a handful of seconds, which felt way longer from Gulf's point of view. He was pretty sure he was holding his breath the entire time. He had no idea he was going to bump into him too. But when Mew looked away, Gulf knew he didn't remember him at all. How could he? They had only talked once and he wasn't the one having a huge and secret crush on him.

"I'm Mew".

Gulf cleared his throat, because Mild was looking at him and didn't want to act  suspiciously. "Gulf".

Gulf felt the sudden urge to go to class, anywhere really instead of standing there, feeling stupidly uncomfortable. His eyes flattered back to Saint. "Uhm...well, it was good to see you. Let's keep in touch?".

Mild's eyes widened in outrage. "Wait, I was just getting invited at this awesome party".

Mild shot his best friend a beseeching gaze. Of course he was looking for some party to crash already. Gulf should have known better.

"Well, you can go of course, I don't want to intrude...".

Saint was about to say something but – to everyone's surprise – Mew spoke directly to Gulf. "You should come".

For a moment there, Gulf felt naked under his intense stare. His face was emotionless, but Gulf could still sense something else in his eyes. He did not know exactly what, yet.

Mild grabbed his arm excited, and both Mew and Gulf stopped their staring contest. "Yes! You can't back off now".

Gulf regained his senses, turning to Saint once again. "Ok, so...text me the deets, I guess. See you tonight".

Then he pushed Mild, who was busy making dirty jokes with Run. "Let's go".

Mild waved his arms happily, and then picked up his pace to reach his best friend.

In the meantime, Tong leaned his elbow on Mew's shoulder, grinning. "What was that?".

His best friend shrugged, pretending not to understand. "What? He's cute".

Tong rolled his eyes, knowing it was not his place to say anything. At least for now. Mew took one last look in Gulf's direction and then disappeared in the university's hallway too.

Author's note: Hi guys♥️ I decided to start my second story while I'm preparing for the ending of Small Doses. This is a quite different story, but I hope you'll grow to like this one too! Let me know in the comments what you think about (even if this is only an opening chapter). Love you ✨