Just One More Night

Chapter Ten

"Gulf, are you there?"

Gulf had completely spaced out in the middle of the cafeteria, leaving half of his sandwitch on his plate. He was talking with Mild about the amazing weekend spent with Mew and his friends – deliberately leaving some of their intimate moments out of it – when he was distracted by an unpleasant view not too far from him.

Mew was laughing with a girl in his arms, or better, he was practically lifting her up and she was resting her face on his shoulders. Gulf tried hard not to be bothered but it was so uncharacteristic seeing him so open with someone. He was used to other people constantly trying to flirt with him by now but this was a whole other story.

"Yeah, I'm here". Gulf quickly looked away. "I just lost my appetite. Can we go?". Gulf didn't wait for his answer, already standing.

But Run had other plans for him: "Gulf, come here!".

Trying to fake a smile, Gulf joined Mew's group. The girl immediately smiled at him, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "Hello there, I'm Lynn".

Gulf shook her hand, taking this opportunity to take a look at her. She was short and objectively beautiful. She was the cute type, the kind of girl capable of lighting up a room when walking in it. There were good reasons to think she was aware of the sphere of prettiness surrounding her, still she was good at pretending not to notice. "Gulf". She checked him out too for a handful of seconds.

"What the hell are you doing here, Lynn?". Tong hugged her from behind, stroking her hair. They all seemed genuinely happy to see her.

"Well, I wanted to surprise y'all. It seems like I succeeded". She smiled, winking at Mew. Then her attention went back to Gulf. "So, how do you know this bunch of idiots?".

Run bit off his tongue, trying to refrain from laughing. Tong scratched his head, hiding the smirk of his face. Mew and Gulf shared a look, struggling.

"Let's say that Gulf is helping Mew releasing some stress lately, isn't he? Look at this relaxed face..." Saint went to Gulf's aid, teasing Mew and pinching his cheeks.

"Oh, stop it". Mew blushed a little, exposed like that.

Gulf wanted to disappear when Lynn understood what they were referring to. "Ooh, I see". She seemed surprised, probably because Mew didn't have the habit of introducing his sex friends to his actual friends.

"Well, it was nice to meet you but..." Gulf tried to say goodbye in the most polite way he knew but again they didn't let him. This time it was Mew himself, gently stopping him by the wrist. "Wait, actually...Lynn wanted to have a look around, she's thinking of enrolling in the Sports Department".

Gulf really wanted to say no but he had not had the time to think about a plausible excuse. "We'll come too".

Maybe Mew thought it was better like this because he didn't know Lynn but it was actually worse, considering how she was already holding his arm. Still, he accepted. "Sure, I still have some free time before class".

It had only been a few minutes but Gulf already regretted his decision. Not only he was not sure if Lynn was listening to a single word he was saying but he was getting nervous every time he caught her touching Mew's arm and making him laugh. Also, no one seemed to notice how uncomfortable he was. Or maybe he was a better actor he thought he was. Gulf just really needed a good night's sleep, even if it was still so early. He knew everyone was excited to catch up with her after a long time, still it was hard to watch: Lynn and Mew seemed closer than the rest of them and Gulf had assumed his other friends – the one he knew already – were Mew's closest friends.

"Hey, do you remember when everyone in our neighborhood thought we were together because you used to scare off all my suitors?". She was definitely not listening to him anymore.

"Well, you couldn't be with just anybody, you have terrible taste in men". She smirked, all too pleased by his words. "Not always...". She smiled at Mew, who was not observant enough but Gulf was pretty sure she was flirting with him.

"At some point we thought you were going to end up together". Tong smacked Run, rolling his eyes. "What?".

Tong sighed. "You're so oblivious sometimes".

While everybody was busy talking, Mew got closer to Gulf. "I'm sorry for all this crazyness". His whisper and his hand brushing his shoulder was making him feel better already, even if he didn't want to. "How about we spend some time together after dinner?".

They shared a smile, a brief moment which was only theirs. Gulf nodded because he needed to be alone with him more than he wanted to let on.

The rest of the day went by all too slow but at least the soccer practice wasn't that bad. After such a stressful day, a relaxing shower was exactly what he needed. After waiting for Mew for a while lying on his bed, he decided to knock at his door. Unfortunately, it was not Mew the one holding the door.

"Gulf?" Lynn was only wearing very short pants and a slightly revealing tank top. She didn't seem as friendly as she was a few hours before.

"Is Mew there?". Gulf hated the idea of talking to her right now but maybe she was just passing by.

"He's in the bathroom, taking a shower. We were about to watch a movie".

Really? He just ditched him like that? "Oh..". She raised an eyebrow and Gulf could not help but notice how much she was eager for him to go away.

"Lynn? Who's there?". Mew's voice sounded distant, he was probably still in the bathroom. "No one".

Gulf didn't want to make a scene and look like a pathetic loser. So he decided to just walk back to his room, with a lump in his throat.