After Forever

Part 5

Tay was pleasantly surprised when he saw Pluem that afternoon. It had been a few weeks since he last saw Pluem and he was amazed by how he seemed to become more and more identical to New as he grew older.

Tay had arrived at the café just a few minutes before their scheduled meet up time and had already ordered drinks and pastries for both of them.

"Kuya!" Pluem said excitedly as he hugged Tay.

"Hey! How's my favorite nursing student?" Tay said after sitting down.

"Haha. Fiat's a nursing student too kuya. Better add 'one of my' to your statement."

"Oh yeah, I remember," Tay said.

They proceeded to have a long conversation about the things that have happened to Pluem in the past few weeks and how his conversation with Chimon went the night before.

Before Tay knew it, it was almost 5pm and he had to go home to prepare dinner with New for the boys.

"Oh no. I have to go now," Tay said. "Let's take a selfie first before I forget. I'll post it on IG right away. Oh, I changed my mind. I'll send it to New and let's see how he will react. He's gonna be jealous. When was the last time you guys saw each other? Haha."

After taking a selfie, Tay was about to send the photo to New when his phone began to ring.

"Hello New?" Tay said, grinning. "I was just about to send you a photo but you called. What's up?.. What? Okay. I'll check it out. Bye. Talk to you later."

"What happened kuya?" Pluem asked curiously.

"New said someone posted stolen photos of your kuya Bright and some guy having a coffee date earlier. He said it's on Twitter. Let's check."

They both opened their accounts and searched for the photos.

"Oh wow," Pluem said. "But it's okay right kuya? Kuya Win has a new boyfriend now."

"Hmm," Tay said as he examined the photos. Bright looked happy while talking to this guy and he was even laughing in one of the photos. However, it wasn't Bright's face that bothered him.

"Pluem, look closely at the other guy's face. Does he remind you of someone we know?"

Pluem did what he was told and scrutinized the photos. After a while, his eyes widened. "Whoa. He looks a lot like Kuya Win!"

"Right?" Tay said as he scratched his chin. "You know earlier, Bright and Win just saw each other for the first time in almost a year. Then just a few hours later, Bright is dating a guy who looks exactly like Win? I guess New is right. We have to keep a closer eye on Bright."

Pluem shrugged as he looked at his phone again. He was used to his kuya New, Tay, Bright and Win's friendship. They were so supportive and protective of each other that even small things like the photos was a big deal to them.

Pluem was sure that if something wrong ever happens to any of them, the others would drop everything to go and help. He could only dream of having friends like that. Well at least I have Nanon and Fiat, he thought.

---

"Where are Nanon and Fiat?" Tay asked when he opened the door and saw Chimon alone waiting outside. It was just a few minutes before seven and he and New have already prepared dinner.

"Nanon refused to go with me kuya. He said he will just go with Fiat," Chimon said sadly.

Tay saw the sadness in Chimon's eyes but he was still a bit disappointed in him.

"Come in. Go say hi to New. He's in the kitchen," Tay said flatly.

Chimon slowly walked in, placed his bad on the sofa and went to the kitchen where he found New laying plates on the table.