After Forever

Part 15

Chimon pulled over on the side of the road after hearing Pluem say he was gay.

He slowly turned his head towards Pluem.

"Pluem look at me," he said.

Pluem, who was looking out the window, momentarily glanced at him but immediately shifted his gaze back to the window.

"Hey, I said look at me," Chimon repeated.

When Pluem bowed his head and continued to avoid his gaze, Chimon grabbed his hand.

"Okay. Just listen then," Chimon said while holding Pluem's hand. "Are you freaking nuts? You don't seriously think that would be an issue for me, right?

"Kuya Tay, kuya New, kuya Win, and kuya Bright are all gay. And they're probably the best bunch of people I've ever known. I love them all as if they're all my brothers. Why on earth would you think you being gay would make me hate you?"

Pluem just kept quiet, seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts.

Chimon sighed. "Pluem, come on. Did you really think I was homophobic or something?"

Pluem shook his head.

"Okay. So what's the problem?"

"Uhm, I don't know. You asked me what are the five things that I think makes me imperfect. Those are the things that came to mind."

Chimon thought for a while before responding. "You're a smart guy, Pluem. I believe you know that one's sexuality does not make one imperfect. For what it's worth, I want you to know I accept you for who you are and you can be yourself when you're with me. We're friends, right?"

Pluem nodded.

"Okay. So that's settled," Chimon said as he started driving again. "And if anyone bullies you, just tell me. I'll break their bones."

Pluem smiled. "You say things like that yet you still have bruises from what happened yesterday."

"Haha. Well that was a special case since the guy was technically a goon," Chimon responded.

After a while, Pluem mumbled, "Uh Chi.."

"What?"

"You're still holding my hand," Pluem said sheepishly.

"Oh," Chimon exclaimed. "I forgot. Sorry."

---

Tina coughed to make her presence known. She had been standing a few meters from the breakfast nook for a minute already and the two men who came to visit the rest house were still hugging each other. One of them was crying so she didn't know what to do.

She couldn't figure out what was happening because the two guys didn't look like they were brothers. She shrugged. Maybe they're just really close friends, she thought.

"Hi guys, excuse me. Do you need more time? I'll come back later," she said gently, maintaining a few meters of distance between her and the two men.

Win quickly pushed Bright away upon hearing Tina's voice. "Oh no, we're ready miss. Sorry. I just received some bad news."

Tina walked up to them with a worried face. "Aww. Is everything okay? I'm sorry. You can take as much time as you want. I'll be here the whole day anyway."

Win smiled at her. "I'm fine now, miss. Thank you. Let's go ahead with the tour so we can head back to Manila before it gets too late."

Tina eyed the other guy who still seemed like his mind was somewhere else.