Under a Million Stars

Chapter Twenty-one

Gun grunted as he slowly opened his eyes while adjusting to the light. His head was painful to say the least. It felt like something was smashed into his head a million times that he had a hard time remembering what happened the night before. The last thing he remembered was dancing with some random guy and the rest was a blur. He grimaced at the thought of him getting drunk. He hadn't been to any club in years for his alcohol tolerance was low and the last time he tried drinking he ended up sleeping at somebody else's home. But last night was an exception. He felt like he needed to drink alcohol to wash out the nagging feeling he had already buried years ago.

He attempted to get up, slowly cussing along the way as another wave of pain crossed his head. But his attempt was cut short when he couldn't get up not because of the pain in his head but because of the arm wrapped around his waist.

"Mmmmm..." He felt Off tightened his arm around his waist, slowly pulling him closer while nesting his head on the nook of Gun's shoulder. Gun was no longer breathing, literally.

"Good morning," Off mumbled, his arms snaking around Gun's waist pulling him into a full hug. His eyes were still half closed. Off then pulled Gun's head to his chest and went back to sleep, slightly snoring. Gun, now fully awake, had forgotten that his head was actually aching as he listened to Off's heartbeat and shallow breathing. Without a word, he threw all his worries out the window as he closed his eyes and rested his head on Off's chest.

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Five years ago. Off's birthday.

Gun smiled as he clutched the box of freshly baked cookies close to his chest. His multiple attempts of baking the best cookies for Off were out of sheer luck and persistence. They planned to go to the beach later with the gang for their plan last time wasn't pushed through as Off had to go home all of a sudden.

He peeked at his watch, the one Off gave and saw that he still had an hour to prepare. He fixed the ribbon on top of the box and carefully placed it on the table before joyfully skipping to the bathroom.

———

They were taking Off's car this time. Gun hummed his favorite song by the 1975 as he tapped his shoes on the sidewalk. He was waiting for his friends who were already on the way. Minutes later, a car honked and stopped in front of him. He joyfully opened the door of the passenger seat where he always sat every time Off drives but was surprised to see someone else sitting there already.

"Hi!" Mild flashed him a smile before waving at him.

He timidly smiled at her before closing the door and opened the backseat where Tay and Arm were sitting. He entered the vehicle and scooted inside while getting a glimpse at Off through the rearview mirror but Off's eyes were straight ahead.

"Okay. Now we're complete, let's go to the beach!" Tay shouted as he attempted to remove the tension in the air.

The beach was not that far but for Gun the ride felt like hours as he watched Off and Mild while he was sitting at the backseat. He knew Mild was a childhood friend but her actions said otherwise as she would fumble through Off's phone looking for songs to accompany them throughout the ride and would casually feed Off some food which the latter also took. He felt a pang of jealousy while looking at them especially when Mild took a picture of the two of them which she posted on Off's IG account using his phone.

That was when he realized that Off didn't have any photos of him on his social media accounts. Well they have lots of photos together but they were kept hidden in his phone, and he didn't even know if they would ever get to be seen by others.