SOTUS: The University Days (and Other Universes)

Tulips Are Better Than One (Cup of Coffee): Part 5

The thing about the kiss is... Arthit didn't expect it to end the way it did. When he gave in, he was expecting Kongpob to do everything. He was ready to be kissed for minutes, pushed onto the bed, and consumed until he's breathless. And if someone's gonna ask him, if Kongpob opened the buttons of his shirt, he wouldn't mind. Like, at all.

But none of those things happened. Kongpob pulled away just right before Arthit used his tongue, opened the door, and gestured towards it.

"My stomach is aching again," he said.

That time, Arthit actually believed him, partly because he was still feeling guilty of being the cause of Kongpob's tummy calamity, partly because Kongpob's ached face did something to Arthit's chest.

On his way home, however, when his mind was still inside Kongpob's room, he realized it's probably because Kongpob has a girlfriend and he felt guilty. And suddenly, Arthit felt guilty too.

But after two weeks of nothing from Kongpob, after which Arthit learned that Prae wasn't really Kongpob's girlfriend, he was convinced that that too, Kongpob's little emergency in his room that day, was a lie.

Kongpob is... Kongpob is just the worst! Arthit screams in his mind.

"No flowers from your suitor today?" Knot joked one Wednesday morning. Arthit simply responded with his grumpy face, and Knot probably thought it was just normal.

Arthit even wrote "dumbfuck" one time when Em ordered the flower boys' daily coffee, but he received no response, not even a single stalk, and Arthit couldn't be talked to that entire day.

Arthit can't even explain why he's being mad. Is he mad that Kongpob and Prae lied to him and embarrassed him in front of everyone? Probably, but not as much as he expected. Is he mad that Kongpob kissed him? After a five-minute-long talk to himself, reminiscing what happened in the room for the third time that day, he's sure it's not about it. Is he mad that Kongpob cut it short? Probably. Is he mad that Kongpob is practically ghosting him now?

He cannot answer that, but as he crumples the bills paid by his customer in his fist, his manager pushes him away from the cash register and forces him to take a break.

He's now sitting in their break room, staring at Tutah, unaware he's watching him eat his sandwich.

"Why?" Tutah asks.

"What why?" He snarls.

Tutah just rolls his eyes and takes another bite off his meal. Arthit, on his seat, however, changes his stance and softens his face. Maybe, just maybe, Tutah can help him.

"Ai'Toot," he says.

Tutah looks away from his phone and faces Arthit. "What?"

Arthit stands and takes the seat beside him. "Uhmmmmm..."

"I'm eating my sandwich, and I'm so sad I'm only eating a sandwich, so if you don't have anything important to say, go away."

Arthit takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He opens them before speaking again. "You knew me for three years now, right?"

"Uhm-hmm," Tutah responds after swallowing a massive bite, still not looking at him.

"And you have... uhmmm... experience with men, right?"

This captures Tutah's full attention. "Where is this going?"

There's silence before Arthit speaks again. "I kissed someone..."

Tutah just stares at him.

"He's a guy and..."

"Oh my god!" Tutah yells. "Arthit, you kissed a—"