The Curious Theory of Kissing

11: Gone Too Soon

trigger warning: death/suicide

xxx

Lunch will be over in 15 minutes but he hasn't even taken his lunch out of his bag.

"Dude lunch is almost over and that's not even due till next week." Lei was munching some bread while she turned her chair to face Mew.

"You know I like doing things as soon as I can. Plus, I have already scheduled my week." He was pressing numbers on his calculator while telling Lei his plans.

Lei rolls her eyes and looks at her best friend with unamused eyes. She honestly doesn't understand his obsession with time and routines. If he didn't laugh at her jokes and if he wasn't a full pledge otaku, she could have mistaken him as a robot.

She sighs when there were no signs of him stopping. She grabs his lunch box from his bag and laid it in front of him.

"Eat."

"Just one more question." Lei takes his calculator away and scolded him.

"And lunch is almost over. So eat!" Mew pouts and keeps his book because if he didn't Lei would forcefully shove the food in his mouth.

x

"Okay, class I have an announcement!" The homeroom teacher asks for their attention.

"It's that time of the year where the most brilliant students of this school offer their help to those who are struggling with their classes." The announcement wasn't even over but the science class where groaning at discontent. Every year the school holds free tutoring sessions to cater to the ones who couldn't keep up with the class. It starts in the last quarter of the school year to give failing students a chance to pass the finals. These are all for good intentions but at the expense of those who always have the best grades.

"Oh come on guys! It's only right to share your blessings right? Think of this as making merit! More merits, more good things to come!" Ms. Chin tries to lift the spirits of her obviously annoyed class but they ended up whining more.

"It's only for two months! Don't be so disappointed!" She walks up to each student and gave them each a paper.

"Written in this paper is the name of the student you're assigned with. Who knows? You might spark a new friendship!" No one was buying her optimism but nonetheless, they took the responsibility.

"Okay! Good luck and happy tutoring!"

Mew didn't mind helping someone at all. In fact, he was quite excited. Early on, he found out that guiding someone through knowledge was interesting for him. He liked asking questions and vice versa. He thought of it as a great way to communicate well with other people.

"Who you got?" Kaownah asked but he was just starting to unfold the paper.

The name Aran Paitoon was written in printed letters.

"Oh my god! Lei look who he got!" Kaownah's reaction confused Mew.

"What? Who is he?"

"Gosh, this is seriously why a lot of people find you boring. You only know two things, school and all things Japan." Kaownah's words hurt a bit but he wasn't wrong though.

"Okay listen carefully." He sat on Mew's desk and leaned in closer to have a little privacy.

"Aran is someone who is hard to ignore. He's literally a pretty boy. Even I agree that he looks prettier than other girls. And rumor has it that if you pay him any amount he'll do you. People saw him going around a nightclub, asking random strangers if they want to have a good time. Tum saw him once so I guess it's true." Mew blinks a few times before he looked at Lei for confirmation. Lei shrugs her shoulders but doesn't seem to disagree with Kaownah's claims.