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New rolled his eyes as he watched Tay bring yet another girl to his house. The only good thing he admired about Tay though was he never let anyone inside his bedroom saying that he couldn't afford to tamper their hangout place.
"Hi!" the girl greeted New and sat on the chair beside the counter. Tay's parents were away on a business convention so it was just him and Tay and some helpers.
"Hello," he replied flatly and grabbed the glass of water in front of him.
"I heard you're Tay's best friend. What's he like?" the girl beamed at him but he just dismissed her and went out of the kitchen.
He scowled at Tay who was going his direction.
"Hey bud. So what can you say about my new girl?" Tay wiggled his eyebrows.
"As if my comments would matter. Just go ahead and have fun. But go easy on her when you break up," he then grabbed his bag from the couch and swung it over his shoulder.
"I'm going out by the way. Mom needs help in her boutique since Sundays are the busiest."
"You're leaving me here?" Tay frowned at him as if he was a child being left by his parents.
"You've got your girl right here. You won't be bored. Gotta go," he tapped Tay's shoulder before heading out.
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New smiled at the woman after handing her change. He was the day's cashier as their designated one asked for a day off because she had to attend a wedding.
"Thank you, Ma'am. Come again."
The woman smiled coyly at him and tucked her stray hair at the back of her ear.
"Uhm, can I get your number? You know... I can recommend your shop to my friends."
"You can still recommend our shop without asking for my number, Ma'am," he refused politely.
He'd been through the same thing a couple of times but he would just politely reject them.
The woman then grimaced before turning on her heels and left.
"Why did you reject her? She's quite a catch."
He eyes widened when he saw Tay approaching the counter.
"What are you doing here?"
"I got bored at home since you're not there," Tay replied and leaned on the counter whilst casually checking out some woman who were choosing dresses.
"You should really get yourself a girl, New. Maybe that's why you're grumpy because you haven't had sex in a long time."
He just scowled at Tay and entertained the next customer.
"If you have nothing else to do, can you just leave? I'm working here."
Tay just raised his eyebrows and sat on the nearby couch, attracting some attention from the buyers.
He just let Tay do what he wanted. Surprisingly, their customers doubled the moment Tay stayed in their boutique.
"Come on. Let's go," he called Tay after he had closed the shop.
"Finally!" Tay sprang up to his feet and clapped his hands.
"I didn't tell you to stay here. I thought you were having fun with your new girl back home."
"I told you it's boring without you. Let's go somewhere. I'm gonna introduce you to some girls," Tay dragged him by the wrist.
"Tay. Just stop whatever you are planning, will you. I don't like it," he retrieved his wrist from Tay's grasp.
"Oh come on, Newwie. You're not getting younger, too. At least have some fun while you're young."
"I don't need to be in temporary relationships just to have fun, Tay. I don't want to use others for the sake of my enjoyment."
He started walking ahead of him. His steps heavy against the tiled floor.
"Okay, I'm sorry. But will you please eat dinner with me? I'm starving."
He just nodded at Tay and went to his car.
"Just lead the way. I'll just follow you."
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The waitress smiled as she placed the steak on their table. Tay, being the natural flirt that he was, smiled back at her.
He scoffed and started slicing his steak, fully neglecting the flirtation that was happening right in front of his eyes.
Unbeknownst to Tay, he was gay, a closeted one. Well not to his parents. He already came out to them five years ago. And it had also been five years that he was hiding his feelings for his best friend, Tay.
That was why it pained him every time Tay switched from one girl to another whilst he continued hiding his feelings for him for the fear of ruining their friendship and losing Tay in the process.
Tay cleared his throat making New look at him.
"What?" he queried trying to sound normal as possible.
"You're quiet today. Is something wrong?"
"I've always been quiet, Tay."
"But not when you're with me. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just a bit tired from earlier."
"Okay. Just tell me if you need anything," Tay smiled at him and continued eating.
They were in the middle of eating when a woman approached them.
"Hey Tay. Oh, I wasn't really mistaken. It's really you!"
"Hey, Samantha. How you've been?"
"Oh, I'm just fine. Is your number still the same? We should hang out some time."
"Sure. By the way, this is New, my best friend."
Yeah, your same old best friend.
New faked a smile.
"Hi there. Okay, Tay. I gotta go. See you around."
New internally cringed when she blew Tay a kiss.
"See. You can't blame me. Girls come to me. Not the other way around."
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