*I--I'm afraid. Don't expect anything from this chapter. I don't want to disappoint anyone. Dear me, I'm sorry 😬😵*
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"Ahem. Ahem." Man and Boss approached us grinning widely.
"Where did you two went to? I've been waiting here so long I almost fell asleep." Bright stared at his two friends in disbelief.
"Ohoo, Boss and I are single and lonely men, like you, we want some happiness too." Man said high-fiving Boss. They're really silly these two. I smiled at them Bright pretended to hear nothing filing the song list on his right.
"Besides, it looks like you don't need our company." Boss said wiggling his eyebrows.
"You seem to know I'm visiting your building today." I looked at them. They both wore an expression of someone stealing but got caught. It's suspicious.
"Uh..Fong told us! That's right. Fong messaged us that you'll be coming here to give Bright some sort of invitation..Right?" Boss elbowed Man.
"Don't be mad Win, Fong is just worried you might be bullied here. Bright didn't know about this. We originally planned to accompany you but.."
"But you were overcome with lust and ditched him." Bright continued. Bullseye. Man and Boss said "sorry" feeling embarrassed.
That sly fox Fong what else has he been telling them about me?
I was about to ask them another question when their school bell rang. Maybe next time. We got outside of the audio room Boss and Man said goodbye walking quickly leaving Bright behind.
"One football game ago Fong looked like he will murder us but now they line each other like Bff's? Finally, they'll stop flooding me with useless messages in the middle of the night." Bright said facing Win.
"Same here. Fong even wanted to add me to their group chat. I just turn off my phone at night so he won't pester me to reply."
We looked at each other smiling shaking our heads.
"Uh.. I'll be going then. Please tell P'Dim I'll contact him about the Magazine. Bye." Bright seemed shy. He walked passed me my eyes followed him.
I began to walk on the opposite direction, a good distance away I heard Bright call my name I turned to look at him.
"Take care Win." Bright smiled. My heart!
Bright didn't wait for a reply and left.
I feel happy. I manage to give him the invitation and help him pick out a song. This might be the longest conversation we had since freshman years. I was smiling walking back to the Regular Building.
When I returned Pear and Earn dragged me inside the Student Council Office where P'Dim welcomed me with open arms. I told them what Bright had said to me P'Dim started throwing confetti in the air, Pear and Earn squealed and jumped, Fong attempted to steal a hug from Pear copying them. Me? I just stood there smiling awkwardly.
A day after, P'Dim posted an announcement of it to CUP. It became trending news in the Regular Building. Everyone started posting praises towards P'Dim creating multiple hashtags: #handsomeP'Dim, #bestpresidentever, #welovetheStudentCouncil, the list goes on.
"The news about our magazine is already trending! I'm itching to see a "sold out" sign once we release it!." Earn said excitedly giving us the meal P'Dim's lover had sent to celebrate the Council's success.
Fong shamelessly asked P'Dim to accept us as part-time members of the Magazine Club to which he agreed. He is determined to get closer to Pear with me as an accomplice.
"You can give Win any Bright related errands in the future. Win and Him are close. Bright even remembered his name duri--ouch!" Win kicked Fong under the table cutting what he was about to say.
"He-he. Want me to tell them your story? Okay! One time Fong was caught by the girl's boyfriend he flirted with and was--" a spoonful of food was shoved to Win's mouth.
"I'm hungry! Let's eat while the food is warm. I bought this drink especially for you Pear. Here." Fong smiled giving Pear her drink. Earn stared between them realizing something. Win just continued chewing the food in his mouth. Selfish Fox Fong!
"I thought you were looking at some hot girls but damn this is just a picture of you and Win." Man teased waving Bright's phone showing the selfie they took during Win's visit. Bright quickly grabbed the phone back from Man's hand.
Music class just ended. As expected, everyone was awed by Bright's singing some students even recorded it with their phones. While waiting for their next subject they sat on a vacant bench near the 4th floor lab.
"Shall I add you to our group chat? Fong said he will add Win too. Fong messaged me, the news of you being the cover of their magazine trended it made P'Dim so happy."
"No thanks. The three of you in one group chat is a nightmare. Even if you add Win he'll just turn off his phone and ignore your messages."
"That must be a joke. Why don't call Win tonight? Come on, you have his contact already. See if he's really turning off his phone." Man prodded.
"What if He's not and Win answers?"
"Pfft. Then just talk to him! You know, ask him about the magazine or anything. You're a genius you'll figure something out okay?" Man gestured a thumbs up. Bright stared at his phone contemplating.
Win sighed scanning the 50 page reading material their professor assigned them to read and write a review of. Thanks to Fong he'll be sleeping late tonight. He now needs to balance his time attending classes, helping Fong with Pear and do errands for the club.
Win's beauty sleep is no more.
Time check 7:30 pm, with luck he can finish this before midnight.
30 minutes later Fong called Win's phone begging Win to help make a love letter for Pear. Win flat out refused focusing on the reading material instead. Fong was persistent calling three more times to convince Win.
The phone rang for the 4th time. Win answered the call irritatingly.
"Ai Fong this review is due tomorrow. It's more important than your damn love letter! Stop calling me already!" 5 seconds of silence then a voice replied.
"...Good evening to you too Win."
Huh?! Whose voice is this? This is not Fong?
Win slowly moved his head to stare at the caller's ID. What the!? It clearly shows Bright's name! Win panicked. Hanging up would be rude. Should he say "good evening" back? Cut the call and send him an excuse that the signal was bad?
"Uh...good evening? W--what's up?" Win screamed internally face palming. Really Win? Did you just said that to Bright?
"Nothing, just checking if you're really turning your phone off at night. It's probably a lie since we're talking right now."
Bright chuckled. He imagined a lot of scenarios that would happen when he calls Win tonight but never did he expect an angry and panicked Win would be one of them.
"It's not a lie. I was busy making a review then Fong kept calling me about his love letter. Um...S--sorry I thought it was Fong calling me again." Win mouthed "idiot" to himself.
"If the girl is important to him Fong should write the letter himself. Making other people do it seem insincere. Can't blame him though, sometimes expressing your feelings is hard."
Bright said enjoying the night breeze from the balcony of his dorm room.
"Sigh. Then this would be the first time I'll be writing a love letter but how? Do I need to have someone in mind writing it?"
Hearing those words from Bright, a person who receives tons of confessions and love letters throughout his life Win thought of agreeing to Fong's request.
"Me. You can start by writing a love letter for me."
". . . ."
"W--what I meant was I have first-hand experience about it so I'm familiar with this thing. You can pretend the recipient is me, I'll review it and give you feedbacks, you know...like, a PR maybe??"
Bright can't believe what he had just said. He anxiously waited for Win's reply.
"Oh...Okay? Please don't expect much, I'm not a good writer. I'm--thanks for helping me Bright." Was it cringy? Be still my heart.
"Mhm. I won't bother you then so you can finish your review early. For now don't worry about the love letter Win."
Oh, I will now worry more coz Bright is the recipient of my letter. Win checked if Bright ended the call, he didn't. Win wondered if Bright had forgotten to end the call then Bright spoke gently.
"Goodnight Win." Abruptly ending the call. Again, Bright did not wait for Win's reply. Laying himself in bed, he was about to close his eyes when a text notification popped up.
"You didn't wait for my reply so I'll just say it through line, have a Good night Bright." Bright didn't reply back and just stared at Win's text for a long time.
"Sweet Dreams bunny." Putting his phone aside, Bright closes his eyes. It's gonna be a good night indeed.
Lacking sleep Win managed to finish his review and submitted it before noontime. Fong went running to the magazine club seconds after the class ended. They're going to move boxes of old magazine issues for the past years to free up some space.
Win took his time walking to let Fong do half of the work.
Out of nowhere 4 senior male students blocked him from the front and the back. Win became nervous.
"Hey now, relax. We just want to talk." A senior male with a smug look puts his left arm over Win's shoulder while the rest laughed.
"Aren't you the one in the post? That "friend" of the so called "Prince"? Aren't you lucky. I wonder how it feels to be friends with the elite." Said the tall senior guy who seems to be the leader of the group.
"You must be mistaken P'. Me and him are just old classmates from our freshman years and we happened to meet. Those pictures..they played with the angle P'." Win distanced himself to them but can only move an inch from where he stands.
"Bullshit. Don't fool us. Someone had seen you entering the Gifted Building then came back and met P'Dim. Everyone knows no one can enter that building without the President's permission." Said the 3rd senior aggressively.
"A nobody suddenly being close with the president, must be nice having the prince to back you up. I hate people like you especially your friend. Better watch your back dear Nong."
The senior left after threatening him. Win breathe in deep a bit shaken by what just happened he continued walking telling himself everything's okay, that no one should know, not Fong and definitely not Bright.
Win opened the club's door Pear and Earn greeted him smiling, Fong sweating from moving 50% of the boxes handed Win one box silently wishing for Pear and him to be alone.
If Fong finds out about what happened he'll pick a fight with those seniors for sure, as a member of the magazine club supervised by the president it will caused problems to them. Win doesn't want his friend getting into trouble because of him.
Win suddenly thought of Bright.
"You're gonna be okay Win. Don't worry."
Win imagined Bright saying this to him. These words comforted Win at the moment.
*What to do. 2gether the series just ended and my brain is not working properly 😵. Forgive me in advance*