Chapter 8

*Ring Ring*

Gem patiently awaits Neil to answer his phone a few seconds later

"hello?" A hoarse deep voice answered

Gem widens his eyes since the voice doesn't seem to sound like Neil at all "Oh, hello, this Gem, Senior Neil's Junior in a University" Gem said with a mannered voice

"...Oh, Gem, it's Neil, Why the sudden politeness?, you didn't talk to me like this whenever we meet" Neil said

Gem became embarrassed that his ears turned pink "Senior Neil?, what I, well your voice is really different senior Neil" Gem said with a stutter

Neil gave a soft laugh making Gem blush "haha, I have a sore throat that's probably why I sound so different, but why did you suddenly call me?"

"oh well, I didn't hear anything from you, I asked Senior Jun and Senior An this past days but they don't know what happened to you" Gem said as he sat down on his bed

"oh..are you worried about me?" Neil asked

Gem blinked and bites his lips and looked around, because he was surprised by the sudden question "...a .little.." Gem said with a hesitation

"But you have my phone number, why didn't you message me?" Neil asked with a serious tone

Gem went silent

~~flashback~~

(yesterday friday)

While his class was already finished, he was thinking whether to call or message His Senior since he wanted to talk to him about their talk on Saturday

"Hello Senior Neil, This is Gem I would like to ask you on what time are we going to meet tomorrow?, I was going to ask you this yesterday but I did not have a chance to see meet you, when it was my break time today I went to see Senior Jun or Senior An, but they told me they haven't seen you in your class today". Gem was about to hit send but he reread his message again. He feels like it was to long.

"...will he even ready this?" Gem thought as he decided to remove the message and redo it again "Hey Senior Neil, Is it alright if I call you? I wanna talk to you about our talk for tomorrow". Gem keeps clicking his tongue as he try to think of what he should message to Neil. But then He got distracted by Kit whom trying to get Gem's attention.

"Oi Gem are you going to stand there or what?" Kit said

Gem looked at Kit as he said "Huh"

"oh right coming" Gem added, he turned off his phone and went to where kit is. that day him and his friends went to have fun until he has forgotten to message Neil.

~~Present~~

"..I was going to but like, I didn't wanna bother you" Gem responded as he grabs his Pillow and place it to his lap

"you're not a bother Gem, so why did you even call me?" Neil said

"oh right, I was going to ask when are we going to meet for our talk, since you said we can't meet tomorrow" Gem said

there was a silent as soon as Gem said that, making Gem started to fidget

"hmm..if I may ask how important is this talk of ours anyways?" Nei asked

"ah, well it's about..something that I've been meaning to tell you" Gem said

"why don't you tell me now then?, why do we have to talk face to face" Neil said

Gem only realized that he should have thought about that, instead of meeting up with him.

"wait..you're right,why didn't I think of that" Gem said as he scratched his head

Neil's sigh can be heard through the phone "y'know what, never mind just tell me face to face, just go to my house instead of the park it's only 10am so there should be enough time, I'll be waiting" After Neil saying that, Neil went back to sleep

Gem dropped his phone as soon as he hears it making him flustered. He immediately picked up his phone "wait Senior Neil I don't think it's ne-" He looked at his phone and the call already ended.

"oh no, what the fuck should I do that" Gem said to himself as he clench his fist

"fuck it" Gem stood up and went to prepare himself, as soon as he finished he went to his car and drove where Neil's house is.

He got out of his car and walked where Neil's apartment is, He just realized that Neil's apartment looked old.

"if I remember correctly..it's this room" Gem said and knocked

footsteps can be heard at the side of the door.

as soon as Neil opened the door "Hello Senior Neil, I came" Gem said as he raised his hand gesturing respect to Neil.

Neil leaned in to the side and looked at Gem "mmm, come in" Neil said with a smile

Gem nodded and removed his shoes as he enters

"it's not Much but make yourself at home Gem" Neil said as he went to his kitchen, and grabbed something

Gem looked around the room, It's small as he remembers, even tho he stayed here for a night last Monday. Gem blushed and shook his head trying not to remember his night.

Neil walked towards Gem and gave him a bottle of juice. "here, for you" , Gem looked at Neil and looked at the bottle. He grabbed it "Thank you".

Neil nodded and went to his bed and sits down

Gem followed Neil stood there

"well, what do you wanna tell me, if this conversation is so important" Neil asked

Gem fidgets a bit and took a deep breath "Senior Neil, the thing is, I was going to tell you...that.. .we shouldn't meet up anymore, don't talk to me or we should not have any interaction anymore" Gem said as he look at Neil's eyes

Neil frowns making Gem jump A bit "why would you say that?, The Post's already gone, I told everyone that it was all a misunderstanding so you wouldn't get bullied" Neil said with a frustrated tone

Gem looked down feeling sorry of what he said but he already decided not to meet up with him "that's because of what we did that Monday, I was the reason for your breakup with Senior An, Even if you guys are okay with each other now, I still feel horrible because of it"

Neil sighed and place his hand to the back of his neck "Gem, I've said this countless of times, it wasn't your fault, you were drunk and so do I, we didn't know what we were doing, and besides I still cheated, drunk or not, it already happened Gem"

Gem squeezed the bottle as if he is clenching his fists "Senior Gem, I wasn't drunk at that time!, I know what I was doing yet I still" Gem shut his mouth and bite his lips looking like he's about to cry

Neil's eyes slowly looked at Gem looking serious than before "you mean" Neil said with a serious voice

Gem slowly nodded

Neil looked down as he try not to show his face and punches the bed, he stood up and grabs Gem by his arms "Gem!, are you saying that you weren't drunk that time!?, wait if you were aware why did you sleep with me!? you already know I had a girlfriend!, so why then!?" Neil yelled and coughed

Gem trembled abit as his face shows how guilty he is "I tried okay!?, I tried not to do it but I still did!!, I tried my best to push you away but What do you expect me to do I couldn't push you away!!, like you have said! it happened, and we can never go back!!!, now you know why we should not meet again!" Gem yelled as he try to make Neil let go of him

Neil grip become strong, when he was about to hit Gem, "g...em...." A faint voice is trying to call Gem.

"Ge..m" the voice is getting clearer

"Oi GEM!", Gem snapped out of his imagination and made him look at Neil "h-huh" Gem stuttered

Neil stood up and place his hand to Gem's shoulder "are you okay?, you suddenly went quite" Neil said with a concerned voice

"oh sorry" Gem replied ("I CANT SAY IT, ITS JUST GOING TO HURT MY PRIDE") Gem thought

Neil made Gem sit to his bed as he kneeled right in front of him and looked up to his eyes ".Gem, I'm going to tell you this, I will still try to talk to you, even if you avoid me, sure I was mean to you on our first meeting but I'm trying to make up with you for it, and I felt so bad for if since it was only your first day yet I was horrible to you, but I really want to be friends with you I'm really sorry" Neil said with a sad tone

Gem raised his eyebrows in surprised "Oh no, Senior Neil, you have a reason why you were being mean!, I was being a creep that time..but...that's not the reason why I don't wanna meet up Senior Neil!" Gem paused for a minute "The reason is...I don't want things to get in Senior An and you in your way friends or not, and besides we only met for only 3 days, so you shouldn't be concerned about me Senior Neil." Gem hesitately added

"but we slept with each other, are you just going to think of it as a one night stand?" Neil said as he gaze at Gem

Gem nodded

Neil suddenly grabs Gem's hand "Gem, for me, I don't do one night stand, I always take responsibility for what I always do...unless ...we're really not going to have contact anymore..I won't be able to let go of the guilt I'm having too" Neil said as he looked away looking sad

Gem looked at Neil feeling bad because he knows that Neil is the victim here, it was all a mistake yet he still wants to have responsibility....

Gem sigh "..okay..Senior Neil, I give up being reasonable"

Neil smiled at Gem making him flustered "Then were good now?, I can finally ask you out?"

Gem blinked and slightly opens his mouth from shock "as me out?" as he turns red

"oh I mean be friends with you" Neil said with a blank face

Gem awkwardly laugh "ohhh haha, I thought..nevermind, and yes of course we're now friends..but...how am I supposed to explain this to Senior An?, we may be all good now too but..."

"oh don't worry about it, I'll talk to her she'll understand, and it's easy for her to let go of the past" Neil said as he thought ("besides, we were doing a casual relationship with no love involved until you showed up Gem, we already stopped and just stayed as friends")

"oh alright" Gem said as he look down looking At him holding hands with Neil

"so we're good now?" Neil asked as he let go of Gem

Gem nodded

"well that's good" Neil looked away and cough

Gem looked at Neil and grabs something from his pocket "I forgot to give you this Senior Neil" Gem reaches out some Medicine for cough to Neil

Neil looked and Grabs it "Oh thanks Gem you didn't have to..and...can you stop with the formalities we are already friends Gem" Neil said as he smile

"oh, I can't do that Senior Neil" Gem said

"Gem...." Neil said with a serious tone

Gem flinches and sigh "Okay ..Neil"

Neil smiled once again and stood up "great, by the way did you eat yet?" He said as he go to the kitchen

"Oh not yet Se-..Neil" Gem said

"ah well I can cook, I haven't eaten anything yet too, you're okay with anything right?" Neil said as he cough

"Oh yes I'm okay with anything, is there anything I can help with?" Gem asked. Just when he was about to stand up Neil abruptly said "no!, just stay where you are, relax and make yourself at home"

"Okay" Gem said as he look around. Neil's room doesn't have much of a furniture, the walls has some cracks, like it's about to collapse, the floor looks old but other than that, His room is neat and clean

Gem patiently waited for Neil and used his phone

"Neil, is it alright if I take a photo of you?" Gem asked

"what for?" Neil said

"oh I just wanna send it to my friend's that I'm here" Gem said

"oh sure" Neil said as he cooks

Gem took a photo and sent it to his friends

Rosa reacted to the photo "So you guys are dating now?, after everything that happened Gem!?"

"Of course not! we are now friends Rosa!" Gem made a weird face as he replied

"it isn't friends with benefits right hahahahah" Luis replied

"🖕" Gem replied

"so how was your talk Gem?" Max replied

"I couldn't tell him the whole truth, I may be timid but I still have pride" Gem replied

"take your time Gem, I'm sure everything's going to be alright" Kit replied

"Yeah" Gem replied

"😑 I'm still not trusting him tho" Rosa replied

"Well Senior Jun did say that Senior Neil and Senior An are all good now, I did send you the SS" (screenshot) Luis replied

"still!!" Rosa said

"wait so that deleted messages was about them then huh, why didn't you tell me?" Gem said

"we didn't want you to be sad again" Max replied

"well I'm not anymore don't worry" Gem replied

Gem and his friends keeps messaging each other until "Gem it's all done!" Neil shouted and coughed afterwards

Gem stood up and went to the dining table and looked at the food "oh wow is this a Filipino food?" Gem asked

"mmm, there was once that I tried this food and it was good" Neil replied as he sat down

Gem sat near to Neil and took a bite of the food, Gem's eyes sparkled "this is good!" Gem said

Neil looked at Gem and smiled

Neil and Gem enjoyed their food as they talk to each other, they finally got to know each other a bit. they talked about why they chose their majors, what their future plans is, where their hometown is,

as soon as they finished Gem stood up and grabs the plates

"oh Gem I can do it" Neil said as he try to get the plate

"oh, no It's kind of rude, you already made the food Neil so" Neil cuts Him off "Gem, it's fine you're my guest here, so like I said just relax okay?" Gem releases the plate "okay..", as he backs away

Neil looked at Gem and pats his head "Gem, I'm not mad okay? so stop looking sad now, I'm not mad" Neil said with a calm tone

"who says I'm sad" Gem pouted and went to where the Neil's bed is and sat there

Gem looked at the time and it was already quarter to 7. "oh Neil, I should get going now" Gem said

"huh? can't you stay longer?, you don't have classes tomorrow" Neil said

"but it feels rude to stay here and besides I have something to do tomorrow!" Gem replied

As soon as Neil finishes doing the dishes, he immediately went to where Gem is and sat next to him "can't you just stay for a little longer, we're starting to get to know each other" Neil said with a sad tone

Gem couldn't resist Neil's look as if he looked like an abandoned puppy ("This is the reason why I couldn't resist your seduction that night")..."Fine" Gem said with a flat tone

Neil smiled and hugs Gem, Making Gem blush again and doesn't know what to do whether to hug him or not

"haha you're the best" Neil said with a happy voice and let's him go "well since you're staying longer wanna watch a movie?" Neil added

Gem tilts his head and finally nodded "oh sure!, but is it alright if we can watch the movie I choose? there's this movie that I've been dying to watch but I couldn't since they wouldn't let me watch it" Gem said with a smile

"oh what is it, let me see if I have it" Neil said as he browse some movies on the T.V

"oh it's 50 shades of gray" Gem said Innocently

Neil paused for a minute and looked at Gem "you seriously wanna watch that?" Neil asked with a smirk

"yeah, Luis keeps bragging about watching it but then Rosa and Max told me not to since they said I might be into it, I didn't understand what they meant" Gem said with a curious look

Neil doesn't show any emotions "Oh sure we can watch it then I have it"

Gem smiled and was excited to watch it

Neil turned off the light and the movie started

As they were watching, Gem looked flustered and feeling shy, he couldn't believe that The movie has some scenes, as the movie progress he kept looking at Neil, who doesn't seem not showing any reaction at all ("he's probably used to this.. knowing he was rough at that time") Gem thought causing him to shake his head and slap himself

Neil looked at him confused and whispered "what's wrong?"

Gem flinches as this scene is like what happened to him last Monday, he tried not to think of what happened that night so he tried to distract himself by watching the movie. When a certain scene played he looked at Neil once again

Neil is still concentrating on the movie. Gem leaned abit to Neil causing his shoulder to touch Neil's shoulder because he wanted to move his body abit.

Neil looked "you doing alright?" Neil asked

Gem didn't respond as he kept looking at the screen.

Neil couldn't see Gem's expression because it was dark so he shrug it off and looked at the screen. Not realizing that Gem was flustered and turned on because the more the movie progress the more he remembers that specific night.

("ay shit, I can't do this anymore") Gem thought as he suddenly stood up making Neil to flinch

"Toilet!" Gem yelled and went to where the bathroom is. when Gem entered the bathroom his heart started to beat. ("Gem, what the fuck is wrong with you!, you're here to watch the movie! not to be reminded by that!") Gem thought. he tried to calm himself.

few minutes later he went outside of the bathroom and Neil was standing there "Gem? what's wrong? you're acting strange" Neil said

Gem avert his gaze "nothing really"

Neil walked towards Gem making him got closer and bends towards Gem's ear "Did you perhaps got a turn on?"

Gem blushed causing him to step back "I.." Gem said

Neil laughed at Gem "it's fine, I guess it's normal to react that way haha, well wanna continue the movie or just watch some other movie?"

"watch another movie" Gem replied instantly.

They went back to where the bed is and watched another movie. Gem was expecting Neil to do something but I guess he didn't.

after a few hours, Gem went home

"It was a fun day Gem, we should hang out next time" Neil messaged Gem causing him to smile "Yeah, we should👌" Gem replied with a smile and went to bed.