Chapter 20: First Kisses always taste Sweeter
Pond looked around the table awkwardly, his heart beating a little faster as he adjusted in his seat.
Beside him, he saw Phuwin adjust in his seat as well, on his direct right and momentarily, their hands brushed.
Even though they were both wearing jackets and there had been no skin contact, Pond could feel tingles shoot up his arm immediately.
He looked beside him at Phuwin's nonchalant expression, trying to read if he felt anything at all, but from the expression on his face, it was clear that he didn't.
Maybe it was all in his head? Maybe what Phuwin had told him the other day…the picture on his phone; they had all been part of his own delusion caused by his unrequited love. Or was that simply just admiration that he felt for Phuwin?
Or maybe he was just overthinking too much and needed to get drunk, so he could relax and forget about everything else.
"Ai Pond!"
Pond reacted just in time so that he could avoid a jab to his sides by Aun, who looked pissed as he leaned closer to him to hear what he had to say.
"Why the fuck did you accept the invitation?" He spoke grudgingly, keeping his voice low as the sound of laughter ran out from the end of the table where Fah and Pim were trying their best to impress the boys at the table. "Now I'm going to go home alone and single as fuck!"
"You think I accepted it?" He retorted, looking at his friend in anger, but in all honesty, it was no use trying to reason with Aun because he was dead drunk already and any logic he used would fly over his head.
Because as much as Pond could remember of the incident, Tutor and Yim had come looking for Pim and then the girls had pretty much invited themselves.
Sighing, Pond reached for the glass of alcohol in front of his. Maybe this would help with my nerves, he thought to himself, not knowing exactly what the bluish liquid in the glass even was.
But as he tried to get the glass, his fingers brushed someone else's and he looked over and Phuwin to find him reaching for the glass as well.
"Karthot…I didn't know it was yours." Pond spoke awkwardly, removing his hand from the glass at once.
"Mai pen aria." Phuwin gave him a small smile, retreating his hand as well. "I thought you wouldn't drink it, that's why I wanted to ask you if you would let me have it in your stead."
"But…didn't you drive here by yourself?" Pond looked at him worried. "How are you going to get home if you keep drinking like this?"
"And…how did you know that I drove here by myself?" He raised his eyebrows, causing Pond to look away awkwardly.
Shia! I didn't mean to say that out loud! Pond thought to himself; but he also realized that he needed to answer Phuwin in a way that didn't make him sound like some kind of an obsessed stalker…
"Oh…I just…took a wild guess." Pond tried to correct his mistake. "I mean…First and Khaotung almost always drive together. And Ford's faen…P'Mark, he always comes to pick him up, right?"
"Oho…you seem to know a lot about my bandmates already." Phuwin smirked, a mischevious twinkle to his eyes that Pond didn't quite understand. "How do you know all that? Have you been following us? You're not a sasaeng, are you?"
"Mai na khrap," Pond shook his head, worried that Phuwin had gotten the wrong idea. "I'm not a Sasaeng at all! In face, I'm a fan! Jing jing! I like your voice so much!"
It was too late when Pond noticed how Phuwin's lips had tilted up in a mischievous smirk as he watched Pond stumble with his words to explain himself to him.
"Faen la?" Phuwin raised his eyebrows.
"Khab…" Pond looked at him in confusion, not really understanding what Phuwin was trying to say.
What he didn't realize that Phuwin had asked if he was a 'faen' instead of fan.
"Phi Phuwin!" Pim called out to him at that moment, even though she didn't need to call him Phi. From what Pond had heard, Pim and Fah were both 2nd year students as well, although he hadn't paid much attention to their faculty.
"Dai khab?" Phuwin answered her politely and Pond looked away as well, once again unaware of what had just happened.
Phuwin looked at him from the corner of his eyes, wondering how a man could be so dense that he couldn't even take the hints that were being presented right in front of him.
For crying out loud, he had been giving him hints since their last meeting! The wallpaper, going after him to his cousin's shop…then today he even sang a song for him in front of the whole audience! And not to mention that they were finally sitting side by side, around the same table with their hands brushing each other!
Did this man really feel nothing? Was he so much of a coward that he was okay with just admiring him from afar? Because Phuwin was not okay with it anymore!
If this continued on…then nothing was ever going to happen between the two of them and Phuwin didn't have much patience left to wait around forever, despite the feelings he had for Pond.
So he decided to throw in a bait, hoping…praying, that the stupid man would finally get the hint and grab onto it with both hands!
"Thuk khn!" Phuwin called out to everyone at their table, cutting off whatever Pim was telling him so enthusiastically. He would apologize to her later, but he didn't really care about it at the moment. "I'm bored! What about we play a game instead of just sitting and chatting? I want to play truth or dare. Anyone else have any suggestions?"
"Oh! I love that game!" Pim and Fah both chimed in instantly, looking excited for the game to begin.
"Why not?" Khaotung looked at First, his eyebrows raised in a teasing manner as he nudged his 'friend'. "Wanna play?"
"Sure." First shrugged, smiling as well. "If you're in, I'm in as well."
Soon, everyone agreed to the game one by one, and when he turned to face Pond, he found him looking around helplessly, knowing that he had no other choice but to agree to the game.
"Alright then, let's start!" Aun, who seemed a little too intoxicated for his own good, shouted with his hands in the air, before Pond held him down so he wouldn't do anything stupid…like attract the attention of the entire club.
Khaotung took one of their emptied beer bottles and set it on the centre of the table, but not before wiping it down so that there wasn't alcohol splattering at everyone. And then he spun the bottle.
Cheers went about as the bottle went round and round at a steady speed before it came to a stop facing Tutor and the end facing Pim.
"Go on, Pim." Phuwin told her. "Ask Tutor."
"Okay, kha!" She turned to look at Tutor expectantly, and since she knew that he was Yim's faen, Phuwin already had an idea that this round was going to be mild. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth and only the truth." Tutor grinned, hoping that he had dodged a bullet, but unfortunately, Pim had other ideas.
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how annoying is Yim when he wants something and doesn't get it." Pim clapped her hands together.
"Oho! That's unfair, Pim!" Yim was immediately offended at his friend's question. "I'm not annoying at all!"
"La? How about we let Tutor answer it?"
Tutor looked around helplessly as the others urged him for an answer. "Well…um…a 3…maybe?" He told them sheepishly, but from the way Yim had puffed up his face, Tutor knew that he was never going to get the end of it from his faen.
"Okay, next!" First called out, reaching out to spin the bottle.
Phuwin hadn't imagined that his turn would come so soon. After all, this game was all about luck…and as far as luck went, he didn't consider himself all that lucky…
But as the bottle spun for a few rounds, slowly lowering its speed before coming to a stop…the neck of the bottle pointed towards him.
Phuwin looked at the other end, and found Ford on the other side of the table, looking around expectantly.
Ford of all people? He thought to himself. He didn't have anything against Ford, he was a wonderful singer and keyboardist, but the man was as clueless as clueless could get!
If he thought about it correctly, both Pond and Ford that that one thing in common. And now, he was worried that he was about to lose the once chance he had gotten after such a long time.
"Okay…" Ford looked around the table, feeling nervous. He understood that Phuwin was trying to tell him something…and the way Khaotung kept flipping his bangs off of his forehead countless times, it was probably a sign for something as well. But Ford couldn't decipher the signs to save his life.
"So…truth or dare?" He asked Phuwin nervously, not knowing what he was supposed to do. Should he pass the question to someone else? Should he just quit the game right now?
"Dare." Phuwin said immediately, not wasting any time.
"Okay…" "Bring it on!" "That's the spirit!"
Cheers went around once again as their friends clapped and cheered for Phuwin, and once again, Ford felt like he was under immense pressure as his friends gave him expectant looks.
But Ford couldn't help it. He had no idea what they wanted him to do.
"Ah…um…" He fumbled with his words, trying to find a suitable dare for Phuwin to play. But nothing useful came to mind.
Right then, someone placed a hand on his shoulder, and came to sit on the arms of his chair.
"Can I tell him the dare instead?" P'Mark called out, reaching for Ford's glass so he could take a sip of the beer.
"P'Mark!" Everyone, except for Pim and Fah, who didn't quite understand the anticipation in the air, seemed to let out a breath of relief.
"So? What about it?" P'Mark patted Ford's shoulders reassuringly, telling him that he had his back. "Should I tell you your dare, Phuwin? Should I take over from Ford?"
"Dai dee." Phuwin agreed with a knowing smile. "Go right ahead."
"Dai…" P'Mark smirked at him. "Phuwin…I dare you to kiss the person next to you."
Ford looked up at P'Mark with his eyes wide in surprise, but the sound of the cheers brought back his attention to the table. He couldn't miss the chance to see who Phuwin would choose, because on one side, there was Fah, one of the new people who had just joined, and on the other hand was Pond, a fellow student from the Arts faculty that he was somewhat familiar with…
But who was Phuwin going to choose?
And as everyone watched, Fah leaned forward in her chair, expecting Phuwin to turn to her for a kiss…but Phuwin turned in the opposite direction…and with his hand going to his nape, hauled Pond closer to him as he crashed his lips to his, sealing the kiss.
"Ah! Love's first kiss." P'Mark whispered in Ford's ears as he watched the scene in front of him with open fascination. "Always tastes sweeter, na?"