Chapter Text
It was a regular Thursday afternoon, mind you.
Which in itself was already annoying enough, because really, when did the engineering assholes interacting with them outside of violence become their new normal? There was supposed to be a clear order to things, and - as that Korn dude waved happily towards the bleachers, actually winking at Pran - Wai decided that this was getting out of hand.
As if sensing the other rugby player's irritation, Korn suddenly glanced toward Wai and had the audacity to grin as if the only thing stopping him from getting punched wasn't the coach shouting at them to gather around. Naturally, Wai internally swore to get his revenge later.
He told his friends as much after the match, when he jogged up to the bleachers where Pran, Safe and Louis were waiting for him. Safe and Louis were on board, but - to no one's surprise - Pran disapproved: "It'll only cause trouble, leave it be."
Safe scrunched his face up. "Doesn't it bother you at all?" The immediate response was a raised eyebrow, and Pran's judgmental question consisting of: "Why? Are you homophobic?"
The next fifteen minutes were spent by all three of them defending themselves and explaining how they were not, in fact, homophobic. No one noticed Pran's sly grin when the previous conversation ended up being completely forgotten and discarded.
Yet, there was only so much that Wai could take.
After all, this was his best friend they were talking about. Didn't Wai have a duty to interfere, when he knew damn well that Pran was too nice and calm to do anything himself? Sure, maybe that Korn dude's crush was actually legit, but his advances were unwelcomed, and obviously out of place. Someone had to step in. Even if it meant getting scolded by the teachers.
This was why Wai was now crouching behind an information board on campus.
The plan was easy: Wait for the engineering dick to leave the lecture, trail behind him, and once alone, surprise him from behind with a kick to then beat him up. Nothing overly complicated, in itself. Unless - of course - one hadn't accounted for Korn to walk to his dorm accompanied by Pat. Wai groaned. Should he maybe call Safe and Louis for back-up? Even then, Pat wasn't his faculty's leader for no reason...
As Wai mused about whether to give up for the day, he noticed someone else out of the corner of his eye, at the same time as Korn and Pat did: Next to the library, there was Pran, talking to one of their juniors while pointing at something on his phone. He looked up for a moment and seemed to have noticed the two engineering students as well.
Then Korn blew a kiss at him.
For a moment, Wai heard himself mutter "Fuck it", ready to polish that guy's face with his fist. Maybe Pran would even join him, and take on Pat, if it came down to it. Wai would have to apologize to Pran later, but at least that asshole might finally get the message. It would be worth it. He could--
To Wai's gnawing horror, Pran actually pretended to catch the kiss, placing it on his cheek.
And to make matters worse, Wai found himself on the same side as Pat for the first time in his life, as said guy looked incredibly disgusted, punching Korn in the arm. Pran actually laughed at that. Wai couldn't be too sure from his position, but it looked like Pat was scowling now, which was a weird look on him, honestly, and yet Wai almost felt sympathetic.
As the leader of his group, it must be especially tough to have your friend openly courting the enemy. What a nuisance. His behavior would reflect on the whole faculty. And his reputation, of course. ‘The guy who is hopelessly chasing the rival.'
Wai swallowed.
Because truly, he had always seen Korn’s advances as nothing but hopeless. It made sense, after all: So far, Pran had always looked widely uncomfortable and panicked whenever he was approached by Korn. Now though, he actively humored his antics.
Which could only mean one thing.
"Pran actually likes Korn back."
“What the fuck, Wai?”
Said student leveled his two friends with an unimpressed glare. “I’m being serious. I saw them basically flirting over the courtyard.” Safe and Louis only exchanged a bewildered look before turning to Wai with raised eyebrows, as if to indicate: 'Continue talking, even though we're more inclined to believe you've gone mental.' A week ago - hell, even two days ago - Wai would've probably reacted the same way, so he couldn't exactly blame them.
A sigh escaped him, as he started to rub his temples. Saying his next words would pain him greatly.
"That dick was... flirting again, but this time Pran actually", Wai glared a little harder, "flirted back." He crossed his arms and dared the others to disagree. The message didn't quite come across.
"What do you mean, flirting? You know Pran doesn't like to fight, so just cause he was maybe civil with that guy doesn't mean he likes him back."
"Korn blew a raspberry. Pran caught it and laughed. In a friendly way. Heck, if I had done that, he'd probably roll his eyes at me, and I'm literally his best friend."
Now that seemed to catch the others' attention, as they both stared unbelievably at Wai, who could only nod with a dark expression on his face. "And", Safe started unsurely, "you're absolutely sure that it was directed at Korn?"
Wai recalled the scenario in his mind, but as much as he would love it to be the case, there was no mistaking. "Yeah. Pat was there, too, and punched Korn for it."
Safe snorted at that. "Understandable."
Then silence engulfed the small circle.
"So...", it was Louis' turn to break the group's stupor, "Korn's advances actually worked?"
The mere thought that his best friend was so easily impressed was almost intolerable to Wai, but he couldn't just ignore the proof, so he reluctantly nodded.
"Wait, does that mean that stuff from a few weeks ago was also Korn?" Memories of food deliveries into class, the library and wherever Pran currently was, came into mind. "It must have." Hell, even that stupid projection of Pran's dimples... at the thought of Korn paying attention to Pran's dimples, all three of them shuddered.
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions, guys. Let's just... wait and see. Maybe we got it all wrong."
Wai and Safe could only nod along and hope for Safe to be right.
They did not get it wrong.
This was made increasingly clear when the Engineering gang kept crossing paths with them. Whenever such an occasion arose, Korn would usually flirt with Pran, getting more and more shameless with every time. Then Safe and Louis would have to pull Wai away, while Pat pulled Korn away, scowling. Pran though? He seemed to be actively enjoying himself, and sometimes (this was usually when Korn wasn't surrounded by his whole gang, but only Pat) he would flirt back. There wasn't an ounce of uncomfortableness that could be detected anymore.
Like today.
"Praaan!"
The four boys turned around, only to be faced with four of the engineering assholes walking up to them. Korn was strutting at the front, a plastic bag in his hand. Unlike usually, Pran didn't even raise an eyebrow at the antics. He just looked tired, since he was already having a rather horrible day. His friends had previously tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to work. "What is it?"
Korn grinned completely unbothered and held up the bag, which obviously held some food boxes, and then waggled his eyebrows. "This is food. From your admirer. It's your favorite."
The notion of Korn knowing what Pran's favorite was distracted Wai enough to miss Pran glancing somewhere behind Korn, a grateful smile on his lips. "Well, in that case, tell my admirer that I appreciate it."
Something seemed off, and it took Wai a moment to realize what: Around this time, Pat would normally punch or shove Korn, and pull him away from the architecture students. Questioningly, Wai looked for his suffering counterpart, only to find that the guy was standing a little way behind Korn, a small smile playing on his lips. What the hell?
"Really, thank you."
And the way that Pran said those words sounded different now, in a way that Wai had never heard him talk before, but before he could do anything about it, Pran turned around, letting the others follow. It was hard not to notice how his mood seemed to be significantly better now than before.
"Shit, he has actually fallen for him."
It was Safe who voiced the thought that all the people gathered were thinking. Wai was too busy coming up with ways to hide a body. Deciding that Korn wasn't worth ending up in prison, he stuck with the alternative: "Let's beat him up. The whole lot of them, actually, for not stopping their people from crossing the line."
Feeling suddenly energized, Wai got up and made to move to the door, but got stopped by a hand on each of his arms. "Calm down, dude. It's not like this will change their feelings for each other." They all grimaced at the wording, but it seemed to work the magic, as the architecture student slumped down back on his bed. They were currently in Wai's room, half an hour before Pran would join them to study, to discuss the situation in a sort of emergency meeting.
"Who cares? I don't give a shit about those guys."
"Well, Pran obviously cares."
And that made Wai even angrier. Because his first instinct was to retort, "So what?", or to shrug and proclaim, "Even more of a reason to do it", but suddenly Korn's words echoed in his head. Something about how the engineering gang would obviously be the more supportive group of friends, so Wai held his tongue, because he didn't want Korn to have the satisfaction of being right.
Louis must have thought of the same conversation, as he wondered aloud: "Do you think that's why the engineering guys haven't fought us in weeks? Because they are supporting Korn?" Safe shrugged at first, but after a moment turned it into a hesitant nod. "They did say that they'd beat us at it."
An angry snort escaped Wai. "As if." Realizing the implication, he glowered though. "So what? We'll play nice too now?" - "I guess?" - "Well, I don't want them to be right." And Wai hated to admit it, but he too felt like this was a competition now.
"So it's decided. We'll show them who's better at being a great friend group until they break."
The other two nodded, and not a second too late, as, at that moment, the door to Wai's room opened. Pran entered, his bag slung over his shoulder, and a nod directed in their general direction. Soon after, he was seated next to the others and began taking his notes out, along with the coursebook. He seemed so casual. So nonchalant.
Wai felt his blood boil.
"We know you're into the engineering guy."
Pran stilled, and something akin to fear or panic crossed his face, before turning into a blank expression.
At the - at least for Pran - extreme reaction, Wai felt his betrayal subside just the tiniest bit. Maybe Pran wasn't as casual and nonchalant as he made it seem. Still. Wai didn't have to like it.
Steeling himself, Pran swallowed, and finally nodded. "We're actually in a relationship."
That shut the other three up, making them openly gape at their friend, who just winced. After the initial shock left, Wai felt himself growing increasingly pissed. Pran must have noticed, as he started speaking: "I wanted to tell you, it's just..." And Wai really wanted to turn around and leave. To storm off, and leave Pran to stare after him. To not even bother to put up with his excuses.
But they were in his room.
So he was left with no other choice but to listen to Pran talk about family feuds, and music contests gone wrong, and school transfers that left him fearful to this day.
Alright, there was actually history.
And don't get him wrong, Wai was still incredibly mad. Maybe even more so than before, because this meant Pran was lying to them since day one, but... well. He guessed he could somewhat understand why Pran would be hesitant to reveal this to them. Slightly.
But because he was Wai, and he was nothing if not petty, he still ended up asking his best (?) friend to leave the room. It wasn't too hard to ignore him looking like a kicked puppy when he simply turned away.
After the door closed, the other two - who hadn't said anything up until now - turned to Wai: "Dude, how are we supposed to pass the test now?"
With a roll of his eyes, Wai assured them that they'd manage without Pran.
Okay, so maybe the test sucked for all three of them.
Wai would be hard-pressed to admit it to anyone though, and instead vented his frustration during rugby practice. Which passed surprisingly well. Korn was still the same annoying dickhead that he was usually. As a response, Wai was constantly frowning. If anything, nothing seemed to have changed much.
(Except that Wai couldn't shake the feeling that Pat seemed weirdly nice to him?)
That was, until after training when they all went to the changing room.
Since being in the same team as Korn and Pat, they had to share a changing room, and with the engineering students seemingly backing down from fighting somewhat, this had gone down smoothly enough. The architecture students kept to themselves on one side of the room, the engineering students on the other; with all the other faculties' students strewn in-between. Wai had just put on his shirt, and he was in a notoriously bad mood what with probably failing his physics test, and being low on money, and his best friend-... well.
His gaze drifted sideways to see Korn and Pat goofing around, laughing and teasing. Glowering some more, Wai crossed the room and made to leave for the door, unable to stop a muttered, "I don't get what he sees in you", escaping him.
Korn was immediately up his face.
"Excuse you, what did you just say?"
He was standing in front of him, glowering, and Wai was never one to back down from a challenge, so he took a step forward as well. He was going to retort something, to vent all his frustrations into that dick's face, but suddenly someone stepped in-between them: "Korn, calm down, please. He only found out yesterday that he was being lied to, give him time."
Wai looked at Pat, then at Korn, and then at the rest of the Engineering students, of which no one looked exactly... surprised.
"So you all knew?!"
Ignored were all the confused and curious glances of the other faculties' students, and all Wai could process was the challenge in Korn's eyes, and the arrogance as he stepped around Pat, almost protectively (where did that come from?), while proclaiming for only the people closest to hear: "We told you, didn't we? Our group is the most supportive. Our faculty is the superior one."
Something in Wai's brain halted.
Oh, so this was how he wanted to play.
Wai gritted out a rather aggressive: "We'll see about that", and proceeded to stomp out of the room, almost stumbling into Pran who just looked at him with big round eyes, and before Wai could change his mind, he pressed out an irritated: "Come to the bar at seven." He didn't glance back after pushing past his best friend.
After informing the others via their group chat, Wai couldn't stall any longer. He opened his laptop and started searching for the guy's phone number. It wasn't as hard as expected, and soon Wai was staring at his phone, unsure whether to save the number or not.
(He ended up leaving it be - or else he feared that "asshole", "dickhead" or "Pran's doom" would not be looked upon kindly by his best friend, and would definitely not qualify as... whatever it was that Wai was trying.)
Staring at the black set of numbers, dread crept up the architecture student's back. This was gonna be tough. Trembling with anger, Wai started typing.
u & ur friends come to the bar at 7
And just because he could, Wai decided to be annoying.
don't be late..
At seven, the fighting faculties' most notorious and aggressive groups of friends were standing face to face in the bar. The engineering gang students all sported various expressions of mischief, with Korn having the most shit-eating grin out of all of them. Only Pat looked mildly confused. The architecture students - on the other hand - were standing tense and uncomfortably. Pran looked like he already wanted to go home.
"The faculty that gets drunk first pays for the other's drinks", Wai pressed out, before turning on his heel to charge towards the biggest table. Slowly, the other students followed suit, sitting down. Korn took a seat, and Pat took the one next to him. Pran steered towards the empty seat next to Pat, and Wai gritted his teeth.
So Pran didn't want to make his friends feel uncomfortable by sitting next to his boyfriend, huh?
Wai decided to suck it up as he quickly planted himself on the chair next to Pat. At that, the engineering dicks seemed to exchange a look, and Wai thought: 'Hah, take that. See now who is the more supportive group.' Pran was only left with the seat next to Korn.
It was all rather awkward.
Only after about two rounds of drinks did the people at the table seem to become slightly chattier, trying to strike up conversation that appeared safe.
(Rugby was a no, because they were cheering for different teams; classes were a no because it would only end in conflict about which faculty was the best. It seemed that even with things as mundane as favorite alcohol or music, they all butted heads. They ultimately ended up complaining about the cantine food.)
Pran still sat incredibly tense, looking between the two groups as if preparing for someone to throw a punch any minute now. And alright, Wai relented in the confines of his own mind, never to be shared with anyone, maybe they really had overdone it a bit in the past. And just maybe, Wai was also slightly to blame for Pran not coming clean sooner.
But. No one would start a fight now. Wai had made sure to let the others know of the stakes beforehand. They would not lose this.
Still silently fuming, Wai sipped on his highly watered-down drink (he wasn't completely stupid; of course, he was aware that alcohol tended to make them all... more handsy, so he had asked the waiter beforehand to water down all drinks except for Pran's). After some time, his best friend finally started chatting with Korn, still looking vary but not as on-guard anymore.
It was in that moment that Wai felt someone tap his shoulder. Suspiciously, he turned to his left to see Pat directly looking at him. "What?", Wai blurted. It was somehow incredibly hard to judge what was on the other's mind right now. He didn't look particularly angry, or annoyed; neither did he look happy, nor over-the-top friendly.
"I wanted to. Apologize, to you."
Wai felt his eyebrows disappear in his hairline. That seemed to encourage the guy to continue talking: "My friends and I shouldn't have brought the faculty feud to your workplace. We were also being childish. And, uh. Sorry for punching you?" And while Pat didn't seem incredibly apologetic, he also didn't seem... insincere, which honestly just made Wai feel an incoming headache. "What shit are you getting at?"
Pat bit his lip, glanced towards Korn and Pran, and then sighed before addressing Wai again: "Well, you're Pran's friends. So we can't really fight anymore." He stated it like the most obvious thing. A fact, indisputable.
The sheer audacity. Wow.
So this was how they wanted to play? Not only would these dicks play nice with Pran, but with all of them instead?! Wasn't that over the top? Hah. Whatever, if Pat thought this would make him a good friend, then Wai would show him what a great friend looked like.
"Yeah", Wai jerkily nodded, "sorry for provocating, and. Exposing you online first. Won't happen again." After a second, he added: "'spose I'm also sorry for beating you up."
Pat seemed surprised. Fuck you.
Wai would be hard-pressed to admit the night hadn't ended in disaster. It was... civil. Acceptable. Whatever. If anything, it had just reinstated some things to the architecture students: For one, the engineering gang really seemed serious about the whole supportive friends thing (Wai scoffed). And second, while not outright saying so, Pran had seemed really happy with the outcome. Or maybe with them putting in an effort. Some of the hesitation and walls that he had been building up around him loosened again after that night, and (Wai suspected this was sort of Pran's way to thank them), they planned to all meet up after classes. Their last class of the day was a joined class with engineering, and to Wai's surprise, the dickheads didn't come over like they usually did. Instead, Korn put an arm around Pat and basically dragged him away.
At Wai's questioning look, Pran fondly rolled his eyes. "Korn needs some tutoring, he's failing two classes. So they're gonna have a study sleep-over at Pat's." Relieved about the lack of intruders, Wai's mood immediately lifted, and soon enough, he, Pran, Safe and Louis were heading to Pran's dorm, ready to spend the evening chilling with a couple of movies and drinks.
Only, Wai might've had a couple too many drinks, since the next thing he remembered was waking up groggily on Pran's couch, the first rays of sunshine making their way into the otherwise dark room. Memories of the previous night started flooding back, and Wai faintly remembered a pissed Pran telling him to at least shower, and him insisting that it really wasn't that bad. Now, taking a sniff of his own body, Wai felt the stench of alcohol and sweat creep up his nose. Hurriedly, he picked up his phone and retreated from the room, worried to be on the receiving end of Pran's wrath if he were to stay longer.
As softly as possible, Wai fled from the scene, closing the apartment door softly behind him. He had only managed to take a few steps into the direction of the elevator, when another door suddenly opened, and out came... Korn?!
Upon seeing the clearly stunned architecture student, Korn just grinned, finger-gunned and then passed him.
Wai was left staring after him, the corners of his mouth twitching as if unsure whether to gape or frown. Finally snapping back into reality, Wai pulled out his phone and left an angry stream of messages for his best friend.
he lives in the dorm opposite of you???
what the fuck pran
so that's also something you didn't tell us
He quickly deleted the latest message, sending another one instead.
this must be convenient, huh
wait no
ew
i'm imagining things in my head that i rly would rather not
He was about to pocket his phone again, sure that Korn must've left the elevator by now, when realization suddenly struck him.
HE WAS DUMPLING GUY ALL ALONG!!?
It was a random Monday evening. Wai had been in town to buy some groceries and new school materials when something in his peripheral vision caught his attention: There, on the other side of the market, was Korn.
Korn and a girl, standing really close and holding hands.
Wai immediately grabbed his phone and sent a quick message to Pran.
I think your boyfriend is cheating on you
The reply came only a couple of seconds later.
He's literally sitting next to me?
Confused, Wai looked up. The people from before were nowhere in sight.
Huh. Maybe he had confused some random person with Korn.
Wai was working his shift at the bar when he saw it.
In one of the quieter corners, there is Korn, sitting at a table with a girl. Wai could swear it was the same girl as that day on the market - they both had the same shade of light blonde hair. And this time, from up-close, there was no doubt they the guy with her was the engineering student. He was grinning, waggling his monstrous eyebrows and obnoxiously laughing at something the girl must have said. Wai felt his blood boil.
Was this what he thought it was?
If so, Korn must've been even more out of his mind than the architecture had thought him capable of being, to bring him where he knew Wai worked. It took every last ounce of self-control that Wai possessed for him not to stomp up to that absolute asshole and punch him right then and there, no questions asked. But as much as he would've dreamed to, Wai was aware of the fact that he was at work. Fuming, he pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the other two.
For now, he'd have to continue working, pretending like he hadn't seen anything. Belatedly, Wai almost dropped the drink he just picked up for table five, now both fumbling with the glass and the dawning realization that he would have to be the one to tell Pran of this.
Okay, so.
Wai definitely hadn't started liking the engineering gang. No, liking was out of the question. Honestly, he wouldn't even say he tolerated them, it was just that. It had been kind of nice to go weeks without any injury; without the constant need to be on-guard whenever they were outside the confines of their homes, ready to defend their pride; to be able to open social media, and not be worried about anyone laughing under embarrassing videos of him and his friends.
It didn't matter. Right now, Wai would gladly punch all their faces again.
Spotting his best friend leaving the lecture hall pulled Wai from his thoughts, and he quickly jogged up to said friend, hearty crêpe in one hand. Pran didn't even bat an eye at his surprising arrival; instead, he just kept walking in the direction of the canteen, where they had initially wanted to meet up at.
Pran was talking about something as they were getting closer to where the tables were, and Wai had half a mind to ask him to eat somewhere else today (somewhere with no Korn or Pat or Mo or Chang). Yet, before he could gather the courage, Pran suddenly turned to him, eyes sparkling: "And do you accept him now?"
And Wai knew this was about Korn. Who else could it be? So he grumbled, trying to sidestep the topic, as he had wanted to tell Pran about his discoveries later, in private. Luckily for him, a perfect distraction came into view, as both students neared their usual table: Pat was apparently sitting with them. Wai decided to play dumb for now.
"I have no hard feelings towards Pat anymore."
He expected Pran to scold him for 'playing around', yet the other only put an arm around Wai's shoulder, looking mischievous. As expected, he teased: "I wasn't talking about Pat", and suddenly they were at their table, where Pat was waiting, with none other than Korn. Wai couldn't help the roll of his eyes, or the disgust dripping from his voice as he asked: "Do I really need to sit with him?"
A nod.
"Really?"
Another nod. Wai didn't move, nor did he try to look even the least bit pleased. Then, to Wai's surprise and relief, Pat put a hand on Korn's shoulder, consoling him and urging him away at once. That action caused newfound respect for Pat in Wai's mind. Especially after he motioned for him to leave with a movement of his head.
Korn left.
He tried to ignore the look of disappointment sent his way by Pran, and even took the hit to his head in stride, as well as the "Damn you!" With a sigh of relief, Wai slumped into the nearest chair, noting how Pran decided to take the chair next to Pat, where Korn just sat.
"What? It's good he's gone. I lost my appetite after seeing his face." I'm doing this for you, is what Wai thought. He felt so angry, and maybe a tiny part in him also felt helpless, but now really wasn't the time. He bit into his crêpe, trying to work off some steam that way, and then shared with Pran. He could do this.
"How about a drink then?"
He could so not do this.
"Oi!", Wai turned to the offending person who had just stuck the offending object into his face. Korn was back, and the offending object turned out to be a cold can from the vending machine. "What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, Korn turned around the table, casually falling into the empty chair next to Wai. He put the two cans on the table, and then pulled out a pack of what seemed like seaweed snacks out of his pocket. With a well-aimed toss, he threw the bag in-between Pran and Pat, of which the latter immediately went to open it. They all seemed so cheerful.
It made Wai want to grab Korn's collar and shake him, shout at him for being a dickhead, for not appreciating the most amazing boyfriend ever, for willingly breaking someone's heart while still laughing with them as if it's nothing.
And he was really about to, but then Korn turned to Pat, clear mischief written all over his face, nodding somewhere behind them. "The rest is leaving."
Momentarily distracted, Wai turned around as well, to see what would be so interesting to specifically point it out, but he only saw the last of the seniors packing their stuff a few tables away. He didn't really get it. The very second the last senior stepped out of the canteen, Wai heard his best friend let out indignant sounds from behind him, so he quickly whipped around, not at all prepared to face the scene that greeted him.
"Ay, Pat! Pat! Stop it!"
Pran was shoving an extremely overjoyed-looking Pat away, who was showering him with kisses.
Wai blinked.
"Naww, come on baby! No one's here anymore, and I've already been deprived of my cute boyfriend all day!"
Wai felt a weak notion of offense at being considered as 'no one', but he couldn't find it in himself to complain.
A flustered Pran just shoved Pat's face away again, but his dimples were out on full display, and a blush was adorning his cheeks. "At least wait a couple of seconds next time, will you?" And even Wai could tell that Pran wasn't really committed to his complaints; and that apparently, Pat didn't particularly care anyway, judging from his content expression; and Korn was standing there, snickering at their anticks; and--
"What the fuck."
The other three turned to him, and Wai wasn't sure who exactly to look at. His expression must've been not exactly pleasant, since Korn immediately jumped in his personal space, demanding: "You got any problems, huh?"
Wai was too stunned to shove him away, but Pat took care of it instead, prying Korn out from under his nose. Pran nervously glanced between Wai and the others, which earned him an exesperated eyeroll from Pat, before he seemed to realize something that literally made him blush.
"Ay, Pran. I think your friend just hasn't seen my be lovey-dovey to my boyfriend yet."
And Pran definitely looked like he wanted to retort something, but then stops, contemplating.
"We kissed in the bar though?" Pat was deep in thought for exaclty a second, before shaking his head.
"That was Mo's birthday, so En students only."
Pran frowned. "What about the library?"
"I think we were covered by the shelves", and now Pran looked down-right upset.
"Rugby training?"
"Hey! I was trying to be discreet, other students were present!" (And was that a pout from Pat?!)
Then it seemed to finally dawn on Pran, and he turned to Wai looking rather apologetic. Wai spent a moment contemplating whether he'll actually apologize, thinking, why would he apologize for kissing his boyfriend?, and then his thoughts came to a screeching halt, as he blurted:
"You're boyfriends?"
Now finally everyone seemed to be at a loss, mostly because they were either too busy staring between Pran, Pat & Korn (Wai), or because they were gaping rather bewilderedly at Wai (the others). Pran was the one to break the silence, scowling: "Yes. You know that already." And Wai kinda felt like letting out a hysterical laugh, although even that doesn't work, as the gears in his head started to turn again.
"So Pat is your boyfriend?"
At that, the displeased expression actually disappeared from Pran's face, to be replaced with utter confusion. "Yes, who else...?" And Wai really hadn't intended to, but he must've accidentally glanced into Korn's direction, as realization dawned on Pran's face.
"Wait, you thought-?" And both Pat and Korn looked at them questioningly now, which made Pat sulk, tugging at Pran's - his boyfriend's? - sleeve, urging him to explain.
And Pran, that absolute asshole, actually burst out laughing. No one else really shared the sentiment.
Then, Pran seemed to remember something, as he turned to Korn, asking bemused: "Weren't you on a date on Friday?"
Korn took a second to comprehend the random question but nodded anyway, and now Pran was up Wai's face again, laughing at him. "So that's why you thought my boyfriend was cheating." The other two seemed to finally catch up at those words. There was definitely heat rising up Wai's face, as he tried and failed to shove Pran off his chair.
Pat made a face, and accused: Why would you think that?!", while Korn started laughing his ass off. Wai did not answer. Korn immediately took a step around the table, swinging an arm around Pran's shoulder, beaming. "It's because we have chemistry!" Both Pat and Pran were shoving him away now, but Korn wouldn't stop cackling. Pran was clearly more amused than anything, if not slightly concerned, and Pat just continued sulking.
"So... No one is cheating on you?"
Pran looked at Pat, clearly fond and bemused (did he always look at him like that?), and said: "I dunno, is there?"
Pat scrunched up his face, looking incredibly affronted, so Pran quickly leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
So fucking weird.
Then Korn coughed loudly, looking pointedly at Wai. "Wow, you actually thought I'm the type to cheat on someone. I'm wounded. I'd never do my man Pran dirty like that, or any man for that matter." He winked at Pran, then turned back around to look solemnly again at Wai. "I'm deeply hurt." Wai rolled his eyes, refusing to feel guilty.
"But you know, I'm a really nice person. So I'll forgive you. I even have a peace treaty."
With that, Korn grabbed the pink can from the table and held it out towards Wai. The student's mind was still reeling, and he couldn't keep the scowl off his face. Although realizing Korn wasn't actually as much of an asshole as Wai had thought, he reluctantly reached out to take the can. "Thanks."
The can was snatched back again.
"Let me open it for you, friend."
Smiling, Korn started shaking the can.