C 3

At the college :

' Hey J ! Wait up !' Gap runs up from behind to catch up with Joss, who is walking down the hallway without giving a sweat about Gap with the same stern face he had yesterday.

' Hey man ! ' Gap wraps his arm around Joss's neck . Joss gives a side eye to him, so he quickly removes his arms . ' My bad , my bad .' Gap puts his hands in the air while Joss just continues walking after giving a death stare at him .

' J , I'm sorry, bro . Come on , let me off the hook this one time.' Gap plead to Joss, who doesn't give a damn about him .

' Man , Anna....'

' Not a word . Not. A. Word. ' Joss turns around and points his finger to Gap .

' OK, chill . Just calm down .' Gap once again puts his hands in the air . Joss just walks away , Gap also follows him with a sigh . They walk inside the class, and Gap takes a seat beside Joss.

' What are u doing ?' Joss asked , keeping a straight face .

' What ? I'm sitting .' Gap answers . Joss let out a long breath, clearly annoyed with him .

' But that is not your place .'

' Come on, man...'

Gawin walked inside the class and saw Joss and his friend bickering with each other . He walked up to them and decided not to interrupt them and walked past them .

" Hey, where are u going ?" Joss called out to him .

" The seat is taken, isn't it ?"

" No . Gap is just messing around ."

' What ? I'm...'

' Gap. Go back to your place .' Joss gives a death stare at Gap, making him gulp .

' OK, ok . As u wish .' Gap puts up his hands up in the air again . ' I accept my defeat again . What am I? A fucking...' Gap didn't get to finish his sentence as Joss cuts his words .

' Hey ! Mind your language. ' Joss said .

" Sorry ." Gap stands up, taking his bag . " Please take your seat ." He wipes the seat with his hand and extends his hands towards it .

" Thanks ." Gawin gives him an awkward smile . Gap walks to the back and takes a seat there, clearly annoyed by Joss behaviour . Gawin still has an awkward expression on his face, even though the situation is over .

" Sorry for my friend . He's been acting up lately ." Joss changed his expression real quick . He now has a warm smile plaster on his face in contrast to the one I saw when I walked inside the class.

" It's fine . I understand . I also have a friend who behaves just like him ."

" Oh really ?"

" Yeah ." I replied .

" I'm jealous of him ." Joss murmer under his breath .

" Hm ? What did u say ?" I ask again, catching him off guard.

" Nothing ." Joss turned his attention to the books and went quiet . After some minutes, the professor walks in, and our lecture starts . The lecture went smoothly, and Joss also helped me from time to time .

" Thanks, man ." I thanked Joss for helping me out when I don't understand certain words .

" Never mind ." Joss smiles .

" Joss ?"

" Hm ?"

" Do u mind lending me ur notes from the past one and half month ?" I ask reluctantly.

" Of course not . I'll bring it for u tomorrow cause I only bring today's subjects . U can take this with u for now. "

" Thanks again, man . I own so much to u ."

" No problem, man . I don't mind at all . It's my pleasure ." Joss smiles . When he smiles, the dimples on his cheeks show up, and he looks so warm when he smiles . I smile back at him .

" Hey J !" Gap sneaks up from behind .

' Can u not shout into my ear ?' Joss turns around and says in a low voice.

' Sorry . So, me and the boys are going to hit the gym tonight . U down ?'

' No . I'm busy tonight .' Joss replies, turning his back to Gap .

' What the hell, man ? I can't believe you turned it down when it's always u who invited me and the boys to hit the gym all the time. So what's wrong with u today ?' Gap complains coming in front of us .

' I'm busy .' Joss said it short, making it clear that he's not interested . Guess there's something going on between them . Well, it's not my business, and on top of that, I don't wanna get in trouble . But Joss looks scary when he's like this .

Joss walks away but stops and turns back .

" Hey G , u coming ?"

' I knew it !' Gap runs towards him, extending his fist for a fist bump, but Joss pushes him away . ' Not u.' Joss looks at him and then shifts his gaze my way . I point at myself, confused. " Me ?" Joss nods . I take my bag and quickly walk towards him .

' What the hell, man ? Do u need to go to this extent ? I have already apologise to u hundred times . Come on man!' Gap complain .

' Gap , please . Just leave me alone for some time .' Gap looks defeated once again but doesn't stop talking.

' So u want to stop being friends with me, huh ? Is that what u want ?'

' I didn't say that .'

'It's just u didn't say it out loud, but it's what u want, isn't it ?'

' Think whatever u want . But don't forget one thing . Learn to reflect on yourself, too, sometimes . U ruined my night yesterday, man .' Joss pokes his finger at Gap's chest . Gap went quiet .

" Let's go, G ."

" Oh, OK ."

Joss and I walk down the hallway quietly until I break the silence. " So , do u know where can I go for signing up in basketball club ."

" Wait , u play basketball?" Joss stops and asks me with wide eyes .

" Yeah , why ? Is it too much of a surprise?" I ask because judging from the reaction he's giving , I can clearly tell that it caught him by surprise.

" No, it's not that . It's just..." Joss turns around with a smile and starts walking slowly . " It's just that we have kinda similar interest in many things ." Joss smiles .

" Oh, is that so ?"

" Yes , well except from the partying part, I guess. " Joss smirks .

" Well, that's true. I'm not really a party person ." I smile.

" I'm also not really a party person, but it's just . Let's stop talking about this . U want me to show u the basketball club, right ?"

" Um."

" OK, follow me ."

" Do u also play ?"

" I used too but since I joined college, I've stopped playing ."

" Oh, I see ."

" You signing up for it, right ? "

" Yeah ."

" I'm signing up for it then ."

" Great . We can play together then ."

" Yeah . You also won't have to feel lonely now that I'll play with u ."

What does he mean lonely ? It's true that I'm weak in Thai but not that weak , I can still make friends . What's with him ? Does he think that I won't be able to make any friends .

He leads me the way, and we both sign up for the club in the blink of an eye . No form filling , nothing. He just tells the girl sitting there my name, and we are in . I guess he's pretty popular around here, huh ? The girl has been grinning from ear to ear, tucking her hair behind, blinking her eyes multiple times in a second from the very moment we stepped inside . But I know she's not interested in me or the fact that we are here to sign up for the club and not to flirt with her .

' Bye, Joss . Don't forget to call me sometimes .' The girl sees us to the door .

' Sure .' Joss smiles and replies . ' We will get going then .'

" Woah man , a lot of flirting is going on currently, huh ?" I said teasingly.

" Well, can't say nothing . But one thing is sure..."

" And that is ?"

" I'm not a playboy ." Joss said, and I just tilt my head . " Uh huh ."

" No, I'm for real ."

" OK, I didn't say anything ."

" But the way u reacted is giving me that u didn't believe me ."

" Well, sorry that it makes u think that way ."

" I know it's hard to believe, but I don't date around for fun ."

" So u don't date ?" The more I get closer to him, the more he becomes interesting like there's so much more than what he looks like, which makes me even more curious.

" I did in the past, but we broke up . I caught her cheating on me ." Joss scoffs .

" Sorry for that . People . Can't control them . Can we ?"

" I agree . But at least we can control ourselves for the ones that we love . Anyway, what about u ? Any girlfriend ?"

" Yeah, but I broke up with her before coming back here . U know long distance doesn't quite work out, and I don't want to hold her down ."

" So u shifting here is the only reason ? No cheating, no drama, nothing ?"

" Nothing . Her name is Erika . She's very cool, in fact the coolest person I have ever met in my life and I love her so much . I was even thinking of marrying her ."

" Ho ! It sounds like u are really mad in love ."

" I am, I still love her, but I don't want to be selfish, so I ended our relationship on good terms . She's so kind , considerate, and understands me very well, and I don't want to hurt her in any way ."

" It must have been good cause finding someone who understands u is hard ."

" Yeah, fortunately, I find that someone, and unfortunately, at last, I had to let her go. Well, I think it's the least I can do to protect the woman I love ."

" U are so romantic, dude . I feel jealous of her now ."

" Haha, why ? There's no reason to be jealous . When people are in a relationship, they love each other . Weren't u in love also ?"

" I guess... I don't know, didn't give it a thought at all ."

" Well, u should sometimes ."

" So , u wanna grab something to eat from the cafeteria before we head back ? I'm starting to feel hungry all of a sudden ."

" I'm not really hungry, but since u are, let's go . I guess I'll just grab a drink ."

" OK, let's go then . Let's see what the cafeteria has for us today ." Joss says excitedly .

《 see u on next chp >< 》