C5

" Come visit again, son ." Gawin's dad said to Joss, giving him a hug .

" We will be very happy if u do ." Gawin's mom smiled, rubbing Joss on his back .

" Sure, kub, but can I ask for a hug from Mom ?" Joss tilt his head with a smile .

" Haha , of course . Come here ." She hugs Joss and rubs his back . " Oh...u got it, na son . So sweet."

Gawin also gives both of them a hug ." Then we'll leave na . See u at home ." Gawin starts walking away .

" See u ." Both of his parents wave at them . They wave back. Gawin wave for once and turns around while Joss just keeps waving at them while walking backward with a smile .

Gawin stops walking and looks at him . " Enough waving, I think?" Gawin said, putting his hands on his waist .

" Your parents are so sweet ." Joss smiles and turns around .

" They are ." Gawin smiles, looking at Joss . They start walking towards the car .

" Wish I could also find someone and be sweet like them ." Joss said right after getting into the car . Gawin just smiles and nods his head while putting on the seat belt .

Throughout the journey back home , they don't talk to each other . Joss puts on some music, and Gawin just sleeps throughout the drive .

" G...G..." Joss wakes him up .

" Huh !? What happened ?" Gawin wakes up in a surprise .

" Nothing . I was just asking where ur home is so I can drop u ?" Joss said, switching his gaze back and forth between the road and Gawin, who is rubbing his eyes .

" Oh, where are we ? Wait, let me pull out the map for u ." Gawin pulls out the map on his phone and starts giving direction to Joss . Joss follows the direction and continues driving .

" Didn't know that u are such a sleeping beauty ." Joss raised his eyebrows, his gaze switching from the road to Gawin . Gawin smirk .

" I'm unable to get a good sleep nowadays ." Gawin responds .

" Why ? New bed problem ?" Joss asks, shifting the gear .

" I don't think so . It's been months already so that won't be a problem ."

" Ummm." Joss squints his eyes and acts like he is thinking about the reason .

" Don't act like u are thinking . I know u are not ." Gawin said and folded his hands before leaning his head against the car door mirror .

" Haha , I got caught ." Joss laughs . " Maybe u are just lonely ." Joss said with a sigh . Gawin raised his head and looked at Joss, waiting for an explanation. Joss knew this, so he started talking again, not shifting his gaze from the road .

" U know , sometimes u feel lonely, but u don't know that, and when u feel lonely , u feel like something is missing, and it's kinda hard to fall asleep ." Joss said, looking a Gawin for a while .

Gawin looks at Joss before looking away and blinking his eyes . "Lonely?" Gawin whisper to himself .

" We are here . This is the one, right ?" Joss pulls his car up in front of a house painted in light colours.

" Um . Thanks, man ."

" Anytime ." Joss replied with a wink, and Gawin gave him a quick salute and turned around , walking towards his house just then . "Hey !" Joss calls for him . Gawin stops and turns around .

" U mind if I come in for a while ?" Joss gets out of the car , shutting the door behind him. Gawin thinks for a while, but he can't bring himself to say no as he has done so much for him, and he has turned him down enough, so he agreed .

"Sure ." Gawin said with a smile . Joss walks towards him with a big smile . " Thanks, G ."

" Welcome to my humble abode ." Gawin turn on the lights ." Take a seat ." Gawin points to the big sofa that is in the middle ." Want some water ?" He walks towards the kitchen .

" Yes, please ." Joss replies with a smile, making himself comfortable on the sofa .

" Here ." Gawin hands him a glass of water , Joss takes it with a smile followed by a Thank u . Gawin seats down on the sofa beside him .

" So this is how your home looks like, huh ?" Joss looks around before gulping down the water .

" Yes , what do u think ?" Gawin also looks around .

" Exactly how I imagined ." Joss replies after gulping down the water and puts the glass down on the wooden table in front.

" Huh ? U imagined my home ?"

" Um , I'm good with my imagination ." Joss presses his lips together.

" Is that so ? Then tell me, how do u imagine it at first ? Be honest ." Gawin puts up one of his legs on the sofa and turns his body towards Joss direction .

" Well , I thought ur home might be warm and cosy just like the owner ." Joss said with a wink .

" Stop it . U and ur flirting skill . I'm getting tired of it , u know that ?" Gawin frowns and turns away .

" Haha , is it good ?" Joss laughs and asks .

" Well, good enough to make a girl fall for u ." Gawin takes his glass of water and starts gulping it down .

" How about u ?" Joss asks with a straight face, looking at Gawin . Gawin choke on his water .

" Hey , easy there . Easy, man ." Joss pats on his back . Gawin puts the glass down on the table in front .

" Don't say such things out of nowhere ." Gawin protest making Joss laugh out loud .

" I think I got u there, huh G ? Why ? Are u blushing ?" Joss teased him more .

" Stop it, or I'll kick u out of here ." Gawin threaten with a pout.

" OK, no teasing it is ." Joss puts his hands up in the air while Gawin gives him a side eye . Joss just smiles .

" Hey , take me to your room ." Joss said, standing up . Gawin looked up at him and didn't move .

" There is nothing interesting in my room ." Gawin lets out a breath.

" Still , I wanna see . Come on ." Joss pulls him up . " Come on ."

" OK, ok ." Gawin accepts defeat and gets up at last . " Follow me ." Gawin said and started walking towards the stairs . Joss smiles excitedly and follows him with light footsteps .

" Your room is upstairs? " Joss asks from behind . " Um ." Gawin answers him plainly.

They walk upstairs, and finally, Gawin open the door to his room ." Come in ." He holds the door open and invites Joss to come into his room .

Joss grin and walks inside excitedly .

" Woah G , your room is so much cosier than downstairs ." Joss said and lays down on the bed . " The bed is so cosy and soft too..." Joss smiles, looking at Gawin .

Gawin's eyes widen , " No !"

" Oh ! Don't be so mean, man . Come on . Just one night ." Joss shows his index finger .

" Hell no ! I need my personal space at least at home ." Gawin walks towards the bed and tries to pull Joss up, but Joss makes himself heavy, so Gawin was unable to even move him.

" Can't u give up your personal space just for one night ? I gave up mine, too, for u ." Joss emotional blackmail him .

" Oh ! So I was in your personal space, huh ? Sitting with u is considered intruding ur personal space ?" Gawin folds his hands .

" Not like that . It's just that I have never let anyone get into my car other than u ." Joss looks up at the ceiling and talks like he's lost in some thoughts.

" What the hell are u saying ? Are u high ?" Gawin complains .

" I'm telling u the truth . I have never ever let anyone get into my car ." Joss said, looking into Gawin's eyes . Seeing that Joss is serious and not joking , Gawin starts to cool down, and he takes a seat at the edge of his bed .

" And why is that ?"

" I don't know . Maybe because I don't really have my own personal space other than inside my car ." Joss continues talking while Gawin silently listens to him .

" From when I was young until now , I don't really have my private space . Even inside my room , people keep on coming in and going out ."

" Who are the people ?"

" I don't know . Sometimes I know them , sometimes I don't . Remember I told u about the accident ." Joss looks at Gawin, who is listening to him attentively.

" I was bedridden for about a month not because I got hurt but because I fell sick as I was not able to take whatever was happening back then . It all happened so suddenly, and it felt like everything had stopped ."

" Day by day , people come in my room asking about my health . To be honest , I never ever felt relaxed or comforted in my room ."

" Then why don't u change your room ?"

" Should I do that ?" Joss smiles .

" U can . I mean, it's an option . Is your house big ?"

" Kinda ."

" Then u can absolutely do that ."

" I can ." Joss smiles and looks up at the ceiling . " Beautiful paintings u got there ."

" Um ." Gawin also lays down beside him . " My mom painted it when I was like 5 . It's been over a decade already, but it still looks beautiful ." Gawin admires the painting .

" So can I sleep here tonight ?" Joss asks out of nowhere . Gawin loses his smile and looks towards Joss, who is now looking at him with sad puppy face . Gawin, after listening to all the things that Joss told him , he was hesitant to say no .

" Just for tonight ." Gawin said with a straight face, looking up at the ceiling once again .

" Thank u, man ." Joss hugs him tight .

" But I might change my mind ." Gawin said with a stiff face .

" Please don't ." Joss lets go of the hug .

" Now u wanna go shower first, or should I go first ?" Gawin gets up .

" I will go first ." Joss sprungs up .

" OK, then ." Gawin walks to his closet and takes out a towel . " Here, take it . And for the shirt and pants , u can choose yourself from the closet ."

" Thanks ." Joss walks towards the bathroom, throwing the towel over his shoulder .

While Joss is taking a shower , Gawin prepares something to eat for them . After some time, Joss calls out for him from above . Gawin walks upstairs with two plates of scramble eggs and bacon .

" Here, eat this and go to sleep ." Gawin hands him a plate .

" Oh , how come u know me so well ? It's my favourite ." Joss said, taking a spoonful of the scramble eggs, and puts it into his mouth .

" Haha , so funny ." Gawin scoff while Joss just smiles from ear to ear . Gawin eats his food quickly and goes inside the bathroom to take a shower .

" Pretty tasty ." Joss murmers with a smile .

Gawin comes out of the bathroom after taking a shower and sees Joss already in the bed, but he doesn't pay much attention . He puts on a pair of shorts and a tank top . He turns the light off, leaving only the side lamp on . He gets ready to sleep until he notice finally .

" Hey ! Why are u shirtless !?" Gawin jumps up, making Joss startled .

" What's wrong with u, G ? Are u trying to give me a heart attack ?" Joss complains .

" Why didn't u put on a shirt ?"

" I feel uncomfortable with clothes on, so I always sleep naked ." Joss said as if he's saying the most normal thing, which is not at least for Gawin .

" Don't tell me that u..."

" But I put on shorts for u ."

" OK then ." Gawin lays down and puts a pillow between them .

" Haha , u don't need to do this ."

" My bed , my choice ." Gawin turns his back to Joss and puts off the table lamb .

" Earlier, when I told u that you feel like the dawn , I was not joking ." Joss said softly, but there was no response, nothing but silence . " Good night, G ." Joss said and turned to lay flat . Gawin heard what he said, but he remained silent because he didn't want to drag the conversation further. Maybe he's too tired to reply, or maybe he's scared, scared that it might lead to something that they might regret later on.

《 See u on next Chp >< 》