Chapter 02 - How Can You Be Sure I'm Just a Friend

Ohm's POV

The next several days are chaotic. You know, with classes, and Nanon tutoring me everyday, I feel my head is going to explode. Seriously, it's only a few days and I already considered giving up. Is it too late to burn the campus down? Hard to imagine I still have to do this for another two months. Don't get me wrong, Nanon is a very good tutor, it's just there is a lot of information to chew, and I don't know which one I should chew first. Today is Saturday, and that means I have a session with Nanon tonight. Is it too late to cancel? Why did I ask for Saturday sessions? I need my rest, just play some video games until I forget all about my study. I think about that again. Isn't it bad if I forget about my study? I have to endure it. Two more months and it's going to be over. Well, at least for the first semester that is. 

So Nanon arrived at 7pm sharp. He's always on time. I let him in. "You know, it's much more convenient if I just give you the spare key, so I don't have to buzz you in everyday." I told him. "Okay, that's actually not a bad idea. But, what if you have a company over?" he asked. At first, I don't understand his question, but then the realization dawn on me. "Huh? Just close your eyes and count to ten? Seriously dude, what's with you and your obsession of me having sex with someone?" I got offended. "Sorry. I was just asking. Your sex life is none of my business. It's just, it's going to be very awkward if I walked in on you when you...you know....did it, I guess. Ugh, just forget about it." he said. 

Okay, the truth is, I never had sex before in my life. Everyone assumed I'm kind of sex god or something, judging me from my appearance and my bad boy attitude. But that can't be further from the truth. And it's not like I'm waiting for my true love or that kind of shit, I just want my first time to be with someone I care about. "Okay, I promised there will be no monkey business going on around here" I assured him, and then give him my spare key. He accepted it.

We sat on the floor and started studying. Nanon explained the formula and this, and that. "Ohm, take a look at this equation." He showed me. I inched closer to his face. "See here. You just have to divide this number with this one and problem solved. Easy right?" he explained. I didn't realized it at first, but then I realized that my face is so close to his. I took a peek at his cute face. It became cuter when he taught me. I took a whiff of his scent. He smelled havenly. I took a peek again, and our eyes met. I blushed so hard. He blushed too. My heart raced. He moved a little bit further. "....and that's how you solve it. Do you understand? Any question?" He finished teaching me and I really have no idea what he just said so I just pretended to understand and nodded. I was too busy peeking at his face. 

Nanon went home with taxi today. I offered to drive him home but he refused. He said he still has to go to mini market to buy some things and he didn't want to bother me. I insisted but he kept saying no. Weird. 

I don't have anything to do, so I just played with my phone. Suddenly there's a text from Perth.

P : Ohm you busy tomorrow?

O : no why?

P : wanna go to a new cafe at the mall?

O : what time?

P : around 3

O : okay

P : meet up at the mall?

O : 👍🏻

P : okay, see u

Okay, so I'm going to go out with Perth, just the two of us, for the very first time ever. Can I call it a date? Maybe no? I mean, we're just going to meet at a cafe. I thought I was going to be more ...... excited? But no, it's not that exciting. What is this feeling?

Tomorrow came, and I went out to the mall to meet Perth. I arrived at the mall at 3.15, texted Perth to ask about his whereabouts. He replied 15 minutes later, saying he's on his way. He arrived 30 minutes later at 4. So I have to wait for 45 minutes. If I don't like him, I'm going to shove my middle finger up his ass and bid him farewell. "Ohm, I'm so sorry. I'm late because of my dad" he looked out of breath. "Oh, it's okay. Let's go to the cafe." we walked to the cafe. The cafe is packed but Perth already made a reservation. We sat down and ended up talking about basic stuffs. The situation is a little bit awkward. And the food is just so-so, with a very small portion. But it's still nice, spending time with Perth. Suddenly, his phone rang. He excused himself to pick up tha phone. Several minutes later he came back looking upset. "Ohm I'm so sorry I have to cut short, I have to go home, some problem at home" he said in a hurry. "Oh, and I already paid the bill, so you can enjoy the food. Bye Ohm" he waved me goodbye. It irked me. It really irked me when someone paid for my meal. I can pay for my own meal. Shit. My mood is totally ruined. Fuck. I looked at my watch, it's 5.00. I decided to go home, maybe order some takeout for my dinner later. 

I walked past one restaurant, when I saw a familiar face. It was Nanon, with another guy. I really have no idea who that guy is, but they seem close. It doesn't help that the other guy is handsome too. They were chatting, probably about something fun, because they keep laughing. Suddenly the guy asked for the bill and paid for it. I don't like it. I'm the only one who can pay for Nanon's food. Wait, go back, why do I have to care when someone else paid for Nanon. They started standing, and I have to run as not to look like I'm stalking him, more like meeting him by accident.

So I pretend to bummed into him. "Nanon?" I called him. "Ohm? What are you doing here?" he looked surprised. "I have to buy something. So, who's your friend?" I'm curious. "How can you be sure I'm just a friend?" the guy teased me. He put his arm around Nanon's shoulder. Fuck. This guy's fucking cocky. "Well, Nanon never told me he has a boyfriend before" I'm not going to lose to a guy like this. "And why in hell would he told you? Maybe you're not important enough for him to tell you about his boyfriend. I mean, I don't even know you, and I know every single important person in his life, including his dads and brothers. Every single one of them." My blood boiled. How dare he. He kissed Nanon's cheek, right on Nanon's very cute dimple. "Who are you anyway? And why do you wanna know? Nosy much?" I really want to punch him, that's some mouth he got. "Okay, enough you two." Nanon separated us. "Ohm, this is my bestest friend, Sea. Sea, this is Ohm" he introduced us. "Oh, so this is Ohm. The one who said you're too low for his social circle but ended up needing your help to tutor him anyway. No wonder he don't know anything about you, he's just too self centered." Okay it's official, I don't like this guy. No, I hate him. He's just straight up rude. His tongue is sharper than Nanon's. No wonder he can be best friend with Nanon. But I'm not gonna get easily provoked by some prick like him. I took a deep breath. I tried to keep my cool and ignore him. "Oh, where are you guys going?" I asked. "Back to my apartment. Like he was last night. I bet you didn't know about that too." the prick answered. I clenched my fist. "Home. We're just about to go home. To our own apartments. Sea, please stop joking around." Nanon answered. The prick laughed. Fuck him. "Babe, I need to go now, let me drive you home." the fucker said. Babe? Really? "No need. Nanon can go home with me." I told him off. I pulled Nanon towards me. Nanon looked shocked. "No, he's coming home with me." the fucker tried to pull Nanon back to him but I'm not letting go. "Okay, you two let me go." Nanon untangled himself from me and the prick. "It's okay. Sea, you're in a hurry, just go, don't worry about me. Ohm, don't you have to buy something? I can just order online taxi." he tried to reason with us. "Okay babe, take care. Text me when you get home." To my absolute surprise, Sea pecked Nanon's lips. And Nanon just smiled like he's used to that. Sea left, leaving me alone with Nanon. I'm so shocked with what just happened. Nanon kissing? In front of me? What???

Nanon's POV

(Saturday evening) I have a shedule with Ohm today. Shit, I forget to cancel that. But I promised to meet up with Sea, my bestest friend. We've been friends from kindergarden. Too bad he chose a different college and different major. But it's okay, we're still hanging out every week. "It's okay babe, we can just meet up after, have a sleep over at my apartment, maybe?" Sea said on the phone. "Okay, we can totally do that, maybe watch some movie, see you then" I hung up the phone. I arrived at Ohm's place, and he buzzed me in. "You know, it's more convenient if I just give you my spare key" he told me. Okay, that's weird. What if he hooked up with someone and I came in. But he assured me that it won't be happening. In the end, I got his spare key. He offered to drive me home but I turned down his offer. I'm going to Sea's apartment and the last thing I need is Ohm asking me questions. 

"Babe, we haven't seen each other in a long time." Sea hugged me, kissed my cheeks and pecked my lips. "Really? We just saw each other last week" I laughed. "Well, we're going to see each other everyday if you just move in with me" he said. He offered me to move in with him at the beginning of semester, and I refused. I don't want dad to think I can't live on my own. Besides, Sea is kind of seeing someone now, and I don't want to listen to them having sex. I imagined and eewww... I changed into my pajamas and sat on the living room. "So how's your progress with mr.crush?" he asked me. "No, we're not going to talk about me first, we're going to talk about you first." I wanted to know all about him and his crush, my step brother, p'Jimmy. "Well, p'Jimmy finally asked me out on a date, and I said yes." he told me. "Oh, finally, after waiting for a very long time. It's like watching series that progressed very slow. When did this happen? How come you didn't tell me about this?" Okay, now I'm curious. "We went out last night. And I'm telling you now. Okay, so at the end of the date, we were just sitting in the car, just talking, and suddenly he......kissed me. Like real kiss, not the cute peck like we used to do." he told the story. "Nanon, I think I'm falling in love with him. Is it too soon? I mean, we've known each other for a long time, but we just started going out." he has doubt. Of course he has, everyone has. That's why we need our best friend to convince us everything is going to be okay. "Of course it's not too soon. If you love someone, you don't need any reason, or how long have you known him, you can just love him. And I can assure you that p'Jimmy is a great guy too. I really mean it. He's handsome, kind, and warm, and it didn't hurt that he's rich too. I'm so excited you guys are going out." I tried to convince him. "But, what if it doesn't work out in the end? You have to take sides, and you must choose him because he's your brother, and you're going to leave me, and I will lose my bestest friend." It does make sense what he's afraid of. "But, you'll never know. What if it does work out in the end? And you won't lose me. I promise I'm not going to take any sides, not yours, and not p'Jim's." I assured him. 

"Okay, enough about me. Now tell me all about you". I told him about tutoring Ohm, about the spare keys, and about Perth crushing on Ohm but pushing me to tutor him. Suddenly, my phone chimed. It was Perth. He texted me. "I'm going on a date with Ohm tomorrow" he texted. My heart sank. I typed "good luck" and sent it to him. I showed the text to Sea. "He's a fucking bitch. He dared called himself your friend but he fucking did that. Real bitch." He cuddled me. "But Perth is nice to me. He took my side when I was fighting with Ohm. I can't hate him." I told him. "But I'm still your bestest friend. I'll never do anything like that to you, you know that, right. I love you." Sea told me. "I love you too." I rest my head on his shoulder. "Okay, let's eat liquor ice cream and watch comedy until we forget about them." He started to pick a movie. I smiled. Sea IS my bestest friend.

The next day afternoon, we decided to go to the mall. It's Sunday so the mall is a bit crowded. We take a look at some stuffs. Sea bought a new shirt, and I bought nothing. He wanted to buy one for me, but I refused. After some time, we decided to have a late lunch, but more like, a snacking, since we already ate lunch. Sea wanted to eat japanese food, so we ate at hajime resto. We were eating, and talking, and suddenly p'Jimmy texted him asking him to meet up with him. "Should I decline? I mean, we are on a date now" he asked me. "Are you insane? You don't have to cancel on him just because of me. Go, grab your man, don't let him slip away from your fingers. Use your voodoo magic to win him." I told him. "Well, I don't need voodoo magic to win him. I'll just take my clothes off and he'll be all over me like ants with sugar." he teased me. I made a disgusted face like I'm about to puke. We laughed. He asked for the bill. I wanted to pay but he refused. We got out of the restaurant, and I saw Ohm walking towards me. Ohm? Wasn't he supposed to go on a date with Perth? I haven't got a chance to say anything to Sea, but he's already here. "Nanon, who's your friend?" Ohm asked me. "How can you be sure I'm just a friend?" Sea put his arm around my shoulder, making it territorial. Okay, I have to stop Sea and Ohm from fighting. I introduced them, but that bakcfired real quick. I forgot how Sea could act when someone hurt me. "Ohm, the one who said you're too low for his social circle but ended up needing your help anyway" he said. He even called Ohm self centered. Ouch. Ohm looked mad. In the end Sea left, but not before he pecked me on my lips like we used to do. I smiled. He ruffled my hair and said goodbye. Sea left, and suddenly I realized my mistake when I look at Ohm's shocked expression. 

"Ohm, you okay?" I asked him. He stayed silent. "Ohm?" I waved my hand in front of his face. I tried to act like nothing happened. "Huh? Oh, I'm okay." he said. "I'm going to go home, okay, bye" I started to leave but Ohm suddenly held my arm, stopping me from leaving. "Wait. Do you have anything to do after this?" he asked me. "Hmm. Nothing. I'm just going to go back to my apartment and study for finals." Well, I was supposed to spend the night at Sea's apartment and eat another liquor ice cream but his boyfriend called so I'm wide open now. "Okay then. I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat." he started dragging me to a restaurant. "Ohm, wait... what.... wait....." he was supposed to go out on a date with Perth. And I'm not going to become a spare tire, just a substitute when his date fell apart. "Aren't you supposed to go on a date with Perth?" I blurted out. He stopped. His expression changed. I tried to release my arm but he squeezed it. "How do you know about that?" he asked me. "Perth texted me yesterday. He's my best friend, of course he's going to tell me." Okay, my arm's starting to hurt. "Ohm, my arm, it's hurt." He let go of my arm and then stroked it to comfort me. At this point I don't know what to do. This is really not good for my heart. "That was not a date. I mean, Perth asked me to go to a cafe with him, but we never said it was a date. Now, can we stop talking about that? And just have a nice dinner?" he asked. He looked tired. Oh shit. This is bad. I'm losing my will of power to not become a substitute and I'm going to have dinner with him. 

Ohm's POV

To my surprise, Nanon agreed to have dinner with me. We chose the local food resto at the mall. We ordered. And I noticed he stayed quiet. We just talk occasionally. He didn't ask more about Perth, which is exactly what I want. And I wanted to ask more about the Sea guy. What's the nature of their relationship. Are they really just friends? Why did Sea called him babe? Why did he put his arm around his shoulder? Why did he kiss his cheek? And the most important, why did Sea kissed him on the lips when they said goodbye? But I can't just ask him that because that's none of my business. 'Nosy much?' I can imagine that prick judging me right now. We ate in silent. I watched him chew his food. And suddenly, something crossed my mind. I wondered what it feels like to kiss Nanon's lips. He noticed I was looking at him. "Ohm, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" he started to grab his phone to look at himself. "Nothing. There's nothing on your face." Except for those cute dimples of yours. I wondered how many times has Sea kissed them? He must've done it a lot of times, maybe thousand times or more. We finished eating, and I paid for the bill. Nanon sighed. "I was about to get that, you know. Whenever we went out to eat together you always pay for my meal." he protested. "And I intended to keep it that way." I just smiled. 

"Okay, let's go home" I didn't have to ask him to come with me, he just did. That's how I like it. I drove him home, and we chatted on the way. "So, Sea, huh?" I tried to open the conversation. "What about him?" Nanon asked innocently. "He's your best friend?" I asked. "Hmm. No. He's my bestest friend. That's how we called each other. He knows every single thing about me, and I him, including our family." Okay, but do bestest friend kissed each other on the lips like that? And why do I obsessed so much about that. Enough Ohm, you were supposed to have a crush on Perth, not Nanon or Nanon's juicy plump lips. Juicy? Plump? This is bad. 

To Be Continued...