Selcouth Wakings | brightwin |

P: 05

The dimmed student's pub barely illuminated his face as he continued to strum on his guitar; amidst the provoked laughter of everyone around him.

"Post exam withdrawals, anyone?" The vocalist he barely knew had asked the crowd of raging college students.

"I failed three!"

"My prof gave me five extra deduction points for not writing his full name, the fuck!"

"Went home to my boyfriend screwing another girl inside my dorm after acing all my exams!"

They were all yells and shouts of tragedy that Bright was not unfamiliar with except for the last one.

"Sounds rough then." The vocalist yet again announces before the starting beat filled the speakers and his aching fingers went to work.

"This song...is for everyone who wishes to escape their current reality and sleep with a good dream tonight."

Bright stops midway, almost endangering a beat after it was said.

Dreams— how timely.

And before the first verse could be sang, he lifts his eyes to stare at the culprit of his very own one.

Sitting in a corner that Bright himself stays at after every gig, the smiling boy raised his cheap beer bottle towards him. There was a prominent line of sweat drenching his hairline yet his bare face glowed more than the set of spotlight directed at the small band.

Beautiful.

"Win." Bright whispered as the first verse of the song he was forced to learn was played and their eyes met across every other pair just before a hand shakes him.

"Hey,"

"Huh?" Closing his fist to relieve his fingers from strumming, Bright raised his eyes to a squinting man.

"Kid," The man starts to laugh before wiping his greasy hands against a worn cloth. "The gig ended a good 15 minutes ago yet you're still perched on that stool. Are you glued on that?"

Bright was quick to shake his head as his own absurd laugh settled between them. He did it again. For the remaining days of the week, reoccurrences of scenes that felt too real played before him. Almost as if they were mocking his dreams but this time, he was wide awake.

He faces the familiar pub owner he's known since he strayed around after his classes before going back to his dorm. The pub was already scarce with people and only the few working staffs facilitated the small bar stools. Bright feels a strong sense of embarrassment seeping on his cheeks before gathering his guitar.

"Did the others left already?"

"Sure did, didn't even hesitate to look back once the money was on their hands. Greedy kids even left their tab thinking it was on the house." The owner complains with a tired sigh that made Bright release the same one.

"Tell me about it. He was pretty arrogant for his own good, demanded me to play three songs I didn't know and barely gave me an hour to learn it."

"It was a she, kid."

"Oh, I knew that." Bright pursued his lips, his cheeks heating even more.

When the light envelope containing a minimal fee was in his hands, his guitar strapped around his body as both hands rebelled along their dormitory's railing; Bright couldn't help but worry about his random spacing out.

In Off's words, dreaming the residues of a dream that was not finished, and maybe it intensified because of his recent interactions with Win that day where they were paired the first time and one random occasion where they saw each other by his dorm; something that Tay was still not knowledgeable of.

For the whole week, he was only able to see Win a handful of times as they only ever shared one general class regardless of their own courses. Their paired work was a work in progress and due to both their demanding schedule as an overloaded freshmen, they both decided to finish it via emails and google docs where they overlap cursor keys to edit a starting draft.

When Bright pulled away from the cold metal railing he was trailing his steps with, the dormitory lobby was the first thing he laid his eyes on. It took him back to the day he saw Win carelessly walking around the first floor much to his surprise.

That was their first encounter outside, he remembered better than his academic syllabus for the next semester.

Somehow his voice shook when he gathered the strength to open his mouth before forcing out the short name. "Win?"

Whipping his head at the sudden voice, an instant smile painted the latter's lips once the name gathered in his ears.

"Hey," A timid phrase yet Bright felt like he spoke a thousand words by then.

The next question came so sudden because his mouth was dying to ask it when he was able to recognize the wandering boy.

"You're staying here too?"

Win shakes his head before pointing to the last door by the end of the first floor. If Bright could recall, a law student resides there who happened to move just over a month ago.

"Luke Plowden's unit?" He confirms with Win when the latter seems too familiar with his actions.

"You know him? He's actually my senior from high school and recently he found a new roommate and needed an extra hand to move his things." Win explains briefly before risking another glance at Bright who now stood in front of him in complete interest. "I'm taking it that you stay here?"

Bright nods before placing his hands—which had the sudden urge to hold Win's—inside the back pockets of his jeans.

"Nice, then I can visit you whenever I want to."

If other people were to say that, Bright was sure that he would take it as a red flag and immediately set his boundaries before they could even take the phrase seriously. He was never good with straightforward people for he wasn't one himself; but right now he loved the phrase and how the boy in front of him meant it.

"Second floor, the third door to your left. Just don't come empty handed then." Bright finds himself letting out an effortless laugh like it was the easiest thing he could do given his life with Win following in an endearing momentum.

Shaking the fond memory away, Bright pulls out his keys to the silent unit; never getting a sixth sense of the awaiting person who stood outside their door with a textbook in hand.

"Bright?"

His steps faltered as the keys fell from his grasp. It's been a couple of days since he last saw him but the relief that he felt was grounding him to an abyss of fear. Win stood there with the same stance he had the day he was introduced to their class and yet, Bright mastered the emotions he felt the first time.

"Hey," He dug his calloused fingers against his side. "What are you doing here?"

Win shifts shyly while raising the textbook they have read that day. Before Bright could raise a question again, Win steps forward to flip the page he was marking with a finger.

Bright frowns when the book was raised in front of him and a set of numbers made his eyes warm.

"Page 143," Win smiled before opening the textbook furthermore. "We never got to finish reading it."

And if beating hearts could pierce a shirt, Bright was sure no cloth would be left on him.