Kiss Me, If You Dare

In hindsight, it was a spectacularly stupid idea. 

But in Pat's defence, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, and he didn't have much time to think about it. He should’ve thought about it, because maybe then he wouldn't have manoeuvred himself into this excruciating situation, but Pat has been known to be impulsive and sometimes reckless. And also, he was faced with Pran, and he can’t reasonably be expected to function normally around him. 

Just about twenty minutes ago, everything was fine. Pretty damn great, actually. He met with Korn, Mo, and Cheng to go to a small Chinese restaurant on campus to celebrate the good grade they got for their group project, and indulged himself with an extra serving of dumplings and a nice, cold beer. 

Pran texted him to let him know he’d meet his own friends on the other side of campus, so they wouldn’t have to worry about them crossing paths tonight. Looking back now, Pat should’ve read the timestamp on the message. That was probably his first mistake. But Pran had wished him a nice evening and even put a smiley emoji at the end of his message, so Pat was feeling a little giddy. It was a small thing, sure, but it still felt like Pran was slowly warming up to him again, and as if they were making progress towards Pat’s goal of making them friends once more. He didn’t dare hope for more, but for now, just being close to Pran, having him back in his life, and being able to spend time with him again, was enough to make a smile spread over Pat’s face and his heart feel lighter than it had in years. 

It was a nice evening. Mo had told some exaggerated story about a super hot girl who definitely flirted with him in line at the copy shop, and they collectively teased him relentlessly about the fact that this story was very obviously completely made up. For once, neither of them spoke about stupid rivalries with other faculties, or wanting to beat anyone up. Instead, it was just Pat and his guys, hanging out and having a laugh, like in the old days before they all got a little bit too invested in a petty feud. It was fun, the mood was exuberant, and when Cheng suggested going to the bar across campus, Pat readily agreed. 

They joked and playfully tussled on their way there, and they were probably being a little too loud, but the campus was almost empty at this time of the night, so Pat thought they were fine. And right up until then, they were. 

But just as they were about to cross the road and leave the campus grounds, Pat saw a familiar figure on the other side. It was Pran, standing under the yellow light of a street lamp, his hair soft and unstyled, wearing an oversized sweater and an old pair of jeans, his head thrown back in a brilliant laugh as he playfully shoved his friend Safe. For a moment, Pat was too mesmerised by him to realise that this was a situation that could only lead to disaster, too spellbound by Pran's pretty face and the broad line of his shoulders to distract his friends from noticing the other guys and steer them in a different direction. That was definitely his second mistake.

"Ah ah ah, see who we've got there," Korn slurred next to him, making Pat snap out of admiring Pran. And oh shit. Korn was slightly drunk, clearly in a cocky mood, and overconfident from the alcohol. And over there, within earshot, was Wai, his favourite target. 

They were all still on probation, more or less, and the dean definitely still had an eye on them, even though they had fixed the bus stop and hadn’t gotten into any serious fights recently. It was mostly because Pat and Pran had doubled their efforts to keep their respective friends far, far away from each other, but still. Things had been going well on that front.

But of course, Korn was unable to keep his big mouth shut for more than five minutes and had to indulge in his unstoppable urge to make every situation escalate. The drinks he’d had earlier most likely didn’t help, either.

"Heyyy Wai! Hey pretty boy, what's up? Not waiting tables tonight? "he sneered, loud enough to get the attention of the other guys standing several feet away from them.