FIRST | JOHNTEN

NINE | TINY

ten had awkwardly entered his second class, avoiding the gaze of the professor he knew had been glaring at him. he guesses seeing all those cool paintings had made it worth it (plus johnny held his hand!) but he still ended up late.

art was quick to question him as expected, curious about what johnny needed him for, but a smiley ten refused to tell him anything. the fact that he didn't even tell either of his friends about his crush still was driven from his mind entirely. funnily enough, it's entirely because of his crush. their third class flies past and soon, they're heading off to lunch. ten kept his sketchbook out, holding onto it with the plan of sketching something to practice.

art, with his arms crossed against his chest, gives ten a look. "hey, you still never told me."

ten furrows his eyebrows. "told you what?"

"your crush."

"oh, do you ever shut up about it?" maew cuts in, her voice clearly full of annoyance. "if he doesn't want to tell us, then ten doesn't have to!"

"well, sorry for being curious!" art fires back, although not in an argumentative voice. it makes them both fall silent, which allows ten to think.

it won't hurt, right? there can't possibly be an excuse now to stop him from admitting it.

"okay, look," ten starts. "i know i said i would tell him later. so, i can say it now. just don't say out loud. please."

"oh sure, i pinky swear that i won't," he holds out his pinky but ten doesn't wrap his own around it. art doesn't seem offended or hurt and just puts his hand down. maew is still quiet, looking at ten with that same knowing look.

does she already know — ?

ten's voice drops to a whisper. "it's johnny, alright? i have a crush on my roommate."

the corners of maew's lips curve downwards; art beams. "i figured! that was so obvious!" he exclaims.

ten feels a weird feeling overtake his heart. panic? "really? am i?"

"no," art quickly says as to comfort him. "i just mean i assumed and my guess was right."

he awkwardly laughs, though ten calms down, that weird feeling his heart once had fading off. no need to panic now. no one should know other than them and aunt hong. though, at least art will stop bothering him about it constantly, prodding him and tapping him, begging for an answer out of pure curiosity. art'll shut up now.

ten didn't exactly catch maew's reaction to his crush. she quickly puts on a smile back on and gives a half-hearted 'ooh.'

when they reach the cafeteria, ten immediately meets johnny again, who asks, "aunt hong's for lunch?"

"sure," ten replied before turning back to his friends. "what about you guys?"

"no, i'll eat here," maew says quickly before abruptly walking off. art watches her go in confusion before saying, "i'll stay with her."

ten was a bit perplexed by her tone, but doesn't question it. "alright."

so then, johnny and ten set off, leaving the school and soon stepping off of campus entirely. johnny started the conversation that they had, as usual. ten can barely talk to him without blush coming to his cheeks. johnny just has that power, even if it is extremely annoying.

looking at johnny, watching the way his mouth moves as he goes on about a funny story involving him and his friends back in america, jeffery and mark. ten pays perhaps a bit too much attention to his lips and finds him having the feeling of what to know what it's like to kiss him. what would it be like to press his lips on his....

ten is quick to push the thought away, blushing crimson. why did it have to cross his mind? it's not the time to be thinking about that. but even then, still, he's kind of curious. he never knows until he actually does kiss him.

" — so, then, i was pretty sure mrs. scotts hated my guts," johnny finishes his story. ten had been listening, of course, even if his thoughts drifted to a certain something else.

"she does sound horrible," ten notes in the same language.

"yeah, and i had to spend a whole year with her — "

ten catches something move below him and he looks down fully, seeing a kitten. the same kitten they saw by the trash bins. it looked at the two roommates and meowed, almost as if the little animal was saying hello. ten felt his heart swell.

"aww, hello," he hears johnny say as he crouches down and holds out his hand to the little tabby kitten. the little cat sniffs the tip of his fingers for a few moments, raising its little tail, before letting johnny pat his head softly without any fear.

ten walks closer and does the same, slowly reaching out a hand to do the same. the kitten looked at him curiously before sniffing and letting him do so. afterwards, the kitten meowed again. johnny then says, "he needs a name."

ten thinks for a moment before saying, "tiny."

"tiny?" johnny repeats.

"tiny but mighty."

johnny smiles at ten and then looks back at the kitten, who meows again. "i like that."

when they finally do what they came to do — eating at aunt hong's restaurant — tiny the kitten followed after them right on johnny's heels, continuing to meow with a high-pitch. aunt hong comes to greet them and notices the small kitten as he weaves through the two roommate's legs.

"you've gotten a pet?" she asks kindly, cooing at the adorable animal.

"well, he just find him near the bins," ten tells her. "so, not really. tiny's a stray."

"aww, tiny's a cute name," aunt hong coos again. "you should definitely take care of the little guy."

ten isn't sure if they're even allowed to have pets in the school dorms. he hasn't read through the entire list of rules regarding the dorms themselves, but he guesses there's a room for that — no pets. unless ten is willing to break the rules, which he may as well not be, unless johnny, for whatever reason, wants to risk keeping the cat.

"can we?" ten says the question aloud, one he meant to keep to himself. johnny looks at him eagerly as the kitten rubs himself up against his leg.

"i think we should!"

"are we even allowed — ?" ten starts. now johnny's smile fades a little.

"er — i'm not sure about that."

aunt hong thinks for a moment before saying, "say what, i'll keep tiny here and you can come after school to visit the little guy. he's still your pet, i'm just housing him."

johnny's smile returns right then. "i like that idea."

ten finds himself agreeing before they finally take a seat at a table. when the two eat and then leave, they head back up the sidewalk towards their college's campus, their happy voices filling the air.