special brew. | BrightWin

11.

W

"Where did you go last night after dinner?" Dew immediately asks after I put my bag down onto my chair upon arriving at the office.

"Huh?"

"Don't pretend. I saw you on the bus, you were not heading in the usual direction."

I breathe out noisily and stare at Dew's determined face through my glasses. It seemed that he wouldn't give up easily on this, so there was no choice but to tell him the truth. "I'll tell you over lunch."

He gives me a satisfied look and sits back down to do his work, while I get my cup of water like I always do and begin the day.

He wasted no time in interrogating me the moment we were both settled down in the cafeteria during our break. "Out with it. Where did you go? You said you were going home."

"I went to a friend's house." I said matter-of-factly.

"Which friend?"

"Just a friend."

He poked at his food, still staring at me.

"...alright, fine." I start slowly. "He owns the café around the corner at the shopping district nearby."

"Aannnd?"

"Aanndd, we just hit it off and became good friends. He fell sick yesterday so I went to check on him."

"You like him don't you?" He said with a dead serious face. He was always very intuitive when it came to this sort of thing.

I cleared my throat, not answering him. Frankly, I didn't know the definite answer to that either. "I don't know." I said softly, hanging my head low.

"Win." He said, suddenly grasping my hand that was resting on the table. "I promise you can be honest with me, you'll always be my best friend no matter what. And I won't tell a soul either."

"Silly boy." I laughed and smacked his head gently. "But thank you for the reassurance. Anyway, I just genuinely don't know what to make of my feelings for him."

"My dear bro," he says dramatically. "I have never ever seen you go to someone's house this late at night just to visit them when they're sick."

"Hey, I did do that for you when you broke your ankle. I even stayed over with you."

"No, this is different." He says while stuffing a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "I was the one who texted in our group so everyone came over. I'm willing to bet this guy didn't even tell you he was sick, you just found out somehow and went on your own accord."

"Well..."

"I got it right, didn't I? Also, I can safely assume that's where you went during our lunch hour yesterday."

"Mm..."

"Need I say more? The answer's clear as day."

I looked at Dew, and his face told me that he wasn't joking. I considered his words carefully, and began to accept the possibility that perhaps, I did like Bright more than I thought I did.

We finished up our food soon after, and went to grab a drink at the vending machine as we still had a bit of time left. He continued asking me about what Bright was like, how we met, and even asked if he was single.

"He's single? Then what are you waiting for? A good guy like him won't be available for long, don't wait till you lose him or you'll regret it."

"I don't know if he's into guys. I don't want to force myself onto him and make him uncomfortable."

"That's true." He replies while walking to the bin to throw his empty can. "Well, perhaps you can ask him next time, when you're both comfortable enough."

"Mm." I mumble. "But...do you think the rest of our group would be okay with this?"

"Be okay with...?"

"You know. About me liking a man." I said indifferently, but deep down I was scared to death that they wouldn't be able to accept that this was who I was, and they'd stop being my friends.

"We've known each other for years, Win. Believe me, we all love you no matter what you are." Dew said, patting my shoulder.

After work, I decided to head to the café. I hadn't gone in this morning as I was running late for work.

Dew's words were still ringing in my ears. I never dared to think about starting a new relationship since I ended things with my ex, and I was scared of getting hurt again. But perhaps, I should give it another shot - another shot to love again.

"Hi, your seat's available." Film greeted when I walked through the door. We'd become somewhat acquainted because I frequented the café a lot, so she knew where I always sat.

"Boss is not in today, in case you were wondering. He has already recovered though, so don't worry." She says after I placed my order.

"Oh, then why isn't he here today?"

"I'm not sure, but he said that someone told him to stay home for another day to rest." She says with a shrug.

I nod and headed back to my seat while she prepares my order. The restaurant across the street was still having that promotion, so the crowd here was still smaller compared to a few days prior. Film told me that it isn't a concern, because the customers will surely come back once the promotion is over in a couple more days.

"Can I ask you something?" She says as she puts my drink in front of me.

"Yeah, sure."

"How did you know to order toast and scrambled eggs?"

"Um..." I stammered. "Because it was recommended to me?"

"Okay..." she says slowly with an unreadable expression.

"Why?"

"Well, I'm not sure why that was recommended to you, but that's not on our menu."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we aren't selling it because it's actually the boss' personal breakfast set, he only makes it for himself. He registered it in our system just to keep track of ingredients and such."

I didn't know what to say. I have noticed that nobody else seems to order it except me, but I never really gave it much thought. Bright also made it seem like it was just a regular menu item when he recommended it on the first day we met.

Film just shrugs, and was about to walk away but turns back to look at me.

"You really mean a lot to him. More than you think."