Him and I

Of anticipation and accidents

"AI'PHAYUUUUUU!" Pai screamed as he banged on Phayu's door early Friday morning. "Ai'Satt! What the fuck is wrong with you? Can't a body sleep in this house?" he said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "You are the satt! Have you forgotten today is Friday?" Pai danced around in front of him. "I know Pai. But it's fucking 3.30 in the morning! I am pretty sure we are not meeting them any time soon. Can you please go back to sleep, and leave me the hell alone?" Phayu said, flicking his finger on Pai's forehead. "Oww!! The fuck bro?" Pai rubbed his forehead. "Go, go, go to sleep! Don't wake up! Ai'Satt!" This time he flicked his finger on Phayu's forehead, before quickly running away and closing the door of his room. Phayu shook his head at the antics of his brother and slammed the door loudly enough for the whole house to shake.

"You know what? I can't stop looking at this photo, and hoping we get a chance to actually post it as an announcement," Phayu said, as he found the picture of Rain and himself as scrolled through his phone later that morning at the breakfast table. Pai nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. I can't wait for today evening. I mean, I feel like I am going to burst, waiting for their response," he said, his impatience clearly visible from his voice. Phayu couldn't fault him. He felt the same restlessness in him that he sensed in Pai. Both Pai and he were desperately waiting for a single message from Rain and Sky and anticipating and hoping for a favourable reply.

Suddenly both their phones buzzed, and they quickly opened it to see what the message was. "Shia! Not Rain and Sky. It's P'Marine. There is an emergency Student Council meeting today at 4. What the hell! Why today of all the days?" Pai sounded completely frustrated. "And before that, we have football practice as well! Seriously shitty day to pick for a meeting. Just when we wanted to get free earlier," Phayu facepalmed, annoyed with everything. "Even the Heavens are conspiring against us!" Pai said gloomily.

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"There is an emergency council meeting at 4 today Rain," Sky came into the kitchen where Rain was prepping the marinade for the chicken he had bought the previous evening. "So?" he asked. "P'Phayu and P'Pai will be coming today," Sky said. "I ask again. So?" Rain said, puzzled as to what Sky was saying. "What I mean is, I don't know what time the meeting will get over. If you rush over to pick me up, when will you prep everything for dinner?" Sky asked. "That's okay Sky. I will figure something out. Don't stress," Rain said, smiling at his friend. "Maybe I can come with them..," he began. "NO! No way in hell is that going to happen," Rain said softly, but firmly.

"But Rain..," "No buts. I said I will figure something out. I will pick you up, and they can follow us home, okay? Don't worry about it," he said. Sky nodded, knowing that when Rain was in one of his moods, he could be as stubborn as a mule, and would never agree to anything. And Rain and he could get dinner ready even if Phayu and Pai were at home. Or they could order in. It was not like anything was bound. And honestly, he didn't want to face the two seniors alone as much as possible. He didn't know how Rain stayed with them that boldly on the field. But to give them credit, Phayu and Pai didn't try to approach either of them, or try and talk to them. They only spoke to Rain when there was something related to game playing.

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"Are you sure you want to tell them everything?" Nut asked, his worry for their friends clearly coming through. Sky nodded. "Rain thinks that it's best we do that," he said. All of them looked at Rain. "Why do you think that?" Yihwa asked, putting her hand on Rain's hand. "Because that way they will back off," he said. "What do you mean?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face. "Yihwa, you all know our past. You guys are our friends, so I guess you were able to empathise with us, and give us support and love. But not everyone can, especially not one who is looking to get into a relationship with us," Rain said, his eyes clearly betraying his longing for that to not to be true.