Maybe, Probably, Certainly (Project S: Spike/Waterboyy)

Chapter 5: Cool Kids

Kluay's first attempt at meeting with Puen went as well as expected. Captain of the volleyball team ignored his text completely, but after he was pestered by Kluay even the following day, he finally answered the call.

"Which part of 'fuck off' do you not understand?" Puen barked annoyed.

"The part where I actually listen to you." The swimmer quipped sarcastically.

"What do you want with me, anyways?" The other sophomore asked reluctantly.

"Fear not, it's not like I'm in sudden need of your stimulating company or riveting conversation skills," Kluay mocked Puen. "I wanted to ask if your boy Than mentioned something about Achi to you. The kid seemed down to me, last time I saw him. "

This question, along with Than being referred to as 'his', stunned Puen, who could not respond right away. "Not really," he started slowly, deliberately weighing his words. "I haven't heard from Than since yesterday evening, and he wasn't precisely forthcoming about anything." Despite wanting to remain cool and unaffected, he sounded a bit bitter, even to his own ears.

"You're useless." Kluay deadpanned and hanged up on him.

Puen stared at his phone blankly, too taken aback by this weird conversation to be offended. He went back to doing his daily tasks, but his mind still lingered on his teammate.

However after another week of Than being mysterious and laconic with his responses and blowing him off on Sunday, their day to hang out, he got even more worried. So when Kluay called him, asking if he had any update, Puen agreed to meet. It's not like he had any other plans.

***

When Than came back home, after his first study group on Sunday, he found Achi lifelessly sitting on the bed and going through his music sheets, which is what he typically did, when he wasn't practicing. It was still very early, so Than decided that enough was enough.

"You know, when I left four hours ago, you were sitting in the same exact spot," the volleyball player said while taking out his notebooks out of the backpack.

Achi only grunted and buried his nose even deeper in his papers. Than stood with hands on his hips observing the violin player, and announced firmly:

"That's it! You need a break and, frankly speaking, I do too." He declared, but Achi only stared at him skeptically. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. We're going... somewhere." He finished vaguely.

Achi just sighed and didn't move a muscle.

"... Or I could just invite our favorite swimmer to keep us company here," Than pondered innocently aloud.

"Ok, I'm going, I'm going," Achi grumbled getting up from the bed. "No need to use threats."

Than laughed and even his friend smiled involuntary.

"Your study session must have gone well."

"It didn't suck," the athlete conceded. "I'll tell you all about it later. Minus the statistics bits; we can skip those."

The boys went to a nearby karaoke place to relieve their stress and relax. Than was surprised to find out that the musician had genuinely a good voice but, by his own admission, was too uncomfortable to show it off in public. What was the difference between this and playing for the larger audience Than didn't know, but he vowed to bring this subject up again. He could pinpoint the moment when Achi stopped humoring him and counting the passing minutes, and started enjoying himself for real. The instant one of the songs by Mad Monkeys began to play Achi got into the grove and let go at last. Than wasn't going to outdone by his friend and joined in, following the rhythm of the music. They sang and danced until they collapsed on the floor, totally spent, perfectly content and grinning from ear to ear.