SUGAR & ICE. － lbc

° nine °

"Ai'Tin. . ." A silent plea.

"Did you just call me a dog, you bastard?"

Tin quirked a condescending brow as he watched Ae roughly push back his chair to stand, and attempt to meet his eyes directly － something difficult given their height difference, but Ae remained respectably undeterred.

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's offensive to actual dogs, saying that, isn't it?"

His eyes caught the twitching muscles in the tanned boy's face, as his features contorted with rage and his fists tightened in looming threat.

Pete was quick to stand, probably having noticed his boyfriend being close to snapping as well and deciding to intervene, taking a gentle but firm hold of Ae's left arm.

"He's only joking, Ai'Ae. He doesn't mean to be rude."

His friend sent him a pleading look which almost made Tin feel guilty and cause his anger to subside, but it didn't, and instead he continued to smirk with arrogance.

"It's alright, Pete," he lightly began, never tearing his gaze away from Ae's own fiery one.

"You can let the dog off his leash. It only proves that the poor have no intellect to rely on in fights and fall to violence with no hesitation."

"You prick, I'll show you violence!"

"Ai'Ae, please calm down! He's only in a bad mood, he doesn't mea－"

Knuckles abruptly pushed into the side of Tin's face, seemingly from nowhere, startling everyone into a silence until the assailant himself spoke up.

"Don't talk about my friend that way, IC bastard."

It was as if only then did it click that there had been another two males sitting at the table, aside from his best friend and his boyfriend, witnessing the interaction first-hand.

His head had turned swiftly to the right at the force of the punch, and he slowly rose a hand until it settled delicately upon his stinging cheek.

Tin exhaled, momentarily closing his eyes before he shifted them back towards the table.

One of the other students was still seated there, frozen and watching the scene unfold before him with slight interest glistening in his irises.

The tallest turned his focus further left and there, right at his shoulder, glaring up at him like an angered puppy, was Can.

What was he doing here? Were they all friends? Did he hate Tin even more now?  Not that the latter question mattered at all, honestly. He didn't care.

"I see birds of a feather really do flock together, huh, sugar thief?"

At the nickname, both Ae and Pete's expressions morphed into ones of bafflement, eyes bouncing between the two polar opposites who were scowling at each other.

"S-Sugar thief?" Pete piped up, eyebrows knitted together beneath his low, hazel bangs, silently asking to know the story behind such a name.

Tin found his body reluctant to stop looking into Can's narrowed eyes, so much so that it felt as if he had to battle his every muscle to turn away and focus on Pete who had posed him a question.

"Yes, he came into the café loads of times and each time he'd steal a good number of our sugar packets," he gave in explanation, carelessly indicating the then slightly blushing Can.

"It's not my fault!" He was quick to defend himself, unbothered by all the stares they were receiving from the rest of the student body who didn't dare verbally nor physically interfere.

"I just really like sugar. Besides, they're for the customers, right? And I always buy stuff to eat and drink so I'm a customer, right? Then I'm doing nothing wrong. Take that, you cocky smartass."

Tin sneered, eyes snapping back onto Can who refused to flinch at the intimidating aura radiating off of the other male.

"You're not supposed to take all of them, you idiot. What, were you raised by a group of chimpanzees or something?"

A tense silence fell between them, nobody else making a sound as if it were mutually agreed to leave them undisturbed.

Tin though － Tin wished they would cut into the conversation.

His heart was racing within his chest as his eyes remained strained on Can's, his breathing oddly erratic and he could feel the tips of his ears beginning to turn red.

Why did Can bring such turmoil upon him?

Why was it that every time he looked at the boy, his chest got hot and his body tensed?

"Ai'Tin, maybe you should leave."

Pete's meek voice awoke him from his stupor the same way a bucket of ice water being thrown down one's back in mid-Summer heat would.

He finally met another set of eyes aside from Can's and he would have preferred if he hadn't.

His heart lurched within its cage, regret beginning to trickle into his mind at the disappointed and forlorn traces of expression on Pete's delicate face.

His lips parted, an apology almost leaving him, before he bit his tongue and gave a minimal nod.

Tin strutted away as quickly as he could, as confidently as he could, for he felt anything but sure of himself in that moment and could not let anyone else know of this.

He couldn't decipher anything he had going through his muddled mind and it was all those Thai Programme's fault.

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