brightwin AUs

05: Little Italy (1)

Prompt: He leaves just when the other one arrives and the only thing they have of each other is a shared table and their little notes. 

as much as i want to welcome you to the first series of this au book, i believe there are more important matters we need to be knowledgeable about now. there are a lot of political crises that are  CURRENTLY happening (in my country, Thailand and other countries too) so please i encourage all of you to be educated and use your social media platforms to spread information. there's no room for government incompetency and violence. 

-S.

It was a small cafe pizzeria that opened exactly a month ago.

Located approximately five minutes away from the University, it was every student's studying pier.

And Win wasn't an exception to this.

"Hi, what can I get you?" The young employee smiled making the young man's eyes travel faster around the LED powered menu board.

"Uh, I think I'll go with the pink lemonade today and the parmesan thin crust solo slice." Win stuttered out, clearly deviating from his comfort drink of warm coffee even in the middle of the day.

Even the familiar staff was surprised but proceeded to punch his order with a warm smile. "Usual table?"

Win can only nod before pushing his foggy glasses up his nose.

The amount of textbooks that stared back at him didn't fail to make him groan out a silent prayer.

"This is why you should really study a month before." Win whined to himself, already flipping over the countless mini bookmarks he freshly made last night.

Just when he was about to open another one of his textbooks, he felt a small folded paper hanging under the wooden table he was always using. For the past month that he was residing in this corner of the cafe, this was the first time that he found an evidence of someone else, potentially using this same table as well.

It wasn't that this specific corner had a plague threat or anything but it was located near the comfort rooms and the air-conditioner was facing it directly, making it a little unappealing to sit at.

Clearly not for Win especially when he was already unfolding the paper in question.

if anyone happens to find this, i'm this close to dropping out of my college.

The note read and under it was a sketch of a tank with a 70% percentage written inside it.

Win frowned but he couldn't help the little smile that was starting to break out. In his mind, there was this sudden comfort knowing someone gets his sentiments as a college student because lately, everyone in his class seems to have their life together.

But not him. Never him.

With that same lingering smile, Win decided to write a reply on a new paper he ripped from his notebook with just the same size.

Bright sighed in relief once he saw the familiar glass doors. His jacket was soaked just as much as his shirt and hair. The last class he had clearly didn't care about time schedules and surpassed another hour than allotted.

He wanted to be annoyed especially since his professor secretly turned a blind eye on the time slip up just to finish their lecture but he really did enjoy Calculus; more than he cared to let on.

"Shit," Bright cursed when he noticed the small puddle of water already forming under him.

Thankfully, there were no guards to haul him out with his current state but he also didn't want to cause a mess inside the comfy cafe he was starting to love. With a wince, he tried to jump secretly just to rain the excess water down his body before proceeding to get this order and settle on at least finishing two chapters before midnight.

"Usual?" Bright could only nod at the familiar staff. Bowing his head lightly as a sign of respect once he noticed that it was one of the older employees.

"And one of your grilled cheese set but I'll order the four slices instead." He added in a last minute haze when his stomach rumbled. The employee stifled a laugh and punched his order, making sure to add extra tissues for Bright to use.

Once situated on his usual table, Bright was quick to take his jacket off to place it behind his chair. His shirt was already sticking to his chest in an uncomfortable fit and he noticed some heads turning to face him already.

Most were girls he saw around the campus.

"Let's see, derivatives done. I was halfway through functions but I still need to redo the exercises...oh limits." Bright murmured in hopes that the attention that he drew to himself was now gone.

Not that he didn't enjoy being admired at but with his current state, he was embarrassed to be stared at.

Bright pulled on his notebook a little too hard making it land under the table with a small thud. He was quick to retrieve it by bending beside the wooden table but a sharp edge of something he couldn't see, poked the side of his face.

"What the—" Bright pulled away from the table's edge to inspect the culprit.

It was a folded paper that was taped poorly, making a sharp edge with its crease.

Bright didn't waste another second and before he knew it, he was reading a phrase he was sure, was an answer to whatever note it was that he wrote a couple of days ago. His pulse quickened as his eyes ran repeatedly over the short lines.

The missing 30% is mine. I'm claiming it. If only you could see the amount of textbooks in front of me right now...

Bright didn't anticipate the bubble of laughter to suddenly escape from him until he found his fingers grasping for a pen to write another message of his own.