Chapter Text
Gun sighed in frustration as he watched the two people sitting across from him start another argument. It took just one simple misunderstanding or a wrong pronouncing of a word or a disagreement to make the two start World War three. And this had been going on for the past half an hour. Gun looked at Oab who was next to him helplessly. If every meeting continued like this, all the other students would have already submitted their projects, graduated and even have kids by the time Gun's team were done with their project.
Oab was busy texting someone on his phone. Gun looked away in annoyance and stared out of the window. On a normal day, he would have actually enjoyed the view outside. It wasn't the best view but still something about watching People walking down the street, vehicles passing by and just watching the city move gave him a sense of calm. It would have been the perfect treat for him on a free day to be here alone, with a cup of coffee in his hand, listening to the soft beats playing in the cafe.
But he wasn't alone now. Nor did he have a cup of coffee in his hands. And the only thing he was listening to right now was Off and Mild arguing about why Off bought salted popcorn instead of normal unflavoured Popcorn. Somehow their argument had shifted from a disagreement about the accuracy of information from a particular website they used to find facts, to their movie date few weeks ago.
Gun's phone vibrated with a notification,
Oab: who tf eats normal popcorn???
Me: love must be tasteless too then idk
Oab: Love??
These two??
pls💀
Gun glared at Oab trying to give him the message that other people's lives were not their business, and that it was incredibly rude to make assumptions like that when they barely knew them. But Oab had only said aloud what Gun had been thinking all this time.
"Excuse me" Mild suddenly stood up, "I'm going to restroom, I'll be back soon"
Gun watched as Off leaned back on the seat and blow out a breath after watching Mild disappear out of sight. These two sure had a very healthy relationship. Then suddenly as if he just realized that there were two other people in front of him, he regained his composure and smiled at them sheepishly.
"Umm...Sorry about that" Off started, "she's still kinda hung up on what happened that day, and I mean I was wrong but what happened happened right? we should move on and it's probably one of those days for her...."
Gun stared at him. Off's smile faded as he looked at the two faces in front of him. Then he attempted damage control with a panic,
"No, no I mean that came out wrong, What I meant was that she probably ha-"
"It's fine Off" Oab said startling everyone. Then realizing that his tone was probably too harsh he continued with a smile, "We really don't mind, right Gun?"
"Huh? oh yeah, we don't mind" Gun replied with a smile.
Off smiled back at them and nodded.
Gun wasn't the most talkative person but the silence and the awkwardness that hung in the air around them was starting to get a little suffocating. Off obviously wasn't the most forward person when it came anything other than maybe flirting. Gun didn't know anything about Off that they both had in common, but it couldn't hurt to at least try to be friends with this guy and attempt a decent conversation.
"So... have you heard about that crazy rumor that's been going around the campus?" Gun started leaning across the table.
"Sorry?" Off said looking up from his phone at Oab and then realizing that it was Gun who spoke, he directed his attention to Gun.
Gun opened his mouth to repeat his question, but Off's gaze stopped him. Gun knew Off was a handsome man, he wasn't blind. But he never had the chance to observe the guy's features properly. Up close Gun could see how much Off's dark hair and brows contrasted with his pale complexion. With his wolf-like eyes, he might as well be someone who stepped out from a black and white painting. But his slightly chapped lips gave some color to his face. Making him look less like a supernatural being and more like a human. Gun watched as those lips turn into a slight smile.
No, it wasn't a smile.
a smirk.
The realization that Off knew what he was doing snapped him back to reality. Great, not only did he humiliate himself after checking out someone he barely knew, but he also probably added more into his ego and just gave the man a hilarious tale to go tell his buddy's later over a drink. Gun could feel his ears burning.
"What rumor?" Off asked leaning forward on the table and not breaking eye contact with Gun. That damn smirk was still on his stupid handsome face.
Gun really needed the universe to create some sort of a distraction that would help me get out of this situation, like a zombie apocalypse maybe? That would be very convenient right now. But he knew he wasn't that lucky. Attempting to save himself from being humiliated further, Gun cleared his throat and leaned back on his seat,
"That stupid rumor about the gym being haunted or something I don't know" he said waving his hand and trying to ignore the Off's eyes that were basically shining with amusement.
"Oh yeah, I've heard it" Off said nodding his head.
"And that's all cause someone said they heard noises inside when they were passing by at night right?" Oab said.
"Yeah, like the sound of things being thrown around and stuff" Gun said.
"Please" Oab said rolling his eyes, "how much do you want to bet that someone was having a very intense banging session inside and now they are spreading this ridiculous rumor to avoid suspension."
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"You sound like you saw the whole thing happen"
"What? you're telling me a ghost trying to get jacked up is a more plausible explanation??" Oab asked while taking out his phone to check something.
Off let out a laugh "I agree"
Gun looked at Off to find him already staring at him. He frowned as he felt a strange sense of Déjà vu starting to fill his mind. Gun tried to think of a reason why this situation felt so familiar. Of cause! This was exactly how their first meeting went, with Mild and Off sitting in front of them. That was the answer, yes. That should be the answer.... yet why did he feel like it wasn't. Something was holding Gun back from looking away from Off's piercing eyes. He watched as those two pair of eyes narrow in curiosity, the smug amusement leaving.
"It's so obvious" Oab said with a scoff shaking his head, not looking up from his phone.
"Yeah, some people are so obvious"
Gun raised his eyebrows at Off's words. The words made Gun finally look away from Off's eyes and he tried his best to not roll his eyes. Good Lord this guy needed some serious humbling.
They started getting back to work soon after Mild returned. Thankfully there was less arguing and more concentrating, which could've saved them a hell of a lot of time and energy if it happened before but better late than never. They actually started getting along a lot better and the atmosphere was starting to get more and more comfortable. Gun just wished he could erase that moment that happened earlier.
Mild offered to drop Oab and Gun, to which they both refused at first because they didn't want to bother the couple since everyone was tired and Gun was pretty sure that Off was not very thrilled about that idea. But they were left with no choice when Mild practically dragged them and threw them inside the car. Actually, this was more convenient for Gun since normally he'd have to take the bus home and then head straight to his part time job. This saved him some time to go home and take at least one extra breath in peace.
Gun closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep after Oab got down. It's not that he hated talking with Mild, it's just that his thoughts were unusually loud today, and he was trying to figure out the reason and meaning behind every single one of them. He could hear Off's and Mild's voices which sounded more like static in the background because he wasn't exactly paying attention to what they were saying. He tried to drown their voices by concentrating on the only thing he could see now, black nothingness. Gun wasn't making any progress since he could still hear Mild's giggling and Off's laugh-
wait
Gun suddenly opened his eyes, realization hitting him like someone just pointed a flashlight in his face in the complete darkness. It was when he saw that familiar street sign, he reminded himself that he was supposed to be telling the two people in front of him to drop him off there.
"You can drop me off right here" Gun said quickly.
Mild turned to him with a startle and Off looked at him through the rear-view, both clearly surprised. Off pulled the car to a halt.
"Okay, take care then" Mild said with a smile.
"You too" Gun said, "thank you so much and I'm so sorry for all the trouble"
"No don't think about it too much it's all fine."
Gun nodded with a smile and got down from the car. There was one single thought running through his mind as he walked towards his house, filling him with unease and questions. The mind was a powerful thing and the sub conscious even more powerful. But no matter how hard he tried not to overthink it and forget about it trying to consider it a normal trivial thing, his mind was not ready to rest. A sense of guilt starting fill his gut as he remembered Mild's sweet smile.
Why am I seeing Off Jumpol in my dreams??