Chapter Text
“Toey, you almost finish right? Wanna go eat something with me?” Shane asked.
“Toey isn’t hungry” Toey pouted with his doe eyes.
“So hard to please” Q’s annoyed, as he always was.
“Hm, it’s okay. How about we go to the bookstore you mentioned few days ago first? We can eat after that when you’re hungry” Shane said with a soft smile on his face.
Gosh, this Phi deserves an Oscar Toey thought. Before he could give his answer, he heard the chair creaked. Q turned to Shane, still kept his annoyed expression.
“I thought I’m your friend and you’re here to find me?”
“Sure I’m your friend, Q. I’m just not here for you today.”
“Okay na P’Shane. Let Toey finish this first. Can you wait?” Toey replied while looking at Shane with his usual doe eyes. This, for some reason, seemed to successfully piss Q off even more,
“Of course. Phi can wait forever hehe.” Shane almost laughed at himself when he tried to follow “the plan” that Matt asked him to be in.
“Toey, focus. You’re taking ages for a simple assignment.” Q said, with his hand holding the brush still not looking at either of the boys.
“Au P’Q, Toey’s the fastest in my class already. Why do you keep scolding Toey?” Toey protested, his voice soft and eyes lowered.
“Just keep your mouth shut. You both are interrupting me.”
Toey looked at Q, pouted. Q somehow seemed to be annoyed by his presence most of the time, though Toey knew his Phi still cared for him in some ways. He missed those times that his Phi showed him his soft side, though it had been rare these days.
It took Toey 30 more minutes to finish his drawing. He was indeed the first one to complete the task. Shane was sitting nearby, typing on his phone.
“P’Shane, sorry to keep you waiting. Toey’s done. We can go now.” Toey said to Shane while looking at Q in the corner of his eye. To be honest, he preferred to stay here with his Phi. Even though they didn’t talk much whenever they focused on their assignments, Toey enjoyed every single moment he could spend with (not so) secret crush.
“It’s nothing Toey. Let’s go to the bookstore then.”
Toey was busy packing his stuff when he noticed Q also started to collect his brushes.
“I’ll go with you two.” He suddenly spoke, as if he could read his mind.
“Au, why do you suddenly wanna go with us? Are you not busy with your date today?” Shane questioned him with a (not so) clueless face.
Date. Yeah. Thank you P’Shane for reminding Toey that my crush has a date, who isn’t me. - Toey thought. His heart sank a bit to the word “date”.
“No, I’m not busy. And I need new brushes.” Q looked annoyed even more if it was possible. His eyebrows knitted.
“Then…let’s all go together.” Toey jumped in, he couldn’t stand the tension that slowly built up.
-----
There weren’t many people at the bookstore when they arrived. This place was far from their uni after all. Toey had heard about this place from his classmate and did want to check it out.
Shane followed him as he wandered around the old store. Q was nowhere to be found, Toey believed his favorite Phi had gone to look for the brushes.
"Toey, check the group chat. Matt's going crazy," Shane told Toey with a big smile on his face. It was almost a whisper since they appeared to be the only people in the area.
Matt-The-Genius: I TOLD YOU THIS COULD WORK!!!
Matt-The-Genius: Q’S JEALOUS! HE EVEN GOES WITH YOU TO THE STORE
Matt-The-Genius: ARRRGGGGG. I WISH I COULD BE THERE TO SEE HIS FACE
Shane: Calm down, Matt. You’re overreacting.
Matt-The-Genius: I AM NOT
Shane: Q's always unpredictable like this. I've known him my whole life.
Matt-The-Genius: But does he usually accompany you and other people to the store if they're not Toey?
Shane: That’s a bit strange though. You got the point.
Matt-The-Genius: I KNOWWWWW
Toey likes P’Q sm: I’m with P’Shane. P’Q always looks annoyed anyway… I don’t want to keep my hope up
Matt-The-Genius: We’re on good track guys. Let’s push him a bit more next. When are you leaving for dinner?
“Right, Toey. Are you hungry?”
“Not really. But it’s dinner time anyway.” Toey pouted, his usual spoiled kid reaction when he needed to agree with something he didn’t really want.
“So you wanna have dinner or not?” Q suddenly showed up from behind Shane, which made the boy’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
“Dinner’s okay. Can Toey have meat ball noodle? And the sweet dessert near the market?” He asked, not sure who to look at since Shane and Q were standing side by side in front of him now.
“Lucky. I know an amazing noodle stall near here and they have the best meat ball.”
Toey’s eyes lit up immediately. “Let’s go Phi.”
“Is that the one you told me earlier? That stall where there’s no food review on the internet?” Q asked.
“That’s the place. Their food is good and the auntie is super kind.” Shane replied, enthusiasm clearly showed in his voice.
Before Toey could replied, he heard Q’s voice. The usual annoyed tone that made his heart melted as always.
“I’ll also join, the bill’s on you, Shane. You promised to take me their last time.”
“I didn’t promise to take you there, Q. I said “Let’s go there together”, to four of you.”
“Same thing. Now get your ass up and go. I’m hungry.” Q said to Shane, but his eyes fixed on Toey.
“Au, why you’re scolding me again, Phi?” Toey protested with a pout.
Q sighed. “I’m not scolding you. Let’s go. Do you still want your meat ball?”
-----
The noodle was indeed yummy, just as what Shane told them. Thinking about that promise with his friends, Shane was not ready to tell them about the place. Not yet.
He came across this place by chance on an evening after his practice a year ago. Until today, the first and only friend that he had brought here was Matt. There’s something about the way Matt’s eyes twinkled when he saw his favorite Khao Soi noodle that kept Shane from revealing this particular food stall to the rest of his friends. He and Matt came here together a dozen times, they had the same choice of dishes every single time and Shane came home with a smile on his face that many times. That one day Matt accidentally mentioned about his favorite Khao Soi dish to their group of friends, Shane felt a tiny hole appeared in his heart. It felt like the small secret he tried to keep escaped him. He never brought up the place again in their conversations, to his surprise, his annoying best friend Nirandon still remembered.
“P’Shane! P’Shaneeeeeeeeeeee”
Shane startled out of his reverie when he felt a hand patting his head. Toey’s sitting across from him, looking at him with curious eyes. On the other side, Q’s staring at him with his eyebrows knotted, of course it had to be Q who hit him.
“Sorry I was lost in thoughts.” Shane shook his head, focused back to his acting. “Are you full, Toey?”
Before Toey could answered his question, Q snorted “Are you aware that I’m also here?”
“I’m fully aware, Khun Nirandon.” Shane tried to hold his laugh.
“Toey’s full, P’Shane. Can we drop by the ice scream store near the market before heading home?” Toey said, a big smile shown on his face, not sure if it was because of the thoughts for the dessert or Q’s previous statement.
“Sure thing, Nong. Let’s go get your ice cream.”
Toey turned to look at Q with his expectant face.
“Stop making that face. I’m not buying you ice cream.”
Toey pouted. It’s not like he didn't have money, it just felt nicer when you were treated with sweet.
“I’ll buy it for you, Nong. We don’t need Q’s money this time.”
“Yay. Toey love P’Shane the most!!”
Shit. This’s an unexpected success. Shane talked to himself when he saw Q’s grimace. He started to understand Matt’s words about Q’s feelings toward Toey. The boy definitely fell for this Nong, he just didn’t realize it yet.
“I’m going back. You too have fun.”
“Au. P’Q, don’t you wanna get ice cream too? That store has the best ice cream Phi, I promise.”
“I’m not going, full already. Toey, you better be early on Thursday sesssion. Shane, since you don’t need my money, you pay for my noodle then.” With that, Q left the two.
“Can you see that, Toey? He’s clearly annoyed by the fact that I’m trying to court you. Wait, let me call Matt. He’ll be so high with this.” Shane excitedly said after he watched Q left for home. He quickly grabbed his phone and searched for Matt’s contact before hitting the call button.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure, Phi. He’s always like that. Maybe he’s just bothered by something today. Not to mention he’s dating that senior from Marketing department.” Toey sighed.
“Nah, I think Matt’s right. He acts differently around you.” Shane continued, his eyes switching from Toey and Matt’s face on his phone.
“And the girl from Marketing, they’re only talking for a few days, I haven’t seen them going on a date or something. Q’s still in his hiatus stage after the last breakup.” Matt added.
“That’s because it’s not Saturday yet. P’Q always goes on dates on Saturday.”
“Hmm, that’s true. But there’s an easy way to find out.” Matt said, a mischievous smile on his face.