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"Here are your drinks." The waitress said as she approached their table. As soon as the drinks were within grabbing distance, a bottle of hard liquor was sneaked off it. The woman stopped, surprised by these customers' eagerness.
"Thank you." Gun said with an awkward smile as she placed the rest of the drinks down, pretending like she wasn't side eyeing the commotion next to her. Meanwhile, Win was pouring the alcohol within two shot glasses with shakey hands.
"Twelve." He said, resolute. His eyes were locked with Sound's in an intense battle of dominance. So intense, in fact, that they weren't even blinking. The waitress lingered at their table for a little longer, watching with interest. Gun was watching, too, with slight shame.
"Surprised you know how to count still." Sound said cheekily.
"Of course I do. Counting is my speciality."
"Yeah. We could all tell it wasn't rapping."
"Just how yours isn't talking shit."
"Yeah? Then why are you so mad?" Sound said, swirling the alcohol in his glass. Win didn't say anything, but his eyes widened. He looked stuck between multiple responses, but none of them managed to be heard. Instead, he suddenly gulped down his shot.
Seeing Win spring into action also activated Sound's game sense. His shoulders shot up, like Win just attacked him, so of course he had to retaliate by just as quickly gulping down his own glass.
"Woah, slow down! You'll puke it out at this rate." Tinn said, although his voice got drowned out by the rest of the Chinzhilla band who cheered loudly.
This was supposed to be just a simple, celebratory get-together. After a few months of quiet, Chinzhilla finally got a new gig, and not only that, but it was a massive success. Despite their lack of activity, they still managed to draw a fairly decent crowd. Although, truth be told, even if the venue would've been empty, they still would've found reason to celebrate. Just being together was enough of a reason to cheer. Their meetings became less and less common as they got busier with their day jobs. Despite not being part of the band, Tinn and Tiw tagged along by virtue of being their boyfriend's plus ones.
Tinn was starting to regret his decision slightly. Getting to oogle at Gun's ditzy, cute, drunk smile wasn't enough to make up for Sound and Win's constant competitiveness. Ever since they sat down, they've been challenging each other over the stupidest things, like who orders first and who ordered the stronger alcohol.
Now, they were battling out each other's alcohol tolerance. Whenever Win would down a bottle, Sound would grab the one next to it and pour it down his throat slowly, keeping eye contact with his challenger the whole time. Whenever the corners of Sound's mouth would smirk around the rim of yet another glass, Win would send him a death glare that seemed to wish for him to choke. Just as Tinn would start to think that things were deescalating, the rest of Chinzhilla would prove their immaturity once again by making bets on their favorite horse and donating their own drinks to the cause.
It was such a stupid activity, because it has gotten to a point where he was sure neither even remembered how much they drank. Win said twelve, but Tinn counted ten, so whatever this madness was, it was not even based on a reliable score. But Win and Sound didn't care. All they cared about was guarding that last drink that might tip the scale in their favour, just to make sure the other one doesn't get to it first.
"Ooookay, I think you two had enough. I think I'll just... take this." Tiw tried to subtly drag the bottle away from the addicts.
"What do you think you're doing, perm?" Sound not so subtly questioned. He shot Tiw a look cold enough to freeze him in place. "I wasn't done with that. This clown needs to be put in his place." His eyes regained their fire when they shifted to Win, who could only laugh at his cheap insults.
"N-No, I think this is the kind of conflict that could be solved in a more healthy way, like, through hate sex or something. There's really no need to-"
"Don't get in my way, Tiwson." It was Win who spoke up this time, simultaneously grabbing at his wrist and making Tiw halt all movement. "I'm not letting this asshat go home without a foot in his mouth."
Tinn looks alternatively at both of them, and not for the first time, he wonders:
Are they really a couple?
Sound, meanwhile, seems to grow stiff and lose the confident smirk, which makes Tinn wonder if Win's insult actually ignited the fear in him that it was supposed to. However, he notices something else going on: how Sound seems to be all of a sudden hyperfixated on the place that connected Win's hand and Tiw's wrist and glaring at it as if he was hoping he would zap them away from each other. To the untrained eye of the Chinzhilla band, this might've gone unnoticed. But Tinn was well aquinted with all of Sound's angry mannerisms by now after a rivalry that lasted a timeline.
Maybe subconsciously, Tiw feels Sound's wrath as well, because he lets go of the bottle. It is quickly downed by an annoyingly confident Win, who smashes it onto the table with a loud clang.
"Aaaaaand twelve. That's it, Sound. I won. You lost. I won and you lost. You may start crying now, loser."
"Fuck! I owe Pat so much money..." Yo smashes his fist onto the table, looking away in shame.
Sound wants so badly to look as nonchalant as he usually does, but the beginning of a pout that just appeared on his face sadly gave him away, which Win laughed even harder at. His gaze was intense, but in multiple different ways. If Tinn had to guess, he'd say that Sound wanted to strangle, marry and fuck Win, all at once. But that was an usual occurence in their everyday life, anyway, so he didn't find it strange just yet.
It became strange when Win leaned back against Tiwson with a giddy smile and then wrapped his long sleeved arms around him, which made Sound very obviously seethe.
"And it couldn't have happened without the help of my best friend, Tiwson. The student council rules!"
"Best friend?" Sound raised an eyebrow, his gaze so intense that Tiw could feel it start burning a hole into him.
"No, no!" Tiw floundered, trying to push Win away. Despite his skinny arms, his hold on him was quite vicious. "We're like, mildly okay friends!"
"Aw, c'mon, Tiwson!" Win cooed, burying his face in Tiw's torso. "Haven't we been best friends ever since I..." Win trailed off in a mumble, leaving the rest of his sentence up for interpretation. Tiw felt the air between him and Sound grow thicker, becoming harder to breathe. Suddenly, Sound smashed his hands against the table, his chair screeching as he sat up.
"SINCE YOU WHAT?"
"NOTHING! WE DID NOTHING!" Tiw begged for mercy, being weirdly afraid. Surely, Sound wouldn't throw hands in a public space...
Right?
"Hey, Saran, what are you trying to get at? You saying my man is a CHEATER?!" Por also shot up, his hands banging against the table.
"Babe, did you drink?"
"DON'T BABE ME RIGHT NOW!" Por held up his palm towards Tiw to quiet him, his cheeks a light shade of pink.
"I'm saying that you should teach your man to keep his hands to himself!" Sound barked, grabbing Win by his shoulder and pulling him close.
"I literally didn't even do anything?"
"Hey, don't gang up on my best friend Tiwson!"
"Who's your best friend?!" Tiw cried out, taking the opportunity to flee towards his own boyfriend. Despite the slightly cold demeanour earlier, Por wrapped his arms around Tiw protectively.
Win seemed very confused for a second before he finally realized he was on the receiving end of a rejection and pouted accordingly. His protest came in the form of an annoying whine, the one of a child unable to receive his favorite toy. Tiwson almost felt bad for him, the empath that he was, but then he remembered that the entirety of their friendship was based on alcohol and decided against it.
Win kept looking at him and batting his eyelashes, all the while his hand was held firmly on the last bottle he consumed, as if afraid someone would take it from him. The puppy eyes Win was giving (who he thought to be) his best friend were honestly the scariest sight Tiwson has ever seen. Less so because Win himself was a threatening presence, and more because his boyfriend was gripping the table so hard he was starting to leave indents.
"Running to your little boyfriend now, are you? Instead of fighting me, like a REAL man."
"How crass, Sound. Go showcase your toxic masculinity elsewhere, we are clearly not the audience for it." Por was gesticulating so animatedly at this point, his circular flounce sleeves were going crazy.
"I never thought I'd see Sound and toxic masculinity in the same sentence."
"Fuck! I owe Pat so much money..."
"OUT of my way, Por! This fucker's had it coming ever since he borrowed Win that pen during the final exams! When mine was right THERE for him to USE!" Sound's tone was still undeniably angry, but now one could spot a slight sadness in it, as well. At that, Gun sparked up with nothing but immature excitement to his name.
"Ha ha, guess Win wasn't satisfied with your pen, Sound!"
"Gun! You're not helping!" Tinn raised his voice, but not too much. Even if the happy-go-lucky spectator was clearly out of it, Tinn could never stand to yell at his beautiful partner. His slightly flushed cheeks demanded that he be nice, even in situations like this.
"Listen, Tiw!"
"Lalala I'm not listeniiiing." Tiw covered his ears, ridiculously afraid of a guy that can't even serve at badminton.
"You and me, behind the bar, RIGHT now! One round is all I need to knock your teeth out! And then we'll see how friendly you still act with Win!"
"Okay Sound, let's calm down, shall we?" The second Sound began walking towards his imaginary rival, Tinn, his other imaginary rival, took it as his cue to intervene. He moved a few spots over and sucessfully managed to make Sound halt all movement, redirecting his attention to him.
The spot that Tiwson previously occupied was now empty, so Tinn took advantage of that and placed himself within touching distance to their loose cannon of a guitarist. Gun clapped, thoroughly enjoying the show despite having no idea what was happening. Por finally sat down with a frustrated groan. Tiw heaved out a sigh of relief, once again reminded of how reliable his actual best friend could be. As expected of the class president.
Unfortunately, the spot that Tinn picked was also next to Win. And Win, who was still inexplicably clingy to whoever was situated in his proximity that wasn't Sound, proceeded to lean onto his shoulder next. Hilariously enough, it didn't make Gun panic as much as it did Tinn, who was already hyperventilating and calling himself a cheater.
Win giggled in Tinn's ear and patted his head amicably, mumbling something that was coherent only to him. All of a sudden, he was the main character of this comedic play. It was ridiculous. He almost would've thought Win was playing a prank on Sound, just to see him lose his mind. If only he didn't see Win down twelve bottles of alcohol with his own eyes.
"Heyyy, school prez." Win drawled, wrapping both of his arms around Tinn's neck. "What're you doing here? Did you come to take my best friend Tiwson away? Please let him stayyyy."
When Win let out a whimper, his eyes starting to well up with tears, Tinn fully thought he had gone insane.
"I'm not his mom, I can't tell him what to do. And he's not your best friend?"
"What? He isn't?!" Win cried out, starting to sniffle. "No way... then... Will you be my best friend? My best friend Tinnaphob?" Win looked at him expectantly, his eyes glistening with hope and tears. Tinn sighed and pushed him away. Then, he made eye contact with Sound, who was watching over them closely like a hawk, his gaze intense and cold. It made Tinn stop pushing, unsure if it was his behaviour or Win's that was getting such a reaction out of him.
"I don't think your boyfriend would like that."
"What, are you afraid of him? Be a man, Tinnaphob! How else are you going to become Gun's husband? He doesn't like spineless losers."
Hearing this, Tinn's eye twitched. Messing with him was one thing... but bringing Gun into this? That was unacceptable! His name should not be spoken in vain!
"The only spineless loser here is..." Tinn started out, but his sentence died out in a mumble. No. He won't let himself become victim to the vices of alcohol and throw petty insults around. He was the school president, dammit! He's better than this!
Tinn sighed again, hoping this madness would end sooner than later, before he got swallowed up by these people's penchant for violence. He decided to check on Sound's reaction once again, thinking that he was being uncharacteristically quiet. When they made eye contact, Tinn shivered. Sound was looking at him like he wanted to skin him alive and wear him like a leather jacket.
"You..." He said, approaching Tinn. The latter gulped audibly.
"Me?"
"You come here, flirt with my boyfriend."
"I barely said anything to him..."
"Steal my alcohol."
"I didn't get to do that either."
"AND THEN CALL ME A SPINELESS LOSER?"
"I DID WHAT?" Tinn gawked, confused how Sound could even come to such a conclusion. He yelped as Sound looked like he was gearing up for a punch, but then Win pulled him into his chest, attempting to shield him from the incoming danger.
The way Win has his arms wrapped around Tinn doesn't offer much comfort, not when it's such a vice-like grip. Win smells of alcohol mixed in with a combination of teenage angst and rage. It is very unlike Gun's lavander smelling shirts, which he really wished to be buried into right now. Briefly, Tinn wonders if Sound was attracted to Win because of his smell or in spite of it. But the sight of Sound's fully formed fist shaking above them quickly wakes him up to reality, where the question that should take precendence above all is "how much longer do I have to live?"
"Souuund, don't mess with my new friend, you asshole!" The juxtaposition between Win's sweet tone towards everyone else and his harsh nickname for Sound was downright comedic.
With teeth clenched, Sound could only hit his fist against the table, eager to hit something but now unable to hit Tinn without hitting his bae.
"Win... why do you do this? Why torment me this way?! Protecting this... this thing!"
"This is why people run away from me all the time! Because you're a bully that keeps them away!" Win proceeds to yell and then stick his tongue out, which proves to be an instant knockout for Sound.
"Am I not enough for you? Is our relationship not satisfying enough for you? Is that why you feel like you need more? Is this where we part ways?!"
Whereas he was turned away from Sound before, Win fully shifted to look at him now, eyes full of childish pride and a mysterious sadness that was elusive to everybody in the room. Win moves himself closer to Tinn, and then he throws Sound his secret weapon, the glare that always got Sound weak. The one that was so powerful it could insantly squash any argument they were locked in and get Sound to apologize, regardless of who was at fault. Win used it the first time after Sound threatened to ban hoodies from his wardrobe, and Sound has never been the same again.
Win was aware that this wild card should only be used in real emergencies, and for this reason he swore to never use it unless he really meant it. But he was using it now, which could only mean one thing.
One thing, the implications of which made Sound's heart drop in his stomach.
"I don't date losers, and I think you're definitely being a sore loser right now! Just admit it! I know you're mad that you lost the drinking game, but that's no reason to take it out on Tinnaphob! I'm breaking up with you!"
"Ho boy." Yo commented, to no one in particular. He felt like he was accidentally intruding on an intimate moment and was hoping that speaking the awkwardness into existence would help break the tension. It did not.
"Win, baby, honey, love... Win, please... you don't mean that, do you? Win!" The whining of Win transfered over to Sound now, who was grabbing his arm and shaking him continuously.
Win pouted and turned away once more. The fact that he still had a barely breathing Tinn in his arms like the Virgin Mary protecting her child was truly twisting the knife into the wound.
"I... I can change! I can do better, I promise! Win! WIN!"
Sound was struggling to speak now that he was also holding back tears. The previously tough celebrity was now reduced to a pathetic simp, all thanks to the power of love. At that point, however, Win was no longer listening. He was too busy snuggling up to his little playdoll, tuning out the fly buzzing around him.
"Wow..." Tinn said, genuinely kind of impressed by whatever it is he just witnessed. Maybe even a little scared, too. Sure, he would also bend over backwards to please Gun and would probably aggressively sob for him to take him back... but that was him and Gun, y'know? Sound and Win always felt more distant, constantly bickering and trying to one-up each other.
They didn't feel like the type to do... well, whatever this is. But now, knowing that Win had so much control over this trigger happy aggressive version of Sound? In all fairness, Tinn was getting a little scared.
"Aw, don't be Sound, sad." Gun said, not realizing he switched his words around. Though, in all fairness, nobody would want to be Sound right now. Seeing that his words didn't reach the intended audience, Gun pouted and decided to turn his comfort physical. He started patting Sound's arm. "Don't worry, there's more sea in the fish."
Gun flashed him a bright smile, and Tinn couldn't help but mirror it. God, Gun was so cute when he was borderline incoherent! If only he'd be incoherent to Tinn instead...
Sound didn't react much to Gun's comfort. He just simply began sniffling louder, and Tinn was growing concerned that he was actually going to start bawling. Despite the pathetic picture painted in front of him, Tinn felt weirdly calm. At last, it seems as though the storm has settled and they can continue having a semi-normal get-together.
Alas, he spoke too soon.
"Hey hey hey! Where do you think you're touching?!" Win said, suddenly raising to his feet. Tinn didn't have time to register his action, and due to a lack of support, he almost fell forward. "Do you know whose man that is?! MINE! Hands off!"
His voice raised about three octaves higher, to the point of earning the attention of all neighbouring tables. In spite of this, however, Gun somehow didn't pick up on it. He just kept patting Sound on the back with a little too much force, unconsciously stroking the fire of jealousy that was slowly taking over Win.
"OI, GUN! Stop touching my man! Go get your own!" At that, Win forcefully grabbed Tinn by the arm and had him get up besides him. Now it just looked like Gun and Win were holding each other's boyfriends hostage and were attempting a trade. Question was, was this exchange truly of equal value?
"Sorry, I didn't know it was your pen."
"My MAN!"
"Woah, take it easy! There's more fish in the sea... like Kajorn, Pat, Sound... I don't think Sound has a boyfriend but I can check for you, Win... Just between us, I think he likes youuuuu." Gun was now playing with a strand of Sound's hair absent-mindedly. Sound started to blush profusely and had to look away to preserve the respectable image he still had (probably). He did a good job to hide his crush on Win behind a nonchalant persona so far, he didn't want it to go to waste.
"Didn't you just break up with him? For his aggressive tendencies, no less? Are you Sound now? Did I blink and enter an alternate reality? I'm confused."
"You're always confused, Pat."
"In the alternate reality I'm not."
"That was long ago!" Win shouted. "I realized I'm nothing without him now! I just can't stand the sight of someone stealing him away right under my nose!" Win then hurried to clasp Sound's hands into his, looking ready to propose, and probably regret it the following day.
"Sound... I'm sorry for what I said before..."
"Babe..."
"Pumpkin..."
Sound looked at Win with glossy puppy eyes, big, framed by unshed tears and eager to only ever reflect Win's own. It was a stark contrast to the determination he showed everyone else. It was in moments like these when the group really struggled to guess who topped in the bedroom.
"Remind me to never take them anywhere ever again."
"And miss out on the improvised comedy routine? No way." Por dismissed the suggestion instantly.
"Will you be my boyfriend again, Sound?"
"Win, I'd be your pen, if only that'd mean I'd get to be held by you forever!" Sound replied instantly and put his entire heart into it.
He was rewarded with an enthusiastic hug from his boyfriend, which quickly turned into a sloppy make out session. Even then, they were both fighting for dominance, their tongues intermingling and devastating whatever obstacle they encountered. After a night full of emotions, this was their collective anxiety grossly melting into a pot of bodily fluids. They soon had to be stopped, because Sound's hand was getting suspiciously close to Win's ass.
"Okay! Public! Pause! NOW!" Tinn scrambled to try and pry them from each other, pulling Sound away by the chain around his neck. It did little to deter the two lovers from trying to eat each other's faces off. Next to them, Gun was cheering, perhaps because he was glad his ship got back together, or perhaps just because he felt like it.
Briefly, Tinn wonders why he's the only one who seems to care for these people's reputations.
In the end, Tinn's efforts pay off, as Sound acknowledges his existence with a nasty glare.
"What?" His voice is cold as ice, his gaze as piercing as a knife, but Tinn can't feel too intimidated by him when Win is still straddling his lap. Now that his lips are free, he redirects his efforts of biting Sound's lips off with trying to chew a hole in his neck.
"This is a public space, y'know? You can't just do whatever you want here." Tinn scolds him, but Sound still looks confused. He sighs and gets up, Win's legs still wrapped around his torso.
"What? That's all? You should've said so earlier."
And with that, Sound starts walking out of the bar, boyfriend tightly wrapped in his arms. Tinn rubs his eyes, feeling like he just went a little bit more insane. Tiw is the only one who seems to share his bafflement, his head in his hands, while the rest of Chinzhilla wave goodbye as if this is incredibly normal. Tinn gives up trying to understand these people, and pours himself his first drink of the night.