Work Text:
december 11, 2021.
“scaddy please, just for this once. PLEASEEEEE.” wibby stood in front of scaden with his hands clasped together. he slightly frowned, adding a dramatic effect to his already pleading gesture. wibby definitely looked like a lost puppy to unfamiliar eyes but oh well, scaden knew his friends just fine.
“you know i won’t fall for that, by.” scaden rolled his eyes, annoyed at how wibby remained persistent that he could change scaden’s mind.
wibby let his hands fall to his sides and whined. “oh c’mon JUST THIS ONCE I PROMISE. are you really gonna be that cruel and let my ticket go to waste? pleaseeee, scaden. ugh! shiloh, don’t just stand there? help me!”
a deep breath was heard, but this time it came from the one person standing beside wibby. shiloh, whose name was just called, grunted as wibby kept nudging him.
shiloh then glared at scaden. though he had sunglasses covering his eyes, the sharp gaze could still slip past the dark lenses and made scaden feel every bit ot it.
“scaddy, do you really want to see me kneeling here begging or are you gonna say yes?” shiloh lifted his index finger, tracing a circle in the air to remind scaden that they were standing in the middle of a crowded mall, on saturday afternoon, surrounded by so many people.
oh fuck. scaden had forgot just how mischievous shiloh is. while wibby is good at guilt tripping people (people as in scaden, shiloh, and enzo), shiloh is the one who is always recklessly daring, and persuasive. he would pull every trick to get people to agree on his idea. and that, certainly, applies in his friendship.
one time, scaden had to bear getting terrorized by shiloh just because he didn’t want to come to a company dinner night. well, to be fair, it was his family’s company dinner and scaden didn’t really have the best interest in a family gathering situation since half the people invited were still his blood relatives.
his circle of friends also got the invitation since they’ve basically grown up together, and shiloh was so looking forward to it. that was during the time they were all in college and they hadn’t gathered for months. so when scaden refused to attend, shiloh terrorized him for three days with a message sent every single hour saying ‘icb you’re treating our friendship like this. traitor.’ and he wouldn’t stop until scaden willingly agree to attend.
remembering that obviously made scaden uneasy because he knew shiloh wasn’t playing about embarrassing him in public.
“why are you guys even asking me? just ask enzo.”
wibby tilted his head and squinted. “if enzo isn’t going home to visit his grandma, i won’t be asking you either, scaden.”
uh… ok. scaden had forgotten that enzo was back home visiting his grandma. what a perfect timing.
scaden then gazed at his friends with a pleading look appeared on his face, trying to pull a reverse card. but that didn’t seem to affect either wibby or shiloh because they just kept staring at him without budging. and by that moment, scaden knew he wouldn’t stand a chance. these two had no desire to embarrass themselves in public either, but if embarrassing scaden in public was what it took to get scaden agree to their idea then why not.
scaden groaned before finally looking at wibby and shiloh with a defeated face.
“fine.”
an immediate scream of yesssssss bursted out of wibby meanwhile shiloh just stood there smiling. although to scaden, it felt like a mocking smile because he knew shiloh was so proud he had won over him.
“but i won’t drive tomorrow.” scaden crossed his arms, guarding himself as he tried to make a deal with his two devious friends.
shiloh nodded in agreement and wibby just shrugged. surely they didn’t mind about it, as long as scaden would go to the amusement park with them.
it was somewhat ridiculous to be honest. wibby initially bought one ticket for himself but the amusement park offered a ‘buy two get one free’ promo. and of course, wibby wouldn’t say no to a promo. he immediately jumped at the offer and dragged shiloh to join him.
they were already planning about what they wanted to do at the park before it suddenly occurred to them that they still had a ticket left. they definitely didn’t want it to go to waste, and since enzo was off home that weekend, scaden ended up as their unwilling victim.
well, victim is a strong word. but to scaden, it fits. because being stuck with wibby and shiloh in an amusement park where they would act more like a 10 year old than the 10 year olds is pure hell. they were 22 for god’s sake!
scaden ran his hands over his face then decided to walk out of the mall, leaving wibby and shiloh who were eagerly discussing which rides they want to go on tomorrow.
how scaden wished he could disappear right there and then.
…
december 12, 2021.
the amusement park was massive and crowded. it was the middle of the day when scaden could feel soreness starting to creep into his legs.
they had been there for three hours, a long and sweaty three hours, with only five rides ticked off the list so far. truth to be told, the queue wasn’t exactly amusing since there were tons of people there. it was to be expected, really, considering it was on a sunday and the tickets were on promotion.
for some rides, they only had to queue for ten to fifteen minutes. but the line for the popular rides could take nearly an hour long and scaden surely didn’t like that especially under the hot weather. but after refusing all wibby and shiloh’s ideas about joining the long queue for a ride, scaden couldn’t turn them down anymore once they wanted to ride a roller coaster.
ugh, scaden HATE roller coaster. not due to its speed or intensity, but scaden didn’t exactly have the greatest memory about roller coaster. he still remembered how his sister made him go on the roller coaster ten times when they were younger. it was fun at first. but after a few rounds, scaden was completely bored of it.
and seeing the long line for the roller coaster added just enough annoyance in scaden. they had already queued a long line for drop tower earlier. took them fifty minutes until it was finally their turn to get on the ride.
the drop tower had wibby and shiloh screaming at the top of their lungs, but scaden could only breathe a sigh of relief as they finally sat down. standing in line for what felt like forever, and drenched in sweat during that, made scaden felt like he was over the moon when the freefall of the drop tower happened as the rush of wind hit him.
so, clearly, scaden didn’t want to stand in a long line again. he tried to offer other rides to wibby and shiloh, ones with shorter queue. and he promised them he would ride the ferris wheel if they agree. but wibby and shiloh were two brats too persistent in getting what they wanted and they just shook their head in disagreement before dragging scaden to join the roller coaster queue.
oh, scaden had also suggested that the two should just go on the ride while he wait for them. scaden was actually desperate to sit down, but wibby insisted he didn’t wanna leave scaden behind and tugged the bigger man to enter the line.
great, scaden thought. pretty sure his legs would fall off once he get home later.
scaden stood ahead of wibby and shiloh in the line. he kept tapping his feet and decided to scroll through his phone to find something amusing since it would take them a while in the queue. also, wibby and shiloh were deep in their fun conversation, completely ignoring him.
and who just said they didn’t want to leave scaden behind?
it had only been fifteen minutes when scaden got bored of scrolling through his social media. he sighed before turning off his phone and shoving it in his pocket. he then turned around, about to join whatever it was wibby and shiloh were chatting about. but when he picked up the topic of their chatter, they were gossiping harry styles’ dating rumor, he became certain he didn’t wanna be involved in it. so he just shot them a glare, which they didn’t give a damn about, and turned back to look forward.
that was when scaden noticed the person standing in front of him. a guy, seemed younger than him, and shorter. the brown cardigan made the guy look a bit drowned in fabric. his hair was brown, slightly curly. he was talking with the two people standing ahead of him, another party of three just like scaden and his friends. scaden didn’t even realize he was staring at the guy too intensely when the guy laughed and his eyes narrowed into thin lines.
cute- wait.
scaden snapped out of his thoughts and his face shifted into pure terror when he realized he’d called the guy cute. and he found himself smiling at the guy. holy shit, did i just call him cute…
he suddenly panicked, unsure if he’d called the guy cute only in his head or out loud. fortunately, the guy was still busy chatting with his friends so scaden concluded the thought didn’t slip out of his mouth. thank god.
scaden tried his best to focus on anything else but his eyes kept drifting back to the guy. he had absolutely took all of scaden’s attention and it wasn’t like scaden mind about it, except scaden’s gaze was so intense that the guy suddenly turned toward him.
their eyes inevitably met and scaden found himself froze for a moment. those eyes… something in those eyes had a way of holding scaden still. he got pulled into it for a few seconds until the guy’s curious stare brought him back to reality.
scaden jolted at the realization of what he’d just done. he shook his head to regain focus then looked at the guy again. their gaze met for the second time and the guy gave him a polite nod, smiling as he did it. scaden managed to nod back but he was, truthfully, caught off guard by how breathtaking the guy looked when he smiled.
the following minutes then passed in a haze of daydreams for scaden. scaden wasn’t even sure what ran through his mind, but the 40 minutes they spent in the line definitely felt short because his mind was occupied with the guy in front of him.
when it was finally their turn to enter the roller coaster arena, scaden immediately stepped to the side to place his bag. he headed forward to the roller coaster train before wibby and shiloh suddenly walked past him and quickly hopped onto one of the trains.
scaden sighed once he realized he would have to sit with a stranger now that these two were sitting together. awesome. someone please remind scaden again who the hell said they wouldn’t let scaden be left alone?
“so… where do i sit now?” scaden shot wibby a look of annoyance.
wibby and shiloh turned to him and grinned. they scanned back and forth until they noticed a seat at the front of their train hadn’t been occupied. there was only one guy sitting there so wibby pointed out the empty seat.
“that one’s empty! just sit there.”
scaden raised a middle finger at wibby in response before he walked to the train in front of wibby and shiloh. he was about to excuse himself to the guy sitting there when he realized it was the guy from the line!
scaden hesitated before approaching and the guy thankfully noticed him just in time. he looked up at scaden with a confused expression on his face.
“hi, sorry. can i sit here?” scaden said as a smile curved his lips.
the guy paused briefly then nodded and returned his smile. he also said something, but scaden couldn’t really make out what he was saying.
scaden took a step closer to the guy to hear him better.
“… uhm, where do you want to seat? left or right?” the guy asked. his eyes, those damn boba eyes, were fixed on scaden to make sure he wouldn’t miss scaden’s answer.
scaden cleared his throat before answering “i’ll just sit on the left,” and the guy replied him with “okay,” before moving to the seat on the right.
the guy adjusted himself as scaden sat beside him. he then looked to his left to smile at scaden again. and scaden surely was taken aback before he nodded and smiled back.
it wasn’t long after scaden sat down until the restraint was secured and the roller coaster started moving. scaden moved his hand to grip the bar in front him loosely since he wasn’t scared in the slightest about riding the thing.
from the corner of his eye, scaden could see how the guy beside him straightened up in his seat and tightened his grip on the restraint. the roller coaster was still moving slowly and everyone was on edge, waiting for the ride to speed up.
any minute now…
and the screams echoed from front to back as the roller coaster picked up speed as it plunged, rose, and moved in all sorts of directions.
but one person was definitely not screaming and it was scaden. scaden stayed completely calm even when the ride flipped upside down. he threw a smile every time he heard a scream, finding it a little amusing.
they were starting to move back along the same track they’d started on when scaden noticed he hadn’t heard a single scream from the guy beside him. scaden glanced over and found that the guy had his eyes shut tightly and his hands gripped the restraint really hard that his fingers whitened.
scaden felt a flicker of worry looking at it before he turned his gaze forward as the roller coaster was about to retrace the track. they had one more lap until it finally reached the starting point and the ride came to a stop.
scaden could hear laughter here and there, chatter buzzing around him. he let out a deep breath and just sat there, waiting for the restraint to be removed. he was thinking of what to eat for lunch when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
right, the boba-eyed guy was here beside him.
scaden looked to his right and surprised to see the guy covering his mouth with his right hand. his left hand moved quickly from tapping scaden’s shoulder to pointing at his mouth. his eyes widened, showing that he was panicking.
it didn’t occur to scaden for a few seconds until he realized the guy was about to vomit. oh god, the guy beside him was going to throw up!
scaden panicked at that and fortunately the restraint was finally released. scaden immediately got out of the train and stepped aside to make way for the boba-eyed guy.
and the guy hurried off as soon as he left his seat.
scaden didn’t know how or why, but his body moved on its own, following the guy. he ran after him before he even realized. when he reached the outside of the roller coaster area, he looked to his right and saw the guy standing by a trash bin, vomiting.
scaden was about to approach the guy but he turned back and sprinted to the roller coaster area instead. scaden grabbed his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. he then ran back outside and found the guy still standing by the trash bin, seemingly trying to steady his breathing.
scaden walked closer and stood beside the guy, handed him the water.
the guy looked up at him before receiving the bottle and mouthed a thank you. he gulped down the entire bottle in no time. must had been so thirsty, scaden thought.
scaden just stood there the whole time, watching as this stranger finished the water and steadied his breathing once more.
when the guy finally looked at scaden again, his expression was uncertain.
“i’m really sorry i finished it. can i get you a new one?”
he sounded very apologetic, probably afraid scaden would be mad at him but mannnn who would get angry over a bottle of water? nah, scaden had no problem with it. especially for those extremely sparkly boba eyes oh my god who the hell has-
“uhm… hey, there. hi- sorry… i’m so sorry. i’ll get you a new one.”
oh. scaden just spaced out.
scaden gathered his focus and realized that the guy seemed hesitant, waiting for scaden to answer.
“no, sorry, my bad. i spaced out earlier. what was it again- the water! right. no, oh no… you don’t have to get me a new one. it’s all good.” scaden let out a small laugh while saying that, hoping the interaction wouldn’t get more awkward.
the guy nodded and scaden could see his expression softening. “thank you.”
then they just stood there. in silence.
scaden must have forgotten how to interact with strangers because his mind went blank, not knowing what to do or say. frankly, that had to be the effect of spending the past two years with only his group of friends. it probably messed something in his brain because scaden just stared at the guy without a word.
it took him a few seconds to realize he hadn’t even asked the guy’s name!
“are you ok?” scaden decided to ask since the guy still appeared exhausted.
the guy startled when he heard scaden before he nodded. “yeah, totally. no worries. thank you so much for the water.”
“no problem!” scaden waved his hands to make it clear that he didn’t mind in the slightest.
there was a little pause before scaden finally asked. “uh… what’s your name? if you don’t mind me asking.” that didn’t sound creepy… right?
“oh, i’m shakil. and you?” the guy answered while looking right into his eyes.
scaden was sure by that moment that those boba eyes would be his weakness, because how else could you explain feeling completely melted by a soft stare with such intensity…
“i’m scaden. nice to know you, shakil.” scaden held out his hand for shakil to shake.
shakil reached out and they shook their hands, somehow making it official that they were introducing themselves. their gazes met and neither let go of the handshake until it went on for quite too long and their hands started sweating, which snapped them back to reality.
shakil pulled his hand first and scaden followed. they exchanged an awkward smile and nothing was said.
fortunately, someone approached them at the right timing. scaden could hear someone calling shakil’s name and shakil waved in response. scaden decided to turn his head to see who it was and saw a boy, most likely a teenager, and another teenager, a girl, walking beside him.
he started guessing who those people were in his mind. perhaps it was shakil’s brother and sister? or… well, wouldn’t be shakil’s boyfriend or girlfriend, right?
wait… why would scaden even think about that. it was none of his business. he didn’t even know how old shakil was yet.
the two teenagers arrived near them and scaden smiled at the two. he heard a relieved sigh escape and the teenage boy immediately held shakil’s hands.
“shakil! oh my god, where did you go? you’re the one supposed to be watching us, and you disappear instead! i got worried!” the boy started scolding shakil and shakil laughed at it. shakil then began explaining how he vomited after the ride and lightly slapped the boy’s arm since apparently, shakil had also been forced to ride the roller coaster.
and scaden just stood there listening. he actually felt like intruding because why was he, a stranger, eavesdropping on their conversation? but he didn’t know how to excuse himself, too afraid to interrupt.
he was debating on what to do when he heard his name being called. scaden turned his head to find wibby and shiloh waving at him. oh shoot, scaden forgot he didn’t come there alone.
it must have taken him too long to decide how he should excuse himself to shakil, since shakil was still in the middle of a conversation with the teenagers, because suddenly, wibby and shiloh were already standing right behind him.
“scaden, damn it, where did you go! we’ve been looking for you!” wibby shouted at him, too loud to be honest, which made shakil and the teenagers stop their conversation. the other party of three looked in scaden’s direction and scaden could only grin at them, feeling bad for interrupting.
he turned around to face shiloh and wibby then sighed hard.
“i was helping this guy, ok? he couldn’t handle the roller coaster.” and he could hear a murmured oooohhhh from both of them.
scaden then gestured for them to wait before turning back to face shakil.
he was finally about to excuse himself when shiloh said, “hey, there! all good? he wasn’t bothering you, was he?” and scaden didn’t have to look to know shiloh pointed at him.
now they wanna ruin his reputation. what a friend.
scaden turned his head to shiloh and sent a glare. he almost cursed at shiloh when he heard a chuckle coming out of shakil.
then everything happened really fast from there. wibby and shiloh out of nowhere introduced themselves to the other party of three and soon, everyone was involved in a conversation.
scaden found out from the conversation that the teenage boy was shakil’s brother while the girl was their cousin. he also found out that shakil was there to watch the teenagers, and the teenage girl jokingly added “well, you don’t date on the weekend!”
the guy is single… very well, then.
and it was unclear how, but they all ended up agreeing to have lunch together. it was already three in the afternoon and apparently, everyone was starving.
all of them, now party of six, walked side by side with the conversation still going. scaden found himself walking beside shakil but he didn’t know how to start talking to the guy. damn, he really sucked at this. he maybe should take a class on how to socialize with people.
once they arrived at the food court and sat at a table, shakil excused himself to go to the toilet to clean up from the vomiting earlier. and scaden didn’t know why but as soon as shakil was out of his sight, it felt… strange. like something was missing. and he felt off.
they were placing an order when shakil finally came back. he took the seat in front of scaden and immediately jumped into the conversation everyone was having.
except for scaden, he instantly drifted away from the conversation, getting distracted by the sight of shakil in front of him, listening to everyone and laughing here and there, god… how is he so adorable.
but his gaze must have been too intense because shakil suddenly looked at him, smiling. scaden blinked a few times to regain focus before returning the smile. he felt flustered for getting caught staring but he had to act cool! scaden couldn’t let his image ruined just because he was into the guy in front of him. he couldn’t let shakil know that! yet.
so scaden shifted his gaze to pay attention to the other on that table, trying to listen to what they were saying even though he couldn’t keep himself from sneaking glances at shakil.
but wait… was that… blush… on shakil’s cheeks…?
scaden couldn’t believe his eyes and decided to take a better look at shakil. to his surprise, shakil was really blushing. he is blushing. oh my god.
it all felt so vivid from that moment. scaden lost focus at the thought of shakil and he couldn’t even remember when their order arrived or when he ate his food, like it all passed in a blur.
they suddenly were already standing outside of the food court, starting to say goodbye. at that point, scaden hadn’t even noticed how shiloh mentioned they would go home after lunch.
all scaden could think about was how he should make a move. he couldn’t just let shakil go like that. he needed to try, he wanted to. but he got thrown off when they said their farewells to shakil’s group of three that he couldn’t even decide what he wanted to do.
he was already being dragged by wibby toward the exit gate when he suddenly excused himself and rushed back inside.
better regret it than never try!
and so scaden reached the food court gate again, but shakil was nowhere to be seen. he panically looked around, trying to spot shakil in sight when he noticed the brown cardigan from behind, walking toward the ferris wheel.
scaden felt like a wave of cold water just washed over him because he was suddenly so desperate to get to shakil. he ran as fast as he could, and his long legs were a blessing. he panted a little once he caught up with shakil, finding himself standing right behind him.
he paused to collect his breath before tapping shakil at the shoulder and called his name gently.
“shakil…”
and shakil must have been so shocked because he immediately turned around and gasped when he saw scaden.
“scaden! hi! did you forget something?” shakil asked, confused as scaden was suddenly standing in front of him even though they had just said farewell a few minutes ago.
scaden smiled ear to ear at the question and handed out his phone.
“can i get your number?”
…
december 13, 2021.
shakil woke up from his sleep to find the clock already hit eleven in the morning. he was so exhausted from yesterday and, unsurprisingly, his body felt sore.
he stretched a little before rolling over to reach the night stand beside his bed. he grabbed his phone and turned it on. thankfully, the school was already on holiday so he didn’t have to teach on a monday. i would’ve died if i had to teach today- ouch. my legs.
shakil checked his notifications for anything from work or his friends, but he was welcomed by a message notification from an unknown number instead. and it made him blush.
‘hey there, shakil. it’s scaden. i’m really glad i got to know you yesterday. will it be ok if i want to get to know you more? :)’