Love Mechanics

Chapter 28.  Begin again.

 

[Mark Masa]

 

"You're easy!" A simple word rings out of James's mouth. He utters it after I finish talking about P’Vee. Wind looks stunned, though Kamphan and Fuse nod along in agreement.

 

"But why do you have to scold him? He did the right thing." Fuse says.

 

"How's that right? These days, you've gotta play hard to get." Wind says.

 

"You think what I did is not good?"

 

"It's good!" I roll my eyes upon hearing their answer. It's as if they scold me or object, but in the end, they acquiesce. It's no different from me.

 

"I've been saying that I'm fed up when you release that dark energy of yours," Kamphan says.

 

"Yeah..well, aren't you just giving him a chance, though? If he screws up again, then just refuse him. We're good enough to play the field." Wind says, and looks at my face.

 

*If that 'Vee dude screws you over again, I'm coming for his ass." I look at James's face as he utters this sentence.

 

"Do you remember that you left me high and dry with him in the pub? My wound was still fresh at that time."

 

"Well, I had to look after P'Pac." I frown at his answer before continuing my meal.

 

We're now at a restaurant beside my dormitory. Fuse and Kamphan are here to work on a report, while the other two are just here to hang around and mess with others. I ordered a simple basil stir-fried rice dish for lunch, while the others are focused on the dishes in front of them.

 

"Oh yeah...what sports did you guys sign up for?" Wind looks up and asks.

 

"I probably won't..But I dunno about these two." Kamphan replies.

 

"I signed up as a substitute for the basketball team," Fuse says, before turning to me.

"Sports?" I raise my brows.

 

"The intramural sports event, man. Don't tell me you don't know about it." James says.

 

I furrow my brows at the event I've just come to know about. No wonder. Other people seem so occupied these days. It must be due to this upcoming interfaculty sports event. I'm an athletic guy who likes sports, so it's no surprise that I get excited about it.

 

"How's it different from last time?" I query.

 

"Last time there were only freshmen, but this time all the years are involved," Fuse says, before taking a bite of his spicy curry.

 

"You're probably gonna sign up for swimming, right?" James asks, prompting me to nod. Swimming is the sport that I can do best.

 

"P'Bar will probably contact me soon," I say, and continue eating.

 

"Oh...but no one knows about you making up with P'Vee yet. So P'Bar might think you're not up for it."

 

"Who's made up with P'Vee?" I turn and ask Kamphan.

 

"Right, you guys haven't made up yet. Just sleeping over at his house." My friend corrects himself.

 

"I was drunk," I say stiffly, staring at him till he gives in and avoids my gaze.

 

"Shit always goes down when you're drunk."

 

"I heard that!" I say sternly. The fair-skinned dude flinches and nods.

 

"I won't say anything anymore." Hmph...do I want to be that easy? I'm just giving him a chance these days. As Wind said, if he screws up, then I'll just play the field. The story between P'Vee and me is like we're starting from scratch, beginning again.

 

"That vibration's so annoying. Which kid's lining you so much? Why don't you check it?" James says.

"Not some kid..." I grab my phone and check the messages. They're from several people, since I'm busy these days and haven't had time to check them, though one chat window in particular draws my attention away from the others. It's not just anyone. It's the person we were just talking about.

 

Vee Vivis: Are ya at the dorm?

Vee Vivis : Can I go see ya?

Vee Vivis: Read it pls

Vee Vivis: I'm gonna try to get your attention from now on

 

Five messages after that are stickers. I guess he just sent them randomly, as I can't make out any

connection between them at all.

 

Vee Vivis: Reply after you've read it. Don't you know how much the waiting person has to anticipate?

Mark: Anticipate what?

Vee Vivis: Anticipate how you're gonna answer back

 

When he sends me that message, I send him a sticker back.

 

Vee Vivis: / sent a lot of messages and stuff, but when the other side replies with just a sticker, what should I do?

 

Mark: Close your eyes and press on random stickers.

I reply back, and not long after, a notification pops up along with a heart-shaped sticker from P'Vee.

Vee Vivis: / closed my eyes and randomly sent this

Bastard...

 

I couldn't do anything but bite my lip and hold back my smile. I wanted to scold him back for being so childish, like how P'Bar likes to scold Tossakan, though that wouldn't be of much use, so | just leave it at that. I'm not very talkative, and I dislike using words profusely. I keep it even shorter when communicating via these Line messages and texts.

 

Vee Vivis: I'm going for the sports tryouts today. Need moral support.

Mark: You're participating?

Vee Vivis: Nah. I'm one of the judges.

Mark: And why do you need moral support?

Vee Vivis: As long as it's from you, I feel like I can do anything when you're supporting me.

 

I never thought I'd ever be one to smile at the phone. It's not that I want to smile like this, but one simply can't control the corners of my mouth. Just reading a short message from him makes me smile so widely.

 

"So.. need to eat any food. Just looking makes you full?" Fuse’s voice rings out, prompting me to look up from the phone.

 

"I should've just let it vibrate more, instead of urging you to have a look," James complains.

 

"So which kid's contacting you now?" Wind asks and tries to move near me, though I turn away from him.

 

"Cover up..." Kamphan leers his eyes.

 

"I'm not covering up.. I gotta finish my meal." I say, before locking my phone, placing it face down, and going back to my food. I don't know why I have to do this, but deep down, I know my friends will tease me, which in turn would make my heart race. That would only serve to draw more attention towards P"Vee. As I'm about to give in to him, let me play a bit harder to get and not appear to be so easy.

 

Brrr~

"Again," James utters, pointing down at the phone.

"Never mind it," I say, and continue eating. "Hurry up. We've gotta finish up the report."

 

Brrr~

Brrr~

 

"So annoying!" Fuse says, looking up at my face.

 

"Well! 'I'll go and wait for you guys in the room then." I say, before taking my phone and getting up.

 

On the way to my room, I checked the phone. P'Nook sends me a message to say thanks for letting him stay in my room the other day. When P'Vee saw us that day, we didn't do it. He is James' senior line. I took him to my room because James asked me to take care of him. He had just fought with his boyfriend and had nowhere to go. We talked about many things, both about my story and his. When Nook was about to leave, P'Vee came and saw him. Because of my desire to get back at him, I told P'Vee that we'd slept together. I tell P'Nook about this, and he says that I did well, and that he's on my side since he also feels annoyed by P Vee's behaviour.

 

Mark: James' comments probably got to your head.

 

I message back to P'Nook, so he duly sends me an angry bear sticker, together with a long list outlining P'Vee's bad points.

 

"You're fiddling with your phone, but don't reply to me?" The displeased voice comes from the front of the room. I look up from my phone and towards the source of the voice. P'Vee is leaning against the wall, holding a black smartphone.

 

"Um..." I didn't intentionally ignore P'Vee's messages; I just wanted to finish the conversation with P'Nook, which I didn't think would drag on this long. And besides.. I wasn't expecting P'Vee to come and wait for me in the room. He's been gone for weeks, after all. Who would've guessed that he'd suddenly turn up?

 

"And who're you talking to?" The deep voice asks and moves closer.

"Um..."

 

"Oh. Forgot. I don't have the right to ask you yet." He pouts and goes back to where he was before.

 

"Talking..to P'Nook." In fact, I don't want to reveal who I'm talking with, as P'Vee is P'Vee. I'm well aware that he's hot-tempered.

 

"Nook? Oh..." He says, while making a gesture of revelation.

"Yeah.."

 

"So you're probably not free now, right? That's fine, I'll just consider that I came after him." He says, and turns back, appearing to walk away.

 

"Why do you think that way?" I ask before P'Vee can turn away.

 

"Just a few minutes ago, you were chatting with me, and then you suddenly disappeared. When you were coming up, you had that wide grin on your face. I guess he's so important that you had to ignore my chat." He says, his tone indicating his upset feeling. I don't want to reveal to him that it's actually him that we were talking about.

 

"I didn't reply to you because I was eating," I say, before walking over to open the room door.

 

"Well...you can say whatever you want. I didn't see you, after all."

 

"Can you just drop it? Are you coming in or not?" Upon hearing my question, he looks up and smiles.

 

"Can I really go inside?" He asks excitedly, making me want to chide him. P'Vee hasn't been inside my room for ages. Although he often came to hang around in front of it, I never once allowed him to enter.

 

"..Yeah." I fall silent for a while before granting permission from within my throat.

 

I lead P'Vee inside my room. Nothing in it has changed. Everything is placed in the same place and the same direction. As I live each day, there's nothing much to add to this room. There's only the lingering memory of yearning that's permeating every nook and cranny of the room every day.

 

"I've missed this." He says, then throws himself onto the sofa. His long arm wraps around the backrest, and he lays down his head. This sofa is the one P'Vee and I often used together, whether to watch movies, talk, quarrel, or even...

 

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

 

"Hmph?" P'Vee cranes his neck up to look at me, as I curse softly to myself.

"Nothing.."

 

"Really? Then why are you blushing?" P'Vee leans into me and asks as he crosses his body over the backrest.

 

"You're gonna fall," I say, and push him away.

 

"Oh...but I'm worried about you. I thought your face might've gotten red from staying out in the sun for a long time." He says, as he pulls me by the arm and tugs me close to him. He places his thick hand across my forehead before placing his other hand on his own forehead. He does this repeatedly until he raises his brows, and lifts his body to sit on his heels on the sofa to make him as tall as me, who's standing.

 

"A bit warm". It's warm because I feel hot.

 

"It's..it's okay," I say, and swipe his hand away. But he instead grabs my hand.

 

"I'm not sure about that. Let me measure it properly." He says, and moves himself up higher, his handsome face moving closer, and puts his forehead against mine. He remains like that, his sharp eyes observing my entire face, which I'm unaware of how red or hot it is. The sofa's backrest separates our bodies, but that's not a problem for P'Vee, as he uses one hand to hold mine, while the other wraps around my waist and pulls me against the sofa.

 

"P'..Vee..."

 

"It's not red due to fever, I think." He pushes himself away a bit while saying with a smile. "It must be due to..."

 

"Ya..."

 

"Fucker!..." The sound of the door opening, as well as the four friends standing there, makes me quickly move away from P'Vee.

 

"Oh wow...what a shot we have here," Kamphan says, and slips into the room.

 

"He went to see him at his house the other day, and today he brings him to his room. How easy your friend is." James turns to say to Wind, who's standing there with his mouth agape.

 

"The hell you guys doin' here?" P'Vee asks to deflect attention from him.

"We're here to see our friend, but why are you here?" James asks back.

 

"I came to invite Mark to the football tryouts. It's this evening." P'Vee replies.

"You could've just called in that case," Fuse says and squints his eyes.

 

"Yeah, well... I'm here to invite him. Ya wanna tag along?" P'Vee asks, as he scratches his temple.

 

"Unavailable. Mark won't be able to go since he's gotta report with us." Kamphan says with a smile. I can hear P'Vee whispering. So are you on my side or what? He says softly, while looking towards Kamphan and Fuse.

 

"Will the report take long?" P'Vee turns to ask me.

"Yeah, well..it might take the whole day."

 

"And the whole night. No matter what, he'll be occupied today, P'Vee." Fuse continues to say after the answer.

 

"Shall I postpone the tryouts, then?" I immediately turn to P'Vee as soon as I hear him utter softly.

 

"I've got work, so I gotta do it first. Why make a big deal out of this?" I say sternly.

 

"Well, I want you to go see it," P'Vee says.

 

"Are you trying out for the national team? And I heard you're on the selection panel. So why do you need him to go there?" Kamphan queries.

 

"You guys are trying to get in my way." P'Vee grumbles softly.

 

"When I said I'm on your side, it didn't mean I'd support my friend to go back to you that easily," Fuse says, prompting P'Vee to furrow his brows and look at my friend.

 

"Aren't you contradicting yourself, Fuse?"

"Just like you are."

 

"That's enough now, let's get to work. And you can stay here, P'. We'll go when the time comes." I stop the bickering and turn to tell P'Vee.

 

Everyone scatters once I say that. P'Vee fiddles with his phone while lying on the long sofa, as my friends and I work on the report on the carpet floor. James and Wind have excused themselves, saying that they didn't sleep last night, and that humans need 8 hours' rest, so they have to make up for lost time.

 

"Try browsing through that book. Maybe there's more useful content." Fuse says to Kamphan.

 

"I looked through it last night. There's not much in there." I tell them.

 

"Ok..what about this one then?" Fuse throws me another book, so I open it and have a look. The work requested by the professor isn't that hard, though it can get tricky to find the proper material.

 

We each divided our workload and have been working on some parts since last night, and today we're putting the pieces together and checking which parts we can strengthen. There's only one topic left to do. The pressing feeling on my head makes me look up. It's the hand of the one who's lying down, who rubs my head gently as if to give me moral support. P'Vee's still playing with his phone while lying down. His hand is merely placed on my head, but it makes me feel good...

 

"Oye! Just a bit more, but why can't we finish it yet?" Fuse complains. His handsome face twists and turns, as if he can't get his way, and his hands rub hard against one another.

 

"Just a bit more. C'mon, patience. Fighting!" Kamphan provides words of encouragement and consoles Fuse.

 

"A bit my ass. We've been working on it from 10 to 2. And I can't bloody think after having that damn lunch." Fuse grumbles.

 

"Isn't that just because you're a dimwit?" The deep voice above my head rings out.

 

"Hey...you're asking for it, P'Vee."

 

"I'm handsome," P'Vee says, before sitting up to stretch his body and leaning down to look at the book in my hand. His warm breath brushes beside my cheek, while his sharp chin is more or less on my shoulder. His positioning makes both of my friends leave their mouths agape.

 

"Do you really have to do that?" Fuse says, looking at Vee apprehensively.

"Do what?" P'Vee looks up at Fuse, but doesn't move away from me.

 

"A bit here and there. You take every opportunity. Aren't you already taking advantage of my friend enough?" Kamphan chides and makes a frowning face.

 

"Hey...so this is called being opportunistic?" The one who leans his face in moves his body closer to mine, till I have to move away.

 

"Back off.."

 

"Why back off? This is the time to move forward." He contends, before turning to smile at me. My heart races when I see him from afar, so what chance does it have when his handsome smile is this close to me?

 

"P'Vee...'

"Yes?"

 

"If you're not gonna back off, at least don't come any nearer," I say with a stern voice.

 

"Okay, okay, I give in." P'Vee lifts his hands to chest level and goes back to sit on the sofa.

 

"I've seen it now. The one who's forever afraid of his wife." Fuse says and looks towards P'Vee.

 

"Afraid of what? Well, I'm on Team house husband, after all." He says, and places his hand back on my head as before.

 

"Taking every opportunity he can," Kamphan says wearily.

"Well, I've been wanting him for so long now." P'Vee snaps back.

 

"Can you stop?" I look up and ask P'Vee.

"I'll stop." He replies and smiles at me.

 

P'Vee leans back and continues to play on his phone, allowing my friends and I to carry on working. We try searching for some online documents, though they aren't much help. Fuse starts complaining again, while Kamphan begins to walk around the room scouring for something to eat.

 

"Why's this part so hard?" Fuse says.

 

"What's the matter? Let me have a look." P'Vee suggests, and leans down to look at the books with me one more time.

 

"Hope you can get something out of it this time, P'' Fuse says, and looks at P'Vee's face.

 

"I wanted to tell you, since I looked at it last time, that I did this topic before." P'Vee mentions.

 

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" I turn to ask him, feeling a bit peeved, though I suppress my emotions.

 

"'Cause that guy was being a jackass." P'Vee answers me, though he looks towards Fuse.

 

"Why you..."

 

"Don't complain yet. If I help you out, will you go to the football tryouts with me?" Using his trickery again...

 

"The report won't be finished though," I say to P'Vee in a calm tone.

 

"Even though I tell you about it now, you guys won't be able to finish it. There's only one book you can refer to." P"Vee explains.

 

"Oh...well, where is it then? I thought I looked all over. I even went to the main library."

 

"It's the professor's book. She only has one volume left, too. The year we worked on it, we borrowed it from her." P'Vee tells me.

 

"You mean Professor Yupin, the one who ordered this assignment?"

 

"Yeah." He nods. "The book's in her office. You've gotta go and borrow it from her."

 

"So why'd you tell us just now, letting us run our mouths off like that?" Fuse says and folds his books.

 

"As I said, you were being a jackass." P'Vee replies in a deadpan manner.

 

"Sigh~ Then let's just go see her on Monday to borrow it," I suggest, and stretch my body.

 

"Are you tired?" P'Vee leans down and asks. I nod in response. "Want me to massage ya?" Before a reply can be uttered, P'Vee's warm palms are placed on my shoulders, and he slowly massages me till I feel less tense.

 

"Oye! My muscles are also tense, Fuse."

"You want me to step on ya?" Fuse offers and points to his feet.

 

"C'mon, I want something like that," Kamphan says, and gestures towards me.

"Come and be my wifey, then," Fuse says.

 

"I thought you wanted a hubby." I turn to ask him. "I thought you wanted a guy like Tossakan," I mention what he used to say.

 

"My name's not Bar. How many more lives must I live to get a guy like that doctor? Or do you think you can find someone like him?" Fuse asks me back.

 

"Well, no..." I reply, and grimace upon thinking of the sweet lovey-dovey between that Bar-Kan couple.

 

"No need to get a doctor. Just a handsome engineer can take good care of you." The one who fell silent for a while speaks up. The entire room grows quiet and turns to P'Vee. The pressure on my shoulders fades, and is replaced by P'Vee's cold hands and colored ears.

 

"Can he just say that?" Kamphan questions.

"Well...can I?" The reluctance in P'Vee's voice makes me giggle in my mind.

 

"Can he, Mark?" Fuse asks again.

"Well..yeah, he can."