"I wanted to eat it. Why didn't you buy it?"

 

"It's just strawberry ice cream. Why are you acting so shy?"

 

"So, can't a thirty-five-year-old buy pink ice cream?"

 

"You're such a liar, there's no cure. Are you afraid of getting photographed or something?"

 

"Didn't you say you'd let me have my way today, you old man?"

 

"If there's no ice cream, go sleep in another room. I want to sleep alone."

 

“T, that's it.

 

"Damn it!" A frustrated curse escaped the thin lips of someone who dreamt nonsensical dreams. Dreams that had no beginning, no end, no time, jumping back and forth until they were impossible to organise. Yet, the more they dreamt, the more they remembered. From the first time, when they only remembered who they dreamt about, to today, when they remember almost every detail of the story.

 

"Strawberry ice cream? No way?" He glanced thoughtfully at the empty bed beside him.

 

"Who was he talking to? His boyfriend? They didn't seem so sweet. Is thirty-five his age, or his boyfriends? That much difference?" They are currently twenty years old. If thirty-five is Jinn’s age in the future that they saw, then that would be fifteen more years.

 

"Looks like I'll need to prove it a little more," he narrowed his eyes wickedly.

 

Jerome didn't think it was strange or wrong for a guy to like strawberry ice cream, but with Jinn, it seemed a little suspicious. He'd never known about it before. It wasn't that he'd never seen the other guy eat ice cream, but it was always chocolate or vanilla, simple flavours like that. If he really liked strawberries, it meant that every time they were in front of each other, he must have tried not to order them for fear of being teased...and yes, Jerome probably was doing just that, like when he teased Jinn about his hair colour back then.

 

"He's sleeping. There's no school today, Mom. I don't know why I should wake him up. He just woke up to go to the gym. I'll order food. Okay, okay, take your time. Call anytime. Go ahead. Okay."

 

The teasing tone coming from the bedroom let Jerome know that the other person was outside and on the phone with someone he knew.

 

"Oh, you're awake? What do you want to eat? I'll order something." Jinn opened the bedroom door and found his rival sitting on the bed with a dazed expression. It wasn't that he was worried about him. It's not about compassion or anything like that, but the responsibilities of a caregiver that have been thrust upon them include caring for their food as well.

 

"I'll have some rice porridge then. I was thinking of going for a walk around the mall to look at office desks." Jerome didn't act strangely like he did yesterday when he woke up. It was as if he was getting used to dreaming about an older Jinn and waking up to see a teenage Jinn, and had adjusted to it. He just needed a few more confirmations.

 

"I guess I have to go too, huh?" The young man, who had just returned from exercising, felt very displeased.

 

"You don't have to go, but if your mom calls, I'm not responsible," the man with the broken finger shrugged as if to say, "Whatever," before the tall, muscular figure, wearing only pyjama pants, walked over to get a pair of waterproof gloves and handed them to the man standing expressionlessly at the door.

 

"Oh, life," Jinn ran his hand through his hair, dutifully picking up the transparent gloves and putting them on the other person's hands.

 

"Go ahead and complain. You have to take care of me for a long time, little brother," Jerome teased, lightly patting Jin's cheek with his right hand as if playfully teasing him. Then he froze, his light-coloured, almost sweet eyes meeting Jinn’s sharp, widened eyes in surprise.

 

What the hell are you doing?!

 

"I'm going to take a shower first," he said, and quickly hurried into the bathroom.

 

"You bastard, Jay! Am I your playmate, you son of a bitch!" Jinn, who had just regained consciousness, shouted. He pressed his large hand against his cheek, which had suddenly been slapped repeatedly like never before. Shock, confusion, and bewilderment quickly turned to anger. You're getting cocky now, aren't you? Fine, you'll see!

 

The room owner flipped off the person in the bathroom. If this wasn't his room, Jinn would have kicked the bathroom door open and fought with them. This was outrageous! Even a slap on the head wouldn't make him this angry!

 

It was stuck in there. Meanwhile, the person who had fled to the bathroom could only stare at their own hand in disbelief, as if looking at some kind of parasite that might be possessing them.

 

"Why did you hit Jinn’s cheek?" Jerome muttered to himself, his voice like someone out of their mind. He hadn't realised what he was doing just now. It happened on its own; he only became aware of it after he'd already done it. Why didn't he slap his head or his shoulder like he usually did? Why hit his cheek?

 

Why do I have to do the same thing that Jinn’s boyfriend did in his dream?

 

Jerome wasn't thinking much at the moment, not paying attention to the small details of his dream. The young man was focused solely on the person, on Jinn, whom he saw in his dream, without noticing or suspecting for a moment how strikingly similar the perspective he was seeing Jinn in his dream was to his own perspective now. So identical, in fact, that it was almost the same perspective...

 

"This isn't okay, is it? It's just temporary. You're being so picky."

 

"That's enough." "Temporary isn't just for a day, it's for a month. There's work to do next week. How can I sit here feeling uncomfortable? Even a broken finger is difficult enough."

 

"Okay, suit yourself. Don't complain when you move back, I'm not helping you, so that you know."

 

"Yeah, I'll handle the graduation myself."

 

"Then go ahead and browse. Buy whatever you want and get it over with so we can go back to the room."

 

The two tall, handsome young men, who had been arguing since entering the work area, immediately drew the attention of employees and other customers. Their appearances and personalities, seemingly opposites—or perhaps, to put it mildly, they appeared to dislike each other but were surprisingly shopping together. It was a strange contradiction, yet at the same time, they felt an inexplicable connection.

 

"I'll take this one," Jerome finally decided after walking in circles for over half an hour.

 

"Thank heavens," Jinn wanted to raise his hands in a gesture of gratitude that this lying young master had finally made a choice. He thought he'd have to walk around for another hour before deciding.

 

If he weren't afraid of his mother calling, he would have walked away within the first ten minutes, instead of pacing back and forth like this!

 

"Okay, I'll buy you ice cream. How about that, so you'll stop making that face?" Jerome finished the sentence in his head, not wanting the staff or anyone else to hear, fearing it would damage his image as a warm and handsome guy.

 

"Hmph." But Jinn knew exactly what the other person was thinking. He was used to being crude and vulgar when he was with Jerome, because this cocky guy always made him look bad. But who cared? He didn't go around using foul language with everyone anyway. He didn't care what anyone thought.

 

"Can I leave it here for now? I'd like to go grab something to eat."

 

After paying, Jerome politely asked the staff, because taking the whole table and chairs to eat ice cream would be too cumbersome. Besides, the box wasn't small.

 

"Okay, sir/madam. Please present this card to our staff when you come to pick up your order."

 

“Thank you.”

 

"pleased"

 

"Okay, I'll treat you today, Jinn," Jerome winked mischievously at the two people who were glaring at each other not far away.

 

"You're acting weird today, Jay. You're unusually grateful," Jinn narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "We haven't cleared things up since we were in the room. And now you're offering to buy me ice cream? It's strange. You must have some kind of plan!"

 

“Come on, don’t overthink it. It’s just a few baht, why wouldn’t I treat you? Besides, I’m the one who wants to eat. It’s so hot, can’t I just not eat ice cream?” Jay shook his head slightly, as if to imply that Jinn was overthinking things. He strode ahead, hiding his slightly flustered and unnatural expression from behind.

 

"Damn, did we go too far and it didn't work?" the person walking ahead thought anxiously.

 

"...Really? But I still don't really believe you," Jinn followed, then quickened his pace until he could walk beside the other person. Since they were in a mall, competing with him by walking fast would be awkward. He decided to maintain a steady pace beside him for now. Walking behind him? No way!

 

What happened? "Uh," after they were finally seated in the famous ice cream shop, Jerome was still trying to subtly hand Jinn another menu book as if it weren't there.

 

"...Who the hell are you? Spit out, Jerome!" See? That's how it's happening. How can he think nothing is going on?

 

"...Nonsense, you idiot. Choose. There are two books. Do you want me to look at both of them? Think a little. Use your brain." Jerome lowered his voice because more than half the customers in the shop were parents with their children, enjoying ice cream to cool off. The young man was afraid the children would overhear his impolite language.

 

“It’s still weird. It’s been weird ever since you invited me to sit and eat with you, just the two of us,” Jinn retorted, and then ignored him. He and Jerome had slept in the same bed for two nights already. If that were tolerable, then sitting and eating together without separate tables wouldn’t be that uncomfortable. Maybe.

 

There will only be some discomfort.

 

"Then choose quickly, eat fast, and leave so they won't suspect me," Jerome thought to himself. Being on good terms for so long, knowing the other person's character quite well, wasn't a good thing. Just a slight change and they'd be suspected. It was really difficult to manoeuvre.

 

A pair of sweet eyes hidden beneath beautifully curved eyelashes subtly observed Jinn’s gaze, trying to discern where his stare would linger for an unusually long time, before a flash of light flickered in them and then vanished without a trace.

 

"I'll have the chocolate brownie, number ten. Okay, I got it. What about you? You wanted to eat this, didn't you?" Jinn handed the menu back to the pretty waitress and kicked his long leg under the table of the person sitting opposite him, as if to tease and urge him on at the same time.

 

“I’ll have the vanilla truffle, number forty-eight. That’s all. Thank you,” Jerome retaliated by kicking the other man’s leg before smiling sweetly and happily handing the menu back to the waiter.

 

"Hey, Jay, your face looks the same as when you've done something wicked. Like before you got Beam's number, you made that same face." It wasn't that Jinn was overthinking or observing his expressions that much, but someone who saw him often—meaning, witnessed him doing wicked things frequently—would know what kind of face showed satisfaction in his wickedness.

 

But what did he do to please it? Or did it do something wicked to him without him realising it?

 

Jerome chose to ignore the others' suspicions, shrugging as if to let them figure it out on their own, which only served to elicit a murderous glare from Jinn, as if he wanted to burn him to death.

 

There's no need to prove anything more. Jerome is 100% certain that the dreams and strange images that flash through his mind, both while asleep and awake, are definitely Jinn’s "future." There's nothing more to it.

 

The lingering gaze at the other person's strawberry ice cream menu didn't escape his intent stare. He stared at it for three seconds, longer than any other item on the menu, and even furrowed his brow slightly, a look he often displayed when he couldn't bring himself to part with something.

 

Oh, Jinn, Jinn. He just likes strawberry ice cream. Even if I teased him, it would only be once or twice, right? But now he's willing to eat other flavours because he doesn't want anyone to know he likes them. And you're just a liar and faking it, aren't you? You asshole.