Love Business

"You're early today..." says Ta. He is still in bed when Zee is ready to leave the dorm.

"I need to send the assignment to Mr. Yu."

"This early?"

Zee chuckles. 6 am is considering late for him. Usually, he wakes up at 4 am. But today, he ends up awake at 5 am.

"According to Mr. Yu's watch, it has been considered as late," he replies.

"What timezone does he use?" Ta slowly rose from his bed. He cracks his joints, drinks a glass of water, and sits still, in a daze, thinking about his future, perhaps.

Instead of replying to his roommate, Zee just flashes a smile.

"Gotta go now. See you at Auditorium 3!"

Ta has no energy left to stop Zee from leaving. He blinks his eyes slowly, with an intention to continue sleeping. However, the sound from his phone wakes him up immediately.

"Morning..."

"Are you still in bed?" the caller asks him, voice full in worry but cute.

"Yes..."

"Ah... I wanna cry now!"

"What's wrong, teerak... Hmm?" Ta's sweet voice serenades the whole room.

"I thought I could ask for your help," Bear sighs.

"What kinda help do you need, my prince?"

"Prince, my ass!" Ta laughs in tiny. He loves teasing his boyfriend. Bear hates it when Ta calls him the prince. Because that will make him look too young and too high-maintenance.

"But you love my ass, right...?"

"Ter, this is not the time to be horny. I left my worksheet in the council room. I thought you were at the campus by now because you told me you have a morning class. Now, I have to come early, stop by at the council room, and retrieve the worksheet by myself!" there's frustration in Bear's voice.

"The love of my life, don't you worry. I'm here to help you. It happened that my beloved roommate had gone to class already. Let me call him and ask for his help. Okay?" says Ta.

"Ah! Really? Oh, thank God I have a best friend like Zee!" Bear squeaks.

"Hello, you should thanked your boyfriend over here... He's the one who suggested that idea!"

"Always wanna claim everything! If my boyfriend wakes up early like his roommate, I won't have to ask for my friend's help! And.. Hold on! Why is Zee already at the campus, and you're still in your room? I thought you had a morning class?!"

Ta halts a bit. He curses under his breath.

Last night, he lied to Bear so he wouldn't feel guilty when Bear had to chase him out of his dorm last night.

"I got class. On my way... On my way..."

"Ter, please don't lie to me just to please me,"

Now, Ta feels like a bummer.

"I didn't mean to lie but I-"

"I'm sorry for not being able to come out to my family yet," Ta halts when he listens to Bear's serious note. He sits on his bed and pauses a bit. The call is silent all of a sudden.

"We've discussed before about this, teerak. I told you, I'm fine. As long as we love each other, nothing else matters. Coming out or not, it's your choice," Ta tries to calm Bear down.

"I hope, one day I can tell the whole world that I'm yours..."

"I think by now the whole campus can see that I'm yours and you're mine," Ta teases Bear. The man snarkily laughs.

"Don't worry too much about it. As long as you love me, I won't ask for more,"

Ta can feel that Bear is crying, or at least gloomy from the other line. Their love story is simple, but the aftermath is a bit complicated to catch up. It's hard for him, but even harder for Bear.

"I'll see you in class... Gotta go now," Bear quickly cuts the call.

Ta flops his body on the bed, gazing at the white ceiling on the top of his head.

"I better text Zee..." he says.