#sweethnyy

"i already ordered drinks."

the waiter walks over with two drinks. "your usuals," the waiter says, placing each drink in their respective place. choso always ordered an Old Fashioned, ,and yours was an espresso martini, extra espresso.

"you remember my drink order but forget your assignments?"

choso let out a soft laugh "that's why i have you as my best friend. to help me remember."

there was a slience that fell between you two that choso didn't need to fill and you didn't need to pretend you weren't exhausted after a long week. somehow, sitting across from him felt like coming home.

you take a sip of your martini before you start giving choso the week rundown, he soaked up every detail like a sponge. the professor who refuses to be wrong when clearly he's wrong, the ridiculous amounts of assignments due at one time, the hours you have spent in the library, everything. as your alking, you adjust your locs and choso notices because he notice everything. he caught the way the gold cuffs threaded throughout your locs caught the light when you moved, the way your rings tapped softly against the glass ehen you laughed. small things. things he had no reason to remember, yet somehow, he always did. as you continue to talk about the most mundane things that made your routine special, a voice cuts through it.

"sorry to interrupt," the voice said

you and choso both looked up. a man from the other side of the bar stood there, offering a polite smile.

"i just wanted to say your tattoos are really cool. i was wondering if i could buy you a drink". choso immediately notices his gaze never falters from you, his eyes rake over your arms like he's committing them to memory. Choso didn't say anything; he never did when he was upset. But you notice the way his thumb traces the edge of his glass. a habit. one you learned meant something was bothering him.

"that's sweet, but im actually here with someone." you gesture towards choso.

the man offered an apologetic smile, lifting his hand slightly.

"sorry, i didn't mean to interrupt."

"youre fine," you reassured him.

he gives one last polite nod before making his way back toward the bar, leaving you two alone again. for a moment, the comfortable silence returned. almost. you glanced across the table. choso hadn't moved much. his expression the same calm he always wore, but you knew better than that. his thumb still tracing along the rim of his glass.

"okay," you say, leaning back slightly. "what's wrong?"

his eyes lifted to yours. "nothing" you gave him that look of i know beter than that. "choso". he pauses. "im fine". "choso we;ve been friends long enough to know when something is wrong, and clearly something is bothering you, you're doing that thing again. he immediately looks down at his glass and notices.

"he was botherine you."

"he asked me for a drink."

"after interrupting our conversation."

you blinked. "are you...jealous?" the question was meant as a joke. but choso's silence was not.

"i just didn't like thw way he approached you."

you raised an eyebrow. "that sounds a lot like jealousy." "it isn't." the answer came too quickly. and that was what made you smile.you didn't press him. there wan't any point. if there was one thing you'd learned about choso over the years, it was that he'd speak when he was ready and not a second sooner. so you let the conversation drift elsewhere. you talked about next week's exams, laughed over a classmate's disastrous presentation, and debated whether the fries had gotten worse since last semester. it sounded like every friday night it just didn't feel like one.

around you, the lounge carried on as if nothing had happened. glasses clinked, someone cheered from the pool table, a new song drifted through the speakers. yet the space between you and choso felt different somehow - as though your teasing question had settled quietly between your drinks. waiting for one of you to acknowledge it.

by the time the ice had melted into the bottom of both glasses, the lounge had begun to thin ou. the bartender offered the two of you a familiar smile as choso reached for the check before you couuld.

"you paid last week." he reminded you simply. you rolled your eyes. one day im going to actually win this argument." " Maybe. " the cool night air greeted you the moment the lounge door swung shut behind you. the campus looked different after midnight. the sidewalks that buzzed with students during the day now belonged to the occasional pair of friends and the distant hum of streetlights. the noise of the lounge had faded behind you, replaced by tge sound of your footsteps and the occasional passing car.

"you know, you never answered my question."

choso finally admits, "because I didn't know the answer"

"so you were jealous?" you say with a smile on your face. choso looks away "maybe", "maybe?". "...yes." a small smile tugged at your lips. "good to know". choso freezes for a moment, confused as to why you said that . "why is it good to know?" you step closer to him, only a few inches between you two.

"because i was starting to think i was the only one who felt it." instead of responding right away, choso just...stops walking. he literally halts mid-step. you take a few more steps before realizing he's no longer beside you. you turn around, and he's still standing there. "...choso?" he doesn'trespond, he's replaying what you said in his head. instead of instantly understanding, he asks something thats almost painfully obvious. "you..you mean me?" he asks because he genuinely cannot believe he heard her correctly.

you just stare at him , then laugh. "who else would i be talking about?" now he's even more flustered. "you'd make a terrible detective". he catches up with you as you are now outside your building. neither of you really wants the night to end. Choso opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. you smile because you have never seen him this flustered. so you decided to spare him. you step closer, close enough that he can instinctively look down at you. before he can ask what you are doing, you lean in and quickly kiss him, you pull away just as quickly, your smile impossible to hide. you step back. choso didn't, he simply stared at you, frozen in place, his expression caugh somewhere in between disbelief and awe.

before allowing him the opportunity to recover, you hit him with "goonight choso." and go inside your building. by the time he has somewhat regained his brain function, your building door had closed, and choso was still standing where you left him. he stood there for another minute before finally turning toward his own dorm.

he made it halfway across the courtyard... only to realize he'd been walking in the complete opposite direction.