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Fighter looks down. The water bottle that was ice cold only a little while ago is getting warmer in his hand concerningly fast. Fighter turns his eyes to where Tutor is standing among his peers, talking animatedly. Fighter guesses it to be some sort of group project, there’s no way anyone would be out in this weather for this long willingly. Fighter clears his throat and steps away from behind the pilar. He was not hiding, per say, just.. waiting for the right moment? Fighter sets his course towards the group of younger students.
”Oh, P’Fight!” Day is the first one to notice him. The people around him, including Saifah and Tutor, turn around to look. Tutor’s face hardens and he turns his eyes away, not greeting Fighter.
”What are you up to?” Fighter asks the boys as he stops next to them. Saifah wipes away the sweat on his forehead and Fighter turns his eyes to Tutor. He’s sweating too. Fighter hides his frown.
”Oh, we’re late on the idea for out project so we have to figure it out now. It’s our only free period”, Saifah complains and Fighter nods. So he figured. Fighter looks at Tutor again. He’s not surprised to see the younger guy engaging in a conversation with one of his classmates, very blatantly ignoring Fighter.
”Well. Hopefully you figure it out”, Fighter says as the silence around him stretches. He looks at the water bottle in his hand. Should he just give it to Saifah and say the boys should share it? Should he pretend he bought it just now for himself and say they can have sip, and then “end up” giving it away? Fighter opens the bottle and takes a step towards the group of boys in order to offer it to Day. However, as fate would have it, he loses his balance. The front of his foot gets stuck on the crack in the asphalt and he stumbles forward. The water in the opened bottle moves in a perfect arch and hits its target.
Tutor gasps as the icy water hits his back. With wide eyes, he turns around. Fighter is behind him, the now almost completely empty bottle in his hand. Tutor looks at the bottle and then again at Fighter. His hands curl into fists.
”P’FIGHT!” Tutor yells at the man in utter disbelief. Fighter straightens up. Shit. Ok apologise, go ahead Fighter, just apologise- ”You look like you needed a shower”, the words escape Fighter’s lips. God damnit.
Tutor’s face gets red as he takes a step forward, his eyes blazing with anger. Day takes a hold of his arm and laughs awkwardly.
”Yes hehe it’s very hot isn’t it, we could all use a shower!” Day says as he holds Tutor back.
”You-!!!” Tutor curses and Day yanks him back again. Fighter turns his eyes away from Tutor, hoping the red on his neck looks like it came from the heat and not embarrassment.
”I’ll be going then, have fun”, he forces out towards Saifah and starts walking away. He can hear Tutor behind him cursing at his distancing back. As soon as Fighter is behind the building, he stops and buries his face in his hands.
”Why are you so stupid?!!” Fighter asks himself as he looks at the water bottle in his hand. Sigh. That went well.
-
Fighter slows down as he nears Tutor's dormitory. He's just... passing by. But just in case he sees the boy in question, he slows down.
Fighter almost stops as he arrives to the building. The keyword being almost. He slows down and crawls forward, deciding to move on at the last minute. Seeing Tutor coming out of the building would be too lucky. Fighter keeps driving, this time a little faster, keeping his eyes still on the sidewalk. And aha! There he is! Tutor is walking towards what Fighter assumes to be a bus stop when he discovers him. He's wearing his school uniform with earbuds in his ears. Fighter slows down the car and drives next to Tutor, then rolling down his window.
"Yo! Tutor!" Fighter calls out. Tutor turns his head as he removes one of his earbuds. Fighter calls out again and finally the younger guy locates the origin of the voice. Tutor frowns and his shoulders tense up. Fighter looks at the way his body language changes. He dislikes it. He doesn’t like being the reason for his discomfort.
“P’Fight?” Tutor calls out in confusion as he stops walking. Fighter leans his arm against the open window.
"Get in", Fighter wills himself not to say anything stupid but his words still come out sounding like a demand. Tutor frowns. He looks at the clock, then back at Fighter and the clock again. With a loud sigh, he starts walking towards Fighter's car. Fighter turns his face to hide his surprise. He didn't think it would be this easy. Tutor opens the passenger's seat and gets in quietly. He puts on his seatbelt and Fighter starts driving.
The atmosphere in the car is awkward. The radio is playing quietly in the background but both boys are quiet. Fighter keeps his eyes on the road while Tutor looks outside of the passenger’s side window.
“Why did you pick me up?” Tutor ends the silence eventually, the incident from the other day still fresh on his mind. Fighter’s hold on the black steering wheel tightens. He turns the car to the left, using the action to procrastinate. Once the car straightens again, Fighter can no longer prolong his answer.
“You don’t have a car”, Fighter blurts out. He wants to bang his head against the steering wheel. Tutor’s face twists. The look in his eyes hardens and the corners of his lips move slightly downwards.
“Oh, I’m well aware of that”, Tutor snaps back. Fighter bites his teeth.
“I just meant that you were walking and I had a car, so I picked you up”, Fighter tries to explain though frankly, he’s not sure if at this point it would be smarter for him to just shut up. Probably. Tutor chuckles in disbelief.
“I see. P’Fight just happened to pick his junior up”, Tutor makes fun of Fighter’s words. Fighter frowns and he takes down one of his hands, stretching the fingers that had started to hurt in the tight fist he was holding.
“Just think of it as a good deed okay?” Fighter mumbles, his eyes still on the road. Tutor rolls his eyes.
“So I’m just a charity case then huh?” Tutor sneers, turning his eyes away from Fighter. Fighter bites his tongue as his chin juts out. He’s digging his own grave here. Tutor turns in his seat.
“You can just drop me off here, thank you”, Tutor points at the sidewalk. Fighter keeps driving.
“P’!” Tutor exclaims as Fighter drives past the spot he was pointing at. He turns to look at Fighter with wide eyes. The university is only a few minutes away, he’s not going to let the stubborn boy get off here when he’s already sitting in the car. Fighter doesn’t give Tutor even the slightest of glances as he keeps driving. Tutor sighs and crosses his arms, leaning back against the seat. Damn you P’Fight.
-
Fighter is walking down the hall on the first floor when he sees a boy sitting on the grass missing one shoe. After a little more observation, he realizes it to be Tutor. Fighter looks around but seeing nobody else, he starts jogging towards the boy on the ground. As Fighter gets closer, he notices the missing shoe next to the boy. Looking at the painful expression on his face, it doesn’t take long for Fighter to guess what happened.
“You alright?” Fighter asks as he gets close enough. Tutor raises his head at the sound, only for his expression to darken.
“Let me see”, Fighter says as he crouches down next to Tutor.
“Get off!” Tutor snaps as Fighter tries to touch his ankle.
“Damn you! Stay still, I’m just trying to help!” Fighter says back with just as much vigor. Tutor gives him a mean look but stops fighting. Fighter brings his hands down and gently touches Tutor’s ankle. Tutor lets out a hiss of pain and bites his teeth together.
“I think you might’ve sprained it”, Fighter mumbles. The ankle is already twice its size and he can see some of the bruising on the outside.
“Wonderful”, Tutor mumbles sarcastically as he sighs. A sprained ankle is just what he needs. Fighter gets up and then crouches down again, this time his back against Tutor.
“C’mon, I’ll take you to the nurse’s office”, Fighter says and moves his hands back to help Tutor. Tutor starts protesting but with one look Fighter silences him. In a few seconds, Tutor is on Fighter’s back and the older one of the two straightens up, carrying Tutor. The boy is not light but he’s sure he can manage.
Tutor stays quiet all through the walk, hiding his face against Fighter’s back to hide his embarrassment. It’s the middle of the school day and there are a lot of people roaming the halls, all of whom give the pair curious looks. At last they arrive to the office and Fighter helps Tutor down to sit on the bed.
“Thank you”, Tutor says as Fighter sets himself against the wall. Fighter looks at him but doesn’t say anything. A little time passes by and Tutor starts fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
“You don’t have to wait here P’”, Tutor says and raises his head, just to see Fighter looking at him. Still. Or again. Fighter doesn’t turn his eyes away. He keeps quiet. By now he thinks silence to be the best way to get his intentions across. Apparently he can’t really talk when Tutor’s around. Fighter’s new tactic seems to be working as Tutor turns his eyes away but doesn’t ask him to leave again. Fighter crosses his arms as Tutor turns his head down.
“Sorry I’m late!” the nurse calls as she walks in, her black hair trailing behind her, her arms filled with folders. Fighter pushes himself off the wall and stands next to Tutor, once again crossing his arms. The nurse sets her folders down and hurries over. She crouches down to where Tutor’s ankle’s resting on top of a chair. After a quick explanation given by Tutor, she gets to work. She confirms what Fighter said about his ankle being sprained and wraps it in a sturdy binder. Fortunately the sprain is very mild since she doesn’t have any crutches at the moment. Apparently football this semester has been more brutal than usual.
“That’s okay P’, I’ll help him to the car”, Fighter says as his hands find their way around Tutor’s shoulders. Tutor turns to face him with a question mark evident on his face.
“P’Fight, you don’t-” Tutor starts but Fighter interrupts him.
“Thank you P’!” Fighter thanks the nurse politely. Tutor copies him and the black haired woman smiles.
“No worries boys! You must let your ankle rest and try to step on it as little as you can. Come and see me again next week and I’ll check on it”, the nurse says to Tutor before she leaves to tackle the pile of files now on her desk.
“C’mon”, Fighter says as he helps Tutor up.
“P’Fight, I can do it myself”, Tutor answers, clearly annoyed. With a roll of his eyes, Fighter lets go. Tutor gets up from the bed and sways. He tries to balance himself with his hurt foot and with a painful noise he starts falling. Fighter catches him with ease, his arms wrapping around Tutor the second he falters.
“On your own my ass”, Fighter curses at the younger guy and moves one of Tutor’s arms over his shoulder, holding on tightly to his waist. Tutor shuts himself up before he can say anything else. Fighter’s arm around his waist feels too hot and he can feel his face getting red. He’s used to Fighter messing with him but not like this. He’s being... kind. It’s confusing.
“Lean on me”, Fighter reminds as they start moving. Tutor lets out a quiet ‘mhm’ and does as he’s asked. He’s slowly starting to see why HwaHwa likes the guy. Unfortunately.