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It was another school day at the university and the crew can be found in the university’s lobby. Ray, and Chuem, were both sleeping in their free time while Mew worked on filing the progress report of the hostel. He looked fine and good, but his constant yawning gave him up.
“Hey, Mew.”, Mew looked in the voice’s direction. It was one of their block mates, “Oh, Hey.”, he said as he paused whatever he was doing. “How is it? Running the hostel with these guys?”, he signaled to Ray and Chuem’s direction.
“Oh it’s good, they’ve been pretty helpful. That’s also the reason why they are dead asleep right now.”, Mew said as he looked at his two friends.
“Oh? Really? I could expect Chuem to be good help, but Ray? Hard to Imagine”, Hearing this, Mew worked his hardest to control his expression. “Oh well, We gotta go. Good luck!!”
“Goodluck as well”, Mew said with a forced smile. He knew his dear friend doesn’t have the best reputation due to his past being an alcohol addict but he was seriously putting an effort to change.
People really wouldn’t try to understand others if it doesn’t involve them , Mew thought to himself.
And this kind of sentiment is something even Ray, himself, knew. Before class, Ray went to the bathroom to relieve himself. As he was going out, he accidentally bumped into someone, he was about to say ‘sorry’ but heard that person say, “Watch it, Drunkard.”
Ray immediately grabbed him by his shoulders and told him, “What the hell is your problem?! Huh?”. Hearing Ray’s irritated voice, Mew immediately ran to the bathroom, “I just accidentally bumped into you and was about to say sorry. Is it appropriate for you to call me a drunkard ‘cause of that? Huh?”.
“Ray, Ray, stop it. Don’t mind him, let’s just go.”, Mew said as he grabbed his friend and went to their class. Ray continued to give the bastard a death glare, a glare the bastard also gladly returned. Before they go, they both heard the bastard muttered under his breath, “Fucking rich brat, thinking he can just boss anyone around.”
All this stress from school would sometimes make Ray feel the urge to drink. But it will only be that, an urge, because Sand will always be there to listen and comfort Ray from any stress. It’s been 2 months since Ray has entered the rehab center and he is making good progress.
Sand was also to be commended in this journey with Ray, because he was there from the start cheering and helping Ray in quitting alcohol. He always extended his patience for his boyfriend, even if it means suffering from Ray’s withdrawal symptoms.
Both of them have been working together to work on each of their problems while cheering on each other. Such a cute and wholesome love, but the thing is only a few people know of it.
Yes, only a few people know of it. Only people who are close to them like P’Yo, Plug, Mew, Top, Chuem, April, Nick, Boston and their respective parents are the only ones that know about their relationship. It’s not that they are hiding their relationship, they just don’t really yell about it to everyone.
Well, to be honest, Ray is doing it for Sand’s sake. For all he cares, he can even go and create a billboard to show all of Bangkok that Sand is his man. But Sand doesn’t want that since he finds it too cliche and embarrassing.
And of course, Ray obliged. Because he knows that Sand isn’t doing it because he is embarrassed of him or anything, he and even, Sand, knows that he is head over heels in love with Ray.
Sand just doesn’t feel the need to spell it out for other people or tell it to other people especially if they didn’t ask. And so, the whole student body in their university, were all seeking to see what happened once they learned that Mew, now has a boyfriend.
When Top was chasing Mew, he took every chance he got just to get Mew’s trust back. He even shamelessly followed and begged Mew in the university lobbies. That’s why many people learned of the news, and that’s why many also wanted to see what happens.
Because in their minds, Ray is still in love with Mew. This topic goes on even when they are all in their final months of uni.
Everyone and their mothers are looking keenly on how things unfold. Every time Top and Mew would have PDA inside the university. All eyes are on Ray, and every time they see him frown, people would have their different gossips and tea to interpret the situation. (But Ray is merely frowning at how disgusting Top flirts, no one can top his romantic boyfriend, Sand, after all).
While all of this is happening, Ray and Sand would mind their business and continue to fall deeper in love with each other in private. Until one day, Sand was walking to the Business Department when he overheard some of the gossiping students.
“Have you heard? Mew’s boyfriend went here yesterday while Mew and Ray were together.”, one of the students whispered to his circle of friends. “Oh? What were they doing?”, one asked intrigued. “Mew and his boyfriend were doing lovey-dovey stuff while Ray was just watching them.”
“Oh, I know this one. They went on for like 5 minutes, until Ray went and excused himself. He even rolled his eyes as he left.”, one of them ushered back. “Oh, Ray probably left due to annoyance. Who could take seeing the one they love be with someone else.”
All of them nodded. A small smile appeared on Sand’s face, but deep inside he was laughing. Dumbasses, do they really think Ray is just a rich drunkard who is still chasing after his first love?, Sand thought to himself.
“Hey, Mew’s boyfriend is here again.”, another student said as he raised his phone showing a picture sent by someone. “Let’s go see the gossip for ourselves.”, one said before they collectively stood up and went to the university lobby.
Sand just chuckled and shook his head from disbelief in the situation. After a while, he headed straight to the university lobby as well.
When Sand got to the lobby, he saw Top standing next to Mew, having a conversation. Chuem, minding her own business, probably finishing an assignment; and Ray, whose face screams ‘I could care less’. Cute , Sand thought to himself as he gazed at his boyfriend’s uninterested face towards Top and his antics.
Passing by the group earlier who have already taken their seat and looking at the scene. Sand headed towards the table and said as he approached, “Ray! Are you ready?”.
The moment Ray heard Sand’s calm voice, his ears perked up and immediately shot Sand his puppy eyes unconsciously. Sand couldn’t help but give Ray a small smile as he headed in their direction.
“Oh, Sand!” Mew exclaimed as he raised an arm to greet Sand with a fist bump. A greeting Sand calmly returned, “What brings you here, Sand?” Chuem asked.
“Came to pick up Ray. He has a schedule today.”, Sand said as he sat next to Ray who was busy cleaning up. “Oh, is that why?” Top said butting in. “I thought you couldn’t contain yourself after hearing I was here.”
Sand and Ray rolled their eyes together from the statement, an act both Mew and Chuem laughed at. Sand stood up and propped his hand on the table, “Sorry but what are you again? ‘Cause I especially heard someone needed an exterminator to clean some pest off the property.”
Ray laughed while Top let out a scuff from the insult. After settling down from the laughter, Ray said, “Come on, Let’s go.”
Sand stood up and they went to the parking lot shoulder to shoulder. Chuem looked at them and voiced a thought, “If I knew both your boyfriends will pick you guys up, I would’ve called April to come pick me up too.” After which she pouted and Mew just chuckled and patted her back.
Unbeknownst to them, this scene was seen by everybody. After the incident, there were a lot of question marks all over their heads. How did Sand become acquainted with them? Is he close with Ray? How could he be close with Ray who is a drunkard? And many more.
Some even speculated that Sand and Ray are dating but almost everyone ruled it as impossible. Ray is head over heels for Mew, there is no way he can fall for someone else.
But, the crew didn’t care about gossip like this. They all just went on with their days, taking care of the hostel, doing school works, and being all lovey dovey with their respective lovers.
After their schedule in the rehab center, Ray and Sand went to Ray’s house ‘to hang out’. An act which typically ended either normally (they just cuddle, talk about music, and life) or in the bed. And this time, they chose the bed activity.
After the activity, it was already late into the evening, so both of them decided to take a shower together. After that, as Ray laid on the bed doing something on his phone, Sand sat next to him and asked.
“Ray, do you know anything about the rumors circulating about you in the uni?” Sand said as he dried his hair. “Hmm? What are they talking about me?”, Ray said as he looked at Sand. “The usual. Calling you a rich spoiled brat, who can’t live a day without alcohol and someone who is still in love with Mew.”, Sand said in a matter-of-factly tone.
Hearing this, Ray immediately sat right up and hugged Sand, “Hmm, it really is the usual…Are you jealous?” he asked teasingly. “As if, it’s just funny to me. And besides,” Sand said as he raised his hand to hold Ray’s cheeks, looking at him.
“If you ever decide to go back to being hopelessly in love with Mew. The fact still remains, I’ll leave once somebody declares their love for me.”, Sand said with a smug look. Ray gave him a peck in the lips, while Sand returned the action and soon they fell back into the bed, kissing passionately.
The two parted and Ray stared at his boyfriend with loving eyes, “I love you, Sand. With all my heart, so don’t leave me, na”. Sand chuckled and pecked his boyfriend's lips, “I love you, too. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.”
“With flaws and all?”
“With flaw and all.”
And with that, the time went by in a flash. It's already a week before graduation. The past few months were hellish for everyone and especially for Ray. While he juggled through his rehabilitation from alcohol addiction, he also juggled through his past works. Going here and there just to make up for his grades so that he can graduate on time.
Luckily, Ray is innately smart. Without the clouding of alcohol and support from his friends and boyfriend. He was able to make everything up and reach the needed credits for graduation. Their final project, the Only Friend Hostel, was also a success as the professor gave them praise and high marks.
“Haaaa,” a bleary sigh came out from Ray’s mouth. He sat down on one of the hostel’s sofas and leaned on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “So tired.”.”You’ve worked hard.”, Sand said as he patted his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“How ‘bout your end? How is it going?”, Ray said as he closed his eyes and leaned on his boyfriend. “It’s all good, my grades, although not high, are also not that low. I can graduate on the scheduled date, too.”, Sand said as he scrolled through his phone.
“That’s great, Sand!!”, Namchuem said as she overheard them. “So, can you come to our graduation?” She said as she placed the food on the coffee table. “My department’s graduation is set a day before you guys. Since the school allows 2 family members to come, I’ll try.”, Sand said thinking about it.
“Ow? What do you mean try? I already talked about it with Mom about this. She said she is fine with this.” Ray said as he pouted to his boyfriend. “Oh? How come I didn’t know any of this?” Sand looked at Ray with raised brows.
“Naturally, you wouldn’t know. You were out doing some errands. Since me and Mom had free time, we naturally talked.”, Ray said as he sat more comfortably on the sofa. “Well, we are only talking about my mom. How about your dad?” Sand asked as he looked at his comfortable boyfriend.
“The hell are you worried about? My dad loves you. He will be fine with it.”, Ray said as he opened one of his eyes to look at Sand. “You haven’t talked to him, have you?” Sand said as he confirms his thoughts. “ Mom’s dead, and we don’t have other close relatives. I don’t think dad would mind if the other slot is taken by my boyfriend.”
He hasn’t talked to his dad yet, Namchuem and Sand both thought to themselves.
“I’ll talk to your dad tomorrow.”, Sand said as he comfortably laid back on the couch. Personal space was basically non-existent to the both of them as their shoulder’s overlap. “Hm,” Ray said as he lay his head on Sand’s shoulder comfortably.
“And, you're coming with me.”, Sand said as he tapped his thigh. “Sure, I don’t mind.”, Ray said as he continued to close his eyes, trying to sleep.
Sand could only sigh and looked at Chuem who is busy eating the chips she prepared. She could only give him a small smile with the antics of her friend, so he could only tiredly smile back.
“When is Mew, Top and April coming?”, Sand said as he checked his phone. “April said she is on her way. Mew and Top will not be coming, it’s Mew’s mom’s birthday.”, Chuem said as she sat comfortably on the bean bag.
“Oh, so it’s a double date then?”, Ray said with closed eyes. “Nah, Nick is coming. He messaged me.”, Sand said as he patted Ray’s head lightly “Oh!”, Ray said as he fixed his position on Sand’s shoulder.
It was a movie night, since school was almost over. They decided to forgo attending clubs and just spend time together at each other’s home or in the hostel. They are currently in the hostel which is currently closed, they decided to close it to give themselves rest before graduation.
The week went by with them just resting, and finishing up tasks that needed to be completed. And it's their day of graduation, Sand already graduated the day before since he belonged to another department.
He is currently with Ray’s father, sitting on the chairs as the ceremony is about to start. “Thank you, Sand.”, Ray’s father said as he turned to look at Sand. Sand got caught off guard and could only look at him. “Thank you for helping Ray out of his addiction.”
“Oh, it’s alright sir. No need to thank me.”, Sand said as he patted Ray’s father’s shoulder. “No, You don’t know how much I was scared of losing Ray to drinking as well. But I really didn’t know how to handle that child. So, thank you, for helping Ray back to the proper path.”, Ray’s father said as he patted him.
Sand could only smile and reply, “Ok sir.”. The ceremony started and it went on as usual, and before it ended, the batch’s valedictorian said, “And to think back to our memories together, our batch prepared a video.”
The video started with other section’s pictures and videos. It was filled with fun videos and memorable pictures for each graduate, midway, there was a scene of Ray puking on the school parking lot. A scene that caused almost everyone to laugh, while Ray’s father's face palmed himself.
Sand chuckled at the scene. Next scenes are mixed with videos of other people with the crew, some pictures of them and more. In the final moments of the video, it showed videos from different groups from different sections, showing their personal videos from their final projects.
And the last video is of Chuem, going around the hostel, and showing everything. One part of the short video, showed Mew and Top sitting together in a corner, Chuem’s voice can be heard from behind the camera, “Ok lovebirds, if you're gonna show PDA. Do it at the back.”
Mew was visibly shy and stood up with a little blush, while Top just smiled at Chuem and the camera, giving a little wave. Chuem laughed and went on, possibly looking for Ray.
And soon, the camera picked up some sound and it went in that direction. The sound can be heard from the kitchen, it was muffled so the camera and the watcher couldn’t make sense of it. And when Chuem opened the door, “Ai Ray, you bastard. Stop being naughty.” Sand voice was heard, it was a happy voice.
The scene in front of the camera was Sand cooking something on the stove while being back hugged by Ray. “I was looking for the two of you.”, Chuem said as she walked inside of the kitchen.
Ray didn’t even bother unhugging Sand, he merely turned his head and looked at Chuem as he laid his head on Sand’s back. “What for?”, he said calmly. “For the video, silly.”, Chuem said as she focused the camera on the two of them.
“Oh, the graduation video?” Ray said. The scene continued on with Ray, conversing with Chuem as he hugged Sand who was cooking some fried rice from the back. “Yeah, but it seems I am being a third wheel again.”, Chuem said teasingly.
“Again? Was Top being a pest for Mew again?” This time, it was Sand who spoke. “Probably.”, Ray said as let go since Sand signaled him to. “You two are really a match made in heaven. Your relationship is probably fueled with your dislike of Top.”, Chuem said.
“Ew, no.”, Ray said as he sat on the counter. Sand was already plating the food for everyone so Ray was just watching him. Sand chuckled and smiled as he did his thing, “Me and Sand’s relationship is fueled by love. We just are that good of a match that we collectively hate on Top.”
“If Mew hears you, he will get sad.”, Sand said as he continued dividing the food. “I’m just joking, of course.” Ray said as he looked at Sand. Seeing his boyfriend’s undivided attention, Sand also gave him a look, “What?”. Sand said this with a smile as he finished plating the food.
Ray just smiled and moved but Chuem immediately moved the camera to look at her. “Ahem, you two love birds. You're far worse than those two.”
“You're just jealous, April isn’t here.” Ray said behind the camera. The three of them laughed. And then the video moved on to other groups, soon the video came to an end. Sand was just smiling, Ray’s father looked as if ‘it really is my son’.
But the rest of the batch? Shocked as hell. Their preconception of Ray was that he was a rich spoiled brat, that is an alcohol addict and someone in love with his best friend, Mew. Well, the first part was correct, Ray is a rich spoiled brat.
Well in the first part of the video, Ray was still a drunkard. But as the video progressed, the recent videos showed that Ray was mostly sober instead of always drunk and hungover. And, the ‘in love with his best friend’ part? Gone as well.
They were all shocked when they saw Sand and Ray’s interaction and even their casual confirmation of their relationship. Some of the graduates who finally put two and two together realized why some people said Ray was in Sand’s graduation while Sand is in here right now.
Soon the video ended, some more graduating stuff happened and the event ended. The first one to leave is the guest, Sand and Ray’s father are standing beside the stairs.
Some of the graduates who have come out and some guests, happen to recognize Sand from the video since Sand is still a handsome and tall man. All of the girls and some boys couldn’t help but spare the blank faced man a glance.
Sand could tell their staring, he is still a band singer for god's sake, so he could tell if people were staring but he didn’t care. “Sand! Dad!”, both of them heard someone yelling and soon a figure went and jumped on Sand.
“I’ve graduated!!”, Ray said as he hugged his boyfriend. His face was plastered with a smile conveying showcasing his genuine joy. Sand smiled as he couldn’t help but find his boyfriend cute.
“Congratulations!”, Sand said as he hugged his boyfriend back. Ray’s father also smiled and patted his son’s shoulders, “Congratulations.” he said with a faint smile.
Ray smiled widely. “Let’s go out and eat?”, Ray said as he intertwined his hand with his boyfriend in public. Sand looked at Ray and his boyfriend’s dad, “Then I'll go now.”
“Ow? Where are you going, Sand? Come eat with us. Na”, Ray said, giving Sand his usual puppy eyes. “Naaa”, he continued. “Are you busy?”, Ray’s father asked him.
“Oh no sir., I just feel like it will be an intrusion of me to accompany you guys to eat out.”, Sand said. “I heard from Ray that you brought him along in your graduation celebration.”, Ray’s father went and patted his shoulders. “So, come and eat with us as well.”
“Oh, alright then sir.” Ray’s father smiled and walked ahead. “See, I told you dad loves you.”, Ray said as he nudged his boyfriend. “Alright, alright, you win.”, Sand said as he smiled back at Ray.
“Come on, let’s eat!!”, Ray said as he dragged his boyfriend, with their hands intertwined.
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User345343434
05:60 PM
NEWS FLASH!! Turns out Ray isn’t even in love with Mew anymore. He's obviously head over heels for Sand now, I just saw them after the ceremony hugging and holding hands. They’re faces are filled with smiles and their eyes full of love. Sighhhhhh, when can I get that kind of boyfriend as well. Handsome, Tall, Caring, and Talented.
Ps. HAPPY GRADUATION TO OUR BATCH!!!! WOHOOO
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