REI

Rei was aware that he was not good at a lot of things. However, the boy was confident that but he had a great pair of eyes.

Stealing yet another glance at the boy a couple of seats away from him, he immediately wondered how the always almost perfect Xavier looked haggard and exhausted at the moment. His eye bags were the deepest that the pale-skinned boy has seen on the other boy's face. Rei could not help but be concerned about why Xavier suddenly looked like someone who did not sleep for an entire year.

Isn't Rei supposed to be the person who should be looking like that as he only had four hours of sleep due to all the studying he did for yet another quiz in his least favorite subject of all time, Mathematics?

The pale-skinned boy could not help but stare at Xavier who was apparently trying his hardest to keep his eyes open and avoid yet another scolding from their professor who already scolded him a few minutes earlier. Rei could not blame their professor, as it was barely the end of their first period and the other boy looked like he was about to pass out.

Even Enya who was sitting beside him was occasionally looking at her friend with concern in her eyes.

"Snap out of it!" Rei whispers to himself, immediately cringing at the thought of his classmates hearing him converse with himself.

Fortunately, nobody really wanted to sit so close next to Rei's seat in fear of his mortal enemy's wrath about them being in cahoots with the boy. Despite not admitting it openly, Rei somehow reaps benefits from the pettiness that Enya stores inside her small body.

Afraid of being caught by Enya staring once again, Rei tried to steal a short glance at the boy. Xavier still did not change his position. He decided to rest his head on Enya's shoulder and closed his eyes.

Not that Rei was jealous, because he's definitely not, but shouldn't Xavier rest his head on Jest's shoulder instead? The pale-skinned boy thought of how Jest was on Xavier's right, and it would be less vexing for the tall boy to rest his head on someone on his right for it was obviously the better position-

All the useless thoughts currently running through Rei's mind made him roll his eyes. Why does he even care, honestly? Xavier can rest his head on anyone and everyone's shoulders!

Their professor's monotone voice and repeated discussions only seemed to worsen poor Rei's mood. Sometimes he just wants to ask permission to go to the bathroom and stay there as he plays a new mobile game he downloaded until the bell rings. Or maybe he can go to the cafeteria instead and stare at how the cooks prepare the food. He tried it once and the cooks paid him no mind, instead, they were even happy to see him interested in how they cook.

However, an annoying part of Rei's brain constantly tells him that he should stay in class and when the bell rings he should go to where Xavier is and ask if he's okay. Just because he's polite and nice. Definitely just that.

Again, Rei fought the urge to slap himself in the face. How was he even supposed to approach the tall boy with Enya glaring holes at him even if he's near their spot? And don't get Rei started with how Jest always seemed to find a way to make him angry with just a smirk on the asshat's face. The pale-skinned boy does not really understand why everyone likes their trio so much. All Rei sees is an overly-possessive witch, a philanderer with a bad sense of humor, and a moody guy who can be sweet and can be cold at the same time.

"Okay, class dismissed! Don't forget about the report you'll be having this Friday."

Rei cursed out loud, catching the attention of some of his classmates but fortunately not his professor, who was already making her way out of their classroom. Of course, their professor just had to remember the reporting!

He groans upon realizing that he told his professor he would be doing it individually. Not that he's against group works but he'd rather do it alone than force himself to meet up with his classmates in an overly-expensive coffee shop where his groupmates would just be drinking macchiatos and he's left to do all the work himself.

Definitely not an option.

After gathering his things inside his bag, the pale-skinned boy chose the route to leave their room that was the farthest away from the trio. He did not need another confrontation with Enya. He's got enough on his plate already.

However, before the boy can even take a single step out of the room, he shortly froze in his steps upon seeing Xavier being hugged by the witch. The tall boy's eyes were closed and Rei could see how the witch's hands massaged her friend's back lightly as if easing whatever burden he was currently feeling.

The "cute" moment apparently also caught the attention of the boy's other classmates, for they stopped doing their business and decided to snoop as well. Rei saw Jest whispering something to Xavier, to which the taller boy responds with a slight nod, his head still hidden on the witch's shoulder.

Rei left shortly after that.

°

Just like any other day, Wednesday ended as quickly as it started.

Or maybe Rei's just in his usual sentimental mood. The boy tends to get into this mood when he has a lot to think of, or if he's just in the mood to either scream until his throat became hoarse or to cry into his pillow.

The boy decided to conclude that this was all because of a tall, handsome, and sweet boy.

Definitely not Xavier.

Rei slapped himself in the face. Absolutely not mentally as he usually did, a physical hit this time. He knew it would leave a mark on his pale skin but he ignores it. The sudden action of the boy caught the attention of some passerby who watched him for some time, afraid of him escalating to punching himself next. However, most immediately moved on to continue their business, probably used to some teenagers about to reach their twenties breaking down sometimes.

It did not take long for Rei to arrive at his boss, Vincent's, store. He greeted Joanne on his way inside. The girl was cleaning the entrance of the store, which was supposed to be Rei's job before but after that one time of the boy having his head up in the clouds his entire shift, Vincent decided to let his niece take over.

"You are like a son to me, but I will have to sell this entire store if you get ran over by a car with your absentmindedness," His boss tells him a few weeks back.

Upon his arrival at the register, Rei noticed that his boss was smiling at something on his phone. Curiosity took over Rei and he decided to sneak a peek, immediately noticing how his boss was looking at his wife's photo.

Vincent was scrolling through the photos his wife sent him and realized his employee's existence when he finally was done looking at the last photo his wife sent. "Rei," He grins at the boy, his mood absolutely bright Rei thought that he might start shining as well. "I didn't notice you."

"Yeah, you were busy and all ogling your wife," Rei teases.

The big man blushes but doesn't deny it. Vincent had always had a great relationship with his wife and he's not afraid of being open regarding how much he loves her.

Kind of a rare thing these days, Rei thinks.

"She's in Thailand now," Vincent shows the younger boy a picture of his wife standing next to a baby elephant and its mother. "She says the elephants are adorable."

"They sure do look cute," Rei replied as he pinched the phone screen of his boss to zoom in to the elephant's adorable face. "I wonder when can I visit Thailand."

Vincent ruffles the boy's hair. "Don't worry. You'll be there in no time."

Rei wanted to say that it would be impossible, but he knew that it might either infuriate his boss or make him sad. The big man has always thought of Rei as his own son, and he did not want the young boy to be full of negativity at such a young age.

However, Rei knew that he had a lot of responsibilities and can't simply leave them all to follow what his heart wants. He still had a lot of things to do, especially for his mother who's currently working hard to send him his allowance every month.

The pale-skinned boy never told his mother that instead of using it for his everyday expenses, he's saving it inside a self-made piggy bank and he plans to open it as soon as he graduates.

The rest of the boy's shift went alright without anything relevant except for one kid who asked Rei what ice cream flavor would he recommend. Rei answered chocolate, which was also his favorite flavor. The kid picked vanilla.

On his way home, the boy passed a street food vendor and bought some barbecue for dinner. Upon realizing that it was already seven in the evening, he ran briskly he had to be home before the landlord checks the apartments for any problems. Luckily, the boy managed to get home before eight.

Right on schedule, his landlord Cris visits his apartment. Rei honestly thinks he's a middle-aged man who always looks bored and irritated at the same time.

"Did you bring a cat with you yesterday?" The man asks out of nowhere.

Rei immediately shook his head. "No," The issue with a cat in one of the apartments surprised the boy. The landlord had always reminded his residents not to bring pets inside their apartments since he hates hearing from the other renters that the animals were loud or would scratch on the walls whenever their owners weren't home. "Did anyone complain?"

The man nods, a scowl on his face. "The old lady was complaining about some cat yowling during the night. Said it came from your apartment. Also yelled at me so fucking early in the morning," Cris takes a cigarette from his pocket and lights it. Rei turned away and covered his nose subtly with a towel from his bag. "Completely ruined the start of my day."

"I didn't get a cat," Rei said as soon as his landlord seemed to be done with smoking. The man looked at him with doubt. "I swear,"

Rei wanted to add that how was he even supposed to take care of a cat when he can't even take care of himself properly but decided against it. He knew that the middle-aged man was already pissed with the old lady complaining and Rei knew his sarcasm would not help at the situation.

Cris still looked unconvinced but said nothing else. The man instead lit up another cigarette. Rei stepped backward, pushing the towel to his nose even more. He wondered if the man knew that smoking would eventually kill him one day.

"Well, do you have any problems? Toilet no working? Shower? Sink?"

"No."

The man shrugged. "Alright. Bye."

He made his way towards another apartment that Rei did not have the pleasure to meet the occupant.

As soon as the boy finished eating his dinner and taking a bath while brushing his teeth at the same time to save time, he climbed up on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

Apparently, not for long as he was suddenly awakened by someone throwing rocks on his apartment's window like a disgusting romantic comedy.

Rocks on his window?!

The boy almost fell out from his bed as he immediately wore his slippers to check who was throwing rocks on his window like a madman. The pale-skinned boy did not even have money to buy himself good cafeteria food and now someone's trying to ruin his apartment's window?!

His landlord will murder him! Not with his constant smoking but with his bare hands!

Rei was about to scream murder upon opening his door at the person who was trying to ruin both his good night's sleep and his apartment when his eyes realized that the boy throwing rocks at his window was somebody he knew.

A boy with dark blue eyes that brightened upon seeing the pale-skinned boy open the front door.

Rei rubbed his eyes and blinked several times, not believing the sight in front of him. There was Xavier, looking sheepish but still being attractive despite just wearing his school uniform and apparently throwing rocks at Rei's window at four in the morning like the two were in a rom-com or something.

All Rei could think about is what the fuck is going on?