Chapter 2: The Kiss
Rhett went back to being passively apathetic towards me again after that confrontation. My heart sank because I really thought that we were finally making headway as brothers now that we practically lived in the same room together, but I ruined whatever budding relationship we had. He didn't make it a point to ignore me or something like that; we still ate together and sometimes we would have a casual conversation but that's pretty much it.
Two weeks have swiftly gone by as I'm now absentmindedly heading towards the music circle room. My application got accepted a while back, and now I made sure to hang out in their room for at least once a week. It's a Thursday afternoon, and I just got off my last class so I headed straight towards the complex right after when I felt someone wrap their arms around the back of my neck.
I turned my face to look at Xavier, the lead guitarist of the Archangel band from the music circle. He wore a smug smile.
Xavier and I became friends right after I auditioned. He was really impressed, from his own words, and he kept insisting that I try out as a back up vocalist for his band ever since. I really just wanted to have fun, and I'm not sure if I could take such a major responsibility right then and there so I told him that I'd have to think about it.
"So, have you finally decided to try out?" he asked as people we came across kept staring at Xavier.
"Xavier, I'm not ready yet... Besides, there are tons of other MC freshmen who are much more confident than me, maybe you could ask them instead."
"But I want you..." he said. I instinctively looked at him to know what he meant by what he said and I saw him sporting a shit eating grin.
"... to be our back up vocalist." he chuckled.
"Aahh stop it." I said as I looked down and felt my cheeks heat up slightly.
We entered the room and a couple of my newly found friends were sitting on the round table. They visibly panicked upon the sight of Xavier, since he didn't really hang around in the room that much unless they had practice.
Xavier tugged me towards the couch.
"Tell you what, you'll perform one song with us at the opening week fair, and that's it. I'll stop bugging you then and it's totally gonna be up to you if you still don't wanna try out." he pleaded, his eyes drooping like a puppy.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to face a crowd yet, Xavier... I mean, I've never performed in public before, I might humiliate your band." I said.
"You won't, I promise. Would you please try? For me?"
Fuck it. Who can turn down someone like Xavier, especially if he's practically begging for it like this? I nodded and he unexpectedly pulled me in for a tight embrace. His intoxicating manly scent struck my nose and I tried breaking the hug subtly before any unprecedented accident occured in my downstairs area.
"You'll have fun, I promise."
I hung around for an hour just talking to my friends and getting to know some other people when I decided to finally go home. I was about to head towards the elevator when Johann grabbed me by the arm looking all dapper and sexy. He wore a fit polo shirt and some casual shorts that showcased his ripped legs.
"Hey."
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I haven't seen you all day, I missed you." he said. I suppressed a smile by biting my lip. Johann continued to hit on me despite the obvious invalidation from my brother. He's very sweet and caring, but I just couldn't get the idea of him being a playboy out of my mind, so I also had my reservations.
"Are you busy tonight?" he asked.
"I just have one homework from Philosophy and... yeah that's pretty much it so I guess no."
"Well... I need help with my homeworks too. Do you wanna come over and do it together?" he asked innocently.
I scoured his face for any trace of ulterior motives but he seems to really just need help with homework.
"Alright then, just give me time to change and leave a note for Rhett. I'll be back in a jiffy."
I hurriedly dashed to the room and washed up, making sure to thoroughly brush my teeth twice just in case. I put on a plain grey shirt and a pair of sweatshorts for a casual look. I left a sticky note on the fridge telling Rhett that I might be coming home late and to not wait for me.
Johann drove us out of the university in his car. We dropped by a Starbucks drive thru and he ordered us some flatbreads and coffee. He sped through the distance to his house right afterwards.
We had to pass through a guardhouse since he lived in a private village. His house was basically a mansion. They had automated gates and all, and we were even greeted by a man in uniform as we unloaded from his car. He greeted the man and tossed him his keys and gestured for me to come in.
A huge living room situation greeted us at the end stretch of his foyer where sleek glass furniture lined with gold were placed. Their furniture was mainly Victorian style, and a huge crystal chandelier hung below their crazy high ceiling. I knew Johann was rich but I didn't expect he would be this rich. He's basically a prince.
I followed him upstairs to what I assumed was his room and the first thing I noticed was the full glass windows that allowed a generous amount of sun to illuminate the room. A king sized bed was perched against the center of the left wall, and at the right, he had a sleek study nook complete with tables, chairs, computers, and a lot of other stuff I didn't understand.
He gave me a moment to admire his room before he guided me to his study nook.
"Wow, Johann, are you actually a prince? Your room is literally as big as our living room at home." I said admiringly to which he chuckled.
"It's nothing, come on, let's get started." He sat me down on one of the mahogany chairs as he scampered to the device thingy mounted on the left side of his door. He pressed a button and said something before coming back to me.
I fished my notebook out of my bag, and set up all the other things I needed to finish my homework. I turned to Johann who was beside me.
"So, what did you need my help for?" I asked.
"Math." he simply said. I took his homework and skimmed through it, and fortunately, it's something I can help him with. After a while, there was a knock on his door to which he yelled, "Come in, it's open."
A young woman in uniform holding a tray filled with snacks came in and she placed the food on the table. There were burgers, fries, chips, and two glasses of orange juice. The woman then hastily left with the tray.
Our eyes met and he chuckled right before grabbing a burger and chomping down, nudging me to get one as well. We ate and talked for a while before continuing with his homework.
He dragged his chair closer to mine as I explained the steps he needed to do to solve the problems. He just hummed for affirmation every now and then until I felt his hand rest on the back support of my chair. I turned to him to find out that he wasn't actually listening to me, as he was staring intently at my lips. I instinctively looked at his lips too.
