The next morning, Narin woke up early. He went to the kitchen and made a simple meal for his family. Afterward, he hurried out of the house before everyone—especially Papi—woke up and saw his bruised, battered face.
The bruises were no longer very noticeable, but a bluish tint still lingered at the corner of his lips.
Narin arrived at the college campus at the crack of dawn. It was still very quiet, with only a few people passing by.
As Narin was heading toward the library hallway, which was especially quiet and rarely used, he suddenly stopped. He saw two men kissing, their lips pressed together as they intimately tangled with each other in the corner by the library entrance.
Narin's eyes widened. When one of them stopped, the man's sharp eyes stared at Narin impassively. Those were the eyes that usually looked at Narin with cruelty—the eyes that watched him every time he was bullied.
They were Sky's eyes, the eyes of the man who was kissing and pinning another man beneath his body.
Realizing what he had walked in on, Narin immediately turned around and ran away before Sky could approach and bully him again for disturbing him.
Damn it, why did I have to run into him in a situation like that? I hope he doesn't bully me again, Narin grumbled inwardly and prayed.
Once he had gotten far enough away, Narin sat in the college campus garden and enjoyed the morning air. Then he took out his sketchbook and several pencils and began drawing the campus scene that filled his mind and stretched out before his eyes.
A few minutes later, Narin finally finished his drawing. It was perfect, and the result felt almost real.
"Your drawing is beautiful," someone praised him, suddenly sitting down beside him. When Narin turned, he saw Sun there.
"Wow, you two are having such a great conversation together. Why didn't you invite me to join you?" Leo suddenly appeared and sat down on Narin's right, while Sun was on his left.
"I just got here and sat down. Why do you always follow me?" Their argument was starting up again.
"I wasn't following you. I just saw you and Narin sitting together, so I came over. Besides, I'm alone today because none of my friends have arrived yet," Leo replied with his usual teasing smile, one he only ever showed Sun. Narin felt that Leo never smiled like that at anyone else. Sun merely rolled his eyes lazily.
"I had no idea you paid so much attention to me that you thought I was always following you," Leo continued.
But Sun stayed silent and didn't respond. Narin finally spoke up. "Why are you two sitting here with me? Sky might get angry if he sees you with me."
"Sky isn't here yet, so there's no way he'll know. Relax, don't worry about him. Besides, I'm the one who wants to be your friend, not him," Sun said casually.
"Sun is right, and I want to be your friend too," Leo added, copying Sun.
"Sky has already come today. If he sees you sitting here, he'll be very angry with me," Narin said softly, lowering his head. Then he gave a small smile. "But I'd be happy if you two wanted to be my friends too."
"I'm glad to hear you want to be friends with us. But it's unusual for Sky to arrive this early," Sun said thoughtfully after briefly giving Narin a sweet smile upon hearing that he was willing to be friends with him and Leo.
"So he's already here? Come on, baby Sun, it's like you don't know Sky at all. If he comes to campus at the crack of dawn, he must have something to take care of," Leo said with a smile, making Sun think hard again.
"Oh... I remember now. Typical Sky. He only comes to campus at the crack of dawn when he wants something." Sun shook his head as he recalled something.
"What is he going to do?" Narin asked curiously.
"If you happened to run into him earlier, then you already know what he came to do on campus, so there's no need for me to tell you. Come on, let's go inside. It's starting to get crowded here," Leo said, inviting them along. Sun agreed, but Narin shook his head and chose to remain sitting in the garden.
"All right, we'll go ahead. I have an early class today. I'll see you later," Sun and Leo said goodbye before leaving Narin alone. Narin didn't have any morning classes, so he was free to draw whatever he wanted.