Warning: Controversial topic

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Akk met Ayan right in front of the Suppalo entrance gate. Akk never quite liked the appearance of Ayan or at least he never seemed to. Ayan's appearance always intimidated him. He always felt alarmed as if he had to prove to him that he was nowhere near intimidated by him or in that case you could say interested in him.

The day Ayan joined the school, it was like Suppalo was divided into three different divisions. The group who admired Akk, the group who admired Ayan and the group who were minding their own business, even though it was relevantly small.

The first group was Akk's pet. Akk was not a teacher but he was indeed an admirable student or at least that's what the teachers labeled him as. He was the school president and the head of the student prefects. Everyone wanted to be like him. As much as he had so many responsibilities, he also had very big advances.

The second group was part of the third until Ayan joined the school and finally spoke up against what the school thought was right. With time, the second group continued to grow bigger and bigger. Ayan's confidence had taken over the school's gossip topic.

The third group was the smallest. There's always that one group that didn't care whatever the hell was going on in school and just wanted to get their studies over with. They're usually the bullied group but as mentioned earlier, they did not care. They neither spoke up on whatever was happening in their school nor participated in it.

But with time, even the last group started to enlarge because most of the people looked at Akk and Ayan as enemies while a few people found them suspiciously close even after being on completely opposite sides. And those were the people who continuously spread gossip about Ayan and Akk around the school which led to more people turning neutral.

Akk always heard those gossips but pretended he didn't care but Ayan, however, seemed like he actually didn't care. He continued to get closer to Akk as if attached by a thread and by that time, they'd reached a point where Akk just couldn't try to push him away anymore.

No one knew what they were, what their actual relationship was, even they, themselves had no idea.

It was the fact that at first, Akk was the one who chased after Ayan as he found him suspicious in school but after some time, he found Ayan's cheesy actions shaking his head so he backed away but Ayan didn't. The positions turned around. Not long after, Ayan became the one chasing after Akk.

Anyways, the story started. Ayan's gaze met upwards towards Akk's eyes, who as always, tried to avoid him at first. It had already been three months since they had met and their cat and mouse game had started yet Akk never failed to embarrass himself by turning away and pretending to not know the shorter man even once.

"Akk!" Akk suddenly heard Ayan yell. He finally turned to look at the shorter man. Ayan looked at him right in the eyes before muttering, "I've never seen anyone daydream as much as you." After saying so, he averted his gaze to look back at the surroundings and a teacher began to walk past them.

Ayan grabbed Akk's hand before dragging him towards the classroom. "Ayan... Ayan! Let go! Ayan!" Akk shouted, brushing their hands away and then again started acting cool as if nothing happened.

Aye looked at Akk confusedly but he continued walking towards the classroom, leaving Aye behind. The act he put on suddenly was apparently for his friends who were looking just at them.

Akk walked towards his seat next to Ayan, and sat down. The shorter followed after and took his seat, right next to the window. Akk's friend Kan and Wat who were sitting right across Akk, looked at him as if something was wrong.

Kan sat on his seat while Wat walked to Akk, wrapping his arm around Akk's shoulder. "How's it going, Akk?" Wat asked, quite in a mischievous tone. Akk looked at him, clearly confused.

Wat raised his eyebrows to look at Ayan, who was leaning his head down on his hands on the table. He knew he was listening.

"Since when are you and Ayan so close?" Kan asked suddenly but Akk brushed it off. He found the question so dumb that he didn't bother to answer it. Instead, he turned to look at Ayan for a second and then, started organizing his desk.

"Friends?" Wat asked, taking out Akk from his grip around the shoulder and crossing his hands together as if Akk could no longer avoid the questions anymore. Akk's face suddenly turned a bit pale. He looked around as if afraid but finally stopped his gaze at Kan and Wat who were both watching him eagerly. 

"Yeah, friends..." Akk whispered in a tone that was almost inaudible and sighed.

Before Akk could comprehend what his friends were meaning to say, the teacher walked in. Teacher Waree. A teacher Ayan really didn't like because she was so unwelcoming to diversity or different opinions.

Simply put, Ayan had a beef with almost every teacher of Suppalo. Except teacher Sani. No teachers liked him because he stood up to express his own opinion on a topic while others were too afraid to. That was the main reason students admired him, they admired him for his bravery.

During the class with teacher Waree, Ayan, once again, disagreed with her on the topic she was teaching.

Even though the topic she was teaching was the colonial rules of Britain and the Roman empire, somehow she changed the topic into speaking on behalf of the adults and against the students that strictness in parenting or ruling is very necessary.

Ayan disagreed. Not every child was the same. No one could apply one single rule on all the children of the world. Yes, being too gentle was a weakness but so was being too strict. Every child was born different. As much as some of the children would not listen until the parents yell, there were also children who'd be hurt and it'd crash them mentally when they did so.

If the topic had stayed at that, Ayan might have had stayed quiet. But the teacher spoke up on how stubborn students had become after the teachers were prohibited by the government to hit the students physically. Ayan had been holding back but the line had been crossed. He raised his right hand in a mischievous way.

The teacher rolled her eyes, almost wanting to ignore Ayan's hand until Ayan stood up himself. "What now?" Teacher Waree asked, frustrated.

Ayan silently scoffed and shook his head in denial. "Say what you have to say," teacher Waree said as her right hand landed on the curve of her hip.

"Firstly, I don't agree that strictness should be supported. Just like how you teachers say not every student is the same. That also applies to parenting. In a strict environment with strict parents, it feels more like we're forced in a cage than a home. And lastly, I don't understand why you brought this topic up in school instead of teaching us about history," Ayan finished. The whole class went silent. Half the students looked at Ayan eagerly while the other half looked away, as if embarrassed.

Surprisingly, teacher Waree remained calm and cleared her throat. "Sit down," she murmured before taking the book back on her hand. Ayan did as he was told and sat back down. He understood how the teacher had blacked out from the main topic to another. Because she indirectly supported the British Colonial rules and the old rules which was definitely her opinion and she was trying to impose it on others. Nonetheless, it was still not a topic to be discussed in school like that.

After the class, Ayan had once again chased Akk before Akk could catch up with his friends. "Ayan! Let go! Where are you taking me?" Akk asked, slightly frustrated.

"You haven't been to my house for a long time. Come with me," Ayan muttered and dragged Akk out of the classroom. That time, Akk barely resisted. One part of him wanted to just go back to his house but another larger part of him wanted to stay with Ayan.

Outside the class, Ayan and Akk met teacher Waree who, as expected did not look happy but she didn't say anything to Ayan.

Previously, Ayan had been under the teacher's attention a lot. They had even ganged up to bully him but somehow their behaviors towards him changed. Ayan didn't exactly understand the reason but he had guessed that it was probably because of more students actually supporting him.

However, Ayan made sure not to think much and rather focus on the taller person beside him. He softly held Akk's hand and walked to his car. Opening the door for Akk, he let him in before getting in the driver seat himself.

Once at Ayan's house, Ayan and Akk studied together and had the delicious food Ayan's dad, Kongpob had made.

It was almost late when Ayan had left Akk alone in his room to go and take a shower. After a while, Akk felt thirsty. Akk made his way to the kitchen and found Ayan's father, Arthit, standing there. He greeted him and started to look around for the water jug.

"You're Akk, right?" Arthit asked and Akk nodded. "And you're Ayan's..." Before Arthit could question, Akk's face once more turned upset. 

"Friend," he replied. Arthit helped with the jug and poured the water into a glass. 

"Friend..." Arthit murmured watching Akk gulp down the water.

Not long after, the night turned into a sleepover. It was late. Too late for Akk to resist going home anymore. Once again, his mind was divided into two parts, the part which wanted to go back home and the part which wanted to stay.

When Ayan slept, his hair was still slightly wet from the shower earlier, his face lit brightly from the little light coming from the window. Akk couldn't help but stare at him so he did without Ayan or even himself knowing.

What happened all day roamed in his mind. Friends... They are friends. But Kan and Wat were also Akk's friends. Then why did he think of Ayan differently than his other friends? Why did his heart have a separate place for Ayan compared to his other friends? And why did his heart have to beat so fast when he's with Ayan and not with Kan and Wat?

Akk placed his hand on the left side of his chest, silently listening to his own heartbeat. He felt like he was going to die. A part of him understood what he was feeling but another part of him refused to understand. But they're supposed to be enemies, weren't they?

"For how long are you going to keep staring at me, Akk?" Ayan suddenly asked, startling Akk. He slowly opened his eyes and locked them into Akk's. "Are you daydreaming again?" Ayan asked again but Akk brushed it off and laid himself down, covering his face with the blanket. 

"Nonsense," he murmured before turning the other way to face the window.

Ayan smiled. Akk was always like that. As if the phrase 'in denial' was made just for him. Putting his head back and staring towards, Aye looked at Akk, his smile not fading until his gloomy eyes fell asleep.

To Be Continued.....

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A/n: What do you think about this chapter? Do you stand your opinion with Ayan? And what's your opinion on Akk and Ayan's relationship?