Johan POV

“Thanks for the ride, Phi!”

That little brat beamed at me with a grin so wide it could blind someone. He practically bounced off my bike as I dropped him off in front of his dorm. His cheeks were flushed from the wind, his hair a mess, and he looked entirely too pleased with himself.

“I’ll make something even better next time, I promise! Phi won’t be able to resist.”

I didn’t respond. Just stared at him through half-lidded eyes, cigarette dangling between my fingers.

He didn’t seem to care.

“Byeeee~!” he called over his shoulder with a cheeky salute before skipping off like he hadn’t just stolen a piece of my peace.

I exhaled through my nose.

That kid...

He was a lot.

Bright. Eager. Relentless.

And for some reason, harder to ignore than he should be.

A soft sigh escaped me as I reached into my pocket, fishing out my phone. I was about to shove it back when it began to ring.

Ring. Ring.

I stared at the screen.
Hill.

Figures.

“Hello?” I answered, tone flat.

“Jo! Where the hell did you disappear to?” Hill’s voice was sharp, irritated. “Get back to the student council room. We’ve got stacks of work and no time left. You can’t just vanish whenever you feel like it!”

I leaned against my bike, letting his frustration roll off me like rain.

“I’ll be there.”

“Don’t ghost me again,” he warned, then hung up before I could even reply.

“Finally, Jo,” Arthit barked the moment I walked through the door, arms crossed and scowl ready.

“Where have you been?” he continued, pacing like an angry parent.

Tonfah looked up from the scattered budget reports with a faint smirk. “Let me guess. Nong North?”

I ignored them both and made my way to the couch, dropping into it with all the grace of a bored cat. I propped my legs on another chair, arms stretching lazily behind my head.

Hill raised an eyebrow. “So? Do you like Nong North or not?”

All three of them were looking at me. Waiting.

I didn’t look up from my phone. “No.”

A beat of silence.

Arthit gave me a glare sharp enough to stab someone. “What?”

“Lies,” Hill muttered under his breath, flipping a page.

“He’s not my type,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t like short, loud brats.”

Tonfah chuckled, now not even hiding his amusement. “Right. And yet you’ve eaten every single meal he’s made for you.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I muttered, scrolling through my messages.

“Sure it doesn’t,” Hill added dryly. “You never even touch cafeteria food. And suddenly, omelets from a certain kid are good enough for you?”

I said nothing.

Tonfah leaned back in his chair, adjusting his glasses. “Why don’t you like him, really? He’s popular, kind, not hard on the eyes—hell, half the campus is trying to get his number. And he’s still here, trying to impress you.”

I stared at the screen of my phone, fingers stilling for a moment.

“He’s…” I started, then paused, voice low, “...not what I’m into.”

“You keep saying that, but what are you into, exactly?” Arthit asked, his curiosity now genuine rather than accusatory.

I exhaled slowly. “I don’t do sweet-faced, innocent guys with soft eyes and round cheeks. I don’t do warm smiles and clingy texts.”

Tonfah, Hill, and Arthit all stared at me like I had grown a second head.

“You are so full of shit,” Hill muttered.

“You’re more into him than you want to admit,” Tonfah added, not even bothering to hide the smirk now.

I ignored them and casually tossed my phone into the air, catching it one-handed as it came down.

Incoming call.

I glanced at the screen.

Great.

I answered, tone bored. “Hello?”

“Jo~ it’s me,” Mia's voice purred through the line. “You still coming tonight?”

I let my gaze flick lazily across the chaotic table—festival expense sheets, costume orders, half-finished food stall plans, and Hill’s increasingly murderous glare.

“Umm. on the way.”

I ended the call and stood up, stretching my arms above my head as my keys jingled in my palm.

Hill looked up, already fuming. “You’re not leaving. We have an urgent meeting, and you’ve already been missing all afternoon.”

I smirked. “Sorry, Hill. But you know I never miss a scrumptious night meeting.”

I spun the keys around my finger with a casual flick.

✿✿✿⁠ 

North POV

I was grinning like an idiot.

Walking to the convenience store in nothing but a loose tee and my favorite pair of shorts, still riding the emotional high from earlier. My hair was a mess, my cheeks hurt from smiling, and I didn’t even care.

Racing.

He had a whole damn racetrack.
He took me there.
And he ate the food I made.

Voluntarily.

Maybe… maybe Johan wasn’t the cold, emotionally constipated asshole he pretended to be.

Maybe.

I hummed to myself as I wandered into the drink section, eyes scanning the shelves.

“Ugh… which one, which one…”
Sweet? Fizzy? I deserved both. Probably something strawberry.

“Nong.”

A voice behind me. Smooth. Confident. A little too familiar.

I turned, already knowing who it was.

“P’Pran,” I said, forcing a polite smile.

He was scanning me—visibly. Head to toe. A full sweep. The kind that made my skin crawl, but I held my expression.

The urge to roll my eyes was unreal.

His eyes lingered far too long before he cleared his throat. “Phi?” I prompted, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh!” he blinked, caught red-handed. His ears flushed pink. “Didn’t realize it was you for a second.”

Right. Sure.

“What are you doing out at this hour?” he asked. “It’s almost 11.”

Yeah, because clearly I didn’t know how clocks worked.

Better question: What are you doing lurking around a convenience store this late, like some discount romance novel predator?

But instead, I smiled sweetly and tilted my head. “I was craving something sweet, Phi.”

That threw him off. His posture shifted, his smile widened like I’d just given him a signal I hadn’t meant to send.

“Really? Then let me get it for you,” he offered, puffing his chest a little. “Don’t say no. Think of it as a small gift from your Phi.”

A free drink?

Who was I to say no to free stuff?

“Sure, Phi,” I replied with a lazy grin, watching him light up like a slot machine that just hit the jackpot.

He grabbed the drink from my hands and headed toward the counter. I trailed behind, suddenly less enthusiastic.

Weird.

Normally, I’d flirt back—bat my lashes, toss my hair, maybe lean in just enough to make them blush. I used to enjoy the way attention chased me around corners like perfume I never sprayed.

But now?

Everything else felt… muted.

Like no one else had the volume I was suddenly used to.

I was still staring at the back of P’Pran’s head, mind swirling, when he turned around with a triumphant little smile, drink bag in hand.

“Nong,” he called softly, holding it out to me like a gift.

I took it with a grin—wide, toothy, a little too automatic. “Thank you so much, Phi!”

He scratched his neck, awkward now, like he was working up to something.

“Last time… because of that fuc—” he stopped himself, “Because of Johan, I didn’t get your Line.”

Ah. There it is.

Of course. This again.

“Can I get it today?” he asked, hopeful.

I sighed quietly, hiding it behind another practiced smile.

“Sure, Phi.”

I handed him my Line ID without hesitation.

Let him take it. Let him think he had a shot.

But inside, I already knew.

He didn’t.

Because lately, the only attention I craved came from a man who barely said more than five words at a time.

A man who refused to give me the validation I was so used to collecting.

And maybe that’s why he was so damn addictive.