"Damn! I almost can't believe my eyes. You look so cool dude!" said Phu looking at me.
"What can I say... I'm a snack." I said looking down at my outfit.
It was crystal clear that we were about to go to Afterlight, but we needed to look older and cooler. So I got dressed in a light brown shirt, a pair of black jeans and I styled my hair differently. One side of my dark hair was slicked while the other was sitting on my forehead.
Kin also joined us in front of the bar. We were all looking a bit too good to be true.
"Okay, are you guys ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, so what's the plan?" Kin asked.
"We go inside, go over to an empty table, have something to drink, and when we see a few seniors we start chatting with them to gather more info. Should be easy!"
***
The bar was full with people. No free tables, and there was barely any space to dance or to more around.
Me and my friends looked at each other worryingly. We knew that our 'easy' plan was not going to work.
After standing in the middle of the bar for a few minutes, I could feel a hand on my shoulder. I flinched at the sudden touch, and I turned around. It was a tall man, probably a senior, looking at us and smiling.
"I'm sorry if I scared you. I see you guys are a bit lost in this madness. Would you like to join me and my friends' table?" he asked.
I looked over at Phu and Kin while having the biggest mischievous smile on my face. Phu gulped, Kin shook his head quickly. I turned to the man who was waiting for my response.
"Of course, if there is no trouble."
"Great, come with me."
While we were walking towards his table, Phu whisper-shouted in my ear.
"Dude, are you sure? We don't even know him."
"Trust me. How else are we going to find anything?"
We got to the table, greeted the other 4 seniors and sat down.
"Would you guys want something to drink?"
The man poured 7 shots of alcohol and waited for us to grab one.
We looked at each other, nodded and grabbed them. We cheered with the seniors and drank it to the bottom.
"Now that's more like it! Now tell me guys, what's your names?"
"I'm Arun, and these are Kin and Phu." I said.
"Great, I am Ohm."
I looked over the other seniors who also introduced themselves, but to be honest I was not aible to hear anything because of the music, so I just smiled politely at them.
"What are y'all studying?"
"We are sophomores at the Faculty of Music." said Phu.
Ohm looked surprised. "That is so cool! We are all boring med students here."
"Come on, Ohm. Don't be like this. You are probably among the most popular ones." said one of the seniors.
Ohm only smiled and looked down to his drink.
Bingo! He must know a lot about the people studying medicine then.
"So... How is it being a med student? Is it hard?" I asked.
Ohm chuckled and looked at me "Yes, it is. But it's also beautiful, the way you're helping people who are suffering."
I nodded.
"That's a very nice way to put it." said Kin.
"Yeah... if only everyone believed that."
"Why? Who would be against this mentality?"
Suddenly, I heard someone clearing his throat behind us. I turned around and my jaw dropped. It was P'Tae. I could swear my face went pale instantly. I had no idea why. It's not like I was doing anything wrong.
I locked eyes with him and his eyes never left my gaze. He looked absolutely angry. I didn't say anything. I couldn't even greet him.
After a moment, Kin nervously said:
"P'Tae, hi! What are you doing here?"
"I see you guys already know Tae." said Ohm, but this time he wasn't smiling.
Then, without saying anything, he grabbed my arm and he made me stand up, dragging me across the bar, until we got outside.
"Ai, P'Tae, what are you doing?" I cried, tugging my arm.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, angrily.
I sighed. "I'm trying to make some friends so I can learn more about my ghost."
"...Your ghost?"
"Yes, the guy who's been leaving me snacks."
"And tell me, why, from all the people in this bar," he said, getting closer to my face. I started to walk back, but he grabbed my arms and moved his face closer to mine. "...were you sitting with Ohm?"
I looked at him confused. "Why? Is he a bad guy? He was actually kinda nice."
"Nice?! You said you were gonna handle this 'ghost' situation on your own, but it's pretty clear you can't. He's a bad guy, you don't know him like I do."
"P'! You can't just come here, embarrass myself in front of my friends and then shout at me about it!"
"Did you drink anything from him?" he asked.
I didn't respond.
"Tell me already!"
I pushed his chest away from me.
"Look, I know you don't like me, P', so let's stop pretending that you care. Yes, i took a shot and that was it. I couldn't even talk to him more because you showed up."
"Stop saying this, Run."
"What if he is the ghost? What if he came to me tonight because he already knew who I am?"
"Someone like him is not capable of making sweet gestures. You'll find that soon enough."
After saying this, he left.
I could not understand why he was acting like this.
A part of me believed that he was jealous, which is stupid, I know, and the other know that he was acting like this because I'm his best friend's little brother.
Right?