Chapter 23

Tas and Nom are already waiting for Mochi at a coffee shop, and of course, Tas is with Gan, and Nom is with Pon. Tas activates his phone’s speaker mode as he makes a call. Gan is sleeping on his wrist, hugging it like a pillow. Nom and Pon were playing finger-wrestling beside them.

“Have you already called Mochi?” asked Nom. His thumb just escapes from being pinned.

“It’s ringing. Why are you in such a hurry, Nom?”

“One of the cakes is three-fourths ice cream, Tas, and we’ve been waiting here for already half-an-hour. We don’t want to sip a cold, sweet soup for dessert, do we? Besides, the cannoli taste awful in room temp,” replied Nom.

“Sawadee Tas,” Mochi answered from the other line.

“Sawadee Mochi. Where are you?”

“I’m about to turn to the street where you are: am just waiting for the light to be green.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.”

“He’s on his way,” said Tas to inform Nom as he hangs up the call.

“You said that ten minutes ago,” said Nom, a little irked. With him distracted, Pon is able to pin his thumb for the three-count again: Pon is ahead 4-2 in a race-to-five.

“He’s about to turn to the corner towards here.”

Nom looks at the window that is facing the street. From where he is, he has a birds-eye view of the corner that Tas is saying. Sure enough, Mochi’s Nissan Terra shows up shortly after.

“I see him,” Nom said.

“Let’s wait for him here. He said he will be buying tea bags before we go,” replied Tas, who is gently poking Gan’s nose with his forefinger.

“Don’t worry P’, I won’t sleep,” Gan said with his eyes closed and slightly smiling.

“I got you again, cookie bunch. I guess that’s game and match for me” said Pon, who pins Nom again for the win.

“You are really good in taking advantage when I am distracted, huh cupcake,” said Nom back.

Pon winks at his boyfriend. Between the two of them, Nom is “cookie bunch” owing to the fact that he likes cookies, with crinkles being his favorite. Pon is “cupcake” because he likes – well – cupcakes. Pon once baked Nom some crinkles. It was his first time to bake, and the results were not so much on the good side. When Nom grabbed one, he tried to pinch it to see how soft the cookie was. It crumbled with the portion in his hands turning to powder, while the remaining piece fell and shattered like glass after hitting the plate.

“This is so dry, Pon.” said Nom. He cleaned his hand of the crumbs that looked like sand.

“Hehe. Good thing I only baked three pieces. I’ll try to improve the recipe for this.”

“And you followed a recipe when you did this? Wow.”

Pon hasn’t tried and bake yet after that, and Nom is curious to see if his “recipe” has improved, hoping that the finished product will be edible.

“Did you hear that, Gan?” asked Tas, sounding jealous.

“Yeah. Why?” replied Gan, looking up to Tas.

“I want us to have our own terms of endearment.”

“What do you want me to call you, then?”

“P’Mochi is here,” said Pon. He taps Tas, and then, points to the door. Gan sits up straight after hearing that Mochi has arrived.

Mochi signals them to wait at where they are. He walks straight to the counter to buy two boxes of tea bags, each with a different variant.

“Sawadee,” greeted Mochi. He sits at the table where the others are. “Sorry I’m late. There was a little ruckus at the restaurant I ordered the pastas from,” he added.

“Why? What happened?” asked Tas while holding Gan’s hand.

Mochi sees them, causing him not to respond immediately. He tries to answer while looking away, but he thought better as it would be disrespectful. Tas and Gan, however, did not let go of their clasp.

“Oh. One of their ovens broke down, and I had to wait a little longer,” Mochi replied, looking Tas in his direct view and Gan in his peripheral.

“Maybe they had a surge in orders,” Gan added.

“Yeah. According to the manager, they did.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, are you all set?” asked Mochi to all of them.

“We’re good. Actually, we’re just waiting for you,” replied Nom.

“Okay, let’s go. We have to prepare a little surprise for Sun at his house.”

As they walk to his car, Mochi feels a little uncomfortable with what he saw Tas and Gan doing when he arrived. He wants to know the real deal between them.

“Can I sit in front, Mochi?” asked Tas when they reached his car.

“Sure.”

Gan sits in the middle row alone and places the foods beside him, while Nom and Pon sit at the backmost row. After Mochi starts the engine, he sees through his rear mirror that Pon and Nom kiss. Gan gives one to Tas as well when his boyfriend faces him from the front seat with pouted lips.

“This is a sight to behold,” said Mochi to himself after seeing what the others just did. “How long have you been dating again, Tas? You and Gan?” continued Mochi.

“We dated for barely a month. Remember that day when we would’ve wanted you to join us at Steaks for dinner? That is when he said yes to me.”

This stuns Mochi that it took him a while to change the car’s gear stick to another mode. “Ohhh” is all he can say at the moment as the fact that Tas and Gan are already an item blanks his thoughts. “So, you are boyfriends now, right?”

“You guessed it,” replied Tas as he looks at Gan, who has tilted his seat back a little. “You should’ve joined us that day Mochi. At least there is someone to cheer for me.”

Mochi takes Tas’ statement as rubbing salt to a cut. There is nothing more for him to confirm or verify now. What was once just a hunch has been confirmed. His resolve now is to turn his attention away from Tas, and to look elsewhere for someone who he can happily be with. “What for, bro? Three is a crowd, Tas. You know that.”

“Hahaha. Why, Mochi. Would it hurt you to see me have a boyfriend?”

“Every time,” said Mochi. He locks his eyes to Tas’ as he changes the gear of his car to R.

As they move out of the parking slot, Tas keeps his stare at Mochi. It is only put to a stop when their driver deliberately runs on a hump on the road.

“Be careful Mochi,” Tas said, holding him in the shoulder softly.

“You’re going to ruin our food bro. Drive with caution,” said Nom from the back.

“Sorry about that,” apologized Mochi, without looking at any of them.

“What…happened? P’ Mochi?” asked Gan, looking confused as the shake inside the car wakes him unexpectedly.

“Nothing, nong. I didn’t see the hump on the floor. It won’t happen again,” said Mochi looking at Gan. “I promise,” continued he, looking at Tas this time and conveying a different message than running on a protuberance on the road. Gan goes back to his nap, while Tas looks at the outside from the window.