Chapter 2 - That Man

A strong wind rushed by, pulling Matt out of his thoughts. His blue hoodie flow along with the wind as he reached up his hand to smoothen back the loose strands of hair in front of his eyes, moving his fringe to the left and fixing it into its usual side-swept style.

It was five thirty in the afternoon, the time his shift ended at, so it was time to go back to his dorm. Honestly, he liked working at Grandhaven Coffee, but he couldn't deny that it was also tiring as he had to constantly go through the recipes and ingredients, as well as remember to take the customers' preferences into account. So after many hours of hard work, it was definitely nice to go back to his place and have a good rest while spending time with his suitemates.

Matt closed his eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air as he continued going down the sidewalks next to the crowded streets of San Diego. This sight, he had seen it so many times ever since he started working at that coffee shop. Whenever he was done with his work, he would find himself walking down the familiar streets and seeing the same buildings around him as he strolled among other passersby.

The city life here was busy indeed, but it didn't mean that he minded it. It wasn't as complex or stressful as people had imagined. It was busy but somehow nice, happy and peaceful at the same time. He couldn't quite understand why, but then again, he wasn't complaining.

Turning the corner, he soon saw the familiar tall building from afar, the building where he would stay during his time in college. Once he entered it, he proceeded to go up to his suite, seeing many people in the hallways in the process. Many of them must have just come back from work, just like him.

Reaching his room, he opened the door and was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Yo, you're finally home, Matt!" Ethan, his dark-haired suitemate, said as soon as he saw the door opening and waved his hand at Matt.

"Welcome back," Chloe, the red-headed girl, smiled at him while fixing her wavy ponytail with Eve sitting beside her on the couch.

Matt returned their smile as he put his bag over to the side after he had taken off his shoes. He then walked inside to join the others in the living room.

Returning to his suite after class or work was something he found nice and relaxing, just like how he had returned home back when he was still living and studying in his hometown. Their dorm came with two bedrooms. Matt shared one of them with Ethan, while Chloe shared the other with Eve. Although the rooms seemed small, they were very well furnished. In the kitchen was a dining table big enough for four people and a cabinet for food and cooking utensils. The living area was right next to it and was equally nice with a couch, coffee table and a TV. Honestly, this wasn't Matt's home, but it felt just like it.

What made it feel even cozier were his suitemates, the people he had long considered amazing people in his life. Even though they lived in the same suite, them being the best of friends was still unexpected. The four of them were randomly selected to be put in the same dorm in Greenwood Suites when they got accepted into college. Despite not talking to each other much at first, they did try to get along and eventually became close without realizing it. Matt really didn't regret meeting and getting to know them, as he had created lots of good memories with them.

Having entered the living area, Matt plopped onto the couch next to Ethan, who immediately suggested that they began eating, as they had been waiting for Matt so that they could eat together. Eve spoke up as they each took a pizza slice.

"I sure am starving."

"Rough day?" Matt asked.

"It was quite tiring indeed." Eve sighed, pushing her dark strands of hair off her shoulders. "My student, she had a lot of difficulties understanding the lesson today."

"You're talking about Olivia, that high school student you're tutoring, right?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah." Eve paused for a while before continuing. "It was difficult trying to properly explain it to her, but I can't really blame her. Those types of problems are too complex for a tenth grader, especially when she's already not good at Chem."

"If it's homework, then it's automatically complex to me, no question needed," Ethan said as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned against the couch.

"What about you, Ethan?" Matt turned over to the dark-haired man. "How's work today?"

"Oh, today, a man left me a twenty-five percent tip!"

"Dude, that's amazing!" Chloe exclaimed, leaning forward with her brown eyes wide.

"It is amazing." Ethan let out a small laugh. "Your turn, Chloe. Tell us about your day."

"Oh, me?" Chloe, a cashier, pointed a finger to herself. "There's nothing much to tell actually, besides the fact that the store was a bit busier than usual."

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Chloe broke the silence, looking over Matt. "What about you, Matt?"

"Huh?"

"How's work?" Chloe asked again after she had finished chewing.

"Um... Today, uh, n-nothing particularly special happened."

Matt stuttered, trying not to sound suspicious, which he was failing at so miserably right now. That handsome customer, his image had been stuck in Matt's mind ever since he started walking back to his place, though he temporarily forgot about it when the strong wind made him snap out of his thoughts a while ago. Now, because of Chloe's question, he was immediately reminded of that young man's charming face, especially his gorgeous blue eyes and pretty smile. Matt blushed madly and his face burnt up, his cheeks turning a bright red.

"Are you sure about that, Matt? About the 'nothing particularly special happened' part, I mean." Chloe air quoted while throwing him a doubtful look. "Your face is literally matching the tomato sauce on the pizza right now."

"O-Of course I'm sure!" Matt stumbled over his words, which was not helping him sound convincing at all. "T-Today is j-just as ordinary as u-usual!"

Everyone was completely silent, which told him that they weren't buying it. Not even a bit.

"You have that stupid grin on your face, Matt." Ethan glanced over him in a very unimpressed way. "Come on Matt, I've been your friend long enough to know that something's up."

"Said the one who just asked me to help him understand why his girlfriend of three years got mad at him." Matt chuckled sarcastically.

"Hey, that's not the point here." Ethan defended himself. "It's you who is the main focus of this conversation."

"Come on, Matt," Eve beamed, her green eyes gleaming with excitement. "Tell us!"

"You too, Eve?" Matt looked at Eve in disbelief. "My god, just when I thought you're the only one who can get me out of this situation."

"What? You can't blame me for getting curious, Matt!" Eve replied.

"We all are, Eve," Chloe said before giving Matt a smirk. "Now, tell us, blondie. What happened at work today?"

"This is so embarrassing," Matt mumbled, more for himself than for others to hear. Taking in a deep breath, he began, "So, I was just working like normal, you know, just welcoming customers, making drinks... nothing out of the ordinary."

He paused for a quick second to look at his friends. All eyes were on him as they listened attentively without blinking, as if they were watching the most epic movie ever. Gulping, he found himself stuttering again, trying to find the right words.

"A-And then, uh, um..." He tried to force the words out of his mouth at once. "Then this cute guy walked in!"

Those last words were so rushed that they were almost incomprehensible, but his friends somehow could understand him quite well, which was evident in the way they all gasped in a perfect synch.

Chloe got excited quickly, wasting no time to raise a question. "What does he look like?"

"He's, he's perfect!" Matt gripped his jeans as he recalled the man's image. "Dreamy blue eyes, flawless skin, smooth brown hair, tall body... Everything about him is gorgeous."

The girls were thrilled, unlike Ethan, who was silent for a while before speaking again with a deadpan expression.

"Bro, that's gay."

Everybody burst out laughing uncontrollably like there was no tomorrow, except for Matt, who was burying his face into his palms, wanting nothing more than to be swallowed whole by the ground below him, never to be seen again.

"Well..." Chloe said as she tried to calm down, wiping the tears in her eyes. "He is gay, so this is normal, I guess."

Matt chuckled at that statement. To think about it, no matter how badly these people embarrassed him sometimes, they were still undeniably very awesome people. They had always treated him well, from when they first met and even after he came out of the closet, admitting to them that he was homosexual. He realized that when someone truly cared for you as a friend, they cared nothing about your sexuality, as long as you treated each other nicely, equally and with respect.

"So, he was a customer?" Eve asked after the laughter had gone away.

"Yeah, but something's still bothering me." Matt averted his gaze as he thought. "I've never seen him before, but he doesn't seem like he's new to the shop."

"Maybe because you don't work on the days he usually come?" Eve held her chin.

"That's what I'm thinking too," Matt said.

"So..." Ethan trailed off, "are you going to ask him out or what?"

Matt had nearly choked on his pizza.

"Um, excuse me, what?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Ethan shrugged. "If you're so into him, then go get him!"

"Dude, I just met him today. He probably won't even remember who I am, or that I work there at all!" Matt was clearly baffled by Ethan's suggestion. "Besides, what if he's straight?"

"We can't know for sure, Matt." Chloe grinned as she rested her face on her palm. "Nowadays, nothing is for certain."

"I don't know, Chloe."

Matt sighed, thinking to himself. As a gay male, he found it hard to find a suitable partner. It was due to the fact that he could never know the sexuality of the person he was interested in right away, or how to exactly ask them about it without creating any uncomfortable moment. It was already awkward enough when you talked with your crush, let alone asked them about that kind of stuff. Ever since he came out as gay to his parents, they had given him lots of support and advice on this matter, but he still wasn't sure himself.

Still, Matt was unable to take his mind off that particular customer. He wasn't lying when he said his eyes were hypnotizing. When he looked into those eyes, he felt like time had stopped, and he couldn't help. Not only that, but his smile was also beautiful, so beautiful that he could melt any stone-cold heart with it. He was... so different than all the men he had ever met.

He got so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear Chloe speaking up.

"Oh, right. The next semester's going to start soon, right?"

Eve nodded before answering Chloe. "Yeah, I remember that it starts on the nineteenth this year."

Ethan seemed to recall something as well. "If I'm not mistaken, we did sign up for O-Chem, didn't we?"

"Yep, and according to the schedule, O-Chem will be our very first class of this semester," Eve replied as she took out her phone. "How about we all check again who our new professor is?"

Ethan stood up so that he could walk over where Eve and Chloe were sitting at. While Eve was looking through her phone, Ethan noticed that Matt was still in his seat, not moving an inch.

"Yo, Matt, are you coming?"

Matt didn't respond.

"Hey, Matty boy. Hey!"

Still no response from him.

"He's probably day-dreaming about that guy."

Chloe said, and Ethan just nodded.

"Figured."

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