Chapter Text
“Team…” the old man sighed, “I understand that studies aren’t,” he paused shifting in his office chair, clearly trying to find kind words to whatever insult he obviously wanted to present, behind him were cluttered bookshelves lined with titles Team did not recognize, “your strong point – but if this is you actually trying to pass my class,” he motioned to the English paper Team had turned in last week. The red markings screamed loudly, decorating nearly every line, highlighting Team’s weaknesses, “then, frankly, I think you should consider dropping this class,”
“But, I can’t…it’s required,”
At that, the professor leaned back causing his chair to squeak as it shifted, “You are already being tutored, Team – by one of the universities brightest students no less. You know Win took my class and scored near perfect on every assignment – if that isn’t enough to get your grades up –“
“I’m passing most classes…”
With a scowl of annoyance at the interruption, the old man continued, “You are passing some of your classes, most you are barely making a passing grade, and in my class, you can’t seem to score above a 60% - I understand that you aren’t here for school,”
Team couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably – he was here for school, he wanted to get a good education, he wanted to –
“That you got in because of your athletic ability – which is great,” he sounded disingenuous, “but you don’t have what it takes to be a student – at least not one in my class. You are wasting my time by not trying hard enough, you are wasting Win’s time – he is trying to help you, and this is as good as it gets? And you are wasting the universities time – what’s your major anyway? Something easy I hope…”
Embarrassment and humiliation coiled deep within Team’s stomach, making him queasy, “Spot Sciences – I want to coach and swim…”
“Well, if you can’t make that degree work,” the condescension dripped from the old man, “listen, redo this essay – increase your score by at least 30 points, if you can manage that I will try to figure out some way for you to pass my class – if not…well let’s just say you’d need to score well above the class average on the final to pull off an acceptable grade otherwise. Which we both know is not something you can do,”
“Yes sir…”
“Listen, not everyone is cut out for education, Team. I know I am being harsh, but the world is harsh and sometimes dreams just don’t work out – you’re a good athlete. Focus on that. You might find success there for a few years, and I’m sure once that outlet runs dry, you’ll find something…”
Not fully trusting his voice, Team nodded trying to keep as much composure as he possibly could. This essay had taken him nearly three weeks to write and monopolized most of his time – he had been proud of it until today, “Thank you, sir,”
“Yes, yes – do investigate some other fields. Education is not for everyone,” he repeated, barely acknowledging Team as he left.
Team was careful to school his expression as he walked through the English department, afraid he might see someone who’ll ask why he was there in the first place. He really didn’t think he could have that conversation right at this moment – he wasn’t even sure how he was going to explain it to Win, or Pharm and Manaow, should he actually flunk out of university. In truth, that wasn’t going to happen. His grades weren’t perfect, but they also weren’t below average in most subjects. In fact, within his major Team was doing pretty well. He was only struggling in two classes; his introduction course and English.
The introduction course was far less of a problem. His grade was only as bad as it was because of the Emergency Care and First Aid section. All the students were required to learn and perform CPR – a skill that Team already was certified in, but when he and his classmates were randomly assigned scenarios the words “child has drowned” triggered something and resulted in a panic attack next to a toilet in the second-floor bathroom. He failed the unit.
English was a different story entirely. It didn’t matter how hard Team studied or how much Win helped him it never made any sense. It was an endless struggle, wasting Win’s time, and the professor’s time.
“Watch it!”
“Sorry,” Team sputtered barely able to maintain his balance after he bumped into the taller man, “I wasn’t paying attention,”
“When do you?” the man scoffed. He rolled his neck and rolled his eyes off-handedly speaking to his friends, “this is that first year I mentioned in the class I TA for –“
“Oh,” the girl beside him gave Team a once over, “The one dating Win?”
“Yeah – watch where you are going,”
“He’s decent looking, I guess – nothing compared to Win… You said he’s stupid?” the girl continued the conversation, her voice slightly hushed, as the group walked on leaving Team behind them, “Win’s like super smart – why date an idiot?”
“Oh, I have no clue,” the teaching assistant laughed loudly, “but that kid is the dumbest I –“ their voices finally faded as they entered the building.
The uncomfortable feeling of shame and embarrassment that had coiled in Team’s gut during his meeting with the professor tightened more painfully and instead of returning to his dorm, he decided to head to the library instead. It was Friday afternoon, swim practice had been canceled, and Win had left that morning to go help Waan with something out of town – after much convincing from Team that he could in fact survive a couple of nights without him – so he had nothing preventing him from hunkering down in the library for the next couple days. Team could rewrite the essay, maybe see if one of the upperclassmen would read it over for him – give him pointers even, and then assuming Win wasn’t too tired – and Team could get past his embarrassment – once he returned Sunday, he could also read it over. Team could do that. Spend a couple of nights in the library and hopefully prove to himself that he was cut out for school. It wasn’t like he was going to be able to sleep without Win anyway.
Team stopped at a convenience on his way, buying as much as he could to sustain his academic adventure before heading directly to the largest library on campus. The rules only allowed food on the fourth floor – which was nearly empty since exams had already passed a few weeks prior – so Team was able to find a rather large table hidden away in the corner behind the books on religion and gothic literature.
Once settled, he pulled out the offensive essay – he really had spent weeks trying to make his English make sense, and to hear the professor accuse him of not even trying was devastating. The topic had been something he picked out mostly for sentimental reasons. Win had been so busy working on his own studies that Team hadn’t wanted to bother him with yet another problem – so he didn’t have to worry about Win discovering the topic of his paper, and while embarrassing to admit aloud that gave him the ability to be sappy. So, he had chosen to read Winnie-the-Pooh as soon as he had seen it on the reading list and already knew going in he was going to try and craft his paper in a way that was as much about the story as it was about Win. The book hadn’t been hard to read, or even understand, and Team had been almost giddy when he started to write about the theme of kindness, love, and devotion to friends were significant.
But apparently, Team had managed to screw that all up, “at least Hia never read it…” he muttered pulling out the English text, his dictionary, and the story in Thai on his phone.
Maybe if he read it all again in Thai, then English, then wrote what he wanted to say in Thai, and then translated that to English – maybe it would be a better paper…
Reading the two books, even having read them before, and marking significant passages and important points took most of the night. By the time Team finally started writing the first draft – the Thai draft – it was nearly six in the morning on Saturday. All and all, he was off to a pretty good start having only been interrupted once when Win called to wish him a good night and a few bathroom breaks.
Once he started writing, Team was focused on getting the six-page draft hammered out to his liking before one that afternoon. With his snack supply gone and his water bottle empty, Team dove into translating his essay head-on. It was time-consuming and tedious; it made his eyes burn and his head hurt, and he was certain that it was still just as shitty as the first essay was the second he finished. Which made him self-conscious about the prospect of showing it to Win, even if the older man didn’t pick up on exactly what Team was trying to do with it. He reread the English paper several times, occasionally he messaged Pharm sentences without context just to see if they made some sense.
It looked neater than the original if nothing else, but Team still had a sinking feeling it would bring about the same disappointment with the professor.
He was just about to reach out to Pruek – who he knew had always scored well in languages, at least according to Manaow’s boasting – when his phone started to vibrate on the wooden surface.
“Hello?” Team’s voice sound rough, given that the phone has read ‘4:15 pm’ when he went to pick it up, he wasn’t too surprised.
“Were you trying to sleep?” Win sounded remorseful, Team had been struggling to get more than three hours a night for over a month regardless of whether Win was there or not.
“No, Hia,” he cleared his throat, mostly fixing the problem, “I’ve been in the library studying…” he could hear Win coo on the other end of the line.
“My baby the scholar~”
More like dunce, Hia, Team’s brain screamed but he decided they’d wait to have that conversation in person, “it’s early for a good night call, isn’t it?”
“Team, it’s Sunday – I’m just about to the dorms and figured I’d grab us dinner,” Win sounded a bit concerned, “did you think I wasn’t going to go to classes tomorrow?”
“Shit…” he cursed silently, unsure of how the entire weekend could have disappeared without his notice – no wonder he was hungry and tired, “I thought it was Saturday, Hia…I didn’t realize…”
“Are you still studying? When did you go to the library? You haven’t been there all weekend have you Team? That’s not healthy –“
“I’m fine, Hia – just lost track of time,”
“Let me grab the food and then come pick you up,”
“No, don’t worry about that - I’m finished anyway. I’ll meet you at home,”
“Team, if you’ve been there all weekend, I don’t want you driving,” Win’s voice wavered the same way it always did when he made Team promise to stay out of the pool when he was away, “seriously,”
“I’m fine, Hia,” Team repeated with a small smile, “I’ll probably beat you home,”
There was a pause, followed by a soft breath, “okay…but if when you get to the car you don’t feel up to driving, you call me.”
“I will, Hia. See you in a few,”
“I love you, Team,”
Warmth flooded Team’s system as it always did when Win said such things, “I love you too Hia,”
Team hung up before Win could say anything more, or they’d never get off the phone. It was comforting to hear Win say that he loved him so frequently – and it had become very frequent since finally admitting it – but Team still felt unworthy of it half the time. Still felt unworthy of a lot of things if he was being honest. It still felt very surreal to have so much of his life, things he was ashamed of, out in the open with Win.
And to have Win still want him, love him, and care for him.
Team shook his head and quickly packed up, making sure to save his essay and email it to himself just in case. The library was just as empty as it had been when he arrived and the campus was even more desolate – so much so, Team thought it a bit eerie.
He noticed a message from Win, telling him to drive safe and that he’d already got the food, before starting the car to head home. Team was tired, and a bit lightheaded if he was being truly honest with himself, but nowhere near as dead on his feet as his insomnia would sometimes leave him. He’d thought he’d beaten it finally, the trouble sleeping and the awful nightmares, but those seemed to be things that would stay with Team no matter what he did. A part of him was glad – as bad as the dreams were, as horrible as they made him feel, they were the only place he could be with Ton still.
Team was just past the intersection, three blocks from the dorm, still lost in thought when the car behind was hit, hard, on the driver's side. The car that hit it, ran the red, ramming full speed into the small green Honda – breaking glass and tearing metal off in sheets – before continuing on missing a tire.
Suddenly on autopilot, with a disturbing scene of familiarity and unease, Team pulled off to the side and ripped his phone from his bag, dialing emergency as he made his way to the totaled car, “there’s been an accident…a bad,” he swallowed dryly, there was blood on the shattered glass, “just south of the university – yeah – okay,” he paused and pocket the phone, “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
“Help!” It sounded like a child.
Peering in through the back window, Team could see a small boy – shaking and clearly terrified, “I called an ambulance, they’ll be here soon. Are you hurt?”
“My daddy!”
Team carefully tried the rear door and by some miracle, it opened, “come here – careful – you sure you aren’t hurt?” Team scanned the kid as he moved, nothing seemed broken, but the kid's head was bleeding slightly, “my name’s Team, I’m going to get you out of the road and then I’ll try to help your dad, okay?”
Wide-eyed the boy did reach out and Team managed to get him the rest of the way to the car.
“Here,” Team removed his swim jacket and placed it on the kid’s shoulders.
“Oh my god! Is everyone alright?”
“No – stay with him,” Team motioned to the small boy as the elderly woman arrived, using her car to further block traffic. As Team approached the car again, he double checked the back seat and the passenger side to make sure there wasn’t another person. Then, steeling himself as best he could, he looked into the driver's seat. It seemed very obvious that the man was dead, but still, fighting with his fleeting hope, Team slid his fingers along the man’s neck feeling for a pulse. The skin was warm and starting to get tacky with drying blood, but Team continued to search carefully along the man’s jugular vein.
“Oh god…is he?” A young woman had arrived, driving in from the other direction, “what can I do? Can I help you move him?”
“His pulse is weak…We shouldn’t – do you have a blanket or something in your car?” the adrenaline was making staying focused challenging.
“Uh, I’ve got one of those emergency silver things – my fiancé always makes sure my car has one just in case –“
“Get it out,” Team cut her off and glanced away from the bloodied dashboard for a second, “Go over to the kid – wrap him in it – don’t let him come over here,”
The woman looked startled for a second before complying.
The man’s pulse was weak and sluggish, pumping exhaustedly against Team’s fingers. The blood was starting to cool and the scent of iron was making him queasy, “Okay…okay – sir?” when he finally looked at the man, Team felt all hope leave him. The damage done was far too much – Team couldn’t move him…
“Sir?”
Team flinched.
“We’re here to help,” the ambulance had arrived along with two police cars.
“His pulse is really weak – I got his son out of the car, he’s over there,” Team briefly looked towards the boy, now enveloped in the flashy silver blanket, “He – I think – he has a neck injury. I wasn’t gonna move him,”
“Good,” the closest paramedic responded, stepping forward and using his hand to replace Team’s on the man’s jugular, “Has he said anything,”
With a shake of the head, Team took a few steps back, “No…it was a bad crash…the other car just kept going…”
“You saw it?”
Forcing his eyes away from the carnage, Team nodded, “I just passed the intersection…called for an ambulance,”
“He’s going to crash once we get him out – get the equipment ready and the stretcher,”
“Hey,” the police officer continued trying to get Team’s attention back, “Come over here,” she led him back towards his car, “tell me about the other car,”
They’d spun around in such a way that Team once again had the accident in front of him. The paramedics were working with firemen to get the door open –
“Sir –“
“Team,
“Okay, Team – I need you to tell me about the car,”
The door came straight off and one of the men set it on the concrete, “Big, silver I think – it ran the red – lost a tire…” as soon as the injured man was placed onto the stretcher, one of the paramedics said something Team didn’t catch –
“Team?”
“Yes?” he blinked up at the officer – he felt numb and a bit dizzy. Win must be worried, “his son was in the back seat…I got him out - he’s on the other side…”
“You called right away?”
Nodding numbly, Team started to reach into his pocket for his phone but stopped noticing the blood that had started to crack and flake.
“Land? Hey, can you get something to clean his hands?” The police officer called out over her shoulder.
“He injured?”
“No, just shaken – won’t be driving,”
“Here,” another officer briefly approached them, behind him Team could see the driver being secured to a stretcher with electric pads stuck to his now exposed chest and upper abdomen, “let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?” Officer Land came into Team’s line of sight once again cutting off the accident, “where do you live kid? Around here?”
With a lick of the lips, Team nodded again, “my phone is vibrating…”
“You’re clean – why don’t you grab it?” Officer Land said encouragingly, but when Team pulled it out and still hadn’t answered it afterward, she spoke again, “here, why don’t I answer for you? Get you taken care of, yeah?” Slowly, Officer Land grabbed Team’s phone from his loose grasp, “Hello? … No sir my name is Office Land, there was an accident –“
Team could hear Win then, high pitched and panicked, but the words were too fast to catch.
“No – listen – sir please calm down. Team wasn’t involved in the accident, he’s unharmed just naturally shaken up and I was hoping for you … Corner of … Yes – yes. Team? Is that your car?” Team startled at being addressed, but quickly nodded, “Yes, it’s right here pulled off to the side – it will need to be moved. Of course – Team?” Blearily Team blinked up at her, “Win would like to hear from you before heading out, hmm?”
“Right…” Team swallowed accepting the phone quietly, “Hia…”
“Fuck…Team, are you hurt? What happened? Are you okay? I’ll be there in just a minute…I’ve been trying to reach you…” Win’s voice sounded frantic and disjointed, it was obvious he was trying to get his shoes on as he spoke, “please baby, you need to say something more than ‘Hia’…I can’t…”
“Don’t drive too fast,” the injured man was gone now, as was the ambulance. Now people were moving the car and discussing CC TV footage, “okay?”
“Okay…” Win promised breathlessly, “okay, I’m hopping on my bike now. I love you.”
“I love you, Hia…” the soft beeping reminded Team that the phone call ended.
“That Win’s a keeper,” Office Land smiled, “wouldn’t even let me get a word in before demanding all the answers and the name of the hospital,”
Team heard himself make an agreeing hum, the car has mostly been removed from the road now by a tow truck, but Team can still see the glass reflecting bits of light up into the sky, “yeah...” he heard the officer sigh, probably annoyed with him – he really should have done more to help that man – that kid was going to be just like him, just like Team…
“Team!” the engine was cut as Win shouted, barreling haphazardly to where Team was standing, “Team! Are you hurt?” Win wrapped his arms around Team the moment he was within distance, “What happened? You weren’t answering…”
“Sorry, Hia…”
“Team,” Office Land spoke up again, “Win – correct? I just wanted to make sure we had the correct number to reach you, in case we needed more information about the car,” she held up a notepad that had Team’s information written on it, she’d received it from dispatch.
“Yes – that’s his number,” Win said thickly, shaken, “Can I take him?”
“Oh yes, of course,”
“Come on Team let’s get you into the car, huh?” Win already started moving wasting no time.
“What about your bike, Hia?”
“I’m not taking you on the bike right now –“
“But –“
“If you’d like, just give me your address and I’ll have the bike brought over before morning,” Officer Land offered, “Team is the reason first responders arrived so quickly – getting the bike back to where it belongs would be no trouble at all,”
“Thank you,” Win tried to smile as he helped Team into the passenger side, “We live at the dorms just down the road – if you can just have it put in the main lot there, I can find it no problem,”
“Consider it done,” She paused and waited for Win to buckle Team in, so that she could grab his attention once again, “Team is in a bit of shock – do you have any experience?”
“Just lifeguard training. We are on the school swim team,”
“That explains his actions as well – any way that’s good. It isn’t too bad he should be fine – I’ve seen worse – I just wanted to make sure. Get home safe.”
“Yes, thank you,” Win didn’t mean to be dismissive, but he was still rattled from the initial phone call. As soon as he closed the car door he immediately reached over the median and cradled Team’s face, “Are you okay?” He asked the question quietly, watchful.
“I saw it in my mirror…”
Letting out a shaky sigh, Win pulled away and started the car, “let’s get home,” his whole body wanted to vibrate on the spot – adrenaline still raging through every vessel. When the officer answered Team’s phone, Win felt his insides fall through his body and through the floor – time stopped and then suddenly sped past him – in the seconds before she’d answered, he was certain Team was gone and even with him safe beside him now, Win’s whole being was just as desperate to prove that fact false now as it had been when the line had connected, “I’m glad you’re alright,” he managed calmly, “I’m going to cuddle the shit out of you tonight for worrying me,” Win forced a breath of humor into the last bit as best he could manage.
But Team didn’t seem to even understand the bait, “sorry Hia…”
Win faltered.
“I couldn’t leave…I couldn’t do anything,” Team whispered into the abyss, “the little boy was scared. I think the man died…I think he died before they got him onto the stretcher…”
“Team…that’s – you couldn’t do anything…”
“Exactly,” he mumbled, “a failure,”
“Team, that’s not –“
“No, but it’s true,” his body was starting to hurt – ached with the knowledge that the kid was experiencing such trauma and that Team couldn’t have prevented it, ached from going days without sleep, ached with hunger and thirst from the forced library stay – and for what? He wasn’t good enough for anything it seemed. Maybe those upperclassmen and the professor were right. Maybe Team needed to bail out now, if for no other reason than to save himself the utter humiliation of having to tell all those he cares about just how pathetic and worthless he actually was.
“Team,” Win had opened his door and was watching him carefully, “let’s get you inside. I don’t think I even put the food in the fridge before I left – it is probably still warm,” he offered a hand and waited with practiced patience for Team to grab it. Once he did, Win made sure to hold him tight, “Come on – it’s been a long day,” he had already grabbed Team’s bag before coming around the car to collect him, “What do you want to drink with dinner, Team? If we don’t have it I can go and –“
“No – whatever we have is fine, Hia,”
At a loss, Win led Team all the way up to the tenth floor in silence. He should have gone to get Team from the library. If he had, Team would have not been in the intersection, he wouldn’t have seen the accident, and he wouldn’t be so detached right now. If Win allowed it, he’d pull Team straight onto the bed and have him wrapped up in his arms through the morning, “I’m sorry I didn’t push harder about picking you up…”
Team stilled for a moment as the door closed behind them, “If I wasn’t so dumb I wouldn’t have even been at the library…”
“What?”
“If I wasn’t so freaking stupid,” he swayed slightly, “I’m so dumb…you probably think – shit! What time is it? I need to finish that essay…not that it will help…pathetic waste of –“
“Stop – what the fuck,” Win wrapped his arms around Team’s middle as he swayed dangerously close to losing balance, “Where is this coming from? No – never mind. Sit,” he lowered Team down to the bed and grabbed a drink from the fridge, opening it before handing it to Team, “Drink first. When is the last time you ate? Or drank anything? How long were you in the library? Just – what?”
‘I’m sorry I can’t be smart for you,” Team mumbled miserably as he drank, “you deserve so much more –“ even he could tell he was starting to spiral, “I’m just a waste –“
“Stop!” Win’s voice cracked as he pulled Team into his embrace, the half-emptied open bottle splashed down onto the floor, “Stop talking about yourself like that! I can’t – Team, just listen to me okay,” tears were already pooling in Win’s eyes, between spending moments certain the love of his life was dead and hearing him degrade himself falsely was just too much for one day, “you aren’t stupid – where is that even coming from? You need to drink and eat and rest and be safe, okay? That’s what I need from you right now do you understand?”
“I have to turn the paper in before midnight…”
Win drew in a shaky breath, “What paper?”
“I failed my English paper – I’m failing my class – the professor is right, I’m not cut out to be a student…but he gave me the option of redoing it,” Team swallowed thickly – it was already nearing eight o’clock, even with Win there wasn’t enough time to make his pathetic attempt at an English paper thirty points better than the first. It wasn’t like he had been able to help the man in the car either, so all that time he had wasted – wasted when someone better could have probably saved that man and then –
“Your professor told you that? Professor Awut?”
“He’s right though…” Team nodded, suddenly drained and dejected, “maybe I shouldn’t even bother submitting the paper anyway…I need to get thirty points better for him to count it anyway…”
“Is it on your computer?” Win felt the small nod under his chin, “Okay, you are going to eat something and then nap, and I’ll look over your paper,”
“It’s really bad, Hia,”
“I’ll make it really good,” Win waited for another argument, but when none was given, he pulled back. Team looked absolutely spent, like life itself was the only thing left in him, “You are not stupid – Professor Awut had no right to say that to you,”
“I’m wasting your time…”
“Did he say that too?” Team’s silence was enough of an answer for Win, “You aren’t wasting anyone’s time trying to learn…” with a sigh, Win moved quickly to grab the food he had left on the table and brought it over to where Team still sat, “Here – open wide,”
“Hia –“
“Open up, you need some food before that nap!” He held the spoon out in front of Team’s face patiently, food wasn’t going to solve the problem. It wasn’t going to take back the things the professor said, it wasn’t going to erase the accident from Team’s mind or even help him get over that feeling of helplessness – but it would fill his stomach and it was something he clearly needed right now, “I’ll wait all night~”
Team tried to look against the babying, but the slight blush that spread through his cheeks and onto his ears told another story as he opened his mouth. As did the sudden recognition of hunger that came alight in his eyes as soon as he tasted the food, “I’m so hungry…”
“Come on then,” Win handed the food over to Team along with the spoon, “eat that – I’m going to boot up your laptop,”
“You need to eat too,”
“And I will in just a second,” once he was sure that Team was going to keep eating, Win grabbed the laptop and plugged it in before turning it on, “Is this the paper on verbs? ‘Cause I thought you did a great job on that one.”
“No,” Team sighed over a large spoonful, swallowing quickly he continued, “That one got a seventy-five…this one was supposed to be about a book that I read in English…”
“I don’t remember seeing that one,” Win pulled a face, as though he was upset he’d forgotten, “Also, a seventy-five? How?”
“Because I am stupid, Hia,”
“Team –“
“And you didn’t see it, because you were super busy, and I didn’t ask you to look it over…”
Win managed to keep himself from saying anything, Team wasn’t going to let himself hear it right now, and instead grabbed his food so he could eat with him, “well, I’ll look over this one for you – but that last paper shouldn’t have been scored so low. I think I should –“
“Don’t,”
“What?”
“Just let it be, Hia… you can’t fight all my battles for me,”
“I want to,” Team smiled at that, it was small and still beyond tired, but it was there, which was all that Win wanted to see right now, “Now finish up your food so you can take a nap and relax,”
They continued to eat in relative silence, Win occasionally shifting the topic away from Team’s self-deprecation. By the time they had finished their food, Team could barely keep his eyes open – his head bobbing every few seconds. Something Win hoped to see forever.
“Come on sleepy head,” Win ran his fingers through Team’s hair as he pulled the heavy blanket all the way up to the younger’s neck after he had lowered him down, “You warm enough?” he leaned down and placed a meaningful kiss in the center of Team’s forehead, “I’ll look over that essay, okay?”
The noise of content acceptance wasn’t fully discernible as Team was already drifting.
He waited until Team was fully asleep before moving back to rest against the headboard on the other side, propping the computer up on his thighs – then readjusting it once Team settled up against him.
Finding the assignment on Team’s computer was easy. Both the Thai and the English versions were labeled ‘Winnie.’ Neither version was particularly advanced – simple sentence structure and easy vocabulary – which made sense given the language issue, but it was well written.
It wasn’t until he was halfway through the English version that Win realized what Team was doing with the essay. Words that didn’t necessarily track in a Winnie-the-Pooh themed paper, like ‘brothers’ and examples of kindness being described as ‘helping those dear deal with traumas even when those issues are incurable and untouchable.’
This wasn’t a paper on Winnie-the-Pooh – this was a paper on Win.
Touched and suddenly emotional, Win glanced over at his sleeping boyfriend – his future – pleased to see him still fast asleep. While he worked on editing the paper, which felt odder now than it had before he noticed what Team was doing with it, he grabbed his phone and sent a message to Dean asking if Pharm had any issues with the professor or knew of anyone else who did – he sent a similar text to Pruek asking after Manaow. Team couldn’t be the only underclassman being harassed that way – but if Win has his way, he would certainly be the very last.
Despite Team’s protests on the paper being ‘bad,’ Win found it very well written – even for Team, who did struggle with English grammar and tenses – and he finished editing it within an hour.
He saved the assignment and then submitted it via Team’s email. Then he opened his own email and send an additional copy to his current professor, asking for an assessment and explaining briefly the situation with Awut.
Win also made sure he had a copy of the paper – it felt like a present written specifically for him and he wanted to cherish it.
It is nearly midnight when everything is said and done. Team gave out an adorable hum when Win finally closed the computer and lowered himself down beside the sleeping boy, bringing an even larger smile to Win’s face. The last several hours had been a roller coaster, but he was just happy seeing Team safe and not in a hospital somewhere. Tomorrow, he was sure Team would ask after the people in the accident – he would probably want to visit them if possible – he would probably still feel responsible somehow, through inaction or inability – and he would certainly be embarrassed that Win picked up on the true contents of the paper. But that was tomorrow’s problem, tonight Team was going to sleep peacefully in Win’s arms, safe and comfortable – perfect in all the ways that mattered.