"I'm telling you, such contradiction shouldn't exist."
Penguin almost rolled his eyes to hear that words in the final tone, as if it's an important decision of a ship captain in the middle of the storm. When the truth is, it's only a simple line that should be in a light tone. It's only a lunch conversation anyway. What's so final about it?
But Law would poke his eyes out if he caught Penguin rolls his eyes. Most likely without sedative. So Peng only shrugged and sipped his coffee. Peng usually likes something light like tea at lunch time, but when he saw the ice cream truck parked in the hospital's yard, Peng knew he needed something punchy to bear with Law's rant about red haired, tall, handsome guy whose muscles are too good to scoop ice cream.
Not that he's such a sour, unsupportive friend. In fact, Peng really is happy that Law finally got his eyes on someone again. His genius junior was too workaholic for his own good. It's just that after ten days in a row listening to how gorgeous the red haired guy is, Peng really need help to cope with it.
"What contradiction? That a hot guy like him shouldn't work at ice cream truck, of all place?" Peng asked after licking a line of foam on his upper lips, quoting what Law said two days ago.
"Precisely!" Law nearly yelled, and it even got Bepo turned from his book for a moment to give his cute puzzled look. Peng shook his head towards the pale man's direction, telling Bepo non-verbally that it's not important. He then turned his eyes back to Law, who's currently staring at the red head as if he's undressing the red-head mentally. Damn, maybe that's exactly what he's doing right now. "The whole situation with that man and the damned ice cream truck is a contradiction. Why scooping the soft ice cream with such big muscles? Where did he get those muscles anyway?"
Peng smiled a bit to his best friend's attitude. Law usually is a serious, almost stoic man. He dedicated his pretty eyes on the pages of book and his time on practicing what he read on the book. But when Law fell for a guy, he fell hard. And it happened only twice since they met 13 years ago. Both were equally intense.
"Maybe he dragged the truck in his spare time. You know, for exercise," Shachi joined the conversation as he sat himself beside Penguin. His eyes that was covered in sunglasses fixed on the red head. "Muscles like that don't just happen. Not by scooping ice cream."
Law turned his eyes to Shachi, which Penguin really grateful that looks really don't kill. "Shachi, don't!"
There was the final tone again, and Penguin almost groan to hear it. He always forgot how possessive Law got when he fell for a guy.
"Law, chill. I'm just giving away my opinion," Shachi said, with both hands raised as if being pointed by a gun. "You know I'm not that much into guy."
"You're into everything that's hot and has two legs," Law accused. "You can't take this one from me, Shachi."
"Nope, but anyone can. If you don't get up your ass and take him yourself," Peng interrupted "It's been ten days you're eyeing him, man. Maybe it's time for you to just go there and do something about it before that obsession turns you into Dr. Psycho."
Law shrugged. "I don't like ice cream."
"But you like him right?"
"Yeah, so I'm gonna go there and buy something I probably throw away later? I don't want to hurt his feeling. He probably whisk those ice cream with those big muscles."
Penguin groaned. "Just give it to Bepo later!"
Law was shaking his head, and started to blabber ten thousand reasons─including a detailed assumption that he might not swing that way─that made Peng want to face palm. But Law would cut his hands if he did that. Again, without sedative because he is more skilled as a sadist surgeon instead of a brave lover. So Peng took it upon himself and got up from his seat, shutting Law up in the process.
"Pen, where are you going?"
Penguin didn't answer, and keep going until he's 10 feet away from the ice cream truck, grinning through his shoulder as he caught Law's horror stare. "I'm gonna buy ice cream first, Law," he said, almost shouting Law's name to get people's attention. "See you inside?"
Law was staring at him in a mixture of horror and wrath, which, by the look of it, Penguin was pretty sure that he might lose a limb or two. But it's worth a try. Besides, what kind of friend he is if he couldn't be a wingman to a tall, dark, lean, and handsome guy like Trafalgar Law?
However, when he reached said ice cream truck (with Law's stare still burning the back of his hat), the red head was nowhere to be seen. In his place, was a blonde guy with the same muscular feature, longer hair, and huge disappointment because then Penguin would lose both limbs to Law's cruel dissection for nothing.
So much for wingman attempt.
"Hello," the blond greeted. "What can I get you?"
Your red head friend, Peng almost blurt out. But he's better than that, so he decided to play calm and stared at the list below the truck window, trying to decide which one between pistachio and chocolate mint ice cream that will act as better protection against Law's wrath later. "I don't know, actually. Which one is more popular choice?"
"Our strawberry flavor is the best," the blond said as he leaned his upper body closer to Peng, so they can both look at the menu. "It has a slight sour taste because we made it from real strawberries. Oh, and we also have cookie dough flavor. It's new but people been buying that. But it depends on what you prefer."
Peng wrinkled his nose, feeling somewhat weird because this muscular blond who can easily pass as massacre killer category is actually discussing about ice cream flavors of all things. And it looks like he knows what he's talking about too, making it even weirder.
"You seem uneasy," the blond suddenly speak, making Peng distracted from the deep thoughts of his emergency survival plan and said man's weird features.
"Huh?" was the cleverest thing the hatted man could say in less than one second.
"You seem uneasy," he repeated. "You're the first person who pulled that stressful look in front of ice cream truck. Don't actually like one? Lose a bet?"
Being under the attention of such an attractive guy makes Penguin blushed a little. I mean, he's not even gay. So that shouldn't mean anything… right? "That obvious?" he asked with a nervous laugh. "And actually… Now you bring it up, which one will act as better protection against one's wrath?"
Killer gave a bright smile filled with humor. "I think it depends how pissed that girl is," he said. "If she's shutting you out, you probably want to give cookie dough. It's sweet and has unique flavor. But if she's about to breathe fire towards your direction, then you definitely should go for chocolate. Double scoop, no less."
Penguin laughed with the man, feeling somewhat shy with his confession. But what the hell, he thought. Law gonna cut me into pieces anyway. "Well, how about a guy?" he asked. "And he's so pissed that he might cut me into pieces."
"Whoa, what did you do?"
"Nothing. Just coming here," penguin replied hesitantly. He then sighed and decided that whatever the blond might think, it is less important than his wish to keep his body parts intact. "Look, it might come off weird and you'll probably run away and never go back to this hospital after this, but… is your red-head friend swings that way? You know… that."
To his surprise, the blond burst out a laugh, a more honest laugh filled with pure humor instead of politeness like before. That made Penguin blushed a little, but it's not time to be a chicken about it. "Yeah, Kid could swing that way. He's too much of a simpleton to be able to choose between both sexes," he replied when he finally managed to control his laughter. Penguin could feel his stomach crunched when the laughter reduced into a smile. "What is this having to do with Kid? You want his number or what?"
"Oh, it's not me. It's my friend, actually," Peng said as he turned his head towards Law, who is still furrowing his eyebrows. Penguin knew that look. It means that Law is thinking about a gruesome way to avenge Penguin of his action. "The tall, dark, and scary guy that sit over there. He had been eyeing for your friend since he saw him, so I took it upon myself to come here and help him make any move. Although, since the red head is not here, big chance this will be my first and only chance to play wingman before I'm dead and dissected into tiny pieces. So maybe the right flavor of ice cream might help bigger my chance to stay alive?"
The blond paused for a moment, then giving a bright smile that made Penguin's heart skipped a beat. What's with this ice cream truck, sold by two muscular handsome guys that was probably a reincarnation of Vikings strongest warriors? "Actually, I have better idea," he said as he scooped a red-colored ice cream. "Here, bring this watermelon ice cream to your friend and say that my friend, Eustass Kid, is actually single and is also interested in him."
Penguin furrowed his eyebrows. "You want me to lie to my friend?"
"It's not a lie. It's a pending truth. See, your friend look like Kid's type," Killer shrugged. "Besides, I'm trying to help you stay alive and intact here. So maybe if you say that you can ask for more information, he'll spare your life for another day?"
Again, without his mind giving consent, Penguin's mouth blurted out a cheerful laughter. "That's actually quite nice of you," he said.
The blond continued to smile, making Penguin's head spun. Ugh, it must be the heat, he thought. If anything, Penguin is the only one in their group that shouldn't be affected by something like this. Everyone had their own taste; Law with men, Shachi with anyone just beautiful enough and interested in him enough, and Bepo with women. But Penguin was the one who never felt anything at all. He's content enough to see love from his friends' perspective. Besides, he didn't think that he could handle heartbreak as good as Shachi.
But WAIT. Why did he think about it at all? It's not like it mattered, right? The blond man is beautiful, sure. But it doesn't mean that Penguin should be attracted to him or anything.
He brushed the thought off his mind, and exchanged number with the blond for the sake of updating each other with the progress.
When Penguin got back to the place where his friends were, Law was nowhere to be seen. Bepo said that Law was running into an emergency, which means Penguin just got spared for his life. He smiled, enjoying what's left of his lunch break with watermelon flavored ice cream that even though sounds weird at first (because watermelon tasted like water with a bit salt and sugar), it actually tasted good.
However, the light taste or the coldness of weatermelon ice cream just won't cool down the warmth he felt in his chest.
What a heat this summer brings.
Later that night, just when penguin hop on to his bed, his phone vibrated, alerting Penguin that he got a new message.
Are you still alive? – Killer
Depends. If I say yes, will you hunt for me and change it?
Penguin sent the message, pretty sure that this Killer is the guy from the ice cream truck. The next message then confirmed his guess.
Sorry, it 's the guy from the ice cream truck. People call me Killer so I 'm used on that. Sorry if it confused (and probably scared) you.
Penguin chuckled, then replying the message with giving his nick name too, instead of his real name. They shared their progress with each other, Peng stated that Law was happy with the information Penguin got for him about the red-head. The mention of his name alone made Law light up like a summer sky, not to mention that he's single and is a bisexual. In exchange, Killer stated that Kid was also pumped with the perspective of getting a tall, dark, and handsome doctor as a boyfriend. They texted back and forth until Penguin fell asleep, and their conversation continued the next day, when Penguin came to ice cream truck 20 minutes before his lunch break was over.
They kept on doing that for days, exchanging information and progress of their respective best friend over text and talk on the ice cream truck. Penguin felt lighter each time they meet, a feeling that he found strange and unusual. He thought that it must be the joy of helping others. However, as a nurse, he helps people every day. The happy feeling when the patients threw him a smile is slightly different from what he experienced everytime he talked with Killer. He gave it a thought, more often than he allowed himself to. But again, Peng thought that it might be because he helped a junior he respected so much since they were in med school. Besides, Law is less a scary guy when he was in love. So that's an additional gain for him.
Yeah, that must be it.
By the second week they play cupid, Killer changed his shift with Kid so he could eat lunch with Penguin, discussing the complex progress between two complex men that were Law and Kid. Their talks were usually light and full of humor, with Penguin did most of the talking and Killer listening. Sometimes, they came up the plot to set those two on accidental date, but never actually execute the plan. Each time, Killer always brought watermelon ice cream, knowing so well that Penguin liked it more than any other flavor on their truck. On the other hand, Penguin was pretty sure that the light, sweet taste of the ice cream was the reason that made him chattier than his usual self. But again, he could also blame it on the slow development of Law and Kid's relationship. They're clearly into each other, but none of them really got the guts to text each other first. It really irked him to the point that he make plans to solve that problem.
"Really, though," Penguin sighed as he dug his wooden spoon halfway to the half-melted ice cream. "They have each other's number now. Why Kid hadn't got the guts to text Law? Does he even have balls beneath of all those muscles?"
"Why don't Law text Kid first?" Killer retorted, sounding a little too defensivr. "He was the one who's actually like him since the beginning, isn't he?"
"Law is just being Law," Penguin huffed. He stuffed a spoonful of ice cream to his mouth, feeling it melted and cooled down his mouth. "He swore that he wouldn't make first move to a guy that will most likely top him."
Soon as the words left his mouth, Penguin made a face, with Killer mirroring him in an instant.
"I really don't want to think about it."
"Ugh, sorry. But I don't want to be the only one suffering from that image in my head," Penguin said while laughing.
Killer only smiled calmly, causing Penguin's stomach to twist and he swore that he could feel his heart flutter in his chest. And this is not the first time, either. He bit his lips, digging his ice cream and put another spoonful to his mouth.
"Whoa, take it easy with the ice cream," Killer said. "What did it ever do to you?"
"Nothing," Penguin replied as he took another spoonful into his mouth. "I just really like it. Like… So much."
"Really?" Killer asked, not losing an inch of his tempting smile. "More than you like me?"
Penguin stopped abruptly, feeling thankful that the last piece of ice cream he ate had successfully went through his throat because if not, he was sure he would choke and cough uncontrollably.
Penguin would take it as a joke. It had to be a joke, but upon seeing Killer's stiffen face and the fact that a bunch of butterflies just flew and swirled around in his stomach, Penguin knew that it wasn't. The light feeling he felt when Killer smiled was not a joke either. So this time, instead of laughing it off and curling himself up in shame like the usual Penguin would do, Peng clenched his fist and decided to get back at the blond. Because even though he was sure that he was an asexual before meeting Killer, he couldn't keep blaming on watermelon ice cream for everything he felt around Killer.
He had to know.
"I don't know," Penguin said, letting out a smug smile that hopefully look as confident as Law's. His heart was clapping like a thunderbird in his chest. "I never taste you."
Once spoken, Penguin could hear that it was much, much bolder and contained more innuendo than he actually intended. Penguin could feel his heart exploded, sending huge rush of blood on to his face. His mouth went dry, and not even the moist watermelon ice cream can help him.
"Whoa, that come off a little bit too Shachi. I didn't…"
Before he could mutter a complete apology, or even explain what he actually think, Killer leaned his body towards Penguin, across the small table that get in their way, and captured Penguin with his surprisingly soft lips and composed strength.
Killer kissed him slowly, as if he's waiting for Peng's reaction, a wordless permission. Penguin, now recovered from shock, decided to close his eyes, then tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Giving Killer the permission and reaction he waited for. As they kissed, Penguin thought about how a man as buffed as Killer could actually control his strength, putting just right pressure on his lips, and eventually, tongue. Letting Peng taste him, along with a light taste of Peanut Butter and Jelly that was his lunch and the slight taste of watermelon from his.
When they finally broke their kiss, Penguin could feel his heart calmed down for a bit, the calmness Penguin recognized as a sign that he was assured of something. It was a feeling he got when he dealt with the patient the right way. Only, this feeling is more intense and sweeter.
"Well?" Killer asked. A flush of blood could be seen behind his slightly darker complexion, along with a hesitant stare from a peeking green eye behind his blond bangs. Penguin just realized that he messed Killer's hair alright during their kiss.
"We need to try again tomorrow," Penguin said shyly. All of his bravery was sucked out of him, literally. So he grabbed his cup of ice cream back and stared at it intensely. "When you're not eating peanut butter and jelly?"
Killer only laughed at that, and since then, they shared a kiss after lunch and another talk about Law and Kid. Each time, their kiss went deeper than before, to the point that they had to take lunch in the shadow of the ice cream truck, or Peng's empty nurse station for the sake of PDA.
However, when Law finally caught them kissing in the nurse station, he and Kid finally confessed that they had actually handled their relationship on their own and even went on regular date aftet the first week Killer and Penguin play matchmaker on them. Kid was ready to tell and thank them but Law, being an observant man he is, decided to keep it a secret upon seeing Penguin's reaction every time he talked about Killer. Kid played along with his plan, because he always hear Killer's drunken confession about how adorable the little bird is. Penguin of course threw hat towards Law'a direction for making fool of himself, and Killer mumbled about moving out for having such a secretive, and anipulative roommate.
Now that they have no pressing matter at hand, Penguin and Killer spent their time to kiss more. Exploring the newfound affection of each other. Soon, lunch time becoming less and less sufficient for them, so they decided to meet in the evening for dinner, movies, and when they ran out of restaurant to try and grew bored of the cinemas, they ended up cuddling at home. Sometimes at Killer's, most of the time at Penguin's.
After so long, Penguin decided that he likes the taste of faint vanilla ice cream in Killer's mouth most, as it complete the watermelon taste in his. Close behind, was Killer's actual taste when he kissed Peng good morning.
But it was a hardly fair comparison, for Penguin had yet to be familiar with the latter. But from the light, yet sweet taste that made him feeling brave and hungry for more each time, Penguin was sure that it would be his favorite in no time. Just like the watermelon ice cream.
Besides, they have unlimited mornings ahead of them for Peng to taste Killer as he likes.