THE CAFE OF DOUBLE LIVES...

Chapter 25

After cursing Heracles' ability to fall asleep at the drop-of-a-hat, Adnan was now thankful for the fact that even though the film was being screened, there was no audio available. This meant the conversation onscreen between the Greek and himself was lost on the audience. However his sense of relief was soon followed by a sense of dread when he heard someone saying, "Not that I don't appreciate the silent movie approach, but SOMEBODY forgot to add captions."

That frustrated sentence was uttered by Viet– a determined young Vietnamese woman known for her natural skillfulness to make all sorts of things. She was sitting in the middle rows along with Thanit (a young man with inky black hair who wore thin black-framed-glasses) and the newly formed couple: XiaoMei and Kiku. Her voice echoed because the screening hall was small.

Viet turned to her boyfriend, "Thanit, you know how to lipread, right? Can you decipher what they are saying?"

"I'll try, but I'm not sure how accurate it will be, ana~" His voice echoed as well, so everyone in the hall patiently waited as he adjusted his black-framed-specs before concentrating on the task. Looking at Heracles onscreen, Thanit loudly stated, "Um, let's see, he just said— 'For your information, the truth is always stretched,'" and then looking at Adnan, "he replied— 'But there is some truth involved, right? You can't blame me for thinking this way.'"

While Thanit was lipreading, he wondered whether a murder-mystery-case was going on between the two onscreen. So he became confused with the conversation as he read Heracles' lips, "'Since you think that way, I want to know... What you do think of all the things we did in the past?'"

After a brief silence, and then mouthing Adnan's words, Thanit felt this conversation was not only confusing, but weird as well, "'Two male animals in heat, satisfying each other,'" he now wondered whether he was lipreading correctly. But finally, when he mouthed Heracles' words, "'You honestly believe I would do all of that to any random person for so long without any feelings attached?'" he realized this was a very private conversation and didn't want to lipread anymore.

Just when Adnan (who was dying from embarrassment) felt it couldn't get any worse, it did. He, along with the rest of his colleagues, learnt Elizabeta wasn't the only homophillic person attending their University.

The screening hall erupted in various voices– everyone enthusiastically picking up where Thanit left off, but not lipreading correctly. Instead they decided spin the dialogue to suit their own desires.

"What am I suppose to think! You're known for sleeping around!"

"That isn't true. I use my body to express the emotions that I've had, and these days, I only use it for you."

"I feel nothing towards you. The only reason why I respond to you is because of your seductive love making skills!"

"Liar, I know you don't feel that way. Please, I've spent my whole life searching for you– don't leave me now."

Adnan couldn't believe all the random melodramatic lines he was hearing from the audience. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore when he heard someone mouthing his supposed-dialogue: "Fine, if you love me, then claim me, you Big Stallion, you!"

Standing up from his seat, Adnan shouted, "HEYYYYYYYY! That was NOT what was being said!"

Of course, nobody believed him, especially after what came next on the screen: Heracles was in the process of claiming Adnan by pushing the Turk on the lecturer's desk. In the beginning, it looked like Adnan resisted but soon gave into the Greek's ministrations. He seemed all too eager to remove their shirts while being involved in a smooching marathon.

To be honest, the scenes weren't explicit; considering it was only a make-out session where there were prolonged passionate French kisses with some skin-to-skin contact (nothing further). Nevertheless, the whole session was extremely hot and was appreciated– the screening hall was now filled with clapping, squealing, and cheering from fangirls and fanboys alike.

There were two things Adnan couldn't believe: First, he couldn't believe YongSoo had the gall to continue filming the scenes and Second, he couldn't believe the expression he was showing onscreen, 'What the? I look like I want something desperately...'

Glancing over at the sleeping Greek, Adnan instead saw Heracles was wide awake and leaning forward; his attention entirely focused on what was being screened.

'Now, he chooses to wake up!'

Adnan then felt pairs of eyes on him and saw his colleagues were leering at him with raised eyebrows, almost asking him 'Is this for real?' (well, except Elizabeta, who was holding Roderich's napkin to her nose to stop the hemorrhage. And Roderich who was far more concerned about his girlfriend's well-being than what was going on around him).

Trying to play it cool, Adnan inquired, "If I were to tell you that the person onscreen is my doppelgänger, would you believe me?" When they shook their heads, he sighed, "I thought so." And realization dawned on him.

Snapping his attention to Hassan, he noticed how the Egyptian senior calmly watched the screen with one leg neatly crossed over the other. He stroked his chin in thought.

"This... clears up everything," Hassan slowly stated.

'I hope YongSoo has a good explanation for all this... before I finish him off,' Adnan thought darkly.

With all the films having been screened, the group was outside the screening hall. Metres away from them, they saw an unsettling scene.

"Uwah, it totally looks like Adnan will chew YongSoo's head off," Feliks watched as Adnan ranted angrily at YongSoo.

A small smirk played on his lips as Lovino asked, "Should we be worried about that pervert's safety?"

"Maybe, we should intervene..." Matthew looked over at them worriedly.

Yao waved his hand, dismissing Matthew's suggestion, "Leave them the alone, aru. YongSoo needs to be taught a lesson. Hopefully, by now, he'll learn that it's wrong to be a peeping tom and won't spy on me again while I'm in the bathroom!"

Heracles stood by them, wondering whether or not this whole affair would affect the dynamic equilibrium established between Adnan and himself. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, that would soon be cleared up as he heard a friendly but authoritative voice.

"Messa el rir, Heracles." The cafe group turned to see Hassan was standing beside the Greek. Heracles gave his greeting back, though it looked like he wasn't sure how to interact with the attractive senior. Under normal circumstances, the others would have given these two some space to discuss their matters. But they didn't want to miss the confrontation between the present lover vs the philanderer, so they remained in their places.

After a moment of silence between them, Hassan stated, "YongSoo's work always remains intriguing, don't you agree?"

Even though he still had feelings for Adnan, Heracles didn't want to be responsible for breaking up a relationship. So, he felt he needed to dispel whatever misunderstanding the film had caused, "Hassan, let me tell you: Adnan never cheated on you. All of that occurred before you both started dating."

"It would be impossible for Adnan to cheat on me," Hassan responded.

Heracles twitched, hearing the confident tone of his voice, 'Is he implying it's impossible for Adnan to cheat on him with someone like me?'

"Because we aren't dating in the first place."

Heracles stared at him in shock. Not sure whether heard it correctly, he managed to speak, "But... News has been going around campus that you two are a couple."

Hassan watched the interaction between Adnan and YongSoo while he spoke, "All the rumours began because we recently been spending a lot of time together."

"Didn't... you ever go on a date?" Heracles inquired.

"Oh, we did. I was interested in him," Hassan replied. "But after our first date, Adnan confided in me that his heart was already taken by someone who was very special to him. He said it wouldn't be fair to me if he lead me on."

Hassan's eyes now cast down, "Later, we decided to remain friends. Though I won't lie to you– when the rumours about us were flying, I indulged myself in them a little because for a brief moment, I was his," then turning his gaze back to Heracles, "I was curious to know who his special person was, but judging from what I saw on the screen, my question has been answered."

"I feel slightly jealous that you were able to bring about such a reaction from him." His expression became a bit serious and –not breaking eye contact with Heracles— Hassan boldly stated, "I might come across a little aggressive, but Adnan is a good man and he's worth fighting for. Although, you may have a head-start over me, if you don't take the initiative to pursue him now, I will make him mine."

"Is that a warning?" When Heracles saw Hassan give him a nod, Heracles smiled and turned to look where Adnan was, "Rest assured. I'm not going to let him slip through my fingers again."

x

A/N: Thanit is Thailand (not much is mentioned about him except he's observant, has a smile which nobody can refuse, a verbal tic 'ana' & usually starts his sentences with a 'Um/Hm')