MY RIVAL BECOME MY LOVER

Chapter 7:The Presentation

Jay didn't sleep.

How could he sleep when Brian had said "Always" in that voice?

He spent the whole night making the slides. 23 slides for a 10-minute presentation on Market Structures. He made them extra perfect because Brian was his partner and Brian was a perfectionist who would judge every typo.

At 6 AM, his alarm rang.

Brian was already awake. He was sitting at his desk, fully dressed in a white button-up shirt and black pants. His hair was perfectly styled. He looked like he was going to a job interview, not a 10 AM Econ class.

"You're up early," Jay croaked, his voice hoarse.

"You were typing all night. I couldn't sleep with the light," Brian said, but his tone wasn't angry. He handed Jay a coffee. "Black, one sugar. Like you drink it."

Jay took it, stunned. "How do you know how I drink my coffee?"

"I live with you. I have eyes."

It was such a small thing. Coffee. But nobody had ever remembered how Jay liked his coffee before. Not even Maya.

"Thank you," Jay said softly.

Brian looked away. "Don't get emotional. Just finish your slides. Your chart on slide 17 is wrong."

Jay spat out his coffee. "WHAT? Which one?"

Brian leaned over Jay's laptop. He was so close that Jay could see his eyelashes. "This. Monopoly pricing. The demand curve should be steeper. Here, let me fix it."

Brian's hand covered Jay's on the mouse. His fingers were cold, Jay's were warm.

Jay forgot how to breathe again.

"You know," Brian said quietly while fixing the chart, "you didn't have to do all 23 slides alone. You could have woken me up."

"You looked tired last night after basketball practice. I didn't want to..."

"I don't mind. For you."

The words hung in the air.

Jay turned his head. Brian was already looking at him. Their faces were inches apart. Jay could see a small scar near Brian's eyebrow he had never noticed before.

"Bri..."

"Jay? Are you..."

The alarm rang again. 6:30 AM. Jay's second alarm.

They jumped apart.

"We should get ready for class," Brian said quickly, standing up.

"Yeah. Yeah, class."

The presentation was at 10 AM in Room B-204. By 9:45 AM, the whole class was there. Prof. Davis was famous for being strict. If you stuttered, he failed you.

Jay was sweating. He hated public speaking. His hands were shaking holding his notes.

"You'll be fine," Brian whispered next to him. They were standing at the front. "Just look at me. Not them."

"But Davis said we have to make eye contact with the audience!"

"Look at me. I'll be your audience."

Jay nodded. Okay. He could do that. Just look at Brian.

They started.

Jay started nervously, his voice shaking. "Our topic is... is Market Structures..."

He looked at the class. 40 students staring at him. Maya giving him a thumbs up. He panicked.

Then he looked at Brian.

Brian was looking at him like he was the only person in the room. Calm. Encouraging. He mouthed, "Breathe."

Jay breathed. And continued, louder this time. "There are four main market structures..."

It went perfectly. Brian took over the technical parts, explaining oligopoly with a basketball team analogy that made everyone laugh. Jay explained perfect competition using the example of their campus food stalls.

When they finished, the whole class clapped. Prof. Davis actually smiled.

"Excellent work, Mr. Kim and Mr. Lee. That was an A. Best presentation of the day."

An A!

Jay was so happy he grabbed Brian's arm as they walked back to their seats. "We got an A! Bri, we got an A!"

Brian looked down at Jay's hand on his arm and smiled. "We did."

Maya leaned over from her seat behind them. "You two are disgustingly cute when you do academic validation. I'm going to throw up."

"Shut up," Jay hissed, but he was grinning.

After class, it started raining again. Hard.

Everyone ran out with umbrellas. Jay and Brian were stuck.

"I forgot my umbrella in Room 14," Jay sighed.

"I have one," Brian said. "But it's small. We'll have to share."

Share one small umbrella meant they had to walk very, very close.

Brian opened it. "Ready?"

Jay nodded and stepped under it with him. Their shoulders pressed together. Brian's arm was around Jay's shoulder to hold the umbrella.

They walked across campus like that. In the rain. Under one small black umbrella.

People stared. Because Brian Kim never shared his umbrella with anyone. Ever.

"Let them look," Brian said quietly, when he noticed Jay looking at the stares.

"What?"

"Let them look. I don't care."

Jay's heart did that weird flip again.

When they reached their dorm building, they were both half-wet. Jay's white t-shirt was sticking to his skin. Brian tried not to look, and failed.

"You should change," Brian said, his voice a little rough.

"You too."

They went into Room 14. Brian locked the door.

The room was cold from the rain.

Jay pulled off his wet shirt. "Ah, so cold!"

He turned around and saw Brian staring. Really staring this time, at his chest, at his waist.

"Brian?"

Brian walked closer. Slowly. He picked up his own towel from earlier and wrapped it around Jay's shoulders.

"You're going to get sick," he said, but his hands stayed on Jay's shoulders. His eyes dropped to Jay's lips again. Longer this time.

The rain pounded on the window.

Jay whispered, "Bri, are you..."

Brian's phone rang loudly. LOUD.

He stepped back instantly like he was electrocuted. He answered. "Hello? Yeah, Coach, I'm coming."

He hung up. "I have extra practice. I have to go."

Jay felt cold without the towel. Or without Brian's hands. "Oh. Okay."

Brian grabbed his sports bag and left quickly without looking back. The door slammed.

Jay stood alone in Room 14, wearing Brian's towel, with an A on their presentation and a million questions in his head.

Why did Brian keep looking at his lips?

And why did Brian run away every.....