Bright watches, jaw clenched and fists itching to punch someone as a whirlwind of blazing emotions riot to escape past his carefully worn blank mask. Stares and waits in hope for the smallest signs of discomfort from Mew – anything that allows him to use force and happily break the interrupter's hand for daring to take liberties with his ... friend.

But nothing of that sort happens.

Instead, Bright stands there immobile as a helpless statue, while his Mew is dragged away from him by an obnoxiously smug Gulf. It irks him to see Mew follow that jerk without a single complaint. He isn't so dumb as to believe those lame-ass excuses the other football player sprung out of nowhere on them. He can tell from Mew's perplexed stares and nervous tics that Gulf is lying out of his teeth. Bright has known Mew for a really, really long time; they're best friends for crying out loud. There's no way in hell Mew would ever forget about information pertaining to his assignments, let alone ones that involve a good percentage of his final grade.

Then again, he has absolutely no idea why Mew is suddenly ignoring him these days or unexpectedly sobbed in his arms scaring the hell out of Bright and giving next to no explanations for his strange behavior either. The way Mew initially went from tightlipped to denying something's going on and to having an emotional breakdown truly worried him. It hinted at deeper and complex issues than the possible scenarios his mind managed to conjure up during his sleepless nights. Couldn't understand why he is being pushed away instead of asked for counsel ... unless, he's somehow related to the turmoil responsible for Mew's grief?

Bright wanted to pry and not rest until Mew confessed to the issues bothering him. Wants more than anything to protect Mew from whatever or whoever it is causing him harm and making the guy cry like that. Yet, something warned Bright not to push – he's got a bad feeling about this – terrified that somehow he's part of the problem anguishing the pale nerd and probing into this matter will only be damaging rather than doing them both any good.

The one thing he could do to actually help (or so he thinks) is by stepping in if Gulf's presence is unwanted and annoying to be on the receiving end of. He would have gladly started a fight then and there if that's the case.

Except, Bright could do nothing but watch aghast when Mew offers no objections to the nonsense Gulf spews. Clenches his fists and forcibly shuts his mouth. He doesn't want to risk doing anything that might further widen the chasm between them. Bright has no idea if Mew is upset with him and was avoiding as a result of something he did or if it was something else entirely out of Bright's control. Whatever the reason for Mew's weird behavior, he cannot bring himself to accidentally anger him by saying or doing the wrong thing.

Just couldn't risk it.

>*<

The second biggest blow to Bright's heart (and ego) is the glint of relief in those warm eyes once Mew realized the opening to escape Gulf provided. It stops him from truly voicing out his protests or try holding on to a fleeing Mew. Whatever is going on with him, and Bright is certain of it now, the panicking introvert is not ready to divulge it. It twists his insides, this knowledge that Mew does not trust Bright enough to share his troubles with him. That he is perhaps more comfortable speaking his mind with Gulf these days is an unbearable thought. Feels the sprinkles of salt on his festering wounds to have his best friend run out on him, over and over again these past weeks as though it's an Olympic sport and Mew is aiming for the gold.

And yet, Bright is here, willing and open to face any number of painful rejections until Mew is finally ready to face him again.

He just wishes Gulf didn't get involved when he did or if possible, ever.

Bright doesn't want his former best friend to wedge himself in this troubling matter between him and Mew, using his new involvement as an excuse to settle their old scores and take revenge on Bright. The unfortunate aspect of that particular conjecture is that Gulf would be well within his rights to create more problems for him after the backstabbing Bright did to him. He'd planned to correct his wrongs and apologize to his childhood friend but the timing was never right (not once in all these years) and Bright couldn't really face him or look Gulf in the eyes. Besides, he was stuck in a prison of his own making navigating uneven waters and couldn't rock the boat any further than Bright could manage to throw a lifejacket to his friend.

He could only hope that his friend hasn't changed too much over the years or exchanged his boundless kindness for the hatred brewing in his soul for Bright and add fuel to this unnamed rift between him and Mew. Bright certainly prays that Gulf doesn't take advantage of his absence to grow closer to Mew, scheming to break their present fragile friendship beyond repair.

Fears Gulf already set that plan in motion even as he stands useless like a pillar in this deserted hallway, a helpless fool. Because in the pivotal moment (without even knowing the significance of his action) Mew chose Gulf over him, trampling over his already shattered heart in the process.

'Cause the fiercely guarded secret of his heart is that Bright is head-over-heels in love with his obtuse best friend, who will never return his feelings and now might no longer prefer to be his friend as well.

And that freaking hurts like a gunshot wound to the chest. While Bright learnt to silently deal with this pain over the years, the latter part – a recent development of Mew avoiding him (probably because he knew about Bright's feelings?) – is a hard pill to swallow and is slowly starting to choke the life out of him.

Gulf's wild card entry is merely an icing on the three-tier cake he can already envision being served at his funeral service.

Yup, he's got a really bad feeling about this.

>>*<<

A/N: We will be seeing more of Bright's thoughts soon. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please do vote and share your feedback. I'll love to hear your thoughts and theories! XOXO