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As soon the new club applicants filed away, Dean and Pruk turned to look at Win, but he was too busy staring after the disappearing first year to notice at first. Then the fresher vanished out of sight, Win turned and started as he saw both his friends looking at him.
"What was that whole thing about scholarship students not getting special privileges?" Pruk asked. "You don't normally add that."
"It is not normally necessary." Dean gave Win a thoughtful look. "Did you believe it had to be said?" Win chewed over his answer for a moment. Dean trusted his judgment on this and now he had to say it to someone else, he felt like he might have jumped to conclusions a little fast.
"I thought one of the first years was being a little cocky about the try-outs." Win shook his head when Dean raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't worry about it. I'll deal with it if needed." Dean nodded and moved away, heading over to where they had put the registration forms. Pruk and Win followed him, at a slower pace.
"It's a little weird. Scholarship students are normally the ones really aware of how easily they could lose their scholarship," Pruk said, as chatty as always. Win shook off the little stirring of guilt.
"He was talking about teaching the other freshers already, even though he hadn't even passed the try-out yet." Win could admit, if only to himself, that he had been paying close attention to the fresher even before that happened. Ever since he had spoken on the first day and Win had mistaken it as speaking to him, he couldn't help but notice the junior everywhere he went.
It didn't help that he was hot, in that kind of understated, cute way that made people think of a puppy but then he would turn at a certain angle or throw his head back in a laugh and everyone's eye would be drawn to him. Win had felt unwelcome attraction before, but this was especially awkward.
"Kid is probably trying to make friends," Pruk pointed out. "Not everyone is as confident as you, Win." He nudged Win with his elbow and then went to help Dean gather up the papers. Win stared after Pruk for a second and then shook his head. Win's confidence had nothing to do with anything. He'll keep an eye on the fresher and see whether he actually had the skill to back it up.
He was reminded of Pruk's words when he saw the fresher on the day of the try-out. He was sitting on the bench and talking to his friends, a sight that looked utterly normal at first, at least until Win looked closer. The tension in his face and the bouncing of his leg before he slowly followed the others out of the locker room was enough that Win kept his gaze on him until he was out the door.
Dean looked after the boy and then back at Win, one eyebrow raised in question.
"It's fine," Win said. He didn't want to single the kid out, especially when it looked like Pruk may be correct and he wasn't as confident as he appeared. "Let's go."
Dean distracted him by having a strange moment as soon as they got out by the pool and then Pruk had a weird smiling moment, so by the time the race started Win was barely thinking of the nervous fresher. Even he found this hard to believe about himself when he found himself watching the fresher's lane more than any other.
"Who's the kid in Lane 3?" he asked Pruk, resigned to his own interest. He should have asked his name before but he had been far too willing to pretend he wasn't taking every chance to watch the other boy.
"Teerayu Siriyothin," Pruk said and when Win gave him a look, he laughed a little. "Oh, Team."
"Team's doing well," Dean said and Win nodded his agreement. Team was leading by a good margin, enough that he was sure the people up on the stands could see him easily. He glanced up at the boy and the girl who he had seen with Team earlier and noticed they were looking delighted with the result. When Team won, the girl almost jumped up out of her seat.
Win turned to look back at Team as he pulled off his goggles and swimming cap, glancing up and down the line as he did so. The expression on his face was a mixture of pleased and relieved, a combination which looked good on him. It was all going together in Win's head to form this picture of Team, something which was getting more and more clear as he went on.
"N'Team is definitely in the club," Dean said to Win very quietly before he left to deal with the rest, especially the ones who hadn't gotten in. Win couldn't argue even he wanted to, Team's skill was obvious.
"He'll be a good fit," Win said, the words more to himself than anyone else.
Just over a week later, Win would remember his own words as he lay, panting and satisfied, on his hotel room bed. Team lay beside him, his skin almost glowing with sweat and post-orgasm haze. This was not what Win had expected or planned, but he couldn't regret it.