Pop 6

Leo walked past the cafeteria, weaving through a steady stream of nursing students,

their voices bouncing off the linoleum walls as they compared their freshly issued ID badges.

Most of them were laughing—at bad photos, crooked eyebrows, and weird typos.

A few held their badges up proudly like golden tickets.

Leo glanced down at his own ID badge, which hung backward on his chest.

He flipped it around and winced.

Blank barcode.

White and empty.

It made the rest of the badge feel counterfeit, like he didn’t quite belong.

The ID wrote him off clearly: no papers.

And worse he’s forced to wear it right on his chest.

As if the knowing glances from his classmates is not enough

to state the obvious, that he’s undocumented.

“Fuck. I hate this ID” Leo whispers to himself.

Before he could deeply dwell on this and totally go nuts

and depressed for weeks,

two classmates rounded the corner and nearly bumped into him.

“Hey, Leo,” said one of them, grinning like they shared an inside joke.

“Hey,” Leo replied. “Skipping lecture?”

One of them leaned in conspiratorially. “Taking her home. Girl problems.”

“Oh,” Leo said, his mouth twitching. “I see.”

He was about to move on when he noticed their eyes drop to his badge.

Leo quickly flipped it backward again and cleared his throat.

“I know, I know—printer issue. The barcode didn’t print.”

The classmates shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yeah, whatever. See ya, Leo.”

They walked off, leaving Leo standing there, vaguely relieved but still on edge.

He adjusted his ID card again, flipped it backwards and pressed forward,

nearing his classroom door—when a voice cut through the hallway.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A school clerk blocked his path, arms crossed with that look administrators

always wore when they’d been hunting someone down.

Leo blinked. “Uh… to my lecture?”

The clerk flipped his ID card and studied the blank barcode like it was a fake passport.

“Leo, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Look, I know the barcode’s missing—the admissions girl

said it was a printer issue. Later today, I’ll check up on her to see if the printer

will work this time around. We cool?”

“We’re not,” the clerk said flatly.

“I spoke with your instructor. You’re excused from class for half an hour.

The Dean wants to see you.”

Leo’s stomach clenched.

“The Dean? Why? Did I do something wrong? Is it because of the barcode? Look, I swear—”

“Dean’s office. Now.”

The tone was final. Leo sighed and turned down the hallway,

the badge swinging uselessly against his chest.

But first he need to sort things out.

He ducked into the nearest restroom, locking the door behind him.

The overhead lights buzzed, cold and sterile.

He gripped the sink and stared at his reflection, heart still pounding.

The ID badge dangled from his neck like a curse.

He took a deep breath and began rehearsing.

“I know what you’re gonna say, Ma’am,” he told the mirror.

“I don’t have a Social Security number because… well, because I just don’t.”

He gestured with open palms.

“But I got into this program through a hospital arrangement.

I need to finish so I can take the state exam for Practical Nursing.

Once I pass, the hospital that sponsored me will help me get a work visa.

And then? Boom. Social Security number.”

He held up the badge, nodding at the white space.

“Then, trust me—I’ll have no problem wearing a proper ID with a barcode.”

He paused, his voice softening.

“But right now... I just need to finish the program. So I can move on with my life.”

Leo again gripped the edges of the restroom sink, staring at himself in the mirror like it had betrayed him.

His reflection was a mess—eyes wide, mouth trembling,

and now, out of nowhere, tears. Big ones.

They popped out one by one, fat and dramatic.

He sniffled, then whispered to himself, practicing like he was already in front of the disciplinary board.

“I know this makes you uncomfortable,” he said, voice cracking.

“But as Dean of the Nursing School, you must understand how valuable one nursing student is in

the grand scheme of things. There’s a major shortage of nurses.

Nobody wants to study nursing anymore! Given the choice,

people would rather become influencers or social media sellers—not butt-wipers.”

Leo gasped in between words, eyes red now. “But I want to be a nurse.

I want to wash people’s butts. I want to change adult diapers.

I want to wrestle with bed sheets soaked in soup, urine, and sadness.

I want to help people pop their pills with dignity!

And if the pandemic strikes again? Sign me up.

I’ll be on the front lines making sure that you stay safe at home,

let me bury the dead.”\

Then he dropped to his knees like a scene straight out of a tragic K-drama,

palms clasped in front of him.

“Please…” he whispered, trembling.

“Don’t kick me out of nursing school. Just give me a chance to sort my situation out.

The barcode is just a number.

I’m not. I’m real.

Please. I’m begging—”

That’s when he realized.

He was holding someone’s leg.

Not just holding—clutching.

Leo looked up in horror to see a very handsome, very amused face looking down at him.

Tristan. But of course at that moment, Leo had not met him yet.

Leo shrieked and almost shoved him over in shock. “WHO ARE YOU?!”

Tristan raised a brow and smirked.

Leo scrambled to his feet, brushing invisible dust off his pants, trying

to pretend the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened.

“Right. Of course. Your stare says it all, you’re a creep. And… how long have you been standing there?”

But before Leo could finish the question, slam—Tristan kabedon

him right against the tiled wall, palm flat beside Leo’s head, their faces inches apart.

Leo’s breath caught.

Tristan leaned in, voice low. “Now that we’ve got your secrets out of the way… let’s talk about us.”

Leo covered his ID badge.

“I’m not blind, and not deaf. Your blank bar code screams, ‘come flirt with me’ as for your

Dean stuffs, maybe you need to emphasize “racial discrimination” that will keep her on the edge.”

“Right. Well, I appreciate the unsolicited legal advice,”

Leo muttered. “But I think I’ll go the less-insane route.”

“Like what? On your knees begging like a drowning cutie?” Tristan snap back.

Leo turned toward the urinals, eager to put some space between them.

But then—footsteps followed.

Leo glanced over. Tristan wasn’t just following. He was also doing what he’s

doing and worst, he’s looking.

Leo narrowed his eyes. “What.”

“Nothing,” the stranger said with an innocent shrug. “Just looking.”

“I know….why are you looking at me while I’m holding my—?!”

Leo gestured wildly at the urinal, completely flustered.

“Okay, I don’t know where you’re from,

but staring at another guy’s situation midstream? That’s so not cool.”

Accidentally Leo’s eyes darted towards Tristan, he quickly looked down

but it was too late, Tristan saw where his eyes traveled.

Tristan lifted a brow, unbothered. “Happy with my five inches of Prime? Well to go exclusive,

you need to dial up your points, if you know what I mean ‘cause that Prime length

can extend depending on your accumulated points”

Leo groaned and stalked back to the sink,

scrubbing his hands with more fury than was probably necessary.

When he turned around—he nearly screamed.

Tristan had cornered him against the sink, body close enough to feel heat.

Leo stiffened. “Dude—what the hell?”

The guy leaned in, lips curling into a smirk. You mean “Tristan?”

“You are so inappropriate.” Leo snaps back.

Eyes locked on Leo’s. “I have a PHd in inappropriate… particularly with someone I like.”

“Huh?” Leo stared at him like he’d just spoken in Latin.

Leo knew he’s left with one move. To exaggerate.

He burst out laughing. But this amused Tristan even more, Tristan raised his eyebrow.

“Ohhh, you are something else,” Leo said, wiping the corner of his eye.

Tristan grinned. “So I’ve been told.”

Leo shook his head, still laughing, but something underneath it twisted in his chest.

A flicker of heat. Of curiosity

He didn’t know who this Tristan was—or what he wanted—

but something about him had just tilted Leo’s world off balance.

And somehow, it felt good. Particularly when he sorta confessed that he liked him.

Leo quickly steps out of the room, he almost forgot that the Dean was expecting him.

Tristan turned around, he grab the doorknob, locking Leo’s hand.

“Look, I don’t know what just happened

back there, Leo, I know I can be too much sometimes,

but… just so you know—I’m taken. I just don’t want to hurt your

feelings. I know you’re so into me and all that, but let’s draw a clear line

on what and where we should be.”

Leo blinked, still catching his breath from their near-collision. “Huh? What are you talking about”

“Ok, that’s hot. I love that you’re playing this hard to get mode.

That works for me. But let’s set that thing aside and let’s be more

realistic, what I’m trying to say Leo is that I mean, I’m kinda taken,” scratching the back of his neck.

“There’s this girl. Her name’s Olive. She lives in this nursing home place.”

Leo frowned. “The one where we’re going to do our clinicals?”

“Yeah! I think so. Not totally sure, you’d have to ask my aunt.”

Leo tilted his head. “Your aunt?”

Tristan gave him a sheepish grin.

“The Dean. Weird, right? I know, I know.

But yeah, Olive and I… we’re not exactly official.

Not yet. But in my heart and mind, she’s the one.”

Leo stared at him. The silence stretched.

“…Is this the part,” Leo said slowly,

“where you tell me you just want to hook up and it’s totally fine because

you’re spiritually committed to someone else?”

Tristan squinted, pretending to think. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. But I’m kinda going on that

direction, I mean, we’re officially going to hook up right after all the tensions earlier?”

Leo smirked. “Tristan, you might be cute and all that, but I don’t want to hook up with you.”

That made Tristan pause.

His head cocked slightly,

then he took a step closer. “You don’t want to hook up with me? Is that what you just said?

You saw my equipment Leo, you checked me out as well as I checked you out, frankly,

we already knew each other

I think you’re making a clear mistake,

I am hookable.”

Leo immediately regretted his smugness.

His back pressed against the restroom door.

Tristan wasn’t just standing close—he was close close.

Close enough that Leo could see the little flecks of

hazel in his eyes and smell the faint citrus of his cologne.

Leo swallowed. His voice cracked. “Yeah. I said it. Loud and clear. I don’t want to hook up with you.”

Tristan leaned in, a teasing smile on his lips.

“You don’t? You’re nervous, Leo. Your heart’s not going to lie for you.”

Leo shoved him back—lightly, not enough to really push him away.

“I’m not nervous. Why would I be nervous around you?”

To Leo’s shock, Tristan Kabedon him again and right by the bathroom door, he kissed Leo.

Leo was shocked, at first his lips is clueless on what do next, but

Tristan lips are stronger, greedier. He kissed Leo with so much intensity.

Finally, Leo gave in, he kissed Tristan back, and that’s when Tristan withdrew the kiss.

“I never said we can’t hook up,” Tristan locked his eyes on Leo.

Leo froze, his lips twitched.

Tristan’s voice was calm, casual.

“All I’m saying is... Olive can’t know. And just to be clear—I can’t be exclusive.”

To Leo’s shock, Tristan fished through his pocket, accidentally Tristan

bump into Leo’s growing “something”

Leo’s eyes widened, Tristan gave him a cocky smile.

He fished Leo’s phone and key in his number, dropping the phone back at

Leo’s pocket while giving Leo a quick tug.

Totally shocked.

What’s going on. Leo tried to recover but it was too late.

Tristan knew. He’s as transparent as a clear acrylic.

Leo turned slowly, looking at him like he’d just suggested burning down a hospital for fun.

Then, with precise, dramatic calm, Leo walked away from Tristan.

Tristan stood there, lips still curved into a flirtatious smirk.

He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “Feisty,” he muttered.

But then—his smile faltered.

His hand twitched. Then again.

Tristan looked down, eyes narrowing as his fingers began to tremble.

A blue vein along his wrist pulsed sharply, swollen and jagged like lightning under skin.

“Shit,” he whispered. He shoved his hand into his pocket, clenching it tight. His jaw stiffened, eyes darting toward the hallway. No one saw.

He steadied his breath.

The charming grin returned.

But the vein still throbbed—hidden in the dark.

He checked his phone.

“Damn, Sebastian why are you not answering your phone.”