Occasional Brown spit, mouth tastes like blood, no fever

[raidr3]

Hi! I'm a 22 year old who has been a smoker for about 6 years now, a month ago after drinking with a friend I woke up and decided to spit out what I assumed was phlegm but was suprised see an almost cherry red streaked saliva. panicking I decided to go the ER to have myself evaluated, but upon initial X-ray and blood tests I was told that my X-ray seemed to look fine and that blood tests showed a higher amount of  Neutrophils (70.3) and Monocytes (10.2), which my Biology graduate friend told me is an indication of a possible infection.

Upon getting the formal results of the X-ray however, i was then diagnosed with Bi-basal Pneumonia in the results with hazy reticular densities at both lungs. Upon consulting a Pulmonologist I was told that my lungs sounded fine. however upon looking at my X-ray he gave me a prescription of Co-amoxiclav and Tranexamic acid and told me to go for a week of treatment for possible pneumonia. In the same week I've tried getting tested for TB via Sputum AFB Smear 2x and sum Creatinin, both of which turned out normal.

The week went by and less blood came out to the point that I believed I was clean and okay. 3 weeks after treatment (a month after initially spitting out blood) I sneezed pretty hard. and upon spitting there it was again. blood a little more diluted this time and not as alarming as my initial spit, along with some mucus, but still disheartening to see.

Since then I occasionally spit out saliva, and more often than not it remains clear, which puzzles me. even after coughing particularly hard, when I spit it's more than usually clear. If i try to repetitively keep spitting (3-4 times just to be sure) however, I encounter that all too familiar metallic taste and my spit turns into a darker brown tint, which gets slightly darker the more i try spitting.

there was even one instance where before i even coughed, upon spitting, the spit already seemed to be clear with a slight brown tint, and upon coughing seemed clear. but the metallic taste sort of lingers. this is a recurring peculiarity for me since If it really was from my lungs wouldn't the consistency get even more thick the more i coughed?

I've also just noticed odd bumps ish near the back of my throat or above the tonsil near the uvula? that weren't there before. (i also consulted with an ENT right after the pulmonologist just to rule out any other disease)

I don't feel particularly sick, or find difficulty breathing, if it weren't for the metallic taste in my mouth I probably wouldn't be worried right now.

TL;DR

Initially coughed up Blood streaked saliva (no mucus, or the mucus seemed pretty clear)
Was diagnosed with bibasal pneumonia
Underwent a week of antibiotics and tranexamic acid
Symptoms cleared up
Sneezed 3 weeks later and spit out slightly red tinted sputum
Been spitting out clear-brown saliva ever since. (saliva usually clear, turns darker if i keep spitting, with or without coughing)

Google has given me an onset of possible diseases:

Pneumonia (may have turned out to be viral instead of Bacterial)
Of special note however: a week before i even coughed up the blood streaked saliva, a friend complained of the same, but of lesser quantity, then after a week of treatment, another friend was going through similar spitting out blood.

Bronchitis (is it possible to get this right after Pneumonia)
Post Nasal Drip
Irritated Sinuses
etc.

Currently debating whether or not to proceed with either a CT-Scan of my Chest Area or a Bronchioscopy, but I wanted to clear up the possiblity of this being something that might actually be more localized to my Ears-Nose-Throat.