Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

„You look like shit, Bohn. What happened to you.” Bohn groaned and slowly lifting his head to stare at Tee as he sat down across from him. He managed a “Fuck you.” Before dropping his head back onto the table. He was terrible tired and his head hurt like hell.
“Nang broke up with him yesterday. She kicked him out in the middle of the night. He rung me and my out of bed to come and pick him up.” Boss was a god damn snitch.
“Ohh our playboy broke another heart.” Tee would regret his comment as soon as he had the power to kick his ass again.
“Good morning.” King arrived siting down next to him. His only answer was an unintelligible mumble.
“Hey do you want a painkiller?” He nodded and decided King was now his favorite friend.
And Boss was already back to disguising his misery again. “He wouldn't stop texting King and then refused to show her his phone. I mean she could have seen secret things like our physic homework.”
“It's about principal.” Bohn defended himself. “And it was about King. If I wanted to get into his pants, I would have already been there.”
“Sure, buddy.” Mek was also a terrible friend. He flipped his friends in general off.
“I'm sorry.” King said, carefully patting his back. Yes definitely his favorite. The rest of his terrible friends kept chatting. At least his headaches got a little better.

“Good morning P'Bohn.” He looked up into the face of someone who was very much to happy for this time of the day. To Bohn's comfort he was at least greeted by a cute smile. He sat up straight to eye the boy up and down. He looked vaguely familiar. Maybe one of the new first years he hazed.
“I wanted to ask you out on a date.” He held a rose in front of his face. That was new. The people that usually pursued him, didn't ooze so much good boy energy.
“Why?” Not Bohn's most intelligent moment but he was tired and confused.
“Well, because I like you.”
He wasn't ready for this. He shoot up, grasped the rose and fled to his class.
“Ask me again when I'm in a better mood.”

When his friends joined him in the classroom, he was thoroughly informed about Duen. He was a first year medical student and his mother was one of the professors in the engineering faulty. Just his luck. He seemed attractive, intelligent and well liked, so neither he nor his friends knew why he asked him out. “Maybe he just actually likes you.” Boss suggested. “You managed to be faculty moon last year, before all that drama.” Tee argued. Bohn wasn't convinced.

To his big surprise the boy came back the next morning with another rose.
“Good morning, P'Bohn. Are you feeling better?” Another surprise was the sincerity in his voice.
“Shouldn't you introduce yourself to your senior first?” Tee made a solid point.
Duen's eyes grew in surprise when realized he never did, and after a few seconds of blushing, he corrected his mistake. “You can call me Duen and I'm a first year medical student.”
“So, Nong Duen, how can I help you on this beautiful morning?” Bohn asked, taking the flower from him.
“I just wanted to wish you a good morning, bring you a flower and maybe ask on a date.”
He got up to stand in front of Duen and lifted his chin with the flower to keep their eye contact.
“I still think you will have to try harder than this.” He ignored his friends unhelpful comments and hollering in favor of studying the blush spreading over the other's face. After walking up with a flower in hand and plainly asking for a date without a problem, this was to much? This could be interesting.
“I have to go now or I'll be late to my morning lecture.” Duen sounded rushed and nervous for the first time.

Bohn stopped Tee's overplayed swooning with a slap to the forehead and sat back down. He continues to ignore them and take a look at the flowe. Like yesterday, it was beautiful and it had a nice scent. If things went on like this, he would need to actually buy a vase. He already had one of his glasses occupied by a rose.
“It cute how you swoon over a flower!” Before Bohn could kick Boss ass for that, he had hid behind Mek, demanding “his husband to protect him”. Mek rolled his eyes and told Boss to get off him.

Bohn stretched and hopped his day wouldn't stay as bad as his morning so far. He was woken up half an hour before his alarm, by his phone furiously vibrating. His friends had spammed their group chat because someone posted a picture of Duen giving him a rose on the school's website. Of course someone would have. The campus was plagued with noisy busybodys. If he was already awake he could at least take a proper long shower.
On his way to the bathroom his eyes fell on the four roses. They looked great in his shelf, even if he still needed to buy a vase. Would it still feel like this, if he bought his own flowers? He wasn't sure. Not like he would ever buy flowers for him self. He took a deep breath of their smell into his lungs and dragged himself into the shower.

His last lesson just ended and he was wandering the halls of his faculty. All his friends hurried of, probably to get into somebody's pants. At least this way he could take out his daily flower and make sure that he could take it home safely. He was just taking in it's fragrant when he heard two very surprising but familiar voices.
“Duen, I love you, you are my son. I don't want you to get hurt. I'm not saying that N'Bohn is a bad person, but you know what they say about him. I'm worried about you.” He heard one of his professors talk around the corner. Even if he didn't want to eavesdrop, he couldn't stop himself.
“Mother, I'm a fully grown adult. You can't tell me who I get to met up with anymore.”
“Duen, please listen to ….”
“No, I have to go now. I have to pick up Daonua now. Good bye, I'll see you at home.”
He could slip into an empty classroom, before Duen came around the corner. That explained at least why a good boy like Duen would hit on him. What better way to piss of your parents than to date him? To scare them and to show them you are all grown up? Bohn took a deep breath and decided that he was okay with that. He knew it was just a phase, that he didn't love him and that was alright with him. So he could at least make the best of it.

Chapter Text

Bohn reached the faculty parking space, before Duen had left. It was kind of adorable, how his whole face lit up, as soon as he spotted him. “Hello P'Bohn.”
“Hello Nong, I think it's time to answer your question. And I say yes”
“Which question?” He stared at him with big confused eyes.
“I will go on a date with you. But on one condition. You keep bringing me flowers for the rest of the month.” The smile that shone of Duen's face hit him hard. His grin split his face from one ear to another, and his eyes crinkled to two happy splits. “Absolutely!”
“I will pick you up tomorrow at two pm and you can take me to a movie.” Duen just nodded in agreement.
“Now hand over your phone.” Duen's grin barley wavered, he mostly just dropped his head to the side in confusion. Like a fucking puppy.
“I want to exchange numbers. Shouldn't you trust your future husband?”
Duen's blush was immediate and intense. “You really shouldn't say such cheesy things.” He scolded him and handed Bohn his phone. He saved up the their numbers as “P'Bohn <3” and “Duen, smile, 1.yr med.”.
They said their good byes and he turned around, waving as walked to his car. He refused to dwell on the little skip of his heart.

The weather was nice, he had a good night of sleep, today was a good day for a date. He pulled up in front of Duen's house. He only had to wait two minuets before Duen joined him in his car. Duen was good driving company, he was fun to talk to and didn't try to mess with his music. When they arrived, they agree that Duen would get the tickets, while he would buy the snacks. He picked caramel popcorn and two bottles of water.
When he came back to some random girl hitting on Duen, he felt anger rush through him. How dare her hit on his date? She wasn't even especially pretty. He might not be the greatest guy to date, but at least he had the looks to match Duen. He strode up to them, his head held high and wrapped his arm provocative around Duen's shoulder.
“Maybe you shouldn't hit on other people's date.” His voice was cold and a little to loud.
“I wasn't trying to hit on him.” She quietly tried to defend herself.
He looked her up and down before he answered. “Oh, so you at least know your league.” Bohn barley had time to take in her shocked face, before Duen quickly apologized and grabbed him to drag him of. Sweet Duen only managed a short apologize to that girl before they were out of earshot and in some quiet deserted corner.
“Shouldn't you be able to act like a senior, P'Bohn? She just asked me to take a picture for her.”
“Of course she did. A blind man could see she was flirting with you.” And a wiser man could have kept this words inside. But being wise wasn't one of his strongholds and so he continued, like the idiot he was. “Haven't you seen how she played with her hair? How she looked at you?”
“Are you jealous?” He didn't answer. He just stared at his feed and contemplated to just run away.
“She really didn't flirt with me. She just asked me to take a picture for her. And then we just causally talked.”
Duen was wrong, but his confidence managed to sooth Bohn a little bit. He just sounded so sure, so save. Bohn's voice wasn't shrill or loud when he answered. “That wasn't casually. She was flirting with you.” Duen looked like he wanted to disagree but Bohn continued before he could. “I don't care. From now on just don't allow anyone else to flirt with you.”
“You will have to ask me to be your boyfriend before making such demands.” With these words Duen spun around. “Are you coming? We will miss our movie.”
He felt his feet moving behind the other before his brain had fully caught up.

When he came home he just dropped onto his bed and laid there. The movie had been good. The date had been good. Even though he fucked up and lost his temper once again. Duen was nice, charming, fun and even looked good. His gaze fell onto the flowers still sitting in a vase and felt a grin growing on his lips. Even when it wouldn't last, it would at least be a fun ride.

He was peacefully walking from his car to their usual table when Tee greeted him and nonchalantly swung his arm over his shoulder.
“So, Bohn, how was your weekend? Did something interesting happen?” Something in Tee's tone rang his alarm bells.
“I was home all weekend.” He said, you know, like a liar.
“So if I go to the school's cute boy side and check for news....” Tee used his dramatic break to fish out his phone with his free hand. “I won't find a picture of you and Duen at the movies?”
“You're a god damn... Shut up!” He cursed, loud. Tee knew him well enough to run away from him. He would kick the jerk's ass, as soon as he caught him.

Tee wasn't just a jerk but also a coward. Bohn was shooting him dirty looks as he hid behind Duen and begging the other to protect him. Then he saw Duen just standing there with a rose and a confused smile. He decided that he alone was enough of a bad influence on his junior and dragged him of, and away from his friends.

This was kind of nice. He felt a little buzz but wasn't drunk. And he was dancing with a giggly, happy Duen.
He had been out with his friends when they had run into Duen and his friends. The other had told him a very confusing tale, of which he only heard half of over the loud music. He just knew that it was something about his little sister and some rascal. His female friend, Ting? Hopefully, joked about a big brother complex. Duen then started loudly talking about morals and principals.

When Bohn came back from the bathroom to join both their friend groups at their table, he realized his night just got much worse. Across from Duen sat Nang and she was putting it on thick. He took a deep breath and tried to suppress the anger in his chest. It worked enough so that he didn't just scream. He slipped into his seat beside Duen.
“Hello Nang, nice to see you again. I see you meet my date.” She looked beautifully annoyed with him. But instead of going away like he hoped, she focused back onto Duen. “Oh so N'Duen, how does it come, that you are going out with someone like Bohn?” She spit out his name like poison.
Duen answered with a naive, proud tone before Bohn could curse her out.“I asked him out.” Duen's head dropped onto his shoulder and he giggled. He tried to reach for Bohn's shot, who took it to hold it out of the little drunks reach. “Hey, Wait! You are already drunk enough.”
“Aww, if you won't let me drink, then what do you want me to do? Can I borrow your phone to play games then?” He held his hands out expectantly. He wasn't sure why, but he just gave it to the other. After two seconds it was handed back to him. “You can have it back.”
“Why?” He asked Duen, who honest to god pouted at him. “You locked it with a password. If a phone has a password, that means the owner doesn't want anyone to touch it.” Something in him pruned at the way Nang was starring at them. He unlocked his phone and gave it back to Duen. Somehow he knew that the other would just play some idle phone game on it. “Here, I unlocked it for you. Take it.”
The other grinned at him “Thank you.”
And like the fucking adult he was he threw a smug look at Nang. She downed half her glass. With Duen contently cuddled into his shoulder, he ignored the disapproving way the younger one's friends eyed him. Well fuck. But Duen's parents hated him anyway so where was the harm, if his friend's hated him, too?
“How do I play this game?” Duen whined, so he answered while showing him “Look, just put them together.”
“How? Show me how to play.” The other was hopeless. “Like this.” He had wrapped his arm around his shoulder to show him. “Press here.”
“What? Speak up. I can't hear you, it's too loud in here.” The other was close to screaming into his ear.
“Look! You have to press here, then there, try it.” Boss was mimicking him mockingly and mumbling something to Mek. Like he could talk, with the way he basically sat in Mek's lap.
Nang stood up so fast, she almost knocked over her chair and stormed of. Even Duen's eyes followed her loud and rapid movements.
“You humiliated her pretty bad.” Mek sounded disapproving.
“She deserved it” Bohn defended himself. He flinched when Ram suddenly shot up. “Let's go! Next time don't use my friend to get back at some girl.” He dragged Duen up into a shaky stand.
“Wait! Duen is very drunk, I'm have my car here and King is sober, I will take him back myself.” Bohn grabbed Duen's arm in an effort to stop Ram from dragging him away.
“It's fine. We can go back ourselves.” The other took his phone from Duen's hands and held it in front of him.
“But I can take him home by car.” It annoyed him how desperate he sounded.
“What is your relationship with him then?” Bohn let go of Duen's arm at that. Ram hadn't said the words very loud, but the cold tone and their truth were enough. Ram was right. He was just some guy Duen had one date with. And considering his outburst it probably wasn't very a good date.
He starred into his drink, while the others said their awkward good byes.

Chapter Text

Bohn was surprised to say at least. His aunt had once again, asked him pick up little cousin from preschool and watch him for the day. Beside said boy knelt Duen, frantically talking to a little girl.
Bohn walked up to them and Duen' attention snapped up to him. The other stood up, his sharp gaze zeroing in on him. The actual anger in his demeanor was another surprise.
“Bohn, are you the brother of this little blond rascal?”
“So what? He's my cousin. Is there any problem?”
“That's why you both have the same cheeky attitude. Did you know, yesterday your brother kissed my sister on the cheek?” He seemed to actually be outraged by a kiss on the check between to preschool children.
“So what? Are you jealous that I didn't kiss your cheek yet?” He knew that this would only rile Duen up more, but he was looking kinda hot, when he was angry.
“What are you talking about? I'm leaving now. Let's go, Daonua! And next time be careful with that rascal.” He picked up the little girl. Seeing them side by side he could clearly see their similarities.
“How are you getting home? I can drive the two of you?” Duen raised an eyebrow at him.
“No, you can not.” He turned around to walk of and Bohn said the first thing in his mind, to stop the other from leaving.
“Hey, or are you meeting someone?” Jep, he started being clingy again.
“Why are you asking such questions? You are not my boyfriend. So stop bothering me. Let's go, Daonua.” Well, that might have been true, but still, unnecessary mean. He felt strangely disappointed.
“Come on, Ben. Let's go home.” The boy seemed to have different plans.“Hey, You kissed a boy before?” He stood his ground and stared at him quizzically. “Come here.” He grabbed the little boy and carefully leaned his back against his legs. Bohn took his time, to collect his thoughts and carefully pat Ben's head. “You are to young to worry about such a thing yet.”

Even if Ben probably reduced his bad boy image a little, their meeting had one big advantage. After Duen calmed down and probably some whining from Daonua, they started to arrange play dates. Kids demanded less attention when you could keep them busy with other kids. And it even came with the added bonus of giving him something else to focus said attention on, namely Duen.
When they meet that Thursday morning and found out they both had to babysit, they decided to go out for ice cream. So here they were, sitting and stealing each others ice. Bohn felt something warm in his chest.
“P'Fong! Hello!” Daonua screamed out excitedly and waved. Bohn and Duen turned around to see the newcomer moving in their direction. Duen smiled at the man and Bohn cursed under his breath.
It had to be the Fong. The Fong that almost beat him at the moon competition last year. And the one people still said should have won. The Fong that hated him for being a useless jerk. The Fong that was nothing more than a arrogant pretentious prick.
“Hello N'Duen, N' Daonua, Bohn.” He greeted them. Daonua answered exited “This is Ben from the preschool. We are friends.”
“Hello N'Ben. So N'Duen how are you? Are your parents doing okay?” He asked, and Duen nicely greeted him and offered him a seat. “My father is out of the country at the moment but my mother is great. How about you?” Bohn barley heard their small talk, to busy starring at Fong.
He suddenly felt nervous and nauseous, unable to take another bite of his dessert. He knew Duen would end up with someone like Fong, he deserved someone like Fong. They were both clever, nice and Duen's parents already loved him. They hated Bohn. How could they not? His own barley liked him, since he started making trouble. And he was trouble since puberty hit. He couldn't stand himself most days. He was loud, angry and childish.
He had known this thing with Duen wasn't forever. But it was nice. And it sucked to see his replacement. Fong won the second place as moon because he was every girls dream future husband. He won because he took of his shirt.
He flinched at the hand that suddenly landed on his shoulder. “Hey are you okay” Duen's voice was quiet and concerned. Bohn looked up from his melting ice cream in those beautiful eyes. Fong was already gone. He took a deep breath and tried to clam himself down.
“Yeah it's alright. Just let me eat my ice cream in peace.” He growled picking his cup and shoved a few bites into his mouth. It tasted to sweet and he felt like he might need to trow up. He kept eating it. It was better than thinking. He took out his phone to scroll social media.

Thanks to the soaring rain outside it was easy to get Duen and Daonua into his car. It was harder to convince Duen to cook at Bohn's place for all of them. But the kids might have missed their favorite cartoon, if he first took the long detour to Duen's place. And once the little ones were convinced Duen was faced with the power of all of their collective pouting and puppy-dog eyes.
He thought he saw something in Duen's gaze as his eyes slipped to Bohn's pouting lips for a second but it was gone after he blinked. But all the whining was well worth it. Daonua was right when she told them, that Duen was a great cook. He didn't have a home cooked meal in forever, which made it even better. In a strange way it was probably one of the best dates in his life, ironic, considering that it technically wasn't one.

“We can do that next time, we have to go home now.” Duen denied the kids, as they wanted to watch more cartoons.
“How are you going to get home? It's still pouring rain outside and every time it rains, the garage gets flooded” Bohn had never claimed to be a very honest guy, and besides he was only exaggerating a little. You really probably couldn't reach his car without getting wet feet.
“Yes, every time, and we can only reach the car the next morning.” He was impressed how fast Ben chimed in to support his claims.
“What else are we suppose to do then?”
“Actually, you could sleep over. You can borrow my and Ben's clothes for tonight. Daonua can watch the cartoon with Ben, too. How does that sound?” He asked hopefully.
Daonua's exited tone told him that he almost won “A sleepover? Yeah, that's great!”
“Who said we are going to sleep over?” He ask his sister before looking in Bohn's direction warily.
“Or are you going to walk through the flood downstairs with your poor little sister? There are probably going to be rats and cockroachs in the water?”
“Yesterday there was a crocodile! It was this big!” Ben might not have convinced Duen, but it worked with Daonua, judging by her outcry. ”That sounds scary, let's stay here, please. Please!”
Just like Bohn expected, the other couldn't resisted his little sister's pleas. “Fine, we are going to sleep over tonight, alright?” He carefully patted her hair.
“Yes, you are the best!” She grinned at him like he just hung the stars and the moon. He would make a joke about the other's brother complex if those two weren't so freaking adorable. And because Duen might still change his mind about the sleepover.
Ben immediately started dragging of Daonua. ”If we start watching the first episode now, we could finish all the episodes in the morning. Let's go and start watching.” He hoped they would fall asleep on their own early enough. Otherwise they would have to drag cartoons away from not one, but two toddlers.
Duen started talking when the kids were out of earshot. “You secretly planned this right? You knew that we would have to sleep over.” He sounded a little accusatory but not really angry so Bohn didn't regret it.
He ignored the question to inform the other “Well, there are towels in the bathroom.”

Chapter Text

Bohn thought about turning around and going back to sleep, but then he smelt something delicious. And then he heard the kids screaming. There went his chance to keep sleeping, so he got up.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He was greeted by Duen, followed by the way to happy good mornings of the kids. It was to early for Duen's sass as well as the energy of two children.
“Everybody, sit down, breakfast will be ready in a minute.”

The food was delicious and the rest of the morning went surprisingly peaceful. Considering that he called him a “little blond rascal” Duen started to coddle him almost as much as Daonua pretty fast. The three of them made one adorable picture together.
At first they had dropped of Ben at home, before driving all the way to Duen's place. Sadly he couldn't wait for the other to get ready, or he would miss his first classes. Not that he would care really, but Duen had insisted that he had to go first and that his academia was indeed very important.

“Hey Duen, wait up.” He stopped the other man as Daonua ran into the house.“What can I do for you, P'Bohn?”
He only hesitated a second before he actually answered. “Are you free this Saturday? I thought maybe we could go out again.”
And there it was again that beautiful smile, showing his white teeth and crinkling his eyes. “Yes absolutely! We can go to the floating marked.”
“The floating market? Why?” Not the most intelligent reaction but that answer did come out of nowhere. And if Duen's smile distracted him a little, that was no one's business, but his own.
“Our parents often went there with Daonua and me, and we haven't been there since I started going to university.” Duen's gaze started wandering and he seemed lost in the memories.

“Look over there. I want a new shirt,too.” Bohn said a little to loud and gestured to a couple shopping at one of the booths.
“Then you.” Duen took a deep breath and tried to sound less annoyed as people had started starring at them. “P'Bohn you should buy it yourself.”
He grabbed the others arm and continued in a played pleading tone “Then you should chose one for me, please.”
“No.” Duen answered in a stern voice.
“I will not complain no matter what you chose. I promise.” He negotiated holding up his pinkie for a promise. The other linked their fingers and looked him straight in the eyes. Bohn felt excitement about the competitive spark in Duen's stare. “Remember that promise. You can't complain about my taste.”
Well, Bohn was part of that taste, but he was still willing to take that risk. He watched as the other was looking though different shirts with different prints. All of their pattern were big and colorful. He ended up comparing a white and a black one.
“Here take the white one. In black you will get to hot in the sun. You will die from a heatstroke.” Duen pushed the shirt in front of his face.
“I will be hot in white shirt too, when it's all transparent and wet from sweat. Other people may stare at me.” He just raised a eyebrow at Bohn as if he just made a silly joke. He kinda was, but that is no reason, not to take him serious.
“You said you wouldn't complain. White it is then. Or do you have anything else to say?” Duen asked in a challenging tone.
“No, I have nothing to say, but “ He paused for dramatic effect. “I'm a bit sad, that you're not even a little jealous because of that.”
“Of course, I'm not jealous because of it. You're an adult, you can make your own decisions. Hand it over.” He said before grabbing the shirt and turning to the booth owner. “How much does this cost?”
The other paid for the shirt and nonchalantly held out the bag for Bohn. He took it in with one hand and Duen's hand in the other. When the other just slightly slapped his arm, without trying to pull away, he assumes it's okay.

Duen stood beside him eating from a plastic plate with Saté. Bohn whined for attention and pointed into his open mouth in hopes of being fed. Duen shook his head in response.
Bohn tried again, this time doing it with all the cuteness he could muster. “No” Duen said, only seconds before giving in and feeding Bohn.
With his next idea he waits for Duen to take his last bite. While the other is still chewing it, he leans forward and whispers into his ear. “Next time I could eat you up.”
He had the foresight to use the head start, while the other froze up. Duen needed a few seconds before he could shallow, and he looked furiously and embarrassed. His whole face was tomato red. “Bohn.” He screamed as he started chasing him.
And it was a great fun. Until he lost his footing on the riverfront and stumbled dangerously close to the edge. Duen gabbed his hand, as he threatened to slip. And they fell into the water together.

So there they were, sitting by the river side, soaking wet. He looked down at his dripping clothes, looked up into Duen's face. The other grinned at him and giggled “We should have brought shampoo.”
When Bohn joined in the laughter, it grew louder and louder, until they were both gasping for air.
“Come, let's go to my place and dry up.” Bohn said, when he caught his breath.

“Hey, what takes you so long?” Bohn asked, as he knocked on his bathroom door. Duen had insisted on drying and changing there, while Bohn had simply taken of his shirt as soon as he entered his flat.
“Don't rush me.” Duen protested from the inside. He stood up from his bed and strolled over to his bathroom door.
“Or you can't scrub your back? Do you need someone to help you scrub your back?” Provoking Duen was still fun.
“No” He sounded scandalized. Bohn leaned next to the door and lightly tapped against it. He felt a nice warmth flow trough him and a smile spread over his face.

Chapter Text

“Bohn, thanks for lending me your clothes.” Duen said as he left the bathroom. It had seemed like a great idea, to give Duen a half transparent white shirt, just to see his flustered reaction. That was, until he was faced with Duen, in a half transparent shirt and the top buttons open. Contra to Bohn, he didn't quite seem to realize, how he looked.
“It's fine.” His voice sounded high pitched and shrill.
“Why are you starring at me?” Duen seemed suspicious. Nope, he wasn't ready to handle that truth right now.
“I'm starring, because your hair is dripping all over my floor.” Yes great distraction. “Come here, I'll dry it for you.” he patted on the space beside him.
“It's fine I can do it myself.” He seemed hesitant to sit down. When Bohn pulled him down beside him, Duen continued accusingly. “You are always so stubborn.”
Bohn ignored his protests and started drying his hair with the towel. It granted him enough distraction to actually think again.
“Is it done?” Duen whined impatiently and dropped his head back. His eyes met Duen's and he made a decision. The excitement of the date and their accidental bath was still rushing through him. He was still young so why not?
“I've got the uniform” He said. So what, if it what just a phase.
“Huh,what?” The other sounded a little confused.
“I've got the gear.” His heart was beating hard in his chest.
“I know that, you study engineering, of course you got the gear.” This felt crazy.
“But my lover position is still free.” He was young and now was a great time for a few heartbreaks
“What the hell? Why are you telling me this?” Now he was annoyed, but god damn if even that didn't look good on him. Especially this close up.
“As I thought, you are to dense to understand.” Well, insulting him was possibly a bad tactic.
“Oh, why are you scolding me now? Get to the point. Why are you beating around the bush? Are you crazy?” That damn person was even adorable, when he was was impatiently whining at him.
“I'm asking you to be my boyfriend.” Duen blinked at him, his gaze empty as the stared at him. Bohn couldn't stop the laughter escaping him, the other was just so cute.
Duen groaned and hid his face in his hands. He could see his ears burning red. “So what is your answer?” His answer was an unintelligible mumble.
“What did you say?” He asked in an overly serious tone. Duen hits his shoulder for that. Then he took a deep breath, dropped his hands and nodded. “Yes.”
He locked eyes with Bohn for a second, before jumping up and fleeing out of the room. “I'm going to make something to eat.”

When he joined the other in the kitchen, he seemed to be a little beside himself. He sat down on the other side of his counter and watched Duen. He was preparing a pan and mixing eggs in a bowl.
He just put the egg into the hot oil, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes shoot up to Bohn. Before he can question if everything is alright the other is already asking. “Which one of us is going to sleep on the couch?”
Bohn hadn't expected Duen to freak out this bad. “Why would one of us sleep on the couch? This won't be the first time, you stay over night.”
Bohn wanted to scream out in frustration, with how earnest the other sounded about this.”But we are a couple now. And the Children aren't here.”
He sighted, pointed at the pan and remembered the other that there was an omelet on the stove. Bohn was impressed that Duen still managed to save their food. Through their whole meal the other stayed in a nervous daze, only eating a few bites, before resigning to fiddle with his fingers, rolling his sleeves up and down.
Duen was freaking out. He looked like a bundle on nerves. Maybe he should have waited a little longer to ask. Was he just to nice to say no? Did he change his opinion?
Bohn couldn't take the silence any longer. He decided to abandon the rest of the food and drag Duen to his bedroom. “Come on. I have a new movie on my laptop that I wanted to watch.”

The Movie had been a good idea, it had managed to unwind and distract both of them. They are chatting about what they liked about the movie and joking about all the things they didn't like. Duen was smiling at him in that beautiful way again. His heart skipped a beat at the sight.
Suddenly the other's face grows serious and he takes a deep breath. He stares intently into Bohn's eyes.
“Can I kiss you?” Duen was probably the first person to actually ask him that. He sounded unsure and nervous, as if the answer wouldn't be obvious. “No need to ask that.”
His gaze dropped down to his hands. When he looked back up at Bohn, the determination was back in his eyes. The contact of their lips was light and short, but it was still accelerating. How Duen's eyes fluttered shut as he leand in, how held his face as if Bohn was precious, how careful and sweet the press of his lips was.

As Duen stared at him with a dazed gaze, still cradling his face, Bohn expected him to lean back in,. What he didn't expect, was for Duen's eyes growing big in panic and his face flustered. And for him to flee to his side of the bed and hide. wrapped up in the blanket. You know how shy Duen can be, said a voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like King. He knew it was right, but still.

“Good night P'Bohn.” He almost giggled, how breathless the other sounded about a chaste peak. He leaned back into his pillow, his hands behind his head. Guess they were going sleep at eight o'clock. “Good night, Darling.”

Bohn was sitting on his bed, at his parents house, Duen across from him. “Here, try this.” the other said and fed him some cake. It was very sweet, like the smile on Duen's face. Suddenly he was leaning closer to Bohn and was kissing him. His lips tasted like bitter almond and cake. He pulled back to early for Bohn's taste. Duen took his chin in his soft hands and turned his face, so he looked directly at his rosebush.
“They are beautiful, are they not, babe.” The other whispered in his ear, before he started singing. His voice sounded strange.

Suddenly conciseness hit him and he was awake and searching for his ringing phone. He picked up and only managed an intelligible grumble. “Good morning, P'Bohn.” It takes a few second for Duen's words registered.
“Morning” He answers before slowly sitting up.
“What kind of flower do you want today?” He asked, like Bohn ever gave him a different answer. “I don't care. I'm happy with whatever you pick.”
“Okay, see you later.” He chirped and hung up, without waiting for an answer.
Today would be the last day he would get his flower. He looked over to his new vase and the dried up flowers in the shelf next to it. He would really miss this.

He walked up to Duen, who already stood at their table next to the engineering gear. Luckyly for Bohn, none of their friends were there yet. Next to him on the bench sat a big brown paperback.
“What? Today is the last day you will bring me flowers. I thought you would surprise me with a rose shower.” Bohn said, mostly joking.
“I'm not that romantic, but I've got this for you.” Duen turned to the table to pull something out of the paper bag and hid it behind his back.
“Here!” He exclaimed proudly, as he pulled a rosebush out from behind his back. “I want our last flower to be special. So you can keep this one forever.”
Bohn gabbed the flower and and cradled it to his chest. They were beautiful and smelled great. And it would last.
“When you don't have to bring me flowers anymore, will you still come and see me every morning?” he asked hopefully.
“No.” Duen rejected his request and Bohn felt his hope crumble. The other continued, without leaving him hanging for long. “But I will over every day for lunch or dinner.”
As soon the words sunk in, the smile was back on his face. “Duen have I told you before, how cute you are?” He couldn't stop the question from bumbling out of his mouth.
“I know I'm cute, no need to tell me.” Bohn flicked the cocky little junior against the forehead. “That hurt ….” The other whined in protest.

His Friday had been okay. Duen had spend lunch with him, which was nice but his classes had been exhausting. And Duen was suppose to spend the whole weekend with his family, so he had no reason not to use the time to study. The cutie had snitched to King that Bohn had a free weekend, so now he was forced to attend his weekly study session. What a delight. Well at least his little idiot was damn cute. He sighted as his back hit his bed. He closed his eyes and listened to the rain hitting his window.
His doorbell rang and he shot up. He wasn't expecting anybody and hadn't ordered food yet. He hurried over to the door and glanced through his spy hole. In front of his door stood a dripping wet Duen with his backpack. He opened his door and greeted the other “Hey, did you miss me that bad?”
“I had a fight with my parents. Can I stay here for now?” Bohn took another look at him and saw how Duen looked. His eyes were cast down, he was wet, his arms were crossed in front of his chest and he rubbed his shoulders. “Of course, come in. You look like you are freezing.”
Duen didn't tell him any details for the rest of the night. Not when he ushered him into the bathroom to take a warm shower and change. Not when Duen just started making dinner for them, telling Bohn about his latest assignment.
Well guess with him moving in, they were of to a heavy start.

Chapter Text

The sun hit Bohn's face and cruelly ripped him out of his sleep. He rolled over and blindly searched for his phone. He remembered Duen when the other groaned and tightened the blanked around him.
It was nine o'clock on a Saturday morning, way to early in the morning and Duen looked surprisingly pretty for someone sleeping. He was neither drooling, nor snoring, nor making a face. So Bohn just kept staring at him. It was nice and Duen didn't look as tired as yesterday. Bohn shifted up a little and balanced his head on his hand, dropping his elbow into his pillow.
He didn't know how long he just watched the other before he got a pillow to the face.
“Stop staring at me like that.” Duen sounded tiered and annoyed, hitting Bohn's leg when he started giggling. After that Bohn lowered the pillow to look into the others eyes. “Good morning, so I can't look at my boyfriend?”
And the other was beet red. “Not like that.” He said accusingly. Bohn raised a mocking eyebrow at him. “Like what?”
“Just like that!” He made a vague gesture, before getting up and storming into the kitchen. “I'm making breakfast.”
Bohn stretched before getting up and slowly following, motivated by the promise of food. “I still miss the flowers, but still seeing you every morning? It brings joy and sunshine to my heart.” He admited, he always was, is and forever will be a cheesy flirt. Sue him. Duen might actually try, as he almost dropped the oil.

“Remember that you are meeting P'King today. I will line my friends so I will can stay with one of them in the mean time.” Bohn stopped chewing his breakfast as the words sank in. He had naively assumed he could have a relaxed weekend with Duen.
He swallowed and answered with a pout. “I'm sure King understands when I tell him that you need my support right now. I'm sure I know great ways to make you feel better.” He might have gotten away with that sentence, if it wasn't for his tone. Duen flipped his fingers against his forehead. He also followed that up with a lecture, how he couldn't let his coursework slip because of them. How his grades were important and how he was clever and should know better. That was new. Nobody ever tried to get into his pants by trying to better his grades. He refused to explain to Duen why he was laughing.

“Hey, I have a good bye gift for you, if you have a good bye kiss for me.” Bohn said, one hand behind his back. “What is it?” Duen looked at him confused.
“You will have to find out.” He answered, pointing at his lips. The other eyed him up for a few seconds before stepping closer to him. Duen turned his face a little, stood up on his tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. Then he just stepped back and held out his hand in front of him. Bohn shook his head, but decided, that it counted. He dropped his spare key into the open hand. “You can stay here alone if you want. You are probably less likely to set my place on fire than me. Tang is probably waiting for you.” He turned Duen around and carefully pushed him out of the door and onto his way.

Bohn was a little annoyed. Duen had sent him home first, to make some errands, he had said. He should have just admitted that, after a full week of them constantly together, he couldn't take Bohn's shit anymore.
When he checks his vibrating phone it shows a message from “Cute Idiot Duen”. He opened the line message, reading that the other would take even longer than expected. He dropped down onto his couch and switched to his facebook feed, pointedly not sending an answer.

Bohn heard a knock on his door, before Duen used his key to open it. Sometimes the other was just to polite. “Hey.” Bohn mumbled, without looking up from his phone. He refused to look up until he felt a presents hovering in front of him.
“Hello, P'Bohn.” When he finally looked up he was greeted by a plotted plant. It wasn't very pretty, just slim, dark green leaves on straight sticks growing out of soil. The plot on the other hand was in a radiant orange color.
“I bought you a rosemary plant.” Duen said with a smile on his face. “You can even use them for cooking.” It was kinda sweet but mostly strange. “Thanks, but why?”
The other placed the plant on his lap before rushing of to the kitchen with a mumble.”I should start cooking now.” Duen's check was dusted in red and Bohn none the wiser.

“Bohn, could you help me with the cutting, please.” He stood from his place at his counter and walked around it. He grabbed the cutting board and knife, which he saw Duen use, and puts them down beside the vegetables. He had barley started, when the other stopped him. “Hey, you are doing it wrong. Let me show you how it's done.” Of course Bohn couldn't even do that.
Duen held a carrot in one hand and Bohn's in the other. He's lend against his back and his voice quiet next his ear. He probably stood on his tiptoes to look over his shoulder. Duen carefully leant the knife in his hand and Bohn feels warm.

Bohn started to slowly grow impatient. To be more honest he grew impatient fast, half an hour ago. Now he grew angry. Duen was supposed to have arrived by then and Bohn was already waiting forever. Much longer and they would miss the movie. If Duen didn't want this date he could have just said so.
He checked the time the second time in as many minuets. It didn't help his anger. Or the tight feeling in his stomach.
When he looked back up, he finally saw Duen hurry towards him. “Hello, P'Bohn, Sorry for being late. Me and Ting lost track of time while studying.” He was a little out of breath when he arrived. Bohn would probably also forget a date with someone like himself. It still hurt.
“Come on we will miss our movie.” He turned around and went inside. The other stood him up so he didn't need to be polite.

You really couldn't even let Duen out of sight for one second. Bohn left him in the forum of the cinema for two minutes to use the bathroom. When he came back, some guy was hitting on Duen again.
“Ah, my name is Pluem. Are you here to watch a movie with friends” Before Duen could answer, Bohn arrived and stood extra close to Duen.
“Oh ok, you are here with your boyfriend?” That Pluem guy said, sounding a little disappointed but still friendly.
“No he's here with a friend.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. It was a terrible thing to say. He didn't know why he said them. He just felt that anger. He wasn't even sure, who he was angry at.
“So Duen, does that mean you are single.” Duen stared at Bohn for a few seconds before turning away from him and back to the boy. “Yes, I am truly single. I have no boyfriend.”
“Then could I ask you out?” The bastard had the nerve to sound exited. At least it gave his anger a direction. He was fuming at Duen for saying it. For the guy for hitting on him. He stormed of.
“Hey, wait Bohn.” The other called out behind him. “I am sorry. That Idiot just now is my boyfriend.” He heard Duen continue, before he was out of ear shoot. He really apologized to that guy.

“Bohn! Wait, Bohn!” Bohn was already in the car park when he stopped, still ignoring the other. “Bohn! Talk to me! You started it first. You said we are just friends.” Duen sounded furious. Bohn would probably react the same way, too.
“And he was the one that started talking to me. I didn't pay any attention to him.” Bohn knew, he should be the one defending himself.
“You are not going to answer, right? Fine, you are annoying to talk to, when you are being stubborn like this, anyway.” Duen pulled his phone out and started to ignoring him. He was tipping something.
“You are chatting with that boy, right?” He sounded to loud and accusing. Duen looked at him sarcastically.
“Why do you care? You are the one that said you are not my boyfriend.” The other sounded cold and annoyed. Bohn was good at annoying people. The cool reaction deflated him.
“I said that because I was angry. You are my boyfriend, you are not allowed to flirt with others.” Bohn defended himself. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at the ground.
“Why would I be chatting with him anyway? Here.” Duen took a step towards him and turned his screen towards him. He saw that a line message to him was open. It was an apology for being late. And for being mean. And a reminder that Duen really likes him.
“I'm sorry that I was late for our date. But you wouldn't listen to me, so I messaged you instead.” The message felt honest. And Duen sounded like he meant it. Bohn's chest tightened at how heartfelt all of it seemed.
“How could I not forgive you after reading that message.” Duen seemed to relax a little at that and his lips formed a little smile. Bohn took a deep breath and started talking before he could think himself out of it. “I was being a jerk. I'm sorry.”
“You know, when you said we were just friends, I thought you were ashamed to be with me.” Bohn almost had to laugh about the absurdity of that statement.
“It's me, that's scared you feel ashamed.” But he managed not to laugh and even answer honestly for once. “Because everyone says I'm terrible at this, I have a bad temper and I have a reputation. If you feel ashamed being with me, that's actually understandable.”
Duen took another step right into his personal space. He leaned up and pressed a light peek on Bohn's lips. Duen was still holding his face and starring into his eyes, when he stated with a reassuring confidence. “Listen to me, I don't feel ashamed at all being with you. And I told everyone, that we are going out, believe me. All my friends will be okay with this.”

Chapter Text

When his phone buzzed, Bohn was thankful for the distraction from studying. It was a line from Duen, asking him what he wants to eat. “Naww, how cute, look at his smile.” Tee crooned, watching his screen over his shoulder.
And now they were talking about his relationship and dear King asked how thinks were going.
“It's really good. Especially the food is great, even if I now have to clean our kitchen.” He complained jokingly.
King sounded proud of him. “I'm really happy for you. You seem more content, with a serious, long term relationship.” When he saw his friend nod in agreement he felt a bitter laugh escape him. “It's not really serious, or long term.”
“It kind of is, he moved in with you.” Tee doubted him. Bohn rolled his eyes at him. “He's crashing at my place because he's having a fight with his parents.”
“But he went to your place first? Why not at Ram's place? He even has a sleeping couch!” Damn King and all his rational arguments.
“So P'King, how do you know about Ram's couch?” That shuts King up, but Tee intervened before Bohn can derail the discussion. “What makes you think that this won't last.”
Bohn rolls his eyes and sights. “Why would someone like Duen, settle for some guy like me?”
He ignored their sad looks in favor of going on with his speech, before they could interrupted him. “Listen, I'm great when you wanna rebel against your parents, but not the kind of guy you want to marry. For that, there are guys like Fong.” He spits out the name like poison.
Bohn can take the following silence for a whole three seconds before he tries to lighten the mood with a joke. “At least, whoever you introduce to your parents after me, will automatically make a good impression by comparison.”
He despised the pity in Kings voice “You just had bad luck with love in the past. That's not your fault.” It was, no matter how often his friends disagreed with him.
Boss at least had the decency to sound annoyed with him. “And Duen seems to be head over heals for you.”
“Until he starts seeing the real me.” That had always been the crux, hasn't it?
Tee looked him in the eyes and started talking in a stern voice. “Oh, the the real you? Remember our hazing? You were the one that drank a second shot of soja sauce so Mek didn't have to.”
Even Mek joined in too. ”Or when you illegally let yourself be locked into the engineering faculty with King, to help him finish a project on time.”
“Yes, but that's different.” Tee stared at him as if he was going insane and asked with a desperate tone. “How?”
“It just it. Let's keep studying.” They look like they wanna disagree but let it go anyway and start talking about the formula.

“I miss Daonua, too, but it's not my fault that I can't see her!” Bohn looked up when he started hearing Duen from the other room. Duen had fled to the bedroom, when his mother had called.
“I told you, I want you to accept my decisions. And for Dad to apologize.” His voice was raised.
“You said you accept me! You promised that you would support me!” He sounded hurt and irritated. “Oh what else is it about?”Bohn decided he shouldn't be hearing this and turned on the TV.
Half an hour later Duen came back, dropping next to him on the couch. “I will meet my parents in my lunch break tomorrow. I'm sorry that I have to chancel eating with you.” He sounded exhausted. Bohn just shrugged, he hadn't expected for Duen to actually spent all of his breaks with him for long. But he would miss his cooking. At least he could still eat it from time to time. For now.

To Ben's delight, things went back to normal after that and they were back to their joint play dates. The first day Daonua refused to let go of Duen, even clinging to his leg while cooking. Duen had later told him that she slept in his bed the first night he was back at home.
To Bohn's delight Duen had decided to keep regularly sleeping over, even without the kids. Not that it ever led anywhere interesting. The most they did was holding hands and maybe a chaste kiss.
This Saturday he would be over for a “movie night date”. When his friends had heard about it, Tee whistled inappropriately and Boss offered him an high five. He whipped them with his class notes and told them to fuck off. He didn't correct them, even if he didn't have much hope that they were right.

He was lost in thought when he heard familiar voices. It was Duen's friends from the first engineering year and Tingting. Between Duen's friends she was his favorite, because she was nice, funny and actually seemed to like him.
“Listen to me Ram, I know Duen is like a little brother to you and you wanna protect him. I'm worried about that Bohn thing, too, but.” Tingting was interrupted by Ram “I don't like him. When he's hazing, he hits on the girls and punishes the other juniors. He will hurt Duen.”
He turned around to take the other stairs to his classes. The truth sucked and he didn't want to hear more of it. Even naive little Duen would one day see it and move on. Even if he was naive enough to believe his friends would be okay with them. Well, until then his skill to piss off parents would come in handy for once.

To no ones surprise Duen, liked romcoms, a romantic through and through. He had decided, that Bohn needed to see 10 things I hate about you, so he brought the DVD. Such movies might explain why he started dating a bad boy.

“Bohn, are you crying?”
“No, I'm not.” He wasn't sure if the concern in Duen's voice was genuine or sarcastic. So he changed topic and made a joke instead. “Did the movie inspire you to ask me out despite my bad boy reputation?”
“I never really believed the rumors. You are not a bad guy, I wouldn't date you otherwise.” He hadn't expected such a heartfelt answer. “I really don't get why people keep talking about you like that.”
“I do.” The other looked at him and waited a few seconds for him continue, before he grew to impatient. “What do you? You are talking nonsense again.”
“I get why people keep talking about me like that.” He should change topic, this would be a terrible downer.
But he wanted to see how the other would react. “I'll tell you when you pour me another glass of wine. And I wanna have a smoke.”
Duen stood up and bought the bottle over from the fridge. Bohn follows him to the balcony with their blanked, his glass and a pack of cigarettes. Guess he wasn't allowed to smoke inside his own flat anymore.
He dropped down onto the floor and waited for the other to join him. “Two years ago I meet my first boyfriend. He was the son of my parents friends and we went out to party together.”
Bohn lit his cigarette and took a drag before continuing. “We started kind of dating in secret.
Duen wrapped the blanked loosely around their shoulders and gave Bohn his glass. “One night we were out with other friends in a bar and he kissed me, publicly, in front of everyone, and we went to my place and there I didn't just kiss him. It was really nice until the next morning. After telling me all that sweet stuff and how he respected me, he rushed of when his parents called. Someone had made a photo in the bar and they found out.”
He took a deep breath. He refused to start crying. “He didn't just break up with me, oh no, he publicly denied me and said he only did it for the girls attention. ”
“You know that it wasn't your fault, right?” Duen's voice was soft and quiet.
“You sound like King.” Bohn shot back.
At least he was over the bitter and sad part. Now came the bitter and angry part. “That wasn't the worst part. It's not like I was ever good with that relationship stuff, before or after.”
He took a deep drag and tried to concentrate on the burning in his lungs instead of in his eyes. “My parents ordered me home the same day. They mostly lectured me on how I humiliated them in front of their friends. My boyfriend just publicly disowned me as someone that just had a crush on him, and they worried about what some rich people, they don't even like, might think about them.”
He put out his cigarette with more power than necessary. “Long story short, I got drunk on mom's wine that night and drove our sit on lawn mower against a tree.”
Duen kept quiet just looking at him. “They decided that this was enough and cut my allowance down to mostly rent and necessities. So I would “party less and concentrate more on studying”. It's a punishment so I stop humiliating them, and don't get anyone pregnant.”
The other held his face and stroke his check. “Stop pitying me. I'm an adult and not a crying kid anymore.”
Duens opened his mouth say something but seemed lost for words. He dropped his hands and started again in a forced cheerful voice. “Come on inside, it's getting cold. I might even let you pick the next movie, if you brush your teeth first. You smell of smoke.”

Bohn pushed his food around and mopped. Yes he mopped like a little child. No one ever accused him of emotional maturity. Duen had barely spent any time with him for weeks and now had told him, that he couldn't see him for the next week in favor of studying. Bohn understood. He was also busy studying for his own exams. But still. He knew he would take it better, if he got more sleep and less stress.
“Look at our poor, suffering friend.” Tee said loudly and cowardly from two seats away. King puts a comforting hand on shoulder ”Hey, stop being anxious. It's only for one more week.”
Bohn answered their condescension with even more condescension. “Yes, I know, and grades are important. And he already told me to keep next weekend free for a surprise. I will manage to leave him alone for the week." He was meet with four doubting faces. “Do you really not believe me?”
“I bet you 1000 bath, that you can't do it.” Tee said as he looked him straight in the face.
“Me too.” Both Mek and Boss joined in.
“Bohn, you know, as your friend I believe and trust in you.” King said before turning to Tee. “I bet 1000 bath on, he won't make it to Thursday.”
“What? Do you really think, I can't live without him?” They managed to answer in choir. “Yes.”
They all acted, like he was he pining heroine of some k-drama.
“Jerks, but if I can do it, all of you have to pay me.” All of this should have at least something good.
“Dream on.” Tee sounded sarcastic and Boss confident ”You can't do it, Bohn.”
Bohn answered defensively. “It's just a week. How hard can it be?”

Bohn grabbed his back and hurried outside. He locked his door, before taking down two steps at the time. He had no idea what to expect for the weekend, except for a vague packing list. But all his exams were through and he would finally see Duen again.
He hugged the other hard, pressing a kiss against his check. Before the other could escape, he whispered into his ears. “So Duen, did you miss your boyfriend?”
“Why would I miss my boyfriend? I have no idea what you are talking about.” The other joked as he held him at arms length. “Come on, we need to buy snacks.

Duen had dragged him into a big family car, Bohn had only ever seen in the driveway of the others family home, and drove them to the store. There Duen had insisted on paying because he was the one that had invited him.
God damn, Bohn thought, just 18 and already this crazy. You know I'm broke so you pulled up your daddy's car and pulled out your daddy's credit card. And all of that to proof to them you're all grown up.