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The first thing Tine sees when he opens up the door to their apartment is Sarawat’s shoes arranged neatly next to the door, the sight causing some of the tension to leave Tine’s body already. Sarawat is home, and Tine knows that as awful as he’s feeling right now, the other boy will make it better.
The second thing he notices while closing the front door behind him, is the smell of shrimps being cooked that is permeating all of their apartment right now, and Tine’s heart swells in his chest. He would recognize that smell anywhere.
“Hi Tua woon wai,” Sarawat calls from within the apartment, keeping his back turned to Tine while busying himself in the kitchen, stirring up the soup that is currently cooking on the stove.
At the sound of his boyfriend’s voice, Tine feels the remaining tension leave his shoulders. He’s finally home.
Tine take off his shoes, leaving them next to Sarawat’s by the door and taking a second to stare at both of their shoes mixed up that way, a sight that will never get old, before he throws off his coat on a chair and drops his bag on the floor, quickly walking straight to where Sarawat is leaning against the counter to stir at the soup.
Without pausing, Tine moves to plaster himself against Sarawat’s back, both of his arms making their way around his boyfriend’s stomach, with one of his hands reaching under Sarawat’s shirt to delicately caress the skin he can feel there.
Tine’s day has been one of the roughest ones he remembers having in a while, feelings of inadequacy and failure he hasn’t felt in a long time rushing back to the front of his mind throughout the entire afternoon. However, coming back home to Sarawat has always made all of those feelings go away, and today is no exception.
Sarawat drops the wooden spoon he was using to stir the soup on the counter, and puts one of his hands above Tine’s where it’s still resting on his stomach.
“Hi,” Tine finally answers quietly, and he feels more than hears Sarawat chuckle against his chest.
“Hi Tua Woon Wai,” his boyfriend repeats softly.
Tine turns his head a little from where it’s resting against Sarawat’s shoulder, pressing a kiss to the side of his boyfriend’s neck and nuzzling the skin there, before pulling back from his hiding place so he can talk.
“You’re cooking Tom Yum Goong,” Tine whispers in wonder against Sarawat’s neck, fondness for his boyfriend warming his entire body.
“Yeah, I thought you could use the comfort tonight. You sounded kind of rough on the phone earlier,” Sarawat replies, and although he doesn’t ask outright, Tine hears the question in the words anyway, an invitation to talk about the day’s event should Tine choose to do so.
He presses another kiss to the side of Sarawat’s neck when he hears the worry still clouding his voice, but keeps silent about his day for now.
This is so much like Sarawat.
They’d spoken on the phone earlier and although Tine hadn’t been able to tell Sarawat about what had happened, too many ears still around in the office to hear their talk, Sarawat had obviously read his boyfriend’s tone enough to know today hadn’t been good and had taken it upon himself to cook Tine’s favorite dish to comfort him.
Five years into this relationship, Tine can’t really say he’s surprised by his boyfriend’s constant gestures of love and support, but he’s still as touched by them as he was when they were in their first year of university.
When Tine remains silent, Sarawat pulls away slightly, just enough to turn around in Tine’s arms and face him. He cradles Tine’s face between both of his hands, as his eyes move around his boyfriend’s face, studying him and trying to read his emotions.
Tine smiles softly at the concern he can read in his boyfriend’s eyes, his own eyes crinkling slightly at each side with the gesture.
“I’m okay now,” he reassures Sarawat gently, and he’s relieved to find out that it’s the truth.
Today had been awful, with him finding out that one of his clients had withheld important information from him which could compromise her custody trial and might mean her child has to go back to the care of her abusive ex-husband.
It had been a mess, but as soon as Tine stepped foot into their apartment and saw Sarawat, the disappointment, bitterness and worry that had been weighing on his stomach all afternoon took a back seat, replaced by the love and fondness he feels for his partner.
There truly is nothing better than coming home to this man every day.
After a minute of studying him silently, Sarawat finally nods in acceptance of his words, before he uses the hands he still has cradling Tine’s face to pull him into a soft kiss, their lips pressing together gently, before pulling back to rest their foreheads together, prompting Tine to melt completely.
After a couple minutes of silent comfort, Sarawat pulls away and removes his hands from his boyfriend’s face, and Tine is surprised when he feels a rugged texture travel down his cheek. He catches Sarawat’s hand in his, and frowns when he sees the paper towel wrapped around one of Sarawat’s fingers, faint traces of red splattered on it.
Sarawat looks down at his hand, before shrugging noncommittal.
“I cut myself while chopping up the shallots earlier. But it’s okay, it’s stopped bleeding a while ago,” he explains.
Tine frowns deeper and uncovers the wound from the paper towel, seeing a tiny but deep red gash on the edge of Sarawat’s index finger, but noticing that it has indeed stopped bleeding.
“We need to clean the wound and cover it up. It could get infected if spices get into the cut,” Tine says, squeezing the finger gently.
He pulls Sarawat’s finger to his mouth and presses a soft kiss to it, then to the palm of his hand, before he moves away and makes his way to the bathroom, retrieving the small first aid kit they keep there.
A few seconds later, Tine walks back into the kitchen carrying disinfectant and a plaster, and he sees Sarawat leaning against the counter and looking at him fondly.
“It’s not that big of a deal Tua Woon Wai. It’s a tiny cut,” his boyfriend says with a teasing smile.
“I know, but we shouldn’t risk it,” Tine answers, prepping the plaster and a cotton swab with disinfectant as he speaks. “I want you around for a long time.”
Sarawat lets out a laugh of disbelief at the words, before dropping his head to push his forehead against Tine’s shoulder, causing the other man to smile.
Sarawat may have been the king of uttering the cheesiest lines when they were still in university, but Tine learned quickly that he could also fluster his boyfriend with a few timely chosen lines, and he loves using the knowledge to elicit the blushing on Sarawat’s cheeks when the man least expects it sometimes.
After cleaning up Sarawat’s wound, Tine pulls a plaster around his boyfriend’s fingers, straightening it gently and effectively covering the cut up. At the gesture, a memory of them in a similar position while they were still in university and before they even got together comes rushing back to the front of his mind, taking his breath away.
“Wat… Marry me,” he says suddenly, looking up towards Sarawat, only to see his boyfriend whip in his direction, shock written all over his face.
“What did you say ?” he asks, voice wavering on the last word, and Tine straightens back up to look him straight in the eyes.
“I said marry me. We should get married. I know we haven’t spoken about this in awhile, but it’s just… You cooked Tom Yum Goong,” Tine explains, and as much as he didn’t expect to pop the question tonight, Tine has never been more sure of anything in his life either.
Sarawat is still looking at him in shock. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, no sound coming out, before swallowing nervously.
“You want to marry me because I cooked Tom Yum Goong ?” he asks, clearly not following Tine’s train of thought. “But it’s not even that complicated of a dish.”
“Yes,” Tine replies, laughing at Sarawat’s comment and at the confusion that is still easily read on his boyfriend’s face. “I mean no. That’s not the reason, it’s just…”
Sarawat studies his face but keeps silent, clearly giving Tine a chance to organize his thoughts and waiting for the explanation for this sudden proposal.
Tine reaches forward to take Sarawat’s second hand in his, cradling both of them between his own hands, as if holding the most precious treasure, before he takes a deep breath and stares at Sarawat, wanting his boyfriend to see through his eyes how much he means the words he’s about to say.
“It’s because you knew today was a difficult day for me, and you cooked Tom Yum Goong. It’s because I came home, and the sight of your shoes alone was enough to make my worries dissipate. It’s because as soon as my day got worse today, I wanted to talk to you and see you because I knew you would make me feel better, and because I want to be able to do the same thing for you, forever,” Tine says, emotion making his voice crack. He sees Sarawat is studying him in wonder, and the sight gives him the courage to continue. “It’s because whenever anything happens to me, good or bad, you’re the one I want by my side and the one I was to share it with. And I just… I don’t see that changing. Ever. I want what we have today, and what we’ve had for more than 5 years now, for the rest of our lives, and I know that won’t ever change. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, bandaging your fingers, playing music and being happy.”
Tine reaches the end of his improvised speech, and he sees small tears prickling in Sarawat’s eyes.
For all that Sarawat can sometimes wear his heart on his sleeve, Tine can count on one hand the amount of times he’s seen him cry, and he doesn’t know if this is a good or a bad sign.
“I’m doing this all wrong aren’t I ? I don’t even have a ring,” Tine says self-deprecatingly. “But… Sarawat Guntithanon. I love you, and you are my heart. So will you marry me ? Please ?”
Sarawat stays silent for a few seconds, and although Tine doesn’t think he’ll outright deny him coldly, the love Sarawat feels for him too evident in everything the man does for Tine to still doubt it today, he still feels his stomach clench in his belly with nervousness.
Before he has the time to let it consume him though, Sarawat suddenly throws both arms around Tine’s neck, and hugs him tightly to his body.
At the gesture, Tine laughs in relief, tears clouding his own eyes, before hiding his face in the crook of Sarawat’s neck and pressing a kiss there.
“So is that a yes ?” he asks, and Sarawat pulls back to look him in the eyes, before cradling his face with both of his hands and pulling him forward to kiss him, pressing 4, 5, short consecutive pecks to his lips.
“It’s a yes. Of course it’s a yes ! It’s always a yes to you Tine,” he finally says, and although Tine can see the small tears still pooling in his boyfriend’s eyes, Sarawat is also wearing a blinding smile and Tine drinks in the sight of his boyfriend’s… no, his fiance’s happiness.
He pulls Tine towards him to kiss him once again, but the kiss turns messy quickly with both boys smiling too much to be able to press their lips together properly.
After a minute of giggling and kissing, they pull away from each other and Sarawat shakes his head in disbelief, laughing softly.
“I can’t believe I’ve been planning on asking you to marry me since we were 19, and you still managed to propose before I did,” he laughs. “And I can’t believe you proposed while bandaging a cut, of all things.”
At those words, Tine starts laughing and looks at Sarawat, raising both of his eyebrows in judgement.
“Oh, isn’t that how a proposal is done ?” he asks teasingly, and Sarawat looks confused for a couple seconds, before a huge smile starts overtaking his face and understanding hits him, likely remembering the same scene Tine had thought of earlier.
Them sitting in Sarawat’s old bedroom, and Sarawat bandaging each of Tine’s fingers delicately, before asking the boy he wasn’t even dating yet to marry him. Twice.
“Sometimes,” Sarawat finally answers, laughter evident in his voice. “Only the best propose this way though.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Tine teases him. “And we are the best after all… husband-to-be.”
Sarawat’s breath catches in his throat at the words, before a brilliant smile illuminates his face.
“I love you,” his fiance whispers, dropping his forehead to rest against Tine’s.
“And I love you. I can’t wait to spend forever with you, Sarawat Guntithanon.”
Sarawat smiles once again, pushing forward to press another kiss to Tine’s mouth only to be stopped by one of Tine’s hands landing on his chest.
“If you manage to burn the Tom Yum Goong though, I’m taking the proposal back.”
At the words, Sarawat’s eyes grow infinitely bigger in shock, before he whips around towards the counter to check on the dish that is still cooking on the stove, making sure that nothing has burnt while they were talking and making one of the biggest decisions of their lives.
Laughing at the sight, Tine leans forward again to hug Sarawat from behind, his arms once again making their way around his boyfriend’s waist, before he bends forward to press a kiss to the back of Sarawat’s neck.
“I love you,” he whispers against his fiance’s skin, and although he isn’t sure Sarawat heard him, he knows he got the sentiment loud and clear when Sarawat moves one of his hands against Tine’s own hand where it’s still resting against his stomach, weaving their fingers together and squeezing gently.
Today has really been awful, and Tine knows that tomorrow will be taxing. But if occasional days like those are the price to pay to allow him to come home to Tom Yum Goong and Sarawat all the time, then he knows he’s still one of the luckiest people on earth.
As long as Tine has this amazing man to come home to, he knows they’ll be more than ok, and there’s nothing they can’t face. 2gether for all of eternity.