Chapter Text
Tine took a deep breath before he pressed the door bell.
He glanced at his reflection on the glass window beside the door and smiled shyly.
He knew he would be appreciated for the way he had dressed.
He wore a midnight blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, two buttons open at the collar, revealing his long neck and giving a peek of his sharp collar bones.
The dark colour of the shirt contrasted against his glowing fair skin perfectly. His eyes and hair seemed darker and his pink lips looked plump and inviting.
His long legs were clad in well-fitting, light coloured chinos that hugged his hips and showed off the taut curve of his bottom, before tapering down his strong thighs and calves, neither too tight nor too loose. A black leather belt cinched his perfect waist.
He wore comfortable soft leather loafers on his feet, his ankles exposed between shoes and pants. He knew the effect the teasing bare skin would have.
A black thread around his left ankle and a leather bracelet on his right wrist were his only accessories.
He felt giddy with anticipation, even more than he usually did. He held a bag in each hand and quickly hid them behind his back as he heard footsteps approaching the door from inside.
"Hi Wat" he smiled at his boyfriend.
"Wow" exclaimed the handsome man who stood at the door staring at him, eyes roving up and down Tine, pausing at his neck, at his broad chest, at his crotch that had already started growing and at his shapely ankles.
"You look spectacular. I want to go down on you right here, right now" breathed Wat, his eyes widening as he took in the vision before him.
Tine laughed lightly and blushed bright pink.
"Let's not give the neighbours more to talk about than they already have" he said, eyes twinkling.
Wat moved back a pace to allow Tine to enter.
Tine felt the breath whoosh out of him as Wat caught him in a tight hug from behind, his nose buried in the sensitive skin beneath Tine's ear.
"You smell so good, my love" whispered Wat in a husky tone, placing a soft kiss on the spot.
Tine leaned back into his boyfriend's warm embrace and turned his head.
"I've got presents" he said, smiling against Wat's ear. He held up both bags in one hand.
Wat lifted his head delightedly from where he was busy kissing Tine's neck. A wide, boyish grin parted his beautiful lips.
"Gimme, gimme, gimme" he said like an eager child, turning Tine around to face him.
Tine laughed and shook his head. "Not until later."
Wat pouted but brightened almost immediately.
"I have something for you too. And I'm going to give it to you right now" he said, slipping his hand into Tine's and dragging him to the large living room.
Tine smiled at his Wat's excitement.
He loved everything about his Wat, the Wat that only Tine knew - his caring warmth, his easy smiles, his sweet tenderness, his soft voice that he used only with Tine.
"This is for you, my love" said Wat, handing Tine a small, beautifully wrapped box. He watched with barely concealed glee as Tine unwrapped it.
"Wat, I can't take this" said Tine in a hushed voice as he opened the box to reveal a limited edition Patek Philippe watch.
Tine felt embarrassed about his presents now. They felt cheap and unsophisticated before what he'd just received.
He closed the box and set it down on the table.
"You don't like it? You don't love me?" he heard Wat say.
He looked up and his heart twinged at the hurt in Wat's eyes, his face drawn and lips turned down ruefully.
"Of course I do, Phi. But you are everything I need, all I want" said Tine, using the honorific in a sweet tone that he knew would pacify Wat.
He walked to Wat and held his face in both hands, pulling him in for a soft, sweet, gentle kiss.
A kiss that he hoped would convey his gratitude for Wat's consideration and thought.
Wat moaned at the sweet taste of the boy he'd grown to love more than life itself. He wrapped one arm around Tine's waist and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss.
His other hand fisted in Tine's hair, tilting his face slightly to taste more of him.
Wat growled softly as he devoured Tine's soft, luscious lips and their tongues darted out to lick each other.
Tine sighed with satisfaction as he ran his hands up and down Wat's sides, his eyes closed as he savoured the tango of their tongues.
"You started without me?" spoke a low, smooth baritone softly into Tine's ear.
Tine couldn't help smiling against Wat's lips as another very familiar pair of lips attached themselves to his earlobe, nipping him softly. Two strong arms curled around his chest from behind.
Wat pressed his lips closer for a moment before pulling back from the kiss. His hands stayed around Tine's hips, caressing them.
Tine kept one arm wrapped around Wat's waist even as he raised his other hand to cup his older lover's face behind him.
"I was just trying to show your brother that I love him even though I can't accept the outrageously expensive gift he so sweetly bought for me" said Tine, turning his head to place a kiss on Thyme's cheek.
"What gift? Did I forget an occasion?" said Thyme, Wat's identical twin, elder by two minutes but equally devastating in his charm and for the hold he had on Tine's heart.
"It's our anniversary, asshole" said Wat, flicking his twin's forehead playfully.
"Oh, shoot. Good thing I had this just lying around then" smirked Thyme, slipping a delicate gold chain around Tine's neck.
A diamond pendant rested at the hollow of Tine's neck, on his chest, cool and sparkling like Thyme's love for him.
Thyme sealed the clasp with a kiss on the nape of Tine's neck for good measure.
"Not fair, my love. You let him give you his gift, but you won't take mine" whined Wat.
Tine sighed as he unclasped the chain and carefully took it off, slipping it into Thyme's pocket.
"Thyme, I can't take this. You know I won't. But thank you. Both of you. I know you thought long and hard about what you each wanted to give me."
Wat made a face and dropped his head on Tine's shoulder.
"There's another thing that's long and hard that I want to give you and you always take it so well, darling" chuckled Thyme naughtily against Tine's cheek.
Tine blushed prettily and bit his lower lip.
No matter how many times they'd done this before, Tine found himself shy when the boys talked dirty to him.
"Fuck, you look so beautiful, my love" whispered Wat, pulling Tine flush against his body, his erection rubbing against Tine's through their clothes.
"I want to see, too" whispered Thyme and moved to Tine's side, turning Tine's face towards himself.
He stroked Tine's rose-dusted cheek softly with the back of his fingers, gripped his jaw with force and pulled him into a searing kiss.
Tine moaned from the intensity and suddenness of the assault. Thyme felt the needy sound go straight to his cock.
He kissed Tine fiercely, leaving no space between their lips, their want for each other evident in their breathless union.
Meanwhile, Wat's lips murmured promises of pleasure and punishment against Tine's throat as he licked and sucked on his Adam's apple.
Tine fisted one hand in Thyme's hair and the other through Wat's, lost in the heady combination of lips and tongues and caressing kisses of the twins.
"I love you both, so much" he breathed when at long last, Thyme released his swollen lips and Wat stepped back to admire the tapestry of lovebites on his neck.
"You're the only one for me, my love" replied Wat, his eyes shining in evidence of his feelings.
"I love you too, darling" said Thyme, the indifferent smugness that usually sat on his face wiped clean by the beaming smile that curved his lips.
"Can I give you both my presents? Then you'll know what I would be open to taking as gifts from you" said Tine, twinkling his eyes at them.
He walked to where he'd placed the two paper bags. He handed one each to the twins, feeling a bit ashamed as he did.
"Uhmm... They're nothing as fancy as what you boys usually get, but I made them myself, and I hope you like them" said Tine hesitantly.
He watched nervously as the twins looked at their gifts.
"Tine, this is... I don't have words" whispered Wat, a strange light and intensity in his eyes even though his voice barely carried across to Tine.
Thyme didn't say anything, his eyes focussed firmly on the frame he held in his hands, his jaw clenched and a pulse throbbing steadily at his neck.
The twins each held a water colour portrait of themselves, painted by the loving hands that had touched them so intimately, viewed through eyes that saw each of them distinctly for their beauty and their flaws, given life by a heart that beat for them both together and separately.
And for the first time, they saw themselves through the eyes of the boy they had both come to love selflessly and beyond measure.
***
Even though the twins were identical, they were completely different.
As scions and heirs of the famed Guntithanon family, one of the oldest and richest dynasties of Thailand, the twins had been born into privilege.
While it gave them an undeniable step up in life, the same privilege and the accompanying burden of responsibility isolated them from the simple pleasures that their more "normal" peers grew up enjoying.
Thyme was born to be an industrial tycoon. Suave and sophisticated, he was intelligent, well read and took a keen interest in current affairs and policies.
He was discerning and made informed decisions, examining every problem from all directions before arriving at strategies that almost always worked in his favour.
He was a top student and had secured early admission to Harvard Business School purely on merit for his post-grad the following year.
He was also an International Chess Grandmaster and a world-class swimmer.
He was usually calm and collected, and chose his words with care. Articulate and quick-witted, he didn't tolerate stupidity kindly, though he tried not to be mean.
Thyme was well known for his devastating sarcasm and the edge of wit that laced all his conversations.
His natural gravitas and regal demeanor impressed and intimidated those around him, even though he was never impolite or inconsiderate.
As a result he had many admirers but few friends.
His group, the F4, were sons of his father's closest business associates and belonged to the same world as him.
They identified with him and the unique challenges that they faced as heirs to the throne.
But even they didn't know Thyme behind the facade he so carefully maintained at all times.
*
Sarawat was the artistic and athletic one. He was a born leader, and naturally charismatic.
He always seemed to become the centre of attraction wherever he went, without trying or aiming to.
Unlike Thyme, Wat hated studying.
He was bright, but he much preferred spending his time outside than in the confines of a classroom.
He sang and played the guitar, his band was extremely popular nationally in the music festival circuit, he was captain of the varsity soccer team and secretary of the Music Club.
He was immensely popular for his public performances, on the stage and on the field.
Contrary to his interests and appearance, he was intensely shy and introverted and got extremely flustered when people approached him in person.
He rarely smiled or laughed, and was reticent in expressing himself.
His defense mechanism was to walk away or answer in monosyllables. Thus he had gathered a reputation for being arrogant and unapproachable.
Yet his fan following grew steadily, and Sarawat's Wives worshipped him diligently from afar.
Wat had only two people he could call his friends.
The boys that he had known from the time he would escape from his stuffy prep school to play on muddy grounds with the children from the local school nearby.
Man and Boss knew more about him than anyone else except Thyme. He was more authentic about his insecurities with them than others.
But even with them, Wat had always felt a disconnect that he wasn't sure how to bridge.
*
Tine was the textbook good boy.
The youngest in his family with the most to prove, he'd been his high school's valedictorian and top of the admissions list for the coveted engineering course of the most reputed university in the country.
He was a merit scholarship awardee who worked as a tutor to put himself through college, and stayed away from trouble.
Tine was well-liked for his helpful and generous nature. He often gave his time for free, patiently explaining difficult concepts or working out problems after class for his peers and even his seniors at times.
He was pleasant, cheerful, funny and kind.
Tine knew the importance of extra curricular activities and their worth in his resume if he wanted to apply for higher studies.
So he had joined the student council as the representative for his freshman class of engineers.
Now at the end of his sophomore year, Tine was known around the campus as the top student of the Engineering faculty, an active student council leader and the awardee of the much coveted student exchange program with MIT the following summer.
He also had a vast fan following, one that sprung regular bouts of jealousy from his boyfriends.
Which was ironic and amusing to Tine, given their own popularity.
***
Wat and Thyme walked to where Tine sat on the couch watching the boys with hesitant eyes, chewing his lip nervously.
Wat sat down beside Tine, draped his arm around Tine's shoulders and buried his face in the side of Tine's neck.
Thyme sat at Tine's feet, and placed his head on Tine's lap, his arms looped around Tine's waist, hugging him tight.
Tine stroked Thyme's hair and rested his cheek on Wat's head.
"Did you like it then?" he asked softly.
Tine had always been at a loss when considering what to give his boyfriends.
All through their relationship, Tine had been steadfast in his refusal to accept material gifts. Not that it stopped them from trying at every chance.
So Wat and Thyme spoiled him with experiences instead - travel, food, music, art, literature.
They would whisk him away on impromptu trips, feed him the most exotic dishes, take him to concerts and plays, bring him along for sneak previews in exclusive galleries, borrow rare books for him to read from the famous Guntithanon private collection.
Tine had always felt inadequate as he could obviously not match them. But he'd been planning and painting for months, pouring all his love into his vision and brush strokes.
He hoped his loves would see how truly unique and wonderful they each were.
And that they would see beyond the demons they had been battling all their lives.