Chapter Text
— Why don’t you date each other? — Ohm says out loud in the room, making everyone look at him. — Phu and Pond.
— What? — Phuwin asks, kinda startled. — Are you insane?
— No. — He said, turning the drumstick in one hand, simply. — Think about it: the fans go crazy when there’s any interaction coming from both of you. That ship thing? You’re the most popular. That would turn everything wild.
— You’re forgetting something: we don’t like each other. — Pond says, as if it’s obvious.
— Are you even gay? — War asks, thinking that all this is absurd.
— They don’t have to be. They just have to pretend that they’re together. Always works for actors and stuff. — He shrugs and Phuwin starts to feel nervous when he sees the look of his manager and public relations staff.
— No, you’re not really considering this, right?! — He asks, feeling desperate. — That’s a terrible idea. Do you really think that Pond and I can fake a relationship?
— Pond has a girlfriend, right? — Khao asks and, for a minute, Phuwin feels relieved.
— She’s not my girlfriend. — Pond answers, unshakable, adjusting the strings of his bass.
— She’s just someone he sleeps with, from time to time. Pond is not a chaser, he’s chased. — Ohm says and the other band members just roll their eyes, while Pond just gives a side smile. — C’mon, what can be so hard? We have known each other for almost seven years, we know basically everything there is to know. What’s the mystery?
— Really? Why don’t you date him then? — Phuwin says, knowing his voice is a pitch higher, making evident his discomfort.
— Because my ship with him doesn’t have more than twenty thousand fanfics on the most famous platform. We barely have five thousand. Maybe it’s too much sex appeal for them to handle.
— Maybe it’s too much bullshit for them to handle. — War says, rolling his eyes. — I understand we need a huge marketing strategy for our new album, but are you really considering this? — He asks their staff. — I mean, don’t you think it’s too risky? It can be a shoot in the foot.
— I agree. — Phuwin says. — It can go extremely wrong. It’s almost like a “ queer-bait ”? I mean, if they discover that we’re not really together, it’ll be a disaster. Besides, Pond is not even gay!
— He’s right. I’m not gay. — Phuwin sighed in relief. — I’m bi.
— You what? — P'Ally, their public relations, asks what’s on everyone’s minds.
— Bisexual. Don’t you know what it is?
— Of course I know what it is. I just didn’t know… Whatever. — She picks her phone up, typing something on it.
— Doesn’t matter his sexual orientation, stills dangerous. — War was trying to act like the group conscience, as always. That’s what a true leader does, anyway.
— Wait. — Khao interrupts. — You only talked about Pond, but what about Neo? If we really agree with this story, will he be okay with it?
— We're not together anymore. We broke up two weeks ago. — Phuwin answers, his voice toned down a bit.
— I'm so sorry, Phu. — War says, giving the friend a kind look. — I know you liked him.
— Things were not as before, so… we decided to break up. We are still friends though. No bad feelings. — He says, shrugging.
— Oh, that's why you were looking so down those days. I told you, Pond. — Ohm says and Phuwin sees Pond looking at him. — So no one stops you to date. That's perfect.
— Gosh, you're so annoying. — Khao says and Ohm just gives him a middle finger as an answer. — You know we are going through this just because of you, right? You and your little show at the club made us look bad and fall off the charts. You should be thinking in ways to sacrifice yourself, not the members, you asshole. — Khao gets to say before their manager interferes.
— Boys, enough. We will think about this. Now, you have to get on the stage. We discuss the new album and everything after you’re off. — P'First says, getting up from the couch. — You have to do great today. Better than ever. You're all one and remember that. In that stage you're not five, you're…
— Rainbow Fish. — War is the first to put the hand in the middle, as they always do before a performance. Ohm gets up and puts his hand over War's.
— Rainbow Fish. — He repeats, raising an eyebrow so the others can join, as always. Khao and Phuwin do the same, as Pond is the last one, putting his hand over Phuwin's.
— RAINBOW FISH. — They scream together, before they get their stuff and get out of the dress room to the stage.
[...]
— Everyone! This is our last song! — Khao says to the audience, who whines.
— It was amazing to be with you this evening! I'm already missing you all. — War says, while some chords are coming out of Phuwin's keyboard.
— WE SEE YOU NEXT TIME! IT'S A DATE! — Ohm screams at his mic and all the girls scream back, pretty excited, making all the band members laugh.
— Our last song was made by our music geniuses here, and it's one of your favourites, am I right? — War points to Pond and Phuwin while talking and all the audience screams again.
— Are you ready? — Pond asks in his mic and the audience answers with a loud affirmative. — I'm not listening! ARE YOU READY? — All the musicians do these types of things to hype up their public, right? — Well, I can tell you that "No one is ready to fall in love". — Pond says and everyone screams again at the mention of the song's title.
Phuwin remembers when they wrote that music. They were at the studio when Pond arrived, talking about a melody that he couldn't get out of his head, asking if there's a song like this. Searching, they discovered there wasn't, but for some weird reason Phuwin had the perfect lyrics to that.
They spent the whole afternoon and night, adjusting the details, organizing metrics, fitting music and lyrics until they felt satisfied with the results. Phuwin remembers the smile he saw at Pond's lips that day too. How happy he was when the song was exactly how they wanted it. He also remembers the huge hug Pond gave him when they got the top charts. "We did it!" , he said to Phuwin while hugging him. That song made Rainbow Fish known, paved the way so they could get awards, top charts, famous songs. Made them a big pop rock band as they never knew they could be.
Phuwin always remembers these things because every line on this song was written about his experience, his hard moments being in love with someone that never saw him as more than a friend. His feelings were all poured over those lyrics, being a constant reminder that he was not ready to fall in love with Pond. Not then, not ever.
Then you walked over me, I forgot how to breathe
Maybe I should've knew better, Maybe I should've ran wherever
I knew I was in trouble, You're dangerous and subtle
But no one dare to told me that
I didn't see it coming so fast
That is the bridge to the chorus and Pond is the one who sings it, but different from the other thousand times, he is looking at Phuwin all the time, making him nervous.
Does he want to say something?
But then, War starts to sing the chorus and Pond starts to walk on the stage, coming to Phuwin's side, in a completely not rehearsed moment.
— What are you doing? — He asks out of the microphone, while he sees Pond walking to him.
When I looked into your dark brown eyes
I was lifted high
Higher than the sky above
I don't know what's happening now
What to do or say
But there's something I know for sure
No one is ready to fall in love
Phuwin and Pond are the ones who do the backing vocals at the chorus, so he can't understand why Pond is right behind him. He should be there, on his mic, singing as they always do. But then, at the backing vocal time, Pond just approaches Phuwin's mic, singing with him, with their faces so close that they could feel each other's breaths. Pond sees Phuwin's face of complete surprise but it makes him laugh. He didn't think much when he got up there, but he's happy he did.
After the chorus is over and Khao starts to sing, Pond just walks down to his place again, sending a little kiss to Phuwin when he gets there. Phuwin is trying so hard to not make any mistakes at the last song, but this is crazy!
What the hell is this guy doing?
[...]
Pond loves the sensation of being on the stage. It’s exhilarating and hot, like if he was riding a formula car at full speed. Although being this great, getting off the stage feeling that he did his best, it’s even better. The relief and happiness is amazing.
— What was that? — Phuwin pulls him aside, while walking to the dressing room.
— What? — Pond asks. He knows what he’s talking about, but he just doesn't understand why he’s making a fuss.
— You know what. Singing with me at the mic? What was that? — Phuwin asks, looking at Pond’s unconcerned face, making him feel angrier.
— Nothing? Just the vibes. I felt like it, then I did. No big deal. — He starts to walk to the dressing room again, passing through some staff, who greet him and Phuwin.
— You’ve never done this before. Why now?
— Phu, you’re overthinking. Stop. — He says, still walking. — What obscure intention could I have to sing together at your mic, in front of more than twelve thousand people? — Phu walks faster, stopping in front of him.
— Are you not falling into this idea from Ohm, right? — He asks, feeling nervous, looking straight into Pond's eyes. Pond has this huge feeling to tease Phuwin even more, but he gives up when he sees the younger one biting his lower lip.
— Phu, don't worry. — He starts to walk again.
— Pond, I'm serious. Don't get into that. I don't want to flirt with you or whatever. We're not even close enough to that. — Pond stops, making Phuwin stumble on him.
— Phuwin. — He turns around to face him. — If I decide to flirt with you or anything like that, believe me: you will know. — Phuwin could feel Pond as close as he was at the stage, making him nervous again. — So again, don't worry. — He walks out and Phu just sighs in relief. Pond keeps walking, entering the dressing room and throwing himself at the couch.
— War is showering. You can go next. — Ohm says while drying his hair. — Where is Phu?
— Outside.
— Were you discussing the relationship?
— Shut the f*ck up.
— Oh, h*e is mad. — Pond rolls his eyes, closing them and resting his head on the couch, thinking about all this conversation with Phu.
It's good that they didn't agree with that. At least he will be able to hide his feelings a bit more.
[...]
— It wasn't supposed to be our day off? — Khao asks, yawning at the meeting room. They were called to the company for an emergency meeting.
— I'm not even awake yet. — War says, laying his head down on the table.
— I hope it's something worthy to make us wake up before 10am. — Pond says with his arms crossed, looking around.
— P', don't you know what this is about? — Phuwin asked their manager, Leo, who was in the room with them.
— I don't. They asked me to bring you and to stay here too. — He answers before Ohm arrives at the room, panting and sweating.
— What's happening? — He asks, opening a bottle of water and drinking it. — I swear I didn’t do anything for an emergency meeting.
— Were you exercising?
— Yep. 5km and some crossfit.
— You literally ran here. — Khao says, making the others laugh a bit.
— Yeah and what for?
— We are waiting for P'First and P'Ally. — War answers, his head still on the table.
— Got it. Hope they don't take long. I have kickboxing.
— Holy sh*t. — Khao lets a swear escape from his mouth as soon as he opens his phone. — Oh, f*ck! — Khao it's not a guy who swears a lot, so something is going on.
— What's going on? — Phuwin asks, going near him, so he could see his friend's phone. Khao blocks him.
— Trending Topics. Most popular topics. Top comments. Are you not receiving lots of notifications? — He asks Phu, looking at Pond also.
— Me? I guess my phone is on silent mode. — Phuwin takes his phone out of his pocket.
— I turned off mine. It was supposed to be a day off. — Pond answers, raising an eyebrow. — Why? What's happening? — Khao couldn't answer him because the staff entered the room.
— Good morning, boys! — P'Ally is the first one to greet while First share some coffee with them. — Thank you for coming on your day off. There's so much going on right now and we should talk about it.
— F*CK! — Phuwin gets up fast, looking at his phone and interrupting the speech. — Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!
— That's what I'm talking about. — Khao says, making everyone in the room look at their phones.
— Yes, that's why we called you here today. — P'Ally starts to speak again, while the boys are looking at their phones in shock. — Pond and Phuwin have been on the trending topics for more than 12 hours now. The video of Pond going up to sing with Phu has more than 450 thousand views on the official fanclub account and a lot of Reefs are using it to tweet, as a fancam. Our social media is monitoring and since yesterday, it looks like it has more than a thousand new edits on YouTube and people just keep searching for both of you. The tags #PPCouple and #PondPhuwin have more than 1 million tweets each. — She is talking nonstop, while the guys keep looking at their phones, completely surprised. Phuwin is still standing, his eyes travelling through the thousands of notifications on his phone. — We couldn't ignore this repercussion. It's huge.
— I told you they're popular. Reefs are always commenting about them, asking things about them, writing fanfictions. — Ohm is the least surprised, looking at all those pictures and short videos in the tags.
— We know they are popular, but we couldn't imagine that they would blow up like this, as a couple.
— "This couple is so cute, who are they? Wanna see more " — War reads a comment. — There's a lot of people saying the same thing. They're not Reefs, but people who want to know Pond and Phuwin 'cause they think they're a couple.
— It's insane. — Khao complements.
— Now it's the time when you say that my idea about the fake relationship was right and amazing? — Ohm brags and Phuwin swears at him, but the silence in the room makes him stop. Every one of the staff is looking at him with this look. That fucking look.
— You must be fucking kidding me if you're really considerating this. — No one answers him, making Phu more nervous. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He looks at Pond, sitting in front of him, his eyes still on the phone. — SAY SOMETHING, NARAVIT! Tell them how absurd this idea is and blow all this thing off! Tell them! — Pond raises his head, looking around, still in shock. He looks at Phuwin, starting to be red with anger and full of bad words to say. Maybe he would be able to kill someone right now and Pond knows it would be him at the moment he said his next phrase:
— Let's do it.
[...]
— Phuwin! Phuwin! Stop! Let's talk about it! — Pond was running after him in the company building. He ran away from the office as soon as he said they should do all that thing about fake dating. — PHUWIN! STOP!
— Why should I? For you to convince me? No, thank you!
— Listen to me, damn it! Even better if you stop running through the office! — Pond is panting already, but he keeps following Phuwin. — I know it sounds absurd to you, but listen to me. It can be good for all parts in this equation, I swear! — Phuwin listens to him, kinda curious, but reluctant to let this idea get in his mind. — Please. I'm tired here. — Phu stops and looks around for some place they could talk, seeing only the emergency stairs. He walks there, Pond always following him.
After passing through the fire blocking doors, Pond seats at the steps going to the upper floor. Phu crosses his arms and rests at the wall, both catching their breaths. The younger looks at the other's clothes, making it so obvious he was at home before coming there. Sweatpants and a t-shirt from his own brand, that probably had some minor defects, but he kept to not waste. That's so Pond. They have known each other for more than seven years and it seems like an eternity. Sometimes, it seems like they can hear each other's thoughts or even talk through looks. They're like family, like home, five of them.
Phuwin still remembers the day when he met Pond. He looked distant, cold, with his bass case and his coke-bottle glasses. He spent the whole time without sharing a single smile with them - War and he were at the company that day watching the auditions for the band. He never thought he would become part of Rainbowfish, but his abilities were undeniably amazing. Bass, electric, acoustic, 12-strings. That's huge for a boy to do back in the day. He could remember feeling intimidated being 14 years old, playing my keyboard. Pond always exhaled this… superior aura that intimidate anyone around him, who doesn't know how silly, dumb and careful he is.
— Give me a good reason why "fake dating" should be a good idea. — Phu asks, his arms crossed while looking with disbelief.
— We're friends. — Pond answers, simple, looking back to Phuwin. He raised an eyebrow.
— That's your good reason? I can't believe I lost my time. — Phu starts to leave, but Pond holds his wrist.
— No, no. Phu, listen. Being friends it's the best reason. Do you wanna know why? — The younger crosses his arms again.— Because as close friends, there's not much to do. We just have to act like we normally do, maybe a little more skinship here, some sweet words there and that's all. No complications, no deep things. It's just you and me. — Maybe for Pond that was really simple like this, but for Phu that is exactly the problem: It's the two of them. Maybe if it was War, Khao or even Ohm, he wouldn't react this way. But it's Pond.
— It's completely different and you know it. What if we have to do more than just some skinship? What if there's something they want us to do, more than just some hugs and holding hands? What if we have to kiss?
— Ow! I guess you're overreacting, Phu. I know you're an overthinker, but let's just do things slowly. We couldn't even discuss the matter with them because you've freak out and run away. We can set limits, say what we want and don't want to do, what we think it's necessary or not. Even though I wouldn't mind kissing you. — Phuwin looks at Pond with a huge expression of despair, making the eldest laugh. — Calm down! It's a joke. Just a joke. I don't think we will have to kiss.
— But what if we have to? For any reason?
— Isn't it better to kiss a friend than a foe? I mean, we know each other, it's better than having to kiss a complete stranger, don't you think so?
— No, I don't.
— So we talk with them about it, okay? I think it's exclusively for the show, but if we have to kiss or anything, we do some camera angles, contract a stunt so you can kiss, anything. Fine? — Pond could say his own voice tone has changed, but he won't let it show how affected he is by the fact that Phuwin is so against kissing him. Many would beg for it, but he's almost disgusted by it. It's kinda offensive, but Pond won't take it to heart. He will try not to. — Can we go back there and talk about it? Define the things we will have or not to do and stuff? Even if you disagree, you know this is our best option for the comeback. If they keep reacting like that, maybe we can even set some records.
— Now you're overreacting. Don't daydream, especially in this situation. — He opens the fire blocking door. — Let's go back there. If we don't have another choice, at least I want to have everything clear, minimum details.
— Of course you do. — Pond says, getting up and going after Phuwin.
This is gonna be a long meeting.