Chapter Text
Tine should have seen this coming.
He should have seen this coming the moment Phukong called.
He should have seen this coming that that little git had something planned up his sleeve.
They didn’t exactly have anything planned for the semestral break, which was a no-brainer when Phukong suddenly called and suggested of a Guntithanon’s family outing.
“Let’s go to Koh Larn Island! We can stay over for a couple of days to go around the beaches! And it’s great to go around this time when there isn’t much of a crowd!” In the middle of the kitchen, lies Sarawat’s phone on the table with Phukong’s voice resonating from it on loud speaker.
“What’re you talking about? It’s semestral break! You’re literally “the crowd” if you are thinking of the same thing everyone is when you’d be dying to get some R&R in a beach somewhere!” Tine speaks a little louder to the phone, while walking around the kitchen, multitasking between chopping vegetables on the kitchen counter and checking in on the stew that was heating up on the stove.
“Come oooon! Mom’s soooo excited to go back to Tawaen Beach again, P’! You know how she gets when she doesn’t get what she wants!” Phukong whines. Sarawat rolls his eyes as he was scooping out the steaming hot rice from the rice cooker. He turns towards his phone and points the spoon threateningly to the device, as if he’s talking to Phukong face-to-face, “Yes! I know how she gets! I know it’s from her where you get your whiny little self from. I also know that this whole thing is your idea and you’re just using Mom as an excuse and somehow manipulated them just so you can freeload a vacation off of our parents!”
“True that!” Tine uses his ladle to tap on the pot twice in rapid succession, making it clang loud enough for Phukong to hear.
“Aow! You wound me, P’!” Phukong gasps dramatically.
“But, am I wrong?”
Phukong doesn’t deny it and just snickers, “Come on, P’! Mom and Dad haven’t met P’Tine yet! (Well, Mom has... and has even seen you in second base, if I may recall.) So, don’t you want to show off P’Tine to his future in-laws?”
Tine whips his head towards the phone with an appalled look mixed with embarrassment the same time Sarawat approaches his phone and grabs it from the table, “You’re lucky you’re not physically here, Phukong. Otherwise, I would’ve strangled you already!”
Phukong ignores Sarawat, “It’ll be fun, P’! You guys deserve a break from school and clubwork too! Who knows when the next opportunity will come? You guys are gonna start internship next year, right? So, you might not get another chance again this time around once you get busier and busier!”
Sarawat puckers his lower lip in contemplation. The annoying shit has a point. Sarawat steals a glance at Tine and catches him looking awkwardly towards Sarawat before turning back to the stove.
“So, I take your silence as a ‘yes’? Are you in? Shall I tell them that you guys are in?” Sarawat could tell Phukong was bouncing even by the tone of his voice.
Sarawat hums and answers, “We’ll get back to you. Bye.”
“Eh?! P’-”
Sarawat drops the call. He throws his phone on the kitchen counter and walks behind Tine, who was obviously trying to avoid the topic at hand. He sets his chin on Tine’s shoulder and wraps his arms around Tine’s stomach. Sarawat prods Tine’s chin with a quick flick of his finger, “So... what do you think?”
Tine looks up from what he was doing and feigns innocence, “What do I think?” Tine stalls and continues to stir the stew on the saucepan (as if it needed more stirring) and Sarawat waits for Tine’s response, making silence his weapon against Tine’s own.
“I...” Tine’s shoulders slack and heaves out a loud sigh before turning the fire off, “I guess it’ll be fun...” Tine trails.
“...but...?” Sarawat prods further.
Tine spins around and faces Sarawat with a caught expression and nervously looks back down at nothing in particular, “Umm... is it a good idea... for me to join in on this family outing? I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Phukong will bring that bastard with us too.” Sarawat grumbles at the memory of P’Mil, “You wouldn’t be imposing.” He shrugs.
“But, they’ve already met him, Wat.”
“Wait. Is this about you meeting my parents for the first time?” It comes out as a tease for Sarawat, but he quickly regrets it when he sees the evident discomfort in his boyfriend’s face.
Sarawat takes Tine’s hand and slowly pulls him away from the stove and they settle in the kitchen counter. Sarawat lightly pushes Tine to lean on the table and he sets his hands on either side of Tine, effectively trapping him in between.
“Talk to me, Tine.”
It takes a bit of time before Tine speaks up, “I’m...” He scratches the back of his head nervously, “How... What if they don’t like me, Wat? What if they find me weird... that I’m not good enough for their son and that they break us apart? Like what you see in Korean TV dramas, you know?” Tine rambles on and every single thing Tine adds amuses Sarawat more and more, “I don’t want to break up, Wat! I don’t want to be slapped with a wad of cash just to stay away from their son!”
Sarawat throws his head back in laughter as he lets out a full belly laugh.
“I’m serious, Saraleo!”
It takes a few seconds before Sarawat could regain his composure again and leans his head on Tine’s shoulder, trying to catch his breath. He raises his head again only to rub Tine’s head fondly, “Oh, my silly tua woon wai.”
Sarawat coos and places a reassuring hand on Tine’s cheek as he leans in to press a quick kiss on Tine’s lips, “We’re not breaking up, okay? I’m not letting you go even in the off chance my parents won’t accept you. I’m sure they will love you, Tine.”
“You’re just saying that...” Tine mutters, his insecurities still showing.
Sarawat lets out a tiny huff through his nose and grabs Tine’s cheeks, making him look at him, “I’m serious, Tine. They are going to love you... because they will see what I see... and what I see...” Sarawat trails as he places his arms on top of Tine’s shoulders, “...is a beautiful person with the brightest, most beautiful smile...” He snakes his arms around Tine’s neck, “...with the kindest, most gentle heart...” and plays with the hair at the back of Tine’s head, “...and the most courteous, most diligent personality.
“I am sure they will be charmed with you as much as I am enraptured by you, my little buffalo.”
Tine rolls his eyes dramatically, “You’re biased because you’re my boyfriend.”
“I’m saying these because I’m your boyfriend. And who else can see everything about yourself, but me?” Sarawat smirks then adds, “Pun intended.”
“Sat!” Tine slaps Sarawat by the upper arm, earning him a laugh.
“But, if you feel like you are not ready to meet them, then I fully understand... and I’ll respect that. I won’t force you to go if you’re not comfortable with it.” Sarawat caresses Tine’s head playfully and Tine rolls his eyes again at Sarawat’s obvious tactic of trying to coax something out of Tine.
“But... you really want to go, don’t you?”
Sarawat doesn’t answer and avoids Tine’s gaze altogether, still playing with Tine’s hair. He makes a tiny shrug and puckers his lips.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go-”
“YES!!”
Tine shakes his head at his boyfriend’s enthusiasm as Sarawat grabs his phone right away to inform Phukong of their decision.
“Wat, there’s also something I-”
“Hmm?” Sarawat doesn’t look up at Tine, too busy typing out the message he has already drafted for his brother and trying his hardest not to make typos for said brother to tease him with.
Tine opens his mouth to say something else, but he decides that now was not the best time to open up about this when Sarawat was too excited for this trip.
“Don’t forget to bring your jerseys.” Tine grins and Sarawat literally lights up. Tine looks at his boyfriend’s obvious skip in his movement as Sarawat drops the idea of texting his brother and decides to call the git instead. Seeing Sarawat’s excitement and good mood was enough to make Tine deliriously happy as well. Somehow, he felt a little confident that he made the right choice.
-----
Tine should have seen this coming.
He should have seen this coming the moment Phukong called.
He should have seen this coming that that little git had something planned up his sleeve.
The moment they arrived at the resort, Phukong and Mil had ditched them to deal with Sarawat’s parents. Phukong had planned for Tine and Sarawat to take the bait, and oh how gullible they were to be duped into babysitting two old people. That git knew Tine would find it difficult to get out of their sight knowing that this was the first time they were meeting.
King Mongkut Guntithanon and Moon Sasithorn Guntithanon are holding hands as they enter the resort to check themselves in, a grumbling Sarawat and a nervous Tine following behind them. “I swear, I’m gonna find that little shit.” Sarawat mutters to Tine, his fists clenching on the numerous handles of luggages they were trudging. Tine pats his back in comfort and grabs a few bags from Sarawat’s hands, “It’s only the first day, Wat... We will have our revenge later.” Tine snickers and Sarawat likes the idea of that.
“We only have one family room and one double deluxe room left.” The lady behind reception nervously eyes their group, alternating between looking at the computer and Moon’s disappointed look, “However, we can bring you extra cots to fit 4 people in the family room!” She quickly adds.
Sarawat’s eyes brighten and quickly turns to his mother, “Mæ̀ krub, Tine and I can take the double deluxe room. I’m sure Phukong won’t mind bunking in with you and Por.”
“Are you sure, Lūk?” Moon looks at Sarawat with eyes filled with suspicion, “Seems to me it’s you who doesn’t want to spend time with his old mother.” Moon huffs dramatically and crosses her arms for good measure, but Sarawat has his arms wrapped around her right away. “You know it’s not like that, Mæ̀.” Sarawat hooks his chin on his petite mother’s shoulder and flashes him his puppy dog eyes when he begs, “Na, na, na?” Moon pats her son’s cheek and nods exasperatedly, “Okay, okay. Fine. Help us unload the luggages in our room and you and Nong Tine can have the double deluxe.”
“Love you, Mæ̀.” Sarawat flashes her a cheeky grin.
“You only say that if you want something from me!”
Tine shakes his head at the scene between the bickering parent and child, and Sarawat’s father somehow magically appears beside Tine, muttering, “This is how you get Wat to do things for you... and vice versa.” Tine is taken back a bit by the sudden advice. “They’re suckers for theatrics.” Tine comes back to his senses when King chuckles and pats Tine a couple of times by the back that sends Tine stumbling at his monstrous strength.
Tine laughs nervously and watches Sarawat’s father walk to his wife and the big, tall man breaks off the playful scuffle between mother and son. Did he just get solid advice from his boyfriend’s father? Tine watches the whole exchange with a fond yet rueful smile at the corner of his lips. He has a sense of nostalgia of his family during the good old days when he was younger. Before his parents got so busy with work. When laughter used to fill their small, but warm home.
“Tine! Let’s go to our room and unpack!”
Tine breaks out of his daydreaming and runs towards his boyfriend.
-----
Sarawat flops unceremoniously on their bed panting, “Damn that bastard and that little shit! Making us lug their bags around!” Sarawat was back to cursing Phukong and his asshole of a boyfriend. Tine chuckles under his breath as he takes out some of their things from their shared luggage and sets them around the room which will be home for the next few days.
“On the bright side, Wat, we get to have this room to ourselves because they weren’t around to take it.” Tine shrugs as he walks around the room with a light skip. Sarawat rolls over to his side and props up his elbow, holding his head up with his palm.
“Sooo...” Sarawat smirks, “I told you they were going to love you.”
Tine looks back to Sarawat with a bashful grin and recalls the brief exchange they had with Sarawat’s parents when he and Sarawat arrived at their rendezvous point. They had arrived at Pattaya City Port just in the knick of time and Phukong had waved frantically at them to hurry up. With all the running around, lugging bags with them, there wasn’t much time for introductions until they got inside the boat.
“I remember you! Nong Tine, right?” Moon Sasithorn, Sarawat’s mother, clasps her hands together. Sarawat and Tine were seated across Sarawat’s parents while Phukong and P’Mil sat behind the two boys. “Sawasdee krub!” Tine greets her with a wai and Moon returns the gesture, “Sawasdee ja!” She turns to her husband beside her and pats his upper arm, “Darling, this is Nong Tine, remember the time we dropped Phukong off at Wat’s old apartment? I met him there.” Her eyes gleam.
Tine gulps at the huge lump in his throat when he wai’s at the humongous man sitting beside Sarawat’s mother. The seat could barely suffice his huge frame. Sarawat’s father, King Mongkut Guntithanon, was a retired officer of the Thailand National Police Department and this information only makes Tine even more nervous.
“Mm.” King grunts sternly from the bottom of his throat. “I’m guessing you’re pretty close with Wat, then. Since you can handle his eccentricities.”
“Umm...” Tine looks between Sarawat and his parents, wondering if this was too soon to fess up and let them know of their relationship. But, Sarawat beats him to it, “I thought we had already established an agreement that you two would behave if I bring my boyfriend along?” Tine’s head whips at Sarawat so fast that he could almost hear a crack.
“We are behaved.” Moon places a hand on her chest and feigns a gasp as she turns to her husband, “I don’t remember saying anything weird, Darling? Did I?”
King plays along and places an index finger on his chin, “Just the part where you found Wat in a very compromising situation on top of his faen, Dear.” Tine stills and immediately turns tomato red at the memory, and Sarawat slaps a loud hand on his forehead.
“Darling! What are you saying? I never said anything of the sort!” Moon is giggling all the way.
“Oh, you didn’t? My apologies. Must be my deaf old ears playing tricks on me.”
“Please, stooop.” Sarawat is beyond mortified, hiding his face behind his hands, and Tine is frozen blank in his seat, confused on what to do, what to feel.
“It’s only fair that you get the same sentiments as I did, P’.” Phukong’s head pops out from behind Sarawat’s seat and Sarawat swats him away.
“And on the bright side, nobody is threatening to castrate your balls, Nong Tine.” Mil adds from beside Phukong and the two laugh at a pissed-off Sarawat, “Ha ha, very funny.” He glares at the two lovers, but it clearly had no effect as they only laughed louder and his parents laughed along with them.
Tine had smiled at the rare sight of a bashful Sarawat. Sarawat was a different person in front of his family. A good kind of different. He was much more open and carefree surrounded by his family (P’Mil included, but of course, you wouldn’t hear an admission from him) away from the eyes and presence of his stalker fans. Tine was glad he made the right choice. He was glad he came to this family outing to witness it.
Tine breaks out of his reverie when Sarawat appears in front of his face, looming merely centimeters away from his. Tine blinks a couple of times, wondering why Sarawat is all over him like this so suddenly.
“Little buffalo, are you still there?” Sarawat rubs Tine’s head and Tine all but rolls his eyes.
“Hm?”
“I said, I told you they’re going to love you.” Sawarat smirks as he bites his lower lip when he drags Tine to the bed with him. Sarawat pulls him down and they make a flop on the bed, and Sarawat instantly clings to Tine like a koala with his tree.
“Oyy!” Tine squirms from Sarawat's death grip, but Sarawat doesn’t budge. “Let’s take a nap. We have a few hours of alone time before we meet up with them again. I need a recharge before I can handle their crazy.” Sarawat nuzzles his cheek on Tine’s shoulder.
Tine shakes his head with a snort, “I don’t understand why you’re like this with them. Your family is adorable!” Tine smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Sarawat notices the subtle change in the tone of Tine’s voice and he steals a glance at his boyfriend’s face.
“They can be a little too much sometimes...” Sarawat says in a hushed tone, “But, yeah... they are adorable.” He agrees. He reaches out to Tine’s face and gently pulls him back to look at him.
“Tine? Don’t let what happened last time get to you...” Sarawat presses his forehead on Tine’s and Tine avoids Sarawat’s intense gaze, “Wh-what do you mean?” He asks, feigning ignorance.
“You know what I mean, Tine.”
Tine swallows the huge lump in his throat. Ever since their fallout with his parents, he has not exactly talked about it again with Sarawat. He doesn’t know where to begin, he doesn’t know how to bring it up. “I-I’m fine, Wat. Everything’s fine.” Tine lies and Sarawat just looks at him, not making any signs of moving away from Tine.
Sarawat doesn’t push it. He can wait for Tine until he is ready to talk, but watching Tine lie to himself, falling apart on some days, and faking it on some, breaks Sarawat’s heart. Frankly, he doesn’t want to push it because he doesn’t even begin to know how to handle the repercussions should he overstep.
A loud ring jolts the both of them and Sarawat looks above their heads to his phone ringing and vibrating near the pillows. He reaches for it and answers unenthusiastically, “Yeah?”
“Wat? Phukong and Mil are back. What do you say we go snorkeling? Have you already settled in?”
From behind his father’s voice, Sarawat could hear his mother and Phukong arguing over something. No doubt about the sleeping arrangements, thus, his father coming up with this idea to douse the situation.
“Sure, Por. Meet you at the lobby.” He says and ends the call.
“Por suggests we go snorkeling. Kong and the bastard are back and I’m guessing they’re not too thrilled about the sleeping arrangements, so...” Sarawat trails off with a mischievous smirk.
“Serves them right.” Tine giggles.
“Are you up for snorkeling?”
“Yeah!” Tine was slowly back to his old self, but Sarawat could still see the tinge of loneliness in his eyes. Sarawat looms over Tine’s head and presses a soft kiss between eyes, “Whenever you’re ready, little buffalo.” Sarawat whispers into his skin, “I will always be here.” He pulls back and flashes a smile to Tine before he gets up and reaches out his hand for Tine to take, “Now, let’s go and have some fun!”
Tine beams, grateful for having such an amazing boyfriend, and takes his hand.
To be continued.