Work Text:
But I will soon forget the color of your eyes
And you'll forget mine
— I'm Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket
This is how Sarawat fell in love:
He was standing amidst the crowd of excited students, seemingly disinterested at the performance happening, until he bumped into him. Their bodies collided against each other as the stranger stepped on his foot, and lost his balance. Sarawat would have been annoyed if it were any other circumstance. But the sight that welcomed him left him speechless. Warm dark brown eyes stared apologetically right into his, as the stranger bowed. Before he knew it he was walking away and continued watching the performance with the biggest smile Sarawat has seen. How can a simple performance bring so much joy to one person? He wonders.
Sarawat turned his gaze back to the stage but try as he may, his eyes automatically land on him. As if there were magnetic fields radiating from the boy's smile that's drawing him in voluntarily.
He spent the rest of the performance watching him enjoy, while silently wondering if he'll ever see him again.
***
He's almost resigned to the fact that he may never see the boy again, and the fleeting memory of the warmest smile he's seen will be just that.
Yet fate seemed to have other plans, as he faces a group of female students swarming his way—among them was the one smile he's been longing to see for quite a while. He stood there staring at the boy, silently mapping out his face and branding it in his memory. Because he's afraid to forget how that pair of dark brown eyes glimmer under the shade of the setting sun; or how he nervously bit on his chapped red lips before flashing him the smile that caught Sarawat off guard when he first saw it a year ago; or the way his expression shifted when Sarawat boldly stated, "Keep looking at me like that, and I'll kiss you till you drop".
Now, if only he could stare at that face for a lifetime.
***
Sarawat never was one to believe in luck, but now, as he stood with Tine in the crowded concert grounds, he thought otherwise.
It was like he was taken back to a year ago. Back to when he first met Tine, and when he was first enamored by his beautiful smile. Except this time, he has no intentions of letting the boy go without him knowing about his feelings.
And so, Sarawat decided to confess in the only way he knew how.
He took out his earphones, slipped one bud in his ear and the other in Tine’s, and looked for the song that Tine had requested—the same one mirroring his emotions for the boy. He silently watched his profile while they listened to the song—the crowd and the performers all blur from his sight while he looks at Tine's face. And as the words resonate within him, he couldn't help but mouth along to the song, It doesn't matter if you have someone else, just look at me. Just that, I'm happy inside already.
And as Tine quietly sang along with him, their gazes meeting with every escape of melody, Sarawat noticed how the sting he felt in his chest earlier dissipated into something more overwhelming yet strangely calming.
Sarawat finally gets it now.
***
Fate seems to always be on his side. Because the man he'd only been longing to lay eyes on once again, is finally his.
He spent every waking moment by his side, glancing at the face he fell in love with and indulging in the feeling that only Tine can give him. And promising to keep him in his life for as long as Tine lets him.
***
But as decades passed, so did his strong emotions towards him.
And he didn't want to entertain that thought, but now as he stood waiting for Tine in the devoid terminal, it dawned into him.
He was studying every single person passing by, trying to catch a glimpse of his partner, or anything that's significantly Tine.
But the face he could easily pick out from amidst a crowd was now an unfamiliar sight. Sarawat was surprised to be standing in front of his lover. "I was waving at you. Hadn't you seen me?" Tine asked. His eyebrows stitch together as he stares at Tine's hazel eyes. Had they always been that color?
Sarawat scans his surroundings, desperately searching for a familiar face; a smile to loop him in; a feeling he's known and held dear all throughout; or just something to remind him of how much he loved Tine. But it wasn't there anymore.