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They usually spend their Sunday morning cuddled up in bed. When Kim turns over to his side this Sunday morning, the space beside him is empty.
He checks his phone on his bedside, noting the time, 10:02am. It’s still too early to be up, so he wonders where his boyfriend has gone.
Perhaps he’s making breakfast? A smile creeps on his face at the image of Chay making his tomato-sauce-drizzled-fried eggs for him.
But then he realises the apartment is too silent.
“Chay?” he shouts, in case he might still be in their apartment. He can’t remember Chay telling him about any plans for today.
No response is heard.
He shoves the blankets off himself, quickly placing on a t-shirt. He walks into the kitchen, not seeing anyone in sight. Noticing a pair of Chay’s shoes are missing near the front door, he frowns.
He’s definitely gone out, but where, and why not without leaving him some sort of message?
He grabs his phone, calling Chay’s number, but a familiar ringtone sounds, and upon following the sound, he realises that Chay has left his phone in their lounge room.
Kim walks back to the kitchen, just in case there are any clues about where Chay may be.
There are no signs of food having been made, no recent dishes to be cleaned. The tabletop is clean, the stove doesn’t look like it’s been used today. There’s no signs of a break in - everything is still where they’re usually placed. The only items missing, besides Chay’s shoes, are his keycard and wallet.
After checking the security system, Kim concludes that Chay shouldn’t be in danger, but it would still be nice to know where he had gone.
Just as he’s about to text his men, to find out where Chay might be, Kim spots the bright yellow sticky note on the fridge.
“Kim, this isn’t working anymore. I’ll be back later.”
His eyes blink in disbelief.
Wait, what?
He reads the note over and over again until he feels like the words have been etched into his brain.
Things had been fine between them since making up.
What had gone wrong? What did he do?
He paces around the kitchen, picking at his memory anything in the last few days where he could’ve done or said something that would’ve upset Chay.
He can’t think of anything, so he decides to call Porsche up, in case he knows something. He’s already prepared to be scolded by him.
“Do you think I’m not a good boyfriend?” He asks as soon as Porsche answers his call.
“Kim? What the hell, ha-, “his boyfriend’s brother (or his brother’s boyfriend?) yawns, “why don’t you ask Chay yourself?” He can hear his own brother’s voice in the background asking what’s going on.
“Sorry for interrupting you two, but did Chay say anything about me in the last few days?”
“What, you called me on a Sunday morning just for that? I mean, yeah, but-”
“What did he say?”
“Why do you want to know? What did you do?” Kim grits his teeth as he hears the accusatory tone.
“I don’t fucking know! I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on, because your brother’s left the apartment without mentioning anything to me except for this stupid sticky note on the fridge that says that things aren’t working out between us!”
He runs a hand through his hair, panic evident in his voice.
He’s never been happier with Chay around. Is it all about to come to an end...without even knowing what he’s done wrong?
Maybe Chay had realised it’s not worth risking his life while he’s with him? Or maybe he was just not good enou-
“Kim, calm down.” Kinn’s voice comes through the line.
He sighs, sitting down on the sofa in their lounge room (he can’t remember when he left the kitchen) before muttering a quick ‘sorry’.
“Listen, Kim,” Porsche speaks again, softer this time, “he hasn’t mentioned anything bad to me, if it makes you feel better. You would have heard from me sooner if there was. Have you tried calling him already?”
“That’s the problem, he didn’t bring his phone. I’ve got it with me.”
Porsche hums. “That’s unusual of him, but I assume you’ve already checked for any signs of danger. I’ll get Arm to see if he can find out where Chay is. Hang on, we’ll be at your apartment soon.”
“Okay,” he manages to reply before ending the call.
Porsche and Kinn arrive at the apartment fifteen minutes later.
Chay has still not returned.
At Porsche’s request, he tries again to recall anything weird between the night before and the moments leading up to now.
He shakes his head, glaring at the sticky note in his hand, wanting to rip it up. “I really can’t think of a reason why Chay would just leave me that note.”
Maybe if he burns it, he can pretend he never saw it.
But that still won’t solve his problem.
“This coconut in this tastes weird,” Kinn states with a grimace, using a spoon to scoop around the dessert he’d taken out of their fridge. “How long has it been in the fridge for?”
“Maybe a few days,” Kim mumbles, barely paying attention to his brother’s words, as his mind continued to race with worried thoughts.
He doesn’t know how to interpret what Chay means by “later” - was it later today? Tomorrow? Weeks, maybe months later? Either way, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit his stomach at the thought of seeing Chay again.
It only meant the inevitable breakup speech.
“Oh, Arm just-“ he hears Porsche suppress another yawn, “Arm just texted to say he saw some credit card activity. It looks like he’s spent about $26,000 Baht for some sort of electrical equipment? Does that mean anything to you?”
“I...don’t know,” Kim’s not sure how that would help solve the problem, “Chay sometimes buys things for his music so it could just be that?” He’s not sure how that relates to the contents of the sticky note.
“Arm just texted again saying Chay was at the electronics and appliances store only a few blocks away, and now he’s at the bakery nearby. Nothing suspicious around him.”
At least they know that he’s safe.
“Still doesn’t explain the note,” Kim mutters.
“Well, the last time I was with him, there were no hint to suggest ending it with you. Surely he would have said something to me if he was considering it,” Porsche says to him, sitting beside him on the sofa.
“That’s what I’ve been thinking, it’s not like him to just leave a note!” Kim groans, placing his head in his hands. He feels Porsche rub his back.
“Are you sure you interpreted the note correctly?” He lifts his head to glare at his brother, “What? I’m just saying, maybe he meant something else?”
“I don’t think saying that ‘things aren’t working out anymore’ could mean anything else...” Kim utters miserably. “Plus he said he’ll be back later, so maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to me about it yet? He probably left his phone here so I couldn’t contact him.”
Kinn sighs, “Maybe just wait for him to come back so he can explain himself.”
“Yeah, it might not be what we’re thinking,” Porsche adds, looking at his phone upon getting another message.
“Chay is making his way here now.”
Oh.
He stands up from the sofa, avoiding eye contact with his guests.
Chay will be here any minute now, but he’s not sure if he’s ready to face him just yet.
“Uh I just need a moment…I’ll be in the bedroom if you need me. I don’t mind if you two leave or stay. Maybe Chay won’t want to s-see me yet...”, he manages to say, trying to ignore the burning sensation behind his eyes.
“Oh, Kim...” he hears the pity in Porsche’s voice.
He needs to leave this room, now.
“Maybe he’ll talk to you guys instead of talking to me through sticky notes.” He smiles bitterly, crumpling up the yellow piece of paper, letting it fall the floor. He rushes away from the lounge room, ignoring the calling of his name by the other two.
It’s alright, he’s not going to do anything drastic. He just wants a bit of time for himself – and maybe to help prepare for once Chay decided he wanted to talk to him...to officially break up with him. He’ll still try to fight for their relationship - even if he still doesn’t know what’s gone so wrong - but if Chay doesn’t think this will work, can he really stop Chay from leaving him?
He slides into their- soon to be only his - bed, letting the blanket hug his body. The thick blanket is the only comforting thing right now as he releases a few silent tears.
Chay hums a random tune as he unlocks the door to their apartment. He closes the door, taking off his shoes to set them aside.
He jumps at the sight of his brother and Kinn sitting on the sofa in the lounge room, almost dropping the bag of baked goods he’d bought for himself and Kim.
“Uh, h-hello?” he waves at them awkwardly, gulping at the serious expression on their faces, “what’s going on?” He feel frozen in his place, as if he’d been caught doing something wrong.
But what had he done anyway?
“I don’t know, maybe you can tell us?” Kinn finally speaks, crossing his arms.
“…I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
What is going on, and where is Kim?
“You and Kim…did something happen between you two?” Chay can sense the hesitancy in his brother’s voice.
What the- is he talking about the, uh, more intimate parts of their relationship? Is that what he means?
“Hia, I don’t understand.” Seriously, where is his boyfriend? He must be somewhere in the apartment if these two had been able to enter.
‘Save me, Kim! I don’t want them giving us the ‘talk’ if that’s what they’re here for!’
“Are you breaking up with Kim?”
WHAT!
Things have been going well between them, so he’s not sure where they’re getting this idea from.
This time, Kinn speaks. “You told him that things weren’t working out between you two.”
“Huh? When did I do that?” He doesn’t remember telling Kim anything like that.
“Kim said you left him a sticky note on the fridge, with a message saying that.”
“What?” He really can’t remember doing that!
He frowns, confusion evident when Porsche reveals a crumpled yellow note.
“This note.”
“I didn’t-”, he begins to protest, before he remembers the exact words he’d written. His grip on the bag from the bakery falters, the baked goods now spilt on the ground.
Oh.
Oh.
That note.
Now wide awake than the past few hours, he realises how it could’ve been interpreted.
“No, wait, that’s not what I meant! Where is he?”
He needs to explain things to Kim now!
“In the bedroom. I hope you have a good explanation because he’s pretty upset.” Kinn tells him.
He quickly heads to their bedroom, witnessing a figure on the bed, wrapped up in their huge blanket.
“Kim?”
“Kim?” He tries again.
The silence that follows is unnerving, but Chay musters the courage to approach his boyfriend. He can’t have another round of miscommunication ruin their relationship!
“Kim? Please talk to me?”
His boyfriend slowly lifts his head up, revealing his face. Chay, witnessing his slightly swollen eyes and dried tear marks, hurriedly climbs onto the bed, holding his face in his own hands.
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m ready for what you’re going to say...even though I’m not sure what I’ve done w-wrong.” Kim utters, voice quivering - Chay pretends he doesn’t hear the curse that Kim releases under his breath.
“Wait, you haven’t done anything wrong! Well, besides misinterpreting my note.”
“It clearly said things weren’t working out between us. So go ahead and tell me why.”
“No it said ‘this isn’t working anymore’.”
Kim rolls his eyes. “As if that makes any difference!”
“Listen, this sounds silly now that I think about it, but uh,” Chay bites his lip, feeling his cheeks warm up, “I stuck it on the fridge, because the fridge wasn’t working anymore.”
“What?” He turns his head toward the bedroom door, realising Porsche and Kinn must have followed after him. His brother is shaking his head in disbelief.
“What?” Chay averts his gaze back on his boyfriend, who mimics Kinn’s question, his eyes wide.
“I don’t know how many hours it’s been, but I woke up to get a drink and realised the fridge wasn’t working when the drink tasted a bit weird. I already checked to see if it was just a power outage, but everything else seemed to be working, so I figured it was time to get a new fridge. I thought of asking you to come with me, but I didn’t want to wake you up...you just looked so peaceful!
“I thought just leaving the sticky note would be enough and then I realised I forgot my phone when I got to the store. But I was already there, so I just decided to buy the fridge right then. It just took a while because the sales person had some technical difficulties and then I had to organise the warranty and delivery stuff. Then I just wanted to stop by the bakery to get your favourites. I didn’t expect this to happen.”
When he’s finished, Kim’s mouth is open, but he doesn’t reply, only blinking up at him in silence.
“Kim? Say something.”
His boyfriend's silence begins to worry him, but a moment later, Kim finally releases a huge, relieved sigh.
He places his hands over Chay’s, which are still resting over his face.
“So we’re alright?” He whispers.
“Yes, of course! I would’ve talked it out with you if there was, that’s what we agreed on,” Chay reassures him, feeling guilty, “I should’ve been more clear, I’m sorry!”
“No need to apologise, angel, I was the one who misread your note.”
“Huh, what did I tell you, Kim?” Chay hears Kinn tease from behind him.
Kim groans in response, seeming to have forgotten about the other two still hanging around. He gently pulls away Chay’s hands on his face, moving to cover himself once again in the blanket.
Chay doesn’t miss the slight pink tint on Kim’s cheeks before his head completely disappears in the bundle of fabric.
“Everybody...you can all leave now.” Kim’s hand reappears briefly to make a swatting gesture, before disappearing once again.
“Kim!” Chay tries to pull the blanket away to see his face again, but Kim won’t budge.
“Aw, Kim,” he lets out a giggle, “come on, it’s fine!”
“This is so fucking embarrassing!” Kim mumbles underneath.
“We can just get back to cuddling? It’s still what...like 11?” The pile paused his fight for the blanket, before Chay feels himself pulled into a warm embrace, Kim wrapping the blanket around themselves.
It feels nice, just being here with Kim and really, Chay can stay like this all day if their moment hadn’t suddenly been interrupted by Porsche clearing his throat.
“We’ll be leaving now.”
“Wait, I need to go to the bathroom.” Kinn declares, before rushing to the mentioned room.
“Let me guess, he ate something from the fridge?” Chay asks, eyebrows furrowed in an apologetic expression, while Kim looks on in amusement.
Porsche’s eyes widen in horror. “Yeah, the dessert.”