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Marsh draped himself onto the sofa, elegantly throwing his arm over the back as he tipped his head and covered his eyes. The others in the room either watched with amusement or ignored him, carrying on with their tasks.
Working at a high-class escort service, you quickly became used to the more dramatic personalities, both of employees and clients. The type of escort agency they all worked for was high-brow enough that the clients demanded the absolute best, and in return the agency demanded their escorts were treated like actual people, enforcing strict work policies and providing solid security for the escorts.
On busy nights when multiple events and large requests were put in the agency rooms could be overflowing with various escorts sorting details, working out strategies and dolling themselves up to agency standards.
Tonight there were only a few; a slow Thursday night never pulled in a lot of workers, and it was easier to go straight from home from an all-night client, even if a lot of escorts preferred the safety of being picked up and dropped off at the agency rather than at home, to protect their privacy.
Marsh had just returned from one of his more sedate clients, an older business woman who liked a polite and delicate face to talk to over dinner.
He would usually be changing and getting ready for one of his most long-standing appointments, but recently his schedule had been getting slightly sparse of his favourite client.
“Is there some sort of big business deal he’s doing lately, cause the other option is too horrid to contemplate. I mean really,only twice in 2 months!”
Cherry twisted in his chair, putting the makeup palette he’d been playing with down.
“Only twice? I haven’t seen him at all for aaages. I don’t know who misses him more, my ass or my bank account!”
Marsh let out a laugh as Prem leaned over and slapped Cherry’s arm slightly.
“You’re just terrible!”
“And he’s a gift from the gods, but it’s been so long since any of us got more than a brief encounter with him that I’m wondering whether they’ve taken the gift back.”
“Whose taken what back?”
The three had moved to the larger sofa at the back of the room to gossip, and now looked up at the newcomer in surprise.
“P’Porsche it’s terrible right? The Drought of Khun Kinn!”
The chorus of sighs drew a smile out of the man, as he sat down on the sofa adjacent, fiddling with his phone slightly.
“The Drought of Kinn? Prem I can hear you capitalising from here, what’s up?”
Prem let out a fake sniffle as he leaned his head against Porsche’s shoulder and received little pats on the head in commiseration.
Cherry, who had been a little bitter ever since Porsche had been added to the usual rotation of boys that Khun Kinn requested, smiled sharply.
“So what are you doing here P? You usually avoid coming this early.”
‘This early’ being a veiled mention that Porsche waited until bar opening times to leave his brother at home, to avoid any weird questions about his second job. Cherry had found this out when Porsche mentioned to Peach one time why he hated early appointments, and liked to bring it up to annoy Porsche.
“Had to pick up my pay from P’Chaem.”
Porsche patted one of the pockets of the bag he trailed in with.
Prem laughed. “You must be the only high-class escort in Thailand that gets paid in cash, P’Porsche you’re so weird.”
Porsche smiled at the laughing boy and shrugged. “What can I say, I don’t trust banks.”
Or you need all the money in cash for loansharks, Cherry thought meanly.
He knew Porsche wasn’t a gambler and probably had some dumb noble reason to take money from creditors, but he liked being petty when Porsche had cut into one of the cushiest gigs he worked right now.
Khun Kinn was immaculately gorgeous, was hung, was polite, and paid very well. And he was insatiable, so even if he had a rotation of boys, him, Marsh, Prem, and two other boys Wick and Sugar, Cherry got a solid amount of work from him.
And then Porsche was added and it seemed like the whole rotation was thrown off. And now Khun Kinn must be busy with some huge deal or away on business, or worse going through a dry spell because he hadn’t called any of them for weeks.
“Porsche, maybe you heard something? I know Khun Kinn never speaks about his work or movements- or anything really- but maybe one of the guards mentioned if he was going to be working or absent for a while? I asked Wick yesterday and he didn’t know anything, and he has that thing going on with that one bodyguard Pat.”
Porsche looked up from where he’d been fiddling with his phone. Porsche rarely hung about the agency, always wanting to get back home to his brother. He’d only stopped by because he was rather fond of Prem, and Marsh had been helpful back when he’d first joined.
Cherry he could do without half the time, even if the boy was funny when he forgot to be spiteful.
“Kinn? Uh I don’t think so, not more than usual. He just finished that deal with the Russians last month so he said he was pivoting to club duties in Bangkok while that got finalised.”
Marsh sat up properly and all three turned their heads to focus on Porsch, who had obliviously gone back to his phone.
“P’Porsche!!” Prem hissed. “Have you been snooping on Khun Kinn, you know that’s such a bad idea! Like sleeping with the fishes bad!”
“Sweetie, please tell me this was from a bodyguard and you haven’t been, like actually looking through Khun Kinn’s stuff.”
Cherry pointed his finger at a very bemused looking Porsche. “I swear if you’ve wrecked our gig with the Theerapanyakuns P’Chaem is going to literally kill you, and I’ll watch.”
Porsche put his hands up and waved them about, “woah, woah, woah, calm yourselves, I haven’t been snooping! Why were you asking if you didn’t want to know?”
Prem fake glared at Porsche, wiggling along the sofa to edge closer to him.
“Cause no-one’s been called to the compound in weeks! Not even Cherry and he was Khun Kinn’s favourite for a while.”
Until you came along, Cherry thought petulantly at Porsche.
“It’s such a mystery! He was so regular, I mean even when he was busy he usually called for one of us, even if it was like 3am! The man was consistent.”
Prem pouted. “I don’t miss the wakeup calls, but damn if I don’t miss the reason for them. Khun Kinn is so nice.”
Everyone nodded, including Porsche when he finally looked up from his phone, apparently drawn to the device even with an interrogation starting in on him.
“I mean, it’s not like he’s particularly chatty, but he’s polite and doesn’t rush us; lets us shower and everything afterwards.”
Cherry pouted. “So much better than some of my other clients."
Marsh hummed in agreement, “I have one at the moment that I may start having to decline. They’re overstepping way too much.”
He turned to Porsche, “How are your other clients? Have you managed to settle a proper client list yet?”
Marsh, despite being younger than Porsche felt like he needed to guide such an obvious newbie to escorting, and had given him several tips over time.
Prem eyed Porsche as the man blinked and said, “What other clients?”
Marsh had shaken off the initial shock, and jumped in. “Sweetie, haven’t you managed to get any other clients yet? Do you want some help with some introductions?”
“Yeah, I mean you aren’t abysmal looking I suppose, are you just terrible at conversation?” Even Cherry was surprised that Porsche hadn’t managed to land at least one other client by now, P’Chaem was usually so proactive with managing her workers.
“You do know that you have to try and make an effort right?” Cherry spoke, slightly snide but actually trying to be helpful in a backhanded way. “You can’t just sit and look pretty for clients, you have to work them and get them interested. Just cause Khun Kinn isn’t a talker and he for some reason picked you as a chew toy, doesn’t mean you can do the same bimbo routine for others.”
Porsche snorted and Cherry’s face soured further.
“Look you prideful little ass I’m trying to help you. If Khun Kinn isn’t about that means no clients for you and you didn’t seem to take this job cause you love the work!”
Porsche managed to detach a hand from where Prem still held them captive, flapping it at Cherry to calm him down.
“Sorry sorry, it’s just, Kinn?” He raised his eyebrows at Prem and Marsh as if Cherry had said something ridiculous. “Not a talker?”
“Wait, you mean he talks to you? Beyond hello, goodbye, raise your ass a little higher?”
Porsche smiled in confusion as he finally put his phone down.
“Well, I mean…yeah? Why do you think I knew that he wasn’t busy this month? Guy loves a sounding board. Like a couple of months ago, when he was pissed about the Rossetti merger that they tried to cut him out of, and he wouldn’t stop going on about how annoying this one guy was, Alberto? I don’t know, but you guys must have got the rant too, he was so worked up about it!”
Prem captured Porsche’s hand again and pulled them towards his own face, eyes huge with wonder.
“You’re magic.” Porsche laughed until he noticed no-one else looked like they were joking.
“Haa? How come none of you got subjected to this, not fair!”
Cherry looked livid. “Not fair?! We don’t get a spare word the entire time, and you’re complaining because he talks too much??”
Marsh patted Cherry on the back to try and calm him slightly. Cherry was a bit too prideful to find out all at once that even though he was once called “Khun Kinn’s favourite”, Porsche had taken that crown and run with it without even realising he was competing.
“P’Porsche, you have to tell us more! He tells you about business things??!” Prem whispered loudly, causing Porsche to rub his ear with his shoulder to dispel the tickling sensation.
Porsche looked slightly evasive. “I mean sometimes. He’s not like a business robot or whatever, we talk about other stuff.”
“What other things do you do, this is such a revelation! You have to tell us!”
Prem was now squeezing at Porsche’s cheeks, causing him to giggle slightly. Porsche pulled Prem’s hands away and wrapped his arms around the younger boy, turning him so he faced Cherry and Marsh on the adjacent sofa and keeping Prem’s arms folded down by his own, in a forcible cuddle. He tucked his chin over Prem’s head and looked down at him.
“You are such a weird little duck you know that.”
Prem wiggled. “I will not be denied! Tell us everything, what do you usually do, do you always talk, tell usssss.”
Porsche shrugged.
“I dunno. We set up a time, I rock up, I get escorted up like usual. I go in, he’s in a fancy robe usually.”
So far Porsche had been getting little nods of agreement. He paused as he thought about his usual nights with Kinn.
“We go shower, maybe fool around, we come out, I make him a drink. We talk, we fool around some more, he decides which flat surface he wants to plow me against-”
“Wait we? You shower with Khun Kinn?” Marsh clarified. So many new facets of Khun Kinn were tumbling out tonight. Marsh couldn’t keep up.
“Yeah, he likes washing my hair; he thinks I don’t know but I know he gets pouty if I don’t let him. Either that or a bath, but those take a while and they make me so tired. I fell asleep once, so damn embarrassing. I woke up and he’d tucked me into bed like a little kid.”
Cherry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You fell asleep? Are you insane?”
Cherry had fallen asleep once, when Khun Kinn had gone to take a call after sex. He had come back and politely woken him. Khun Kinn had been as genial as ever but Cherry knew it had been a mistake and had been careful to never bother Khun Kinn like that again.
“What! I work 2 jobs and go to university - a man gets tired! And it’s not like he hasn’t done it to me. Teasing prick fell asleep after promising, promising he wasn’t too tired and he would suck me off if I rode him without coming, but guess who conks out after 2 rounds and doesn’t wake up until the next day. Selfish bastard.”
Porsche thought that maybe he should stop talking as he once again looked at 3 aghast faces. Kinn couldn’t be so different could he?
Prem looked up at Porsche’s face, eyes round and starry.
“You must be some sort of sex god. Teach me.”
Porsch reached up from where he had his arms clasped round Prem and booped Prem’s nose lightly. “What are you even talking about.”
Prem snorted. “Baby, you stayed over. That’s just never happened. To anyone. Ever.”
Porsche felt like all of them had turned into stuck records as he repeated, “What? No, you guys must have stayed over. On the weekends?”
He felt like there was some massive cosmic joke he wasn’t getting, but he knew that they must be exaggerating a little.
Cherry felt like a ghost, rising out of his own body to watch this absolute farce of a conversation.
“When,” he stuttered, “when did you stay over? Like you stayed the night?”
Porsche nodded slowly. “Uh yeah, only once or twice. It was a weekend so Kinn said he wanted me to stay. I only stayed in the morning, and once in the afternoon cause Khun Nu wanted to watch a film and is so dramatic I didn’t want to deal with the headache that came with saying no.”
Marsh leaned forward, “Khun Nu?”
Porsche smiled confusedly, “Uh Kinn’s brother? Maybe you guys haven’t met him, he just kind started showing up a couple times. I think he just likes annoying Kinn.”
Marsh, as the longest serving of Khun Kinn’s boys felt a slight pang of real hurt for the first time. Obviously Porsche was special, but everything that came out his mouth was a complete contrast of how anyone else knew Khun Kinn to be, including Marsh himself.
Marsh had never even heard whispers about Khun Kinn’s brothers. He only knew they existed because as Theerapanyakuns, part of Bangkok’s highest social elite, their names were famous, even if neither of them were in the spotlight like Khun Kinn.
Marsh had the dawning feeling that whatever version of Khun Kinn Porsche had been seeing, it was vastly different from the one that they had come to know themselves.
Cherry looked fit to burst. “So how many times has this happened? Recently?”
Porsche looked wary about stoking Cherry’s ire, but answered anyway.
“A few weeks ago. He asked last Friday but I had something on with Ché.”
“And he just accepted that?” Cherry liked Khun Kinn because he was an impeccable client, but even he said when to come and when to go and didn’t ask for Cherry’s schedule.
Most clients would not take well to paying for an escort who dictates the schedule around their time rather than their clients.
“It’s nothing special, it’s just he knows I like to keep certain days free for Porsché.”
Cherry pressed his lips together, conflicted between slagging off Porsche and prying more info out of him.
Marsh was the one to speak next.
“So you said he isn’t busy, so maybe he told you why he’s gone off the grid with us.”
Porsche looked uncomfortable. “I mean, how do you mean off the grid? Do you guys not get called regularly anymore?”
Prem rolled his eyes and reached up to pat Porsche’s cheeks again. “Even you must have noticed his appointments have dipped. Wick said he was called last week but it was a surprisingly short appointment. Sugar hasn’t been called in 2 months, but he doesn’t really care because he’s had his schedule filled by that CEO type he’s claiming he’s not in love with. Silly boy.”
Marsh smiled softly. “He’s young Prem, he’ll learn.”
Porsch wanted to go back to his phone, the thing buzzing every so often to remind him who he could be talking to instead of gossiping about Sugar’s flights of romance.
He also had the feeling the end of this conversation wouldn’t end well for him, especially with the spite Cherry had already built up over Kinn’s sudden absence.
He hadn’t known Cherry had even liked Kinn that much. He always acted like Kinn was another job for him. But, Porsche supposed, Cherry did take pride in his job, so a prominent client ghosting him would be a big deal.
He stilled as Cherry’s eyes narrowed at him. The boy crossed one leg deftly over the other, balancing one delicate arm on top of his knee.
“When was the last time you were called Porsche?”
Porsche sighed. This wasn’t going to end peacefully, but he might as well get it over with.
“Yesterday.”
Points of pink appeared high on Cherry’s cheeks. “And the time before that?”
“...Wednesday.”
Marsh looked amused again. “Wait Porsche, have you had any dip in appointments with Khun Kinn?”
Porsche scratched at his jaw, “I mean, I don’t think so? I usually tell him when I’m free and he picks from there.I didn’t know you guys hadn’t been seeing him as much.”
Cherry looked fit to burst. “Not as much? Not as much??! We’ve basically lost one of our most significant clients to you, you do know that right!”
Porsche’s eyes widened, a flash of guilt stealing over his face. Then he frowned and opened his mouth, before seeming to think better of it.
Prem smelt fresh gossip. “What? What were you going to say? You have to tell us, now that you’ve stolen Khun Kinn away from everyone for the moment we demand payment!”
Prem poked at Porsche sides, delighting in how firm he was. He knew it was because he was younger and reminded Porsche of his brother probably, but Prem always loved how affectionate Porsche could get with him. He was a great cuddler.
Porsche let out a couple of suppressed giggles badly disguised as coughs. “Alright, alright you little devil.”
He sighed and threw up his hands. “I was just going to say that I didn’t know you guys were allowed other clients.” He shrugged reflexively and started fiddling with Prem’s dyed blonde hair, knowing that somehow this would turn into a thing.
And it did.
Even Cherry looked more surprised than angry.
“Wait what do you mean allowed?”
Porsche focused on twirling bits of Prem’s hair into soft little spikes.
“I mean that when I took Khun Kinn’s contract P’Chaem told me there was an exclusivity clause. I only had sporadic clients anyway so it didn’t seem like a big deal! I thought it was the same for everyone.” he mumbled into Prem’s hair.
Marsh didn’t look amused anymore. “P’Porsche, none of us have exclusive contracts with Khun Kinn, that’s just not sustainable. I mean I know you have other sources of income, but only being with one client every couple of weeks, at best twice a week, we wouldn’t be able to make a living off of that!”
Cherry looked downright incensed. “P’Chaem had you sign a contract with an exclusivity clause; you better be getting compensation for that!”
Porsche looked bemused at Cherry’s sudden switch to Team Porsche.
“It’s fine, it’s not like I was looking to make this a career.”
Cherry huffed in anger. “It doesn’t matter! This is a job, there are rules, boundaries; just because we don’t have an official union doesn’t mean labour rights aren’t applicable.”
Prem stared up at Porsche. “Khun Kinn must really like you.”
Porsche went red as he avoided everyone’s gaze and just laughed slightly too nervously to convince anyone.
“He’s just a possessive dick, a lot of guys are like that, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Marsh leaned back as he quietly surveyed Porsche and his pink face, hands twitching different parts of Prem’s already mussed hair to keep busy.
“Khun Kinn is kinda gold standard for an escort client sweets.” Marsh explained. “A lot of clients aren’t as easy going and considerate as Khun Kinn, even for so-called elite escorts like us.”
Cherry chimed in. “Seriously if Khun Kinn is your only client you are damned spoiled. I’ve had maybe four or five clients who were as good in bed as Khun Kinn is, and none of them were as courteous.”
Porsche looked at all of them. “Really? The sex bit I can believe, and I know a lot of clients don’t exactly think of us as people enough to give escorts even basic niceties, but is Kinn really such a ‘gold standard client’?”
Interrogating Porsche seemed to fall to the wayside as Prem and Cherry started listing Khun Kinn’s qualities as a client.
“He picks you up from wherever you want and drops you back wherever. He doesn’t expect you to be there immediately if it’s a last minute call, and he doesn’t get pissed if you can’t make it, or get petty if you’re already with another client.”
Prem piped up. “His staff is nice too. Some people are so dismissive and rude to us because they think we’re low-class people, but Khun Kinn’s bodyguards are always respectful.”
Marsh smiled widely. “Mmmn, even Big who’s totally gone for Khun Kinn has never done anything mean or dismissive. It’s rarer than you think to have that.”
“He’s helpful on clean up as well. He isn’t clingy or gropey afterwards. And he doesn’t expect you to do anything you’ve blacklisted either.”
“And he’s one of the best I’ve had I can tell you.”
“Which is why this is drought the worst!”
“The stamina alone. Usually I don’t like clients dragging it out, especially if they don’t know how to fuck, but damn if he doesn’t know how. He just keeps going.”
“The kissing is a bit much though, seriously sometimes I think he forgets people need to breathe.”
This last statement caused silence. Three blank faces turned, bearing down on Porsche casually typing away at his phone and entirely unaware.
“.....What.” Cherry recovered first.
Porsche looked up and clocked the faces staring back at him weren’t in mild commiseration and agreement.
“...What what?”
Prem snapped his fingers. “What’s this about kissing? You don’t mean like, on the lips right? You mean neck or back, or chest?”
Marsh was still in shock.
Porsche side-eyed the collective breakdown happening across from him.
“Umm, no I mean the whole ‘Kinn could double as a vampire half the time, and the rest he’s trying to asphyxiate me with his face’?”
He looked at each of them. “What is he not as clingy with you? Lucky you guys, I swear I’ve had to spend more and more of my pay each month on coverup.”
Prem gasped and lunged at Porsche, hands making grabby motions for his neck. Porsche laughed and shoved at him; Prem got a good few swipes with his fingertips and revealed the edges of a few deep purple splotches.
“Oh my days, look at that mauling!” Prem pulled Porsche’s hands away from his neck to get a better look.
“That can’t be from Khun Kinn,” Cherry said spitefully, earlier anger returning tenfold at this newest development. He eyed the reddened bruises smeared with concealer. They looked fresh and worse, they looked enthusiastic.
Marsh was still stuck on the kissing.
Marsh had started seeing Kinn a few years ago, when he was even colder than he was nowadays. A bodyguard had let it slip after some discreet flirting that Khun Kinn had been betrayed, which is why he stuck to paid sex.
Marsh deduced this was also why Kinn had a strict ‘no kissing’ policy, that he had never broken or had Kinn try and break.
All the boys who had standing appointments with Khun Kinn knew the rules, especially the no kissing one. It seemed the one rule that Khun Kinn really cared about enforcing, so they respected that.
Until Porsche had revealed so casually that Kinn had in fact broken it for Porsche, and Porsche didn’t even know it was a rule. Which meant, Marsh realised, that Khun Kinn had never told him it was a rule.
Marsh didn’t love Kinn, didn’t even feel possessive over him like Cherry did. But there was a little pride bruised and genuine hurt that after a few years of Marsh regularly seeing Kinn, it was Porsche and not Marsh.
Marsh’s eyes widened slightly, and he quietly smiled as he realised that the most obvious reason for Khun Kinn not calling any of them regularly anymore had been present for the whole conversation, decked in surprisingly new converse and clutching a very nondescript phone that had significantly less cracks than the one Porsche had been carrying most times he’d previously seen him.
Marsh felt like he was witnessing a tiny little miracle blossoming in front of him.
Marsh looked as Porsche surreptitiously swiped his phone open and sent a clumsy looking one handed text, nodding as Prem whined about Porsche’s obvious sex skills being the reason Khun Kinn hadn’t dropped him like he had everyone else.
Marsh had a sneaking suspicion he knew who Porsche was texting, and why he had been stuck to his phone since.
A chime came through as Cherry got to the middle of his list of Porsche’s obvious flaws and unprofessionalism as an escort, and Porsche took that chance to leap from the sofa, gently depositing Prem back onto it with a little pat to his head.
“Uh guys my friend who was gonna pick me up is here so I need to jet.”
Prem sighed and flopped further into the couch. “Okay, but you have to promise to try and find out why Khun Kinn’s so stingy these days, naa?”
Porsche smiled awkwardly and pressed his hands together in a wai, avoiding agreeing outright to Prem’s demand.
Porsche backed away waving, mostly to Prem and Marsh who smiled and waved back as Porsche swung round the doorway, arms flailing a little in a silly farewell.
Marsh tried to be as nonchalant as possible as he also excused himself, but instead of turning to the toilets, he swung towards the lifts and pressed for the ground floor.
He caught Porsche as he was making his way through the glass entrance doors.
“P’Porsche!”
The man spun and he smiled uneasily, eyes darting a little.
“N’Marsh, hey! Uh, what’s, what are- do, I mean, what’s-”
Marsh giggled as Porsche stumbled over his words; a good liar Porsche was not.
“Ah, I just wanted to congratulate you, you know? It’s a hard business, and even harder to find something like this out of it. It’s mostly a lot of false hope.”
Porsche frowned slightly. “Uh, I’m not quite sure I’m following you, congratulate me on what?”
Porsche’s phone chimed again and car lights lit up the foyer briefly as a car swung round and pulled up beside the building, engine audible through the glass doors.
Porsche looked down and then out to the car and seemed frozen in inaction.
“I think he must love you.”
Porsche’s eyes widened at Marsh’s statement, and he gripped his phone tighter as he thought of how to respond.
Marsh raised an eyebrow. “Are you really going to keep Khun Kinn waiting? He came all this way just to pick you up.”
Marsh nodded his head at the handsome figure that had exited the car, placing his hands on his waist in impatience as he stared up at the building.
Porsche looked a bit like a stunned fish.
“He’s taking me to dinner.” He blurted.
Marsh blinked. “In that outfit? He must really love you then.”
“Hey!” Porsche pouted as he pulled at his old white tshirt. “Not everyone can buy Armani everything you know.”
Marsh looked bemused. “Oh yeah? Not everyone has someone who could buy Armani for them.”
Porsche was now quite red, but had gained a small secretive smile. He looked completely smitten. It was devastatingly cute. With his eyes sparkling like this, Marsh could see how Kinn had been doomed from the beginning.
“Go on, don’t keep him hanging around. Cherry might see and then I’d have to try and hold him off from killing you.”
Porsche giggled slightly and pushed the door open with his shoulder, waving slightly before turning to jog towards the waiting figure.
Marsh watched as the two men exchanged a slow kiss, their entire focus seemingly on the slide of their mouths together. He felt a heartstring pluck as he spied a beatific smile spread across Khun Kinn’s face, eyes crinkled warmly as he brushed his nose along Porcshe’s.
Marsh turned back towards the lifts as they departed and smiled. They looked so enmeshed together, so giddy and in love.
Cherry was going to crack when he found out.