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They are soulmates.
Pond looks at the boy standing in front of him and smiles sadly. The boy nods with understanding, pats him on the shoulder, whispers a few words and walks away.
They are soulmates.
Pond looks around the room, everyone is in shock, but he doesn't care anymore. He finally understands, after all these years, it gets to him.
They are soulmates.
Phuwin enters the room and Pond, probably visibly, melts.
They are soulmates.
---
“Hi, Joong!”, Phuwin waves his hand in front of the older boy’s face. “What’s going on?”
Joong looks at him as if seeing him for the first time in his life, and Phuwin blinks at him and raises an eyebrow. He won’t get an answer from Joong, he knows that. For some reason, his friend –or his best friend, to be more precise– can’t answer a simple question. Phuwin looks around the room and it seems that everyone is partly surprised, partly petrified, and Phuwin has the feeling that he has missed something very important.
Phuwin looks towards Pond, a faint smile appears on his lips. If only... if only...
He walks over to the only person who looks less horrified than the others and pokes him between the ribs. Dunk jumps up and looks at him, then smiles broadly. “What’s up, kiddo?” he asks, using the one name Phuwin only tolerates when Dunk calls him that.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Why everyone–”, he can’t find the word, so he just waves his hand.
“Oohh this... Pond just broke up with Rainy,” Dunk says and nods when he sees the complete shock on Phuwin’s face. “Yeah, right in front of our eyes. We expected them to say they were engaged or something, but nope. Pond... broke up... with his boyfriend.”
Phuwin feels the need to sit down, but moving at the moment might not be a good idea. He stands still, just like the rest in the room. Pond has broken up with his boyfriend, the one he praised so much for being so cute and lovely.
What did Pond say a few days ago? That he understood something?
Phuwin was sure it was about Rainy being his one and only, but now...
He looks towards Pond and only now notices that Pond is looking directly at him. Is it his fault? Did Pond break up... No, don’t assume anything before talking to Pond!
“But they only just got back together, what? Two months ago?” he finally asks, after something that feels like 10 seconds or an eternity.
“I don’t know, man. The other day he was mumbling something about soulmates. Yesterday he was all lovey-dovey with Rainy, to me they both looked fine. They asked us all to come here, and I assume they asked you too. And today –boom– they’re breaking up,” Dunk says, shrugs and pulls Phuwin to the very corner of the room.
“What?”, Phuwin asks, because he knows when someone wants to talk to him in private but can’t.
“Soulmates, Phuwin. Who does he call his soulmate all the time?”, Dunk asks through clenched teeth.
“Stop it, Dunk. I didn’t do anything, it’s not about–”
“IF IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU, WHO THEN?”, Dunk asks in a very dramatic whisper. “Has he magically found another soulmate? You two don’t stop talking to each other, you don’t stop calling each other the best partners, you don’t stop staring at each other. Even now, you’re not looking at me!”
“I... I don’t–”, Phuwin curls into a corner, to which Dunk presses him harder and harder.
“AND YOU CALLED HIM YOUR SOULMATE WHEN YOU TALKED TO JOONG THE OTHER DAY,” Dunk finishes his tirade, once again shouting in a whisper.
Phuwin lowers his head, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, this isn’t about you.
“How long?”, Dunk asks, now calm again. The first tear falls, followed by another.
“Since day one,” Phuwin says, more to himself than to Dunk, but Dunk hears it and curses. “I didn’t plan on it, but–”
“We never do, kiddo. Me and Joong... Yeah, we never plan to fall in love with our co-stars.”
“Fall in love? No! No, Dunk, it’s just... a crush. I have a crush on him,” Phuwin tries to find the right –other– words to describe what he’s feeling. Dunk pats him on the shoulder and forces him to raise his head.
“For four years? It’s not forbidden, you know? You can love,” Dunk says, his reassuring voice soothing Phuwin’s nerves. “And honestly? I know Pond felt something for Rainy. But if you look closely... That boy is incredibly similar to you. The way he looks, the way he talks, the way he behaves. Pond tried to find your perfect replica. But he didn’t succeed, because there is only one Phuwin Tangsakyuen, right? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a feeling for Rainy... it was for you.”
Phuwin looks at Dunk, at his gentle smile, and nods, again and again. He understands it now.
He stands on tiptoe and looks over Dunk’s shoulder in the only direction that interests him now, smiling broadly despite the tears on his cheeks. The only man he needs, the only man he wants, stands there looking only at him.
Pond and Phuwin.
They are soulmates.