Archive of Our Own ^beta

Approaching his dorm building, Korn has just put up his earphones when he hears something around the corner.

Hoping it’s not that stupid squirrel that keeps crawling half-way up the building before falling (it’s not going to land on its feet one of these days, and one of the first-year nongs is going to be near inconsolable), he peers around to see- “Hey!”

Relaxing a little at the familiar voice cursing, he can only wince as, losing hold of the window sills he was using to lower himself down, Wai crashes down onto the ground.

Wai’s underwear is on backwards and inside-out, is first coherent thought, followed by taking in the sight of clothes scattered and shoes on the ground.

“Well, well, well, it looks like we can add hypocrite to your list of character flaws,” he says.

Unsurprisingly, Wai ignores his offered hand.

“If you don’t stop laughing,” Wai snaps.

Even with the further wince-inducing sight of Wai clearly being unable to regain his balance enough to stand up- He isn’t likely to witness something this funny again for a long while.

Gathering up the clothes and shoes, he realises one of Wai’s socks is missing.

Seeing Wai has managed to use the wall to help himself stand, he sets the shoes next to Wai, and holding the clothes out, he says, “Can’t do anything about the bruises, but it might make it a little less obvious what you were doing if you put these on.”

Snatching them, Wai very carefully starts to put them on.

He only drops them in the process twice.

Finally, getting his laughter under control, he rubs his side. “So, you decided to seduce one of us like my friend did yours, or did-”

“Shut up, you asshole. Where’s my other sock?”

“All I can say for sure is that I don’t have it. Swear on my honour as an engineering student.”

Groaning, Wai bangs his head backwards against the wall.

“Hey, careful, my friend. You look like you had a rough fall. I wish I’d gotten a video-clip of that. Not to put online, just to-”

Wai pushes past him, and the effect of whatever Wai was going for is ruined by the fact he has to grab Wai from falling over sideways.

“C’mon. Don’t fight me. Sure, the reasons are different, but neither of us wants you to pass out in front of this building.”

There are people from all faculties in this building, and Wai could claim it was someone from a non-engineering one he had been visiting before having to make his escape, but there’s a large cluster of engineering students situated in this side of the building.

They get to a picnic table, and he gets Wai sat down.

“It- this wasn’t you and a faen, was it?”

“As if I’d ever date an engineering student.”

“You sure were keen on chasing the sister of one, though,” he points out.

Then- oh, yeah, Pa is living in Pat’s old dorm, and that is in a completely different building.

Good. Even though Pran would object, he and Pat would really have no choice but to kill Wai if- them dating would be one thing, but if they were dating, there really isn’t much, if anything, that makes Wai sneaking out by trying to scale down using window sills-

Wai exhales. “We’re all adults.”

“Yeah. Um, but it wasn’t one of the first-years, was it?”

He’s relieved by the glare Wai gives him. Dating is one thing, one of his girlfriends was almost two years younger than him, but adults or not, most of the first-years, well, they’re still nongs. If they want to have one-night stands, they should stick to other first-years.

“Hey, just making sure.” He has to laugh again. “Seriously, man, did you and your faen have a fight, or were you-”

“I’m leaving now.”

Wai starts to stand, and he catches Wai before he falls.

“I’ll take you to Pran.” At Wai’s attempt to push him away, he says, “C’mon, idiot. You want to pass out outside? ‘Cause, there’s a good chance that’ll happen.”

It quickly becomes obvious Wai has a twisted, or hopefully, it’s just twisted rather than broken, ankle, and even beyond this, his balance is complete shit.

When they get to Pran’s room, he props Wai against the wall.

Of course, it takes Pat forever to open the door, and he’s only a little more dressed than Wai was climbing down the building.

Pulling Pat out, he gestures to the swaying Wai.

“Shit. Pran!”

Pran quickly comes out, and seeing his bruised friend standing near the two people who once chased said friend down, Pran shakes his head. “Fell or got caught?”

That’s interesting, he thinks.

Pat, besides being a puppy who’d rather die than do anything to make his boyfriend mad at him, has the alibi of being with Pran for most of the night, but apparently, any thoughts Pran had that him, the guy who has done shit to his best friend more than once, might be responsible were quickly dismissed.

“Fell,” Wai sullenly answers. “Also, he,” Wai can’t even jerk towards him properly, “took one of my socks.”

“No. Didn’t,” he says.

Looking almost murderous, Pran nevertheless politely wais to him. “Thank you for bringing my friend here.” Then, taking a deep breath, he gives Pat an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but I have to take care of him tonight. Wai,” Pran’s grab is less-than-gentle based on the noise Wai makes, “get inside. Was it…”

“Hey, wait!” Grabbing the door, Pat squeezes his shoulder. “Thanks, man. Sorry, but I’ve got help him. See you later.”

“Later,” he agrees.

“Pran, no, don’t put him on the couch, we need to take him…” The door shuts.

…

If someone told him there would come a day when Wai would hate Pat for making him go to the hospital, he would have believed it, especially if it was added he played a part in things.

He just never would have thought, in something that would give some of the series he watches a run for their money, that Pat not being in any way involved in Wai being injured and Pat helping Wai’s best friend force Wai to go to the hospital after Wai interrupted Pat’s love night with said best friend would be in play.

Here they are, though, and Wai has taken to attempting to throw things at Pat whenever he can.

The fact Wai’s right hand is in a cast and Wai cannot aim worth shit with his left hand are not details that seem to have any deterrence on Wai.

Snagging the pack of peanuts Wai had, he sits down.

“Give those back.”

“Nope.” Opening them, he pops a handful into his mouth, and smiling as he chews, he manages not to laugh at Wai’s outraged face.

Wai is a little better at kicking than throwing, but he manages to dodge most of the kicks.

“You had a concussion,” Pat says.

Pat sounds just like Pran, and in his opinion, that he is smart enough not to say aloud, just like Pran, Pat seems to believe such logic might sway Wai into being thankful or, at least, acknowledging Pat and Pran aren’t in the wrong.

A pencil sails past Pat’s head.

Being the good guy he is, Pat picks it up. “I’ll give this back if you promise to-”

Rolling his eyes, Wai limps away.

Shrugging, Pat pockets the pencil. “Have you heard the rumours going around?”

Offering the peanuts, he answers, “Yep. And before you ask, no, I haven’t said anything to anyone.”

As far as he knows, he was the only who saw Wai fall, but maybe, people saw from their windows.

For all he can’t find anyone who watches as many series as he does, he’s learned how creative some of his classmates can be.

Aside from these interesting, and sometimes, downright bizarre, rumours, are ones that Wai has a secret faen, that Wai has a sort of friends-with-benefits relationship with someone in engineering, and- some of the rumours are uncomfortably dark, and even when he was all in for the rivalry between their two faculties, he wouldn’t have believed or spread such rumours.

Pat groans. “Maybe he and one of Pa’s friends-” He trails off.

“Seriously?”

“Things have gotten better. I know he’s trying, and badly failing, but trying, to kill me right now, but he’ll get over it soon. Pran and I just want him to have someone special, too. Or at least, not do things like have a one-night stand with someone from our faculty and- that building has a fire escape.”

“He would have had to go across a hallway to get to it,” he points out.

“Maybe your building should do something about that.”

It should, he’s thought so since before he even enrolled, but somehow, he doesn’t think, ‘an architecture student wouldn’t have a concussion from trying to avoid whatever faen or friend of the person he was in the process of screwing if he had a way to more easily leave the building undetected,’ would be a particularly helpful argument to make.

…

Behind the librarian’s desk, P’Lemon hands him his DVDs. “Here you go, Khun Korn.” Handing him a flier, she adds, “And we’re started hosting a coffee bar every Sunday night from five-to-nine.”

“How many years has Uncle Ton been campaigning for that?”

“Too many,” she sighs. “Now, he’s onto to trying to get time and money allotted for an ice-cream bar.”

“No luck on him getting every child in Bangkok automatically assigned a library card at birth?”

Looking around, she responds, “That’ll never happen. And it’s every child in Thailand. He just thinks, if it could get it done here, it’d be a successful pilot program.”

For all Uncle Ton is visually perpetually sleep-deprived (and probably doesn’t particularly appreciate people like him who mainly check out DVDs and audible books over physical reading material and e-books), his optimism is admirable.

“Thanks, P’Lemon.”   

Finding a table, he connects his earphones to his phone, and browsing to make sure the audiobooks having been probably checked out, he pauses when two girls sit down near him. He vaguely recognises one of them, an older en student, from one of his classes, but the other looks to be an arts student.

“I leave for one week,” the arts student sighs.

“You know that, if my mae had caught me with a boy, she’d probably stop paying my tuition. I didn’t make him, but- I could have stopped him.”

“No, you did the right thing. And because I’m an awesome, amazing friend, I will help you. But architecture?”

Setting his phone down, he digs out a book from his bag.

“He climbed out of my tiny window and ended up accidentally hurting himself in order to protect me.”

“Which is why I’ll drop off the cake for you. Um, Tami, do you have feelings-”

“No. I was at that bar he works at picking up some takeout for Lynn-”

“How’s she doing? Did she get that job?”

He half-listens as it’s established: Lynn got the job. Lynn is still dating a toxic girlfriend. And for reasons to be later explained, Lynn is no longer to be trusted with her phone when she’s had more than three glasses of white wine.

He wonders if it’s only white wine that affects her judgement or if that’s just the only kind she drinks.

“And anyway, he started talking to me. I don’t think he was hitting on me, but he’s not bad-looking, and he was nice. You know I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”

“I ended up asking if he was up for a little fun. He made it clear he wasn’t looking for anything serious, either. He- he wanted to be sure we were on the same page, but he didn’t make me feel like he bought into that bullshit belief that all girls must secretly want more than just some fun.”

“That’s good,” the art student replies.

“So, we went back to my room. And it was a wonderful decision on my part right up until my mae showed up. The one time she doesn’t call-” There’s a heavy sigh.

“He was good, then?”

Feeling uncomfortably hot inside, he largely regrets his decision to listen. For one thing, he knows it’s not right to listen to some unknown girl talk privately about her sex life with her friend, and for another, her answer makes it clear Wai (there’s a chance it isn’t, he knows, but he’d bet actual money it is Wai) was a generous, communicative lover.

He’s sorry her mother showed up when she did.

“Alright, I’ll have Jay stop by on Monday, and if he’s working, I’ll bring the cake over.”

“Thank you, Aim.”

“His friend is still with our class president, right? Do you think his sister is still-”

“Aimee.”

“When we end up transporting a dead body in the trunk of my sister’s car to throw that bitch into the sea-”

“Lynn swears Mia has gotten better.”

“Your almost one-night architecture stand showed more class than Mia has in the three years Lynn’s been with her. Oh,” she digs her phone out. “Speaking of, here’s the list…”

She starts reading out titles, and the two leave the table.

…

On Monday night, going into the bar, he spots Wai sharing some kue putu with two other servers, a beanpole with frizzy hair, and a chubby-cheeked little nong.

He knows the latter is only seventeen, and if Wai can help it, will never take an order from him, Pat, or his and Pat’s friends. Probably no one in engineering, either, though, maybe, a pretty girl would be an exception.

The beanpole, he guesses she usually works daytime shifts; this is only the second or third time he’s seen her around.

Spotting him, Wai motions for them to stay before coming over.

Nodding to the cake, he says, “That looks interesting.”

“We’re not serving that. A friend brought it for me.”

“Must be a special friend.”

Wai gives a careless shrug, and it occurs to him, if it weren’t for his eavesdropping, he’d still tease, but he’d simply assume a friend of Wai’s just happened to drop off some cake for him with no real curiosity. Wai is giving absolutely no indication it might anything else.

“I’m here to pick up an order Louis called in.”

“Yeah, the chicken curry with extra chili peppers should be ready in about ten minutes.”

“I’ll wait.” Gesturing to a nearby table, he takes it.

Soon, the order comes out, and the beanpole tries to insist on taking it over, but Wai wins the argument.

Standing up, he takes to-go bag. “You could have let her bring it over, especially since her hand isn’t in a cast. I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“Trust me, I’m not worried about that. You piss off P’Shy, and she will chase you out with a broom.” Wai gives him a vicious smile.

“Is that something your boss would be okay with?”

“No, and if she ever does something like that again, I’ll probably be calling her mother. But the point is, when it comes to your faculty, I’m not worried about any of you managing to do anything to her she can’t defend herself against.”

Unlike you, goes through his head.

He’d seen what he looked like when that asshole had to done to Wai what he and the others once did, and he hadn’t liked the reflection. Back when he’d done it, he hadn’t known Wai was a scholarship student, but he gets the feeling Wai believes he had known.

Even though he doesn’t like what this says about him, if he had known, he probably still would have done it, and in the end, whether he would have intentionally done it or not, he did jeopardise Wai’s future over their rivalry.

Digging his wallet out, he hands the money over. “Here. Keep the change. You can split it all between those two if you want, but I’m not taking it back.”

And he quickly leaves.

…

Wai’s hand is still in the cast, but it’s been established Wai’s ankle has fully healed.

This hasn’t resulted in Wai being able to properly a kick a ball at Pat, and this is clearly frustrating Wai.

“Alright. This getting too pathetic. Sorry, man, just make sure you duck in time.”

Leaving Pat and Pran in the stands, he goes out onto the field.

“You can’t stop me from practising. Pran and your friend are free to leave.”

“I’m not trying to,” he responds. “I’m here to help you, my friend.” Wai glares, and realising this word choice was poor on his part, he continues, “Here, we can practise together.”

“Go away.”

“I’m serious. I broke my wrist when I was ten, and it made it hard for me to kick properly, but my coach worked with me, showed me some tricks.”

Wai looks at him with genuine interest, and his stomach twists. “What happened?”

“I know you’ll find this almost impossible to believe, but I was a dumbass. See, I had this idea how to get free ice-cream, and it ended with me having a broken wrist. If you can make a goal, I’ll tell you all about it.”

There’s a chance Wai will say no, he knows, and this thought badly hurts.

Instead, shrugging, Wai says, “Alright, let’s see if you can give me non-dumbass advice on how to do that.”

Soon, Wai is making goals, and even though Pat manages to duck when Wai suddenly sends a ball flying right at him, Wai- he’d almost think Wai was genuinely happy.

He’s seen Wai in a good mood a few times, but those time never lasted long before either he (and sometimes, his friends) did something or Wai just noticed one or more of them was in the general vicinity.

“Let’s sit down, get something to drink,” he suggests.

Waving at Pran, Wai says, “Sure.”

They do, and he knows Wai simply saying, “Thanks,” when he opens Wai drink- it’s a shame not only that Pat and Pran faced so much heartbreak, but if he’d seen Wai during freshman orientation and decided to talk to him instead of labelling him as a rival, would his life have been even better back then?

“So, tell me how you wanting free ice-cream resulted in a broken wrist. I’ll try to contain my disbelief that someone like you could manage to do something like that.”

“I found out the route of the ice-cream truck going through my city, and I decided to follow it one day. I had all these plans about how I’d convince the driver to let me help and pay me in ice-cream-”

“Meaning it wouldn’t have been free, it would have been payment.”

“Whatever. Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”

“Sure,” Wai responds.

“So, I was following the truck when- I tripped on a piece of gravel on the road and fell on my wrist.”

Wai bursts out laughing, and looking at him, he realises, I’m in trouble.

Pat and Pran come over, and while Pat is hugging him, he sees Pran pressing his wrist against Wai’s forehead.

He can’t fault Pran for the concern or curiosity, but it really is ridiculous, he concludes, that all of them just went along with the rivalry.

…

The cast is gone, and as they’re waiting near a food trunk for Pran to return with their orders, Wai finally manages to hit Pat with a spoon.

Pat immediately hits him back, but it seems Wai is at-peace now that he’s able to properly aim and make his target. Or just that he finally managed to hit Pat.

“You’re strange,” he informs Wai. “There are characters who go on epic vengeance quests for dumbass reasons who aren’t as petty as you.”

Rolling his eyes, Wai takes a sip of his drink. “Want to help me practise rugby this evening?”

“Yes. I mean, no, I’m meeting my cousin tonight. I promised our parents I’d show her around and get her settled in her hotel. But some other time, sure, I’d be glad to practise with you.”

“Sounds good,” Wai says.

“I’m glad you two are getting along better now,” Pat comments. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were finally friends.”

“Who says we’re not?” He slings an arm over Wai’s shoulders.

Shrugging it off, Wai answers, “We’re not.”

Pran comes over, and grabbing his drink, he chases Wai around with it, although, Pat the traitor grabs it before he can actually spray it at Wai.

…

There’ve been a few times when he’s walked into a place and immediately felt a sense of dread, and he knows to trust this feeling.

Since Wai is sort of his friend now, though, and Pat was actually shot here, he’s not sure just walking out of the bar would be the right response to this feeling.

“Stupid kid!”

Looking over, he sees the chubby-cheeked nong, Kaojao, he thinks is the name, is practically crying as some drunk yells.

Wai isn’t here, he realises. And the older waitress, P’Shy, likely isn’t either.

It’s possible one or both are in the restroom or kitchen, but he really imagines either of them would have appeared by now if they were anywhere near this place.

“I’m a lawyer, and I know that…”

“Please, uncle,” the nong quietly begs, “I’m seventeen, and even if I were older, I’m not licensed to serve drinks!”

“Hey, nong,” pulling the kid away, he says, “let me talk to this lawyer. My dad’s an accountant. He told me a story about this former lawyer who was disbarred due, in part, at least, to this restaurant he went to filing a complaint with his firm about how he acted when he eating there.”

“I don’t know what your problem is, uncle, but why don’t you nicely tell me, and I’ll see if I can’t do something about it? That would be better than the head waiter here calling every law firm in the district asking them to please review the footage of his underage junior being yelled at, wouldn’t it?”

He can hear the nong literally gulping behind him, and now isn’t the time to smile or laugh, he knows. It’s his urge to in these situations, but the instincts that guide him help him stifle that.

Hazy eyes stare at him as the drunk gapes. “I want another-” Some alcoholic beverage, likely high-priced, is demanded.

“I’ll see if I can get you some.” Quickly turning, he drags the kid away.

“But- um, you’re one of P’Wai’s friends, phi? Or are you part of the engineering faculty?”

“Both,” he answers.

Based on the expression and the way the kid shrinks into himself-

“Look, I know Wai has probably said some stuff about my faculty, but things are better now. My best friend is dating his. P’Pran and Pat, you’ve heard of them?”

Slumping, the kid nods. “We’re, um, not supposed to talk about the fact they’re dating.”

“Yeah. I’m Korn.” Patting the kid’s head, he asks, “What’s your name again? And what’s going on?”

“Jao, P’Korn. No one’s here! The cook is, and me. Fang was supposed to come, but he didn’t, and I won’t call him ‘phi!’”

There’s a bit of adorable defiance on this last part, and letting himself laugh, he assures Nong Jao, “I don’t care what you call this Fang person, kiddo.”

“Well, I have manners,” is the muttered reply. “P’Tang, the bartender working tonight, had to leave, didn’t say why, and I don’t know the other bartender, P’Win’s, number. Or if I should even call him if I did. P’Shy had a horrible migraine yesterday, so, I probably shouldn’t call her, and P’Wai didn’t answer his phone.”

“Okay, what about your boss?”

“Family emergency out of Bangkok.”

“Alright, did you text Wai, too? Did you call back within fifteen minutes?”

“No,” is the small reply.

“Did you, at least, leave a message?”

The eyes show the answer before the quiet “no” is uttered, and Nong Jao says, “I- wasn’t supposed to call him even once. It’s his day off, and he’s been working too much overtime. But I don’t think he’s sick, like P’Shy, so.”

“Alright, give me his number.”

“I’m sorry, P’Korn,” Nong Jao shrinks back into himself, “I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, alright, look, get some hot chocolate or tea, take five minutes, and then, start checking on tables. Tell everyone that you’re short-staffed but someone will come in soon and that you can only take food and non-alcoholic drink orders right now. Stay away from that lawyer’s table.”

“Yes, P’Korn.” Giving him a nervous look, Nong Jao nevertheless obeys.

Tonight definitely won’t be boring, he thinks as he takes out his phone.

Answer me, he texts Pat.

Pat doesn’t answer his call, and so, texting again, he calls again.

“Why didn’t you leave a message,” Pat inquires.

“I’m at Wai’s bar, and your boyfriend needs to get his friend down here. Now. There’s a seventeen-year-old nong waiter and a cook here, and that’s literally all the staff they have.”

“Thanks, Korn,” Pat quietly says.

“No problem, buddy.”

 Hanging up, he takes a deep breath.

There’s actually not that many people here, he notices. But on top of Nong Jao frantically running from tables to the kitchen, he notices the nong is constantly sniffling.

He grabs him.

“Allergies,” the teary-eyed Nong Jao immediately says. “Me and P’Shy both have them, but thankfully, mine don’t cause migraines. I just can’t take much medicine. I was going to make some hot water to breathe, but-” He helplessly gestures around the bar.

It’s likely Nong Jao has used the steam method before, but at the moment, he can just imagine Wai showing up to find his nong coworker suffering facial burns.

“When you get a minute, we’re going to try something else,” he says.

That’s how he ends up holding a thick towel under a whining Nong Jao’s bent head as he rubs his back. Seeing Wai come in, he briefly waves. “Hey, Hia Wai’s here.”

“Ugh,” is the response.

Patting the back with a laugh, he says, “I know. But trust me-”

“Kaojao.” Wai looks between them with concern and suspicion.

“He’s fine. Especially now that you’re here.” Setting the towel on the table, he hands a tissue to the nong. “Here, try blowing again.”

Nong Jao does. “P’Korn helped with my allergies, P’Wai. But I don’t like my nose running this much!”

“It’ll stop soon. Right now, focus on the fact you’re breathing better.” At Wai’s stare, he says, “I did a make-do saline solution for him.”

“Oh, well, that’s wonderful,” is the acid response, and seeing Wai is about to truly go off, he says:

“My mae’s a nurse. Paediatrics.”

Wai’s mouth snaps shut.

He checks Nong Jao’s nose, and it’s still running, but there’s no longer globs of snot shooting out.

“Thanks, Korn,” Wai quietly says. “For helping Nong Jao.”

“No problem. I just came in to get something to drink, but this is definitely more interesting than anything going on at campus.”

“P’Wai, that lawyer,” Nong Jao gestures, “is very angry.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Pushing Nong Jao’s head back over the towel, he moves to catch Wai. “Before you do, here’s what I said to him.”

…

Soon, the lawyer is gone, he wishes he’d heard what exactly Wai said to make this happen, Wai is talking to tables, and Nong Jao is bringing stuff from the kitchen.

When Wai stops at the register behind the bar, he goes over, and looking at the figure Wai’s written on a scrap of paper and the money Wai is counting out, he says, “There’s not enough.”

Giving him an irritated look, Wai looks up, but he’s going to take the fact Wai hasn’t already ordered him to leave or just demanded to know what the hell he’s still doing here as a sign that most of the irritation is at everything going on, not just his presence.

“You’re trying to see, if you take that money, will you still have enough to make change, right?” At Wai’s nod, he continues, “Unless nearly everyone uses electronic money, you won’t; even if everyone gives exact change, you won’t be able to replace it all.”

“Yeah,” Wai sighs, “I figured.” Closing the register, he calls, “Nong Jao!”

Appearing, Nong Jao says, “Here, phi.”

“Get the clipboard, some clean towels, and the cushions from the breakroom couch.”

“The safe, P’Wai?”

“Yeah. Wish that P’Shy was here, but- no, you’re not climbing on chairs.”

“I could,” is the quiet response.

“Go,” Wai orders.

Grabbing Nong Jao, he asks, “What exactly is going on?”

“I have permission to take money from Hia’s safe in the event of emergencies. This is close enough to one. Nong Jao, post that we’re having a dry night and, starting at nine, a special on chicken dishes. Half price off, we’ll quietly give discounts to families with kids.”

Smiling, Nong Jao digs out his phone. “Yes, phi.”

Stretching, Wai says, “Last year, I could have made drinks, probably not very well, but I was qualified. The exchange for lowering the drinking age again, though, was stricter rules about licensed bartenders and other bureaucratic crap.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with a clipboard, towels, and cushions,” he asks.

If tonight has shown nothing else about Wai, the fact he is damn good at his job and can be counted on to get shit done during quasi-emergencies is clear, but at the same time- walking out when Wai has told a seventeen-year-old to get these aforementioned items is something he’s pretty sure he would have known better than to do even when they were at the height of their rivalry.

“None of us can reach the safe, P’Korn,” Nong Jao says. “I’ve posted it, P’Wai. Not even P’Shy. I wasn’t here, but P’Wai told us about the time she got it down with the broom.”

“Why don’t you just stand on a chair to open it?”

Giving him an exasperated look, Wai rolls his eyes. “I’m not a complete dumbass. It’s just- What are you even doing asking questions? And why am I entertaining you? Nong Jao, do what I said. I’m checking on table nine.”

“Yes, P’Wai.”

He stays out of Wai’s way until the three of them end up in the boss’ office, and looking up at the safe, he has a bad feeling about it hitting the pillows and towels Wai and Nong Jao are stacking.

“Again, why don’t you just stand on a chair-”

“What exactly does it take to get rid of you,” Wai crossly inquires.

“Um, only I can- what I mean is-”

“This damn safe hates everyone, including Hia, except for Nong Jao. Hia keeps saying he’ll replace it, but it’s been here since before I have, and the only time it’s ever easily opened was when Nong Jao tried.”

Right, and Wai, he sees, simply won’t risk the possibility of Nong Jao losing his balance trying to get it opened while standing on a chair.

“I could help you hold him while he stands on the chair,” he offers.

“Seriously, if I give you a free drink, will you go away?”

“The free drink you aren’t legally allowed to serve?”

“Here, phi,” Nong Jao says. “I’ve signed my initials and filled in the date and time for you.”

Taking a deep breath, he feels a sense of kinship with Pat.

“Hey, architecture, you’re in a house or a building and can’t be the one to do it. Assuming the person with you doesn’t have some medical condition, do you let them stand on a steady chair while you’re nearby to get something, or do you knock something that could damage the floor or be damaged by the floor down?”

There’s heavy silence, and then, looking as if he’s suddenly sucked several lemons, Wai takes a deep breath. “Nong Jao, if you’re okay with-”

“I’ll get a chair, phi!” Grabbing the broom, Nong Jao is out the door.

“You’re putting all this up.” Wai gestures to the cushions and pillows.

“I don’t even work here. And I’m the one who tried to nip this idea in the bud before I even knew what it was.”

Sneezing, Nong Jao comes in with a chair.

“Alright, nong, hold onto to my shoulder while you climb up,” he says. “Once you’re fully stood up, I’m going to wrap a hand around your left leg and put the other on your back, okay?”

“This isn’t necessary, but I got it, P’Korn, P’Wai.”

After Nong Jao’s stood up, Wai’s hand touches his when Wai puts a hand on the back, too, and if his stupid heart would calm down in his chest, that would be good.

Soon, Nong Jao is back safely on the ground with the money.

“Good job, Kaojao.” Wai squeezes Nong Jao’s shoulder. “Now, when you go to the market-”

“Wait, you’re sending him to a store this late at night? By himself?”

“Don’t even work here,” Wai responds. “Besides, Nong Jao can ride a bus by himself and pick up some things from the store.”

Beaming, Nong Jao gives a serious nod.

“During the day, sure. When I’m also going to assume he isn’t carrying around this much money. Seriously? You won’t let a seventeen-year-old boy stand on a chair by himself, but you will send a seventeen-year-old nong out in the middle of the night?”

“I can do both,” Nong Jao says. “And um, I- it’s not technically the middle of the night, but yeah, if I can go out alone, I can stand on a chair without help, too. I’m not a baby, seniors.”

“Tell you what, you come up with a better solution, and I’ll go with it. You want me to leave him here alone again to deal with all those people out there? Who we’re going to need to check on soon. ‘Cause, the chef isn’t going to go out. And if I could swing a delivery, trust me, I’d’ve already called it in.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.”

It occurs to him, even with Pat and Pran backing him, Professor Eiw is unlikely to buy this excuse, but- Wai doesn’t look particularly resistant to this idea.

“Are you sure? This is going to involve lugging around a cooler full of chicken and several heavy grocery bags.”

“Sure. You can buy me lunch sometime this week.”

“Yeah, that’s more than fair,” Wai says, and there’s no sarcasm.

Looking at Wai’s face, it hits him: This is incredibly stressful for Wai. He’s holding everything together well, likely largely for the nong’s sake, maybe also because there’s no way Wai would ever let anyone from engineering truly see him struggling, but whether Wai’s boss is usually good or not, no sophomore student should have to be trying to hold a bar together with only a seventeen-year-old and a cook to the point where a one-time enemy’s help is largely just accepted.

And if he wanted to be fair to this boss- he doesn’t think he can, because, clearly, Wai has had to step up in similar ways to this before when Wai was even younger.

“Okay, here,” Wai undoes his nametag. “You’re going to that market in.. When you get there, ask for Auntie Sam, show her my nametag, and… Now, listen, if there’s an Uncle Geo there...”

Soon enough, he’s off, and for all it’s a pain to haul all this food back, at the end of the night, after Nong Jao’s sent home in a cab, Wai doesn’t argue when Pran and Pat show up to insist they all ride back to campus in Pat’s car.

Snuggled against Pran, Wai tiredly informs Pat, “I owe your friend.” 

He decides he’ll be nice and not tease Wai.

For right now, at least.                                                                                                                                                                                           

…

His parents had offered to get him a desk, but he’d stupidly said no, and now, he’s wishing he had one like Pran’s.

Flopping down beside him on the bed, Pat declares, “This assignment is bullshit!”

“Yeah. But we’ll get through it.” Or Pat will, at least. Their idea is good, but since Professor New is insisting on grading each of their contributions individually and she doesn’t like him-

“Hey, why don’t you get Pran to come over here for dinner tonight?”

“No. He’s having dinner with his family. We can eat whatever you want.” Groaning, Pat adds, “And we can work through the night while we’re at it.”

“Don’t worry, man. We’ll get this. I forgot to mention it, but it turns out my cousin’s boyfriend is roommates with a senior en student. He emailed me some of his old work. We can go through it.”

“Awesome.” Sitting up, Pat whacks him with a pillow. “And how could you forget to mention it?”

Lobbying it back, he says, “Well, N’Pa and Ink recruiting us-”

“Right. Thanks again, Korn.”

“No problem, man. You know you can always count on me when your little sister needs something.” Pulling up the emails, he passes the laptop to Pat. “I would have done it differently, but his idea for…”

When their food comes, he asks, “Working through the night, that mean you’re crashing here?”

“Unless you have plans, yeah, might as well. Ink’s been staying with Pa in my old room, and Pran’s going to spend the night at his parents’ tonight.”

Squeezing Pat’s hand, he promises, “Getting this done will keep your mind off it.”

“Hm.”

“Don’t tell me you’re having problems. Is it his fault or yours? I know Wai won’t occasionally give me free leftovers anymore, but if Pran’s-”

He’s hit with a pillow. “Neither of us has done anything wrong. I just- I could understand his parents not letting me sleep in his bed. I might understand my parents being the same way, but that would depend on whether they let Ink stay with Pa during the holidays.”

“But we can’t even go through each other’s front doors. I bought his mae a necklace, and Pran won’t let me give it to her. He made my parents a beautiful card, and he refuses to sign his name to it.”

Considering this, he leans back.

Normally, he doesn’t really think about the fact Pat and Pran are technically in a secret relationship. Everyone at school knows they didn’t really breakup.

Unlike Wai, he wasn’t angry when he first found out about them. Mostly, he was confused; none of his relationships have ever been secret.

“I’m sorry,” he offers. “I don’t exactly understand what you’re going through, my friend, but I’m sorry it hurts. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a son-in-law, and I can’t believe your parents can’t see how lucky they are to have someone like Pran want one of their kids.”

“Thanks.” Pat smiles. “We’ll graduate soon enough, and maybe, once our parents learn to accept us as full adults, we can reveal the fact we’re together again. They might accept it more than last time.”

He knows he should probably be quiet, he’ll probably say something wrong, but- “Pat, your parents know, don’t they? And his, too? They’re just choosing to ignore it.”

Pat shrugs. “Most likely. Sometimes, I want so badly to ask. To just tell them. But,” Pat smiles, a little sadly, “at least, they aren’t stopping us.”

“If you and Pran decide to make it obvious, if they try, you have me. And the others, too.”

Pat hugs him. “We should get back to work.”

“Yeah.”

They do until they’re falling asleep sitting up.

Taking off his pants, Pat asks, “Hey, Korn, could you do me a favour?”

“Probably,” he answers.

“Could you wear your pyjamas? Pran knows that me and you have shared beds before, and I texted him, he’s fine with me staying here tonight, but if he comes to get me, it’d probably be better if his boyfriend wasn’t sleeping next to a mostly naked other guy.”

He has no choice but to roll his eyes and huff dramatically as he puts on his pyjamas, and getting into bed, he announces, “I ought to get an award for this.”

“I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow,” Pat sleepily says.

Knowing Pat probably won’t, Pat will probably have lunch privately with Pran, he nevertheless lets himself fall fully into sleep instead of arguing. 

…

Coming into the bar, he sees a man almost touch P’Shy somewhere he shouldn’t, but thankfully, she moves away in time.

Letting out a sigh at the realisation he’s probably about to face Wai’s wrath, he starts to head over to the table, but it turns out she’s fast.

Grabbing her, he wrestles the broom out of her hands. “No.” Trying not to buckle under her weight and kicks, he gets her in the closet, and propping a chair under the door, he sets the broom aside.

Going over to the table, he notes, of course, they’re big, burly guys.

“I’m going to do you a favour, my friends, and let you leave right now. Enjoy your free drinks, and there’s the door. Walk through it now.”

One of them stands up, and he refuses to step back when the asshole moves closer. “Yeah? I don’t think-”

“No, you obviously don’t. Look, my friend, maybe I can’t take you and your friends, but that pissed off girl I just removed, if she didn’t know me, I would already be on the floor. It’s a statistical fact that, a girl gets a hold of a weapon, there’s a good chance she’ll hurt any guy much worse than he’ll manage to get her.”

“The head waiter here, if he’d seen what you tried to do to her, he would have gone after you with a freaking chair.” Holding up his wrist, he traces the scar on the side of it. “Him and I weren’t always friends, and trust me, he doesn’t believe any place is off-limits when he’s mad enough to throw hands.”

He can see the uncertainty in their eyes.

Then, he hears, “P’Shy? Phi? That table by-”

There’s banging on the door, and moving enough so that he can somewhat see out of the corner of his eye, he thinks Wai is setting something down.

“P’Shy, what- are you okay? Do we need to call the police?”

The cowards are smart enough to sprint out the door.

Turning around, he sees P’Shy grabbing the broom with a murderous glint in her eyes.

It genuinely is a little scary to see the calm, usually smiling P’Shy like this, but what’s worse is the way Wai looks so completely confused.

Catching his eye, Wai looks relieved to see him, and that’s certainly new.

The confusion comes back in full force when P’Shy tries to attack him with the broom.

“What is going on here?” Wai demands.

“He’s the one locked me in there.”

“Korn, woul- Korn, did you lock P’Shy in our broom closet?”

“Remember how you said you didn’t want her chasing men out with a broom anymore? You’re welcome for me stopping that.”

“They deserve-” P’Shy’s eyes land on the empty table, and she groans. “Great. That asshole, those assholes who just left without paying, one of them tried to grope me.”

 Squeezing her shoulder, Wai quietly says, “Hia said-”

“As if the police are really going to do anything if we call them about an attempted groping. And there’s a chance I could have made them pay. It’s not as the police are going to do anything about-”

“Just-” Wai takes a deep breath. “So that I’m one the same page as everyone: Korn locked you in the closet when you tried to go after them with a broom, and then, they left?”

“My guess is that he made them leave. Therefore, he owes us for their drinks, and I’m having Hia ban him!”

He’s wondered if any of the employees here knew about the video clip of him picking on Wai, and this answers that, clearly, P’Shy doesn’t.

“No,” Wai says.

“Since when do you take the side of any engineering student from your university? Before that one got hurt protecting you,” and she makes what he recognises as a motion of religious gratitude, “you were always trying to get them banned.”

Wai shoots him an apologetic look, and he doesn’t know what to do with this.

“I had the right to do something. He had no right to unjustly imprison me.”

“I made them leave without anyone getting hurt,” he points out.

“They deserved to get hurt.” P’Shy pauses.

“Well, you’re not wrong, but neither is Korn. Look, P’Shy, that table by the window is requesting you. Why don’t we talk about this later?”

“No. No one asked him to step him. I want him gone.”

“I’m checking the moon,” Wai mutters. He takes a deep breath. “Later. P’Shy, you’re my senior, but not only have I worked here longer than you, I’m the one Hia’s trusted with keys to this place and the safe. Go check on that table.”

Giving them both a death glare, P’Shy picks up the tray.

Once, she’s gone, Wai lets out a heavy sigh.

He opens his mouth to apologise, but Wai says, “C’mon. Give me a minute to clean this table, and I’ll buy you a beer as thanks.”

Grabbing the broom, he considers how to respond.

He’s still considering this when, handing him a beer, Wai puts up the broom.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re not mad, but I really expected you to be.”

Giving him an exasperated look, Wai shakes his head. “P’Shy isn’t completely herself right now. They needed to be gone, but her way- she got lucky before. Going after someone with a broom could get her badly hurt.”

“Aw, look at you being the voice of reason,” he teases.                                                                                                                    

“Right, because, chasing someone down after they flipped you and your friends off is a very reasonable course of action.”

It hurts.

He knows Wai isn’t wrong and isn’t wrong in bringing it up, but-

“You’re never going to forgive that, are you?”

Wai shrugs. “Hey, it’s done. I just can’t figure out why I’m considered the unreasonable one by both my friends and yours.”

Recognising it would be a good idea not to respond (you’re always trying to steal the last piece of food from Pat, because, you’re still holding a grudge over the fact he made you go to the hospital and yeah, we were wrong, but provoking us wasn’t exactly a great idea, either and you blame me for your lost sock), he sips his beer.

Then, he remembers, “Hey, Nong Jao?”

“What about him?”

“Where is he?”

Chuckling, Wai gives him a soft look. “At home. Don’t worry. He has the night off. It was supposed to be P’Shy, me, and Fang, but that brat called in. Again. It’s probably for the best, he’d just be responsible for this place ending up on the internet again, but-”

Appearing with a murderous glare, P’Shy demands, “Wai, stop talking to your friend, and help me serve that big table.”

“Right. Coming, P’Shy.” Squeezing his shoulder, Wai leads her away.

…

He ends up staying until closing time.

“No,” Wai says.

It comes out of nowhere, but then, he sees, at some point, P’Shy has gotten over to the broom closet while Wai was talking on the phone, and even though the broom isn’t out, the door is slightly open. “Your cab should be here in fifteen minutes or so.”

“I’ll go clean the dish rack, then.” She practically stomps away.

“Hey, you’ve finally got an ally,” he notes.

“And that’s why you’re still here,” Wai responds. “Seriously, give her some time, and P’Shy will go back to liking you.”

“She liked me before?”

“Not as a potential boyfriend.”

“Trust me, she’s not my type.”

For a moment, Wai looks as if he’ll ask what said type is, but all he says is, “Good. And yeah, she does.”

“Good. Well, I’ll go now. See you-”

“You need to walk him back to university.”

Jumping, he sees P’Shy has reappeared.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have her broom with her.

“No, he doesn’t,” Wai says.

“I could-”

“He has other plans.”

“No, I don’t.”

Wai glares.

“What if those men are waiting around? You have to protect him, Wai.”

Buckling under the force of Wai’s smack, he thinks that was unfair. He didn’t actually say anything.

“I’ll walk him back, P’Shy,” he promises.

“Dead men can’t walk,” Wai mutters.

“Wai,” she scolds.

“Let’s go wait for your cab outside, P’Shy.”

They go outside, and finishing cleaning the last of the tables, he digs out Wai’s favourite soda and a tea from the employee fridge.

When he gets to the slightly opened door, though, he stops at the sight of the two sitting on the steps in the moonlight.

Looking over with a soft half-smile, Wai quietly says, “I remember, once, when I was a kid, my mae was mad at me, and I told her I was there when she was ready to talk. I guess I thought that’d work because it had in some movie or book, but all it did was make her madder.”

It was his dad, but he had a similar experience once.

P’Shy sighs. “You don’t understand where I’m coming from.”

“In some ways, I can’t. Girls, women, they have to face some shit that men will never understand. I get that. But you know me well to know that I’d say this to another guy: Do you think your new anti-migraine medicine might be negatively affecting your moods?”

Giving a slight groan, she answers, “Yeah. I’ll see the doctor this weekend.”

“I’m sorry. I know this one was working well.”

He starts to step out.

Nudging Wai, she says, “Hey. You’ve got a good friend in there.”

A thrumming underneath his skin tells him he should either step out or go fully back inside out-of-earshot, but then, she continues, “It seems he might like you as more than just a friend.”

Wai makes a dismissive noise. “I don’t even know if he likes men, women, or both.”

“And if he does like men?”

“He’s a good friend. He didn’t do anything unusual for him in there.”

“Maybe you should take a closer look at how he looks at you,” she says.

Great, he thinks. I managed to piss of the one friend of Wai’s who- Pat’s too wrapped up in Pran to notice, and their other friends, it’s easy to joke with them.

“Um, look, Wai. I don’t know exactly what your ex-boyfriend did or what ended things between you, but-” She pauses.

“I’ve seen you turn down guys that might have been good for you. If you find a nice woman to be your girlfriend, that would be great. But just- I’m worried you only taking real chances with them might lose you something good.”

Taking in the tenseness of Wai’s body, he knows he has to step out before Wai loses his temper at her, and taking a step-

“Yeah, well, you may be right.” Wai takes a deep breath. “But even if you are about that, trust me, there’s nothing that would ever happen with Korn.”

Jackass, he thinks, and he’s tempted to slip out the backdoor.

Stupid to be worried about her knowing, he realises.

Even if everyone else knew, Wai wouldn’t listen to them, and if Wai did, it would be to explicitly, likely painfully, reject him.

The cab pulls up, and watching Wai go open the door for her, he hears Wai say, “Text me when you get home, okay?”

The door is closed, the cab drives off, and going back inside, he starts to head back for the fridge.

“Hey, Korn, P’Shy is-”

Turning, he sees Wai looking around. “Oh. You finished cleaning.”

“Yeah. I got these for you and her, too, but it looks like I’m too late. I’ll put hers back.” He tosses the soda over.

“Thank you.”

When he comes back, Wai is putting up chairs. “You don’t need to walk me back. I still have some stuff to do here.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Korn.” Wai gives him a look.

Grabbing a chair, he says, “Tell you what, if those guys come back, you can protect me. I’ll be happy to let you get beat up.”

“Asshole.”

“Do you have some girl whose room you plan on sneaking into? Do you think you can do that better than-”

“I’m too tired for anything like that right now.”

They finish putting up the chairs.

“Have you ever climbed in or out of some girl’s window?”

Looking over, he sees Wai is serious, not teasing.

“Not like you did. When I was a little kid, this neighbourhood girl had a really cool bed, so, I’d climb into her window to take naps in it.”

Wai laughs, and stupid thoughts of telling Wai all sorts of things go through his head.

“I’m not saying this to brag, but I had a lot of girlfriends. I think my first was when I was three or four. But it was all kid stuff, holding hands, sitting next to each other on field trips.”

“I never seriously dated until I was a junior in high school. I’ve had three grown-up relationships. And one of my girlfriends, I slept over at her place a few times, but I’ve never done one-night stands.”

“Which is probably good, ‘cause, I don’t think I could get even halfway down a building before I’d fall even worse than you did.”

“Yeah, well, that was your fault,” Wai says. “You startled me.”

It’s not important. Wai knowing wouldn’t change anything.

But- “I’m like Pat, though. I like both. I just didn’t realise I liked boys, too, until I was older, and- but, maybe, I’ll have a boyfriend someday.”

“Just, please, not anyone from my faculty.”

“So cruel,” he declares.

“I’m going to lock up and head back. You really don’t need to walk me.”

“I’m headed that way anyways.”

…

He, Louis, Chang, and Chang’s brother, Mark, made plans to celebrate Mark passing his driving exam at Wai’s bar, but seeing how crowded it is, he wonders if they should go somewhere else.

“Come on. Your friend can wait on us,” Mark insists.

Given how busy they are, Wai is likely trying his hardest to stick to tables containing families; they’re less likely to have anyone get outright drunk.

They sit down, and Wai appears. 

“Busy night,” he comments.

At Wai’s look, for a moment, they’re back to when they were rivals and Wai couldn’t stand the sight of anyone from engineering walking into this place, but then, shaking his head, Wai asks, “What do you- oh, there’s a new one.” Wai briefly wais. “What can I get you all?”

“I’m Mark, Chang’s big bro. Nong Korn-” Stupid Mark avoids both his kick and smack. “Talks about you all the time. I’ll have a nam manao.”

Louis orders a beer, and it’s quiet, but Wai visibly sighs, and his shoulders slump.

Chang gives his order, and he’s thinking about what to say that won’t piss Wai off when there’s Nong Jao’s quiet voice, “Sorry, P’Wai, but table 8 needs you. I could finish taking P’Korn and his-”

“No.” Physically turning Nong Jao around, Wai instructs, “Tell them I’ll be there in five-to-ten minutes.”

Louis and Chang both look at him, and he knows this isn’t the time or place, that- he just really shouldn’t do anything but sit here, give his order, and then, have drinks with his friends.

But he’s getting up anyways, and pulling Wai aside, he feels even worse at Wai’s surprised, curious look.

“That’s low. We aren’t going to bully Nong Jao, and even if you don’t really like me, if I was wrong about us becoming friends, you should know that by now.”

“What-” Wai rolls his eyes as if he’s being the unreasonable one. “It’s a dicey area, Nong Jao being seventeen and people ordering alcohol.”

“He’s definitely not allowed to make drinks, and him serving them, that’s iffy. The regulations are a little too ambiguous for Hia’s liking. It’d probably be okay, him just taking orders, but Hia doesn’t want to risk it, and I don’t blame him.”

“Oh.”

Well, despite feeling like a complete idiot, his heart is warm in his chest.

“Um,” Nong Jao’s quiet voice says, “P’Wai, sorry, table 3 just tried to order alcohol.”

“The family with three kids?”

“Yeah. Uh, I was assured the dad wasn’t going to be driving. He got a promotion at his job, so-”

“Why is everyone ordering alcohol,” Wai exclaims, and the fact he’s within striking distance does stop him from laughing, but the almost immediate realisation on Wai’s face when the words come out doesn’t make it easy.

“Because, this is a bar. Right.” Wai takes a deep breath.

Thankfully, it seems none of the nearby tables have taken notice of Wai’s fit, and looking over, he’s surprised but relieved to see Nong Jao is perfectly calm.

Except, he realises, the nong having no reaction means something like this has happened enough times that-

“Okay, Nong Jao, when someone tries to order alcohol, make a note of it, and explain I’ll be over shortly to take their drink orders. Turn in the food orders, and offer a discount on any non-alcoholic drinks as a thank you for their patience.”

“Yes, phi. Got it.”

If Chang and Louis kill him for this, Wai might be a little less inclined to try doing so Wai’s self.

Grabbing Nong Jao with one hand, he takes Wai’s notepad, and there’s a tickle in his throat at seeing Korn’s table on the top of it. Checking the back to make sure there’s no other orders, he lets go of Nong Jao to rip it out.

“We’re not ordering alcohol. Copy our food orders and Mark’s drink, and the rest of will order non-alcoholic drinks, Nong Jao.” Catching Wai’s eyes, he adds, “On my honour as an engineering student.”

“Korn.”

“Go take care of those tables. C’mon, Nong Jao.”

Tugging him over, he sits back down. “Look, I promise I’ll buy both of you drinks tomorrow, but none of us can order alcohol tonight.”

There’s grumbling, but Mark says, “Sure.” Waving, he asks, “Are you one of Korn’s friends, too?”

“This is Nong Kaojao, and if we aren’t nice to him, a pretty girl with a broom will sneak into our rooms and kill us.”

“Well, I mean, does Wai even know where our rooms are? He doesn’t know where Mark’s is.”

“She’ll get that information out of me before killing me. Obviously. Let’s just order, guys.”

…

He sends Chang and Louis back to university with Mark, and when Wai says, “I’m pretty sure you always helping us close up is a labour violation,” he shrugs.

“You promised to help me with my calculus homework. It’s a fair trade.” He throws a towel at Wai.

“You bribed me with cookies. And I still don’t understand why you asked in the first place. You’re really good at calculus. You can do complex problems in your head in less than five minutes.”

Untangling the Only to be used for cleaning! sign from the broom, he tosses the clipboard demanding who will be using it, the area(s) it will be used in, the time it’s taken out, and the time it’s returned over to Wai. “Yeah, uh, that’s kinda the problem. Or mostly the problem. Professor New always grades down when people don’t show their work.”

On non-math subjects, he’s actually pretty good at showing his work, but when it comes to numbers, when he looks at them, his mind just quickly supplies the answer.

“How do you expect me to get you to do what a teacher can’t? I always use calculators. Which got me in trouble in high school.”

“You were the kid who pointed out that small, readily-available calculators that people do carry around everyday were already in play, weren’t you?”

“Asks the one who did the same thing, except, probably less politely and diplomatically than me.”

“I wanted my friends to be able to come play with me quicker,” he says.

The cook comes out with a to-go box. “Here, Wai. Good work today.”

“Thanks, chef. I’m sleeping in the backroom. I’ll-”

“What?”

They both look at him in annoyance.

“Sorry for interrupting,” he says. “But what?”

“On nights like this, Hia doesn’t mind if I use the couch in the backroom.”

“You two can continue this conversation after I leave.”

“Yes, chef,” Wai answers, and they both wai. “Have a good night.”

Wai walks the cook out, and he decides it’d probably be a good idea not to end up in a position to eavesdrop again.

When Wai comes back, Wai says, “I’m too tired to walk back to my dorm. And I can’t deal with my roommate right now.”

“Why do you have a roommate? The rooms don’t cost that much.” Then, realising how that could come out to a normal person, and remembering this is Wai, who can be extremely touchy about money, he quickly adds, “Not trying to be an asshole. I’m genuinely curious, man.”

“Yeah, but every little bit helps. Here, initial this.” Wai hands him the clipboard, and he initials next to Wai’s signature.

“Plus, I thought- Pran and I were roommates at boarding school. He wanted some independence when we enrolled here, which I get, but I thought it’d be easy enough getting used to a new one. Before boarding school, I lived at home. I thought I could save money, maybe make a new friend, and deal with learning to live alone later on.”

“But he turned out to be an asshole,” he supplies.

“I’d say yes, but other people might not. He just refuses to make any sort of compromise. The nicest thing he’s ever done for me is stopping by the admin. office to let them know that I was running a high fever and not deliberately skipping my classes.”

“Other than that, he fixes disgusting smelling food, he fixes delicious smelling food that he doesn’t share, he brings one-night stands over, and I’ve gotten used to it now, but him listening to whale sounds at night kept me up for almost two weeks when we first moved in.”

Looking at Wai, some of him wishes he could go back to being annoyed at the sight of the architecture boy who insulted his best friend. Even though Wai quickly proved to be interesting, all he had to think about back then was how to best rile him up without getting into too much trouble.

Pat is always easy to make feel better and almost always easy to help, and Wai isn’t. He can listen to Wai rant, usually without laughing too much, and occasionally, he can do something more to help.

Most of the time, though, Wai’s problems aren’t ones he can help with, and if he can, plenty of times, Wai will absolutely refuse his help.

“I have a couch, and I’ll pay for the cab.” Seeing Wai open his mouth, he continues, “Don’t. I know I’m not Pran, but even though you sometimes still deny it, I’m your friend, too.”

“This isn’t anything big, Wai. I’m going to get a cab for myself, and I can tell from just looking that my couch is more comfortable than the one back there. Plus, I promise, no whale sounds. Okay?”

He can see Wai taking in his words.

Then, Wai slumps. “Fine. Last chance, though: I don’t know if I snore or talk in my sleep.”

“I snore a little, and I still have a night light.”

Part of him hopes Wai will laugh or tease him, but Wai simply shrugs. “I was never afraid of the dark, but I don’t need it to be completely dark in order to sleep.”

…

After Wai eats, Wai takes so long in the shower he’s half-afraid Wai might have fallen asleep in it, and when Wai comes out, awake, slightly red, and wearing nothing but the underwear he borrowed, he can’t help but tease, “Did you jerk off in there?”

Turning even redder, Wai makes a rude gesture. “I could painfully murder you. It’s one-against-one.”

“Uh-huh. But who would make breakfast in the morning? I make decent pancakes.”

“Just make enough for you. Seriously.” Wai catches his eyes. “I can’t handle much food in the morning. I usually just have some fruit and maybe yogurt.”

Even though Wai isn’t saying it, isn’t even hinting at it, by the look on Wai’s face, he can almost hear the unspoken words about how Wai wasn’t one for any breakfast until Pran, and it hits him he’ll never be as important as Pran.

Pran is the one Wai trusted with secrets when they were kids, Pran’s the one who has Wai planning how to kill and bury his best friend if Pat ever hurts Pran (Pat never will), and Pran is the one who wasn’t surprised when Wai showed up injured from a failed one-night stand.

If it happens again, Wai might not go to Pran, but if Wai does decide to go to anyone, it’ll be Pran, not him.

“Want to share the bed? Whenever Pat or the others stay here, I share with them.”

His mother, he knows, and probably his dad, too, would insist he should offer the bed to his guests and take the couch himself, but he’s fine not being a polite person if it means he sleeps on his comfortable bed.

“Couch is good.” Wai collapses on it.

Getting a blanket and one of his extra pillows, he tosses them at Wai, and they land on him.

“Jackass,” is the muffled response.

Coming over, getting the pillow properly underneath Wai’s head, he gets the blanket arranged over him.

Then, he finds himself looking down, and- crap.

The first time he really studied Wai, he dubbed him a weasel, both in terms of looks and personality, and that hasn’t really changed, Wai is clever, not afraid to fight dirty, and often all sharp angles and knobbly knees and elbows, but now, Wai’s eyes look so soft, and he imagines reaching down to move some of the damp hair off Wai’s forehead.

“Anything else?”

Wai shakes his head, and his voice is soft, almost as if he’s already asleep, when he says, “Thanks, Korn.”

Turning on his nightlight, he turns off the lights, and getting into bed, he wishes he knew why tears were in his eyes.

Cheer up, he tells himself. There’s a rugby match this weekend, and Pat’s going to lose his bet.

He got to see some embarrassing pictures of Chang earlier, and he’s surer than ever that Louis has a crush on someone from the science faculty. Once he finds out who, he’s going to have a lot of fun.

Turning over, he listens closely, and hearing Wai’s soft snoring mumblings, he closes his eyes.

…

Coming into the bar, he sees P’Shy sitting nearby.

“Hey, don’t tell me they have you working a double.”

So far, Wai likes the waitress his boss has hired, but if she’s already calling in, she’ll probably be gone soon.

As amusing as it was, it’d probably be better if Pran didn’t have to do something similar to stopping Wai from looking up Fang’s address anytime soon.

“No, I’m just about leave.” Getting up, she glances at her watch. “But you have about thirty minutes.”

She’s tugging him before he can try to figure out what she means, and finding himself looking at Wai clearly flirting with a man, his stomach twists.

“That’s when he gets off,” she says, and knowing P’Shy doesn’t realise the double-entendre in her words makes it even harder to keep his laugh in. Giving him a look, she nods at the other man. “His name is Michael. He goes to a university near here.”

“I’ve seen this happen before. When Wai’s shift ends, they’ll leave together. But two things might make it different this time. One, this could turn into something that lasts more than one night. Or two, someone else takes a shot.”

She squeezes his shoulder, and noticing him, Wai waves.

“Trust me, even if he turns you down, it’ll hurt less than option one happening. Night, Korn.”

“Yeah, night, P’Shy.” Seeing Wai is engrossed in the conversation with his hand on Michael’s, he adds, “I’ll walk you out.”

…

He sits down, and before the new waitress can take his order, Nong Jao appears. “Fah, he’s in the engineering faculty, hello, P’Korn, whenever someone from there comes in, we don’t take orders from them unless P’Wai tells us to. Go check on table 9, okay, and I’ll get P’Wai.”

And Nong Jao has her away before he can interject.

Wai’s irritated face when Nong Jao reappears with him would be funny if he wasn’t feeling something similar.

“I’ll take his order, Nong Jao, but from now on, unless any of the en students bully you or the others, everyone can take their orders, alright?”

“Yes, phi. I understand. Should I go give the check to the one at the bar?”

It occurs to him what Nong Jao might be doing, and feeling warmth inside him, he wonders if this is due to P’Shy or Nong Jao’s own initiative.

“No, he’s probably going to be here until the end of my shift. Back to your tables, Kaojao.”

Nong Jao leaves, and rolling his eyes, Wai says, “Sorry.”

“P’Shy told me the one from the bar is from another university. Need me to follow you in case you have to sneak out another window? I’ll have my camera ready this time.”

“Asshole,” Wai says, but his face is soft when he glances over at the bar, and- he knows P’Shy is right: There’s a chance it’ll be more than a night with this one.

“Anyway,” turning back, Wai smiles at him, “what can I get you?”

He wants to say, I like you. I more than like you. I want to go on a date with you, I want to be your boyfriend.

And he has these arguments in his head to make his case, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but that means we’ve seen the worst sides of each other already. Please, let me try to make you smile like Pran does, tell me all about your family, complain about your roommate to me when you sleep in my bed to get away from him or when we have lunch after class, I could massage your feet when you work long shifts, I’m sorry I was such a dick, I’d do anything to take the humiliation and helplessness I made you feel away, even though I can’t take back what I did, I’d protect Nong Jao and any other servers from anyone who even tried to do such a thing, don’t go home with him, I could make you feel good, I’ve had embarrassing dreams about you making me yours, or if you wanted, we could take things slow, I just like you so much, and if you’d hold my hand and smile at me the way you do when you’re happy and not worried about anything-

“Korn?”

But looking at Wai, he knows laying any of this on Wai while Wai is working wouldn’t be good, and waiting until Wai is actually off and trying to leave with this guy at the bar- he missed his chance. Maybe, he’ll get another one in the future, though, he’s realistic enough to doubt it, but right now, he can either keep Wai as a friend, or he can take a shot that he knows won’t be welcomed.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” Wai replies.

“Even though an asshole like you doesn’t deserve it, I’ll keep my order simple. Good luck with that guy.” He orders one of the teas he knows Nong Jao can easily make and the new waitress, if she’s underage age, too, can serve.

He’s still sipping it, telling himself to just leave, when Wai comes back over, and dropping a bundle of study notes on the table, Wai says, “Hey, I’m going to head out. It’s slow enough Nongs Jao and Fah can handle things. If you want a beer, order from her; she’s eighteen. Or eighteen and three-quarters as she’ll inform you.”

Sharing a chuckle with Wai, he sees the other man waiting near the door. “They’ll be fine. I doubt the drinking age is going to be bumped back up to twenty in the middle of the night. What faculty is he in?”

“Engineering.”

He knows Wai didn’t deliberately wait until he took a drink to answer, but since he was obviously taking a drink after he asked that, it would have really been nice if Wai had waited until he swallowed and set the glass down.

“Hey, you okay?” Gently patting his back, Wai grabs some napkins.

“Yeah. What happened to, ‘As if I’d ever date an engineering student’?”

He’s heard the words in his head enough times along with remembering the feeling of Wai shrugging his arm of Wai’s shoulders and the thought swirling in his head Wai has never actually called him a friend.

Wai shrugs. “Well, he doesn’t go to our university. I’d never date one of the ones here.”

“There goes my plan to win you over, then,” he says, and he remembers why he shouldn’t tease about things- “Have fun. Be safe. I promise, the nongs are in good hands while I’m here.”

Wai smiles at him, and it hurts. “Thanks, Korn.”

He watches Wai leave, and just when he’s finishing his drink, Nong Jao appears with another drink and several slices of rum cake. “Here, P’Korn. Fah’s mae sent cake for us. Maybe it’ll make you feel better.”

“Wai and P’Shy refused to touch it?”

“P’Wai had a small slice. Um,” Nong Jao glances around, “and he gave it to me as soon as Fah wasn’t looking.”

Knowing Nong Jao won’t take his laugh personally, he lets it out but stops himself from asking if it’s actually any good.

Nong Jao is giving him such a sympathetic look- he doubts Wai was ever exactly like this, he knows Wai largely had to grow up fast, but he can imagine sympathetic, eager-to-help Nong Wai trying to make someone feel better in a similar way.

And he thinks of how Pat would largely be like this, and if it weren’t for the damn rivalry, Wai would have seen what kind of person Pat is back then. He can imagine Wai, faced with someone rooting against his team, laughing and patronisingly buying Pat some drink or snack. Of course, Pat would have been indignant, almost fighting mad, but- it would have worked. Puppy Pat would have grumbled and snapped and might have eventually tried to start a friendly conversation, not decided to chase someone down with his friends.

At least, if he weren’t around. He knows, more than Louis and Chang, he was the one who talked the loudest about honour and respect and teaching a lesson.

“It’s alright, Nong Jao. I’m fine. I’m glad Wai is happy.”

“Yeah, but I do understand how it hurts,” Nong Jao says. “I’ve had crushes, too. Anyway, just take the cake, P’Korn. I’m trying to watch what I eat, and Fah’s mae will make it for her whenever she wants. She’s going to bring some mint cake soon!”

The thought of Wai and P’Shy happily consuming the cake and probably doing that creepy synchronised head turning he once witnessed if anyone dare comes near their plates until they’re completely clean makes him laugh.

“So, she’s fitting in pretty well?”

It’s common for people to have Chinese ancestry, he knows Pat does, but he wonders if Fah actually identifies as Chinese in some way. The first time he saw her, he thought, China doll, and the thought hasn’t faded.

“Uh-huh. She and her big half-brother don’t get along very well, so, it’s nice that P’Wai is so nice to her. And she and P’Shy are going shopping this weekend with her mae. I guess it’s nice for P’Shy to have another girl around here.”

“Thanks for the cake, Nong Jao. I’ll be leaving soon. Hey, call me if anything happens, alright? Not P’Shy or Wai tonight.”

Their boss is attending a family funeral, he knows, and he doesn’t need to make it clear not to call the part-time chef. Any of them, Wai included, would let this place burn down before they called that horrible person.

“I will. Thank you, P’Korn. I’ll get a box for the cake.”

…

He’d heard Wai and the boy from the bar went to a local aquarium, but looking up from his place on the ground, he knows Wai must have gone somewhere more private (likely not Wai’s dorm) afterward.

“Wai, stop trying to curb-stomp Korn to death,” Pran orders.

“No, it’s okay.” He manages to sit up. “A boy wearing a turtleneck in this weather-”

“Kick him, and you’re doing our project all alone,” Pran says. “Can you get up on your own, Korn?”

“Yeah.” He does. “You could have stopped me from falling.”

“I was halfway across the courtyard when you tripped.”

“Because your friend-” All he can do is gesture.

Shaking his head, Pran nudges Wai. “You need to bring him over to have lunch with me and the others soon.”

“We’ll see how serious things get.”

To his surprise, Pran reaches into Wai’s pocket, and withdrawing Wai’s phone, he opens it. Either it’s not locked, or he knows the passcode, because, his eyes clearly scanning, he says, “Looks pretty serious to me.”

Grabbing the phone back, Wai absently rubs his turtleneck-covered neck. “Can I please kick him now that he’s stood up?”

“No,” Pran answers.

“Whatever’s on the phone is serious but that love mark he’s covering isn’t?”

“Can I, at least, mock him for calling a hickey that,” Wai inquires.

Shrugging, Pran answers, “He only lets boyfriends, or I guess, girlfriends, if he ever gets one, leave them on his neck.”

“I could get a girlfriend!” Then, Wai- he doesn’t deflate in the way he usually does, but his indignation does disappear. “If I don’t end up someday marrying Michael.”

“Yeah, you definitely need to bring him here soon.” Giving a small smile, Pran pats Wai’s shoulder.

…

Michael is quiet, is the main thing he gathers when he and Pat end up having lunch with Wai, Pran, and Michael.

It makes sense, Pran is Wai’s best friend, and Wai liked Pa, but he wishes he had a better read on this other man.

Quiet. Smart, from the look of his past projects that he showed them. Polite.

Mostly important, he looks at Wai with soft eyes, and Wai openly cuddles against him right in public.

“Hey, you were a little quiet during lunch,” Pat says. “Everything alright?”

“Just trying to figure this Michael guy out. You want to talk about quiet-” He says.

Pat laughs. “Yeah. I guess he really has a type, huh?”

“Hm.” Digging through his desk, he says, “I guess we should figure out how to get him there on a crowded night when the nongs are all alone. Obviously, I’d have to be nearby, or Wai would kill me right in front of his bar’s security cameras, but I bet it’d take-”

“Korn.” Pat’s quiet tone makes him turn around.

“C’mon, man, obviously, I’m kidding.”

Wai did slap P’Shy’s cousin upside the head right in unobstructed view of one of the cameras, but since this stopped P’Shy from untangling the broom, this maybe wasn’t a major lapse of judgement. He knows, from when he and the others did, from when the bastard with the gun did it, Wai won’t fight back inside the bar, not if it’s just Wai himself being targeted, no matter how much Wai might be boiling inside to.

Still, Wai could have, at least, looked around for the cameras before hitting what was technically a customer.

“It’s not that. Do you remember- when Pran and I were revealed, you made a joke about having a crush on a guy from architecture?”

He remembers this.

Back then, it had been a joke, or at least, he’d thought it was.

Pat’s looking at him with perceptive eyes, soft, and a little pitying.

“Wai’s my friend now,” he says. “I’m glad he’s happy. And that’s all that needs to be said, man.”

Pat nods. “But if you need to say something else in the future-”

“I’ll talk to you,” he promises.

…

In the courtyard, Wai glares when he catches the wadded-up napkin Wai threw at him.

“All I’ve done is sit down.”

Next to Wai, Pran says, “Wai has decided we’re entering a musical competition.”

“And if you do-” Wai starts.

“Man, I’m too busy getting my ass kicked by my classes. Pretty sure it’s the same for the rest of my year’s faculty. What’s this competition?”

Pran slides a flyer over.

“If we win, I can finally buy a motorbike.”

Based on Pran’s expression, Pran doesn’t find this as interesting as he does. “You want a motorbike?”

Wai nods.

“It’d be better to save up for a car,” Pran says.

“But motorbikes are so damn cool,” Wai responds. “And I was the only one in high school who didn’t have one.”

“I didn’t-” Pran starts.

“You had a car. And now, you have your scooter.”

“I occasionally had my father’s old car. Most of the time, all I had was your bus pass.”

“I didn’t stick around the freshy competition to watch your faculty, but Pat told me you played guitar while Pran sang.”

Actually, Pat had left a drunken voicemail asking how to pick a lock, and in this voicemail, Pat had also rambled in a heart-breaking tone about “their song”, “he sang it at that rat bastard Wai”, and worst of all, “you and the others are great, but I’m so tired of being lonely, please, help me, Korn.”

Thankfully, when he found Pat in the morning, hungover Pat clearly hadn’t managed to pick any locks, and deleting the voicemail, Pat had practically begged him to just forget about it.

There’s a reason, for all he was confused, he wasn’t truly surprised when the curtain fell, he realises.

“Pran,” Wai wraps around him, “is our best singer.”

“But Wai’s even more talented at the guitar,” Pran says.

Wai’s expression indicates Wai thinks otherwise, and he wishes he knew which of them was right.

“Will your boyfriend stay in your dorm, or he is going to get a hotel again? If your roommate objects, maybe, he could crash on one of our couches or the two of you on an air mattress.”

Pran shoots him an exasperated look, and he honestly can’t see how this question crosses any lines. Sure, in the past, Wai might have gone off, but Wai’s gotten a lot less touchy now that-

Except, Wai is suddenly quiet with tight eyes.

“Michael probably isn’t going to come. Apparently, watering his grandma’s plants is more important than seeing his boyfriend perform.”

Maybe he shouldn’t say anything, but- “Well, hey, plants can be really important to grandmas, right?”

“They’re all outside. He could, he has, in the past, gotten friends to water them for him.”

It hits him Pran has suddenly become a different sort of quiet, and he has the feeling he shouldn’t try to continue this conversation.

“Okay. Do you two have any songs in mind yet?”

The air largely clears.

…

Coming into the bar, he notices an exasperated-looking Fah coming close to rolling her eyes. “Again, none of us are going to take the blame for thermodynamics happening outside of the pub. We don’t have a manager, but if you want to talk to our senior waiter on staff, I will be happy to get him.”

He starts to look around for Wai, but running over, a slightly panting Kaojao apologises to the customer, and then, manages to get Fah to go help a table at the other end of the bar.

Spotting Wai setting up the bar’s stage, he tries to catch his eye.

“I don’t know what that is, either,” Nong Jao says, and despite him being a terrible liar, the customer seems to believe him, “but- I mean, um, it isn’t our fault your food got cold after a three-hour drive.”

Finally catching Wai’s eye, he motions to Kaojao shrinking under the customer’s lecturing.

Wai comes over, and Nong Jao leads him away.

It isn’t long before Wai comes over to his table. “Thanks.”

“No problem, man.”

“Hia will be back in a day or two, and I think he’s got his family matters settled for now. So, he should be around more.”

“That’ll be good. Nong Fah in trouble?”

Wai shakes his head. “Not with me. She shouldn’t have been rude like that, but you know, I don’t think she’s likely to chase anyone with a broom, and I don’t worry about her crying when dealing with difficult customers.”

Squeezing his shoulder, Wai gets back to work.

…

Finishing his food, he turns to find Nongs Jao and Fah standing behind him.

He’s pretty sure they didn’t intend to come across as incredibly creepy, but really, everyone working in this bar needs to learn not to do things such as synchronised head-turns and standing quietly together behind customers.

“Stay, P’Korn,” Nong Jao says. “Please? Since it’s not busy, P’Wai is going to see how customers respond to his guitar playing.”

“P’Shy gave us a list of things we weren’t allowed to do and things P’Wai isn’t allowed to do if customers object,” Fah adds. “Only, I don’t think any of us would do any of them anyways.”

Nong Jao fidgets. “No, me and you wouldn’t. And P’Wai wouldn’t inside the bar.”

Laughing, he thinks, Fair enough. “Yeah, I’ll stay for a while.”

They go back to work, and settling in his chair, he watches Wai sit down on stage with Pran’s guitar.

A soft melody, a little romantic, fills the air, and he hopes Wai doesn’t ask him what he thinks. He couldn’t explain, and Wai likely wouldn’t believe him anyways, but: Wai is so damn cool, it’s almost painful to watch and listen.

He wonders if taking a video clip would result in his death. Wai could send it to his boyfriend, and if this Michael has any sense, he’d be here by tomorrow night at the latest.

Nearby, the nongs are chatting, but Wai is looking over at him, and he knows Wai isn’t, but part of him can’t help but imagine Wai is playing for him.

Then, he hears, “Uh-oh,” and turning to look, he sees Kaojao is holding Wai’s phone as if it’s poisonous.

“P’Wai gave it to him to hold,” Nong Fah says.

“It’s his roommate,” Nong Jao sighs.

“What does it say?”

Nong Jao shrugs, and coming over, he sees the roommate’s name, but none of the text message itself is shown.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nong Jao says. “He’s going to end up killing him one of these days, and then, we’ll be short-staffed again, and P’Shy might get in trouble. I don’t think people are allowed to go into prisons and chase prisoners with brooms, P’Korn!”

Fah laughs. “As if she’d bother. P’Pran would kill him first.”

“That’s not reassuring,” Nong Jao mutters.

“Well, he doesn’t work here, so, if he does it, we won’t be even more short-staffed.”

“Huh. Yeah, but still-”

“What’s going on,” Wai’s voice cuts in.

Managing not to laugh, he hands the phone back to Wai. “For your nongs’ sakes, try not to kill your roommate, alright?”

Wai reads the text, and he has a feeling Wai is, in fact, going to try to kill the roommate.

Taking an exasperated breath, Wai looks at him. “Any chance you could get Pat to not sleep at Pran’s tonight so that I can?”

“My couch, his faen’s bed. Yeah, I don’t think so, my friend. But hey, my couch always has your name on it.”

Wai studies him for a minute, and then, sighs. “Fine, if you really mean it, I’ll take it. Better than a prison cot, at any rate, and I’m not sure these two nongs,” Wai pats their heads, “can be trusted to stop P’Shy from stealing the bar’s broom for when she pulls her prison break to murder me in said jail cell.”

“We’d try, phi,” Nong Jao earnestly says.

“All we’d have to do is show all the much cheaper but higher quality brooms she could just buy for herself,” Fah adds.

He guesses by her scowl she does not appreciate the three of them looking at her.

“And this is why, even though you are older, Nong Jao is in charge,” Wai declares. “Go call your mae and tell her your shift is almost over, N’Fah. Kaojao, start cleaning. I’ll help P’Tang with the register.”

…

Jumping as the sound of a crash, he turns to see Wai sitting up on the floor, and- this is sort of his fault.

He’d known Wai shouldn’t have set his phone where Wai did, but Wai had waved him off, and instead of waiting until Wai was asleep to move it-

“Stop looking at me,” Wai grouchily orders.

“You see what happens when you don’t listen to me?” Getting Wai pulled up, he grabs Wai’s hands so that he can properly check him for injuries.

“Hey, I’m up, at least. Whoever made alarm clocks is a sadist. And whoever decided people should have to get up in the morning. Let me go, or I’ll kick you and tell Pran you stole his earphones.”

“Even at the height of the rivalry between our faculties, do you think he’d have believed such a thing?”

At Wai’s glare, he remembers hearing something about not arguing with dementia patients and not trying to challenge someone’s logic in the middle of the psychotic episode, and deciding it might be a good idea to take a similar approach here, he says, “Here, speaking of Pran, he told me you usually have grapes, vanilla yogurt, and toast with strawberry jam for breakfast.”

Leading Wai over to the table, he blocks Wai’s swinging arms from hitting anything.

When he gets Wai sat down, Wai looks at the food, and then, looks at him as he’s done something utterly bizarre.

He wonders if he’s going to have taste-test each food item to prove he didn’t poison anything.

“Um- thank you,” Wai says. “Well, now, I feel like an asshole.”

“What for? You not being a morning person isn’t a big deal.” He sets his own breakfast down. “At least, you haven’t thrown anything yet. Pat warned me you might.”

Groaning, Wai declares, “I hate Pran.”

“Sure you do.”

“I’m getting a new roommate next year.”

“Good luck,” he says.

“Screw you,” is the retort.

“You really aren’t a morning person, are you?”

“Stop laughing, and just attempt to kill me now. It’s not fair to go after regular me for what morning me does. Did. I’m just going to stop talking now until I’ve finished, at least, half of this yogurt.”

Trying to keeping his laughter under control, he concentrates on his own breakfast.

There’s a gentle kick to his leg, and looking up, he sees Wai, though tired-eyed, no longer looks half-glazed and angry.

“Thanks. Really,” Wai says. “I know I can be a lot in the morning. I really don’t mean to be. I just, don’t really think that other people are- well, people, when I first wake up.”

Things shift inside, and he finds himself wondering did someone make you feel like this?

He knows Pran wouldn’t, not intentionally, but Wai seems truly apologetic, as if Wai’s actually in the wrong. He’s sure there are mornings when he wouldn’t appreciate having to deal with Wai’s sleepy, uncoordinated grumpiness, at having things thrown at him, but just like Pran, he can handle it. It’s not like Wai would throw something at someone like N’Jao or P’Shy- if P’Shy was wielding a broom, Wai might throw something, but that would be on her; unlike him, Wai’s actually seen her use one, not just attempt to, against someone.

Aware he’s about to potentially make things extremely awkward, the feelings brewing in chest and stomach, nevertheless, make it clear he has to get the words inside him out.

“Hey, Wai.” He catches his eyes.

“Hm?” Setting the yogurt down, Wai wipes some from the corner of his mouth.

The option to run from his dorm is also there.

“Look, we’re friends. I’m sorry for what I did to you. Chasing you down, bullying you at your job, that whole thing with the video clip,” and he should probably admit he was the one who actually uploaded it, hit enter, but- “I wish I could change what I did, but I can’t.”

“What I can do is promise: I’ll never do anything like that again, okay? I’m your friend. You can trust me.”

He’s definitely made Wai uncomfortable, he sees, and he’s afraid Wai is going to be the one running out of the room.

It’s probably for the best he didn’t continue with I’ll look out for you, I’ll hurt anyone who does what I did back then, I don’t want to ever be responsible for making you feel bad again.

“Yeah, well,” shifting, not quite looking at him, Wai rubs his neck, “it’s no big deal. I did shit I shouldn’t have back then, too.”

Then, Wai’s eyes are looking into his, and he feels himself jumping.

“I get it. Even though I still- Starting over, yeah, we’re friends. I’m your friend, and you’re my friend.”

“But if you think that’ll save you from things being thrown at you if you try to deal with me in the morning, you’re wrong.”

“Wouldn’t expect any different,” he responds, and based on the glare, Wai finds his laughter offensive this early, but there’s nothing actually dangerous within Wai’s reaching distance.

...

After they finish homework, he says, “Hey, next week, you’re on your own. My parents are coming for my dad’s birthday.”

“Anything special planned?”

“No. I think they’re just coming, because, my mae wants to, but I’ve got a present for him, and I’m going shopping with Pat and the others to find a grill and some beef.”

“And your objection to my bar is?”

Hearing the genuine edge under the tart tone, he quickly answers, “No objection. I just remember when we took Mark there for his birthday.”

“It shouldn’t be too busy next week. Bring your dad and mae. We have plenty of beef dishes.”

“Yeah, I know how good your chef is at making them. When are your parents’ birthdays? Are your parents coming down for them?”

“No.” Wai stretches. “I don’t really- Uh, my dad is a gambler. He never managed to lose our house, thank Buddha, that we got from his grandpa. But I stopped giving him presents when I was twelve.”

Wai is tired, he realises. He shouldn’t push.

But he’s really curious about what kind of parents Wai has; he knows more about Pran’s than Wai’s, and he knows, for all Wai is now in Pat and Pran’s corner, Wai still really likes Pran’s mae, at least, and likely, his dad, too.

“Sorry? How does your mae take all that?

Shrugging, Wai gives a not-fully bitter chuckle. “My mae, she can and will change her mind about anything at the drop of a hat. I’m kind of surprised she never left me and my dad, but I guess we’re the exception. As far as I know, she’s never had any bad feelings about marrying him, and sometimes, her and I didn’t get along, but she does love me.”

He offers, “My mae moved here from the States when she was two. Until they had me, my grandma never accepted the marriage. My grandpa died before I came around.”

“That sucks. Was it just your mae coming from the States?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t even know there were problems until after Mimi, that wasn’t her name, but for some reason, I called her that, died. Growing up, I spent a lot more time with her than my parents.”

“They’re good parents,” he adds. “But my dad’s always been a very hard-worker, going above and beyond, and my mae was still in nursing school when she had me. She graduated when I was a toddler. She works just as hard, but she fought to get flexible hours so that she could spend more time with me.”

“You once said I had a chip on my shoulder, and you were right,” Wai says.

He doesn’t remember saying this, but he’s definitely thought it before.

But Wai doesn’t look angry right now, and so, he stays quiet.

“My family and I never fit in. I realised, the only way I’d be happy is if I found somewhere better. So, I got the best grades I could, got all the money I could, and finally, I got accepted into the boarding school me and Pran went to.”

“I was there for three years before he came. He was assigned to be my roommate. I never had any problems with the roommates I had before him, but we just hit it off right away.”

“He never told me about Pat, but I knew that he liked some guy, and that even though his mae would never say so, him being gay was probably part of the reason he was sent away.”

“Pat and I met by letters,” he says. “My school and his had a pen-pal program. After we sent a few letters, we started talking online, texting, all that. He’s part of the reason I choose this university.”

“I’m glad,” Wai says.

Wai, he finds himself thinking, cannot just say stuff like this.

Yawning, Wai squeezes his hand. “I should get back to my room. Michael’s going to try to call me after he gets done with his homework.”

…

Based on the way his dad looks around his dorm, he imagines his dad would have rather just received a present in the mail than them coming down.

Getting his mae sat down, he listens as she continues, “And N’Cara, she’s pregnant. Her family isn’t happy, but it’s not exactly a surprise. I’m just glad it’s not you responsible.” His mae gives him a teasing smile.

Making a note in his phone to send Cara an email later, he protests, “Mae!”

Depending on Wai’s mood, he might also get Wai to make offerings with him in the morning. He and Cara always used condoms, but there was that one time the condom broke.

When he sits down next to her, she wraps around him, and he hadn’t realised how much he missed his mae’s hugs until right now.

“Have you found a new faen yet?”

“No,” he answers.

His dad gives him a look, and he doesn’t think his dad outright disbelieves him, but- well, his dad being sceptical of everything he says is nothing new.

“Anyone you have your eye on, sweetheart? Do you want me to knit you a gift while I’m here? I remember how much N’Joy liked that pumpkin plushie I made her. Do college girls like plushies? I could make something else.”

“No, but thank you, Mae. Joy and I are Instagram friends, you know, and she still has Ernie the plushie on her bed.”

“She’s doing okay since the divorce?”

“Yeah, her dad’s remarried, but her mae’s making good money in Alaska. She’s going to try moving there once she gets certified.”

Squeezing his hand, his mae gets up. “Let’s get dinner, sweetheart. Your dad had a light lunch so that he’d have plenty of room for supper tonight.”

Watching his dad smile and wrap around her, he yet again wonders how they work. He’s never doubted they love one another; he’s just not sure what someone as high-energy and open as his mae and someone as taciturn as his dad do to keep their marriage so stable.

“Where are we going, Korn,” his father asks.

“I thought you’d like the crying tiger this pub a friend works at makes. His chef is a whiz at anything involving beef.”

“Which friend is this, baby?” Taking his hand, his mae leads him out. “Make sure to lock his door, hon.”

“His, uh, name is Wai.”

…

P’Shy looks frazzled.

“I’m fine. Do not piss Wai off.” Then, blinking, she takes in his parents. “Oh. Right, I forgot, he told me your parents were visiting.”

Wai-ing, she greets, “Hello, ma’am, sir. I apologise for using such language. I’m Shy. Your son has been a great help to all of us here when the owner was going through some family problems.”

“What’s wrong with Wai? Did he get the donut I sent him for lunch?”

Chuckling, she gives him a tired look. “Yeah, he did. It made his day.”

“Unfortunately, right now, he’s going through a I-hate-all-engineers phase. Haven’t heard a rant like that for several months. It’s that boyfriend of his.”

“Here, let me get you and your parents set down.”

Wondering what plan Michael cancelled this time, he mentally rearranges his schedule so that he can sit down with Pran tomorrow. “But he’s going to be over it by the time his competition gets here, right? I’ve already bought his gift for when he wins.”

“We don’t know he will.”

Looking around, he’s relieved not to see Wai around. “Of course, he will.” Quieter, he adds, “And if he doesn’t, I have a backup card to swap.”

…

Once their orders are taken, his mae asks, “You sent your friend a donut for lunch?”

“He had a regular lunch, Mae. He’s pulling a double today, so, I sent a donut with the friend bringing him his lunch. Last week, he-”

His dad looks up from his drink. “Is he one of those architecture students you had problems with last year?”

“Seashorn,” his mae scolds.

He wonders if the past will ever really be done. Thankfully, it seems Wai still isn’t around, though, the fact he hasn’t seen Wai since coming in might be concerning.

“Yes, sir,” he answers. “But that was last year. We all did some stupid things. I made things right with all of them, though, and none of engineering and architecture have problems with each other anymore.”

“Except, apparently, this boyfriend of his.”

“Michael goes to a different school.” Which is probably a good thing, he doesn’t add, because, if he didn’t, never mind Pran, he might end up saying things Wai probably wouldn’t appreciate but need to be said.

Like I’m tired of watching my friend’s face fall every time he gets a text from his boyfriend and how could you forget my friend’s important test and you don’t deserve him; whether I do or not, you really don’t, I wish he’d break up with you.

Hearing Wai, these thoughts vanish, and soon, Wai’s over at the table.

“Hey,” Wai gives him a quick hug, “sorry, I wasn’t here to greet you and your parents. Our chef was arguing with a supplier.”

“Hello, auntie, uncle. I’m Wai, a friend of Korn’s. It’s nice to meet you. Some of the things Korn knows from you have really helped us here when the pub was going through rough times.”

It’s not surprising his mae looks attentive, but it is a little surprising to see that his dad looks interested, too. Most of his friends, his dad doesn’t dislike so much as he just doesn’t have much of an opinion on.

…

“That hospital you got your tonsils removed at has made a job offer to your mae.”

“Isn’t that about an hour’s drive away?”

“I’m probably not taking the job. With everyone still recovering from the pandemic, they’re desperate for more staff, and they’re offering a larger salary than what I’m currently making, but I was thinking of becoming a nurse practitioner.”

“That’d be great, Mae! Since it’s been a long time since you’ve had to deal with exams, some of my friends have some great tricks for organising notes that I can share with you.”

His dad smiles at them.

“I-”

Loud sounds make him jump, and seeing some drunk assholes have gotten into a fight, in the middle of the restaurant, he takes comfort in the fact, wherever P’Shy is, she isn’t near them.

“Mae, go to the broom closet,” he points, “and if P’Shy comes over, block her from going in. She won’t hurt you, but if she gets that broom, people, including her, could be hurt.”

Seeing Wai is about to approach the men, he runs over, and grabbing Wai, he gets in front of him. Putting a hand on his chest, he shakes his head.

Stupidly stubborn, beautiful eyes challenge his, but then, sighing, Wai relaxes underneath his palm.

Turning, he goes in, and dodging blows, he gets them separated. Getting the one still trying to fight pinned against the wall, he says to the other, “Hey, don’t make things worse for yourself, my friend. Sit down. Be quiet.”

Trying not to wince at the jab in his side, he kicks the feet out from underneath the man against the wall, and moving back, he watches him fall.

“Baby, are you okay?”

As his mae checks him over, he says, “Mae, I told you-”

“N’Shy’s calling the police. It’s fine. How many fingers?”

The man on the floor groans. “He broke my leg!”

“Sit down, baby.” Leaning down, putting her finger on the man’s pulse, his mae says, “He didn’t break your leg. My son knows how to fight. I’m going to shine a light into your eyes in order to…”

As she’s talking, his dad hands her purse to her, and then, his dad is guiding him to a chair.

…

After they drop his mae off at the hotel, his dad drives him back to his dorm.

“Sorry your birthday dinner went like that,” he offers.

“It’ll be an exciting story to tell.”

Starting some tea for his dad, he gets a juice for himself.

“I should probably talk about how, even though you managed to handle yourself without you or those men getting hurt, what you did isn’t good.”

“And I’d counter it might not be recommended, but with all due respect, Dad, you’d just be wasting your breath with such a talk.”

“Yeah,” his dad agrees. “I know. Instead, let’s talk about Wai.”

He suddenly has the feeling, actually, he’d rather have the other talk.

“What’d you think of him?”

“He seems like a nice, polite boy.” His dad looks straight at him. “You like him as more than a friend.”

It’s not like he can deny it, but he really has no idea where to go with this conversation.

He’s never really talked to his parents about the fact he likes men, too. He’s never thought either of them would have a big problem with it, but since he’s only ever had girlfriends, there never seemed to be a reason to bring it up.

“Yeah,” he can’t keep his sigh in. “But he has a boyfriend. So.”

His dad squeezes his shoulder.

The tea’s ready.

Once he serves it, his dad quietly says, “I had a girlfriend when I first met your mother.”

“Really? You and Mae never told me that.”

“Yeah, um-” His dad pauses. “There are some things I can’t recommend. Things that your mae wouldn’t recommend now. But you know better than most life isn’t always about following recommendations.”

“Your mae liked me and didn’t like my girlfriend. In fairness, my girlfriend was a good person. She was also someone I was mainly dating to make your grandma happy. I never would have been happy if I married her.”

“So, your mae didn’t let me having a girlfriend stop her from pursuing me.”

“That doesn’t sound like Mae,” he says, but as he says it- He never would have thought his mae would go after someone taken, but what everyone calls fearlessness in him, he’s always known he got it from his mae.

“Like I said, it’s not something I think she’d encourage now, in you. I’ve never seen you like this, Korn. All your girlfriends, I know you liked them. They were all nice girls. And I know you were a good boyfriend to all them.”

“But I never saw you look at any of them, never heard you talk about or to any of them, like I saw tonight. So, if you think taking a chance is a good idea, maybe, you should see if you’re right.”

He really never would have thought he and his dad would ever have a conversation like this.

“I won’t,” he says. “I’m lucky to have Wai as a friend.”

“I don’t like the fact his boyfriend keeps dropping the ball, but going after him when there’s a boyfriend in the picture, that’d be a bad move. I’m glad you and Mae are so happy, though. That her pursuing you worked out.”

“Your mae and I did a good job with you. Wai or someone else, someone is going to be lucky to have you someday, son.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

…

Eventually, Wai drags him away from all their friends’ questions.

“I’d say thanks, but you look like you’re about to go off on me.”

“No.” Wai scowls before taking a breath. “Last night, why did you stop me from breaking up the fight?”

“Do you have anything throwable on you right now?”

Rolling his eyes, Wai answers, “I’m not going to throw anything at you.”

“Because, you would have actually fought. We, me and you, have fought, remember? And you’re not half bad at it. But when there’s a fight, you’re all offense. I stopped the fight with minimal physical force, and as a result, I didn’t get hurt. You probably would have.”

He watches Wai consider this.

“Huh. Yeah. We have, haven’t we? I forget, sometimes.”

His stupid heart is painful in his chest.

“Still, I didn’t need you to protect me.”

“I was protecting myself. If you get hurt, P’Shy could go on a rampage with her broom, and I’d probably be one of the first targets.”

Wai laughs. “Sure.” Bright eyes meet his. “In all seriousness, thanks for helping out last night.”

“No problem, buddy.”

…

He doesn’t think P’Shy would use a broom on some granny, no matter how annoying, but all the same, he’s just going to stand near this table until the rambling woman finally gives her order.

He’s not as sure P’Shy won’t be sarcastic in the same way Fah was, and Fah could get away with it more due to still being relatively new to the job.

She shoots him a glare, but thankfully, a harried Wai appears, and he watches as- Wai becomes a dutiful person, the type he can suddenly believe Pran’s mae, from what he’s heard from Pat, would like, and it’s a little creepy.

And whatever this says about him, also impressive.

Soon enough, the granny’s order is taken.

Pulling him away, Wai asks, “Don’t you have a life?”

“I like being around you.”

Letting out a painful sounding sigh, Wai says, “Well, that’s one person, at least.”

Before he can ask, Wai shoves him onto a bar stool. “I’m about to clock out. Wanna have a drink with me?”

“Sure.”

…

It turns out, there’s a level of drunkenness where Wai doesn’t rant, cry, and/or respond to being smacked upside the head.

At least, Wai is conscious, though, whether he’s in anyway cognisant-

Both P’Shy and the nongs left when Wai was still on the sober end of things. As soon as they did, more-or-less ignoring him, Wai went straight for the Scotch.

And a sober Wai might hurt him for interrupting Pran’s family dinner or getting Pat to interrupt Pran’s family dinner.

“C’mon, Wai, what’s this about?”

He tries Wai’s phone, but it’s fingerprint-locked.

Wai’s eyes remain on the bottle out-of-reach; whether he realises he’s too uncoordinated to reach it, however, or just can’t get his body to obey commands to even try to get it, who knows?

“I swear, if this has anything to do with your boyfriend, I’m getting your friend to do something about him. If Pran made my friend like this, I don’t care if you tried to kill me, I would make your friend regret it.”

All this said, he hopes it is something like a boyfriend friend problem as opposed to a big family problem or Wai was diagnosed with cancer problem.

Seeing Wai’s head falling towards the counter, he stops it.

“Wan’ more beer.”

“That’s Scotch, you dumbass,” and if Wai were a little less drunk, there’s no doubt- “Never mind. Let’s get you home.”

“I hate my roommate.”

“I know, buddy.”

Locking the Scotch in the boss’ office, he calls a cab.

He gets Wai to his room, and after getting Wai settled, he makes the mistake of going to the bathroom.

When he comes out, he finds a shirtless Wai has gotten into his bed.

“I left you on the couch.”

Aside from a snore, the sleeping Wai does not reply.

He guesses he should be lucky that Wai didn’t manage to hurt himself in the process of moving from the couch to the bed.

Going over, he finds Wai has half gotten his pants off, and getting them off, he watches in exasperation as Wai rolls right back onto his back despite his efforts to get him on his side.

Changing into a pair of pyjamas, he gets into bed, and when Wai doesn’t immediately roll over from off his stomach, he puts an arm over Wai’s back. Sleeping on his side like this isn’t going to be comfortable, but it should, at least, let him know if Wai tries turning over onto his back.

…

A horrible smell and movement wake him up.

“Ugh,” Wai groans, and his nose doesn’t appreciate this at all.

Rolling away, he sits up. “Welcome to the land of the sober.”

“Think ‘m too hungover,” is the croaky response.

“I’ll get you something to drink.”

Wai’s hand wrapped around his arm stops him.

“What-” Wai looks down at himself and over at him. “What happened?”

“You were almost catatonic. I took your belt off, almost got a black eye for my trouble, and left you for about five minutes while I went to the bathroom. I came back to find you in my bed with your shirt off and your pants wrapped around your knees.”

Groaning, flinching, Wai carefully sits fully up. “God.”

“You can have first shower. In fact, I insist on it.”

“Nothing happened?”

He wouldn’t have thought the question would hurt like this, would make him feel this prickly. “You were drunk.”

“Don’t-” Wai’s movements are uncoordinated, but he thinks Wai was trying to touch his shoulder. “Korn. Just-”

Wai grabs his wrist. “Hey. I know you’re a good guy. I just- sometimes, I do stupid things when I drink too much Scotch. What I meant was, I didn’t do anything, did I?”

“Aside from being creepily silent and taking over my bed, no. What made you dive into that bottle of Scotch?”

“Just a stupid decision. I’ll, uh, take you up on that shower now.”

He gets Wai to the bathroom.

…

Coming out of class, he hears, “Korn.”

Turning, he sees Michael standing nearby.

Wai-ing, he greets, “Hey. Here to surprise your boyfriend? He’s actually in a cheer meeting right now. One of his friends roped him into helping with a demonstration-”

“I’m not here for Wai.”

You’re not here for your boyfriend, he almost says, but the look on Michael’s face shows Michael heard for himself how that sounds.

To be fair, he forcefully tells himself, it doesn’t necessarily say anything bad if there’s something besides Wai that has Michael here. Wai really likes the way an auntie at a food stall near Michael’s university fixes shrimp, and if Wai wanted to make a trip just to get some shrimp- Wai probably wouldn’t waste the money and time and energy just for that, but still.

“What I mean is, I’m not here to see him.”

That really doesn’t sound better, but-

“Something I can help with you with, then?”

“Yes. I was wondering if we could talk privately.”

“Me? Okay. Yeah, sure.”

Something is off about this, but Michael wouldn’t stand a chance if Michael tried to start a fight.

…

They find a private place in the courtyard.

“Wai told me he got drunk and you took him to your room.”

“Yeah, last week.”

“He slept in your bed.”

Part of him realises Michael might deserve some credit, but the other part of him wonders what exactly it is about him that makes people think he might be capable of-

“Look, Wai’s my friend, but even my worst enemy, I would never do anything to a drunk person. I took off his belt so that it wouldn’t leave marks, and I slept in my pyjamas.”

“Wai told me that. If you’d done something, I doubt you’d still be standing in one piece. We argued. The issue is he slept in another man’s bed.”

“Well, he was drunk,” he points out. “Look, this really is between you two.”

“I wasn’t going to physically drag him out of my bed. I was tired. I almost got a black eye from getting his belt off. And maybe you think I should have taken the couch, but it was my bed, not his.”

“He doesn’t see how it is,” Michael says. “He talks about you all the time. Just a friend, huh?”

There’s a chance he might regret this, he knows, but so be it.

“Man, everyone but Wai knows that I like your boyfriend. It’s like a secret that’s only a secret, because, there’s one person everyone agrees not to tell. When it comes to him, though, yeah, I’m just a friend. Wai isn’t the type who’d date someone, seriously date someone, while wanting someone else.”

He watches the surprise, shock, incredulity, go over Michael’s face.

“You just admitted to wanting my boyfriend?”

“What of it? Cards all on the table, he doesn’t seem very happy with you most of the time, but he is yours. I wouldn’t make a move on someone taken. And I sure as hell wouldn’t take advantage of a drunk person in bed.”

Probably should stop there, he knows, but instead, he continues, “You want to tell him? Go ahead. I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t, that might destroy our friendship, but hey, it’s your right.”

Michael stares.

He’s not going to look away first.

“Did you like him before he and I started dating?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“Because, I didn’t have a chance. Even if you and him break up, I never will. So, don’t worry about me going after your boyfriend. It wouldn’t do any good anyways.”

Michael is quiet for a long moment. “Why not? I know he had problems with our faculty here in the past, but clearly, it wasn’t bad enough to stop him from making friends with you and the others.”

It’s weird how calm he feels inside. He always imagined, if he did end up saying all he’s about to aloud, he’d feel worse.

“I humiliated him. He flipped me and my friends off, like that was some big deal, something that even really bothered any of us, and we chased him down. We dragged his friends into a fight. If it’d ended there, maybe-”

“Then, we went to the pub. We bullied him. I was pretty much the ringleader. I dropped ice, think I spilled a drink, made him clean up after us. We taunted him, knowing if he didn’t talk to us in a perfectly polite tone, we could get him in trouble with his manager.”

“To make it even worse, we recorded it. I uploaded it to the internet.”

“Pat took it down, but they say nothing’s ever truly gone from the internet. So, yeah. It’s really a miracle he even got to the point he’d consider me a friend. I wish P’Shy had been there that day. I’m so glad N’Jao wasn’t.”

“He’ll never forgive something like that enough that he’d take the person who did it. I can’t blame him. He’s a proud, strong person, your boyfriend. You’re lucky you met him at your best, that he met you at a good place in his life.”

“You should make more time for him, though. All he wants is to be close to you, but you always have schoolwork or family obligations, and he makes more trips to see you than you do him.”

…

Opening his door, he finds Wai holding out a wrapped piece of chocolate cake.

“N’Fah’s mae sent it. Uh, Michael told me he talked to you. So, I’m here to apologise. I don’t know exactly what he said, but he shouldn’t have talked to you.”

Sighing, Wai looks incredibly exhausted. “I thought it was just a maybe funny story of how stupid his boyfriend was, but he really had a problem with me sleeping in some other guy’s bed, even though I was too drunk to do anything and you, even if I were sober and you did like me, you wouldn’t make a move on someone else’s faen.”

“Want to come in? We can share it. You don’t need to apologise.”

“I mean,” he continues, “if I knew the other person, I’d probably be okay with my faen crashing in someone else’s bed, but if it was just this person I briefly met months ago, I’d probably have some issues, too.”

Giving a grateful look, Wai comes in with another sigh. “No, I doubt you would. I can’t stay long. Michael found a hotel near here, and I’m going to spend the night with him.”

Going over to the fridge, he offers, “Hey, that sounds kind of romantic.”

“It would be if his decision to stop practically ignoring his boyfriend had come before I ended up drunkenly invading another guy’s bed,” is the irritated response.

Putting up the beers he got out back up, he digs out some soda and tea instead. “Look, I could be wrong, I don’t know the guy, but maybe he’s just- it sounds like he’s trying. Has he had any serious relationships before you?”

“No. He dated this guy on-and-off in high school. And I get that a long-distance relationship isn’t exactly easy. But I’ve been trying.”

“I guess, when it’s said out loud, him making it clear he had a problem, him coming here despite his hectic schedule just to see me and talk to you, it does sound he has been trying, but it sure hasn’t felt like it.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Tossing a fork down at Wai, he digs out two plates. “I’ve been the bad boyfriend, dealt with the bad girlfriends, and been the guy who ended up in a relationship that just wasn’t going to last no matter how much each of us really tried. It sounds like he wasn’t really trying hard enough in the past, but now that there was a big problem, he’s decided to step up.”

“I guess it depends on if he keeps trying after he gets back home,” he finishes.

Wai looks at him with soft eyes, and he knows he shouldn’t be jealous of the man Wai’s about to go spend the night with. Wai’s his friend, just his friend, and when he made the decision not to try anything the first night Michael was in the bar, he knew what he was doing.

It still hurts so damn bad.

“Thanks, Korn.”

“What I’m here for,” he says.

…

Looking up, he sees Pat coming into his room. “Hey, almost got this wrapped for Wai. I have two cards ready, but I’m telling you, I only need the one. Pran ready?”

“Yeah.” Laughing, Pat comes over. Then, taking a deep breath, he says, “Korn.”

Finishing wrapping the present, he feels his stomach drop. “C’mon, buddy. You helped me pick this out for him. Now you think there’s something wrong with it?”

“I heard Michael wasn’t coming.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not great, but hey, legitimate emergency on his end. I think Wai understands. His boyfriend has been doing a lot better lately.”

The two are constantly texting and video-chatting, and whenever Wai mentions his boyfriend these days, he’s always smiling so brightly. It’d be annoying if- maybe he should try to find someone to date himself.

He’d have to tell any potential faen that, hey, I’m getting over someone I never really had, or trying to, but unlike that guy’s boyfriend, I promise I’ll pay attention to you and make you my focus before you end up crashing in a friend’s bed and I have some jealously issue over it, probably an edited version, but there must be people out there who could handle such a thing.

“Korn.” Pat softly touches his hand.

Letting out a breath, he says, “I’m fine. Really. Yeah, it hurts. But what’s important is we support our friend. I won’t be like this forever. I’ve been thinking of trying to find someone to date.”

“Just make sure you don’t pick someone who’s more into you than you can be into them right now,” Pat says with a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah, I know.”

…

He’s going to kill Wai’s boyfriend.

He doesn’t know what Michael’s done this time, but- Wai’s definitely going to win the competition.

Pran is a decent singer, but playing the guitar like a pro, Wai also managed to pour so much heartbreak into it, and a combination of natural talent and hard work only goes so far; his friend isn’t the type who could make a love song feel so painful to listen to by playing the guitar unless he was actually feeling the pain.

…

Shaking his head at the juice offered, Wai helps himself to a beer.

Once Wai’s sat down on the couch, he sits next to him. “Alright, what’s wrong? What did Michael do this time?”

Laughing, Wai leans back. “What makes you think he’s the one who did something? Thanks for your present, by the way. I really do appreciate it.”

“I knew you’d win. Are you going to look at bikes soon?”

“No,” Wai sighs. “Pran does have a point. I should save it for later. What’s wrong with me, Korn?”

“Hold on, I’m getting some ice cubes.” Getting his phone, too, he adds, “You need some sort of hydration if you’re going to drink on an empty stomach. Especially since I saw you drinking earlier.”

Sitting back down, he puts an arm over Wai. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to break up with him. If I start talking about my ex, please, shut me up. If I ever get into the shit that bastard did, it should be when there’s no alcohol around.”

“Got it.” He’d asked Pran once about the guy Wai dated before Michael, and as curious as he is, he’s not sure- He’d never seen true hatred for another person in Pran’s eyes before then, and he’d known instinctively to just take Pran’s statement, with the words relatively neutral but Pran’s tone making it clear Pran might have killed the guy if not for a little thing involving laws, without further questions.

“But even though he was terrible, I did have my share of the blame. I’m probably going to have to listen to Michael tell me all the ways I didn’t measure up with him. And I know I can be an asshole, but I do try to be a good boyfriend.”

“For all the two times I’ve gotten to be one.” Wai knocks back the rest of the beer.

Stopping Wai from getting up, he insists, “Eat some ice-cubes before you get another.”

Rolling his eyes, Wai complies. “Seriously, you didn’t like me in the beginning, and it wasn’t just because I’m in architecture. Pran’s my best friend; he’ll call me out when needed, but please, Korn, just tell me. Is it the fact I have one-night stands?”

Wishing he didn’t feel so lost, he takes a deep breath. “Wai, I was a stupid idiot who decided to make a big deal over something that wasn’t. I never should have chased you down. None of us should have. We definitely shouldn’t have done what we did with the video.”

“I don’t know why you think there’s something so wrong with you. What’s going on with Michael? If he did something-” He’s not sure how to finish.

“No. He didn’t,” Wai quietly says. “I don’t want to break up with him. But- look, I’ve had half the bowl, I’m getting another beer.”

Seeing Wai has, he doesn’t stop him.

When Wai comes back, Wai lays a head on his shoulder.

Stupid heart making me feel like this, he thinks in frustration.

They sit like this until, opening the beer, Wai starts drinking. “I dropped the curtain on Pran and your friend. On purpose.”

It hurts hearing, but- “Yeah. I figured. Everyone did. I’d point out how shitty that was, but you already know. It worked out for them.”

Making a small nose, Wai burrows back against him. “I know expecting- The thing is, when I go on dates, I don’t think, hey, I might marry this person one day. Most of the time, at least. And who knows if our country will ever have marriage equality? I doubt it.”

“I prefer to be optimistic about it,” he responds.

“Good for you. If I’m going to be in a serious relationship with someone, though, then, if I can’t see myself marrying them- I can’t see me and Michael lasting ‘til graduation.”

Crunching on some ice cubes, Wai continues, “P’Shy once said she was worried that me never giving guys a chance at a real relationship, always trying to find a girlfriend instead, might be causing me issues. Michael isn’t the causal sex type guy. I liked him. I still do. So, I took a chance.”

“And he’s a good guy. His grandma’s in the hospital. I’d be an asshole to blame him for missing my competition.”

“Fine. But his grandma wasn’t in the hospital all the other times. His grandma isn’t the reason that I hate when he’s so smug when he wins a card game. I hate playing cards, by the way. Didn’t until I met him.”

“We were good at first, but I think he wants someone different from me. I’ve been talking to a monk, and he says that, if I feel like this, he asked if I thought there was anything Michael or I could do to change the feeling.”

“I don’t think there is,” Wai says. “Just- I’m not happy with him anymore. I still like talking to him, but I’m not happy with the fact he’s my boyfriend.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me about this,” he asks, and he realises, not the point, and probably not something he should be asking right now, but-

Wai shrugs. “I wasn’t ready to hear how I was in the wrong, too. But I am now. Why can’t I find someone who likes me for me, Korn? Michael never would have asked me out.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

“Yes. He said so himself.”

Oh. Well, he guesses that’s fair enough.

He also guesses it’s not fair to be even more irritated at Michael, but-

“It’s easy to find people up for some fun. Every time I try for something serious, though, it never works out. It can’t be everyone else. The issue must be- I must be a large part of the issue most of the time.”

“So, what do I need to do, huh? I’ve never cheated on anyone. I’ve never hit someone I was with. Never put them in the hospital. I thought about sending his grandma a bonsai tree and a tiny teddy bear.”

Looking over at Wai, he knows wanting to kiss him right now is- my friend is having a breakdown on my couch, he reminds himself.

“That would have-”

“But I didn’t. I thought I’d have to pay a large shipping fee, thanks, by the way, for telling me otherwise, and I didn’t want to pay it.”

“I had no idea you were even considering mailing something to his grandma,” he points out.

Wai sets the beer down. “Why does no one want me, Korn?”

Looking over with sad eyes, there’s painful pleading, “Just tell me. You know, most of the time, it’s me hitting on girls. Or guys. People. I know I complain about things a lot, and that must get annoying, but is it so much to just want someone to like me, to want me?”

“I still have Michael. For right now. But not only do I think he’d be happier with someone else, I think I would be, too. If I could just find this person. And if you could be a good friend and tell me what I might do differently so that, if I do find them, I can stop being the issue.”

“Do you think I should tell Pran and Pat about the curtain? Part of it might be bad karma. But this has been happening since before I did that, and it was the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

“So, most of it must be me. I can’t change if no one will tell me what I need to.”

“Yeah, uh, not while you’ve been drinking,” he responds. “You should probably talk to Pran, but if you do, wait until you’re sober, alright?”

Sending Pran and Pat a text, he takes a deep breath. “When it comes to- I like you, Wai.”

Wai looks at him, and he realises he still has an out. Wai has enough beer in his system he could just say certain things without making it clear exactly how he means those words.

“Even if I didn’t, there’s nothing wrong with you, okay? Sure, no one’s perfect, but you’re an awesome person. You’re strong, and you look out for the people you love, and you never make things boring.”

Just end it here, he tells himself. Wait for Pran and Pat to come, and just-

“It really hurt that first night I saw you talking to Michael, and yeah, I know that’s not your fault. I was the one who had the stupid, inconvenient crush.”

“On Michael?”

“I don’t think you’re that much of an idiot,” he retorts.

Leaning back, he continues, “I, uh, don’t like what this says about me, but even though I knew I was probably bi or pan, I never had a big crush on another guy before. That day when me and the others chased you down- I was watching you. You were really nice to this old granny, and you told a funny joke to another customer, and then,” he can’t help but laugh, “you flipped us off when your team was winning.”

“I don’t know if you had a real problem with en students then or not. If I’d tried to strike up a nice conversation, if it would have worked. I didn’t, though. I gave you a reason to have a problem with us.”

“This isn’t about me, though.”

“Look, you’re a great person, Wai. Anyone would be lucky to have you. Trust me on this.”

“If you want me to tell you this when you’re sober, list all the ways I like you, tell you how much I’ve been wanting you for months, I will. If not, I hope we can still be friends. But yeah.”

Getting up, he goes over to the door. “Pran and Pat should show up soon. If they don’t, I’ll call them.”

Then, looking out the peephole, he sees the two standing near his door, and it looks like they’re playing with a ball.

He opens the door. “How long have you two been here? I know I didn’t hear any knocking on the door.” Looking at his phone, he checks to see if he missed a text.

“Is my friend okay,” Pran asks.

“Yeah.” He gestures behind him. “You get to babysit him tonight.”

Pran moves past him, and studying Pat, he suddenly has a suspicion. “Were you waiting for something?”

Shrugging, Pat gives him a soft grin. “I knew you’d check the door or text when you were ready. Some things are too important to risk interrupting.”

Hearing Pran and Wai approaching, he moves aside.

“C’mon, Wai, you can talk to Korn later,” Pran says. “Let’s go to my room.”

“You might want to monitor his phone usage,” he suggests. “He probably shouldn’t call or text his boyfriend until he has a clearer head.”

“Thanks, Korn,” Pran tiredly says as Wai simply stares at him. “C’mon.” Guiding him, Pran transfers Wai to Pat, and soon, the three are out-of-sight.

…

Wai sends him a text saying we should talk, and he responds sure, when and where?.

There’s no response, and his days go on. He sees Wai occasionally, but they never approach one another.

“Hey, Korn, Louis called in an order; go pick it up,” Chang orders.

“Seriously? You all invade my dorm the one night I have set aside to watch my series, and now, I’m expected to play delivery boy?”

“I’ll go,” Pat volunteers.

“I already told that Nong Jao that we were sending Korn.”

Repressing the urge to beat his head against something and/or strangle his friends, he says, “Fine. Give me the money.”

“Here,” Pat says. “I’ll pay.”

That’s a little weird, but he’s not going to argue.

He’s pretty sure, if Wai is working tonight, at least, Wai won’t throw anything at him.

Part of him knows it’s a stupid thought, because, P’Shy’s idiot cousin aside, Wai has never done physical harm to a customer inside the bar, not even when some jackasses were demeaning him and filming it, but- lately, all his thoughts involving Wai involve some form of hurt.

…

Coming into the bar, he sees Nong Jao dragging Fah away from the broom closet. “No! P’Shy taught you that for defence!”

“It’s not my fault some people are so idiotic-!”

Looking around at the customers looking at them, Nong Jao hisses, “Go clean table 8, or I’ll call your mae!”

“Why does everyone threaten to call my mae and P’Shy’s? Learn some originality!”

Then, she storms over to table 8.

Sighing, Nong Jao sees him, and then, jumps.

“Hey, Nong Jao. My friend, P’Louis, called in an order.”

“Right.” Giving him a suspicious look, Nong Jao says, “I’ll check on that.”

He guesses Wai has said something about him to the nongs, or at least, N’Jao.

“Oh, hey, nong.” Coming past him with a big tray above her head, P’Shy says, “Wai’s just about to get off.”

“P’Shy, why is the pen-” Wai pauses. “Korn.”

“Hey, Wai.”

“You, uh, didn’t happen to see Fah go near the broom closet, did you?”

“Nong Jao stopped her. She was cleaning up table 8 a minute ago.”

“He’s the only sane one Hia’s hired in the last few years.”

“Is that including you?”

Wai scowls. “Considering certain life choices I’ve made-” There’s a shrug.

“I’m here to pick up an order for Louis.”

“No, you’re not.” Before he can respond, Wai seems to realise how that sounds. “Sorry for your friends. He did call in an order earlier, and then, he almost immediately called back to cancel it.”

“Well, at least, certain weird things about tonight are finally making sense.”

Wai gives him a sympathetic look. “I’m about to clock out. Since you’re here- wanna talk?”

“Such an enthusiastic invitation,” he teases.

Before Wai can smack him, P’Shy orders, “Wai, be nice to your- friend,” and passes by with another large tray above her head.

“Should I be-”

“Worried? No. She can carry those easier than any of us can.” Taking a breath, Wai adds, “I’ll go clock out now. Find us a table?”

“Sure.”

…

Handing him a soda, Wai sits down. “Michael and I broke up.”

“Yeah, I heard. I thought about saying something, but considering everything- Are you okay?”

Nodding, Wai plays with the label on his own soda. “It was actually more mutual than I thought it would be. Guess he was considering breaking up, too. I’m just the one who suggested it first.”

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. It doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. Part of it is, because-” Shaking his head, Wai looks at him. “Could we talk about you apparently liking me? As more than a friend?”

Part of him would rather the floor open underneath him and swallow him whole, but- “Yes. We can.”

“No one was surprised. Except me. I mean, I knew P’Shy was convinced you had a crush on me, but what, did you just go around telling everyone? ‘Cause, everyone, including Michael, knew.”

“No, not exactly. But- like you said. Everyone knew. I talked to a few people, or they talked to me, really, but it was all about how I was fine and wasn’t going to do anything to ruin your relationship.”

“I get the feeling you liked me before Michael. In fact,” Wai shoots him an accusatory look, “you said yourself, that first night when Michael was here, you knew you liked me. I get you not telling me then, maybe, but before?”

He knows this isn’t Wai’s fault, but he suddenly feels tired and emotionally sore. “What did you expect me to do, Wai? You made it clear you’d never date an en student. And it took forever for you to even admit we were friends.”

Managing not to beat his head against the table, he continues, “That came out badly. Sorry.”

“Look, my feelings were my problem. I didn’t think I had a chance. At best, I wouldn’t lose your friendship. At worst, I would.”

Wai plays with the label some more.

“I don’t know-” Taking a deep breath, Wai looks up. “The funny thing is, that first night with Michael, I talked about you. Apparently, I talked about you more than I realised when I was with him.”

“You’re my friend, and I care about you. I don’t know if I could feel deeper than that or not. But if you could be okay with me not knowing, want to go on a date? Maybe-” Wai holds out his hand.

He wants to say yes.

“Before I answer, what- did Michael say anything about me when you broke up with him?”

Giving him an exasperated look, Wai leans back. “Like I said, you came up.”

“Did he say anything about that time he came to talk to me about you falling asleep in my bed?”

“Yeah. He said that he knew you liked me. That he asked if you did and that you didn’t deny it.”

“It was more than that. I, uh, straight out told your boyfriend that I liked you as more than I friend. I did make it clear I was never gonna go after you, but if that contributed to you two breaking up, I am sorry.”

“It didn’t,” Wai quietly says. “Michael and I, we want different things in life and from a relationship. Things actually got better after he came to talk to you that day.”

“But that only lasted for so long. If you weren’t around, we still would have ended up breaking up.”

Sighing, Wai adds, “We both tried. I don’t hate him like I hate my first ex, and he doesn’t hate me. We’re probably not going to stay friends like we said, but it’s really not anyone’s fault.”

“Aw, so mature,” he teases.

Shaking his head, Wai offers his hand again.

Taking a breath to steel himself, he reaches over to take it. “Yeah. I’d really like to go on a date with you, Wai.”

 Wai squeezes his hand, and his heart is too-warm in his chest.

“Are you free this Sunday? The library I get some of my series’ from, they have a coffee bar open from five-to-nine on Sundays. I really don’t want to have our first date here, and neither of us would have to pay for that.”

A grin breaks out on Wai’s face, and he desperately hopes, whatever the answer, their upcoming date will be a first, not an only.

“Sure,” Wai agrees. “That sounds great.”

…

On Sunday, he opens his door to Pat, and looking him up-and-down, Pat shakes his head. “Really?”

“What? This is my best suit.”

“Korn- You’re going to the library. Don’t you think you’re overdressed?”

“I’m going on a date with a guy I hope to impress. He would have denied it, but I know he thought I looked good when we all wore suits to the bus stop.”

Laughing, Pat shakes his head. “Alright.”

Then, he watches Pat turn serious. “Look. Just don’t aim too high. I know how serious you are about Wai, but he just got out of what was a pretty serious relationship.”

“Yeah, I know. Besides, he doesn’t like me the way I like him. We’re going on a date to see if he might in the future.”

Pat laughs. “So mature, huh?”

“C’mon, I’ve had a lot of girlfriends. I learned when I was still a kid that, if you’re really into someone, and they’re not into you the same way, it’s not good to try to force it. Spend time with them, try to connect, and it either works or doesn’t. I don’t wanna lose him as a friend.”

“I wonder what would have happened if Pran hadn’t secretly been as into me as I was him,” Pat muses.

Suddenly, looking at his friend, he feels sad.

“I wish I’d known. I get why none of us did, we didn’t give you a reason to think- but I wish I could have helped you. I can’t really imagine liking someone that everyone is convinced, not only do you have some big problem with, but that you should.”

But Pat did. Pat was head-over-heels for Pran, and he had to hide it until Wai, as shitty as it was, finally gave him an out.

“Hey,” Pat grins. “It’s fine. When you thought I had a crush on some random architecture girl, you were supportive. Our parents are the biggest problem, not our friends. Don’t focus on me and Pran tonight or the fact our faculty used to be rivals with theirs. Are you doing anything besides going to the library?”

“We don’t have anything planned, but who knows?”

Laughing, Pat holds his arms out for a hug, and he moves in.

…

“They have video games?” Wai looks at the equipment in interest. “I heard about some Western or European libraries doing that, but I’m surprised any in our country would.”

“You haven’t met Uncle Ton, a worker here. He’s not just a librarian, but I’m not sure what his actual job title is. If he’s not reading, he’s working on ways to either get more kids to read or to expand the interest of libraries everywhere.”

Getting some coffee, they find a table to sit at.

“I hated the local librarians in my village,” Wai says. “They clearly didn’t want kids anywhere near the place, and people weren’t even allowed to bring water in. Or at least, I wasn’t.”

“That sucks. Want me to pass on information about them to Uncle Ton? He might be able to make them pay.”

Chuckling, Wai shakes his head. “Why’d you start coming here? Couldn’t you order any series you wanted from the university library?”

“My parents and I were exploring the area before the semester started, and we came across it. Mae suggested I get a library card just in case they had something important I needed that the university didn’t.”

“That’s smart.”

And probably something Pran and/or Pran’s parents might do, he realises.

“Why’d you want to go to the library when you were a kid,” he asks.

Wai plays with the cup.

“Hey.” Kicking Wai under the table, he says, “I already like you. We’re here to see if you like me. Tell me stuff about you that I don’t know, and I’ll tell you stuff about me.”

“It’s not always that easy.”

“Why not? You’re not shy.”

“My, uh, first boyfriend, my ex, everyone thought he was a good guy. Pran and my mae hate him now, but when we broke up, he hurt me, and a lot of people blamed me.”

“That sucks. But to counter, you didn’t know P’Shy back then. Or Nong Jao.”

“He likes me, but he loves you. If you told him I hurt you, he wouldn’t question it, and then, I’d be running from a broom-wielding ninja.”

“A ninja?” Wai gives him an unimpressed look.

“You and her are really creepy when you eat mint cake together.”

Laughing, Wai rolls his eyes. “And there’s nothing weird at all about how you eat pizza?”

“No. You are literally the only person who’s ever thought there’s anything weird about how I eat pizza.”

“I might be the only one who’s been brave enough to say it, but there’s no way you can know who has or hasn’t thought it.” Wai grins smugly at him.

Trying to stop his laughter, he considers possible responses.

“I’ve seen you eat pizza. How is what I do that different?”

“You eat it like a taco.”

“No, I really don’t. As far as I know, you’re the only one who’s ever described it like that. Hey, wanna go somewhere that has both sometime soon? If we do it right, we won’t get banned when we drag some server or cashier into proving I’m right and you’re wrong.”

“I’m not sure I have the money, even though I know it’d be proving me right and you wrong.”

“I could pay for the food, and you could pay for the drinks. Then, when we go somewhere else, we can switch.”

Hearing a baby fussing, he looks over to see a woman, likely the baby’s mae, asleep at a nearby table. She looks like she’s around their age, and more than this, even asleep, she just looks tired. If the baby doesn’t wake her, he hates the thought of being the one to do so, but the baby does need-

And feeling like he’s in a movie or show, he watches Wai casually get up, go over to the table, and picking up the baby’s carrier, bring it over.

“What- Wai. What the hell, did you just kidnap a baby?”

Rolling his eyes, Wai takes the quieting baby out of the carrier. “Hey, nong. Don’t pay any attention to him, alright? Let’s let your mae or auntie sleep for a bit, okay?”

Rocking her, Wai looks over at him. “We can watch her to make sure no one bothers her.”

The baby happily giggles.

“Do you know what the nong is?”

Shrugging, Wai carefully sets the nong back in the carrier, and sticking the back of his palm underneath the baby’s shorts, he announces, “Diaper’s dry, and I’m pretty sure she’s a girl.”

“That probably makes it worse that she just let some stranger take her without a fuss. I know she’s a baby, but if babies are upset, they can scream.”

“Know this from personal experience,” Wai wryly asks.

Since he can’t smack Wai, he kicks him instead. “Yeah. My little cousin and I get along now, but she hated me as a nong. Even when she was a baby, if I held her, she’d scream and pee on me.”

“I think I might like your cousin.” Wai grins.

It hits him he thinks he might more than like Wai, and he really doesn’t need to deal with such feelings on a first date.

Picking the baby back up, Wai bounces her in his arms. “One of the teachers at school, the boarding school Pran and I went to, had a baby. A boy.”

“He didn’t really like me, but he loved Pran. Pran would read to him for about an hour every day. He liked most of the girls in our class, too.”

Reaching over, he carefully touches the nong, and her tiny fingers briefly wrap around one of his before she goes back to giggling up at Wai. “Do you want kids of your own someday?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I think I do, but unless I decide I definitely do, I should be really careful to try not to have any. I want kids in my life, but I’m not sure if being a dad is for me. You?”

“Same boat, pretty much. As a kid, I definitely wanted kids. I wanted a brother or sister, too. But now that I’ve gotten a better idea about how much of a responsibility kids really are, I’m not sure if me having any of my own is a good idea or not.”

He considers bringing up the pregnancy scare with Cara, he’s sure Wai has some horror stories involving past lovers, too, but even though the nong is too young to understand or remember anything right now, that’s a story that’s probably not good to get into in front of her.

“I don’t remember this, but my mae swears I once climbed up onto our roof, jumped off, and somehow, managed to land on a neighbour’s cabbage patch without a scratch.”

“That definitely sounds like something little nong Wai would do.”

Even knowing he’ll pay for it later, he doesn’t stop him laughing at the look at frustrated realisation on Wai’s face when it hits that, holding the baby, Wai cannot throw anything at him.

“I’ll find some pictures of our neighbour’s yard and where her cabbage patch used to be, and you’ll understand how what my mae claims makes no sense.”

The sound of a throat clearing makes him jump, and looking up to see P’Lemon glaring between them, with the baby, and the still sleeping mae, it hits him how badly this looks.

Pran is going to kill him for this, and Pat will let him.

“You should let her sleep, auntie,” Wai quietly says. “Here.”

Setting the baby in her carrier, Wai digs out his wallet, and offering his ID and keychain, he continues, “You can check the cameras; we haven’t done anything to hurt the nong, and trust me, we’ll give her back by the end of the night.”

“Or I guess I should say, this is all me. Korn here-”

“Oh, no, I’m part of this, too. Here, P’Lemon.” Taking out his own ID and his bus pass, he says, “We took the bus. The keys on that go to his dorm, his parents’ house, and his best friend’s dad’s car.”

Before she can respond, he continues, “I don’t know how the mae will feel when she wakes up, but Wai’s right that she could probably use the sleep. If anything happens to the nong, you’ll have our IDs to give to the police.”

Giving them both a supremely exasperated look, it softens when she looks back over at the Mae. “Give me your phones, too.”

Wai complies, and making sure his is locked, he hands it over, too.

“I am watching both of you,” she states.

Once she’s back at the desk, picking the baby back up, Wai says, “Sorry. I didn’t really think before I went to get this little one.”

“Hey, at least, if our friends end up having kids one day, we know we can pull off kidnapping. This is a good dry-run. We just need to refine our skills some.”

Laughing, Wai gives him a soft look.

“Is your neighbour’s garden too far away for someone to land from your roof?”

“Yeah. See, our house faces…”

…

Babbling on her stomach, the nong continues trying to grab the library card Wai is holding above her.

“Told you it would work,” he says.

“I’m glad she’s happy, but I’m not sure us treating her like a pet is good for her development,” Wai says.

“Little kids and pets have a lot in common. Playing with them in the same way isn’t necessary the same as treating them the same way.” His watch vibrates, and looking at it, he wishes they had more time.

“Hey, closing time in fifteen minutes. We should put her back soon.”

“Yeah,” Wai sighs. Tossing the card back over, he picks the indignantly fussing nong. “Hey, little one. I hope you had fun with us. And I hope your mae’s a good one who was just really tired. I know how tired my parents could be when I was little. Let’s go back to her, okay?”

Once she’s secured into her carrier, he reaches over to stroke her fuzzy head, and her fingers wrap back around one of his for a moment.

When she lets go, Wai takes her back, and he sees P’Lemon’s eyes following like a hawk.

After the baby’s sat back down and Wai’s almost to the table, the baby starts fussing again, and they watch as the mae wakes up.

…

Handing them back their stuff, P’Lemon says, “Don’t do something like this again. Either of you.”

Agreeing, they leave, and at the bus stop, he asks, “So, did you and any of your other dates ever kidnap anyone, or am I special?”

Laughing, Wai shakes his head. “No. Or well, actually-” He pauses.

“Oh, c’mon. You can’t leave me hanging.”

“It wasn’t exactly a date, but uh, this girl I was with, I helped her get her cat back from this asshole. Except, um, it was originally his in the first place. But she was a better cat mae than he’d ever be. You know what I mean.”

“What was the story,” he asks.

…

They get back to school, and at some point, they’ve started holding hands.

“Think you like me enough that we’ll have a second date?”

“I want to kiss you,” Wai says.

“Sounds great.”

And it is.

“If I walk you to your dorm, are you going to invite me in,” Wai asks.

Unfortunately, since his phone is in his back pocket, and Wai’s still holding his hand, there’s no discreet way to text Pat asking for an extraction.

“If you wanna hang out some before you go back to yours, sure. Look, don’t take this as me having a problem with you or anyone else having one-night stands or other kinds of casual sex, but every girlfriend I was intimate with, we’d gotten to a place in our relationship where we were committed and exclusive. Maybe we weren’t in love, but there was a real possibility of a future there.”

“And I don’t think I’m ever going to be any different when it comes to sex.”

Really wishing he’d practised what to say before their date, he desperately hopes he didn’t just lose any chance of a future with Wai.

These feelings settle a little at the amused smile Wai gives and the way Wai moves a little closer, not letting go of his hand. “What about just sleeping?”

“Yeah, sure. If we get more serious, we’ll need to talk about it, but I’m game for anyone crashing in my room. Do you need to get some stuff from your room?”

“No. I really don’t want to deal with my roommate tonight.”

He wonders if this is the only reason Wai is asking, but he decides it doesn’t matter. Back when he and Wai were just friends, he never had a problem with Wai sleeping over.

Leaning over, Wai kisses him again, and it’s even better than the first time.

…

When they get to his dorm, he offers, “I have some leftover Chinese food I was planning to heat up, but I could make you something else.”

Looking in his fridge, Wai says, “I’ll make an omelette.”

“Cool. If you have to work late next Sunday, want me to bring you dinner?”

“We’ll see. There’s a chance we’re getting a new waiter on Wednesday. Hia’s been interviewing again.”

“You know anything about this person?”

…

After they get everything cleaned up, Wai says, “I could sleep on the couch.”

“If you want to, sure. But I’d like it if you slept in bed with me. Oh, uh, should I wear my pyjamas?”

Wai gives him a look.

“Well, you know I usually just sleep in my underwear, but ever since Pat started dating Pran, when he sleeps over, I wear them.”

Shaking his head with a smile, Wai says, “Just sleep like you normally do. I’ll shower in the morning.”

“Yeah, I will after you do.”

Digging a shirt out his closet, Wai says, “I’m stealing this for the night.”

Getting undressed, he gets into bed, and hitting the lights, Wai comes over.

Feeling Wai settling next to him, he feels almost too warm inside, especially when Wai rolls over to wrap an arm around him.

“I had a nice time tonight. Thanks, Korn.”

“I’m glad. I did, too.”

“I promise, next time, I’ll try not to kidnap any babies.”

Reaching up to squeeze Wai’s arm, he stops laughing. “Hey, it’ll be a fun story to tell.”

He feels Wai taking a small breath.

“I know this might be a weird time, but tell me about some of your past relationships,” Wai says.

“Like I said, the first girl I ever called my girlfriend, I was three or four. My mae might remember the details. I met her…”

 …

His eyes feel heavy, and he’s not sure Wai hasn’t briefly fallen asleep a few times.

“You’re lucky. With Michael, our relationship was good until it wasn’t, but honestly, sometimes, I was bored. And um, my first ex, he’s someone I’m probably not going to ever say much about, but things with him were good at the beginning.”

“Then, I found he genuinely wasn’t a good guy. He caused issues with me and Pran. So, I think,” Wai yawns, “that might have been more of an obstacle than I wanted to admit.”

“But anyway, I hope we can be good together.”

“Me, too,” he says. “Uh, I’m definitely going to make mistakes. You will, too. It’s just human nature.”

“But,” he kisses Wai’s head, and Wai wraps tighter around him, “I promise I’ll never deliberately hurt you.”

The video clip is suddenly all in his thoughts, and he wonders if he should apologise again.

“I know. I promise I’ll try not to hurt you, either. Let’s just be honest, and-” Wai is heavier and warmer against him.

Getting them rearranged, kissing Wai’s forehead and cheek, he closes his own eyes.

…

His phone wakes him up, and unwrapping himself from around Wai, he grabs it.

Hey, Pran found out from Wai’s roommate that Wai didn’t go back to his dorm last night. Let me know when it’s safe to come over. The last thing we need is Wai trying to climb out of your window.

Sending back a suitable response, he gets up to make breakfast.

…

Epilogue

Getting back from his cheer meeting, he almost trips over a suitcase, and looking over to where Wai is relabelling the food containers, he says, “Thought we weren’t packing until Monday?”

“Do you have my mae muted? If she hasn’t already, she’s probably gonna start texting you soon.” Wai gestures to Wai’s own phone, sat over by the door. “Her anxiety is making mine going into overdrive.”

“Why is she anxious?”

Wai shrugs.

Muting his phone, he moves around the suitcase. “I’m not sure if I can do anything about her, but for you: Hey, it’ll be fine. If worse comes to worse, Pran is going to be pissed about you making him come down to help get rid of my body.”

Looking up from the food containers, Wai scowls.

“Come sit with me. I never should have become a mentor. First-year nongs can be monsters.”

Laughing, Wai comes over to their couch, and he feels tension leaving his body when he’s able to cuddle against his boyfriend.

Gently scratching his head, Wai asks, “What happened?”

“N’Teal is going to be leading a revolution any day now.”

“What about Nong Honey?”

“I notice you aren’t trying to reassure me that’s not going to happen.”

“It probably is,” Wai states. “But we both know you’re more worried about her roommate than her doing that.”

Part of him is grumpy, but- “Yeah. Nong Honey is doing better. Sort of. At least, I’ve gotten her to start eating some ice-cream when we go to the library before disappearing into some corner. Or under a table.”

“That’s a start. Okay, so, don’t let my mae cut any of your hair.”

Reaching up to run his own hand through his hair, he asks, “Do you think I need a haircut?”

“No.” Closing his eyes, Wai takes a deep breath. Then, reopening them, he says, “The thing is: She’s probably going to try to cut a strand of your hair now that she’s seeing you in person.”

“I swear, she would have done it with Michael if he’d ever met her besides that one time in public. My first ex- I’ve mentioned she hates him, right? Justified or not, Pran and I have dealt with the minor issue of her sending him death curses in the mail ever since we broke up.”

Suddenly, he has a pretty good idea of when Wai’s first ex’s birthday is.

“Noted.”

“Also, we can’t have sex while we’re staying at their house. Even though I’m partly responsible for them still having it.”

Pulling Wai into his lap, he asks, “Think we should get it out of our systems as much as we can before we leave?”

Laughing, Wai looks at him with dark eyes before leaning down to kiss him.

When it breaks, wrapping around him, Wai says, “I’d almost call that cheesy.”

“Your parents are going to love me.”

“Let’s just settle for Pran not deciding to kill me when I have to recruit him to intercept two death curses a year.”

“No.” Moving Wai back enough to kiss him, he says, “I didn’t settle for that with you. I won’t with them.”

Eyes turning soft, Wai kisses him. “I love you, too.”

He feels hands undoing his belt, and tugging at Wai’s shirt, he makes a mental note to double-check his glove compartment to make sure his dad’s old wedding ring is still in there. He and Wai have talked a little about marriage, and it’s too soon for an engagement now, but after he gets Wai’s parents to like him, he wants to show them the ring.

“C’mon,” Wai climbs off him, “let’s go to bed. More comfortable.”

“Yeah, sounds great.” Getting up, he pulls Wai in for a kiss, first. “Love you.”