Chapter Text
“So, Phor, how did you meet Papa?”
Nani slowly turns towards his son, one eyebrow raised. In all his 17 years, he had never asked that before. "And why are you suddenly so interested, young man?" he asks.
“Oh, come on, phor.” Another voice joins the conversation. “Just tell us about your first kiss!” Nani sighs and goes back to stirring the pot of soup simmering on the stove, but a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.
Smyle doesn’t miss it. He comes and stands next to him, already at Nani’s height. Must be genes from his father.
“phor’s blushing!” he calls out, and Neona approaches too, leaning against the counter, looking at her father with a defiant gaze. She pushes her long, pink hair to the side, giggling. “Ooh~” she says, “you really are blushing.”
Nani rolls his eyes and turns off the gas. He wonders when on earth his twins grew up so much. Just a moment ago they weren’t even talking- and now they have the nerve to tease him.
He covers the pot of soup and points a finger towards the sofa. “Go sit down, and I’ll tell you everything.” Smyle practically runs to the living room, and Neona lets out a small, happy sound.
“Once upon a time,” he begins as they settle in, earning an eye-roll from his daughter. “There was a handsome prince named Sky Wongravee. One day, a big dragon came to eat him. Nani Hirunkit, the brave and very, very handsome knight,” (here he gets an incredulous giggle from Smyle), “came to rescue him. He lifted the prince in his strong, muscular arms,” (another giggle), “and the prince immediately fell in love with him and proposed. And they lived happily ever after with two adorable twins. The End.”
“Aha,” Neona says, not hiding her smile. “And when does the part about the kiss come?”
Nani immediately blushes, unable to stop himself. “Don’t you have some homework to do?” he asks in a choked voice, covering his face with one hand.
She shakes her head no. Smyle leans back on the sofa. “I don’t either, and Papa doesn't get home for another half hour. So we have nothing to do until dinner.”
“Yeah,” Neona continues for her twin, and Nani wonders for the millionth time about their connection. “We really have nothing to do, so just tell us, right?”
Nani sighs, crossing his arms. “Fine,” he shrugs. A small smile steals across his face as he recalls the events that led him to his husband.
♡
Nani first met Sky at a coffee shop. He worked there as a barista, juggling late evening shifts with submitting assignments and emails to professors.
The major he chose, architecture, demanded hours of quiet, focused work. And even though he loved it- the building and planning- the final submissions phase was intense.
He found himself arriving at work tired, and returning even more tired. Day after day blurred into the next, nights and mornings merging into one. His body worked on autopilot, fueled by energy drinks at best.
At some point he considered giving up. Sending a message to Chiang Mai, to his mother, and asking her to send him a taxi home. The mornings were hard, and the nights even more so.
The fact that he had come to Bangkok, the big city, alone- didn’t help at all. Life suddenly felt meaningless, and Nani found himself wondering for hours if he had done the right thing.
Now, 20 years later, he smiles. Coming to Bangkok, to university, was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.
Because that’s how he met Sky.
Sky, also a student, who came to the coffee shop every morning in a running shirt and sneakers. Asking for a fruit shake.
Nani thinks that was perhaps the moment he truly noticed Sky. Because against the backdrop of dozens of rushing students, asking for bitter drinks, stood Sky. Buying a strawberry-banana shake (with lactose-free milk, please), every single morning.
Nani smiles. He still remembers.
And that was it- that’s how they met. Sky started stopping by Nani’s coffee shop every morning after his run. Always smiling, always saying thank you, always lingering for just a moment to look at him.
There was a warmth about him that Nani had longed for during his lonely months in Bangkok. Sky never spoke to him coldly, never looked at his phone while ordering a drink.
Quite the opposite, actually. He would lean on Nani’s counter, looking at him with his dark eyes, full of interest. He would say good morning, make a comment about the weather.
And although it was nothing, it was everything.
Because he made Nani feel seen.
Over time, Sky’s visits became more and more frequent. Sometimes he would come to buy a pastry after a long class, sitting at the table closest to Nani and talking to him while he ate.
Nani found out he was an engineering student, originally from Ranong. Nani, in turn, told Sky he was from Chiang Mai. In one of their conversations, he accidentally blurted out that he missed home. Instead of the judgmental look he expected, Sky just shrugged and said, “Me too.”
Just like that, without an excuse. Without any awkwardness. Sky had this power to make him feel… normal, all of a sudden.
Work no longer felt as bad as before. Neither did his studies. The dark circles around his eyes disappeared, his body no longer felt weak.
He gave up fast food and instant noodles for real meals and even started going on morning runs with Sky on the days he didn’t work.
His grades improved, and his work didn’t seem as tiring as it always had. And beyond that? He allowed himself, for the first time since arriving at university, to let go.
He met new people after Sky invited him to a few student club nights, going out with others from his courses. And most of all- he allowed himself, little by little, step by step, to open his heart to Sky.
Their conversations deepened. That was his magic, Sky’s. The ability to talk for hours about soccer and make it sound interesting (even though, after 20 years, Nani still gets Inter Milan and Chelsea confused), and also to dive into soul-searching conversations that Nani didn’t know he had a place in.
He found himself telling Sky about the dark nights when he wished it would all end, about his childhood and the difficulties of moving to Bangkok as an introverted person. “Sometimes,” he used to say, “I just want everyone to leave me alone. To be by myself.”
In return, Sky told him too. He would lean closer over the counter and tilt his head. He told him how he wasn’t a very social person either, how he also preferred to be alone. “But,” he would add with a wink, “I much prefer being alone together with you.”
They later went to sit with two milkshakes in one of the nearby parks. Nani returned to his apartment that night with flushed cheeks and butterflies swirling in his stomach.
“You know I had long hair back then?” Nani suddenly asks the twins, startling them as he breaks the flow of the story. Smyle shakes his head no, Neona lets out a small, ‘really?’
He nods, smiling. “One day we were sitting on one of the benches on campus. it was hot, and I had my hair in a bun. Your dad stared at me for so long I was afraid I had something drawn on my forehead.” Nani laughs lightly.
“I asked him what was wrong, and he just pointed and asked me why I always wore my hair down.” Nani's voice softens slightly, even after years, he feels his cheeks warming up when he remembers that moment. “He asked me why I was hiding my pretty face.”
Neona jumps up from the sofa, her eyes sparkling. “NOOO WAY, phor!” she squeals, and Nani nods awkwardly. Smyle, from his spot, gives a huge grin. “Damn, Papa was such of a flirt back in the day, wasnt he?”
“he definitely was. I cut my hair the next day.”
Nani watches his daughter settle back down next to her brother, leaning forward. “Okay, what happened then?” she asks impatiently. Ready to drink up any information about her parents’ romantic life.
“Hmm… And then I confessed.”
♡