Work Text:
This was impossible.
Li Ming moved slowly along the display cabinet, totally overwhelmed by the ring choices behind the glass in front of him. He wasn’t looking at anything expensive, which made the options slightly easier, but finding the perfect ring was important to him. There were plain bands, intricately carved metal, jewels of different colors, patterns, shapes…
“You look a little young to get engaged,” an employee behind the counter said, interrupting Li Ming’s thoughts, smiling at him politely.
Li Ming’s eyes widened and he waved his hands quickly in disagreement, “I’m not getting married! Just getting a ring for my partner.” He wiped his hands on the front of his shorts, feeling the sweat building on his palms.
“Let’s see…” the employee looked through the display case, seemingly looking for something in particular. She unlocked the case from behind and reached in, pulling a ring out and placing it on the counter. It was gold with a couple flowers on the top with small purple colored jewels in the middle of the petals. It was nice, but…
“Um, I’m not sure if that’s what he-... what my partner… is into. Something more simple, I think.”
Li Ming hated how much he was stuttering in front of this lady. He was usually more confident than this, even announcing proudly to the movie theater employee last week that he was taking his boyfriend to see a movie they were excited about. But the guy at the movies was much younger than the woman in front of him, and didn’t feel so intimidating in the moment.
The employee put the flower ring back and scanned the rings further to the left of Li Ming. She squinted her eyes until she found another, pulling it out to show him. It was silver and mimicked a braid, the metal weaving into itself. There were no embellishments, only a small section of the ring completely smooth, as if something was supposed to sit in that spot.
“This one is stamp-able. You can fit up to three letters in the small, flat section.”
Li Ming took the ring and looked it over, slipping it onto one of his own fingers. It was a little big for him, but Heart’s hands were bigger than his. He had a way to measure, anyway. Li Ming pulled a short string out of his pocket and wrapped it around his finger next to the ring, checking to see if the gaps were the same. Li Ming had snuck the string around Heart’s finger in his sleep and cut it to size, hoping that was a reliable method for ring sizes.
“How much is this one?” Li Ming asked, satisfied with his measurements.
“1800 baht,” the employee said, showing him the price on the box, “plus 400 for the stamping.”
Li Ming pulled his wallet out, ignoring the pain in his heart from the price taking all of his savings. He saved up specifically for this, so he should be happy he had enough, even if he couldn’t go to the convenience store after this for snacks.
“What would you like on the ring?” the woman asked as she pulled out some equipment, placing the ring on a special stand for the stamping. Li Ming shuffled on his feet, thinking.
Two days later, Li Ming texted Heart on his way to his house. It was their 4 month anniversary tomorrow, but Li Ming would be busy in school studying for his finals and planning to work in the U.S., so they decided to hang out all day today instead. Jim had been bugging Li Ming about hanging out with Heart too long, trying to get his nephew to go shopping with Wen for things Li Ming was embarrassed to have Heart find in his backpack. Jim would get all caught up in his using protection speech and Li Ming would wish he was deaf too just to escape the humiliation.
-Here Li Ming texted Heart, standing on his front porch. He was almost never nervous like this to see Heart. The two had bonded so quickly, like they had known each other since childhood, and their meetings were easy. Natural.
The phone vibrating in Li Ming’s hand made him jump and he dropped it on the concrete. He swore under his breath, bending over to pick the phone up. The door swung open as he stood up and he was greeted by Heart smiling, motioning for Li Ming to come in.
Li Ming wasn’t sure he would ever get used to Heart’s face, though. Seeing him with new eyes every day was refreshing, and automatically made the day better. Li Ming couldn’t comprehend how Heart would get more attractive by the day, his whole being drawn to Heart in a way he’d never experienced before. He had crushes in the past, but never like this. His past interests were fleeting, surface level. This was deeper, pulling directly from his core.
Li Ming followed Heart into the house where they settled in their usual spots on the couch. There were some snacks already set up on the table and Heart had pulled up a movie he was interested in, asking Li Ming if he wanted to watch it. Li Ming agreed, too lost in his nervousness to pay attention to what was on the screen.
Everything was fine until Heart asked Li Ming what had happened in one of the scenes, and the shorter boy couldn’t answer him. Heart narrowed his eyes and laughed a bit, signing Are you okay?
Li Ming would have soaked up Heart’s sweet giggles if he wasn’t sweating so much. Was he really that obvious?
You’re fidgeting, Heart signed, mimicking Li Ming’s anxious movements. He was thumbing over the new crack in his phone screen from outside and bouncing one of his legs. Really obvious.
Li Ming reached out for the remote and paused the movie, pulling his bag up onto his lap. He slipped his hand in the side pocket and pulled out a small black box. He tossed his bag back onto the ground and looked down at the box, taking a deep breath. He handed the box to Heart, the taller gently taking it from his hands.
Li Ming tapped Heart’s hand so he would look at him, and signed Happy Anniversary, which he had learned a few days ago just for this occasion. And for their next anniversaries forever, of course.
Heart smiled a warm smile, signing it back at him, and then focused his attention on the box. He pulled the lid off, revealing the silver ring sitting inside. The light from the TV screen highlighted ridges in the metal and the English letters LM stamped on the top. Heart set the box down and pulled the ring out, examining it in his fingers.
Li Ming couldn’t read Heart’s face. He was curious, but there was some other feelings behind his eyes. He signed something to Li Ming that the shorter had seen before, but he couldn’t remember what it meant. There was an older woman at the church who had used it first, something about her kids, and her last husband…
Marriage.
“No! Not- Oh my god-” Li Ming was speaking and signing nonsense, trying to object to the idea that he was proposing. Maybe one day, for sure, but not right now-
Heart burst out laughing, waving his hands at Li Ming. Kidding, Heart signed, before slipping the ring over his right ring finger. He admired the ring on his finger, twisting it with his thumb. A blush was creeping onto his cheeks.
Do you like it? Li Ming signed, his heart still beating quickly in anticipation of how his gift had been received.
Heart nodded, still looking down at his hand. He finally looked up, signing Thank you. But shortly after, his content facial expression was replaced with one of embarrassment, and his shoulders sunk a little.
I didn’t get you anything.
Li Ming shook his head, reassuring Heart that it was fine. Hanging out all day was enough for him. Heart shook his head in return, though, not satisfied with the situation. He asked Li Ming to close his eyes and sit up straight. Li Ming complied, not without instantly sneaking peaks, resulting in Heart smacking him and covering Li Ming’s eyes with his hand.
Li Ming sat and waited, poking Heart’s hand with his finger when he was taking too long to do something. Right when Li Ming was about to reach up and pull Heart’s hand off his eyes and complain, warm lips met his, the hand falling away from his face. Li Ming kept his eyes closed, though, and kissed Heart back.
The kiss was short and simple, like they had done many times before. That didn’t stop the butterflies from doing somersaults in Li Ming’s stomach, his hands moving to rest on the leg Heart had propped up on the couch. Heart pulled away from Li Ming with a sigh, staying a few inches away, looking into Li Ming’s eyes. It was Li Ming’s turn to go red, the tips of his ears burning. He leaned in again, trying to capture Heart’s lips once more, but Heart pulled away, pointing at the TV screen.
We didn’t finish the movie.
Li Ming pouted, furrowing his brows. “So?” He said, making sure Heart was reading his lips.
Heart shifted his weight on the couch, turning more towards the TV. Just wait. I’ll give you something after.
Li Ming felt his face get hot. What does that mean? He signed, trying to lean in front of Heart to block his view. Heart didn’t reply, instead sticking out his hand and tickling Li Ming under the chin. The shorter slapped his hand away, exaggerating his pout now, trying to get Heart to reply. Heart just laughed, pretending like he really wanted to watch the movie.
The two end up tussling like they always do, fighting for the upper hand through tickles and soft shoves. Li Ming couldn’t have thought of a better beginning to the day, or to the official start of his relationship with Heart. Maybe Heart would put the ring on a necklace chain so he wouldn’t lose it. And maybe they would move to the U.S. together, Li Ming taking care of Heart in college from the job he snags. And maybe Li Ming would ask Heart to marry him there, where they could have a small ceremony with family. And Li Ming could get married before Uncle Jim. Yeah, that would be funny.