Chapter Text
Here’s the thing about comfort that painfully resembles that of an old married couple: you get so used to your partner that you stop noticing how it looks from a third-person point of view.
And that’s exactly the case with Pond and Phuwin.
Despite being like opposite poles of a magnet, they coexist with an equilibrium so perfect it doesn’t overshadow either of them. It allows them to prosper individually as well. And there is no doubt about their success as the CP of their production house.
Speaking of working together, today is a usual day in the building, filled with product ad shoots, filming a few cues of their upcoming drama, and rehearsing vocals for their new song. With years of practiced ease, they often arrive at the set at the same time. It’s an unspoken arrangement they formed after their first few years of working together.
And today is no different.
Pond, in his baggy T-shirt with Gojo Satoru’s obnoxious face plastered on the back, and Phuwin, in his trademark white linen shirt with three buttons undone, step out of their cars simultaneously.
“Hey, Pond. Good morning!”
“Hi, morning! Want some coffee? I brought your fav…” Pond skips in his steps, all retriever energy, and just like that, they fall into step.
“You are such a saviour, Pond. I missed mine because Hana was being clingy today, can you believe it? So I left home a little later than usual. Thanks a ton!” Phuwin takes the first sip of caffeine, and it finally seems to turn on his logical switches.
“If I were Hana, you’d be late every day.” Pond grins, that terrific, beautiful grin that trends on Twitter every single time.
“You’d never be Hana. I’d have had to adopt a golden retriever in that case,” Phuwin supplies, laughing as the easy conversation lightens his mood.
And Pond, all he can do is keep his heart from jumping out of his eyes and straight into Phuwin’s hands.
He is so down bad for this human Hanabi that if anyone ever found out, they’d vomit roses.
“Khun Pond! Come on in here, please. We need some measurements for the garment adjustment.” One of the crew members calls for Pond, and his heart-eyes for Phuwin are dragged away with him after five minutes of dilly-dallying.
“Oh God, not the Gojo T-shirt again!” Phuwin half-sighs, half-laughs as he watches Pond’s back retreat into the green room.
He admires Pond’s exaggeration as much as his ability to stay calm in situations where everyone else would panic, including Phuwin himself. That’s the beauty and ease of partnering with Pond.
It’s easy. Comfortable. Almost dangerously simple.
But for how long?
That’s a question he actively ignores. So he does exactly that, as a ritual, and moves on with his work.
_______
“We have an outdoor shoot today, Khun Pond, Khun Phuwin. We’ll leave by one o’clock,” the manager announces during their ad shoot as the two stand by their respective makeup artists for touch-ups.
“Yeah, got it. Phuwin, wanna drive together? We’ll grab lunch on the way?” Pond suggests subtly, though his inner thoughts are anything but.
“Cool with me.” Phuwin replies, eyes glued to his phone screen as he scrolls through Twitter.
Just then, his eyes catch a glimpse of a particular tweet.
It’s about Pond.
He swears it’s about Pond, but before he can read it fully, Pond nudges him forward. The shots are ready.
Half a day later, they’re in the middle of shooting a cue when the clip-on mic on Phuwin decides to malfunction.
“Khun Phuwin, there’s some issue with the mic. We can’t hear you clearly. Please hold on, the crew is working on it,” the director announces via the megaphone, as it's a beach scene and they were far into the ocean.
“Phuwin, you good?” Pond steps closer through the water, his hands instinctively finding the lavalier mic clipped to Phuwin’s collar and adjusting it slightly for a clearer angle with less obstruction.
“Yeah, thanks.”
But Phuwin’s mind, although usually very professionally aligned, remains stuck on the hazy blur of a post that places Pond and dating in the same sentence. He doesn’t have a good feeling about it. While these things are common, his gut tells him this one is about to blow up overnight.
“Anytime!”
They’re both wet from the waist down, and Phuwin feels icky, very icky, with the sun above and water and sand below, his mind wandering. By the time the director finally calls cut, the sun is already sliding lower, and exhaustion clings to them like salt.
Fortunately, they finish the sequence on time and return to the studio, finally getting to rest after five hours of continuous shooting.
Dried and cleaned up, Phuwin sits on a chair in the common area, eyes closed, earphones playing a soft Spanish melody, when he’s jolted out of his serenity by none other than Pond.
“Here, have water.”
“Thanks!” Phuwin takes the bottle and sets it on the table, slipping back into his zone.
But there’s no peace when you have a mother hen around.
“C’mon, I didn’t bring it for you to decorate the table with live water art.”
“Wh—”
“We’ve got another hour of schedule. You’ll get a headache by then. And I saw you forget to drink water the entire day. You only had some during lunch.”
Pond shouldn’t observe his mere partner this minutely.
But he does.
And he’s been doing it for so long that it’s a habit now.
A habit Phuwin chooses to ignore. Again.
Being ignorant has become his speciality recently.
“Fine, fine! Here, I’ll drink it. Go away. Go fuss over someone else…” Phuwin dismisses Pond with a push to his back, laughing as Pond leaves for his snacks with an exaggerated pout.
“That’s exactly how my grandma treats my grandpa!” Phuwin hears a staff member laugh over their banter, and it brings a smile to his face too. It’s just how they are, and he respects it too much to blow it all up in flames.
Somewhere near the snack tray area, Pond hears something too.
But it doesn’t bring a smile to his face.
Instead, he frowns and immediately checks his phone. And sure enough—
Pond Naravit dating an actress from another production? Seen together at the New Year’s party.
His heart sinks a little.
Not because it’s another dating rumour.
But because why is the rumour always with everyone but the person he wants it to be?
Why everyone but you?