Chapter Text
PAE
In theory, Pae’s idea was brilliant. Duang was once again, complaining about the impossibility of confessing to Qin. He couldn’t take another second of it, and he knew he had to take it into his own hands.
To him, the only people’s opinions he truly cares for is himself, his parents, and his friends. So naturally, the closest way to Qin’s heart has to be through his friend.
Pae knew of Qin’s friends, almost the same way the entire student body does. They were very popular, and talented. Kim and Tong, always flanking the left and right sides of Qin. Kim was the reliable older friend; reasonable, honest, but a little closed off to strangers. That means he would be hard to get close to. Which leaves Tong; attractive, kind, and very flirty. He was approached by everyone, and almost always flirts back. Ding ding ding, he has a winner.
He opens Instagram, and thinks to himself. He has to be strategic about this; As Duang’s friend, if he reaches out and Tong ignores him, that’s the end of it, and it’d be awkward next time they saw each other. If he gets blocked and Tong tells Qin, it may affect the delicate balance of Qin and Duang’s relationship. He can’t have that happen.
He quickly switches to his second account, an art account; He made it last year in hopes of displaying his art, but haven’t posted much yet. The profile pic is just a cute red icon, and his display name is Cherry. Perfect to use in this situation.
He looks up Tong, and without much difficulty, finds it. He immediately follows the account, and slides into his DM.
Cherry 🍒:
Hiii :)
Just listened to the playlist in your bio, it sounds like you’re just my type.
Pae was sweating, he’s never slid into anyone’s DM before. He has absolutely no experience, all of his knowledge is from cheesy 90’s romance movies. He’s absolutely and inexplicably doomed.
Tong 🎸:
Hmm, I see you like art. There’s no paint in sight, but you’re still drawing my attention ;)
He turns a little red, quickly hiding his phone screen when he sees Jamie looking at him.
Cherry 🍒:
Oh, what a smooth talker you are. Do this often?
Tong 🎸:
Only to people that intrigue me
And if I haven’t mistaken, you were the one who slid into my DM first…
Cherry 🍒:
Did I make you swoon yet, I’ve never done this before.
Tong 🎸:
Let’s say I swooned, what would you do next?
Cherry 🍒:
I would ask you to come to the Loy Krathong festival tonight, I heard it was going to be amazing.
Tong 🎸:
Wow, you’re already asking me on a date? 😏
Cherry 🍒:
Slow your roll, I would bring my friends and you could bring yours. More like a friendly outing.
See if you’re actually all that ;)
Direct, confident, and open, everything Cherry was. And yet, nothing like Pae. He watched anxiously as three dots appeared and disappeared.
—
TONG
He smirks as he rereads Cherry’s message: See if you’re actually all that. He loves a confident person who is lowkey sassy, he hasn’t felt this intrigued by someone in a long while. Everyone who flirted with him had the same approach. When he first saw the message, he thought Cherry was like everyone else, but it for someone reason didn’t, it felt different.
He turns to Qin, who was talking about some guy named Duang, while simultaneously complaing about a senior that was pestering him to perform.
“Hey guys, wanna go to the Loy Krathong Festival?” He asks casually.
“Yeah, I can go.” Kim responds. He looks over at Qin, who didn’t respond. He looks back at his phone exasperated, it would be weird if he didn’t bring both friends. What if Cherry thought he was pressuring it to turn it into a date?
He looks at Kim and gestures towards Qin, he watches as the realisation sets. “Qin, what about you?” Kim asks him.
After a couple of minutes and convincing him with desserts, he finally convinces Qin to go as well. Yes, he cheers in his mind. His fingers already typing a message to Cherry.
Tong 🎸:
I’m in! I can’t wait to see you.
—
PAE
Tong 🎸:
I’m in! I can’t wait to see you.
Pae smirks as he reads Tong’s text; hook, line, and sinker.
He turns to Duang and Jamie, revealing his master plan. After being hyped up by the two for his brilliant plan, they go over a few details for the night. They decided to meet around 7 pm.
When Pae gets home, he can’t help but contemplate what to wear. Which is ridiculous, because he won’t even be seeing Tong, he can’t. It would ruin absolutely everything.
Yet, he can’t help but wonder. What if he did see him? Next thing he knows he has half of his closet thrown around his room.
His eyes land on a designed jersey he has, it’s cherry red with little stars. He pairs them with some jeans, and looks in the mirror. Perfect.
He hears his phone buzz, and looks down to see a new message from Tong. His stomach certainly does not do a small flip.
Tong 🎸:
Counting down the minutes until I’ll finally see you
Cherry 🍒:
If I were you, I’d do the same 😌
Tong 🎸:
[picture attached] here’s a preview of what will be featuring in your dreams from now on.
What will you be wearing? That way I can prepare myself for your beauty.
Cherry 🍒:
Mmm curiosity kills the cat, guess you’re going to have to wait and see. 😼
Let be mysterious for a little longer
Tong 🎸:
Oh, playing hard to get. The anticipation, I’ll have to prepare my eyes and my heart
Cherry 🍒:
😘😘😘
Can’t wait for tonight.
He could throw up, why did he feel so nervous and guilty?
He arrives at the festival with Jamie and Duang by his side, they decide to hide out of sight while waiting for Qin.
“There he is, that’s my Qin” Duang shouts excitedly. He doesn’t hear a word, because there a couple of feet away from his was Tong. He was wearing the shirt he sent a picture of earlier, looking unfairly attractive.
Focus, he’s not here as Pae, he’s here as Cherry.
He hears Tong tell his friends that he’s here to meet Nong Cherry. Seconds later, he feels his phone buzz.
Tong 🎸:
Where are you?
He nudges Jamie and Duang, their plan is officially in effect. He buries the lingering guilt he feels, there’s time to unpack that later.
Cherry 🍒:
I can see you now.
—-
TONG
He looks around but doesn’t see anyone, where could she be? His phone buzzes in his hand, he looks down to see a new message from Cherry.
Cherry 🍒:
You can only bring one friend.
I want the one next to you.
He paused for a second, what an odd request. Cherry can’t be interested in his friends, could she? He shrugged as he puts his hand on Qin’s shoulder and turns to Kim.
“We’ll be right back Kim. Let’s go Qin.” He ignores Qin’s protests as he starts to lead him away.
Bzzz bzz, he looks down to see another message from Cherry.
Cherry 🍒:
No, not that one.
He is officially weirded out; Cherry is being suspicious. It sounds like she’s watching them, but looking around he doesn’t see anyone. And why does she specifically want him to bring Kim? Maybe she’s not interested in him, but Kim, he thought defeatedly.
He decides to call Cherry instead, maybe her messages aren’t coming across correctly.
He calls and waits, he hears it ring once, twice, and just as he thought it’d ring again, finally Cherry picks up.
He can’t help the way his voice softens, he feels his friends’ eyes on him, but he can’t be bothered to check.
“Hi Cherry, where are you now?” He asks.
“I can see you from here. But don’t bring that friend with you.” Cherry answers, her voice is nothing like he imagined.
He looks up, and grabs on to Kim, looking around to hopefully spot Cherry.
“Yes, my friend likes your friend.” Cherry responds. He can’t help the sigh of relief, it’s not because she’s interested in Kim, but a friend is.
“Okay, I’ll see you.” Tong says, reining in the excitement coursing through him.
He pulls Kim, and after telling Qin that they’ll be back soon, they go to meet up with Cherry.
With every step, he feels the knot in his stomach tightening. What if she doesn’t like him? What if he doesn’t like her?
They arrive at the designated spot, but finds no one there.
Kim just raises an eyebrow at him, he doesn’t acknowledge it.
“Maybe she’s running late.” He says hopefully.
One minute turns into five. Five turns into ten, and still no sign of Cherry. He’s starting to worry, so he sends a text.
Tong 🎸:
Where are you?
Kim finally looks at him exasperated, “Lets go back to Qin.”
“Just give me a minute,” He all but begs, she has to be on her way. She has to be.
“No, I’m done. She’s ditching you for sure.” Kim says, turning towards the way they came.
Tong is about to say an excuse, something to stop Kim, when he hears a noise.
He look up, a couple feet away from them someone was running away in a panic. He turns to where he ran from, and noticed him.
At the bench, that was definitely one of Duang’s friends, one of the same ones who’s being following Qin around. He recognized him from the music room, and he could bet money the one running was the other one.
His mind started wandering, there’s absolutely no way; It must be a coincidence that Duang’s friends are at the same festival as them. That two of Duang’s friends happen to be near the place he was supposed to meet with Cherry. It has to be right?
But the doubt already struck him, so with slightly shaky legs, he slowly begins to walk in the same direction as Kim went.
He hears light footsteps following, weaving and disappearing in front of him. He doesn’t turn, he doesn’t stop, but he notices.
During his walk back, his thoughts are whirling in his mind. Is it really him? Why did he lie? Was this all a plan? If so, for what?
The question lingers as he enters the festival area. And as he’s met with the sight of Duang confessing his love, while his two friends stood encouraging him, it hit him. This is why, he was the in, the way to get Qin to come. He felt angry, hurt, a little used, and mostly disappointed.
Is that all he’s good for, being Qin’s friend? He watches as Duang’s friends hype him up, Pae and Jamie, his mind supplies. Pae was Cherry, he was almost certain. He’s seen Pae around, but never up close.
He was cute, he was slightly short, and he was wearing a cherry red shirt— how fitting.
He’s brought out of his thoughts as he hears Qin say, “Good luck with that then.” To most it didn’t seem like much, but he knew Qin. This was Qin showing interest. He had a feeling he’d be seeing Duang a lot more often, which means he’ll be seeing his friends as well.
Qin walks away, Kim trailing behind him. He, however, pauses for a second. He takes out his phone and calls Cherry.
He hears a phone ring in Pae’s relative proximity, hears the way he fumbles to turn off the ringer.
He doesn’t turn, his footsteps falter for a split second, before he continues; He notices everything.
This is how he wants to play? Fine, let the game begin.