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"Ngern, what's up?" Pond shook his childhood friend’s shoulder before sliding into the empty chair beside him.
"Nothing.” Ngern muttered, his voice barely carrying over the quiet hum of the cafe.
The small coffee shop had always been the designated sanctuary for their four-man circle, Ngern, Pond, Bever, and Maxky. Tonight, the atmosphere was uncharacteristically dead. It was only 9 PM on an ordinary Wednesday in Bangkok, a stark contrast to the chaotic weekend crowds that usually packed the place.
Ngern’s eyes drifted toward the expensive glass wall, his gaze piercing through the reflection to scan the dimly lit street outside.
"Where are Bev and Max?" Pond asked, shrugging.
"I'm curious, what happened? It’s not like you to drag us out on a random weekday."
"Wait until they get here.” Ngern replied flatly. "I don't want to repeat myself." Pond nodded, conceding easily. Working for his family's business granted him the kind of luxury corporate slaves only dreamed of. There’s no strict attendance logs, no overbearing bosses, and plenty of free time.
Taking a sip of his hot coffee, Pond suddenly shuddered. “I’m nervous!” he admitted. “I told Earth I’d only be out for two or three hours. But looking at your face right now? I think this is serious. Let me call him and tell him I might be home late.”
He stepped away, dialing his fiancé’s number. Within five minutes, Pond returned, slipping into the seat directly across from Ngern. He joined his friend in staring out the glass facade, waiting for the rest of their entourage.
“Ah, here they are!”
Ngern shifted in his seat as Bever and Maxky finally walked through the cafe doors. Maxky or Max, as they called him, slid into the booth next to Ngern, while Bever headed to the counter to grab their drinks.
“What happened?” Max asked gently, tapping Ngern’s shoulder.
Even without a word spoken between them, a collective intuition sparked among Bever, Pond, and Max. Something was drastically off. Ngern had been pulling away lately, and this sudden emergency meeting only confirmed their suspicions. Their guy was in trouble.
“Wait until Bever sits down.” Ngern insisted.
“You know what? I’m genuinely scared.” Max confessed.
“Right? Me too!” Pond chimed in. “I just told him I’m nervous as hell!”
Bever returned, sliding a cup toward Max. “Less ice, less sugar.”
Pond couldn’t help but smirk, eager to cut through the tension. “I had no idea you’d become Bas’s twin with the whole 'less ice, less sugar' routine.” he teased, amused by how thoroughly tamed Max seemed by his boyfriend.
“Tonight isn’t about me, it’s about Ngern!” Max shot back, dismissing the tease with a wave of his hand. He turned his full attention to Ngern. “So, tell us. What’s wrong with you?”
Ngern took a slow, agonizing breath. His eyes welled with unshed tears, his face falling into an expression of sheer misery. “My grandma told me that her dying wish is to see me as a groom at my wedding.”
Silence hung in the air for a fraction of a second before a burst of loud, unforgiving laughter shattered it.
“Oh my god! I thought you had an incurable disease or something!” Max creased over, wiping tears from his eyes as he wheezed. “It’s so funny! You’re so fucking funny!”
“This is a serious matter for me, guys!” Ngern’s voice shook, the fragile thread of his composure close to snapping.
Seeing that Ngern was genuinely on the verge of tears, Pond’s laughter died down first. “Okay, okay. What’s the actual problem, then?”
“He’s single, that’s why!” Bever answered for him.
“Yeah, I know, but…” Bever paused, hitting Maxky to make him stop snickering. “Your grandma knows you’re single, right? Just tell her you have to dig deeper and swipe right harder to find someone who can handle your attitude.”
Pond frowned slightly, a thought striking him. “…Your grandma knows you’re into men, right?”
“She knows. Everyone knows, my entire family knows.” Ngern groaned, burying his face in his hands. “But I have one massive problem with her request.”
“What?”
“What is it?”
“Tell us!”
The three friends leaned in, completely captivated.
“I lied to her.”
“Lied about what?” Pond pressed.
“I got so fucking tired of her calling me every single day, asking if I had a boyfriend yet. A few months ago, when I was completely buried under my workload, I just told her I was dating someone. I just wanted her to stop asking!”
“And then?”
“Let me breathe, will you?” Ngern took a frantic gulp of his drink and pulled out his phone. “After that, she called two more times. Then she literally showed up at my apartment. I knew she was trying to ambush us and see my lover. I ended up lying again, telling her we’d only been together for a few months so we weren’t living together yet. And then she…”
“Please get straight to the point!” Max interrupted, earning a sharp swat from Bever.
“No, let him tell the whole story! Don’t mind him! I need the whole story!” Pond urged.
Ngern continued, his voice dropping to a panicked whisper. “So, she demanded to see a photo of my lover. But because I’d fabricated the whole thing on the spot, I didn’t have time to use ChatGPT or some AI generator shit to fake a boyfriend. I just panicked. I pulled up our associate’s Instagram and showed her his profile.”
“Our associate?” Pond blinked.
“Oh my god, Ngern, are you trying to give us a pop quiz right now? A fucking wordplay game?” Max groaned. “Associate? Just tell us his name. Is he an actor, or what?”
Pond’s eyes widened in sudden horror. “You didn’t show your grandma a photo of my fiancé, did you?”
“Pond, not everything in this universe revolves around your beloved fiancé!” Ngern snapped.
“Then just tell us the damn name!” the three of them demanded in unison.
Ngern swallowed hard. “Oat.”
For three agonizing seconds, the table went dead silent. Pond, Bever, and Max froze, their breath caught in their throats.
“What?!” Max’s jaw dropped in absolute shock.
“Oat? As in, Oat from our university?” Pond stammered.
“Time’s ex?” Bever added, his eyes dinner-plate wide.
Ngern gave a miserable nod. His friends sat there, their brains violently trying to process the sheer absurdity of the revelation.
Max slowly placed a heavy, comforting hand on Ngern’s shoulder. “My dear friend… are you insane? How could you possibly think mentioning him to your grandma was a good idea?”
“I didn’t plan it! My initial thought was to open Instagram and find some random influencer's page. But his profile was the very first thing on my feed when the app loaded, so I just showed her Oat's photos!”
“There are hundreds of people on your Instagram!” Pond threw his hands up. “Your following is what, what, three hundred people? Why did it have to be him?”
“I don’t know! But now she’s demanding to meet him. She’s pushing for a marriage, and she’s already told the entire extended family that I’m getting married next year!” Ngern cried out.
“Just tell her you guys broke up.” Bever suggested, trying to inject some logic into the chaos.
“I know… but I think I need your help. All of you.”
“Huh?”
“You know how smart my grandma is, guys. Super, super sharp. She’s a brilliant business woman who has been running her own empire since she was twenty-six. She’s not going to believe me if I just roll up alone and tell her I’m single again. I need you guys to help me execute a plan.”
A collective smirk began to spread across the trio’s faces. Within minutes, a chaotic, brilliant, and deeply fraudulent plan was hatched.
Past midnight, three shadows carefully hauled a dead-weight Ngern up the steps of his family’s estate. Pond carried Ngern’s phone and personal belongings, while Bever and Maxky shouldered the burden of Ngern’s large frame, waiting anxiously for the massive, two-meter mahogany front door to swing open.
When it did, Ngern’s grandmother stood there, her elegant face instantly twisting into deep worry. “What happened?”
“He… he got wasted, Grandma!” Maxky replied, his voice trembling slightly from the sheer adrenaline of the performance.
“Why? It’s Wednesday. What happened to him? And why did you bring him here instead of his own apartment?”
“Um… because… well, we… I mean, he lost his keycard.” Pond stuttered, sweating under her sharp gaze.
“The building security knows him, don’t they? They could have let him in.”
“Yes, but…”
“We thought he should be somewhere where someone could properly look after him, Grandma.” Bever cut in smoothly.
“What do you mean?” The matriarch’s brow furrowed deeper.
“He just broke up with his boyfriend.” Bever added, dropping his voice to a grave, solemn tone. “We were terrified he’d do something reckless tonight if he was left alone.”
“And why couldn’t you, as his closest friends, keep an eye on him?”
The barrage of questions was suffocating, but through a series of vague explanations and coordinated sighs, they finally managed to maneuver Ngern inside. Within minutes, the three friends slipped away, leaving Ngern lying "unconscious" on the plush leather sofa in the living room.
Safe and sound in the dark, a tiny, victorious smile broke across Ngern’s face. Phase one was a success.
The next morning, Ngern woke up with a violently stiff neck from sleeping on the sofa. Groaning, he checked his phone, typing out rapid updates to his friends in their group chat.
“Ngern!”
His grandmother’s sharp voice startled him, forcing him to immediately snap back into character. He slumped his shoulders, putting on his best heartbroken facade.
“Mema…” he whined. He was a tall, heavily built man, but in front of his grandmother, he reverted right back to a little boy craving affection.
“Can you get back together with your boyfriend?”
“Huh? No, I don't think so.” he answered a little too quickly.
“Can you try?”
“I can’t!”
“Maybe try a little harder?” she pressed, her tone unyielding. Unbeknownst to Ngern, she had already set massive wheels in motion. She let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. “You know, Ngern… I’ve already put everything on paper for you and your future partner. Please try harder to make him stay so I don't have to schedule another long-ass meeting with my legal team.”
Ngern bolted upright, his messy hair forgotten as his brain locked onto her words. “What? Mema… what are you talking about?”
“I told you I was preparing a wedding gift for you, didn’t I? It seems I arranged everything far too early, and now I have to cancel every single deed I’ve already signed.”
“Mema… what deeds?”
“The Harvest Building, Harvest Entertainment Agency, Grey Supermall, a few luxury hotels downtown, and the Greencove Apartment Complex.” She listed casually. “I was going to transfer all of them to you as a wedding gift. I had no idea young men your age dated for such a short time before throwing it all away. I suppose I forgot that people nowadays don't take commitment seriously.”
Right as the words left her mouth, Ngern’s phone vibrated violently in his hand. It was Bever, checking in on the aftermath.
Ngern answered it instantly, his voice suddenly shifting into a desperate, dramatic cry. “Hi, baby!”
On the other end of the line, Bever froze. “What the actual hell?” he hissed.
“I know… I know you weren’t being serious last night.” Ngern cooed into the receiver, ignoring his friend's confusion. “Okay, I’ll come over to your place right now. We can talk it out, yeah? Love you!” He slammed the phone shut.
His grandmother’s face instantly lit up. “Are you two getting back together?”
“I think… um, I think I just overreacted last night.” Ngern lied smoothly, the sheer gravity of his grandmother’s massive fortune entirely blinding his conscience. “We had a huge fight, and he said he wanted to break up, so I just lost my mind…”
“Ah, I love it!” Grandma pressed her hands against her chest, offering a silent prayer of gratitude to the universe for saving her grandson’s relationship.
“I should probably head out now, Mema.” Ngern said quickly, standing up to make his escape.
But the moment he stepped out into the grand foyer, reality hit him. He had been driven here last night. He had no car, no keys, and no ride.
Reaching into his pocket, he dialed Bever back.
The call connected, and Bever’s furious voice blasted through the speaker. “You are incredibly lucky it was me calling you! What if I was with Liew, and you called me your 'fucking baby-love' or whatever the shit that was?!”
Ngern winced, offering a weak chuckle. “Hehehe, sorry… but I really need your help again, Bev.”
Later that evening, the inner circle gathered once more. This time, the table was expanded. Liew, Bas, and Earth had tagged along, summoned by the chaotic text messages Bever had blasted out earlier that morning. They needed their partners' brains to dismantle this absolute mess.
“Everything? She’s giving you everything?”
Fifteen minutes into the explanation, the table sat in stunned silence as the gravity of Ngern's predicament sunk in.
“You should just stick to the breakup narrative and actually start dating someone else.” Bever reasoned, trying to find a loophole. “Money isn’t everything, Ngern. You shouldn’t be scamming your own grandmother just for an inheritance.”
“Pond, it’s not just money. These are fixed assets. Massive, generational wealth.” Ngern argued, leaning over the table. “Once they’re mine, I can finally sign that joint venture agreement your father has been begging my grandma to approve for years. We could build our empire together.”
Pond’s expression hardened. “Everything built on a foundation of lies is bound to collapse, Ngern.”
Beside him, Earth shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling guilty for initially agreeing with Ngern's logic a few minutes prior. He nodded in agreement with his fiancé.
“But wait, hasn’t Ngern always done chaotic, questionable things anyway?” Liew, Bever’s boyfriend, chimed in dryly.
The table fell into a tense silence. The allure of the fortune had momentarily blinded them, but Pond’s moral compass pulled them back to reality. They collectively looked at Ngern, silently telling him to drop the insane charade involving Oat before it ruined lives.
Ngern slumped back in his chair, running a hand over his face. “Every single day, I dream about what it feels like to be a spoiled nepo baby, but I got stuck with a family that has stricter financial regulations than a central bank. This is the first time in my entire life she’s ever offered to hand over a piece of her wealth. Usually, she threatens to leave it all to her foundation! I know the first step I took was a massive, stupid lie. But please… can you guys just help me this once?”
“How?” Bever sighed.
“Yeah, what do you expect us to do?” Max added.
“I’m not dirtying my soul for this.” Pond stated firmly, crossing his arms. Earth tightly gripped his arm in solidarity, nodding along.
“It’s for the greater good.” Ngern pleaded.
“YOUR greater good.” Pond countered.
Ngern took a deep breath, playing his final, ultimate card. “I will give every single person at this table twenty million baht each the moment the assets are transferred.”
Jaws dropped. The silence in the room became deafening as eyes widened to the size of saucers.
“Each?” Liew squeaked, leaning forward. “So… Bever gets twenty million, and I get twenty million?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
Pond swallowed hard, his posture stiffening as he tried to maintain his righteousness. “No. I still refuse.”
“But babe…” Earth murmured softly, gently tugging at Pond’s sleeve. Earth knew better than anyone how badly Pond’s family business needed a massive capital injection to keep from going under. He looked up, trying to find a gray area. “I mean… technically, it’s not a scam or an illegal activity, right?”
Pond’s resolve cracked. He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. “What kind of help do you even need this time?”
Ngern smiled, knowing he had them. “I need Earth to reach out to Oat. I need to talk to him.”
Pond blinked, utterly confused. “Huh? Why Earth?”
“Because Earth is the CEO of Rainbow Unicorn. I need him to reach out to Oat professionally.” He said as he remembered that Earth owned a major clothing brand in Thailand.
And the very next day, Ngern wired a massive sum of money to Earth’s account to formally hire Oat as the upcoming face of his clothing brand.
Within hours, Earth sent a screenshot of their conversation to the group chat. Oat had happily accepted the offer. A wardrobe and contract meeting was locked in for two days later. It would be the first time they would stand in the same room since graduating from university nearly eight years ago.
Two days later, Earth opened the door to the Rainbow Unicorn conference room, greeting Oat with a bright, welcoming smile and a warm embrace.
As they settled in, Oat casually questioned how the CEO of a major clothing brand had stumbled across his social media profile. Earth, having meticulously rehearsed the cover story with Pond, didn't miss a beat.
“Actually, you went to the same university as my fiancé. You both graduated in the same year. When I was hunting for a talented, good-looking local influencer for our new line, he immediately recommended your name.” Earth lied smoothly.
“Hey, babe.”
Right on cue, Pond walked into the meeting room, offering a casual wave to his fiancé before turning to their guest. “Oh, hi Oat.”
“Hi!” Oat replied, a polite smile on his face as his eyes scanned Pond’s features, desperately searching his memory. “I’m so sorry… but Earth, I honestly can't recall meeting your fiancé back in uni. Maybe our paths crossed somewhere on campus, but I don't remember at all. I'm sorry.” He offered an apologetic laugh. “No offense, of course! I was just curious how you knew me.”
“None taken.” Pond replied with an enigmatic smile. “To be completely honest with you… the truth might sound a little bit creepy.”
“Creepy? How?” Oat asked, his mind briefly wondering if this man was bold enough to confess to stalking him right in front of his own fiancé.
“Because of him.”
Before Pond could elaborate, the frosted glass door swung open. A six-foot, broadly built, incredibly handsome man stepped into the room.
Ngern?
Oat’s mind went entirely blank, his heart violently hammering against his ribs.
“Hi…” Ngern spoke softly, his eyes locking directly onto the man sitting across from him.
“H-hi… hi… hello…” Oat stammered.
The tension in the room was palpable. Pond, Earth, Ngern, and probably even the ghosts haunting the corporate building could see just how wildly nervous Oat had suddenly become.
“Do you two know each other?” Earth asked, playing his part perfectly.
“Um…” Oat started, but Pond cut him off seamlessly.
“He’s the one who told me all about you.” Pond explained, leaning against the table. “That’s why I said it might sound creepy. My friend here has had, well, honestly, he still has the biggest crush on you. It’s been going on since our freshman year.”
As the words echoed through the room, Oat took a slow, trembling breath, forcing himself to smile and act normal.
He stared at the man sitting next to him. The man named Ngern.
Because what none of them knew was that Ngern wasn't just a college acquaintance. To Oat, Ngern was his very first, desperately stupid, unrequited, youthful love.
( to be continued… )