Chapter Text
Ping ping ping
“Ugh who is it,” Pae thought, poking his head out from under the cover. He wanted to go back to sleep. He didn’t get enough sleep the previous night. He knew he should have been more careful with how he spent the nights, but he couldn’t help it. He chatted with Tong until 4 am in the morning. The past few days the university laid them off before Loy Khratong, he turned into a night owl. Duang went to Japan for his “honeymoon” with Qin and Jamie has been missing for the past days now. As such, he had enough time to spend with his boyfriend. The boyfriend which he succeeded in keeping hidden for almost a year now. Duang’s overwhelming situation managed to shadow his own “situationship” quite well. And he was quite content with it.
Ping ping ping
His notifications went off again. He picked it up and unlocked it. Immediately he noticed the line notification with Jamie’s name. He opened the chat and tried to read the messages. But he was so tired, he felt like his eyes were scrapped with sandpaper. He pressed the call button instead and waited for the call to connect.
“Hallo!”
“Damn you Jettana. What do you want so early in the morning?”
“Early? Mr Prachai, it’s almost 12 PM. What morning?”
“What? 12 PM?” Pae squealed jumping off the bed. His curtains were still closed tightly so he wasn't aware how high he sun was. He opened them, his eyes squinting at the sudden light.
“Damn it!”
“Mr Prachai, watch your tongue,” Jamie laughed from the other side of the line.
“Har har, mister warrior. What do you want?”
“Uuuuiii, touchy. How come our usual calm Mr Prachai is so touchy-feely today?”
“I haven’t had too much sleep, you dumbass,” Pae countered, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
“Ehhh, what did you do all night? Are you ok?”
“Now you’re concerned? You have been AFK for a few days,” Pae said, panicking a bit. “Not all people are warriors like you. Some of us have projects to work on,” he concluded, hoping it was enough to stop Jamie from pestering him further. “What do you want?”
“Oh, nothing much. Duang and Qin will be back from Japan tomorrow. You didn’t check the chat?”
“Dude, I woke up literally a few minutes ago.”
“Right, right. You’re being quite sensitive today dude.”
“Anyone would be sensitive if they would be woken up so rudely.”
“Hey, you called!” Jamie protested, still laughing.
“Because I couldn’t read your gibberish in the chat.”
“Fine fine Mr Prachai. I’ll offer you a meal in exchange of having committed the offence of waking you from your beauty sleep with my useless gibberish, how does that sound?”
“You cheeky asshole” Pae scolded him while trying not to laugh, sleep already disappearing from his body.
“How does Yang Noei sounds, you foodie?” Jamie laughed wholeheartedly now.
“Perfect. I’m off now. See ya at dinner time.”
“Oke oke.”
Pae closed the call and started checking the other messages. Indeed, Duang announced they will be back the following day. And Tong also sent him a message. He opened the chat and started reading bewildered. "How can this guy be awake at such hour", he asked himself when he saw the first message was sent at 9 AM. Apparently, he wanted to have lunch together. Instead of answering the message, he pressed the call button in this case as well.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon darling.”
Pae blushed. He never would have imagined Tong to be such a sweet talker.
“Good afternoon to you too. I’m sorry I didn’t answer earlier. I woke up some time ago.”
“It’s okey. We stood late for quite some time last night.”
“Its fine. I saw your message just now. Where should we go eat?”
“I will bring it over okay? The usual?”
“Mmm.”
“Okay, I will be there in few,” Tong said and disconnected.
Pae sighed. How did he manage from a catfishing situation, to get his hands on such amazing boyfriend. Yes boyfriend. He and Tong were an item. Not for a long time though. Never would he have in a million years believed he will have someone so good in his life. He understood Duang now. He hasn’t said anything to his friends yet. He wanted to keep it for himself for some time, just to be sure. Was he being selfish? Maybe. But between waiting, university and helping Duang with his own “situationship”, quite a lot of time has passed and he never found the opportunity to confess to his friends. He wasn’t worried much. But for now, he had other things to focus on. When the time will be right, he will tell them.
He started making the bed, gathered some clothes that were laying around and threw them in the laundry basket. He vacuumed the floor and washed the glasses which he forgot in the sink. Satisfied, he went and took a quick shower to get rid of the night sweat. When he got out, the tiredness has already melted away with the hot water. He put on an oversized shirt and long black trainers and took the toothbrush to brush his teeth. He didn’t have time to brush for long when the doorbell rang. Careful not to spill on his shirt, he went to the front door and opened it. He tried to smile seeing Tong looking at him with an eyebrow raised, a smirk already forming on his lips as well.
“Hi there,” Tong said. He raised his arms showing the bags he bought. “May I?”
Pae nodded making way for his boyfriend to pass and closing the door behind him. He went to the bathroom and finished brushing his teeth while listening to Tong opening and closing cabinets for the items needed to set the table. Putting his toothbrush in the cup on the sink, he spit the extra toothpaste he had in his mouth, wiped his lips, rinsed the sink and went to the kitchen.
“You were fast,” he said as soon as he got to the table, taking a seat. He propped his chin on his palm and watched Tong move around.
“I ordered lunch early this morning. I just had to pick it up,” Tong spoke, picking the glasses he needed and went to the table as well. He poured the cherry tea in Pae’s cup and opened a water bottle for himself.
“Oh resourceful,” Pae mussed, blushing slightly. His boyfriend’s care sometimes was over the top for him but when he expressed that, Tong smiled and said that for him all these came natural and that Pae should allow himself to be a little spoiled. From that point on, he didn’t complain every time Tong did something like this. He might have been an only child but his mother didn’t spoil him too much. She was a firm believer of an equal exchange. Except birthdays, Christmas and New Year. Those were the moments where she would spoil him rotten.
“Let’s eat” Tong said, smiling widely.
“Mmm.”
“So, what are your plans for today?”
Grateful for the change of subject, Pae grabbed onto the moment.
“I spoke with with Jamie earlier. He owes me dinner so tonight we are going out to eat. Oh and Duang and Qin are coming back tomorrow.”
“Yeah, Qin wrote in our group chat as well.”
“Finally the ordeal is completed. I thought I was going to strangle Duang if after all he pulled us and himself through, he wouldn’t have managed in wooing Qin.”
“Hahahahah, well that’s what he would have deserved for sure,” Tong laughed, a few flashback resurfacing.
“Now only the warrior is left in our group.”
“Jamie?”
“Yeah. It seems like he and commitment are like two parallel lines that never touch.”
“Well, there is a time and place for everything” Tong expressed, sipping some water.
“Yeah I know,” Pae waved, the spoon dangling slightly from his fingers. “At least I know that with Jamie, I will never have to go through what I’ve been through with Duang.”
“There is no comparison between those two.”
“You would be surprised. There are times when I think they use the same brain,” Pae said fondly. “But he is definitely bolder then Duang. And more experienced.”
Tong hummed. He observed Pae’s friends quite a bit the passed year. Sure, the meetings haven’t been that often. But one of his best skills was his skill of observation. And he got to the conclusion that behind Jamie’s playboy outer shell, there was something he tried to guard with his outspoken and bold persona. But that wasn’t his business. His business was the adorable little chipmunk-like boyfriend who despite talking, he was stuffing his cheeks with food, making him look like the fore-mentioned animal.
He couldn’t help setting his cutlery down, tangling his fingers and propping his chin on them, listening to Pae. He loved listening to his ramblings which were more enthusiast after they agreed to be together.
It has been absolute and pure luck for him to have found someone as Pae as the love of his life. Yes, love of his life. Might seem far-fetched but that’s how Tong felt every time he was with him. He might have been an artist but he wasn’t the type to believe in soulmates and forever after, but with his boyfriend, it was different. He realised that the moment Pae confessed to him through tears about Cherry, how she came to exist, why he decided to catfish him and so on. He was shocked for a little bit at that time but not because of Cherry. Oh no. He deducted at a certain point that Pae and his group of friends have something to o with it. And if was the fact that one of the many of clues was that he knew of Pae’s extra account after a little bit of research, well...that was for him to know only. What he was shocked about was the fact that somehow, through the rush of words and tears which made his heart clench, Pae confessed that he liked him. And so, all his plans to pursue him were pretty much blown away. At least the initial parts. But he made good use of the other parts.
“What is it?” Pae said, interrupting his train of thoughts.
“Oh nothing much. I just remembered how we met and everything“ Tong answered.
“Ah that,” Pae blushed deeply up to the roots of his hair and the tips of his ears. “Again?” He asked, knowing full well how his lover will answer. From time to time, Tong enjoyed teasing him about how they came to be.
“Mm,” Tong hummed.
“Will it ever stop?”
“Nope,” Tong grinned.
Pae sighed. Maybe it was time to resign himself.
“What are you planning for later?“
"I am meeting Kim to practice. And maybe we will go for a drink afterwards. Why?”
“No reason. Feel like coming by tonight? I know tomorrow you also have morning classes so if you can’t, it’s ok.”
Tong nodded and seeing that his little lover finished to eat, he started gathering the plates.
“I think I will be back by nine. I’ll go by my condo and pick up the things I need for tomorrow.”
“Nine? Oh yea I forgot, nerds drink early” Pae teased, happy that his boyfriend agreed to stay the night, heading towards the couch.
“Nerds huh?” Tong asked, his voice drawling, putting the dirty dishes into the sink and the leftovers in the fridge.
“Yup. Now you can’t hold it against me anymore” Pae responded settling on the couch, hugging the fox plush toy he received from his boyfriend and continuing to watch him. He absolutely loved the familiarity of him going around and setting things properly. Damned be his shyness. If it wasn’t for it, he would have already asked Tong to move together.
Suddenly, while he was lost in thought, Tong appeared in front of him.
“Really?” Tong asked again, but he didn’t allow Pae to process things though because the next moment he imprisoned him on the couch with his larger body, fingers finding his sides and starting to tickle him mercilessly.
Startled, Pae started laughing loudly, trying to catch Tong’s fingers to stop him. Which turned out to be in vain because in between laughing, trying to catch his breath and writhing under Tong, he had no strength whatsoever to pry his fingers away no matter how much he attempted. Apparently, the last thing left for him was to ask for mercy so he put one palm on Tong’s bicep while the other caught one of his wrists and started slapping the bicep and through peals of laugher he tried to call his name.
While Pae was struggling in his ordeal to make his boyfriend stop, the said man was watching him intently, his brain recording his lover’s messy hair, his half opened eyes, glistening, his pink cheeks, his lips that were caught in between his teeth and his attempts to call his name awhile he was trying to catch his breath. Last but not the least, his eyes were drawn lower because while Pae was trashing underneath him, his oversized shirt slid off the shoulder, exposing it and enchanting Tong into peppering kisses and small bites across the skin.
He stopped tickling his boyfriend and grabbed him a bit firmly by the hips and started doing the exact thing that crossed his mind, smiling when Pae took a sudden breath, his body going slack. Oh how happiness coursed through Tong when he felt him go pliant. Its not like they weren’t intimate. Yes, they took it easy. They were still in the discovering stage but he enjoyed taking it slow, relishing into finding his weak spots and teasing him playfully, deepening their connection. He felt Pae gripping his shirt, pants mingling with soft moans, and not sensing him push him away, he continued.
Suddenly, a phone rang. Tong closed his eyes, breathing deeply and setting his head on his boyfriend rapidly raising chest. Whoever called right now...for the first time in his life, he felt like murdering someone.
“Phi,” Pae whispered. “Its my phone.”
Tong sighed. He lifted himself briefly, allowing Pae to unclench his grip on his shirt and reach for his phone. If it was on his side, except his parents, he will probably smack them first time he saw them. But if it was someone on Pae’s side...well…
Pae took his phone and answered without looking at the caller id.
“What?”
“Ohhh, someone is annoyed.”
“Jettana...give me one good reason…”
“Did I interrupt something?” Jamie asked, a bit confused by the irritated tone in Pae’s voice. He usually was like this when he was being interrupted while eating. But he called after lunch on purpose so his behaviour did not have any reason.
Pae pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to calm down. He shouldn’t take it off on Jamie. He didn’t know Tong was going to be here, he didn’t know his circumstances at all and part of it was his fault so he took a deep breath and continued calmly.
“It’s fine. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to ask if we can meet earlier for dinner. I have something to do afterwards.”
“Huh? The warrior on the prowl tonight?”
“You know me well,” Jamie said, half-laughing.
Pae sighed again. If it wasn’t about their promise, he would have cancelled already. But on top of that, right now he had this nagging feeling that something was going on with Jamie. Yes, he used to disappear before but he was usually in touch with them more often. The past few days...complete silence. He could have asked over the phone too, but he knew Jamie’s character. He would get brushed off easily and with some excuse thrown his way, the call would have ended.
“Ok. what time?”
“Hmm….how about five? Works for you?”
Pae checked the phone and saw it was almost 2.
“Sure. That works for me too.”
“Awesome. See you at Yang Noei then, Mr Prachai.”
“Yup. See ya, Jettana,” Pae replied, huffing and closing the call.
Setting his phone down, he put a hand in Tong’s hair and started running it through the soft dark locks, mussing it a little.
“Everything all right?” He asked.
“Mmm.”
Pae was well aware that the call broke the mood. So trying to appease his boyfriend a little, he pushed him until they were both on their sides, with him cuddling Tong. He nuzzled his chest and tightened his arm around him.
Seeing his boyfriend acting so cutely, Tong couldn’t help but let go of the annoying feelings and smiling softly, he kissed his forehead and put his arms tightly around him. How he loved this soft boy. Soon, lulled by Tong’s heartbeat, Pae fell asleep. As to not wake him up, Tong, closed his eyes as well, not before taking the AC remote and setting the temperature a bit lower.