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The fans would spend weeks trying to figure out what happened during the GMMTV outing.
The truth was much simpler.
Something finally stopped holding them back.
⸻
The first thing everyone noticed was that Pond and Phuwin were together.
Not unusually together.
Not “partner event” together.
Worse.
They were together in the way people only were when they had long stopped thinking about it.
Breakfast.
Activities.
Lunch.
Poolside.
Dinner.
Every time someone pulled out a phone to record a video, the other was somewhere in the frame.
By the second day, their friends had completely given up pretending not to notice.
“Do you guys know other people are here too?” William asked.
Phuwin didn’t even look up from his phone.
“No.”
Pond laughed.
Est groaned.
“See? This is exactly what I’m talking about.”
“What are you talking about?” Pond asked.
“You two.”
Everyone at the table immediately started laughing.
Neither Pond nor Phuwin denied it.
That was the problem.
A year ago they would have.
Six months ago they would have.
Now they just looked at each other and smiled.
Which was somehow worse.
⸻
That night, most of the company gathered for drinks.
Music blasted through speakers.
People danced.
Managers who normally looked serious suddenly became very loud.
Pond lasted until around one in the morning before disappearing.
Phuwin stayed.
And stayed.
And stayed.
Talking with Gemini.
Then Fourth.
Then half the company.
By the time he checked his phone, it was nearly five in the morning.
Oops.
The hallway was silent when he finally reached their room.
Their room.
The one with a single king-sized bed.
A fact their friends had not stopped mentioning for two days.
Phuwin carefully opened the door.
Tried to walk quietly.
Failed.
A sleepy voice immediately came from the darkness.
“What time is it?”
Phuwin froze.
“…Late.”
“It’s five.”
“You checked?”
“I have eyes.”
Phuwin laughed quietly.
“Sorry.”
The room fell silent again.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his shoes.
The mattress shifted behind him.
Pond rolled onto his back.
“Did you have fun?”
“Yeah.”
“You look happy.”
“I am.”
Pond hummed.
For a moment neither spoke.
Then:
“Joong cornered me today.”
Phuwin groaned.
“What did he say?”
“He asked if we were still pretending.”
That made Phuwin laugh.
“That’s not even subtle.”
“No.”
Another pause.
“He thinks we’re dating.”
“Everyone thinks we’re dating.”
“Are we?”
The question landed softly.
No teasing.
No joking.
Just a simple question hanging between them.
Phuwin looked down at his hands.
For years they had danced around it.
Not quite friends.
Not quite something else.
Always almost.
Always later.
Always eventually.
And somehow eventually had become six years.
“You know what’s funny?” Phuwin said quietly.
“What?”
“If we started dating tomorrow, nobody would notice.”
Pond laughed.
Because it was true.
Painfully true.
Phuwin felt the mattress move again.
When he looked up, Pond was already watching him.
No cameras.
No audience.
No staff.
No fans.
Just them.
“Then maybe we should stop acting like we’re not.”
The smile disappeared from Phuwin’s face.
Not because he was upset.
Because suddenly this felt real.
Finally real.
After all this time.
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
The silence that followed felt different.
Lighter.
Like putting down something heavy after carrying it for years.
Pond’s expression softened.
“So that’s it?”
Phuwin laughed.
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.”
“A speech?”
“Maybe.”
“You know I hate speeches.”
Pond smiled.
“True.”
For a few seconds they simply looked at each other.
Then Pond reached over.
Not dramatically.
Not urgently.
Just enough to brush his fingers against Phuwin’s hand.
As if asking.
As if making sure.
Phuwin intertwined their fingers immediately.
The answer was yes.
It had always been yes.
Pond stared at their joined hands for a second.
Then looked up.
And kissed him.
Short.
Soft.
Gentle enough that it felt almost unreal.
Like something that should have happened years ago.
When they pulled apart, Phuwin was smiling.
“So that’s what we’re doing now?”
Pond laughed.
“I guess.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.”
Phuwin leaned forward and kissed him back.
Just because he could.
Just because he wanted to.
And because after six years, that seemed like reason enough.
⸻
Everything changed after that.
And somehow nothing changed at all.
They still sat together.
Still ate together.
Still spent most of their time together.
The difference was that neither of them seemed interested in hiding it anymore.
Which was how their friends knew immediately.
Not because they caught them doing anything.
Because Pond changed.
⸻
At the first event after the outing, Pond kept touching him.
Nothing outrageous.
A hand on his shoulder.
A hand at the small of his back.
Leaning closer than necessary.
Looking at him too long.
Tiny things.
The kind of things nobody would notice.
Except everyone noticed.
Phuwin noticed too.
Because Pond was usually the careful one.
The shy one.
The one who thought twice.
Now he didn’t.
And somehow that made Phuwin’s heart race more than the kiss had.
Behind the cameras, Fourth narrowed his eyes.
Then looked at Gemini.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Oh.”
“You figured it out?”
“I figured it out.”
Neither Pond nor Phuwin bothered denying anything.
Which only made everyone more suspicious.
⸻
Then came the Japan question.
The clip immediately went viral.
If people only knew.
“What country would Phuwin choose?”
“Thailand,” Pond answered immediately.
Then he thought.
“Or Japan.”
Phuwin blinked.
“Correct.”
The host looked surprised.
“So you really wanted to go?”
“Actually, I had a flight today.”
Everyone reacted.
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“But I didn’t go.”
The game moved on.
The audience laughed.
The hosts changed subjects.
But Pond remembered.
⸻
Later, in the car, he asked.
“Why didn’t you go?”
Phuwin looked out the window.
“No reason.”
“Liar.”
A smile.
“Why does everyone keep calling me a liar?”
“Because I know you.”
Silence.
Bangkok’s lights blurred outside.
Finally Phuwin sighed.
“You were leaving.”
Pond looked at him.
“You canceled because of me?”
“No.”
A beat.
“Not only because of you.”
That answer somehow meant more.
⸻
Three days later, Pond was in Milan.
Fashion shows.
Interviews.
Photoshoots.
Endless schedules.
And somehow all anyone talked about online was Phuwin.
Because Phuwin suddenly became incapable of staying off Instagram.
Stories in the morning.
Stories at lunch.
Stories before bed.
Coffee.
Cats.
Selfies.
Random clouds.
Anything.
Everything.
Pond knew exactly what it meant.
Every notification felt like a message.
I miss you.
Call me when you’re free.
Come back soon.
So he did.
From hotel rooms.
From cars.
From backstage.
From anywhere he could.
One night, after Phuwin posted his sixth story of the day, Pond finally called.
Immediately.
“What?”
“Six stories.”
“What about them?”
“You’re bored.”
“I’m not.”
“You miss me.”
Silence.
Then:
“Maybe.”
Pond smiled.
“Me too.”
⸻
Four days later, Pond landed back in Bangkok.
The flight was long.
He was exhausted.
His manager told him to go home.
Rest.
Sleep.
Be normal.
Instead, less than an hour later, he was standing outside Phuwin’s condo.
He rang the bell.
Once.
Twice.
The door opened.
Phuwin blinked.
Hair messy.
Oversized shirt.
Half asleep.
“You just landed.”
“Yeah.”
“You should be at home.”
Pond stepped inside.
“Later.”
Phuwin laughed softly.
The same way he had laughed at five in the morning in that hotel room.
The same way he always did when Pond said something ridiculous.
And suddenly the distance, the flights, the schedules, Milan, Japan, all of it felt very far away.
Because after years of almosts and maybes and someday, they were finally here.
Exactly where they were supposed to be.
Together.
And for the first time, neither of them was pretending otherwise.