Chapter Text
Pond Naravit didn’t mean to end up here.
If anyone asked, he would blame three things: bad luck, an empty bank account, and a job listing that looked suspicious even by broke university student standards.
The posting had been vague.
Almost aggressively vague.
Private Companion Needed for Social Events. Formal settings. Flexible hours. Discretion required.
Generous compensation.
No company name.
No detailed description.
Just an email address and a number that looked real enough to gamble on.
Pond had stared at it for a long time that night, hunched over his laptop in the tiny apartment he could barely afford anymore. His bank account had been sitting at a number so depressing it felt almost insulting. Rent was due in two weeks. His part-time café job barely covered groceries.
And the listing had promised more money for one evening than Pond usually made in a month.
So he did what any desperate final-year university student might do.
He sent an email.
He didn’t expect a reply.
He definitely didn’t expect a response within twenty four hours.
The interview location had been… strange.
Not a café. Not even a hotel. Just an office. A very luxury office.
Just a quiet building downtown with a lobby that screamed money in the kind of understated way Pond had only seen in movies. Polished marble floors. Soft lighting. People walking around like they had somewhere important to be.
Pond had shown up in the nicest clothes he owned, which still felt painfully underdressed compared to everyone else in the building.
He had almost turned around twice before reaching the reception desk.
By the third time, pride had forced him forward.
Now, sitting in a waiting area that probably cost more than his entire apartment, Pond was beginning to think this might have been a mistake.
A very expensive-looking mistake.
A man in a perfectly tailored suit had greeted him when he arrived. Calm, professional, the kind of person who seemed permanently composed.
He introduced himself simply as Dunk.
He hadn’t asked many questions during the brief conversation that followed. Just a few quiet observations while reviewing Pond’s information like he was assessing something more complicated than a job application.
At one point, Dunk had looked up from the tablet in his hand and studied Pond with open curiosity.
“You’re aware,” he said smoothly, “that this position requires a certain level of adaptability.”
Pond blinked.
“…that sounds vague.”
Dunk smiled slightly.
“Yes.”
That had not made Pond feel better.
Still, the pay mentioned in the listing echoed in his head like a very persuasive argument.
So he stayed.
Which, in hindsight, might have been the moment everything went wrong.
Or right.
It was hard to tell yet.
Because a few minutes later, another man had entered the room.
This one leaned casually against the doorway, arms crossed, expression somewhere between amused and skeptical.
“Is this him?” he asked.
Dunk nodded once.
The newcomer looked Pond up and down in a way that felt more like an evaluation than a greeting.
Pond shifted in his seat.
“Should I be worried about that reaction?”
The man laughed under his breath.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you’re planning to stay.”
Stay?
Pond opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Dunk had already stood.
“Mr. Tangsakyuen is available now,” he said.
The name didn’t mean anything to Pond at the time.
But something about the way the atmosphere shifted in the room made the air feel heavier.
More serious.
The other man straightened from the doorway and gestured toward the hallway.
“Come on,” he said lightly.
“You’re about to meet the reason this job exists.”
Pond stood, smoothing down the sleeves of his shirt, suddenly aware that he might be stepping into something far more complicated than a simple dinner companion gig.
But it was probably fine.
Right?
After all, the listing had sounded harmless.
Just events.
Just appearances.
Just pretending.
Nothing too dramatic.
At worst, he’d spend a few evenings smiling politely at strangers and collecting a paycheck that would save him from financial ruin.
No big deal.
Pond followed them down the hallway.
And that was how he accidentally walked into the kind of situation that comes with contracts, unspoken rules, and a man who had absolutely no business looking at him the way Phuwin Tangsakyuen was about to.
Pond just didn’t know that yet.
He would soon.
Very soon.