AGAINST THE RULES

Chapter 34

A top of the line cellular phone costs roughly 51,000 baht. Not a small price tag but nothing Bright could not afford.

But what Bright lost wasn't really a phone.

What he lost was time.

For an ordinary human being with an ordinary job, keeping a relationship a secret would be stressful and toxic.

But for Bright and Win, it meant privacy. It meant keeping their hard earned careers without something as insignificant as sexuality destroying what they had built.

It meant the luxury of telling the truth in their own time, at their own pace. It meant control and security.

Bright thought they had time. Years even. They could navigate who they were behind closed doors. Strengthen their relationship away from prying eyes.
He could love Win without judgement and he could be loved back.

He cannot believe he literally let that slip out of his fingers.

Panic like he never felt before snaked around his heart. Bright was using all of his strength to ignore it, to appear calm. He was succeeding for the most part, looking as placid and stoic as ever but deep inside of him panic and anxiety were stabbing at his every organ. Ignoring this will cost him. Right now, he didn't care. Ignoring it was the only thing keeping him from coming undone.

Win glances over at Bright who has been quiet after almost half an hour of repeatedly apologizing. He had a hard stare, his jaw set. Anyone else would assume he was angry. Win knew better - Bright was scared.

He reaches over, gently pushing his fingers in the spaces of Bright's hand. He squeezes.

"We will be okay," he whispers, moving closer to Bright. But Bright was visibly withdrawing from Win.

They were at Win's home studio. Saetang and Daisy Mae were across from them, forming a plan.

Win called Saetang the moment they were certain the phone was really missing. Junta was also alerted and - after an hour of searching through the luggage she brought home - she confirmed the phone was not with her either.

They had discussed everything that could be found on the phone and erased everything that they could access via the Cloud.

There was nothing really scandalous that could be leaked. Bright and Win were as cautious as they were smart. There were no salacious photos or videos. And Bright diligently deleted messages every few days.

Daisy Mae has been running the Restore Phone function and that should set the missing phone to factory settings in around forty minutes.

So what was the problem, right?

The problem was Bright didn't know how long his phone had been missing.

Perpignan to Osaka and Osaka to Bangkok had been all work - jostling from one location to the next, meeting one crowd to the next. He didn't even get to call Win when he first landed in Osaka, he had to hurry to the festival sound check.

So sure, his phone data was now being erased but whoever got it could have had days to screenshot whatever they wanted to screenshot. Download what they wanted to download.

Bright should have been worried about his mobile wallet or his one tap credit card app.

But he was worried about his home screen.

And the one voice message he could not bring himself to delete.

He was worried that in a day or less, the Internet would be filled with the image of Bright kissing Win underneath the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower.

That soon everyone would be hearing Win whisper : "I love you."

He was worried and scared and angry that something so freaking pure could upend their lives. Just because they were famous. Just because they were both men.

Bright's chest constricts. He was spiraling again.

"Hey," Win whispers. "We're going to be okay."

Saetang finally lifts his head from the papers in front of him. "He's right we will be okay. Based on what could have been on the phone at the time it was stolen, we could deny it in several ways. I have a created a table with talking points and -"

"How about we don't wait for a leak and just tell the truth?," Win calmly interrupts Saetang.

"You want to announce you're dating?"

Win looks over at Bright. He wanted time with him but he also knew this would eat Bright alive. He was detaching himself already, closing himself off. What good would privacy be if they were just going to drown in a lie?

"Yes."

Bright looks at Win, stunned. "Are you sure?"

"You don't want to tell the world I am yours, Vachirawit?" Win smiles at Bright, teasing him gently, teasing his anxiety away.

"I'd shout it from every rooftop and you know it, Metawin." There it is, the arrogance Win loved.

Saetang rolls his eyes. My god he needed to reinstall Tinder. "Calm down Romeo and Juliet. We need to discuss pros and cons of that decision."

"No need Saetang," Win says. "We can do this." He smiles his energetic smile and bounces up from his chair.

"But the movie director- "

Win shoots a look at Saetang. Do not mention the movie. Do not mention Chuck. Now is not the time.

Saetang very hesitantly changes the subject. "I respect your decision. I am supportive of it. But we can't go in to this blind. I need to discuss pros and cons."

But Win was already pulling Bright out of the studio and into his adjoining bedroom.

"Maybe tomorrow Saetang!" Win shouts over his shoulder and closes the door with his foot.

Saetang wants to scream. Those two lover birds needed to listen to him. They were walking into a fucking ambush completely unprepared.