A delicious smell poked Gulf's respiratory system. His stomach grumbled as reaction. He opened up his eyes slowly, and he just confirmed that he was not dreaming at all.
Mew was peeking from the thin gap of door, he was going to wake up his spouse but the smell from the food beat him to it. Mew thought he was too loud while opening the door, he looked a bit sorry as he approached the one who just woke up.
"Did I wake you up?" He asked tenderly, positioning himself to dip on the edge of the king-sized bed. They were sleeping together last night, hand in hand.
Both soberly drifted to sleep, they remembered them intertwining their fingers, while Mew gave Gulf light strokes to calm him down. They knew, but they chose to silently left it on the back of their minds. Neither of them addressed that moment, probably they were too confused and shy for the most intimate thing they had ever done as friends.
If holding hands turned things to be awkward, then the 2 kisses they shared in just one day were left untouched. They remembered the kisses so vividly that it kept coming back to their minds even after they slept it off.
They didn't know how to address the weird things happening yesterday. Maybe being husbands to one another made them crossed the line they never knew they would cross it over.
The additional title to each other's spouse was what made them stepped over the 'friend' line. They were still friends, but they felt they both turned into something more than just friends.
Friends didn't kiss, but husbands did. Yeah, must be that.
"Did you order foods? I smell something delicious.." Instead of answering Mew, Gulf asked another thing.
Mew chuckled. His best friend must be starving to think about food first the moment he woke up. "I made us instant ramen," He gently said, "Two servings for you." He added when Gulf was about to say something.
Gulf then smiled a little too wide. Damn, he was that happy when Mew remembered that Gulf always had 2 packs of ramen whenever he consumed them. It was just a little thing, but that already made Gulf's day.
"Let's eat, you don't want them turn soggy." Mew patted on Gulf's head and walked away first. Gulf followed after him.
His saliva suddenly flowed when the smell of ramen became more apparent. Gulf had to gulp it down before he sat accros the other guy.
Unlike Gulf, Mew only had one serving. He was a gym rat, he needed to maintain his food intake to keep his body in shape. While Gulf was happy with his lean figure and a bump of belly. He needed no breads to lure girls.
"Thanks for the food!" Gulf uttered happily before he gobbled down the first bowl of ramen.
Mew joined to eat his ramen too. He let the silence took over as they ate. Only the slurping sounds—which coming from Gulf's side were heard.
Gulf finished his 2 servings in less than 10 minutes. Mew took a later time since he was busy watching the other guy.
"Oh, you still have some soup left." Gulf pointed out with his chin when Mew put down his chopsticks.
It didn't need a genius to understand that Gulf was eyeing for his leftover soup. Mew's eyes turned crescent as he smiled, "Do you want it?"
"Hmm... If you insist..." Gulf retorted as if he didn't care much. Mew knew he wanted it, so he pushed his bowl to Gulf.
"Then, I insist." He fed on Gulf's pride, without any fight.
Gulf was still in his nonchalant facade as he took Mew's bowl and brought it to his lips. He let the mild ramen soup filled his stomach. "You still cannot eat spicy things, huh?"
Mew shrugged, "I can eat some, but not in the morning. It will give me stomachache."
"Really? I don't remember you ever let something spicy on your plate..." Gulf wondered with his eyes looking up.
"Maybe you're just too busy with your girls to hang out with me that you missed the chance to see me eating spicy food." Mew teased and got a scornful look from Gulf.
"Isn't it to early to have a fight? We are still on our honeymoon, if you forgot, baby." Gulf emphasized the endearment call, however despite the sweet word, he looked threatening. So Mew shut it out.
The 'baby' word didn't seem so lovely to his ears. "I don't mean to tease you that way. We know how you were, and how I was, before this marriage. We can't change our past. It's in us."
Gulf sighed, "I know. I just don't like the way it sounds." He bit his lower lip while throwing his gaze to the scenery over the big window. They booked the room on the top floor. The view was amazing, yet Gulf didn't enjoy it since he was having something on his mind.
"I feel like I was a jerk compared to yourself." He finally let out of his chest.
"Still the thing about last night?" Mew thought they had sorted it out. He accepted Gulf the way he was, and Gulf fortunately accepted Mew for who he was—a gay man.
"Gulf, we've talked about this..."
"I know... But I still feel like shit whenever I think about it. You're so kind-hearted that you are even willing to take this marriage offer—to save a bastard's ass like me." Gulf beat Mew to talk first, "I know I'm not the eligible man for you. Hell, you can have a better man that's qualified to be your husband if you want to come out of your closet one day."
Mew didn't like how Gulf viewed himself. Despite the harem he established, Mew still found Gulf better than anyone else. He couldn't ask for a better husband. "Gulf, you are enough. I won't ask for a better man to be my husband." Mew repeated his words last night so that his words could pass through the other guy's thick skull.
"I'm a jerk."
Mew raised his brows, "So what?"
"I don't have the quality to carry out a marriage. I don't even do girlfriends-boyfriends things. It's just not....me..." He uttered in a low voice. The last sentence was a mumble.
"I don't mind. I knew how you are like the back of my palm. I accepted this marriage not to cage you. You can be whoever you want to be. Didn't I make myself clear enough?" Mew was a bit frustrated to make Gulf stood on the same understanding.
He never felt forced into this marriage. When Gulf's dad proposed through his father, he felt excited and he couldn't lie that he felt joy ran through his blood. He could technically call Gulf as his, and nothing exceeded those happy thought.
Yet, to his contrary, Gulf didn't take it that easily as he did. He was mad—furious even. He yelled at Mew for every chance he could get. He even slept with some woman to dirty the plan.
Gulf had always been changing sleeping partners from time to time, and Mew could handle it just alright when the other guy made some trouble during their 1-month preparation to the marriage.
Just like he said, Mew accepted Gulf for what he was, and he couldn't get why Gulf still thought that he didn't deserve Mew at all.
Behind the playful smirks and untestrained life, Mew knew how Gulf hid his sadness. That's how Gulf's defence-mechanism was.
Gulf bit his lower lip as his hand was taken into Mew's big palm. "You are enough." Mew pressured his words, hoping that it would sip into Gulf's brain.
The caramel-skinned guy gazed at Mew's thumb whose stroking his hand gently. It sent shivered down his spine, nothing particularly gave him this kind of feeling. But Mew provided him with this alien feelings since yesterday.
It felt weird, but Gulf didn't dislike it.
"Do I make myself clear?" Mew's stern voice resonated, leaving Gulf with nothing but to come back to his senses.
Gulf nodded weakly. He found himself sighed in disappointment when Mew's warmness left his hand.
"Let's stroll around the city. Let's do our honeymoon like other couples." Mew got up from his seat and cleaned the table by himself.
Gulf chose to have a cold shower to clear his mind.
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They spent the whole day going to the beaches nearby the hotel. They joked around like they used to, playing with sands and dipped themselves in the water.
Gulf seemed to be bored with the hote they were currently staying at, he gave out an idea to move into a more private resort, which have private infinity pool.
Mew didn't have any objection towards such idea, the thought of spending some private time with Gulf with a great view to the sea and enjoying Gulf's chatters would probably a greater idea than staying in the current hotel.
They directly checked out of the hotel and went to the resort of Gulf's choice. They had a bicker on who's going to pay for the expense. Gulf insisted on incurring the hotel's fee on his bill.
He said Mew could rent another villa and spend their honeymoon without him if Mew still insisted on paying the resort. So Mew backed down and let the other man paid for their private resort.
They were now in a golf-cart, escorting them to their room. Gulf's long bangs were blown here and there due to the wind that kept hitting their faces.
He formed a smile when their booked resort came to his sight.
"Are you happy?" Mew asked a rethorical question.
Gulf could just roll his eyes and send a sarcastic word or two to the other guy, but he was indeed happy.
Gul smiled widely, from ear to ear. He gave light nods to respond. He was genuinely happy that he was sharing this moments with his significant other.
A tender smile crept up on Mew's face as he got the response from Gulf. He was happy seeing the other guy happy.
They felt warm, with their joint hands grasping one another in the little space between them.
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"Don't eat it." Mew stopped Gulf from eating the seafood fried rice.
They were now enjoying their dinner while swimming in the infinity pool. Gulf wanted to have a floating dinner, so Mew asked the bell boy to serve them the dinner in the pool.
"It has shrimp in it. You will have a rash tonight if you eat it." Mew knew how Gulf's skin would turn red and itchy whenever he consumed shrimp. Gulf could eat other seafood but shrimp was his only exception.
Gulf brought his wet hand to put down the spoon which was full of fried rice. He was salivating over the fried rice, he particularly asked for it, but he knew the honeymoon wouldn't be enjoyable if his allergic peeped out.
He pouted and Mew could see the disappointment on Gulf's eyes. "Sorry, I didn't check the ingridients first and only checked them when it's served." He felt apologetic not to be careful when ordering the food.
"Let's share my dinner first while we order another seafood fried rice without shrimp." Mew suggested a way out so Gulf still could enjoy the fried rice he had been longing for.
Still with his pouty mouth, Gulf nodded, in agreement. Mew let Gulf took his dinner first while he came inside the room to make another order for Gulf.
When he came back, Gulf was still eating his curry rice. "It's a little bit hot, are you sure you can eat this thing?" Gulf asked worriedly.
Mew smiled as he lightly stroked Gulf's wet hair. The water drops on Gulf's face and the dimmed lighting from the bottom of the pool lighted up Gulf's face in a way that Mew liked.
Gulf was a thousand times prettier tonight. But Mew rather saved his thought for himself if he didn't want to get a harsh kick from the other guy.
"I told you I can eat hot food now. Curry is bearable." A japanese curry was alright to his taste bud. It was milder than Thai's cuisine.
Gulf nodded understandingly, "Here, have some." He scooped a spoonful of curry and gave it to Mew.
Mew didn't have any choice but to take the offer. It was delicious. Other than the curry, he could feel something else was filling up his stomach. A hundred of butterflies, probably.
Meanwhile, without Mew's knowledge, Gulf was basking his sight with Mew's godly fit and shaped upper body. The man was now sitting by the pool and had his lower feet dipping inside the water.
Gulf had known how Mew kept his body in shape, he maintained his food intake. Yet, he didn't know he would thank Mew's choice of healthy life this much. He enjoyed Mew's great posture a little too much that he was even flutered on his own.
When he said he kissed Mew by the altar because Mew's face was breathtaking, he wasn't lying at all. Now that he found Mew's body attractive, he wondered if he should kiss every inch of Mew's bare skin right there right now.
Damn, Gulf! What are you even thinking?! He scolded himself inwardly.
Before his thought was going places, Gulf was saved by the bell that rang. It was probably his additional order.
"I think it's your fried rice. Let me take it." Mew left Gulf alone.
The brown-skinned guy drowned himself right after to cool his head. He could feel the heat creeping up to his ears.
Mew came back with a plate of seafood fried rice and put it on the floating tray. "Here's your order, young master Kanawut." Mew jokingly mimicked Gulf's servant back at home.
The other guy rolled his eyes in annoyance but didn't say much. He had a scoop of fried rice and satisfied with the taste. He had the urge to share the taste with pale guy, so he feeded Mew a spoonful of it.
"Yummy, right?" Gulf asked in anticipation. He liked the tasty fried rice.
While Mew was dumbfounded with another 'attack' from Gulf by feeding him without warning, Mew had to process a moment before he nodded.
Gulf smiled widely, he feeded himself another one. He hummed a song that was unrecognizeable because he was happy. The food made him happy, or maybe Mew made it ten times better.
He let Mew had his own curry while he enjoyed the fried rice. Suddenly, Gulf called out the other guy's name.
"I've never thought marrying you was the best decision." Gulf's words sipped into his mind rather slowly, it took sometime for Mew to rearrange his compose.
"I thought it would weird... you and me living together. We have stayed overnight on some occassions, but living together surely would feel different." Gulf continued while munching his fried rice.
"I was afraid that we might change. I don't want us to become strangers after the marriage, like my parents did." There was a slight sadness in his voice. Mew could even see through a slight pained expression on Gulf's face.
"Honestly, a commitment... and marriage scare me... I like having you as my best friend and thinking that it's enough for me to be changing partners while having you sticking by my side..."
Mew didn't respond, he listened to every word Gulf uttered patiently. He was a good listener from the beginning of their friendship.
"As long as I have you, I don't mind any other things. People can come and leave me, but I know you will always be there for me. You will let me talk about the most absurd things and still laugh along when it's not even funny."
Mew smiled tenderly, as long as he could remember, Gulf's chatter was never not amusing to listen to. No matter how silly the topic was, Mew would gladly put his 100% attention to Gulf's word by word.
Or the way he enjoyed the silence between them when Gulf came to him to drink away his problem. Mew never pushed Gulf to talk. He always accompanied Gulf. Gulf wanted a drink buddy, he became one and made sure the other guy went home safely afterward.
"But now... that we are married.. I don't think it's as bad as I thought it would be." Gulf sipped his orange juice. "Not gonna lie, I'm still skeptic towards a commitment, though..."
Gulf's words made Mew smiled tenderly. He knew better than anyone else how Gulf viewed a commitment, moreover a marriage. That's the first reason as to why he agreed on marrying his bestfriend—to save the other guy from the commitment he never wanted.
While Mew was still swirling with his own thought, Gulf pulled him out of his daze, "I know you're doing this marriage thing for me... and I know you agree that this marriage won't change us..."
Gulf had a moment of silence, trying to compose the jumbled words on his head into a sentence. He licked his plump lips nervously before he said, "But I think we will change... at least on my side..."
He looked up at Mew and stared straight into Mew's deep gaze which had been locking his eyes on Gulf since the moment Gulf started talking.
"I want to be a better person."
Mew furrowed his brows in confusion, before he could ask, Gulf already uttered the words that would surprise him.
"I want to be with you for the longest time I could. If what makes us together now is this marriage, I want it to last, if not forever, then the longest time we could have."
Mew felt like his chest just combusted due to his heart that skyrocketted. Gulf caught him off guard by saying such sweet words. He thought he could die peacefully right now, but thinking that Gulf just offered him a long-term relationship—marriage—Mew could not afford to die now.
He wanted to have Gulf in his life for the longest time too. If he didn't remember how he was still friends before husbands, Mew would have kissed those plump lips.
He was going insane for not being able to smooch those alluring lips after getting such confession, Mew settled himself by squeezing Gulf's hand under the water. The coldness turned into a warmth that spread out all over their body.
Mew was having a hard time because his hands were twitching hard for restraining himself not to pull the other guy into a bone-crushing embrace.
"Gulf..."
"I'm sorry I have a messy life and bad past... You've promised me that we would never change... But I want to change. I don't want to be the old me. I don't want you to experience the same thing as my mother did every time my father spends the night with his mistress.."
"...Gulf.."
"I know we don't have love like any other partners. But if we don't have love, the least thing I could do is to be devoted to my partner." Gulf said in whispers. He lost his voice the more he confessed.
When he realized, Mew's face were 2 inches apart from his. The other guy's eyes were unreadable. Gulf was trying to read Mew when the pale-skinned man uttered, "Push me away if you don't like it."
Mew made his final warning before he touched Gulf's plump lips with his. That made Gulf inhaled a sharp breath before letting Mew's lips collided with his.
Mew hadn't use his power like the make out they did yesterday, but the kiss was so powerful and intoxicating that caused Gulf's legs stopped functioning. He lost balances the second Mew crashed his lips, and the other guys was quick enough to support him by placing his big palm on Gulf's back.
Mew gave a chance for Gulf to take his breath by letting go of those enchanting lips. Gulf looked beautifully messy, his glistening lips from the deep kiss he just received, almost blew off Mew's sanity.
Gulf's eyes were clouded with something he couldn't explain himself. He found himself disappointed yet again when he lost the touch of Mew's lips on his.
Call him crazy, but after another taste of Mew's lips, Gulf wanted to kiss nobody else but his best friends—whom strangely made Gulf grown attachment more than before.
His mind was too clouded to be able to think, Gulf's hands had a mind on their own when he placed them on Mew's nape and slowly pulling the other guy to taste his lips once more.
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To be continued
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A/N:
Geez, stop kissing! move forward and make love already!