A/N: Lmaoo guess who's back after half a year? 😭 Anyway here's to you readers who still hoped for me to update this story.... If there are any discrepancies do let me know... It's been so long.... Also thank you for being here!! Means the world to me!
*
There was an annual talent show that the school organized, it was one of the fee occasions when Arthit felt excited to go to school.
Arthit didn't usually win those shows but something about having to show his interests and talent to the people made him giddy in the gut.
While Kong was working hard with his own science project, Arthit busied himself to create the perfect project.
People might not see it at first but Arthit was a boy with many talents, he was good at painting, good at crafting peculiar art and photography was something that came naturally to him. He never usually flaunted his creations until it was the end of the year show.
It was only Kong who was familiar with every creation of his, supporting him in silence even when he didn't outwardly show how much he liked it, Arthit just knew his best friend was impressed with everything he created.
That talent show was more special because it was going to be the last one they were ever going to attend, Arthit had crafted a beautiful pair of black swans, carefully carved from the clay before he moved to work on the huge canvas, painting a beautiful art consisting of his own abstract ideas revolving around flowers and swans with shades of pink, blue and white.
Arthit was pretty confident of his art, Kong had even patted him on the back and had stayed by his side while Arthit had given the finishing touches to his painting. Kong had helped him select the photographs that Arthit would eventually assemble to decorate with strings around the canvas and the clay swans at the venue itself.
"Arthit…. This is actually amazing." Kong had whispered to him in the dead of the night as they finished collecting the last of pictured, crouched together in the corner of Arthit's room.
Arthit smiled, "What about your project?"
Kong's eyes glimmered in enthusiasm, "Do you want to see it?"
Arthit nodded and soon enough, Kong had carefully kept the pictures aside, grabbed Arthit's wrist as they made their way to Kong's room, Em was blissfully asleep while Kong pulled out of number of huge cardboard and chart sheets.
Arthit found himself gazing with awe as his best friend showed him his immaculately presented ideas on the cardboard sheets, Kong was trying to invent a certain clothing material that wouldn't just be waterproof but also fireproof, something that was also fashionable that people could wear in their daily lives.
Arthit gasped as Kong pulled out a prototype he had made, a little jacket that still didn't look fashionable enough but it did show resistance from fire and water.
"That's genius!" Arthit exclaimed but Kong shook his head.
"It's still imperfect, Arthit… if I increase the length, it'll catch fire, it still leaves a shade of burn or a wetting spot…. I'm just trying for some of the guests to gain interest so I can work harder on this."
Arthit nodded, staring at his friend, just in awe as how much passionate and ambitious he was about his ideas. Half of the things that Kong uttered after that was everything Arthit couldn't grasp but he did know one thing and it was the fact that Kong was one of the hardest working boy Arthit had ever seen.
Kong would give everything his hundred percent and it made something heavy settle in Arthit's chest but he ignored it in favour of Kong's incomprehensible technical knowledge.
The next morning, the two boys left a couple hours earlier to school, to set up their projects and make sure everything would be alright.
Kong had already left towards the Science section to get started on his presentation while Arthit tried not to stumble with his huge canvas and other belongings, dangerously stumbling but eventually he made his way to the Arts section, quite a few of his classmates were already there setting up their crafts.
He made sure the clay swans didn't break on the way, carefully placing them at the table assigned to him. Eventually pulling out the metal strings on which he would hang the selected photographs from his bag. He hadn't felt more fired up as he stared at his craft for a moment before reaching for the heavy canvas board he had struggled the most with.
It was only that he was able to place the canvas that he felt his heart drop to his gut. He stared in shock, finally noticing the way the pen he had kept in pocket not long ago was now plunged into the board, with all his movements the pen had teared ruthlessly through the canvas, right across the whole painting and ruining everything in a manner Arthit didn't know he could fix.
He tried swallow, he could hear the silent snickers of his classmates, some sounds of sympathy yet he couldn't bring himself to snap out of the panic, he tried to blink away the tears that threatened to roll out.
What was he supposed to do?
He silently sat there with his ruined painting, trying not to make an even bigger scene by crying right in front of everyone present there, but he had worked so hard.
***
Kong was setting up the last of his sheets, making sure the prototype was perfectly placed beside when he heard his classmate speak behind.
"Hey Kong, I heard about Arthit crying at the Arts Section?" The girl said, uncertain and Kong frowned.
His mind hadn't been as fast as his hands had been, already keeping his things aside, asking one of his friends to guard his belongings before he rushed his way out. It didn't take long before he found Arthit sobbing silently at his table, the students eyeing him in mockery and some in sympathy yet no one came to comfort the boy, to help him somehow.
Kong glared at them as he made his way to his friend. Gently keeping a hand on his shoulder and Arthit looked up to meet his concerned gaze with a teary one.
"Hey, what's up?" Kong gently prodded, slowly pulling him closer until Arthit pressed his face to Kong's shoulder and sobbed louder.
"I messed up, Kong! Why am I so clumsy?" He cried while Kong gently ran his hand comfortingly at his back.
"What happened?" Kong asked and eventually wiping off his tears with his fingers while Arthit tried to compose himself.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, we all have our days." Kong whispered before Arthit could blame himself even more, noticing the prying mocking glances.
"Look at this." Arthit spoke up instead, pushing the ruined canvas towards him.
Kong furrowed his brows, expression grave as Arthit blankly stared at him.
"This can be fixed." Kong spoke up.
"It's ruined! Don't you see how my pen is stabbed there! A whole tear through it!" Arthit said louder and Kong shook his head.
Arthit watched as Kong pulled the pen out, he watched with a heavy heart at the gaping tear through his canvas.
"Wait right here! Just prepare your paints to repair this." Kong said before he had separated and rushed off to somewhere.
Arthit felt like crying again, staring hopelessly at his ruined canvas but he got to preparing his paints and pallette like Kong had asked him.
It didn't take long before Kong was rushing back in, with one of his cardboard sheets.
"We can cut a piece out, cover the tear from behind and you can paint over the tear once again, it'll cover everything!" Kong explained and Arthit blinked.
For some strange reason he felt his heart flutter, watching the firm determination reflecting in Kong's eyes.
Arthit forced himself to look away, at the cardboard, noticing the various write ups stuck on it, details mentioned there, about Kong's prototype.
"But- this is your project."
Kong tutted at him, annoyed, "It's only a small part of my presentation, I have other charts and cardboard, I've learnt the lines and stuff, I can manage this, yours is more important. Let's just hurry, the paint will take time to dry."
Arthit, for the first time in his life, felt at loss of words.
It shouldn't have surprised Arthit how easily Kong did things for him, it was a part of his nature, to always be there for the ones close to him, yet it didn't stop Arthit from admiring his best friend more than he usually did.
He got to work with Kong beside him, helping him cut the piece and gluing it to the backside of the canvas, eventually turning it and Arthit got to painting it. He was still anxious from the residual panic but something akin to calm and comfort had washed over him with his best friend beside him.
By the time he was done, he realised Kong had already detangled the strings, Arthit couldn't help but smile as he started to help him pin the pictures on it.
It took them another hour before the paint was dry enough for them to lay the strings around, letting the photographs lay beautifully around it with the black swans ahead.
Arthit smiled wider until his teeth showed, he felt so proud of it, despite it may seem like nothing to some.
Kong patted his head, "I gotta go now, see you after the show! Also I've heard the Art Exhibition will be done first… so drop by when my presentation will be up?"
Arthit nodded, his gaze soft as he watched Kong dust off the invisible dirt from his shirt and sprinted back towards his own section.
The exhibition went on smoothly, his parents and Prae and May dropped by, everyone smiled, impressed and complimented Arthit for his art. Arthit felt his shoulders hike in pride as he took in all the compliments.
Eventually, the art exhibition ended and Arthit was hurriedly keeping his belongings aside before he made his way to the science section, he could already see Kong on the stage.
Kong's presentation had only just begun, quite a lot were present there as Arthit made his way backstage, standing among the crowd of students there while Kong went on with his presentation.
Kong took a moment though, where he looked around, eventually at the little space at the backstage and smiled brighter when he spotted Arthit there.
Arthit waved at him enthusiastically, if the boy beside him got smacked by his hand, it wasn't his fault.
Kong was explaining his project, Arthit didn't get half of it yet the nervousness was getting to him, there was a whole sheet missing, Arthit clasped his hands together, watching as Kong flipped through the last of the cardboards before he realised Kong was explaining the details from the missing one.
The air that Kong carried was so confident that Arthit felt the flutter of his heart return again, Kong didn't even give a single sign of nerves as he spoke confidently.
Arthit wouldn't admit it but it was that moment that had him looking at his best friend in awe, he looked up to Kong more than he would ever admit to it. Kong's confidence and knowledge was something Arthit wished he could understand, could have.
Before he realised it, the presentation was already over, everyone clapping and Arthit joined in, smiling wider as Kong made his way inside the backstage.
He didn't even hesitate to pull Arthit into his arms right in front of all their batch mates present there. Arthit felt his face get warmer as he hugged his friend tighter before they separated.
"How was your exhibition?" Kong asked
"You just gave a way more tedious presentation and you're worried about mine?" He snorted as they made their way to their parents standing among the audience.
Kong shrugged, "Yours was tedious too, plus the scare we got in the morning."
Arthit nodded, pressing his lips together as they joined their families. Prae and Em were going on and on about how much they loved Kong's project while May stayed behind to congratulate Arthit on his beautiful craft.
As usual, Kong won the gold medal while Arthit's art didn't even make it into the list. It didn't matter though, Arthit was used to it and honestly, he didn't want his hobby to become a competition but Kong deserved every recognition that he received.
By the end of it all, the pair of best friends found themselves settled in Arthit's balcony, the sun settling as they enjoyed the hot meatballs and rice his mom had made for them while Kong still had the gold medal hanging around his neck.
Kong tried not to show it but Arthit knew just how proud his friend had felt.
"You deserve that medal, you worked so hard on your project. You'll hear me say this only once but I'm actually so proud of you, Kong." Arthit said.
Kong's smile felt warmed under the settling sun, taking a moment just to stare at him while Arthit stole another meatball from his plate.
Arthit squawked as he felt Kong lifting the gold medal away from his own neck to slide it on Arthit's instead. Arthit looked down, looking at the heavy gold medal glowing over his chest, close to his heart.
"You worked hard too, you deserve it more than me if I'm being honest…. I'm proud of you too, Arthit." Kong said, taking another bite before leaning his back to the wall.
Arthit tried so hard not to smile but he did anyway, trying to play off the blush of his cheeks because of the hot weather, leaned back to the wall beside as well.
"Plus, you never know…. There might be some hotshot guest present who'll offer me some good money and a scholarship that'll be worth more than this." Kong teased haughtily and probably deserved it when Arthit playfully jabbed the end of his chopsticks at his ribs.
They both started to laugh, feeling warmer than ever before.
Arthit watched as Kong's eyes sparkled in softness and warmth. There was a strange heaviness settling inside, he couldn't imagine their lives once school would be over.
He didn't look forward to life after that because he knew they would've to go their separate ways, like every kid that grows up their friendship wouldn't be as close as it was then…. They'd join different colleges and….
Kong would become just a friend.
Arthit looked down at his plate, blinking his eyes before tears could form in them as he finished the last of his food, the echoes of Kong's blissfully unaware laughter still beside him.
⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫
Kongpob's P.O.V.
In the list of things and people that I had come to love all through the years, Arthit would always be the first one…. Though the free weekends followed close behind.
I loved weekends where I didn't have to wake early, didn't have to hear my annoying alarm tune or wake up to an empty bed.
I could just simply bask in the warmth of my bed with Arthit spooning me so protectively…. Those were the best mornings ever.
"Kong…. Will you make the breakfast?" Arthit patted at my arm.
I sighed, pretending to be asleep.
"I know you're not asleep. I've already brushed my teeth." Arthit whispered in my ear and I groaned, flipping to bury my face into Arthit's chest.
"Come on…. I'm so hungry right now." I felt him nudge my shoulder.
"If you want I can satisfy your hunger all the same." I drawled pulling away to give my best shouldering look.
Arthit rolled his eyes, "Maybe later, I'm really hungry right now, dude."
"You're always hungry, you have a pitless well for a stomach." I whined, but did eventually get up, but not before smacking Arthit with his pillow while the other giggled.
"Admit it, you love me like that!" Arthit said.
Eventually getting up and following me downstairs and lounging by the kitchen table while I busied myself in preparing for our breakfast.
"Can't believe I have to do so much just so I can make out with you." I grumbled lightly while pulling out the chopping board.
Arthit kept a hand over his chest, "You're so charming, babe." He mocked.
I rolled his eyes but couldn't hide my smile when Arthit crossed the kitchen, pulling me back by the hem of my shirt just to plant a soft peck on my cheek.
"Only for you, babe." I muttered before getting to chopping the veggies.
Arthit pulled out his laptop in the meantime, busy typing something.
I glanced at him, Arthit had been busy these past few days, typing furiously on his laptop and on the phone with his colleague.
I could care less but it still felt so refreshing... to see Arthit working so hard for something after such a long time.
"How's your work going?" I asked, despite the strain in my voice.
Arthit looked up, eyes wide like a deer caught under headlights, he smiled, noticing my hesitant words to be supportive despite not liking his job at all.
"It's going okay…. For now." Arthit answered, awkward for a moment.
"Got any news on that CEO?" I teased, leaning against the counter and Arthit chuckled.
"Last I heard, the rumors said that he was a beast in bed, making his fiance almost pass out that one time." Arthit teased back.
I chuckled, "Don't remind me of that! I felt so bad for that."
Arthit cooed adorably at that but laughed all the same.
"Maybe I should start exercising with you too, it's about time…" Arthit said thoughtfully, finally keeping his laptop aside.
I smirked, "You'll go for a jog and then call it a day. You never follow through, turtle."
Arthit quirked a brow, "Are you challenging me, Mr Suthiluck?"
I looked at him challengingly before pouring the egg batter onto the pan.
"We'll see." He conceded as he waited until I was done with the food.
"Love you so much." Arthit gave me a short kiss before accepting the plate.
I smiled warmer and set my own plate down as well. Once we were finished with eating, Arthit took our plates to clean at the sink while I decided to cling to him like a koala.
"When are you going to be done?" I groaned, impatient.
Arthit chuckled, just as he was finished with it, I flipped him, pressed closer and caging Arthit at the counter itself.
I leaned closer, a hand at his hip, ready to lift him to settle at the counter when he spoke up.
"Not at the counter, not at the counter…. Every time I think about it I get reminded how my mom screamed at me when I was younger. She hated people sitting on the kitchen counter." Arthit said, gently pushing me away but holding my hand.
I sighed, "I mean… that's the same with my mom."
Arthit hummed before pushing me to the couch and climbing onto his lap, my hands immediately found purchase on his thighs before I felt Arthit's lips on mine.
That was why I loved weekends, I could have lazy makeouts with my fiance to my heart's desire. I felt Arthit melt, making sounds that no one apart from me would hear.
Gosh, moments like these reminded me just how much I loved this dude right there. He cherished me the same way I loved him. I couldn't have asked for more-
I felt him groan against my lips when my phone's ringtone rang louder in my pocket.
I was going to ignore it but Arthit was already separating, giving me space to pick it up while his arms stayed around my shoulders, keeping his head at the crook of my neck as I pulled my phone out.
I frowned, why was my secretary calling me on a weekend?
"Who is it?" Arthit asked, his breaths slowing.
"Jane… why's she calling me on an off day?" I uttered as Arthit slowly sat up in my lap to watch me pick the call.
"Good morning sir, I hope I didn't catch you at the wrong time." She said,
"Good morning, Jane, it's fine… you usually don't call me on off days, is something the matter?" I asked, cautiously.
"Yes, actually… there's this article…. It got published like last night… and it's garnering a lot of unwanted attention."
"What is it?" I asked, feeling Arthit lean closer, trying to listen on.
"Well, I'm sending it to you… just letting you know that there will be some unwanted media attention on you for a few days so stay safe." Jane said ominously.
"Yeah, send me." I was a little confused before I ended the call and soon enough the notification with the link to the article popped up.
"What is it?" Arthit asked.
"Nothing, just an article… Jane said something-" I froze when I read the headline.
Billionaire CEO Kongpob Suthiluck seen at a private booth of The Chill Restaurant. On a probable date?
"What the…" I felt my voice trailing as I read through the article. I felt Arthit crawling from my lap to settle beside me.
Someone had the audacity! Wait- actual time on their hands to write huge bloody paragraphs on me booking a private space in the restaurant and how I seemed to be waiting for someone…. It also contained some blurry pictures of me walking into the restaurant to sitting at the table to myself.
"Someone clicked pictures of me waiting at the restaurant for our date…. I'm just… oh god I'm so glad they didn't film you." I said, scrolling through the article before I reached down to read the name of the journalist, only blink a few times and reread the name again.
Arthit Rojnapat
Journalist at Exposé
"Bro what the hell!" I chucked my phone at the table before looking at him. I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry that Arthit had written a whole article on his own date.
Arthit grimaced, scratching his head, "Ok, I have an explanation."
I nodded, "You better have one because my head is hurting already. You asked me to book that restaurant, you were the one who said it's been long since we went on a date…. You showed up late! And then you write a whole article on me enjoying steak there."
"So…. You can like- say you were there for some business meeting…. I purposely chose you to book a date there because that restaurant isn't where we usually go, it saves our privacy and plus- I'm not being exposed." Arthit shrugged.
"But I'm being exposed for ordering three glasses of pink milk!" I exclaimed but couldn't help it as a laugh escaped my lips.
Arthit groaned.
"This is really ridiculous, Arthit…. The article's going viral and the media houses will try to reach me…. Can you handle that?" I asked.
"I can manage, believe in your fiance sometimes." Arthit patted at my chest and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"But can you manage this, Kong? If it bothers you too much- I…. I'll do something else…" Arthit's voice wavered and I pulled him closer.
"As long as you promise me a really good time and- like this doesn't get out of control." I conceded.
Arthit sighed, raising his eyebrows.
"Well… a deal's a deal then." He said before climbing back and stifling my laughter with his hot lips, ignoring the numerous times my phone went off with notifications and texts.
God…. I just hope this didn't get out of control.