It all started with a poster.
Krist and Singto stumbled upon this in the GMM building. Specifically, this stated:
Krist Perawat and Singto Prachaya
Please proceed to Conference Room 2098 and 2088 respectively. Please do so as soon as you stumble upon this message. Thank you.
— Management
It was actually extremely shady if you were to ask Krist, and it seemed that Singto felt the same. The poster was not actually just a paper printed with text on it, but it was decorated with vibrant colors paired with rainbows and smiley faces. In retrospect, it looked like it came out of a Kindergarten. The font was hideous.
Singto nudged him on the side, "Should we go?"
"I mean, I guess. It's weird though. What if we get kidnapped or something?" Krist raised his arms and the other rolled his eyes at him, swatting them down, "No we're not. Besides, there are guards near the conference rooms, it'll be alright. But I do agree that it is a little weird."
They looked around the floor and everyone was doing their work, nothing out of the ordinary. With that, Krist pressed the button to open the elevator. Soon, they walked in and arrived at the conference floor. This floor was solely dedicated to meetings and private matters, hence why it was usually very quiet with soundproof rooms. They saw the guards already by their assigned rooms and heaved a sigh of relief.
Krist looked over at him, "P'Sing if I get kidnapped, I just want to let you know that I love you."
"Oh shut up, Kit. Stop milking it, nothing bad will happen. I love you too, now go."
"Okay, here I go," Krist dramatically inhaled and exhaled, "Stay safe, Singtuan."
The man in particular already went into the room, and he was left in the hallway with the two guards, staring at him, "Do you mind if you could tell me why are we called into the conference room?"
The guard simply shook his head. Krist shrugged, oh well. Life is short, I guess.
When he entered the room, he was surprised to see five chairs arranged in a circle with four men already sitting in them. Four men who looked kind of similar to each other but he could have sworn every one of them was different. Quadruplets, maybe? His mind was too busy comprehending the fact that this oddly looked like a horrifying scene to an average person.
"Before I sit down," Krist looked at them all, and they were all surprisingly silent, "I have to ask, are there cameras in here?"
"We don't actually know," one of them replied. He was wearing a pink cardigan, his face looking impeccably gorgeous and his skin was like porcelain glass. Wow, this guy must be a model.
"Okay this is weird," Krist slowly sat down on the empty chair, starting to take in all of them. If Singto were in the same situation, this is actually insane. Krist decided that he would tread this lightly. It's not every day he gets to be in an oddly dark room sitting on stools forming a circle with four other attractive guys.
Krist noticed the guy beside him looked like he was a businessman, dare-he-say CEO. Wearing a grey suit, his hair was gelled to perfection. Why do all the people inside this room have to be so perfect in their styles? He wanted to sink into a hole on the ground.
"So, does anyone have a clue on what are we supposed to do here?" Another one started to speak, he was wearing a light blue polo, dressed in slacks. His tone was both professional but he could sense a hint of absurdity. The man beside him was grimacing, dressed in a white polo, a little similar to the one who previously asked the question.
The guy in the pink cardigan smiled brightly, "I don't think any one of us knows. But seeing as we're all here now, just so we could address ourselves, I'm Sunny. What are your names?"
"I'm Krist," he waved slightly. Watching as Sunny's mouth formed into a bigger smile.
"My name is Arthit," the man in blue polo gave a curt nod, Krist could already tell he was a little out of his element.
"I'm Watee," beside Arthit, the man in white gave the others a nod as well. His tone was more clipped if anything. Sunny's eyes landed on the person beside Krist, "And what about you... sir?"
"Oh, you don't need to address me so formally. My name is Wayu," immediately, he relaxed, showing off a nice grin to everyone. Somehow, all of them were a little starstruck by the man, mainly because he exudes such a light aura even though his attire screams power.
"Hello, guys. You may leave this room after two hours," the guard from outside slipped in, making all of the others look at him simultaneously. How peculiar this situation is. Krist turned his head back to look at all of them, and, "Now what?"
"We weren't given any instructions on what to do," Arthit said. He looked over to his left and saw Sunny practically bubbling, "We might as well make the most of it!"
"What do you suggest?" Krist asked, noting how Watee paled a little in his seat.
"Well, we could get to know each other. It's not every day you meet a bunch of strangers in a room."
"I was merely told to go here for a meeting, my assistant must have known something," Wayu added, and Arthit nodded at him, "One of my supervisors asked me to check this location."
"Odd, I saw a poster about a songwriting workshop. Why do you get the normal ones?" Sunny pouted, feeling a little dumb for being too gullible about the poster, "How about you, Watee?"
"I was actually just going to accompany my partner to this location, his friend told him to go here and the guard told me to go into this conference room."
"My partner and I were also told to go here," Krist tilted his head. This was probably one of the most confusing things he has ever experienced.
Sunny sighed beside him, "My semi-boyfriend told me he had somewhere to go today. Sucks that I don't have him here with me."
Arthit furrowed his eyebrows, a little startled, "If it's not too personal, can you clarify, did you actually say semi-boyfriend?"
"This is so weird that I am about to spill my life to a bunch of random people but let me live. Yes, we are in a gray area right now. Tl;dr, he technically used me as a replacement for his dead ex."
Krist could see Watee choke on his spit. Wayu cleared his throat, rapidly blinking, "I"m sorry, what?"
Krist has seen these kinds of things in movies but who would have thought some people could have the audacity to actually do them. Sunny tried to do some damage control, "Okay, everyone, chill. It's not as bad as you think. He's a really nice man, and he realized that his feelings for me were real and not because of some resemblance. I would have loved to meet his ex though, we really looked alike."
"I don't know, he kind of sounds like an ass," Arthit crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. Sunny shook his head, "I promise, we talked it out, and it was like a year ago. But this made me really hesitant to actually date him, I mean, I was head-over-heels for the guy at first."
"Oh trust me. I know the feeling," Krist couldn't help but add, rolling his eyes, "Your semi-boyfriend is hopefully redeeming himself, but I hope you slapped some sense into him because if I were in your shoes, I would actually punch him. Or throw a string of curses, your pick."
The other three nodded thoughtfully. Arthit placed a hand on Sunny's shoulder, "Whatever makes you happy. Just make sure if he fucks up, let him really know."
"Yes, Arthit. Wow, y'all really know a thing or two about relationships. Now that I've shared mine, would anyone like to follow?" Sunny raised an eyebrow at Arthit, suggesting. The other squeezed his shoulder and Sunny slightly yelped, "Hey!"
Arthit sighed heavily, "Well, as if this day couldn't get any weirder, what could I lose? I met my partner when he was a freshman and I was the head hazer. Long story short, we ended updating, and even after almost breaking up before he went abroad, we stayed together and he's now back and we live together."
Watee, the youngest of them all, still in college, perked up when he heard him, "Really? We never went through hazing, mainly because I was in architecture."
"Who knew Watee was actually chatty?" Sunny chuckled as Watee scowled at him.
"Um, yeah. I thought I was actually being scary for them but I guess my partner found it cute every time," Arthit scoffed, "Oh, he's probably gonna hate me for this, but let me tell you he literally sat in the sea once when I told him to cool his head when we were having a hazing trip at the beach."
"Must be some guy," Watee couldn't help but snort. Wayu even bit his lip to stop laughing. Sunny giggled, "He sounds like an honest man."
"He is. Sometimes too honest. Makes it a habit to get me flustered, yeah he's a real piece of work," even with snarky words, Arthit let out a soft smile of his own.
Krist grinned, "That's actually really adorable. He's smitten, I bet. Kind of reminds me of my own partner."
"Oh? You were a hazer too?"
"Technically, yes, I was. But I fell for him when he was the head hazer. I was a year below him and we became good friends, until one day we were cast to act in a series and the rest was history."
"We're gonna need more details than that," Wayu said. It was actually quite odd for this professional-looking man to be so invested in their stories, Krist found it both amusing and thoughtful, "Um, well. I confessed my feelings for him after one concert and he felt the same. We've been secretly dating ever since."
"Oh, so you must be famous then?" Sunny asked, intrigued.
Krist laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess."
"It must be hard keeping your relationship a secret," Wayu added, his eyebrows creasing a little as he thought about it and how it related to his past.
"Right?!" Arthit and Krist said at the same time, laughing after realization. Truthfully, it's odd how they have something in common between each of them.
Watee sunk in his seat, now visibly distressed because he knew that Sunny's piercing gaze would prompt him to be the next one to spill his life story with his own romance.
Sunny cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone, "I'm actually curious about your own story, Watee. You look like the youngest among all of us and no offense, but you seem kinda... reserved."
"You remind me of how I was when I was a hazer," Arthit said, noticing how Watee was acting reserved and quite frankly, grumpy.
"Well, um, I think that's only how I appear? My partner told me he finds me as one of the happiest people on Earth," the man in question stated, pulling at his sleeve. Krist smirked, already knowing this, "He must be pretty biased to you. Or maybe you're just like that with him. We won't judge."
"Love can be blind," Wayu quipped. Oh, how that statement accurately depicts his own story, if only they knew.
Watee flushed a bright red, "As much as I'd like to keep to myself, I'll feel bad if I don't say anything. Uh, my partner and I were childhood friends."
"Ah, what a classic," Krist replied. This didn't make Watee any less red.
"We kind of drifted apart after he stopped coming to our house during the summer, but then he became one of my tenants, and we kind of rekindled our friendship from there."
"I assume your friendship wasn't the only thing you formed," Arthit gave him a sly grin, Watee sputtered, "I- Uhm, yeah. Well, I liked him but I thought it was unrequited but it turns out he liked me from the beginning."
"Aw, I want a love story like that!" Sunny exclaimed, cooing at Watee's story. It truly was adorable.
"He's also a food science student so he makes my favorite dishes all the time," this fact Watee wanted to keep to himself but this group of strangers was making him more comfortable as if an unknown force was making him completely trust them.
"It must be nice," Arthit sighed from his chair, leaning back, "my boyfriend can't cook for shit."
"Huh, same again!" Krist interjected, Watee chuckled at them. Sunny shrugged, "my semi-boyfriend makes good coffee."
"He's also good at finding replacements," Arthit noted, earning a half-hearted glare from the other. Wayu smiled at all of their antics, "All of you seem to have delightful partners."
"Well, what about you, Wayu? Any stories about your partner?" Sunny asked. He watched as Wayu shifted a little in his seat, rubbing his fingers. Krist noticed that Watee was nervously avoiding eye contact.
"You don't have to—" Krist started, but was interrupted.
"My first lover, if I could even call her my lover, ended really bad. We're still on good terms, but mine is a really long story. To make it short, let's say that I fell in love with my family's caretaker, turned into my stepmother, and uhm, there were a lot of guns and deserted islands, politics, and kidnappings. She briefly went to jail and I became the CEO of our family's company."
There was a moment of complete and utter silence.
Wayu knew this was coming. He felt bad that he wasn't contributing much to the conversation but he didn't mean to drop a word vomit on all of them. He noticed everyone was staring at him. Arthit has his hand over his mouth to cover his shock, Sunny was frozen, but he was still smiling tightly as if he was trying his hardest to comprehend everything, Watee didn't even bother to cover up his gaping mouth, and Krist was looking at him dead in the eye, face scrunched up, like Watee's.
"And I thought no one could beat Sunny," Krist broke the atmosphere, and Sunny shook his head at him, leaning forward to pry at Wayu, "Are you sure you're not joking?"
"Unfortunately I am not," Wayu wished he was simply in a shirt right now, his suit was becoming incredibly hot to breathe in. He made a mental note to scold his assistant.
"I actually have no words for this one. I'm sorry to hear about that, khun," Arthit spoke, genuinely at a loss. He briefly glanced at Watee, who was still in shock, "I won't ask about how you fell for her, but I assume you're now single?"
"And here I thought all of us were gay," Krist murmured, Wayu clearly heard.
He snorted, "I don't have a preference, actually."
"Oh, interesting," Sunny noted. Watee was still sitting in his seat, pale, "Watee, don't sweat over adult stuff. I think Wayu just lives in a very eventful lifestyle."
"Louder, please," Wayu added. Sometimes he thought about his life and simply just laughs at how everything went through. Krist placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, grinning, "It seems like you are happily single now, that's great for you."
"Honestly, with all of the work I've been burying myself into, yeah, a little lighter load."
Watee cleared his throat, "Your story sounds like it came from a lakorn."
"It sure does," Wayu sighed, feeling Krist squeeze his shoulder, "but it is nice to hear all of your stories. I think your partners love you all dearly."
"I'm not sure about mine," Sunny awkwardly spoke, grimacing.
Watee gave him a small smile, comforting, "I'm sure whichever guy you fell for is worth it. I don't think you would fall for the wrong one, so cheer up."
"I feel like I actually might cry, Watee is comforting me."
"Please don't push it," he scowled at the beaming man, Arthit chuckled.
An awkward moment of silence passed once again. Of course, someone had to—
"So... sugar mommy, huh?"
"Sunny!"
"What?"
Wayu put his face in his hands, ears flushed, and thoroughly humiliated, "Oh god, please don't. I've had my assistant tease me for months. She became my stepmother when I was abroad okay?"
"Okay, okay! Sunny, shut up! Wayu doesn't need more of this," Arthit scolded him, Krist held in his own laugher, Watee was pale again.
"Fine, I'll stop. But don't tell me y'all weren't thinking about it!"
Wayu buried himself even more in his palms, god he wanted to bury himself underground.
"Hey, it's not his fault for falling for older partners, maybe he has a type!" Krist tried to help him, but the raised eyebrow that Arthit was giving him was not comforting him in any way.
"Oh, don't you justify this. Your boyfriend is only older than you by one year," and the bullets were fired. Wayu and Krist slumped in their seats: Man down 1, Man down 2.
"Can we please change the subject?" Watee asked, halting whatever conversation that was about to commence.
"Fine. Maybe someday, Wayu, you can find someone again. Hopefully, this one is away from your family tree— ow, Arthit! Okay, I'm done, I'm done!"
"As I change the subject, Krist, can you tell us what your partner looks like? I assume you're both celebrity actors, but I don't think you look familiar on TV," Wayu adds, sending a last pointed look to an innocently smiling Sunny.
"Um, well, he's tan. A little taller than me, but only like an inch or so. Sometimes we look the same height. He has a defined jawline and beautiful slim fingers. He's the same build as me and likes to wear jewelry, such as earrings, and such," Krist answers. Not quite sure how detailed he should be. This was supposed to be a secret relationship but here he was, spilling them to a bunch of good-looking strangers.
"Funny how this sounds like my boyfriend too," Arthit said, "I know it's a little general but that's what I would describe him. Minus the jewelry."
"Same, but mine wears glasses occasionally," Sunny spoke.
Watee nodded as well, "Same with Arthit's answer."
"Well, it looks like quite a coincidence has occurred," Wayu stated, looking at the glances exchanged by the other men. Slowly, they all became confused.
"Are you all sure?" Krist asked. They all nodded. Wayu weakly gasped, "That's odd."
"Maybe you could show us a picture of him?" Arthit suggested. Krist started to pull out his phone from his pocket when a buzzing sound was heard from the door. Everyone flinched a little in their seats.
The guard from earlier entered the room, giving them a wai, "Hello. Your time is up, you may go now. Your companions are waiting at the lobby."
"It's been two hours already?" Krist asked, feeling a little disappointed by the fact. He enjoyed the conversation they were all having.
"Yes."
"Oh, that's unfortunate. You were all very lovely to talk to," Wayu said. Sunny smiled, "Yeah. We should all hang out sometime."
"It's not every day you meet a bunch of people in a weird location," Arthit noted, laughing at Watee nodded vigorously at him.
"It was nice to meet you all," Watee said, grinning widely.
They all gathered outside the room, noticing that the room beside them was empty. Krist figured they finished first.
"Hey, Sunny. You should let us meet your semi-boyfriend next time. I want to give him a little lesson on how to properly treat people—"
"Okay, that's quite enough, Arthit. I'm sure Sunny already gave him a module. Let's go," Krist wrapped an arm around Arthit's shoulders, suddenly acting like they were best friends.
As they went down the elevator, they continued to chat amongst themselves about random things. Quite frankly, this day was one of the most bizarre things that happened in their life and that's including Watee's backstory. The receptionist greeted them at the lobby, and they noticed their companions weren't present.
"Good afternoon. The people with you have all left. Watee, your boyfriend Maitee's waiting outside, already calling for a taxi. Wayu, your assistant is bringing her car to the lobbying drive. Arthit, your partner Kongpob wanted to tell you that he was just buying pink milk from the nearest kiosk. He should be near the entrance."
She turned to the last two, "Sunny, your boyfriend wanted to wait for you by the entrance too. He's taking your guitar from the lounge."
"And Krist, P'Tae told me you and Singto have a meeting on the fourth floor."
Everyone nodded at her instructions. Thanking her politely. As they all parted ways, they waved each other goodbye. All of them had lingering thoughts on their minds: today was a very weird day.
Meanwhile, Wayu took his phone out from his jacket pocket, dialing his assistant, "Nuengjai, are you near the lobby now?"
"Yes, Wayu. I'm about to pull up. Hurry."
"Kind of ironic that I'm the boss," Wayu rolled his eyes, already striding towards the exit. He was too focused to rush that he didn't notice a person bumping into him.
The force caused him to drop his phone, flinching backward. He began his onslaught of apologies as he quickly picked up his phone, but the person already took a hold of it, giving it to him as they both stood up. It was then that he noticed he was looking at one of the prettiest men he has ever seen in his life.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Here," the man said, and when Wayu proceeded to take it, their fingers briefly brushed. And he felt like he was experiencing a crush again as his heartbeat quickened. This person has a beautiful voice.
"I'm sorry too," he said and noticed that the other paused too, staring a little too long at his face. And when the man smiled, oh, Wayu felt like he wanted to crouch into a big ball and roll on the floor. Totally not CEO behavior.
"Uh, bye," the man awkwardly waved, cheeks a little flushed. Wayu knew he was probably blushing too. He saw him walk away and put his phone to his ear, hissing what sounds like, "Okay, Boom. Stop being such an ass and pick me up here!"
Wayu smiled at his retreating back, ignoring his buzzing phone which is sure to be his fussy assistant. Today was a weird day indeed.
Author's Note
And, I finished THE CROSSOVER AU. God, I've been planning this since last year but I only got the time to do it now, oh my god. Please, I will keep my Plathong slander until he redeems himself. I plan to have another version with Singto this time, and I need to conceptualize this first because his characters would be hard to blend in.
I hope you all enjoyed and please do leave a comment <33 Thank you for reading!
Lovelots,
Allie