Chay bites his lip, "are you kidnapping me?"
"And what if I am?"
Chay doesn't doubt Kim's words—he firmly believes that Kim would kidnap him if Chay didn't want to stay with him. And Chay should find it allarming. Should fight and run as far as he can, and never look back.
But that wouldn't be Chay. Chay likes this. He maybe likes it too much. Likes Kim's attention. Likes how Kim can't get enough of him, how he keeps crushing their bodies together closer and closer as if it's never close enough. Likes how Kim's attention didn't waver from him even for a second. But above all of this, Chay must admit that he is relishing in Kim's obsession. The longer he is subjected to it, the more he loves it. It's like there's an addiction growing inside of him—an addiction to feel Kim's obsession all over him. To think that he almost sent Kim to hell when he asked him for dinner... Thank god, he didn't. Chay loves it here—in Kim's arms, comfortable on his lap... he feels needed, desired, loved. It's all things that are creating a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest, and Chay wants that feeling to never disappear.
But as much as he wants it, right now, he has to leave Kim's warm arms and go back home. No matter if there is an angry mob boss somewhere planning his death, Chay still has a life outside of this whole mafia mess that he has to take care of.
"Then I let you," Chay casually replies to Kim's teasing. "But not today—I have to go home." He starts trying to get out of Kim's grip. "We'll see each other on Friday."
Kim pulls him back on his lap. His hold is firm, firmer than before. "You aren't going anywhere!" Chay hears Kim's growl next to his ear. It sends pleasant shivers down his spine. That's another thing—Chay might enjoy possessive Kim more than he thought he would. But this can't distract him now.
He puts his hand on Kim's—warm and strong on his waist. Chay knows that if he wants Kim to let him go, he has to give him a reason that would in no way seem that he wants to leave Kim... It's just that he has to. And that's not that hard because it's true. It's not that Chay wants to get away from Kim, but he has to—his stupid university, his precious Al Capone... Chay has things to take care of, so he starts explaining, "I am. Kim... you know that I have my last exam on Thursday. Plus, I have a cat at home that I need to feed. And that's not even an excuse—I really have a cat."
"I know you do. I know that you have a cat and an exam to take, but you are staying with me, Chay!"
Chay looks at Kim, he was expecting Kim to act exactly like this—to fight just to keep Chay with him. But Chay has a way to fight as well. "Kimhan, are you forcing me to stay here?"
Chay watches Kim shakes his head and feels himself being drawn even deeper into Kim's arms. Their chest collides, and Chay just lets his hands settle around Kim's body. He feels Kim's breath dancing over his skin when Kim says, "I'm not, sweetheart. But you have to stay with me. I can't let you go. Not again."
Chay doesn't want to let go of Kim again as well. But unless Kim would go with him... Chay beams, this can work. He tugs on Kim's shirt, his fingers brushing over Kim's naked chest. For a brief moment, he gets a wild idea—he wants to press his lips on Kim's collarbones and savour the taste of Kim's skin on his tongue. He forces himself to put his needs away and proposes, "what if you go with me? If you aren't busy, you can spend the next couple of days with me at my house. And after my exam and after I let my brother know what the heck is going on here, I'll move in here, and you'll have me all to yourself."
The immediate change in Kim's body makes Chay huff a quiet smile. Kim's body feels way more relaxed now under Chay's touch, and when he looks into Kim's eyes, they are no longer desperate to keep Chay right here, not letting him move even for a moment. Instead, they are happy... playful, almost like the eyes of a little boy on a Christmas day. Chay is falling even more.
"Staying at your house?"
"Yes," Chay nods.
"In your room?"
"Yes."
"In your bed?"
"No, you'll be sleeping outside." Chay bursts out laughing, watching a shadow of horror quickly covering Kim's face. "Of course not, silly! Just be a good boy, and you are allowed to my bed."
"I knew you wouldn't let me sleep outside," Kim says nonchalantly.
Yeah, sure, Kim, sure, Chay thinks, but just gives Kim a smile and gets up from Kim's lap. "You should go pack some things you'll need, and I want to talk to Big. Do you know where he is?"
"Why do you want to talk with him?" Kim asks, already standing right next to Chay wrapped around Chay's wrist.
"Because, my dear Kimhan... I want to. That's it. So, where is he?"
Reluctantly, Kim nods, "I'll get him for you. Come."
Chay follows Kim out of the office and through multiple corridors around the house until they stop in front of a closed door—most likely Kim's room, Chay assumes. He is watching as Kim types something on his phone and then puts it back into his pocket. Once Kim looks at him, Chay asks, "your room?"
"Yes," Kim looks at the door and then back at Chay, "and once you'll move in, it will be yours as well, sweetheart."
Chay isn't going to show how much this statement affected him. There's no need to focus on this right now. None at all. It's just making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that he'll be sharing a room with Kim, a bed with Kim... the entire freaking house with Kim. His life with Kim. His love...
"Khun Kim. Khun Porchay," Big appears next to Chay. "I heard you wanted to talk, khun Porchay."
"Here you have him," Kim says, his voice slightly irritated. Chay wants to laugh—Kim's possessiveness is really something. "I'll be inside."
Chay takes Kim's hand before Kim can disappear in his room and gives him a quick kiss, "pack your things, and don't be jelly."
"I'm not," Kim huffs and enters his room.
Chay shakes his head and turns to Big, "I wanted to talk about what happened in the car."
"What happened it the car, khun Porchay?" Big asks.
"You know what I mean, Big. I didn't want to snap at you like that. I just don't take lightly when someone tries to order me around."
"No, no, you don't have to apologise, khun Porchay. It wasn't your fault. Like I said, I didn't really know how to react. This whole thing is... it's new. It's really new, khun Porchay."
How new was all of this? There was no way Kim never dated before, or was it? "Kim before me..."
Big shakes his head, "khun Kimhan lived in the U.S. for a long time. Plus, I haven't worked here for too long. I don't have as much information as I could have. But it's not about how many people khun Kimhan dated or not—it's about the fact that he wants to marry you. And once he does, you'll be our boss as well. That's why all of this is different. People around maybe can allow to fuck up things with some random fling, but not with their future boss. Khun Porchay, I'm not sure you know how important you are. Khun Kimhan didn't want to marry at all before he saw you on that street."
Chay appreciates Big's answer a lot. Even though he didn't find out how many people Kim dated before him, it's always nice to hear that he is important to Kim. That other part, the one about him being the mob boss or at least a husband of the mob boss after he marries Kim, didn't really sink in with him yet. And Chay doesn't think that it will for a long time. Maybe one day, years from now he wakes up and it finally will all make sense—who he is, who he had become. He clears his throat and pushes those thoughts away. He doesn't understand how come it is so easy for him to think about his future with Kim. Chay has never liked thinking about the future too much, there were times when even surviving his presence was too much.
He looks at Big, who is patiently waiting for his reaction or order or, most likely, anything. "Well, thank you for your time, Big... and once again, I'm sorry for what happened."
"Khun Porchay, if I got hurt by things like that, I wouldn't be able to work for your boyfriend," Big says with a half smile. "Now, if you excuse me," he bows down and leaves.
Chay bites his bottom lip to stop himself from grinning like sunshine. 'Your boyfriend' that Kim is!
Chay opens the door of Kim's bedroom and walks in, immediately getting hit by all the darkness. Curtains—black—are half-drawn. King-sized bed with bedsheets—black. The walls—dark grey, surprisingly one white right opposite the bed. The built-in closet is also black, and the floor is made out of dark wood.
"Umm, babe... are you trying to hibernate here or what?" Chay chuckles.
In the next moment, Kim walks out of the bathroom, smiling from ear to ear, "what did you call me?"
"Babe," Chay cocks his eyebrow.
"Again."
"Babe."
"Again."
"Babe," Chay giggles as Kim wraps his arms around his waist and kisses his neck.
"Again."
"Shut up, you vampire!" Chay slaps Kim's arm, "why is everything black around here, hmm?"
"Because I like it that way. Why, you don't like it?" Kim asks.
"No, no, I'm good," Chay reassures Kim. "Just teasing you, babe."
Kim presses another kiss—this time a little higher on Chay's jawline—and goes back to packing. "I'm almost done packing. Takes me longer than should cause I had a pretty annoying call with my brother explaining to him that no, he can't meet you now when he is on the other side of Bangkok and we don't have time to wait for him. He'll meet you soon anyway."
Chay sits down on Kim's bed, thinking about what Kim just said. Brother. He knows so little about Kim. So so little. "I don't even know how many siblings you have."
He watches Kim turn back to him, lips pressed into a thin line. Kim cuts the distance between them, squatting down in front of him and caressing his thighs, "sweetheart, you can ask anything you want. And what you won't ask, I'll tell you anyway. I have two older brothers. P'Tankhun is the one who wants to meet you badly, and p'Kinn is somewhere in Europe, but he should be coming back sometime next month. He loves to travel a lot. I honestly haven't seen him for three years. Last time it was in L.A. when he came to see me there."
"I can't wait to know more about you," Chay caresses Kim's hair.
"Ditto," Kim grins and stands up.
Chay's eyes fall on the nightstand where Kim's gun is lying. He thinks about it for a second and then he asks, "can I have a look?"
Kim turns to where Chay is looking and nods. "But be careful, sweetheart."
Chay nods. Carefully he takes the gun in his hands and holds it almost as gently as he would hold a newborn baby or a porcelain set from ancient times. It's heavy, not as heavy as Chay expected it to be, but still heavy. It's not that unpleasant to hold and somehow it feels that there's an additional layer of protection around him. This additional layer to the layer that Kim is already providing just by being around Chay.
Kim, Chay thinks, Kim isn't watching him—he is turned to his closet, deciding on what clothes to pack. If Chay would want to, it would be so easy to just shoot Kim right here, right now. One precisely aimed shot and Kim would be dead. A cold shiver runs down Chay's spine—Kim trusts him so much. Someone who grew up in the mafia. The mafia leader... people like that don't trust everyone. People like that rarely trust anyone. And yet, Chay is now the one with a gun, and Kim can't even see him.
Chay puts the gun back on the nightstand and goes to hug Kim from behind. "I feel so safe around you," he whispers in Kim's ear and gets a perfect kiss in return.
⁜⁜⁜⁜⁜
Al Capone waits at the front door when they finally arrive home. Chay's home. And when Kim asks Chay what's its name and starts laughing when Chay says "Al Capone" the cat sways its tail angrily from side to side and leaves them alone.
"Well, look at that," Chay shakes his head. "You already offended my cat. Not a good start, babe."
Kim shakes his head, "I assume that you are taking him with you when you move in. He won't be alone—I have a cat as well. She just wasn't in the mood to be meeting people today, I guess."
Chay perks up, "oh, you have a cat? What's her name?"
"Marilyn."
"As in Marilyn Monroe?" Chay asks, the corners of his lips already twitching into a smile.
"Yeah," Kim shrugs.
"And you have laughed at my Al Capone."
"It is funny because now you are literally dating a mob boss."
"Yes," Chay nods, "and that mob boss is right now in my house where he needs to follow my rules, so," Chay grabs Kim's hand and makes him sit on the sofa, "you can make yourself comfortable because I'm going to study now for at least an hour or two."
A frown appears on Kim's face, "where will you study?"
"Here," Chay points at the table in the kitchen.
The frown is immediately gone from Kim's face, "ok, then I'm good."
Chay wants to tease Kim about his obsession showing, but before he can do that, he gets a text from his brother.
— exciting news, nong! I'll be coming home to visit you sometime next month and I have a surprise for you!
Chay simply replies
— can't wait! ❤️
but in his mind, he adds—I have a surprise for you as well, hia.
To be continued...
P.S. Kim literally won't last five minutes before he starts trying to get Chay's attention back on himself instead of the textbooks 🙄... you'll see