AN: Happy 2019, guys! Quite a short chapter for today...
20: TEEory
TEE POV
P'Tae was in front of our doorstep at 8 in the morning. I slept really good last night and P'Chu told me that he was the one who carried me here. She didn't bother waking me up and I slept the whole day in our living room. I haven't washed my face yet, and I still smell like the couch while here he is looking like he didn't get enough sleep but dressed like he's going out on a date.
"I've come to return your phone." He waved it and I took it from him.
"What happened? How come you have it?"
"It fell on my car while I was carrying you."
"Thanks."
I thought he was going to go once he gave it to me, but he sat on the sofa and stared at me.
"Um... don't you have a schedule for today?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Err, aren't you going somewhere?" I asked again.
Again, he shook his head.
"I'm hungry. Let's eat out." He said.
My heart thumped. This was a first! He asked me out first!
"I... uh.. ok..." I said. "I'll just take a bath."
I hurriedly went upstairs to the bathroom, my heart still thumping fast.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" I slapped my cheeks and they hurt. "I'm not?" I slapped it again just to make sure. I tiptoed towards the edge of the stairs and peeked and yes, P'Tae is definitely there, sitting quietly while scrolling on his phone.
After tidying myself up, I dressed casually and pretending not to be excited, I walked down slowly.
"So, where should we eat P'?"
"I was thinking of trying out that new pizza place a few kilometers from the studio."
I remember P'Benj point that out yesterday while he was driving. I really want to try it out but the idea of trying it at this time is ridiculous.
"Seriously, P? Pizza at 8:30am? I don't even think it's open at this hour yet."
I think I saw him blush. "Oh yeah. I forgot. Then let's just try the new Japanese pancake place near Chulalongkorn. I'm pretty sure it's open now."
I agreed. He brought his car with him. Chulalongkorn is a 30 minute drive from my house so we'd get there at around 9am without traffic. But P'Tae looks restless. He was driving on a non-traffic road at 10kmph. I saw a child riding her bike zoom faster than us.
"P'Tae, are you that hungry? Why are you driving so slow?"
"Oh, I think I'm out of gas."
I looked at his dashboard and saw that it was just in the middle between full and empty. I raised my eyebrows.
"P', there's more than enough. Look." I pointed to it but he shook his head.
"No, I need to add more gas." And he drove real slow towards a gas station.
"Erm, be right back. Bathroom." He talked to the gasoline boy outside and I followed him with my eyes until he entered the bathroom. I raised my hands in exasperation. He's really weird today.
Slower than his driving skills was his trip to the bathroom.
"What in the world is wrong with you?" I murmured to myself as I saw him walk back towards the car. We have wasted about 15minutes in the gas station.
"Are you ok? Does it hurt anywhere?" I asked, really concerned now.
"Uh no." and he went back to driving.
And at last we arrived at this pancake place. The smell is amazing! We took our seats on a secluded corner and took our time looking at the menu.
"What do you like Tee?"
"I can't decide, I like all the appetizers." I ran my finger to the 10 Japanese appetizer selections on the page. "And the pancakes with bacon look good, but I also like the pancake with strawberries."
"Then let's order everything." He said.
I looked up real fast with my mouth open wide. He was already telling the waitress to bring everything from the appetizer page, and was pointing at the pancakes I have suggested. The waitress nodded and walked away.
My mouth was still hanging open when he looked at me.
"What? You said you like all of them." he said casually.
"I did. But I didn't say we should order everything." I pointed out.
"Aw, you're so hard to please." He complained.
I blinked. Is this really P'Tae? Putting aside our supposed to be diet, this place is pricey. Among the 5 of us, he's the one who watches his weight strictly, so what's with the sudden splurge?
I wanted to confront him, but my phone rang.
"Krub, P'Benj."
"Good morning Tee. I'm glad you have your phone back."
I scratched my head. "How did you know?"
"I was calling you last night and Tae answered the phone."
I raised an eyebrow at P'Tae who was sipping his free water calmly.
"Ah, yes, I got it back. Why did you call last night?"
"I wanted to try that pizza place I pointed to you. I'm about to finish my morning show now, want to go for lunch?"
What's with that pizza place?
"Oh, P', about that. I'm very sorry, I can't go today. P'Tae and I are about to have brunch right now." I looked at my watch, and it's close to 10:30am.
"Ah, is that so? Then what about tomorrow? Around this time?"
"Tomorrow?" I did a quick browse in my mind and remembered SBFive has a practice. "I can't also. We'll be at the studio."
"Bummer." I heard P'Benj said.
"I'm really sorry P. We can go after our commercial shoot next week. What do you think?"
I heard him chuckle. "Alright. That's a promise, ok?"
"Krub."
We talked a bit more and hung up when the food arrived. The dishes couldn't even fit the table. Even for a glutton like me, this looks too much. And this guy in front of me looked moody all of a sudden.
"P', did you answer all of my calls last night?"
"What? No. I just answered Benj's because he was calling non-stop, it was getting noisy."
I shrugged and looked at the food. They all look so good! My intestines are dancing.
I took pictures and posted them on my IG before digging in.
"Wow, P'Tae, these taste really good." I admired all of the dishes in front of me. This restaurant place offers breakfast menus which are a mix of Japanese and American.
P'Tae just chuckled and sliced through his pancake.
We ate, casually talking about our projects, games, and other stuff. I'm glad that he's opening up to me now unlike before where I'll just get curt responses.
When I told him I was so full, I took out my wallet but he already placed his credit card on the tray and gave it to the waitress.
Once again, my mouth was open.
"Don't worry about it. My treat." He said.
I gaped for a bit before pointing at the leftovers. "This is a lot P'Tae." I said, almost feeling guilty because I ate the majority of them.
"I know."
We couldn't finish all of it so we have them wrapped up and planned to give it to the street kids of Bangkok.
"What's with you today?" I asked him as we reentered his car.
"What do you mean? This is normal for me. Hey, Mario Maurer's new movie is out. Want to watch it? You like him don't you?"
"Uh yeah?" I looked around as he started the car. A few early riser fans have gathered around our car already after knowing where I was through my IG post. I didn't know they were this fast. One was even wearing pajamas. We waved at them and P'Tae drove away.
But instead of going to MBK which was nearest, he opted for Central World which was farther by 10 minutes.
"P! Can you let me drive? Seriously, I didn't know you were this dumb when it comes to roads."
"What? I like the theaters in Central World more. Plus, they make good popcorn."
I didn't try to hide my annoyance and I breathed out noisily. He ignored me.
It was the same thing when we finally went to buy tickets.
We arrived there at 12:30 and there was a movie slot at 1pm. But he freaking got the 4pm slot!
"You know what? We ate a lot right? I'm not yet in the mood to sit for a long time. Why don't we kill time by roaming around first?" he said ignoring my rant about wasting time.
At this moment, my soul has left my body. I give up on P'Tae for today. The guy that I look up to is acting like an idiot right now. Does he have decision-making problems or what?
Killed the time we did. We went on random arcades to burn our calories, went to a karaoke booth to sing for an hour, bought clothes, and took pictures with fans who spotted us. Both our phones were spewing non-stop notifications from TaeTee fans who spread those pictures today.
"So cute! Are they on a date?"
"That's why P'Tee's chin is getting double. P'Tae fattens him."
"I can see P'Tee's baby bump."
"A friend of mine works at Sushiseki and she said P'Tae ordered a lot and paid for it! I think they're really dating!"
I scrolled through all of these while we were inside the cinema. The trailers are already playing. P'Tae was busy with his own phone and from a slight peek that I made, he was browsing IG too. I can even hear him chuckling. When I looked, he had liked every post of the fans.
We both muted our phones when the movie began.
I was too absorbed with the movie but I'm not feeling comfortable since it was cold. I didn't think we'd go here so I didn't bring any jacket with me. I shifted on my seat repeatedly.
"What's happening to you?" he whispered.
"It's cold." I rubbed my arms.
"Here." He removed his jacket and placed it in front of me like a blanket! He was wearing a thick longsleeves so he didn't have any problem at all.
"Thanks." I muttered.
Almost at the end of the movie, Mario and his leading lady kissed. I really admire the way he acts. It's just natural, not over the top.
In front of us was a couple who kissed also when the characters kissed. I had this urge to throw my popcorn tumbler over their heads.
Go to the motel, morons!
However, I could feel P'Tae's eyes on me so I looked at him...
And I immediately looked away.
He's freaking staring at me!
What did I do?
I can feel his face coming closer to mine and I felt his hand reach out to me.
"Tee."
I slowly turn my head, afraid of that short distance of our noses. Mario Maurer and his partner were still kissing...
His hand lifted my chin and...
"You've got a popcorn kernel on your lip."
I felt my soul travel somewhere far.
How embarrassing! What was I thinking? That he'd kiss me?
He brushed his thumb on my lip to remove it, then went back to watching the movie.
Me?
I didn't eat any popcorn again. I can't even concentrate on the ending!
The movie finished and we stretched our limbs. I looked at my watch. It's almost 8pm. I wore his jacket because I was still feeling cold.
"Let's eat?" he asked and I immediately agreed. Popcorn just initiated my hunger and what we ate at brunch got digested on my stomach even before the movie.
Patient fans were outside the cinema and took pictures the moment we came out.
"You know what, let's just eat out somewhere. It might get crowded if we got followed.
I agreed again. For celebrities, it's much more advisable to constantly move than be in one place for too long. The fans gather rather quickly, thanks to social media.
I like that fans in our country are disciplined. When we arrived at the parking area, they were clustered like good kids in front of the car.
"Sawadee krub." We both greeted them and they squealed while giving us fangifts.
"Whoa. They're really on a date!" one of them exclaimed.
I could feel my heart hammering. P'Tae doesn't like teases like this. But...
"Krub." He agreed! "We're going out to eat. Nong Tee has been pestering me that he's hungry." He teased.
"When did I say that?"
The fans laughed.
"P'Tae, you're spoiling him." They said.
"Am I? I think he needs a little more fat around here, what do you think?" he tickled my chin like a dog and they laughed again.
I rolled my eyes at him. "He's really mean to me." I told the fans hoping for some kind of pity, but no! They just shook their heads at me.
We waved goodbye to them and P'Tae drove again.
"I'm pretty sure that pizza place is open now. Want to try it out?"
"Not there. I promised P'Benj that I'll go with him next week."
"There's nothing wrong if we go there now. At least you can recommend what's good or not."
"I don't want to spoil it for him."
He invited me there first and it would be a letdown for him if I didn't wait for him until we can eat there.
There was silence after that. P'Tae's mood became different.
"Then where do you want to eat?" his tone changed. Earlier with the fans, it was cheerful. Now he's cold.
"Somewhere light I guess? Aren't we on a diet? P'Janean will scold you, she'll definitely know about this."
"Oh you're concerned for me are you?" his tone was not kind that I scratched my head.
I glanced at him nervously. When someone in the group becomes moody, I just throw jokes to cheer everyone up.
"Awoo, P'Tae. If I didn't know you, I'd think you're jealous of P'Benj."
"What if I am?"
Alright. Either I'm really tired or this is an alien beside me.
He said it real quietly, almost a whisper, but there's only the two of us here in this enclosed car space. Ah no, it must be because of his radio.
But wait! His radio isn't even turned on.
"What did you say?" I asked just to be sure.
"You know what? I've changed my mind." And he reversed and turned around to go back to the mall. "Let's just eat there. The fans saw we've left, so they're probably not there anymore."
I can't understand this person anymore!
I didn't bring up the topic again and now we're back at this mall. He chose ramen to warm us up because the weather's a bit cold today.
While waiting for our food, I observed this guy in front of me. His coldness was gone once again and he's happily scrolling through his IG.
I decided to do the same.
There was even a video of us in the parking lot a few minutes ago.
Fangirls are really something. Now P'Janean knows what we ate earlier and I'm sure she's going to scold us tomorrow.
Whatever, P'. I live for food.
Fans already speculated something. In the morning, P'Tae was wearing his jacket. After we've left, I was wearing it, making the fans sew countless rumors once again.
We ordered two different ramen flavors plus a few side dishes. Once they arrived, I took a picture.
We ate in silence this time. This ramen is really good, how come I haven't tried this place before?
Out of habit, I took out one piece of pork meat and gave it to him.
He smirked at me, and he too, picked the slice of egg on his and gave it to me.
"You like eggs, right?"
"Yeah I do." And I know that he doesn't really like them. We only agree when it comes to fashion. Our hobbies and preferences over food are completely different.
"So, you told one of the reporters before that you've been offered a series with Benj? Did you and P'Janean accept?
Oh that. Actually, P'Mok, who got me the LoveMatt endorsement offered us the project while on a lunch break during the commercial shoot. P'Janean said she'll look into it.
"P' hasn't given any reply yet." I said.
"What if she asks you to decide?" P'Tae asked.
I've thought about this. I'm comfortable with P'Benj, and stepping outside of TaeTee felt good. I realized that I can do other things than just being 'Beam'. But I don't know. I like it when I do workshops with P'Tae. It feels wrong to do a BL project with other people than him. The fans will be sad too.
"You're contemplating on it." He said seriously after my moment of silence. "I won't blame you if you take the project. You're worried about the fans aren't you?"
I nodded. But I'm more worried for him than the fans' reaction.
"Ah, don't think about it. But just an advice, don't let the opportunity slip, every offer is a blessing to us."
We continued eating. His phone was lighting up every few minutes.
"Looks like someone's calling you."
"Oh this?" he took his phone, looked at it, flipped it over and placed it back on the table.
"Don't you have to answer it?"
"No. Must be just a crazy stalker. It's from an unknown number." He said, although I think he's hiding something.
We finished our ramen. He took me home after a few convenience store stops.
And I suddenly realized when he waved goodbye in front of my doorstep, I've spent the whole day with him.
It started abnormally. It ended quite normal. I didn't spend anything. I ate great food. I watched the movie I liked to see.
I placed a hand on my chest. It was beating happily. I felt my cheeks, they were warm.
Is this... Was this...
A date?
I hurried upstairs and stared at myself in front of the mirror. I didn't even realize my lips were forming a smile.
I don't want to get my hopes up, but it all points to the fact that he just took me out on a date!
.
.
.
The next day, we have practice with SBFive. In my excitement to see him, I was earlier than the staff. They were all surprised when they saw me.
Usually, when we have morning practices like this, the managers buy breakfast for all of us.
"Tee, why are your cheeks bloated?" P'Kimmon asked.
"Krub?!" I ran from him and examined my face on the mirror.
It is! I haven't noticed when I brushed my teeth earlier, my mind was preoccupied with things. Seeing it closely, my cheeks looked extra plump today, and the double chin is showing again.
"It's all over social media, P." Bas said. "You and P'Tae pigged out. I saw your IG post, I thought you were eating with 10 people."
"It's all his fault, I'm telling you." I poked my left cheek worriedly. "We had ramen last night, maybe that's why?"
"Yeah, looks like it. Look, P'Tae is coming now, looking bloated like you." Copter pointed.
We all turned our attention to the door. P'Janean saw him and pinched his ear, dragging him towards us.
"Ouch! What the heck, P, why are you – OOOOW!" P'Tae said.
"You! And you!" he pointed at me and I flinched. "Didn't I tell you? Only vegetables this week? Who told you to eat noodles huh?"
I hid my face behind Copter while P'Tae was getting spanked on the arm.
After P'Janean has calmed down, P'Tae and I both have red ears. We were forbidden to eat anything that was not on our diet menu.
Before noon, P'Benj came to the studio bringing two plastic bags full of packaged food.
"Aw, P'Benj, why didn't you tell me you'd come?" I hurried over to help him carry them.
"It's ok. I know you guys are busy. I just dropped by to give you these."
We placed the food on the table and he looked around.
"Khun Benj, thank you very much. We were just going to order lunch, you came just in time. Why don't you join us?" P'Janean said while examining the food.
"Sure. I'm missing my nong over here." And he pinched my bloated cheek. "We didn't meet for three days and you already gained weight."
"Oh P'. Are you going to scold me as well? Look here, P'Janean already punished me." I pointed to my aching ears.
"Ohoo. I've seen your posts yesterday, so I just bought salad for everyone. I knew you're going to get into trouble." He laughed.
I made faces in front of him before distributing the packages. I handed one to P'Tae who was brooding over at a corner. He accepted it without a word and went down to the pantry.
We had our lunch noisily. By the time it ended, everyone was so fond now of P'Benj but he had to go for an afternoon taping.
"Ok, let's get to your dance rehearsal this time. Only 2 weeks before your debut. Wait, where's Tae?" P'Janean said looking around the studio.
The guy appeared a few minutes later, looking blank.
Our practice finished near dinner time. Everyone was exhausted, and I can feel my cheeks going back to normal. This diet is killing me. I swear to eat garlic fried pork after this. Nobody can stop me!
Except my flat tire.
The others have left already and the remaining ones in the studio are the costume team. My car was already a kilometer from the studio when I noticed it.
"How the heck am I going to fix this?" I asked myself. I have no spare tire and even if I have, I don't know how to replace them. "What the heck even happened? You were ok in the morning." I kicked it out of annoyance and scrolled through my phone to call P'Janean.
Beep beep...
I looked up and a familiar car was slowly approaching.
"What happened?" P'Tae asked as soon as he got out.
"I don't know. I suddenly have a flat tire."
He crouched down and examined the tires. All of them look okay, except for that one at the front left.
"Tsk tsk. I don't have a spare tie with me. Let's just call a service so they can help you." He looked at my dashboard. "And it looks like you're out of gas too." He pointed at the near empty bar.
"Oh right, I forgot. I haven't used it in a week and was about to go to a gasoline station when this happened."
"Just wait in my car for the meantime while we wait for help."
"Krub. Thanks."
We sat on his car until P'Janean arrived bringing with her some men to push my car.
"It's because you're too heavy that's why it got flat." She scolded me again. "Nevermind, I'll take care of your car, you can go with Tae, you look both tired."
It's true. I'm already so numb from practicing dance steps, I don't want to drive.
"I'll just send your car to your house later. Go on."
I nodded and hopped in P'Tae's car.
I beamed at P'Tae.
"What? What's with that smile?"
I beamed wider.
"You're planning something."
"Let's eat out. P'Janean wouldn't know."
I saw him sigh. I want to test out my theory.
"Com'n P. The grilled pork restaurant at Ekamai is still open." I wriggled my eyebrows.
He sighed again and input Ekamai on his navigator.
I smiled in triumph. Now to test my second theory.
We reached Ekamai in 20 minutes. There's a lot of people in this restaurant, but nobody gave us a second look since we were both wearing masks and a cap. As usual, we got seats at the corner, we both faced the wall so our backs are turned to every customer.
I ordered few this time. After all, P'Janean would notice a single gained pound on our bodies.
We both ate it enthusiastically. I was never contented on eating just leaves and that salad earlier has long disintegrated in my body.
I took out my wallet when the bill arrived, but again, he beat me into it by placing cash on the tray.
"You look pitiful with your car back then, so I'll treat you." He mocked me. Nonetheless, I kept my wallet and hid a smirk.
Now, my third theory.
We are just 2 streets away from my house. I looked at my phone and started typing.
I giggled, reading what was on my screen and pondering on something then typed again.
P'Tae glanced at me.
"What is it? You look happy. You're not thinking of eating some more do you?"
"No P'. It's just that... P'Benj is asking me out to have lunch with him next week after our shoot, still at that pizza place that he wants to try out. I plan of meeting up with him at their studio.
"Are you crazy?" I noticed he had started driving slowly again. "Do you want more spanks from P'Janean? We have to follow the diet!"
"But I really want to try it out too. I like Italian food and their advertisements are impressive."
"So? You're going to break your word just because he asked you out?"
"I don't know. It might be worth it."
I proceeded to type some more.
"No. No you can't. You have to comply this time. Do you realize that we're only 2 weeks away from our debut?"
"I can just do an additional hour of work-out. P'Janean won't notice."
"Crazy." He shook his head. "I'd tell P'Janean what you're up to." He threatened.
"What?! You wouldn't!" I shouted at him.
"Oh I would. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?" he pointed at me. "That chin. I thought for a moment you have no neck. It's all fat. And those cheeks? Earlier I thought you were hiding apples in your mouth."
"Whose fault is it? You look like a chipmunk earlier too! We both ate ramen!" I said, offended.
"Italian food is high on carbs. I'm telling you. Break your word with P', eat what you want but suffer the consequences?"
I sighed, annoyed. "I don't understand you!"
He parked in front of our house. I got out without saying a word, but out of respect, I wai'd quite rudely to express my annoyance and shut our gate loudly.
He drove away.
I peeked through our gate until he turned a corner.
I jumped and chuckled to myself as I went upstairs erasing the non-sense typing I made earlier. I was just pretending to send messages. I was just pretending to be angry when P'Tae said that he'll tell P'Janean of my secret food binge. I was trying to see if he'd treat me to dinner again. I was trying to see if he would even break rules for me.
He did.
I skipped happily and buried my face on the pillow and screamed, muffling the sound.
It looks like...
P'Tae is falling for me too?
[AN: I like Tee's cheeks and I like it when they tease his double-chin. Also, I love Italian food.]
I am planning to do another ForthBeam ff, so I'm trying to finish Scripted in 5-10 more chapters.
Thanks to all your support. Scripted is my first ForthBeam fanfic and your comments and ratings has helped me a lot. Not many people know that I am suffering from depression for many months now. I am just demotivated in doing anything. Reading your comments boost up my mood and writing ffs is just one of the few things that is keeping me sane.
Happy 2019 to us all!
Please don't forget to comment and rate! We're almost there. It's jealousy that is pushing Tae out of his straight shell. And is Tee even right that Tae is falling for him? What if what happened to this whole chapter was just a dream?!