Sarawat squeezed Tine's body with pure giddiness, the other man squeaked in the steely embrace and patted him on the back. The thick chains that hung around the other man's nape were digging into Tine's own neck, a flash of cold on his overheated skin.
"Wat, you're crushing me."
"Don't care," Sarawat pouted and sighed deeply, inhaling Tine's sweet scent. This was heaven. However somewhere deep down he could not help feeling that this was almost a little bit too good. Was this really the beginning of the end for his unrequired love? Tine chuckled, his hands stilling on Sarawat's back. Then he ran his daft fingers along Sarawat's spine, making the other squirm.
"You still have to answer my question," Tine said and ripped free, squeezing Sarawat's shoulders, keeping him at a distance and chasing his dark brown eyes. Ah, Sarawat just wanted to enjoy this moment but Tine was rather incessant on ruining it with his pointless jealousy. At least that had to count for something and hopefully meant that Tine felt something strong enough for him to act possessive.
"Fuck, Tine. It's just a family friend, her parents asked me for a favor."
Tine's brows arched, a little bit stunned that Sarawat could follow some sort of social notion, even if it was technically not right to favor people based on familiarity rather their skills.
"Since when do you do things like that?"
"Since I thought it would be better to shoot with someone I know and not a complete stranger." He moved away from Tine and threw the headband off, looking a little crazy with his hair sticking out in different directions. Already finished with this topic. "Are we done with this now or what?"
However Tine was on a roll.
"You should introduce her to me," he piped up, lost in his straight little world and added, "She's really beautiful." Hearing this only aggravated Sarawat even more. He walked briskly over, grabbing his upper arms and planted a hard kiss on Tine's sweet lips. Tine spluttered.
"We're going to date, you're mine now. Stop with this nonsense."
Tine blinked and a flush spread along his cheeks, his ears going red. However his gaze dropped not so innocently to Sarawat's fine lips as if being magnetized.
They should kiss some more.
"Ah, sorry, I kind of forgot," Tine uttered sheepishly, coming out of the the millisecond trance. Sarawat stared at him a while longer, unimpressed at the other man's blunder.
"Whatever, don't forget it next time. Let's go." His hands slipped along the length of Tine's arms, one latching onto the other man's hand, their fingers slotting together. Tine's heart started to beat faster, a heavy pulse thrumming throughout his limbs, making his whole being blip in and out of existence. It felt as if everything would always lead to this moment in all of the universes.
***
They came out through the back entrance of the building, Boss was already waiting for them at the parking lot while casually leaning against a black car, nonchalantly puffing out white smoke into the air and then bringing the cigarette back to his lips for another drag. His face stretched into a giddy smile when he saw the pair holding hands, even if it did look a little questionable since Sarawat was dead set on dragging Tine along rather than matching Tine's less than hurried steps.
Tine scrunched his nose at seeing Boss and remembered something he had wanted to ask.
"Hey," he said and tugged on Sarawat's hand. "Do you smoke?"
Sarawat stopped and turned his head to stare at him, trying to follow the other one's train of thought, just in case he had to parry a curve ball of nonsense that Tine was a master of sprouting.
"No, but should I?" He asked, his voice going gravel and gaze dark, a smirk playing at his lips. Tine laughed that fake laugh of his, with his teeth bared and tightly pressed together, his jaw taut and avoiding Sarawat's eyes.
"No, no," he hurried to say. "I was just wondering."
What the hell, then who was the one leaving smokes at Sarawat's place and using that tacky ashtray? An overload of mathematical formulas floated through Tine's head while he tried to crack this problem.
Seeing Tine stall, Sarawat tugged hard on his hand, making the other man stagger head first into him. Tine yelped in offense, ready to cuss the other one out when Sarawat ruffled Tine's hair, catching him off guard with affection. Then the musician leaned in and sneakily planted a wet smooch on his lips, just because he could.
"Gross," Boss shouted fondly across the parking lot and then added, "Come on, we need to get going!"
***
Tine was getting a coffee in the lobby when his phone vibrated, notifying an incoming message. Excited that it could be Sarawat he hurried to pick up the device and unlock it, while juggling the coffee cup in the other hand.
Fong:
didn't realize that Sarawat was your brother
[image of Sarawat from his promo pictures]
Tine rolled his eyes. That shirt would be the death of him. Then he stopped at a table to put his drink down so he could stab his reply into the phone with his both thumbs. However the phone buzzed with several new messages before he could do that. That idiot had posted in a group chat.
Peuk:
WHAT ???????
Ohm:
It's not morally ok to date your brother T.
Tine:
we're not dating
Tine scrunched up his brows, staring at the screen, fringe falling into his eyes. Well, that came out all wrong. His phone kept buzzing with incoming messages. These guys were annoying and should butt out of Tine's business.
Peuk:
I am shook
Ohm:
It's not healthy to deny truths.
Tine:
fukc
I meant we're not brothers
Fong:
so are you hooking up or wat
Tine:
I guess
kind of
Peuk:
congrats man
Fong:
bring your boyfriend for drinks at my place this weekend
Tine:
fuck u
Ohm:
I don't think Sarawat will allow that.
And these guys should just shut up. Tine closed the group chat, deleting it out of existence from his Line.
***
Tine giggled and poked Sarawat's cheek with his long finger.
"Your skin is so soft," he said and stumbled slightly on the paved sidewalk while staring at the musician's face, completely mesmerized by the strong features against the starlit sky. Sarawat pulled the drunkard closer by his trim waist, careful not to let him fall flat on his ass.
"Your skin is nice too, Tine," Sarawat murmured and exhaled in relief when they finally reached his sports car. Tine was not a dainty guy so dragging him across the parking lot and simultaneously stopping him from flailing his long limbs took more effort than Sarawat had imagined. He opened the passenger door and carefully nudged the other one inside, shielding his head so he would not bump it against the roof of the car as he was clambering into the front seat, limbs unstable.
"Wat," he whined, making grabby hands at the other man, already lost without him during the short time it took Sarawat to round the car, get behind the wheel and rev up the engine. Sarawat threw Tine a glance and had to pause there.
Tine posed a rather tempting sight, face flushed and hair ruffled, eyes hooded. His lips glistened in the light from the street lamps, moist from the many times he had licked them during their short walk, as if wanting to draw Sarawat's attention to his pout.
The musician sighed fondly and leaned over, carefully buckling the other man in and angling his head softly in a more comfortable position. Suddenly Tine's hands flew up and clambered around Sarawat's neck, making him lose his balance and topple awkwardly on top of Tine and unfortunately across the driving console too. Sarawat winced. The things he did for this idiot.
His eyes travelled slowly over Tine's face as he tried to regain his composure only to find the other man already observing him, eyes suddenly clear and less inebriated than before.
"We're dating, right?" Tine murmured. They had actually not breached this topic since the last time. Weird. Flabbergasted, Sarawat could only nod mutely, his eyes big and dark, pupils dilated. "Then when are you going to kiss me for real?"
Not waiting for a reply Tine surged up with more force that necessary in such a cramped space and smashed his soft lips against Sarawat's, instantly sticking his warm tongue through the ample pair of lips, provoking a breathless moan out of the musician. Shit.
The kiss was sloppy and wet, but oh so good. Sarawat braced himself with one hand on the backrest of Tine's seat and with the other against the dashboard, trying not to crush any of them to death in this intricate position. Licking out of Sarawat's mouth, Tine trailed wet kisses along his jaw and then heatedly licked the length of his neck, hands trailing to the front of Sarawat's shirt and continuing on their merry way down, until they reached the waist of his jeans. Tine slipped a finger though a belt loop and tugged, buckling Sarawat's hips forward, wanting to bring him closer. A breath lodged in musician's throat as he gasped, angling his head to look down at the petulant face of his boyfriend. Fuck. A drunk Tine was dangerous.
Regaining some sanity, Sarawat placed his hands over Tine's pale ones and forcefully moved them away from his crotch. He leaned down quickly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Tine turned his head expectantly, eyes fluttering close but still chasing after his lips as Sarawat leaned away and flopped back into his seat.
"Let's go home first," Sarawat said pulling out of the parking space, grasping Tine's warm hand while steering with the other. Tine nodded demurely, his head already lolling to one side, down onto his own shoulder, quietly falling asleep. What a hot mess.
***
Tine woke up with a gasp, sitting up in the vaguely familiar bed. He checked immediately for his state of undress, finding that he was only in his underwear. Well, that was at least a step up from the last time. He rubbed at his bleary eyes and looked around, feeling a painful pang resonate in his chest when it turned out that he was completely alone in the bedroom. He flopped back onto the pillows, sending dust flying and released a frustrated sigh, aimlessly staring at the stray sunrays kaleidoscopically reflecting on the ceiling, projected by shiny surfaces scattered around the room.
It felt almost dreamlike to be in Sarawat's bedroom. Tine could have never foreseen this turn of events. How could he? He burrowed his face in the pillow and rubbed his cheek against the cool fabric, his fingers picked at a stray thread sticking out of the duvet. The pretense of being boyfriends back in university had left them as neither friends nor strangers when the whole charade with Green had been resolved, leaving them at a rather strange standstill. Over time Tine and Sarawat had still gravitated towards each other and started hanging out anew during university, although it had not really been the same. Then, just as the musician's career was picking up Sarawat disconnected himself from Tine's life. Tine squeezed his eyes shut, fisting the duvet in his hand, not ready to think about this just yet.
A door creaked open and soft footsteps padded closer over the wooden floor, stopping at the foot of the bed. Tine looked up and flushed instantly at seeing Sarawat standing there with only a towel slung around his hips. His eyes trailed the length of musician's lean body, the white towel contrasting against his tanned skin. Tine gulped, feeling a little lightheaded. Was he still drunk?
Sarawat just stared at him, in the way he sometimes did, eyes inky and bottomless.
"Good morning?" Tine tried speaking and was surprised to hear how raspy his own voice sounded.
"Are you sober now?" Sarawat countered evenly as he nonchalantly put one curved knee on the bed and then the other one, crawling dangerously over and on top of Tine, gaze intense and chest muscles splaying, until his forearms were braced on each side of Tine's head, boxing him in. Sarawat's damp hair grazed Tine's forehead as he leaned down, the fresh scent of his shampoo filled Tine's senses, making everything a little bit woozy. Was this a dream?
Suddenly Tine's phone lit up, having been left on silent in the pocket of his jeans. The notification banners scrolled down rapidly one after another on the screen. Then an incoming call lit up the device, going straight to voice mail.