"Are you friends with Tine again?" Phukong asked, reclining casually in Sarawat's leather couch, one knee over the other. "Why?" He asked without letting the other man answer, pretending to inspect his clean cut nails. Sarawat put harshly down a glass void of water that he had just chugged down, heavy gaze on his meddling sibling. Why the hell was he back in Bangkok?
"That's really none of your business," Sarawat said and sauntered around the big chunk of marble that made up the kitchen counter, picking up a sweater on his way from the floor and dropping down in an armchair in the living room. He put the soft piece of clothing in his lap. Tine must have forgotten it when he made his hasty exit, quickly bailing from the crime scene when he sensed the tension running high between the brothers.
Phukong arched his brows, throwing an unimpressed look Sarawat's way, who hardly seemed any intimidating at the moment while lounging in a white t-shirt and striped pajama pants. His brother was a total fool. Could he not find some else more emotionally obtainable? Tine was a generally nice dude but he seemed totally standoffish when it came to feelings.
"Are you really sure? Because I was the one to pick up your pieces the last time."
Sarawat raked a hand through his messy brown hair, clutching at his nape and looking to the side, blinking in his telltale sign of being overwhelmed.
"It's different this time," he said subdued, toying with the sweater.
"How?"
"Look," he said harshly but was deterred by the serious look his brother was giving him, the fight abruptly leaving him. "I lo-" he paused, choosing his words. "I like him."
"And Tine?" His brother pushed, the infuriating brat.
"I am not sure," Sarawat said quietly, his lips downturned, one side more loopy than the other. Phukong exhaled heavily and rubbed at his temple, letting the leg atop the other knee slip down to the floor.
"Does he even like guys?" He asked and looked at his older brother with concern clearly written all over his face. Sarawat merely shrugged, letting that just slide off of him.
"It doesn't matter," he said confidently. "As long as he's with me."
"Yeah, I don't believe that but whatever, he'll find a new girl to fawn over soon enough." Sarawat glared daggers at his brother, who rose from his seat nonchalantly and rummaged through his pants' pocked, taking out a packet of cigarettes. "I'll be out on the balcony," Phukong said, putting an end to the conversation that he, himself, had started.
He then walked over to the bookcase next to Sarawat, grabbing the crystal ashtray there. Ugh, it was so atrocious. Who had picked it out?
"Hey," Phukong called over his shoulder, stopping halfway to the balcony and turning around to look at his older brother with big eyes, a white nicotine stick already prepped between his fingers. "By the way, why is there a horde of fan girls outside? I thought I'd get crushed getting inside."
"Shit," Sarawat spat and rushed up to get his phone. Tine!
***
Tine squeaked as the sliding doors opened to a rowdy crowd outside. Shit. A bunch of fans of Sarawat were squatting right outside the building, beyond the heavily tinted glass doors of the sleek complex. Holding up signs and other merchandise to wave at people going in and out, in case one of them turned out to be Sarawat. He reeled in his steps quickly and darted back into the building. Luckily someone else had been in the lobby with him, about to go outside as well.
The crowd got instantly wild and flashes went off when the other guy walked straight into the ambush. Tine winced, that poor dude. Then he blinked owlishly. Wait. What was going on here really?
An elderly security guy that as on duty in the lobby came to stand next to Tine, shaking his head while peering outside as well.
"I've called for reinforcement to get these people cleared out. If you don't want to go out there, you'd better go through the parking garage or stay inside for a couple of more hours," he said helpfully.
"Uh, thanks," Tine blurted and panicky took out his phone. His eyes doubled in size at the sheer amount of notifications on the screen. What the hell? His hands fumbled to unlock the device. He had missed calls from friends too so he just dialed the first top number.
"How nice of you to call," Fong greeted and Tine just rolled his eyes. He inclined his head in goodbye to the guard and walked back to the elevators. "Where the hell have you been? There's a shit storm on social medias."
"Yeah, I saw that." Tine pressed the call button on the wall and it tuned bright green, before the steel doors pinged and slid open, welcoming him into the smooth space.
"Where are you?"
"Um, Sarawat's place and I should probably avoid going outside right now." Tine stalled inside the elevator, not really sure if he should go back up to Sarawat's big apartment or just sneak out through the parking garage. He gaze got stuck on his own disheveled appearance mirrored in the full-length mirror inside the elevator. He stared stupefied, not really noticing it the first time on his way down to the lobby. Was Sarawat really going to go down on this? Fuck. He looked like something a cat had dragged in.
"Fuck, wait, I'll pick you up. What's the address?" Fong's thin voice ranted over the line. Well, at least that solved one of Tine's dilemmas.
***
Tine came out of the shower, toweling at his damp hair, feeling refreshed. He was not drinking at Fong's again. It seemed that his friends had wanted to get Sarawat drunk to spill some beans but instead Tine had to act as his drinking knight and drown all of his shots since the musician was driving. He perched on the bed, wearing just a pair of boxers. His phone was blinking with notifications, haphazardly thrown on the nightstand.
Tine was dreading looking at it. There had been all sort of shit coming his way. He could not really decide what was the worst, the shippers or the haters. He scrunched up his sharp nose and finally conceded to unlock the device, reaching for it.
A smile stretched his handsome face when he saw the messages on Line.
Sarawat:
pick up the phone
tine
did you get home ok?
Did Sarawat worry about him? Cute. Tine draped the damp towel over his shoulder, letting it rest there so he could type a reply with both hands.
Tine:
Sorry I was showering
yeah Fong picked me up :)
Have you seen the chaos?
IG, FB, twitter
EVERYTHING is blown up
Sarawat:
yes
don't bother
it will go down soon
Tine gaped at this. That did not sound reassuring.
Tine:
Shouldn't your agency do something about this?
Sarawat:
its too low scale
no actual proof
only weird if the agency does anything
Tine just shook his head and collapsed backwards on the fluffy bed, bouncing on the mattress slightly from the force of the flop. He clutched the phone in his hand, indecisive about what to reply to Sarawat's last messages. He inhaled deeply and deflated, breathing the air out slowly between his parted lips, feeling conflicted.
Tine was the one getting shot at in this crossfire. Not Sarawat.
***
Tine walked purposefully through the open office landscape, several document folders in hand, trying not to let himself be deterred by the glances some of his coworkers were sneaking atop their cubicles. It seemed that Sarawat had fans everywhere. That fucking Gucci shirt, he probably should exorcise it to get rid of all this bad luck.
An arm was draped around his blazer clad shoulders unexpectedly as he got ambushed by Mil, the other man smiling widely. Cornering him by the elevator nook, out in the hall.
"Hello, Tine! Where're you going?" Tine barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Instead he fake laughed and wiggled free from under the arm.
"I have some errands to run on another department floor," Tine quipped, pressing the call button for the elevator a couple of extra times, as if that would make it come faster.
"Oh, me too, let's go." Mil put a guiding hand against Tine's lower back when the steel door slid open. What the hell. Dude. No.
Tine did not move, turning his head instead and staring at the other man until he realized his mistake, removing the hand as if being burned.
"Sorry, sorry," he said in embarrassment, ears turning red. Tine almost pulled a smile at the sight, that dude really had no tact.
They rode the elevator in awkward silence and then they walked down the corridor on the upper floor in an awkward silence as well. The other man kept hovering around Tine even in the copy room, reclining in the doorway and observing him, so Tine sent Mil an inquisitive glance. Out with it already.
"So, is that rumor true?" He finally asked, sounding as if he had been gearing up for this since he saw Tine's tall frame by the elevators downstairs.
"What rumor?" Tine commented offhandedly while shuffling his documents around, making sure all pages had been copied in the correct order.
"Are you and that idol, Sarawat, together?" An idol? Pfft. A smile tugged at his lips. He would make sure to tease Sarawat about that.
"What, are you into this kind of stuff?" Tine asked and glanced pointedly at the other man, fringe sliding off from the fixed hairstyle and covering one of his eyes. Mil grinned bashfully, shrugging his shoulders.
"I was just curious."
Tine paused, internally debating whether he would burn in hell for lying to this guy.
"Nah, man, it's all fake news," he said and sauntered out of the room, grazing shoulders with the other man, strangely annoyed at having to deny these facts even though this dude did not deserve to know anything.
***
Tine was walking down the stairs in front of his office building, getting finally off work, when he recognized the nice sports car parked below and the man leaning casually against it. Sarawat had his hands in the pockets of his black slacks, wearing a black bucket hat that partially covered his handsome face, wide shoulders in a fluttering, wide armed black t-shirt with a white logo on the left side. He quickened his steps, stomping his feet and resolutely swinging the briefcase in one hand.
"Are you crazy?" Tine mock whispered from several feet away, not being able to hold in his frustration any longer. "What the hell are you doing here? People will recognize you!"
A smirk stretched across the wide lips, eyes hidden by the brim of the bucket hat as Sarawat pushed off the car to greet Tine when he came closer, looking all handsome in dark grey slacks and matching blazer, his shirt crisp white. Tine could give him juridical consultation any time, looking like a snack all dressed up like that.
"They won't if you stop yelling," he said and leaned down to peck Tine's soft lips, who froze up, like a deer caught in the headlights, fingers twitching.
"Shut up," Tine said, stifling a dreamy smile that was pulling at the corners of his mouth. Then the situation dawned on him and he looked around wildly to make sure no one was paying them any attention. Sarawat should really try to rein all this mushy stuff in, with all the rabid fans on his tail currently.
"Let's go, I'm taking you on a date." Sarawat dragged Tine around the car by his upper arm, pushing him into the passenger seat while Tine was conveniently disoriented, still reeling in the aftershock of that innocent but public peck.
"A what?" He spluttered while squeezing into the car, his head almost hitting the roof of the car due to him trashing around suddenly. Sarawat did not even deem that worthy of a reply. He just leaned on the car door silently, staring, boxing Tine inside. He was not going to feed Tine's idiocy today. "Where're we going?" Tine kept rambling, twisting in his seat and blinking up at the other, his dark eyes shifting indecisively between Sarawat's brown eyes and prominent lips.
"Don't know yet," he said. "Maybe the Lumpini Park?"
"And do what there?" Tine asked totally unimpressed. He was certainly a hard guy to please. "And I'm in a suit," he lamented. Sarawat exhaled with fond annoyance and walked around that car, rummaging in the back trunk. He pulled out a black hoodie and threw it Tine's way through the still open car door.
"Wear this," he said before carefully slamming the door shut on Tine's side, rounding the car to get into the driver's seat himself.
Tine pawed at the piece of clothing, looking at it. It's not like the hoodie would be a total mismatch since Tine already wore a pair of black Vans with his suit. They were allowed to wear some casual items at work, as long as they kept it to a minimum. Tine shrugged the blazer off and started buttoning up his shirt, when he felt a hot stare pinning him down.
"Do you mind?"
"No, please go ahead and take it off," Sarawat said and smirked, still watching Tine attentively with his inky eyes, lashes at half-mast. Asshole. He quickly threw off the shirt, letting Sarawat get a glimpse of his strong chest and naked shoulders, before messily pulling on the black hoodie over his head, getting his hair disheveled. The other man chuckled at his silliness, turning around and starting up the car, a hand expertly maneuvering the driving stick.
"It's not like I will jump you in a car and out here too," Sarawat cast a sly glance at Tine. "You on the other hand though..." He trailed off meaningfully and Tine flushed sweetly, crossing his arms in mock defiance.
Note:
Sarawat's all black outfit is in collaboration with @SoominLee698 who found the hidden BTS reference
YAY!! *applauds & throws confetti around*
The outfit is based on this pic: