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Sarawat awoke to ominous text messages. Spam of threatening messages was sent to him by an unknown contact, which only heightened his suspicion. For a second, he thought he should alert someone about this, but not wanting to worry anyone he dismissed the idea. It might be a false alarm. As Sarawat scrolled further down the chat; relieved that the messages were becoming less aggressive. However, the further he scrolled, the more he thought to himself that this person had a dual personality. He either seemed to be getting praised or threatened to be killed in his sleep.
Finally, he seemed to have reached the end of the messages. To his surprise, the anonymous texter had the name of none other than Fong. His extensive - maybe a bit creepy - knowledge of everything Tine related indicated that this was Fong, as in Tine’s friend, which either made the situation less scary or way more terrifying.
The last message Fong had sent him: ‘We need to talk about what’s going on between you and Tine, don’t take this lightly.’
This was not the way Sarawat had anticipated his day beginning; however, a curious part of him wanted it to play out. He rolled of bed and performed his lonely daily morning routine, imagining Tine in the place beside him. Even after all his attempts, Tine remained oblivious. Leaving Sarawat with nothing else to do other than pine over him. He shook his head to clear the train of thoughts; it wasn’t healthy to begin gay yearning from the minute he woke up.
At the moment, the first goal of the day was to meet Fong, who most likely was already awaiting Sarawat. He turned back to his phone, checking the location of their meeting. Fong had chosen the loathsome cafe, where they always served revolting food. It could have been any other place on the whole campus but nooo. Sarawat sighed silently, Tine’s group of friends were weird. Not that he had the right to say anything, he had somehow acquainted himself with Man and Boss. Putting on the nearest clean t-shirt he could find, Sarawat headed outside. It was just a short walk till the cafe, but a dozen people had already tried to approach him; although Sarawat didn’t even bat an eye of acknowledgement.
Sarawat stepped into the cafe, glad that it was only occupied by one person other than Fong. Social interaction wasn’t the best trait of his, and being able to avoid large crowds was a blessing. Finding Fong was straightforward: he was sitting by himself in one of the side tables by the window. Tine was absent, obviously, but it was odd to see Fong apart from their little group. By now, he had assumed that at least Fong and Ohm were a package deal. Without making any gestures, Sarawat slipped into the seat opposite Fong.
“Want some?” Fong asked, pointing to the foo- on second thought, whatever was placed on the place appeared to be the furthest thing from food: ramen but with gummies and sprinkles floating in the broth.
Sarawat almost reeled back from the sight, but he composed himself and politely answered, “Uh, no thank you, I’m fine.”
Fong shrugged in a manner that indicated, ‘suit yourself, and continued to eat it at least having a little concern for one’s life and avoiding the gummy-like things, not that the ramen looked appetising in the least. Either this guy had malfunctioning taste buds, or this was the consequence of spending too much time around Phuak. Sarawat shuddered to himself. The silence stretched for longer, receding into awkwardness; although Fong seemed to be enjoying making him uncomfortable. Being stubborn, Sarawat was definitely not going to be the one initiating the conversation.
Finally, Fong cracked, and spoke up, “What is going on between you and Tine.”
“Nothing,” Sarawat denied innocently.
His eyebrows raised almost comically high and slammed his hands down on the table - in the process, the only other person besides them in the cafe to turn around pointedly. “Do you think I have no brains?” Fong asked incredulously.
When Sarawat said nothing in response, Fong sighed, “Okay I actually get why you’d think I’m dumb, after all, I do hang out with the one brain-cell gang.”
Sarawat couldn’t help himself from nodding in agreement. That just made Fong go from sighing to facepalming. He couldn’t quite catch what was muttered (most likely not meant for his ears anyway) but it sounded a lot like, ‘I should get myself, new friends, I need a better reputation.’ Sarawat laughed silently but then realised he was being hypocritical, maybe the two of them should make a gang of ‘we deserve more intelligent friends’.
“No, but seriously, you better tell me what your intentions with Tine are,” Fong warned.
Sarawat had no intentions of telling this to Fong, who as far as he knew, was Tine’s closest friend. These people could potentially be a nuisance and come between him and Tine. To avoid it at all costs, he wasn't going to say anything to Fong.
“I don’t have to tell you anything, Tine doesn’t belong to you,” Sarawat retorted.
“No, of course, he doesn’t, but I’m his friend, and I really care about him, plus Tine has always been too trusting and naive,” Fong explained, “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
That made Sarawat soften a little. He respected this guy for having Tine’s back like a good friend; however, that didn’t mean he was obliged to spill everything to him.
“I don’t want to see him hurt either,” Sarawat concluded, and pushed his chair back, assuming that their discussion had ended, which meant he was a free guy once again. Although, apparently, Fong had other ideas.
“Sarawat, wait, I just worry about Tine because he has been hurt before, and he also hasn’t been himself for quite a while, actually since he met you, ” Fong voiced.
It became clear to Sarawat that this guy truly cared, judging by the concern oozing through his voice. Unfortunately, anything concerning Tine was a sweet spot or something for Sarawat; because Fong’s words made him hesitate despite his ulterior motive. Not even allowing Sarawat to respond, Fong continued, “ I know you love Tine, it’s as clear as the colour red in front of a buffalo, and therefore, you are the one who can hurt Tine the most,” he stated bluntly, “basically, I want to make sure you’re good for Tine.”
Sarawat understood where he was coming from, he really did, but it also annoyed him to let a stranger judge him. “Shouldn’t Tine judge for himself?” he asked instead.
“You never give straight answers, do you?” Fong sighed, to which Sarawat quirked his eyebrows, “Fine, I won’t be the judge of that, but tell me why you love Tine, at least, I’m curious,” he inquired, leaning forward on his elbows, and invading Sarawat’s personal space.
For that, Sarawat had a billion answers, but some were just straight-up (gay) weird. He decided to reveal the one reason which made Tine different from all his other crushes (not that he had that many, to be honest). “It would be impossible not to love Tine,” Sarawat began. There were mummers of silent agreement from Fong to this. “But I fell in love with Tine when I saw him at a scrubb concert because I have never seen someone look so happy simply listening to music, I found it beautiful.”
“It’s true, Tine’s love for Scrubb goes over and beyo-,” Fong said, then came to an abrupt stop, “WAIT, are you saying you’ve been in love with him for over a year now?!”
Fong fell off his chair as he came to the realisation. He was already on the edge of the seat, from inching forward due to his uncontained excitement. The two of them stared at each other in silence, barely registering the unnamed guy who was in the cafe with them, leaving angry muttering receding as the door opened and closed. Sarawat face palmed in his mind; this was not how he had been hoping for the conversation to go.
“What absolutely not, I’m not that infatuated with Tine, how did you even come to that insane conclusion,” Sarawat denied, his words getting muddled up in his panic. To be honest, it was a pointless attempt; because Sarawat’s face decided to betray him at that moment by heating up. Thankfully, Fong was still on the floor, and couldn’t see the slight colouring to his cheeks. Finally, he managed to scramble up, looking far too pleased with himself for someone who had just fallen off his chair, in Sarawat’s opinion.
“Don't lieee, you absolutely love him!” cried Fong.
Despite Sarawat’s intention of keeping a deadpan expression, his face betrayed once again. This time the blush was even more apparent, meaning there was no way he could get out of it. In the end, Sarawat gave up and slumped down onto his chair.
“Who am I kidding? I’ve been trying to find that guy for a year, and now that I’ve finally found him I don’t know what to do,” Sarawat confessed. Fong almost cooed at the statement; however, immediately shut his mouth upon receiving a deathly glare from Sarawat.
“Honestly, I don’t think Tine feels anything towards...” Fong started, lingering off at the end, realising that he sounded insensitive. Speaking from experience, he felt that he should be able to offer better advice to someone facing unrequited love. It hurts. He then adds, to reassure Sarawat, “just keep trying, maybe Tine will see something in you, though I don’t get what.”
Sarawat, who still had some ounce of energy in him, flipped Fong. Then, let his head drop on the table, murmuring, “but I have been trying, and it’s getting nowhere.” He almost sounded drunk; although, they had nothing to drink.
“I’ve been flirting with him, but he doesn’t even notice,” he whined with frustration.
Fong burst out laughing. Even the blind could tell how head over heels Sarawat was for Tine, yet Tine remained oblivious. It must be a talent to be unaware of this extent. “I’m sorry to break it to you Sarawat, but Tine has always been like this,” Fong declared earnestly.
“Well yes, I can tell that he can’t take hints,” Sarawat complained.
“I’m going to let you on to something, I think Tine does feel something towards you, even if it’s small, I’m sure that’s a victory for you. I think if anything happened to you, Tine would come running,” Fong mused.
Honestly, Sarawat did have an inkling of doubt that all his efforts, and charms weren’t being wasted, though he had also thought that it was his overactive imagination in work. To have Fong say it aloud, reignited the flicker of hope. As a result, his mouth without his consent gaped at Fong, who simply chuckled.
“I think you’ve got a shot. Plus Tine loves taking care of people, but he has always been the one to do that in his past relationships, so it wouldn’t hurt to have someone take care of him this time,” he hinted, advising Sarawat. He didn’t think Sarawat was a bad guy, and as far as his relationship specialist senses could tell, Tine also felt something for Sarawat. Even though Green had backed off, Tine was still letting Sarawat chase him. That was an obvious sign that Tine was beginning to have feelings for Sarawat. Especially noting those small smiles that rose on Tine’s face whenever Sarawat was mentioned in their conversation, which was becoming frequent.
“Um, thanks I guess, Fong.”
“Alright then, I was able to get loads out of you in this meetup,” Fong stated. There was a brilliant smile on his face, his hands joined together in a way that insinuated an evil plan. None of which made Sarawat feel safe in the slightest. Out of all of Tine's friends, it seemed that he needed to tread with caution around Fong.
“We aren’t having another meetup,” Sarawat said to shoot down whatever plan Fong had begun devising.
“I guess one was enough,” Fong agreed solemnly, then cheekily added, “though I’ll be seeing a lot more of you, unfortunately, if things between the two of you workout.”
Sarawat was just about lost his patience by that point - he was becoming too much like a gossipy wife, and come on, everyone knew that he would be the husband and Tine his wifey… He pushed back his chair, dramatically, “Yes, one conversation with you was definitely enough, and I’ll be leaving now to actually find Tine,” he said.
Just as Sarawat was leaving, Fong appeared behind him.
“Oh yeah you may have gotten my acceptance, but good luck with Tine’s brother,” Fong warned. Then, proceeded to stroll ahead of Sarawat.