Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Homework is soooooooo boring,” Nueng thought. Why did he need to learn mandarin anyway? It's not like his family lived in China... he could be spending his time doing much better things– like playing the piano!! But just like any other day, he was stuck in his room learning the stupid alphabet...

After a while, the boredom finally got to him. Despite being sat in his chair staring down at his little notebook for what felt like an eternity, he had only done 2 words. That’s when he decided, he needed to get out of here somehow. So he did just that, sliding down from the oversized fancy chair and slowly tiptoeing towards where he had left some shoes. Luckily, the room he was in was on the first floor, so he could easily sneak through the window and straight towards his destination!

Nueng put on his tiny shoes and tried very hard to do his laces, then slowly moved towards the window. It was big and extremely heavy, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. After a bit of trial and error, he realised that you needed to pull the window to open it, not push it. “Damn it!! There goes my plans for today...” 

Just as he was about to give up, there was a faint knock coming from the window. Nueng quickly ducked down to hide, then slowly peered his head out to see who or what was at the window. To his surprise, there was a little head that only just reached the window. Nueng slowly approached the window with a sceptical look on his face, before deciding to knock back on the window. After he knocked, the head ran away and revealed that it wasn’t just a head but an entire body as well.

Nueng thought it was weird but went back to sulking almost straight away. After a few minutes, he heard another knock and turned to see that the same head was there again, but this time it was standing on a stool. Nueng waved at the person on the stool and then came a muffled “hi” from the other side of the glass. This excited him, it meant that the window could be opened from the other side!!

Nueng got up quickly and unlatched the window again, making it easier to speak and easier to push. “Push it,” Nueng said harshly.

“why?” the person responded, “what’s in it for me?”

“wait there!!” Nueng rushed towards the table and grabbed his leftover snack, a croissant. “you can have this if you push it!!”

“hmmm,” the person paused, “fine.” Nueng jumped with excitement, he finally gets to escape!!

The person pushed the window open with ease, and Nueng beamed as he climbed through the open window and jumped down, falling right on top of the strange person. “Ow!! That hurts...” the person said and rubbed his head.

“Oh!! Sorry, uh...?” Nueng started,

“Palm, I'm 9,” the person answered

“Woah!! I’m 9 too!!” Nueng said while beaming, “can we be friends?”

“I've never had a friend before.” palm replied,

“Me neither,” he said, “we can be each other's first friend!!”

“Ok!!” palm smiled. “Who are you though? My dad said this is the Kiattrakulmethee house... I dunno what that is though...”

“That’s my family!! I’m Nuengdiao, or Nueng for short!!”

“Okay, Nueng...” palm looked at Nueng with a smile.

“Who are you then? Like why are you here?”

“I dunno... my dad says we need to live here and that I'll understand when I’m older.”

“who’s your dad?”

“he’s my dad, who else would he be?”

“you’ve got a point...” Nueng said and laughed a bit, Palm laughed with him.

The two carried on, Nueng leading the way towards the music room. They talked about pointless things; I guess that’s just what kids do. Once they reached the music room, Nueng reached up to open the door, and in they went. 

It was a beautiful room, the velvet carpets were perfectly spotless, and the lace curtains were drawn, leaving the sunlight to seep through the glass. There was a polished black piano right in the centre of the room, and a few bookshelves in the corner. 

“Woah, it’s so pretty in here!!” palm commented, 

“I know right!! It’s sad I can’t come in her that often...” 

“Why? Isn’t that a waste?” 

“That’s what I try to tell my parents!! They always say I need to ‘focus on my studies’ though...” Nueng huffed. 

“Do you play that thing?” palm asked 

“The piano?” 

“Mmm.” 

“Yeah!! It’s really fun!!” 

“Can you play for me?” 

“Sure!! Do you have a favourite song?” 

“Hmmm... not really,” he paused, “play your favourite one.” 

“Ok!!” Nueng ran up to the piano and sat down on the little stool. He begun to slowly move his fingers along the dusty keys, pressing a few down as he went.  

A melody came from the piano, something Palm had never heard before. It was gentle, but it made his heart ache with a sort of bittersweetness, although he couldn’t pinpoint it at the time. He watched as Nueng kept sliding his hands around, each note he pressed continued the song. It was almost in sync with his own heartbeat.  

Lost in his own thoughts and music, palm hadn’t realised the soft tug on his arm. “Palm!! Quick!!” Nueng whispered. 

“Hm?” before palm could snap back into reality, Nueng had pulled him behind a bookshelf so they were out of sight. Just then, the door opened and a man that looked like a gardener came in and popped his head about. Nueng covered palms and his own mouths, trying to stop any noises coming out.  

“I could’ve sworn there was music coming from here... eh, guess I'm just getting old.” the gardener muttered before walking away, shutting the door behind him. Now that the coast was clear, Nueng took his hands away and they both breathed heavily. “That was close,” Nueng smiled. 

“Yeah, it was...” Palm smiled as well, and they both fell onto their backs and started laughing. 

Chapter Text

The sun had risen a while ago, but Nueng wasn’t bothered to get up yet. He hadn’t seen Palm since that day, who knows where he was now.

Knock knock

It was probably aunt Nid bringing breakfast, so Nueng got up and opened the door. To his surprise, it was his mother. “Good morning Nueng,” she said with a smile.

“Good morning...” he said, smiling back and bowing.

“Could you come downstairs for a bit dear? I'd like to talk to you for a bit,” she said.

“Oh, of course!! I'll just get dressed.” he said and shut the door to get dressed.

***

Nueng walked down the wooden steps that led to the dining room, the wood was slightly cold on his feet despite the socks he had on. When he got to the room, he let a smile creep out from his teeth from the familiar face. Palm.

He sat down next to palm and flashed a teethy grin in his direction. Palm had a mouth full of food but still smiled back at him. Aunt Nid brought some breakfast into the dining room and placed a plate in front of Nueng and smiled before leaving again.

“Nueng, this is Chanon and his son.” Thanya smiled before continuing, “they’ll be staying with us in the house from now on. I hope you boys can get along.”

Chanon smiled and said to palm, “tell Khun Nhu your name son.”

“Why do I need to? He al-” before he could finish, Nueng cut him off,

“what’s your name?” Nueng winked at palm.

“Ohhh, my name is Palm,” He winked back, despite not knowing why.”

“Nice to meet you!! I'm Nuengdiao, Nueng for short.” he says, taking a bite of his croissant.

“I’ll leave you two boys be for now.” Thanya said smiling and ushering Chanon to follow her.

Now that they were alone, palm finally asks, “why did i have to tell you my name again, I already told you...”

“If my mum finds out I snuck out then she’d kill me,” Nueng giggled.

***

Palm and Nueng sat by the pool with their legs kicking in the water. The sun shone hot rays of sun against their bare necks and peach blossom petals fell from the trees onto their hair. They laughed and laughed, spending as much time as they could growing their newfound friendship.

“Hey Nueng,”

“Hm?”

“Isn’t your house more of a mansion than a house?”

“I dunno, I haven’t seen any other houses.”

“Why not? They're everywhere.”

“I’m not allowed outside the grounds,” Nueng hmphed.

“At least your house is gigantic then!!”

“It’s better now that I have you!! I have someone to play with!!” Nueng said while grinning, and Palm smiled back per usual. “Talking about playing, wanna go to my room and play with my action figures?”

“Sure!! That sounds fun!!” Palm agreed.

The two of them started to get up, palm was about to turn to put his shoes and sock back on when he heard a loud splash along with a muffled scream.

“NUENG??” he shouted and realised he had fallen into the pool. Nueng wasn’t surfacing, which probably meant he couldn’t swim.

Palm jumped into the pool, eager to save Nueng who was slowly sinking down, despite his efforts of trying to swim up. Palm grabbed Nueng’s arm tightly and pulled him back to the surface where they both climbed out and sat on the grass. Nueng was breathing heavily and Palm looked worried. “Are you okay Nueng?”

“I’m fine!! Don't worry!! Just a little breathless...”

“Uh- you’re all wet now.”

“Pfft!! Look at yourself, you look like a wet puppy.”

“Do not!!” Palm protested, before the two fell back and started giggling again.

“I’m glad you’re my friend palm!!” You’re pretty cool!!”

“You too Nueng!! Although we should probably go dry off now...”

“I think you’re right...” They got up again, without falling this time, and made their way to one of the many bathrooms to dry off.

Chapter Text

Nueng scribbled away in his diary, letting the ink spill out his feelings onto the paper. Sometimes he felt a bit childish, but it was easier than telling people about his feelings. He could scream out the stuff he’s had to keep hidden without fear of judgement. Whenever he picked up the familiar notebook and pen, it felt sitting down to chat with an old friend. someone you’ve known for a long time. Though I suppose he did have someone like that, palm.

Palm was strong, compassionate, good looking, and most importantly, he was the only good friend Nueng had ever had. He was always there to listen, Nueng could talk to him about anything... except this.

He heard the door creak open, so he shoved his notebook under his pillow.

“What’s that?” it was palm. speak of the devil...

“None of your business.”

“Playing hard to get I see,” palm grinned and sat on Nueng’s bed.

“Palm.” Nueng hit him playfully, “stop joking around.”

“Pfft,” he moved closer. It was only an inch or two, but it still made Nueng’s heartbeat speed up.

“What’re you here for anyway?” Nueng said while laying back.

“Dad’s snoring again... can I stay here?”

“What if I say no?”

“You’ll regret that...” palm said menacingly. Before Nueng could reply again, he felt Palm's weight shift as he begun to tickle him.

“Pfft- Palm!! Stop it tickles!!”

“I know, that’s the point idiot.”

“Haha!! Fine- fine!! You can stay, just- stop tickling me!!”

Palm finally stopped and Nueng kicked him off before sitting up again.

“We’ll have to share the bed if you don’t mind,” he said, “it’s late and I can’t be bothered to get the futon out.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

Nueng told himself it was because of laziness that he offered to share the bed, but it was probably for other reasons...

They both decided to go to sleep. Palm had brought his own blanket and pillow so at least he didn’t have to worry about sharing a blanket with palm.

Nueng fell asleep before palm, which was how it usually was. They had their backs faced so it wouldn’t be as weird. Palm glanced over his shoulder and saw Nueng sleeping peacefully. His mouth was slightly open and 2 of his shirt buttons were undone. Surely it wouldn’t be that bad if he turned over right...?

He couldn’t help himself, Palm turned over and rested his arm on Nueng’s waist, burying his face in Nueng’s back as well. He’d remember to turn over again before he fell asleep. Probably...

***

Nueng opened his eyes slowly, adjusting them to the sunlight. He tried to reach his arms up to rub the sleepy dust away from his eyes, but something was holding him as if to stop him from moving. He looked down to see Palm. Their bodies were intertwined together like a key and a lock, fitting perfectly into one another.

It took him a moment to register exactly what was going on, but when he did, he squeezed his eyes shut again. “shit... How did I get here? Why am I cuddling Palm?!?!” Nueng thought to himself. “I should probably get up... but... maybe I can stay just a bit longer...”

Not long after, palm woke up. Nueng was pretending to sleep, and he hoped that Palm would move before waking him up so that things wouldn’t get awkward.

Palm did move. He got up and then Nueng heard him get out of the bed and walk towards the bathroom, so he guessed now was a safe time to get up as well. He got up and started to get changed into his school uniform, and of course, Palm walked in.

“Oh shit- sorry!!” Palm said as he turned around. Nueng’s ears went red as he finished putting on his trousers and sat down on the bed. “You should get dressed, we’re gonna be late...”

“Of course your highness.” palm replied, never failing to lighten the mood. It was weird, despite knowing each other for almost 9 years, the two still got shy at each other's half naked bodies.

After palm got dressed, they went downstairs and ate some breakfast before getting into the car that Chanon drove them to school in. They casually talked as they drove; their conversations had become a part of daily life some time ago.

“Oh yeah,” Palm remembered, “Happy birthday Nueng!!” He smiled.

“Thanks palm.”

“I got you something, wait a sec,” palm begun to dig through his bag and then grabbed something out or it. It was a rope bracelet with a little sun shaped charm hanging from it. He handed it to Nueng and said,

“Here, it’s not much but I thought you’d like it.”

Nueng smiled warmly. Palm was right, he did like it. Being honest, Nueng would like anything Palm gave him. When they were little, Palm gave him a flat rock with the words “happy birthday,” written on it, and Nueng had kept it safe in his bedside table ever since.

***

School had just finished, so the two of them were making their way towards the hotel where they would have a party. Nueng’s dad was finally coming back from one of his work trips, and palm knew how excited Nueng was, despite him not showing it.

Chanon drove them to the hotel, where Nueng’s mum and dad were waiting with a big meal and a cake prepared for him. They all sat at the dining table; there was a warm atmosphere, and everyone was talking and having fun.

Palm didn’t talk that much. Despite being invited, he didn’t know whether it would interrupt their family time, so he just sat there, staring at Nueng as he ate. Nueng probably didn’t notice, he Must’ve been busy eating, or maybe he just didn’t want to look at Palm.

After a while, the plates were cleared away. Palm went to get the birthday cake, and they all sang happy birthday. Palm liked it whenever Nueng smiled. His smile was always so warm and bright. It filled up Palm’s mind for the entire day whenever he saw Nueng smile. He hoped that Nueng could smile forever, he hoped that Nueng would smile at him forever.

***

The rain was pouring outside and they all huddled under umbrellas as they hurried to the car. Nueng was smiling. He smiled as he walked alongside all his loved ones. But it didn’t last.

BANG

His dad was laying lifeless on the ground, bleeding out into the rain. He didn’t even have time to react before he heard Palm scream his name, and another loud bang.

Chapter Text

The rain still poured heavily from the dark grey clouds. Nueng and his family stood by the closed casket, each one with a black umbrella in hand. Everyone was there, except for palm. They never found palm’s body, and for all Nueng knew, he was probably dead in a ditch somewhere.

Nueng felt a mixture of rain and tears roll down his cheeks as he walked to the car. He watched the little droplets race each other across the glass window. He felt empty. Everything was empty.

Maybe it was the echoing silence filled by the ticking of the clock on his bedside table. Or the bed that was still left unmade from where palm had been sleeping only a few days ago. But everything reminded him that they were gone.

He watched them die, and it was his fault. His dad would be safe if Nueng didn’t pester him to come back for his birthday. And Palm would be alive if he didn’t have to protect him. Nueng couldn’t help but think he was to blame.

He missed the feeling of air escaping his lungs every time palm tickled him. He missed palm’s broken alarm clock that almost made them late every day. He missed writing about palm in his notebook. He missed palm.

***

Nueng walked into the school building. His head was hanging slightly low, refusing to look anyone in the eye. They'd hired a new bodyguard for him when he returned to school. He'd asked not to make it noticeable, so they’d hired one of his classmates. Ben was the class president, and they both enjoyed music, so they got along nicely.

Nueng knew that ben had feelings for him. He sort of used them to get over palm, and it wasn’t easy. He sat on the little piano stool, playing the same keys he played for palm the day they met.

As he was playing, he heard Ben’s familiar footsteps, so he paused his song to turn around. Ben sat next to him on the stool and smiled. It wasn’t the same as palm’s smile, but he still liked it. He smiled back and he felt Ben slowly inch closer.

“It seems you don’t need a bodyguard anymore. Considering you heard my footsteps even over the music.” Ben said teasingly.

“Why? You're tired of me already?”

Ben laughed and put his hand on Nueng’s, “how could I?”

“Are you flirting or something?” Nueng said while letting out a small chuckle.

“Maybe I am, guess we’ll never know.”

Nueng smiled, and the room fell silent until one of them decided to break it.

“Nueng... could I... kiss you?” They both stayed silent, but the mood gave an answer to him. They slowly moved their faces together and their lips touched gently. It was a small peck, but it mattered.

***

Nueng walked into school again, feeling a bit better. That was until he saw it. Photos falling from the ceiling. Photos of the kiss he had shared with Ben in the music room.

Almost as soon as he’d entered the building, the teachers came to get him. His mother wasn’t available to meet in the office, but ben and his dad were there. No matter how nervous he was, he pushed through. He was scared his mother wouldn’t accept him. He was scared that Ben would receive judgment.

“Nuengdiao Kiattrakulmethee,” the teacher began saying. “I'm sure you’ve seen the photos. I’ve informed your mother, but she was unable to come today.”

“These photos are fake, right? It has to be photoshopped.” Ben’s dad sounded frantic and angry.

“They’re real. We really did kiss.” Nueng wasn’t afraid of Ben’s dad, or the teachers. He wanted to stand up for what he knew was right, and it was the truth anyway.

“Ben, this boy started it, didn’t he? He was the one who initiated the kiss right?”

“Yes father. Nuengdiao initiated it.”

“Damnit. I should’ve known better then to trust their family.”

How could Ben lie like that? It was disgusting to think that he had trusted Ben. He wanted to wash his lips with bleach. All he could think about was the betrayal. He didn’t bother to fight back, he just left.

Nueng made his way towards the building his father left for him. He wanted to turn into a condo that was especially made for Nueng. There was a peach blossom tree at the back of the building. Nueng liked to sit at its base whenever he felt down.

He sat there and just cried. Not tears of sadness, it was closer to anger. He felt enraged at the fact Ben had done such a thing to him. He held his head in his hands and stayed still apart from the shaking of his shoulders. He thought he was alone, until he felt a rough hand rest on his shoulder.

“I saw what happened. You can talk to me anytime you know?” It was palm’s voice. Palm's voice was different to all the other voices, and it was definitely palm’s. At first, he thought it was a trick, or maybe his brain was imagining things. He didn’t want to turn around, he was scared of false hope. No matter how much he tried to ignore the feeling, deep down he wished it was Palm. But he knew it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Palm was dead.

Nueng’s mouth almost dropped to the floor as he finally turned around. He had to be seeing things. There's no way palm was standing behind him right now. He was dead. No one can miraculously come back after being dead for 6 months.

Palm smiled. It was almost his usual smile, but it was filled with a kind of sadness and guilt. Like he was apologising.

“Palm...” As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he felt his heart ache.

“I guess this is a bad time to be back?” Palm laughed, but it wasn’t because it was funny. It was probably a way to fill the silence.

“Dickhead... where the hell did you go?” Nueng launched at Palm to hug him. “You’ve got some explaining to do”

“That can wait, could we just stay here for now?”

“Fine, but you have to tell me everything as soon as we’re done.” Nueng and Palm stayed like that for a while, just sitting underneath the falling peach blossoms. Nueng held Palm so tightly he felt like a water balloon about to bust. He thought that Palm would disappear again as soon as he let go.

Honestly, he still thought Palm wasn’t actually real. He thought that maybe he had finally gone crazy and snapped. But even still, he didn’t take what he had right now for granted. He definitely wasn’t letting go anytime soon. He felt tears fall out of his eyes and absorb into Palm’s Hawaiian style shirt. Maybe it was a dream, and Palm wasn’t real. Or maybe it had all been a dream. Maybe his dad wasn’t dead, and maybe Palm never got shot. He secretly wished for it to be the latter.

“Are you real?”

“100%” palm whispered into the collar of Nueng’s shirt.

Chapter Text

i have no clue what to write for the next chapter of the main fic so i've decided to write a oneshot for now so that i can atleast post something by tomorrow. also pls give me ideas abt what to write for the next chapter of the main story!! and also feel free to give me and other fic ideas, if you want me to write them i will def give credits!!

also i've been a bit busy recently so that's why i haven't updated until now!!

Chapter Text

The 6 boys sat in a circle on the carpeted floor of Nueng’s bedroom. Most of their hangouts happened at Nueng’s house since it was clearly the biggest. They had been contemplating on what to do for about 10 minutes. It has been raining outside all week so they couldn’t do anything outside. “How about we play uno?” Moo suggested.

“Every time we play uno you always blame me when you lose,” Kang remarked.

“Hey!! You're the one who aways loses P’Kang!!” Moo replied with a sulky tone, which made the others giggle.

“What about truth or dare?” Duang said, “we haven’t played it in like forever!!”

“Hm... that sounds good, you guys up for it?” Nueng asked.

Everyone said yes, except for Duang since he was the one who suggested it. Qin grabbed a bottle from his bag and put it in the middle of the circle.

“Want me to first since it was my idea?” Duang asked. His friends nodded so he span the bottle and it landed on Kang. “Truth or dare?” Duang smirked and Kang facepalmed.

“Truth.” He picked truth since it was slightly safer...

“Hmmm.... what’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever googled?”

Kang’s face winced when he heard Duang’s Question.

“Come on P’Kanggggggg!!” Moo looked at him with puppydog eyes, which despite him not wanting to admit it, made him give in.

“I guess it was back in first year when I googled top 10 ways to make friends.”

“That’s more sad than embarrassing lol,” Duang replied. “Anyway, you spin the bottle now P’Kang!!”

Kang spun the bottle and it landed on palm. “Truth or dare.”

“Dare I guess.”

Kang took a minute to think before saying, “I dare you to compliment your favourite person without telling us who.”

“Alright bet,” Palm said. “I love the way you do most of the work in all our group projects.”

Kang giggled and said, “that’s probably about Nueng, isn’t it?”

“Mm,” palm mumbled. “I have known him the longest so...” Nueng stayed nonchalant, but inside he was beaming. Palm spun the bottle and it landed on Qin.

“I’ll pick truth.”

“Alright then... Why do you turn down everyone who asks you out? Is it because you already have someone in mind?”

“If I said yes to anyone Duang would be crying for ages.”

“Does that imply something?” Duang beamed and leaned towards Qin.

“No.” Qin said shoving Duang away playfully. After a few more rounds, it was Moo’s turn to spin the bottle. It landed on Nueng.

“I'll go with dare.” that was the biggest mistake of his life. Moo smirked widely and said,

“I dare you to sit in Palm’s lap for the rest of tonight.”

Nueng tried to stop himself from going red and mouthed, ‘bastard’ in Moo’s direction, which only made him laugh more. Hesitantly, Nueng sat in Palm’s cross-legged lap and remained that way for the rest of the game.

***

After a while, they decided to put on a movie. Everyone sat on Nueng’s bed cuddled up in all their warm blankets. Duang was the first to fall asleep, and Qin had to let him lean on his shoulder, where they both fell asleep. Palm was asleep too. Nueng was still in his lap, so he hugged him while he slept. Nueng didn’t really mind this though, despite the room being filled with people it made him feel like they were in their own bubble.

Everything was peaceful. The moon shone through the crack in the curtains and the TV lagged from time to time. Nueng was so grateful to have everyone, his friends were the only people he could turn to after all.

He could feel Palm’s breath against the crook of his neck. A soft and sweet feeling. Maybe it could last forever? That’s what Nueng had hoped anyway.

He turned his head slightly, so he was facing Palm’s dozed off face. The light made his eyelashes glisten in the moonlight, and Nueng couldn’t help but think about how beautiful he was. It was sort of without thinking, but he reached up to kiss Palm’s cheek. For now, that was all he could do. He hoped someday he could do more. He hoped he could embrace Palm every night, and spend the rest of their days together, but he wouldn’t dare say that out loud. Not yet.

Chapter Text

The two snuck through the window to Nueng’s bedroom, it was just like old times. Nueng held Palm’s hand the whole way there, still thinking he might disappear.

It was okay. Just for tonight, it was okay. Nueng didn’t want to worry about digging up his unspoken feelings from the past. So, just for tonight, he held palm for as long as he could. Feeling the warm trickle of breath along his neck and Palm’s calloused fingers on his shoulder.

When they woke up, he was still there. The sight of Palm’s languid body along with the rising of his chest was comforting. He could reach out and feel Palm underneath his grasp.

“If you look at me like that I might think you’re flirting.” Palm’s voice startled Nueng. He smiled and thought, “I wouldn’t risk losing you again.”

“I've been working on the boats.”

“Hm?”

“I thought I'd ought to explain where I've been.” Palm rolled over to face Nueng, “my old captain was the one who paid for my hospital bills. The injury wasn’t bad at all, but I had to make it up to him, you know?”

“You could’ve at least said something?”

“Do think a guy who’s just been shot and woke up in a random place would have any money or a phone?”

“I guess you have a point... so how’d you get back?”

“I stayed in a tent outside captain’s for a while, until I payed off the debt and got enough money to come back.”

“must’ve been tough.”

“Not as hard as leaving you.”

Those 6 words were all it took for Nueng to completely break. But it wasn’t in a bad way, he just couldn’t help it. The tears formed in his eyes like little droplets of dew that clung to moist leaves in the spring.

Palm couldn’t help but admire him. Nueng’s watery eyes glistened in the sun with upmost beauty, which made him want to scoop him into his pocket and keep him to himself. He didn’t care about classes*, or what their parents would think, not when Nueng was silently wheeping in front of him like this.

*When I say classes, I mean social classes not classes in school.

The only thing that stopped Palm from showering kisses along his face was the fear of Nueng’s feeling being different. So, to his own disappointment, he gently pulled Nueng into a hug.

They had been doing a lot of hugging recently, not that either was complaining. To be honest, this was probably the best Nueng has ever felt. Even if the fear he would wake up and realise was all a dream kept creeping up on him like snake venom.

A few minutes passed, and they mutually broke off the hug. This time, Nueng believed it was real.

***

Palm moved towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. His toothbrush was still there. It hadn’t moved an inch from when he’d put it down on the morning of Nueng’s 18th birthday. A few of the bristles were out of place from wear, and there were a few specs of dust on the top of the head.

The toothpaste was the same brand. The pink kind with the slightly spicy aftertaste. There was still a little sticker on the mirror, the star shaped one Palm had placed on their first day of high school together. Nothing in the room had changed except for the shower curtain being slightly wrinkled each time it got pulled back and forth.

Palm was happy, that’s how he liked it.

“You almost done in there? I need to take a shower.”

“Mhm, give me a sec your highness.” Palm’s comment made Nueng chuckle under his breath.

After the two freshened up, it left one last thing to question. How would he explain Palm’s magic return to his mother? Unlike what happened with Ben, it was a problem he had to deal with now. His mother was knocking on his door...

He ushered Palm to hide behind a corner for now and whispered, “I'll get you when it’s a good time.”

After that, he went to the door and opened it. Clasping his hand together with a small bow accompanied with a “good morning mum.”

“Good morning Nueng, did you sleep alright?”

“Mm, it was really good actually.”

“That’s wonderful to hear sweetheart. I have breakfast ready downstairs for us when you’re ready.”

“Actually... we might need another plate of breakfast.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know how to explain this, and please don’t be too shocked but...” Nueng went to where Palm was hiding and pulled him to walk towards his mother.

“Surprise...”

Palm greeted Nueng’s mother politely and smiled rather awkwardly.

“I'm not seeing things...am I?” Nueng’s mother said with a very taken aback sounding voice. You could tell from a hundred miles away that she was shocked.

In theory, there was no possible way for someone who had been known as dead for more than 6 months could magically come back. But there he was, standing right in front of her, so she saved the questions for later.

The three of them went down for breakfast, and aunt nid prepared another plate of croissants. Palm’s favourite.

They decided not to go to school that day. It was probably for best because if Nueng had left Palm with his mother Palm would never have time alone. And even when he was there, his mother still hovered over Palm like a fly. Asking questions and showering him with attention.

It was sweet really, she treated Palm like a second son. And since Palm’s own mum had never been around, he enjoyed having a mother figure like Miss Thanya.

***

Evening fell, and the clouds morphed into glistening stars. Nueng was slouched against his bed frame, while Palm was sat right next to him.

They didn’t do much, just sat in each other's peaceful presence watching the sun slowly dance into the horizon. And before he could know it, Nueng felt his head slowly nodding to sleep, hitting Palm’s shoulder with a soft thud.

Palm slowly moved Nueng and himself down into a better sleeping position. He cupped Nueng’s cheek to steady his head down. Even when they were tucked comfortably under the warm duvet, he still didn’t break the touch. He only moved his hand from Nueng’s cheek to his shoulder. And they fell asleep like that. Just like the night of Nueng’s birthday 6 months ago.