Make me yours

10. THE CLUB

To say Ram's friends were shocked to see King inside Ram's car was an understatement. They couldn't decipher the real reason why he'd be there but they had a few guesses. For someone like Ting Ting, as a y-fangirl, she was hoping and praying the two would be together romantically. Tang and Phu were equally surprised, although Phu was almost sure of the relation as he was always with Ram in their faculty.

"Oh, P', you're here as well?" Phu said as they got in the car.
"Yes, hi nongs", King greeted them back.
No one knew how to broach the subject as Ram seemed not to want to talk about it as yet. King was with him on that. So as they made their way to the club, they only tackled on light subjects just to keep a conversation going.
They got to the club and Ram managed to get a parking spot closer to the entrance.

As soon as they entered, they spotted the rest of the other guys already seated in a secluded corner. They started making their way there but Ram was stopped by someone he wasn't even expecting.
"Ram", called out the girl that looked almost wasted.
Ram was really surprised to see her here and didn't even know what to say to her. King could see Ram was conflicted with the whole situation because he also had recognized who the girl was, but he didn't say anything.
"Pin", Ram says, in a low voice.
This girl had been a dear friend to Ram since they were kids. Pin was always there even though Ram wasn't much for interacting with other people. He really appreciated having her in his life but after discovering what Pin was doing with his father, Ram totally lost it. It caused him to break down in King's arms. He was ready to go talk to his family about it but he certainly wasn't looking forward to seeing Pin at the moment.
Pin came closer and even touched Ram's hand.
"Ram, where have you been? I haven't seen you for a very long time now", she said while still holding his hand.

Ram's friends made their way to the table but King was left standing there with Ram. He felt so infuriated, seeing the girl holding Ram's hand like that but he didn't do or say anything.
Ram managed to get his hand away from Pin without being too harsh. Before he could say anything, another girl came and joined Pin.
"Pin, where did you go?" She asked before turning her attention to the guy Pin was talking to.
"Hey, is he the one you're always telling me about?" She asked while pointing at Ram.
She nodded at her friend and you could tell they both had a little bit to drink.
She decided to introduce her friend.
"Ram, this is Aim, a friend of mine", she said.

Ram didn't say anything either. He really just wanted to leave there.
"Nice to meet you, Ram", Aim said in a flirty tone.
It seemed Pin wanted Ram to be with Aim, like she was with his father.
Not gonna happen.
"Who's your friend?" Aim asked Ram.
"I...", King tried to say.
"We were just leaving", Ram said as he took King's hand and pulled him to the table with their friends, leaving the two girls behind.

When they got to the table, all the people there had seen what went down. Deun was also concerned because he knew Pin as well.
"Ram, what was that? Did Pin do something?" Deun asked.
Ram just looked at Deun and didn't answer. Deun knew his friend, he knew not to push the issue.
Some drinks were delivered to their table and the conversation turned back to being celebratory. Toasts went around the table as some people took some shots. Ram didn't drink as he knew he'd have to drive back. But King didn't miss how off Ram's mood was now. He took Ram's hand under the table and Ram turned to him.
They communicated without verbally saying anything, King telling Ram that he's with him through all that. Ram saying thank you for the support.
"Hoy, what's with the looks you two keep exchanging?" Boss inquired, nosy as always.
"Boss, focus on your husband", King said to get the attention away from them.
Everyone at the table snickered at that, they knew Boss would turn to the husband after that.

"So guys, when are we doing that trip to the beach?" Tee asked the others.
"I think it's best we do it after we get the results. They'll be out in a couple of days, so we can go beginning of next week", Bohn suggested.
No one seemed to dispute that suggestion so it was settled.
"Great, some of us can go home and see the family before we go for the trip", Phu said.
Everyone agreed with that.

"Hey, don't think about it", King whispered to Ram. "Focus on here, with me, with our friends. Let's not think about the family for now."
Ram squeezed King's thigh under the table in response to that, he was trying to be here by all means. King put his hand on Ram's, the one on his thigh.
"So, Ram, any chance of you going back to professional boxing again?" Bohn asked.
Ram shook his head no. He had enough of that already. He just did all these exercises nowadays just to keep fit.
"Not anymore, P'. Those days are behind me", he answered.
Bohn nodded, not pursuing the issue.
They just goofed around, having fun all night and not accepting any invitations from some girls that came to their table. They were just content being just themselves. Most of them got so wasted that they couldn't even stand on their own for long.
When the night ended, it seemed about three of the group were sober and became the designated drivers for their friends. They got them all in the cars and made their way home. It was a night well spent, despite a bit of disturbance earlier on.

Ram managed to get his friends home before he started driving his King to their home. King was a little wasted because he also didn't drink much. When he got back into the car after getting Phu inside his dorm, King was waiting in the passenger seat for him.
"Let's go home", Ram said to him.
King smiled and nodded at him.
It was late at night so at least there was no traffic at all.
"I'm glad your night wasn't ruined before it began. I was afraid seeing her would get you off the mood completely but I'm happy that didn't happen", King said as he put his hand on Ram's thigh.
Ram got one hand off the steering wheel and patted King's that was on his thigh.
When they stopped at a red light, Ram looked at King and found him already looking at him. Ram got the bangs out of King's eyes and King held Ram's hand to his face. He then kissed Ram's palm before Ram took back his hand.
It really felt so good being taken care of by Ram.