Single dad Arthit has always known Kongpob, a regular at his cafe, as a player. The latter brings in different partners every month and Arthit swears he'll stay away from him for good. However, life seems to have a different plan for him when Puimek...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sunlight filters through the satin curtains — navy in colour, hand-picked — and Kongpob stirs awake in bed, feeling sleep drifting further and further away from him. He rubs his eyes, opens them after a few difficult attempts to see the other half of the big bed that he's lying in is tidy and made, unlike the side that he's on.
Remembering what has happened the night before, he smiles into his pillow.
"You're awake—" He hears Arthit's soft voice hover above the morning air. Kongpob rolls to his side, well-aware that he has his right ankle trapped between the sheets and looks up to see the older man crossing the room to reach him.
"Morning, sunshine," he greets Arthit who's stopped by the bedside and tries not to smile too wide.
It feels as if his heart might claw out of his chest any minute with the way the older man looks so ethereal, standing before him in his white oversized t-shirt that Arthit's hesitantly borrowed for the sake of convenience yesterday.
There's a comfortable silence as they stare at each other with matching red cheeks until Kongpob tilts his head and pulls Arthit into bed with him— "Oii!"
The mattress dips low as the older man falls back and Kongpob takes the opportunity to wrap him into an embrace. Arthit laughs, hits the younger man hard on his arm before Kongpob leans in to plant a brave kiss on the other's temple a moment later.
The birds chirp outside their world as they lie in bed silently, each with their thoughts, basking in the sunrise. And it isn't until a few minutes later that Arthit voices out, "I need to prepare breakfast—"
Kongpob tightens his arm around the older man and brushes away the strands that are threatening Arthit's eyes carefully.
"Can't we stay like this for the entire day?"
Arthit stirs to face the younger man and lets out a light chuckle, "I've to work."
"You can quit. I'll take care of you for the rest of my life, P'Arthit."
"Kong!"
Kongpob catches his hand before the other could hit him again and raises a challenging eyebrow. Arthit rolls his eyes but laces their fingers together, loosely.
"This is... kinda sudden. It's a bit too much for me to take in," he mumbles and buries his face into the younger man's chest, listening to Kongpob's calm, steady heartbeat.
I can't believe I've crossed that line with Kongpob, Arthit muses.
Up until the evening before, he's never thought that he'd be in this kind of relationship with a regular customer from the cafe whom he's always regarded as a player. A player that he never wanted to have anything to do with.
