Teaching Chay

Chapter 10

Kim is standing in front of his bathroom mirror, hair dripping onto his shoulders, razor still in hand, when he wonders if shaving was too much. He doesn't want to assume anything. Would he shave for a normal dinner with a friend? Maybe? He quickly wipes the shaving cream from his face and cleans the razor and sink before grabbing a towel and drying his hair again. Shaving didn't leave him much time to style and blow-dry his hair. Naked as he is, he walks out of the bathroom and into his walk-in closet, where he grabs a pair of boxers before tackling the really difficult task: What to wear.

Kinn told him no leather, and while he'd like to wear it just to spite his brother, he's confident enough to know that leather and the colour black are armour to him. He wears a black-on-black leather ensemble for the really tough, bloody jobs, and then dials it back for other occasions. Wik usually wears denim and Porchay liked him, so maybe blue jeans? Ripped or not? And what about a shirt? White shirts are for dates in fancy restaurants and the hated family dinners with his father, so Kim rules them out. Printed shirts could be an option, but would also scream "date" if he turned up in his signature barocco silk Versace shirt or something similar. He eventually settles on his light grey Dior T-shirt, simply because it's the only real option he has, with the rest of his clothes still at his own flat and not here on the estate.

He freezes when he realises he's just put on cologne, bottle in hand, but it's too late anyway. He can't wash it off or change. He doesn't have the time if he doesn't want to be late. A little harder than necessary, he puts the bottle back on the shelf and puts on his necklace and some rings. Hopefully he won't need them down at the restaurant, he started wearing them so he could hit harder without running around with brass knuckles all the time, but now he just feels naked without them, helpless and exposed. The last time he stopped wearing them was when he was spending time with Porchay in the studio or at his house and then Porchay was kidnapped right in front of him because Kim had been lulled into a false sense of security that never really existed when you're a Theeranpanyakul. Knowing that they are inside the compound without his father around, Kim leaves his gun in his room, then takes a deep breath and makes his way downstairs to the hot pot restaurant that belongs to the compound.

"P'Kim!" Porchay is already there, smiling warmly when he sees him. Kim saunters over, hiding the fact that he was rushing through the compound to get to the restaurant on time.

"Hey." Kim sits down and takes his hands out of his pockets, though he wishes he could keep them there to hide his nervousness.

"Would you like dumplings in your hotpot? I never knew you could put dumplings in a hotpot. Hia and I always had seafood and mushrooms." Porchay babbles, but seems completely relaxed as he stirs the broth that is already simmering in front of them. He wears jeans and a light blue T-shirt. Porchay's hair is perfectly trimmed these days, but still fluffy, and Kim grips the edge of the table to keep him from running his hand through it.

"Sure, dumplings sound good," Kim nods and tosses in some vegetables. He doesn't care for dumplings but would eat just about anything right now, as long as it's what Porchay wants. "Anyone else joining us?" He really needs to find out why they are sitting here and whether this is a date or not. If other members of either family were to join them, it would be an indication that it's definitely not a date.

"No," Porchay shakes his head as he speaks, "I just thought it was nice when we hung out at the mall. You're like the only almost normal person I can talk to here," Porchay shrugs and Kim wrinkles his forehead. It was kind of a compliment, but not really what he wanted to hear. "Like... I can't have dinner with my brother without your brother joining in or calling or something. I can't have dinner with Kinn without Porsche showing up. And when they are together, they can be quite disgusting. And I spend too much time with Khun down at the operations centre and he's..." Porchay's hands fly.