The Ghost of You - A YokAyan Story

Chapter 10: No longer a Ghost, but a Special Memory

YOK's POV

After making love several more times through the night, Aye and I finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep, limbs entangled on each other. Only to wake up to a loud, insistent knocking on the door and glancing at the bedside clock it says it's only 8am. Who the hell is visiting Ayan this early?

Taking care not to wake him up, I slowly untangled myself from him and went to find my boxers. I was putting my shirt on when I opened the door and a loud Khan was saying "Hey Aye what took you so long to open man, we agreed to leave at 8am, did you oversleep again?" And stopped the rest of what he was going to say when he saw that it was me who opened the door and not Ayan. Clearly Khan and Thua- who was with him were surprised to see me but instead of letting Khan speak, Thua said "Good Morning Yok!, sorry to interrupt but is Aye up? We have agreed to drive to the beach early to spend the weekend camping. We've been calling him but he has not answered".

I smiled awkwardly knowing full well they had already figured out what was going on and said "Aye is still asleep why don't you come in and I'll wake him up"

"No thanks, Wat and Namo are actually downstairs in the diner near here getting breakfast. We'll wait for him there. Can you tell him?" I nodded and started closing the door as they began to walk back with Thua half dragging the very confused Khan.

"Hey Yok, why don't you come with us? The more the merrier right?" Thua added before continuing to walk out.

Waking up Ayan gently and telling him his friends are outside made him jump up in surprise after looking at the clock "Holy Sh*t, where's my phone, my alarm didn't sound?" Spotting his phone, I showed him it's drained and he immediately went to the bathroom to shower.

I was trying to find my discarded clothes when Ayan said, as he got out of the shower "Yok do you want to go to the beach with us? It's with my friends, the one you saw at the bar. But you don't have to, I mean you might not be comfortable and we just.. last night.." I stuttered, actually feeling shy.

Yok smiled and kissed me on the cheek happily saying "I'd love to. Your friend Thua actually asked me too, I just didn't want to force you in case you are not comfortable with me tagging on your friends outing. Can I shower quickly though? I reek of the stench of sex" I grinned flirtily and that earned me a swat in the arms.

"Go ahead, you can also borrow my clothes. I'll prepare coffee and toast for us while you bath" Ayan said, kissing my cheek. I felt the happiest I have ever been for the longest time and I was whistling softly to myself as I went to shower.

AYAN's POV

If I wasn't hurrying my ass off knowing that the gang was waiting for us downstairs I would have died of mortification first. Being woken up by Yok, realizing I am still naked and remembering everything we did last night made me blush from head to toe and he would have noticed my embarrassment had I not run off with the excuse of taking a shower in a hurry.

I was still an embarrassed mess who did not know how to act towards Yok when I invited him to join us for the outing. I was apprehensive of course, not really sure what happened last night meant anything more to him than just a one time thing. Sure we did talk about feelings but we never said anything about commitment. While I have my doubts and questions, I myself am not ready to say anything about it so I opted to keep the status quo and like Yok, act like everything is cool.

As we drove to the beach in Thua's car, the atmosphere was both tense and playful. The gang was not shy about teasing me and Yok, but it was all in good spirits. Yok seemed to take it all in stride, laughing along with them and making jokes of his own.

As the day went on, my worries about Yok's feelings started to fade away. He was being his usual self, fun-loving and easygoing, and it felt like we had known each other for years. We swam, played beach volleyball, and shared stories around a bonfire in the evening. There was an undeniable connection between us, and it was clear that we were more than just a casual fling.

As the night sky filled with stars, Yok and I found ourselves sitting together away from the group. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore provided a soothing backdrop to our conversation reminiscent of that first time I kissed him.

We talked about our dreams, our fears, and what we wanted in life. It was an intimate conversation that solidified our connection even further. I told him about Akk and the devastation I felt when I lost him. He in turn talked about Dan and the betrayal that cost their relationship.

I came to realize that our past does not need to make us fear to start over. I do not have to forget Akk and everything he meant to me. He does not need to be a ghost in my life, rather a very special memory that I will cherish forever. Yok doesn't seem to mind talking about Dan now too and I even saw a smile on his face when he talked about the shared interest they had in art. We both come with baggage but it makes our relationship uniquely interesting, uniquely ours to start building.

I gazed into Yok's smiling face and In that moment, I knew that I wanted Yok in my life, not just for a fleeting moment, but for the long run. And it seemed like he felt the same way. He leaned in and kissed me, a tender and heartfelt gesture that spoke volumes about his feelings. Being with Yok feels like finding my safe place and kissing him feels like coming home.