The Man I Became... Because of You (Completed)

Dinner and an Alibi

Pete  was officially a productive working member of the hotel. Never mind that he had been there every day and had done several reports and had quite a few plans in motion. Several of the key stakeholders had already expressed their admiration of his devotion.

If only they knew he was simply passing the time until Ae was available.

With their relationship back in full swing, both men found they couldn't stand to be at work a minute longer than they had to. Usually Ae would linger to double and triple check everything. Sometimes he would even advance on certain aspects of the job. Now, he still carefully double or triple checked everything but the advancing part, not so much.

Pete had managed to talk Can out of retaliating immediately on Tul and his father. Instead he convinced him to let them simmer and if they still refused to back down, then the following week week could make their move.

Pete was actually on point because Tin observed that for a couple of days following Ae's being served, his father and brother had been hyper vigilant. Tin had simply ignored everything they did or said and left for his team meeting on Friday to return on Sunday. Also in a smart move, Tin took Can with him. 

Since everyone had separate rooms, Tin had simply paid money out of his own pocket to have Can included. This wasn't unusual. Following any major fallout or disagreement, Tin usually packed up his husband and rolled out with him or organized to have him stay with Ae or with his Mom if he had to leave town because he didn't trust his own family to not pick on Can in his absence.

Since everything remained 'normal', the other Medthanet men were lulled into a false sense of safety.

"Ae, I'm outside."

"Great. Just give me a moment." Ae grabbed his wallet and double checked it, gave himself a quick look in the mirror then ran out. Pete had spent that weekend with Ae. However he had left yesterday, Sunday, and gone back home to prepare for his official first day of work. Ae made plans to take him out to dinner to celebrate. Since Pete's home was outside the city, they both decided that Pete would drive.

"Hey." Ae jumped in and smiled at Pete. He pulled him closer with a hand on his cheek and kissed him softly. "How was it?"

"It went pretty smooth. My decision to show my face around made the transition really easy. It's just sad to be keeping normal working hours now when I used to be able to come and go as I please. Oh did I tell you? We got Chef Tar!" Pete's excitement caught Ae immediately.

"Awesome, Pete! I know you were working really hard to convince him to join your hotel. Did he agree to everything you wanted?"

"Yes because I agreed to his crazy rules. I mean it's not like they are impossible to respect. I think he was terribly hurt in the past. It's just his way of protecting himself and I can understand that."

Ae nodded as he watched Pete drive. It made him feel a bit nostalgic. After a moment Pete interrupted his thoughts.

"Is Ae thinking what I am thinking? It's nice to drive Ae around again. It's the first time since I've been back." His words were soft but clear.

Ae chuckled then finally looked at the road. "It's true that the person who understands me the most is you Pete. Are you coming over this weekend? I was just thinking we could do the bike ride and picnic at that place."

"I'm definitely coming over." Pete swallowed as he remembered the strength and power of Ae as he sped them through campus on his bike. If was a testament to his control that he moved with such speed with Pete holding on to his back and never once crashed. Not once.

Valet parking took Pete's Mercedes when they arrived. It's very similar to the one he had back then but not exactly. This time his car was black and a much newer model. However, everything, especially the seating, was as good as the last one. Ae vaguely thought of blessing this Mercedes as they had the last one but got distracted by the restaurant host.