Unplanned Marriage

Chapter 27

Arthit entered the packed bar with fairly drunk people everywhere  and already wished to leave. Once he spotted his friends and made eye-contact, he couldn't back off anymore.

"I thought you won't come." Perm commented, not being as cheerful as he used to be.

"I would lie if I said I didn't consider it." He confessed while sitting down. Despite the loudness around them and five people seated the table, they were all quiet.

"You shouldn't have called me if you didn't want me here. I can still leave and pretend we haven't met today." Arthit sighed after the awkward silence has started to be way too long.

"Don't be so uptight, of course we want you to be here." Tutah argued, but it didn't sound very believable.

"We just want to hang out like we normally do, right? Let's have some fun!" Bright suggested, chugging down a whole glass of beer. "Knot is also going to join us in a while, it's going to be lit!" Bright hit all the wrong nails, as always.

"Okay, spill it out and I'll leave then." Arthit's patience ran out in seconds after hearing his ex-best friend's name. He also knew his friends wouldn't call him out after what happened just to pretend everything is as it used to be. The fact that they invited him out the same day Mary came over triggered a pink-reddish flag inside him to be more careful.

Arthit just wanted to trust his friends, he wanted to have them by his side and get the support he still needed, but he was still a cheater in their eyes. Though they probably wouldn't mind it as much as they actually did after Arthit's fight with Knot.

"What are you up to, Ai-Oon?" Upon hearing that nickname, his body jerked. It's been a long time since he'd heard that nickname.

"I'm not sure what do you mean, P'Tum." He was indeed confused and starting to feel the rising pressure from all the eyes that were now watching him.

"Your break up, staged marriage... did you really need money that much? Did you really struggle that much? Wouldn't it be better if you told us?" P'Tum's questions made him even more confused.

"I still don't quite understand-..." He was cut off by Prem.

"Stop playing dumb. It's been confirmed your marriage is fake and you just needed money and the contract with The Prachaya Company." Arthit's body froze. What the hell?

"Well, if you already made such an evaluation, why did you call me? I don't know where the fuck you got all of this false information, but if you have already chosen to believe it, why do you need to talk to me? You want me to confirm all of it, right?" Arthit didn't understand what was going on nor what kind of rumors have spread around but he needed to call Kongpop.

"No, we're just trying to understand you and want to know your reasons. Don't be such a hot-head." Tutah tried to control the situation.

"I thought you were my friends. Mary came today, did you know that? I'm sure you did, you must have been the ones telling her about how fake my marriage is. Is it so hard to accept that I love a man? Or, are you just jealous by any chance? Or you simply don't want to have a cheater as a friend?" Every word Arthit said was only hurting him more and more.

"I think everyone needs to chill a bit. Arthit, it's not like that and you know it." Bright spoke for a change, being serious.

"Where did you get all that crap about my marriage?" He asked, starting to spread around his scary aura.

"Everyone knows, it's been over the news a lot. You haven't seen it?" Tutah asked starting to believe that Arthit didn't know about anything.

"No... we've been both busy with Kongpop... we don't even have time to watch TV or browse the media." Arthit confessed, taking his phone out of his pocket with intention to call his husband. Meanwhile, his friends exchanged their looks with doubt. Their view on the situation has started to change as Arthit didn't seem like he was lying.

Before he had a chance to even find Kongpop's number, an incoming call popped on his screen.

Arthit's heart skipped as his husband's name showed up.

"Hello?" He answered a bit unsurely, knowing how everyone around him will try to listen to everything he say.

"P'? Where are you? I've managed to leave earlier from work but you are not at home." Kong sounded a bit like a lost puppy, what made Arthit smile unintentionally.

"I'm out with friends but I should come back soon. Have you eaten? I can cook something or buy a takeout if you don't mind."

"How about we go out for a dinner? We haven't been anywhere for so long and tomorrow is Sunday anyway. I'm treating. Just tell me where you are and I'll be there in a bit. " Arthit could hear Kong smirking.

"I'm not sure... I'm still tired and exhausted from the morning, you always take so long to finish. It's all your fault." He sighed, hinting at the sudden and early visit of his ex.

"P'! How is it my fault? I was in a shower, how was I supposed to answer the door?" Kongpop defended himself.

"You should've come quicker, making me do all the work. I'll have you to do it yourself next time." Arthit frowned. Everyone around the table exchanged their looks again, Bright smiling ear to ear. It has never crossed his mind that he will hear Arthit talking about details of his private and sexual life in a public place and near them at top of that.

Prem coughed and gestured Arthit to end the call.

"Wait for me at home, I have something to discuss with you. Let's go out for the dinner another time, okay? See you." He quickly hung up after that so Kong couldn't persuade him anymore.

Another awkward, silent pause occurred.

"I'm sorry for doubting you." Tutah finally spoke. "You seem truly happy and that's what matters."

"Me too, we should've asked you and believe in your words." P'Tum joined in and others nodded. "I'm sorry for the last time as well, you haven't disappointed me, we are the one at fault."

"You guys make less and less sense as you speak, do you even realize it?" Arthit asked, smiling at them for the first time since their meeting.

"Let's just forget it all and drink!" Bright exclaimed and chugged down two shots at once, which only made him choke. Everyone laughed at his pretending-to-be-dying expression.

"I'll have to excuse myself then." Arthit got up, feeling a bit at ease.

"Ow, why? We were trash, I agree, but let's make up already. You can't leave now." Bright came back from the dead and tried to stop him.

"Kongpop is waiting at home for me and he still hasn't eaten, so I really can't..." He didn't finish the sentence as everyone around just started grinning.

"You two are really in love." Prem nodded like an approval. Arthit wanted to defend himself but that would look ridiculous.

In love my ass. How could I ever...

He imagined Kongpop waiting for him at home and his heart skipped again.

...be in love with him.

Thank you all for being concerned about me, here's a double-update! I've tried to check it but I'm way too tired for any major fixations.

The chapter might seem to be a bit messy, there's a huge shifting in feelings of Arthit's friends. Let me explain~ :

They were just cautious as Arthit seemed to get on the wrong, gold-digger path - the news about the marriage being fake didn't make it any better (will be explained in next chapters). They were also a bit biased thanks to Knot, who had his part in turning them partly against Arthit - will also be revealed later. As they realized from the bits they'd seen by their own eyes, Arthit is 'really in love with Kong,' and they start to doubt all the info they know.

At the end, Bright brushes it off as a light matter to save the situation from further development and everything returns to normal. It's also necessary to understand that men (friends) not always need to clear up every problem. Moving on without digging too much into some matters might be the best sometimes.

There you have it, I've realized that sometimes everything makes sense in my head but it's not so clear in the story, so point it out please! I'll try to explain it in comments or re-write the chapter if necessary!