Just Pretend

Chapter 3

That Saturday Arthit met Kongpob at the mall they had agreed would be a decent spot for their first "date". Kongpob was already there when Arthit arrived, his collared shirt neatly pressed, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealing his toned forearms. Arthit instantly felt self conscious in his plain black t shirt and jeans.

Kongpob smiled at Arthit as he approached, but Arthit just glared back.

"Why did you ask to meet so early?" Arthit complained. He rarely got to sleep in on weekends anymore and he was really looking forward to some quality time with his bed.

"11 AM can hardly be considered early," Kongpob pointed out. Unable to argue that, Arthit just let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

"You're dressed pretty fancily for a trip to the mall. What exactly do you have planned?"

At this, Kongpob grinned. "You'll see soon enough. I just wanted to look nice for our first date."

"Kongpob!" Arthit shouted, gaining the attention of the small crowd around them. He shuffled his feet self consciously as the other patrons continued their activities before glaring at Kongpob. "This is not an actual date. We are just hanging out, barely even as friends I should add." Arthit missed the barely visible flinch of Kongpob's smile at his words and he continued. "You arranged it so we are guaranteed to meet P'Som-O at some point, right?"

"Of course, P'Arthit. Don't worry so much," Kongpob smiled reassuringly. "We're just hanging out. What others see is completely up to their imaginations."

Arthit nodded his approval, motioning for Kongpob to lead the way. The younger man had planned the entire day himself, claiming to have found from reliable sources where P'Som-O had planned her weekly shopping excursion so they could "accidentally" run into her. Arthit was simply along for the ride and so he decided to at least enjoy himself as much as he could, despite the fact that he normally couldn't stand the sight of the man at his side. He had to admit, though, Kongpob had put a lot of thought into their "date", and he soon found himself genuinely having a good time. He and Kongpob had a few similar interests, things like comic books, movies, and even the reason they joined the engineering program - robots. They spent a good 45 minutes over lunch at a noodle shop talking about what kinds of robots they'd like to build eventually. The conversation had been flowing so easily and he was so comfortable that Arthit willingly curled his fingers around Kongpob's hand when they connected on top of the table.

Once he realized what he had done, however, he froze. His eyes darted to their hands, then to Kongpob's face as he felt his cheeks heat up. He tried to pull his hand away but Kongpob held tight, refusing to let him go.

"Kongpob, what are you doing?" Arthit demanded, tugging a bit more insistently. Kongpob's gaze darted to the side and Arthit followed it, his sight landing on a giggling P'Som-O and another woman who Arthit supposed was a friend. Som-O had her phone out and was trying to discreetly take photos, but her loud giggling gave her away in an instant. Once she realized they had spotted her she lowered her phone and at least had the decency to blush at being caught as she waved to them.

"How much are you willing to bet that gets sent out to the company group chat in less than five minutes," Kongpob chuckled, finally releasing his hold on Arthit's hand as he continued to eat his bland noodles order - one of the things he and Arthit definitely did NOT have in common.

"Nothing," Arthit scoffed, "Because I'd lose."

Kongpob laughed, a full, hearty laugh that sounded so genuine it actually made the corners of Arthit's lips curl. He absentmindedly brought his hand to his lap, rubbing the spot on his knuckles that still burned with the warmth of Kongpob's touch. He watched Kongpob eat and noticed for the first time that Kongpob was actually fairly attractive. He was thin, his jaw sharp and angular. Arthit watched the way the muscles moved in his jaw as he chewed, the way his throat contracted when he swallowed, the way his pink tongue darted out to lick away the salty remnants of the clear broth.