Editor : TofaRumman
"Father, Mother, How much will Lin's dowry be?"
Suddenly the father, who was sipping orange juice, choked hard. The mother sitting next to her husband helped pat his back.
Look at it. It's all messed up.
"*Old dirt." The mother hit the father's arm loudly before turning to smile at the father sweetly until his eyes were upset.
(**She didn't call him old dirt. She just pretended to shake off the old dirt from his cloth.)
"Yes. Yes." the father laughed and said "If you want him, you can have him. Plus ten sacks of rice and land for you too!"
Palin just returned to where they were chatting after walking to the backyard with two dogs Oak-Rong. He collected mangos for his mother to eat with mango sticky rice.
"Have .. what? Who gets what?" He asked, placing the mango on the wooden table.
Parents took turns pointing at each other.
Thiti sat beside him and smiled "Nothing. Father is just joking".
A black premium Thai dog came running and panted near his feet. The fur was wet because it had gone down to wade(swim) through the water. Thiti reached out to pat the head of the dog.
"Don't joke about giving your child and land for free?"
"Pewww" Instead of answering, father turned to see the bird who was pecking on the wood.
Mother took a knife to peel the mango, washed the dust that was stuck in a small basin. Thiti heard that the father liked to eat mango sticky rice. Therefore he made it in the morning. When he saw him eating it a lot, he was very happy.
At dawn, Lin called and said that this afternoon, he would come to meet them for half a day. He had something to talk about.
There were some shocking things. But if someone asked Palin's parents if they were surprised or not. They would say no because they were already used to it. Even before entering the university, Palin was already close to Thiti. Even when they were studying in different faculties, they still went to eat together and live together and now they were working in the same place.
They also used to talk to each other about why they didn't announce their relationship.
"That's it! I guess Palin and Thiti will become lovers in the future. HoHoHo”
"I'm serious," Thiti turned back to speak officially again. "I'm not going to play with him."
Palin, who secretly took one piece of mango, choked on it when he heard what Thiti said.
Uwa. Thiti was so good at acting.
Was that what they agreed on? It was planned. Actually registering required documents with legal consequences. Therefore they had to let the parents of each other know about it. But they hadn't talked to each other before about it. How serious must he be? He told them so easily as if they were discussing the minor details of how to decorate the house for free!
But based on Thiti's expression it became something very unexpected.
"You bastard! You bastard!" Palin said in his mind and crossed his arm. Playing big huh!
Thiti picked a fork with mango, sent it into the mouth of the person sitting next to him so Palin couldn't speak.
“At least we would like to have something in return. We will be relieved that you can raise our child".
Palin blinked his eyes, and his ears suddenly formed a funny red streak.
Was this really serious?
The father listened and stroked his chin, turned to look at the mother who lifted her eyebrows
"If you say like that, then mom would like to have a pack of sea bass (baramundi fish), son".
Oh! Oh!. Palin's whole dowry price was just a few packs of sea bass fish.
Thiti chuckled, shaking his head which was frowned earlier.
"Let's just say" The young man(Thiti) took something out of his suit and politely handed out a small red bag to Palin's father and mother.
"I would like to bother too. Please let me take care of him."
Father shook the bag and played with it. But it didn't seem to bounce around much. It's heavy with weight as if it had many stones in it.
(**in Thai culture, husbands will give money or gold to the wife's family. But Palin's father said that he didn't want dowry. He would give Palin to Thiti for free.)
"Anyway, I would like to go back first. Tomorrow I can't take leave from work."
"On what day will you bring Lin to visit again?"
Mother accepted it while stunned to see that the old man untied it to see and tied the bag after that. Seeing him doing that she hit him and told him that it's bad manners. Thiti drove by himself. Mother told him to take some mango back with him to Bangkok.
"Will you have a wedding?" Father asked.
Palin's eyes twitched and he waved his hands and shouted, "Don't waste your money, Dad!" Palin would just take his last name to register. He might not provide another event in the future. Where can he get the money?
Thiti was silent, his face looked at Palin and after pondering he said, "It's good, Lin. Everyone else will know."
"No!" Palin shook his head. "Registration is enough. Quit! Stop! You don't have to play big" he pointed at Thiti who had his mouth open to speak.
Thiti had to be silent because he couldn't argue with him.
"Mom, dad please come to visit us soon".
Mom waved bye-bye, "Please have grandchildren quickly."
Palin's head almost exploded. In their dreams! They wanted him to get pregnant with Thiti?
(Because Palin didn't want to have sex with Thiti)
After getting into the car, Thiti started the engine and slowly drove outside of the house. A black streak ran after the car and chased the car till the next gas stop. Palin used the excuse of having to buy some snacks to talk with Thiti. He came in front of Thiti's car. Thiti just stopped to fill the tank.
"Thank you very much, Khun Thiti for making me run to this place. Wait, I'll pay for the gas."
"It's okay," Thiti mumbled to look at the side mirror before changing lanes.
"What did you give my parents?"
"I gave something to my uncle and aunt!"
"In the bag?"
"Hmm."
"Is there something else as well?"
"Just go and see it," said Thiti.
"What's in there, Gold?" He joked.
"Um .. Yes gold".
"Ah-huh." At first, Palin accepted it. But he was more enthusiastic "For real! Gold!"
"Why are you crying? It's just gold," said Thiti in a smooth voice. "Well, I have been gradually buying it since school days".
"Did you give the gold chain?"
"No," Thiti reached out to adjust the air conditioner as it seemed to be cold. "It's gold bars".
Could he now be whipped and set his eyes only for Thiti?!
"5 sticks ..."
"5 sticks!" Palin shouted
Thiti smiled "10000 baht each stick"
Palin who heard it gasped "10000 baht each stick".
"Damn you! Damn you bastard!" Palin cried thinking about five bars of gold!
"This is no longer a play. This is an opera show! How big will you be playing!"
"I did not play. I didn't show a performance," said Thiti. "Still not used to? I'm a serious person".
"Oh! I know that you are an extremely serious man. Bastard! Later, let's send each other a little warning. I think there will be problems keeping it in the house. I'll call mom and tell her to take it to the bank. When would you like to have it back? I have to tell them right away."
"I didn't say a word about getting it back," Thiti saw that the argument would happen.
Palin called his mother. The sound of shock could be heard from the other end of the line. His mother panicked, having five gold bars weighing ten grams in a red bag. He warned her to take it to the bank immediately. The house was not safe for five gold sticks!
"I am sorry. I didn't think much. I forgot that it was difficult to keep it safe," said Thiti when Palin hung up the call.
Palin shook his head "It's fine. It's no trouble. You are busy." He looked out of the window. "I just thought... You shouldn't have paid a lot. It will be troublesome when you quit."
Thiti glanced at Palin, gradually his dark eyebrows came closer.
"What do you mean ... that I quit?"
"Well!.. Well, we made an arrangement. I will not ask you to hold on to it for the rest of your life. If you have no one then we can continue to live together. If you have someone you can always quit at any time".
"Already planned?"
"But if on any day you meet someone you like I will sign a divorce for you," Palin said. "Truthfully, don't be afraid of me! By then, I probably already have a bag full of money".
Thiti held the steering wheel tightly. The car was still driving but the expression was impatient.
"I said if," Palin laughed slightly. "Still don't know whether we will get a house or not. Please give me some time. I will make an excuse for my parents. Don't you like it?"
The tall and big man only smiled. Thiti didn't say much because the good guy had stolen all the talk. He was just listening to Palin and thinking quietly in his heart.
In the registration of marriage, it must have the signature of the husband and wife. It's the same for divorce signing.
Thiti looked at his friend who hissed until he slept in midair. A good person lying on his side put his head in between the recesses of the backrest, eyes closed, mouth opened to see little teeth.
He relied on the traffic jam and pulled out his suit jacket and draped it to Palin's chest. Palin in a daze woke up then put his hand on the cheek and fell asleep happily.
Thiti smiled. His lips arced and his forehead softened.
"How will you divorce me, Lin? If I don't give you up." Thiti mumbled and looked at Palin with love in his eyes.
In ancient history, it's said that the son-in-law who took good care of his parents-in-law was always favored. So the divorce was not successful.
Lacking the signature of a husband in divorce paper... Palin couldn't escape from Thiti.
***
Rumors about Khun Palin of the Interior Design, and Khun Thiti of the Engineering Department were about to register their marriage next Monday, were quickly circulating in various departments. It was eloquent among young women in the HR department that took care of the welfare of the company's employees' families.
"Why don't you stay single anymore? The world will regret it!"
The young ladies mourned. The admirer of Palin only mourned, but the admirer of Thiti, they hit their chest and punched their heads.
Palin later learned that the women even had to bring their handkerchiefs to soak up their tears when they learned that the company's celebrity civil engineer was about to give up his single status.
"Huh?" He thrust his hand to the wall. "Someone like this? A handsome guy that girls dream about?” Godammit. He didn't even want to know what they were thinking about anymore. He had been working here for a long time but he just heard about it for the first time.
"You are amazing! Good things are coming. Secretly eating! Quietly! I won't tell anyone!" His colleague pretended she didn't see anything and coughed.
"I don't see it. You are acting like your favorite idol is going to get a wife. I know that Thiti looks good but he's not really handsome."
"Handsome! So Handsome!" She clenched her teeth and said "Like this. He has the look of heroes of all time. Dark eyebrows, high nose, tall lean body, thin pink mouth, wide chest, tight waist, tight hips."
Palin folded his arms and listened to his colleagues bullshit and laughed.
"But... You both want to think about that until when the spark flies, right?"
"Think about what?" Palin sat and read the documents for applying for housing benefits. He went to consult the HR departments. The story that they would be marrying each other spread from there. This was bad.
"Well..." She held her face close and said "Sex..."
Palin's eyes went big, "Huh?" The paper in his hand was falling on the ground.
“You both get off work together, right? Thiti picks up you(Palin) in the morning and the evening every day. But you said that you and Thiti are just friends?! Will you guys have a baby as soon as possible?”
Palin's hearing lost all of sudden "What are you talking about?"
"Making a bashful face so I won't ask. But I will ask until I get the answers." She walked back to her own job after dropping the big bomb.
'Sex? Have a Baby? Wake up! This bastard!'
Palin picked up the printed documents from the floor and read carefully.
They were just married in the name of the law. Wedded in the name of law meant being spouses by law. It didn't mean having a baby!
Palin was very serious. He would wrestle them right now.
In the evening, Thiti appeared at the Interior Design Department to wait for Palin to return home together. Some of the employees who were fans of his were quiet. Only shut their mouth and suppressed the screams of jealousy.
In this company according to both appearance and status, there were around thirty handsome young men. One third were either married or had girlfriends fierce like Rottweiler. The remaining two-thirds were classified as single men. Single as in never having any girlfriend. Single without any interest in the world and cherishing their personal space. These types of singles were called the celestial singles.
In the company, there were only 5 celestial singles.
One of them was Khun Thiti, a gentle and **herbivore man.
(**Herbivore is a term that is used in defining the animal who lives on a plant-based diet. It actually meant vegetarian animals. But here it describes a guy who is gentleman, shy, no experience in love and sex, something like that. Thiti looked like a herbivore man. When people look at him, they feel like looking at giraffes or sheep. He looked cute, tender, gentle, shy, and with no experience in love. But truly Thiti is a carnivore man. He is a virgin but an expert in sex life. Thiti is a wolf but he is pretending to be a sheep. Carnivore is an animal that feeds on flesh or meat.)
"Wow. Khun Thiti Kha," An Interior Design Department girl walked towards him and asked, "Come to pick up Lin?"
Thiti smiled, "Yes. I'm waiting for going back together".
There was a whistling sound coming into his ears. Palin scratched his chin. This guy was crazy. These guys .. his colleagues were hilarious. Every day they would talk about who had a girlfriend or who would get married. They teased until everyone get embarrassed.
"Lin said that you guys are just registering. Don't you really want to organize an event?"
"He doesn't want it. He said it was a waste" Thiti replied.
Palin avoided the stab eyes that were sent directly from colleagues. What? It was not free! It's not cheap. If they wanted to play big, they had to have a limit.
"So I thought I'd save money for the honeymoon instead".
The sound of not so light screaming floated again. Palin put his hands on his ear.
Palin thought that Thiti should have an oscar! for his acting (Palin thinks Thiti is acting like lovers).
(**Palin asked Thiti to marry him so they can enjoy married couple benefits from the company until the day they die or divorce. They will act like a loving couple in front of everyone. But poor Palin doesn't know what is waiting for him.)
"Will you have a kid?" Their eyes sparkled.
"It's up to him," Thiti laughed softly. The dark eyes behind the glass frame sparkled like a man ready to have a family.
Look at those eyes... One Oscar. Not enough.
"Go back, everyone." The third person(Palin), who was alluded to, raised his jacket over his shoulder, waved at his colleagues, and said, "See you on Tuesday".
Because on Monday they had an off day. They had a mission of registering their marriage.
Thiti shook his head. "Mom went to Singapore. She said she would come back and call." He lifted the paper bag.
"Hey, she sent me some wine instead. Said that it was a congratulation gift."
"Wow! What kind of wine?"
"Italian red wine".
"I want to eat steak!" Palin jumped wildly like a glutton. "Make a slightly moist medium-rare steak, sour gravy, eat it with roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and tomatoes, and red wine. It will be delicious!"
Thiti laughed, pulling a cloaked jacket over his shoulder, folding it in half, and carefully putting it on his arm. "How about this evening? Come to my home or go to your home."
"Anyone's home is fine. Tomorrow is Saturday."
Thiti smiled slightly. "Then go to your home."
"Yeah. I have only one bed. A little squeezing with each other will be fine."
Thiti rocked the head of the smaller person back and forth, "I don't mind it," and didn't even think about it either.
After this, we would not be able to have a separate bed again.
***
"Ah! I'm full and I'm going to die. The stomach is almost dead".
Palin laid down on his back on the sofa, put his head over the headrest, and put his arms on it while stroking his protruding belly until the button of the shirt opened.
Thiti was standing at the sink washing the dishes. He rolled his shirt sleeve over his elbow. The necktie was loosely loosened.
"Don't sleep after eating or you will get fat."
"It's too late," Palin spoke, "I can't help it. Your cooking skills are amazing. Really amazing. Great. Go and be a chef. Those chefs have nothing on you".
Thiti smiled while cleaning the dishes on the sink before washing his hands with liquid soap.
The young man took out a plate of lychees in the refrigerator. He had finished cutting the pellets so Palin could chew and swallow. "Do you like it?"
Palin turned and looked at him in despair … The lychee was very expensive. He only looked at his friend with gratitude and then grabbed them and put them into his mouth
"How should I repay you?" He stuffed a mouth full of deliciousness!
Thiti sat on the ladders on the armrests and looked at the happy man. Dark eyes glanced at his bloated belly due to overeating and he had a slight smile.
"Look at what?" Palin raised his eyebrows, followed Thiti's eyes before laughing. "Oh. If I lose my figure I will blame you alone".
"That's right."
"Huh?" Palin had a smiling face and he didn't even know what Thiti was thinking.
The tall and large figure shook his head, "Continue to eat. Let me take a shower first."
"Okay." Palin stuffed two more lychees until the cheeks swelled "Uh... This thing, Can I keep it? "
Thiti let him keep the plates because he intended to buy more.
"Outstanding husband. Later I will order a trophy for you".
Thiti grinned, picked up the towel and casual clothes that had been left in Palin's closet, over his shoulder, and went to the bathroom. About fifteen minutes later he walked over and wiped himself out. The warmth of hot water still clung to him.
The TV sound in the middle room continued but the sound of chewing had gone silent.
Thiti looked at the sleeping person soundly.
Palin was asleep on the sofa even though he still had the last lychee in his hand.
"Oh boy ..." Thiti laughed, prodded the lychee, and ate it himself. And took a damp cloth to wipe Palin's hands as in ten minutes he would wake him up to take a bath.
There was a gentle moaning sound in his throat. Thiti glanced at Palin as he folded the cloth in his hand. He found a clean cloth and wiped the other person's mouth.
"We will be married next Monday. But I still don't know everything about you." Thiti said faintly, brushing the hair to the side and revealing the handsome face.
Palin slept with a loud whistling sound like snoring, but it wasn't. It was like a cat. Thiti thought so.
Thiti looked at Palin's belly that was still somewhat bulging. He smiled and removed a few buttons to relieve discomfort.
His long, thin fingers gently stroked that little belly.
How would he feel if he had small feet kicking his hand back?
Just by thinking about Thiti felt warm.
“The first one… would you like a daughter or a son, Lin?” He muttered, smiling, loving the sleeping man, and bowed his head into a light kiss on Palin's forehead.
The touch was so light like cotton wool that floats through the air. And it was so soft that the person who was kissed never realized it once.
Thiti slowly turned away.
He would hold back and wait for the perfect moment.
The day they registered their marriage there would be husband and wife completely.
A tall figure stood up and he heard the sound of the text message on Palin's phone. He turned his gaze into the message. It's from the male colleague of the sales department that he had seen before.
Thiti unlocked the phone to read. Of course, he knew the password of his close friend.
(** Thiti and Palin are best friends before they turned into lovers. Thiti has a secret crush on Palin for over 16 years.)
''Is Khun Lin really getting married? Why is it so sudden?"
"Why did you say that you are friends?"
"Do you know that my heart is broken like a lot of people?"
"Well, Khun Lin... You are so cute. It's a pity.''
Eyes were sharp, dark, and deep glanced at the sleeping person before typing a reply.
"I will be registered on Monday. Thank you. I hope you can pray for our happiness."
"Anyway, maybe I can't reply in the future because my husband, he's extremely jealous."
Thiti pressed send, when it said read, he deleted the message and blocked him immediately.
The small phone was placed in the same place as if nothing had happened before.
Palin might not realize that he was popular among men and would never know that…..
Because there was this person with him all the time.
