You don't know about Us - A MewGulf AU

Chapter 1 : A normal life

There's something very bittersweet about being home. That day, when Gulf had woken up in his old apartment and cold bed, he'd initially felt very confused to be in his own world again. Should he be feeling relieved or sad? After all, there's no better place than home, right? Nothing better than that familiar smell in the apartment and those familiar walls plastered with those familiar pictures of his familiar memories. Right?

Yet somehow, there had been something weirdly unfamiliar about it as well. As if the place he had called home for years suddenly wasn't that homely anymore. As if he couldn't really call the place 'his' anymore.

He'd figured it was just momentary feeling, after all he had spent so many months in the other universe, he was bound to need some time to adjust to his own – real-life again. To break out of the dream – or had it been a nightmare – of whatever had happened on the other side. Time would surely settle those weird memories of his, and everything would go back to normal again. Back to the life he had once so greatly enjoyed.

Waking up in the morning on such a 'normal' day, meant snoozing the alarm for at least 3 times before Gulf felt like leaving his bed. It meant taking a shower still half-asleep while brushing his teeth, but then remembering that he still needed breakfast first so he would have to brush them all over again after. Then, as was normal, he would cross the street, get idly annoyed at the harsh smell of the coffee shop he passed, to eventually wait at the bus stop until his bus would show up evidentially late.

The traffic to work would be as slow as his brain was during the morning. But Gulf had never disliked the familiar commute. It gave him time to sneak another quick nap on the way or stare at the passing scenery of Bangkok outside as they drove past it. It was nice, familiar. Yet somehow, ever since coming back that day, he couldn't help but notice how stuffed the bus was and how much faster a direct drive would be without all those stops in between.

It almost felt dirty to miss those things, to miss the luxury of having money and a private manager to drive him anywhere. They weren't his to miss after all.

(I'm sorry.)

He felt lonely even when he was surrounded by people in the stuffy bus.

Although this morning wasn't any different from usual, Gulf himself felt different. For once, he felt more awake than he had in ages. Instead of taking a nap, he was scrolling through his phone, checking and responding to some emails for work and aaw-ing at the latest cat picture his sister, Grace, had sent him on the family group chat.

It seemed that while Gulf had been in the other universe, the Gulf of that universe had easily filled in his role in this world. His parents hadn't noticed anything weird about his other self, neither had P'Beer or N'Art - his two best friends. He had always been curious about the other him, had searched for hours through his phone and apartment to find some kind of clue on how he lived his life, but there hadn't been anything to find.

That Gulf had just lived his life as if he had done so his whole life. He had perfectly fitted in the role of Gulf; the expert-football-slash-general-sports assistant broadcaster of SNN, as well as the role of Gulf; the youngest of the family and best friend of two ex-lovers-now-friends Art and Beer. Thinking about it, maybe the other him had been an ever better him that he could ever have been. After all, he helped his two friends break up without any bad feelings. He himself probably wouldn't have been able to fulfil that part.

He answered Grace with an equally funny cat-meme he had found last night, while scrolling the web and closed his Line. The bus still hadn't reached his stop as Bangkok's traffic seemed especially bad this morning. Gulf was glad for the nth time that his work allowed him to come as late as 11am. This work regime had always suited him very well, especially since he wasn't the most useful person in the morning.