Secrets Kept

Whose next?

Arthit finished up his assignments for the next day and packed it away into his bag. With a sigh, he picked up his phone to check for messages. He had been working on this assignment for 4 hours and he had put his phone on silent so he wouldn't be distracted by his friends or Kongpob calling or messaging. Unlocking the device, he saw six messages from his friends and two from Kongpob.

The first three messages were from Bright, Tutah, and Knott. They turned out to be nothing important, so he didn't even respond to them.

The next three were from Prem in a private chat. Arthit clicked on the first one to open it.

Hey, I need to talk to you as soon as possible. There is something I want to tell you.

The next message made his heart skip a beat, it had come an hour after the first. It read:

I know your secret.

And the last was the one that really got Arthit's attention. It had come in only ten minutes ago:

I think the others are figuring out your secret. We need to talk so I know what to do to help you, if necessary.

Arthit took a deep breathe, trying to calm himself down. It couldn't be as bad as he was imagining. Maybe, it was about something other than Kongpob and Fiat. He really wasn't ready for his friends to find out. Hazing wasn't over yet.

Clicking reply, Arthit wrote out a message to Prem, asking him to meet at the coffee shop down the street from Arthit's dorm in ten minutes. It was seconds later that the reply came in.

See you there.

Arthit pocketed the phone and grabbed his keys and wallet. Stopping at the door, he took a few breathes, trying to calm his reaching heart. Taking out his phone, he messaged Kongpob.

I am going to our coffee shop in ten minutes. Prem said he wants to talk about a "secret" of mine. I don't know what he thinks he knows, but if it is about us, would you be able to come to the shop quickly?

He was able to close and lock his door of his dorm before Kongpob replied.

Just message me, if you need me. I can be there in minutes.

Arthit smiled and stuffed his phone in his pocket. That's another thing he loved about Kongpob; he was always reliable and had your back when you needed it.

~~~~~~~~

It didn't take Arthit long to get to the coffee shop, but when he walked in, Prem was already waiting at a table near the back of the dining area.

Arthit made his way over and pulled out his chair, sitting down. He was a little nervous to find out what Prem had to say, but knew it was best to know now then to be surprised later.

"Hey, what's up?" Prem asked after a few minutes of silence. Arthit threw him a small smile.

"Nothing except classes and hazing, why? What's up with you?" He replied, trying to delay what he knew was coming. He knew he hadn't succeeded when Prem took a deep breath before answering.

"As I told you over text, I know your secret. And I think the others are catching on to it as well."

"What secret are you talking about? I don't keep things from you guys." Arthit tried to play it off, but Prem wasn't swayed.

"Arthit, do you remember this summer? Everyone was going different places with their family, except me because we were fighting. Where do you think I went?" Arthit shook his head, so Prem continued. "I explored Bangkok. The theater, aquarium, and Siam Mall. And I was lucky enough to be at the mall at just the right time to see someone I thought I knew well, pull someone I didn't know into a dark alcove." Arthit's eyes widened. "Yeah. I saw you holding hands with a man so I went to investigate. You two were... Too busy to notice me, but I guess I made a noise and you turned to look, but I hid around the corner."

Arthit remembered being interrupted at the mall and he could feel his face heating up when he realized that was when he hadn't been able to keep his hands off Kongpob. Prem laughed.

"Hey, don't worry. No judgement from me. I can tell you love him from your interactions. 0062 really has you wrapped around his finger, huh?"

"No! He doesn't!" Arthit said adamantly, then looking away from Prem's knowing gaze.

"If you say so. Anyway, the reason I wanted to talk to you was because the others are begining to catch on to you and him."

"How do you know? Did they say something to you?" Arthit asked, trying to push away his embarrassment at being caught.

"Well, it started with Bright mentioning N'Kongpob and his antics. Tutah later told me that he saw you smile at the freshmen when you sent him off to do the 54 laps. He said he thought there was something going on, but I think I was able to convince him that he was wrong."

"Wait! Why are you helping me keep this from our friends? I thought you would be all for not lying to them about it." Arthit asked. Before Prem could answer, Arthit's phone rang. Picking it up, he saw it was Kong. He glanced at Prem.

"Go ahead and answer. I'll wait. He is probably worried." Prem waved his hand and leaned back. Arthit lifted his phone to his face after pressing answer.

"Hello?"

"It's been 15 minutes and I haven't heard from you. So, do you need me to come to the cafe?" Kongpob asked, worry clear in his tone. Arthit smiled and then caught Prem raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know yet. Don't worry though, I don't think he is going to say anything."

"Ask him to come join us. I want to get to know my friend's partner." Prem interrupted as Arthit was opening his mouth to say something else. Arthit looked at him. Prem nodded.

"Hey, Kongpob. Go ahead and come to the cafe. Prem wants to get to know you." Arthit relayed, a little stunned at how well this was going. Prem was known for being the hot-head of the group, so seeing this side of him was surprising.

"I will be right there." Arthit didn't get to reply before Kongpob hung up.

Placing his phone on the table, he looked at his friend in silence. Neither spoke and it wasn't even 3 minutes later before Kongpob appeared at their table. He looked from Arthit to Prem and back before he pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Hey, what's going on?" The silence was broken by Kongpob's question. Arthit smiled when he looked at his boyfriend. He always seemed to just know how to deal with him and his friends. Prem quirked the corner of his mouth in a small smirk.

"Nothing, just learning new things about my friend that I thought I knew." Prem said, leaning forward.

"Well, I heard you wanted to get to know me. What did you want to know?" Kongpob was being very straightforward, which helped Prem see what had caught Arthit's attention.

"Well, actually, my biggest question right now is, whose child is Fiat? Because he clearly can't be both of yours." Prem watched as the two men in front of him glanced at each other. Kongpob had a small smirk on his face while Arthit seemed annoyed.

"As unlikely as it seems, he is both of ours. I carried him myself."