Dan jogged up the steps in a seemingly abandoned building, the elevator was out of order as usual so he had to take the stairs to the classroom on the third floor. It was relatively easy to find, the yellow glow of fluorescent lights shone through the double glass doors. This had once been a building full of offices now it hosted an odd assortment of mostly vocational night classes. He'd been here before but never as a student. Almost 2 months ago he had responded to a call of a person in distress that's how he saw the flier for classes starting soon. Now he was a student, opening the door he entered an office space with a white board and tables set up in a few rows. There were only a handful of people in the room most of them people like himself that worked in some sort of public service job, one guy was a paramedic, two of the ladies were social workers, one young woman worked at a hospital and there was one older gentleman who was taking this class to surprise his granddaughter who was deaf. Dan had told them he was taking the class to help serve his community better,.. It was half true, the other half was that he really wanted to get to know his boyfriend's mother.
Dan slid into a chair at a table at the back, he was technically on call tonight and he didn't want to risk disturbing the class if he suddenly had to leave. Just as he sat down his phone vibrated. Sliding it out of his pocket he held his breath.
"Please don't be the station." He thought.
Glancing at the screen he instantly smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. It was his boyfriend Yok. He opened the message and found Yok's smiling face staring back at him, next to a piece of graffiti art with the signature UNAR at the bottom. Yok had made it his mission to find and take a picture with every piece of Dan's art in the city.
He smiled wider as he gazed at the photo and at the thought of the word "boyfriend" he couldn't believe he had a boyfriend. The fact that he was as amazing as Yok was like a dream.
The teacher cleared her throat, the signal that she was starting class. During class they were only allowed to use MSTSL ( Modern Standard Thai Sign Language.) Dan had been taking this class for six weeks now, he started it as a way to communicate with Yok's mom. He wanted to talk to her without making her rely on lip reading or Yok. Yok didn't know he had been taking these classes but tonight he would find out.
When he had first gone to Yok's mother to ask for her help learning MSTSL she was apprehensive of his intentions but still she helped him understand and practice his homework. She wouldn't answer questions about Yok; she made it clear it was up to Yok to tell him anything about himself she wouldn't give away his secrets. Gradually they became closer and more open. Laughing frequently at his mistakes. Still he was surprised when she suddenly told him that Yok's birthday was in a week and asked if he would take her to an art supply store. She had a little savings and wanted to buy him a present. Dan had offered to pay for it which only made her angry. The fire in her eyes made him smile. He could see where Yok got his stubbornness from and his gentleness too. They had spent the last week making secret preparations together. Dan had bought a cake and was bringing a present he would go over after class. She had wrapped her present and was making dinner for the three of them.
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Yok skipped a meeting at the garage in favor of tracking down another of Dan's works of art. It was his birthday but he hadn't told anyone at the garage only Gumpa knew and Yok asked him not to tell the others. He had wanted to tell Dan but for some reason it made him nervous even though he hadn't flinched when chasing him down all over the city trying to find out about the artist he fell in love with at first sight. I guess it was harder to open up about himself. So instead of telling his boyfriend he would go home and spend it with his mom quietly the way they always do. It was one of his favorite things, just the two of them. They'd sit outside the house near the river and talk and eat and drink sodas and wait till the stars came up and he would sketch. Parking his bike he grabbed the bags of food he had picked up on his way home. Opening the door he was shocked to find his mom not around, the house dark and still, his heart leapt to his throat had Tawi's people found his home? Did they have his mom? Setting down his bags he shakily drew his phone from his pocket he had to warn the others and call Dan... before he could dial he noticed a glow from the other room. Yok froze.
