2gether AU: Be You, be Mine

Chapter 9: You Looked Like A Sin, We Could Sin Together

TW // CW: Mentions of a fire. 

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Sarawat and Tine returned to the crime lab after they grabbed breakfast from a roadside stall on their way back. They had only eaten the leftover sandwiches for dinner and supper which Tine bought during lunch break yesterday. Sarawat treated Tine tom kha gai, a bowl of warm, hearty soup was comforting, physically and mentally, after a long night spent in the lab. Tine eyed Sarawat carefully, realising that Sarawat acted indifferently despite his reluctance to respond to Sarawat's feelings. However, thinking from another perspective, Tine supposed unspoken words meant that he could pretend nothing had happened, and subsequently, changed between the two of them. Sarawat would still be his senior in the crime lab, he would still remain as his trustable phi apart from the trios. The only thing different now is that Tine would reserve his heart only for Sarawat, that he would focus on healing himself entirely because he knew Sarawat deserved to be loved whole-heartedly. They were somewhere in between, everything in between friends and lovers.

Once they got back to the lab, Sarawat took a warm shower in the gym before clocking in. He exhaled shakily as he recalled Tine's innocent eyes looking at him curiously. He felt his member twitching in interest under the hot shower. He groaned inwardly and decided to turn the knob in the opposite direction, letting himself drown in the icy cold water before he dried himself up. Tine was already back in the chemical lab, playing with the pens on his table as he stared at the computer screen blankly. Sarawat wished he could wipe the forming crease in between Tine's brows. He knocked on the glass pane, prompting Tine to look up.

"Yes? How can I help you?"

"Tine, you can take a shower first, get some coffee or take a walk. You don't have to come back this early."

Sarawat sipped on his coffee again, feeling the rush of caffeine waking him up. The instant coffee machine in the lab was a saviour for everyone. The person who proposed to put an instant coffee machine there would need to be awarded generously. Tine smiled sheepishly at Sarawat's suggestion, taking a shower sounded like a great idea now, but he didn't have an extra change of clothes. He took note of sparing one in his locker in the future.

"Ku ru, but I didn't have an extra change of clothes."

"You can use mine. Come, follow me."

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When Tine emerged from one of the shower rooms in the gym, he sighed dreamily as the knots in his muscles loosened after the warm shower. Sarawat had saved his ass, once again. Sarawat's clothes smelt like chai latte, he felt safe as he basked himself in that aromatic scent. It smelt like home, it felt like Sarawat was embracing him tightly. God, no, stop! Tine blushed profusely at that thought, and he blamed the steam from the hot shower earlier that made his stomach flip in somersaults.

It was almost 10 in the morning when Tine returned to the lab, realising that something was odd. The papers on the workbench weren't there when he left the lab, and he remembered well that he had locked the door before he left. He frowned deeply. Tine looked around and realised the culprit, the steel chamber used to store ethanol was unlocked. The lab smelt like a winery, it was alcohol-soaked. Quicker than words can tell, a flame started on the lab's workbench. Tine looked back and saw Sarawat staring at him in horror. Alarmed, Tine smashed the safety glass of the fire extinguisher and laid the firefighting foam on the burning surface. The flame was put out in seconds but Tine knew his actions would be subjected to scrutiny later. Fortunately, he had filed away the lab results in Sarawat's office beforehand.

"Tine, what happened?"

Sarawat panted slightly as he rushed across the hall dividing the entire crime lab into several sections. He had always appreciated the distance between the labs but not today. He wished he could be there for Tine when the incident happened just now. Tine shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea how that had happened.