The F5 (Fraternal Five)

Special: Little Phi

Gun rolls over and blinks awake to Off staring lovingly at him from a sofa chair beside the bed. "Pii? Why are you there?" He rubs his eyes groggily.

"I don't want to wake you up with all my tossing and turning. You need your rest after our ... restless night."

"Ew!" Gun giggles, arms wide open inviting Off back to bed. "I'm awake now. Come back to me." He pouts cutely.

"That's cheating, Teacup." Off says as he dutifully climbs back into bed and Gun's embrace. "I might not want to leave this bed at all now."

"Fine by me." Gun lets out a content sigh. "Oh, this is heaven."

"I know." Off chuckles softly. "How many hours do you reckon we have before they come barging in?"

"Mm, I don't know. They're your friends, Papii."

"I bet Tay's the first to make a fuss."

"No, it's most certainly Kit! He's a bit of a busybody."

"Fat chance, now that Singto's here."

"Then, our sons!"

"We have 'sons' now? Plural?"

"Papii, what are you talking about? Obviously, do Mix and Win look the same to you?" Gun sits up as he suddenly remembers something. "Oh, shoot! I promised Nong Win we'd talk in the morning! What time it is??"

Off groans. "I thought I told you to free up your schedule today?"

"Rude, Papii! He's family; he doesn't count as 'schedule'! And anyway, you're coming with me!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Oh IDK, because you're his dad, too?? Now chop chop! Or you'll miss a shower with me!"

Off gets up diligently at the invitation. "Coming!"

*

"Um, yeah, so. I'm officially in a relationship." Win grins, keeping his voice low, just enough to be heard inside a hut in front of the porch they're currently in.

"Finally???"

"With whom???"

"Aw!" Gun turns to Off, shocked. "You're that clueless?"

"Teacup, he's been joined at the hip with you!"

"Oh. Oh." Gun falls silent when he realizes how that must have looked.

"Nooo, you misunderstand, Phi! I would never get between the two of you! It's just, P'Gun is my only confidant!"

"Huh." Off stares at Win, still a bit skeptical. "And why is that?"

"Um so P'Bai has been ... you know, with me." Win grimaces.

"Full on flirting?" Off offers.

"Oh, good! You're aware!" Gun claps giddily. "Win came to me because among the ten of us, Bai claimed that he resembled me the most. And P'New, but we're getting to that later."

"In what sense, exactly??"

"I know right! My reaction exactly!" Gun giggles. "Well, according to Bai, we're both observers, though I tend to be a lot more hands-on than him."

Off laughs. "OK, no objection there. So what did you ask him about?" He turns to Win.

"See, P'Bai has always been loud about his feelings from the start, but I grow up straight, P'Off. It's beyond weird to be courted by a man out of blue, but I can't deny there's been ... attraction."

"Still, it's not enough to take a risk on. So Nong Win asked me would it hurt Bai if he wanted to try but, like, in secret. Would it imply that he's ashamed of Bai as an individual—which he's not. He couldn't ask P'New because P'New's on the same side as him, as they are the one wanting to keep the relationship a secret, while he wanted to know how it would feel like from Bai's point of view."

"Huh, am I not as loud as Bai?"

"Irrelevant. Among us ten, I'm the gayest, so if Nong Win needs answers, I'm his (gay) guy."

"P'Gun ... err ... just now, you're not being sarcastic, right? I swear I can't read you sometimes."

"I feel you, boy." Off flashes Win a sympathetic smile.

"What? No! I'm perfectly happy with myself!" Gun fumes. "Papii, you know that! Back me up here!"

"Haha, yeah. Seriously though, don't worry, Nong. I can tell that he's completely confident, being himself, and I hope you will someday, too." Off smiles sincerely, realizing a bit late the implication of his own words. "But no rush there!" He hurriedly adds.

Win chuckles. "I get it, Phi, thanks."

"So what happened next?"

"Well, similar as I was to Bai, sadly I didn't have an answer for Nong Win. He is still his own person after all. So I just taught Nong Win a way to ask the question without offending Bai—the rest's up to him. That's why it's necessary that Nong Win rode with Bai on the way here."

"I see ... and last night, on the beach?"

"It was all me Phi, my bad for not being able to read the room!" Win hurriedly apologizes.

"No, no, never mind that. But did Bai not agree with it?"

"He did, Phi."

"Then what were you about to ask Teacup?"

"There's something he didn't tell me, I can tell. He didn't look all too excited with the way things went. I just didn't know how to get it out of him ...."

"And why did you come to my Teacup instead of Bai himself?"

"Right??" Gun chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess I just needed some encouragement. And talking to P'Gun helps. He understands both sides, you know?" Win smiles gratefully at Gun. "Anyway, I did just that. And long story short, here we are."

"I think we're missing something here ... say, the guy you're officially in a relationship with?"

"Are you talking about me?" As if on cue, Bright shows up with a tray of orange juices.

"Bai! Just in time! Come join us!" Gun gestures to a seat beside Win.

Instead of the designated seat, Bright places the tray on the table then goes straight for Gun.

"Oi, hands off him!" Off swats Bright's arms that close on Gun's tiny figure, giving him a brief hug. Bright pulls back without risking waking up the lion.

"For guiding and encouraging my nong until now, thank you, P'Gun." Bright smiles softly at Gun. "I'm glad he came to you. If it isn't for you, we might not have made it this far."

"True that." Win gets up and hugs Gun too. "Thanks, little phi."

"Aww, you guys." Gun pulls them in a bear hug, gesturing at Off to complete the hug from the other end. Reluctant, but being the whipped man that he is, Off eventually complies.

After a while, Gun giggles. "Alright, that's enough chests for me to be squashed between."

"You heard him. Scram." Not too subtly, Off secures Gun behind his back. Bright and Win glance at each other then share a laugh.

"What? What?" Gun peeks out from Off's back.

"Think we might be next on P'Off's list, Phi?"

Gun bursts out laughing. "Just start packing when P'Tay goes missing."

"'When'?!! Ai Teacup, that's slander!"