So I Don't Forget You

Preventative Coming Out

With Arthit's consent, Kongpob told the rest of his friends. Em already knew the two were dating, and the others teasingly pounced him, ribbing him about not saying anything. Em just shrugged and smiled. It wasn't his secret to tell, so why they thought he'd do any different was dumb.

Kongpob was pleasantly surprised when Arthit told him his own friends knew as well. He'd blurted it all out when Tutah started nagging at Arthit to start dating so he wouldn't be such a crank case. When the head hazer told them he was already in a relationship, and they were doing just fine, Tutah's disbelieving look and the way Prem and Knot were staring at him got him angry and he said he was dating Kongpob and they were very happy together. While Tutah was mildly shocked at the confession, Prem was intrigued, and Knot smirked a bit since he'd known there was some kind of tension between the two guys.

With a red face from both anger and embarrassment, Arthit didn't deny what he'd just said, and proceeded to tell Tutah that maybe he needed to get a boyfriend so he'd stop commenting on others' love lives. That had the rest of their friends cracking up. Tutah went 'Humph' at him and ignored him the rest of the study period.

There were still things about their relationship that didn't change.

Arthit wouldn't hold hands on campus grounds. He wouldn't sit with Kongpob at lunch. He didn't talk to him a lot during school hours. And he certainly would never allow Kongpob to kiss him where anyone might stumble upon them and out them to the school.

Of course, Kongpob wouldn't dare ask to kiss Arthit in public because he himself was a private person. He believed their private life was just that, private. And when he mentioned this to Arthit, the senior's face went slack in shock. Then he smiled and said they had the same thoughts.

But even with the other limits on their relationship where people could see, Kongpob was happy with Arthit. He had his sun. And maybe seeing Arthit talking with Namtan a few times still made him uneasy, but he knew better than to ever consider the possibility that his boyfriend would cheat, and kept these thoughts to himself.

Until another guy, a transfer from a university up North, showed interest in Arthit.

Kongpob forced himself to keep from turning around and staring at his boyfriend and the new guy. Arthit seemed to be oblivious to the flirtatious remarks and the way the guy's hand lingered when touching Arthit's arm. The other hazers weren't as oblivious. They kept shooting Arthit incredulous looks that he frowned at in confusion.

Kongpob had enough when the nameless new guy leaned close to say something and the two laughed. He slammed his books together, catching his boyfriend's attention, and packed his bag, stalking from the library. If Arthit wanted to act stupid, Kongpob didn't have to sit there and watch. He'd go elsewhere to finish his paper.

"Kong, hey, where're you going?" Em asked as Kongpob breezed right past him.

"I think I'll go home for the weekend," Kongpob said over his shoulder.

"Cool. Is...you know, going with you?"

"Nope. See you Monday."

"Oh..." Em was surprised at Kongpob's blase tone. "Well...see you. Take care."

Kongpob waved and turned a corner. He could hear footsteps behind him, and didn't give them much thought since there were a lot of people milling about the university today. He walked on, humming to himself a song he'd heard on the radio earlier, and thinking about what he wanted to include in his paper-

A hand grabbed his arm. "Kong, you're going home?"

Kongpob halted in his tracks and face the senior. "P'Arthit, I thought you were busy with that guy."