No Rules

Chapter 5

Up:
Can't believe i'm saying this
Since i was joking about it before
But i think Mayo will actually wither away without you
Why does my cat like YOU more?????
You're not allowed to come by anymore.

Kao:
ಥ_ಥ
I miss him too
He's so cute
And you are too hehe
You don't need to be jealous,i'm just his side-chick
Aaaaaannnndddd we just got to the cabin and there's signal
Wanna facetime?

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Up comes out of the shower after finishing his work-out at the gym in the basement, expecting Kao to have chosen a movie by now, but what he finds instead is him asleep in the bed.

And Up can't even be mad—not when Kao looks this sexy whiles asleep, lips puckered up and slightly parted, cheek squished against the arm he has under his head; not when he knows Kao had been stuck in the car for hours and he couldn't get a wink of sleep.

He doesn't feel like sleeping himself, not after washing up, so he gets his phone and decides to play a few levels of Candy Crush while sitting  on the bed, soaking up Kao's presence like he's the sun.

He doesn't even pass the level in his game before all the hearts are gone and he has to put his phone away, because there's nothing worse than mindlessly scrolling through social media—he's been trying to cut down on it.

Up's attention automatically drifts to Kao, hand moving to card through his hair and scrape at his skull. Kao leans into it with a happy sigh, but he doesn't wake. (Not surprising—Up knows he sleeps like a rock and needs ten alarms in the morning to even consider cracking an eye open.)

When he thinks about it—and of course he does, because he's left alone with his thoughts and he isn't brave enough to speak them out loud—Up finds it quite interesting that, instead of going straight back home after he and his friends had arrived in Bangkok , Kao decided to come over to Up's place.

He gave Up the longest hug, as though they hadn't seen each other for ten years and not three days, kissed him on the forehead, and disappeared into the apartment to look for Mayo.

The cat left his side only when Up said he'd feed him; if he hadn't, Mayo would probably be sleeping right here with Kao now.

He smiles at the idea, and the images of Mayo sleeping in the bed with them flash in his mind, vibrant and clear from how many times it's happened.

"You know," he starts quietly, talking more to himself than to Kao sleeping next to him. "At first, I couldn't understand what it was about you that made Mayo like you so much, but then I started looking at you and paying attention, and I realized that there's nothing about you not to like. I hate it."

He sighs, chasing the cheesy thoughts away in favor of figuring out what to make for dinner to make use of the time when Kao is asleep.

But just as he's standing up—

Fingers capture his wrist, wrapping around it to keep him in place.

Up's system shuts down as he whips around.

With his eyes closed, a smile gracing his lips, and voice rough with sleep, Kao asks, "Did I really have to go away for three days, for you to realize you're madly in love with me?"

Fuck.

Up is completely screwed.

Willing his heart to stop crashing against his ribcage so painfully, he takes a deep breath, but his efforts unsurprisingly prove to be futile as it does nothing to help him.