A Taste Of You

Chapter 4

"Hey Kao, what's your worst drunk memory?" Up asks as he gets into bed and under the covers with Kao after he finishes washing up in their en suite.

"I don't think I have any," Kao answers without even looking up from his book. "But that's only because I'm a blackout drunk. I'm prone to forgetting all my shit when I get really wasted, but I tend to make pretty sound decisions up 'til right before that point. Well—no, that doesn't sound right." He chuckles and finally closes his book. "It's more accurate to say that before I reach that blackout point, I don't make decisions that I wouldn't make even if I'm stone-cold sober."

"Yeah? How much before you usually get completely wasted then?"

"Hmm, well an entire bottle of wine gets me pretty far gone, but not really blackout drunk. Two and a half bottles of any hard Liquor usually gets me to that point though. And ten shots of tequila, maybe?" Kao laughs. "I don't think I've ever hit my limit on beer alone, while with cocktails it varies a lot. Some of those tasty motherfuckers hit hard without you realizing."

"True." Up agrees. "Those are silent killers. I was hanging out with Aaron and Alex earlier and they reminded me about the one time I got drunk at this frat party and I started busking in front of their house. I don't even remember where I got a guitar from—Alex alleges they helped me steal it from one of the frat bros." He laughs. "In the morning I woke up sprawled out on their front lawn, a couple of hundred bucks richer than I was the night before."

"Damn." Kao chortles. "That sounds like it should be filed under best memories instead of worst."

"True." Up snorts. "On the other hand, I also had a dick drawn on my face in permanent marker! Took me days to completely wash it off but at least I had extra money. I put that money into buying a new pair of studio-quality headphones."

"Okay, but what's your actual worst drunk memory?"

Up shrugs and appears to think about it briefly. "One time I got into a gnarly bar fight. Over something really stupid and trivial—over someone calling Rihanna a poser."

"What?" Kao cackles. "You're a Navy?!"

"No." Up huffs. "Not really! But she has catchy songs! I guess I stan when I'm drunk?"

Kao keeps laughing. "I can't even imagine you in a fistfight."

"You'd be surprised. I got into them a lot when I was in high school." Up laughs. "Not so much after I got into university and moved out here—except to defend Rihanna's authenticity I guess. My face was so beaten up and it took weeks for the bruises to heal."

Kao snorts and peers at him closely. "I dunno about that Up... I'm not sure your face ever actually healed?"

"Hardy har." Up rolls his eyes, a hint of fondness mirrored in them. Something like it anyway. He begins fiddling with the hem of the comforter before pulling it up to his chest. "So, today I told Alex," he announces casually.

"Told Alex what?" Kao asks, suddenly feeling like he's missing something here.

Up rolls his eyes. "About you and me," he answers matter-of-factly.

"What about you and me?"

Up scoffs. "That you're my boyfriend. Duh. And that we're kinda living together."

"Wait—he didn't know?"

It has been ten, going on eleven, months since they first met at Alex and Leo's wedding; five months since Up had moved in, and a little over two since they became exclusive. Kao didn't even realize that in all that time, one of Up's best friends hadn't known about them.