I Am Here [COMPLETED]

Part 5

"P'Kao" Gulf quickly looked down. His eyes were red. It was nighttime, so Kao probably couldn't see his eyes, but Gulf didn't want to take the risk.

"Mind if I join you?" Kao looked at Gulf and wondered why Gulf was alone.

"Yeah, sure." Believe it or not, Gulf wasn't willing to accept the offer, but he didn't have any reason to make Kao leave him alone.

Kao sat down next to Gulf, straightening his legs while staring at the ocean. He wanted to ask Gulf something, but the silence felt too comfortable. Gulf bit his lower lip, trying to come up with excuses, but he couldn't think of one at all. He just stared at the ocean too. Weirdly, he felt that the silence was comfortable, something he hadn't felt in the past few days.

After a few minutes, Kao broke the silence.

"Why are you alone?"

"Huh?" Gulf looked at Kao. Was that his first question?

"You're on holiday with your friends, right? But you're alone here." Kao still gazed at the calm ocean.

Gulf furrowed his brow. How did Kao know the details? He had only mentioned it yesterday.

"Uh, I assume you're on holiday with your friends," Kao quickly said.

"Oh, I just... can't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk," Gulf averted Kao's eyes. He couldn't let Kao know that he had been crying.

Kao nodded and didn't pursue the matter. It seemed like Gulf didn't want to comment on it. Kao noticed that Gulf's eyes were red, but he decided to keep quiet about it. After that, Kao just stayed silent. He didn't know why, but he felt comfortable even though there was no conversation between them. After 20 minutes, Gulf received a message from P'Best. Gulf was surprised because P'Best had told him that he wouldn't disturb him during the holiday. He took out his phone and read P'Best's message.

(P'Best)

Gulf, are you okay? I heard about the picture, and I thought you might already know.
-Received 10:32 p.m.-

Gulf furrowed his brow again. What picture? He went on Twitter and saw a lot of people tagging him with the hashtag #Gulfdeservesbetter, sending sorry tweets or tweets saying they would always support him. He became even more curious, so he opened Instagram. The first picture in his feed made him freeze in his place. The phone dropped from his hands.

"Gulf?" Kao turned to Gulf, shocked at the sudden drop.

Gulf couldn't hear anything. Without any warning, tears started flowing from his eyes. His hands were shaking, causing Kao to become concerned about the person next to him.

"Gulf?" Kao held Gulf's shoulder. Gulf was still frozen in place, not moving a muscle except for his tears. Kao picked up the phone and saw Mew's picture, kneeling on one knee in front of a girl. The girl's face was unclear. Mew's caption to the photo was, 'You were the love of my life. I didn't want anyone except you. Stay safe, my love.'

Kao started connecting the dots. The reason why Gulf had disappeared suddenly. The reason why Gulf was crying right now.

"Gulf..." This time, Kao stood up and sat in front of Gulf. He held Gulf's hand, causing Gulf to come back to reality. Gulf looked up at Kao.

Kao stared into Gulf's beautiful, teary brown eyes. Gulf couldn't hold it anymore. He started to break down in front of Kao. He didn't care anymore. He had thought that these past few days had helped him heal his wounds, but he realized that the wound was still open.

"Oh, Gulf..." Kao hugged the younger man. He couldn't bear to see the beautiful man cry, as it would make him cry too. Gulf kept crying in Kao's chest. He was tired. He wanted to lean on someone, and Kao was there for him, so he took the chance. Kao rubbed Gulf's back, trying to calm him. After a few minutes, Gulf spoke up.

"Why, P?" Gulf's voice was shaky.

"Why does it hurt?" Kao remained silent, letting Gulf let it all out.

"I love him, P." Finally, Gulf confessed to Kao. He couldn't stand it anymore. He needed to let it out from his chest.

"Just like how Type loves Tharn, I love P'Mew that way. I wanted P'Mew to hold me, to tell the world that I was his. To let him be jealous of everyone close to me. To let him pamper me like how Tharn pampered Type. To hug me in public. To kiss me in public. I wanted all of that, P... I thought P'Mew wanted it too, but in the end, it was just me who wanted all of that. P'Mew never wanted all of that from me. He saw me as Type, but I never saw him as Tharn."

Gulf gripped Kao's shirt tightly.

"But why... why can't I move on? I came here to heal my broken heart, but why am I still hurting?" Gulf's tears kept flowing, causing Kao's shirt to become wet. Kao didn't care one bit. All he cared about was Gulf letting it all out once and for all.

After a few minutes of silence, Gulf started to calm down. He let go of Kao's shirt from his fists. He took a deep breath before distancing himself from Kao.

"Sorry, P." He wiped his eyes. Kao stopped Gulf's hand and took a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped Gulf's tears.

"P..." Gulf looked at Kao, his eyes wide open. Kao looked straight into Gulf's eyes. Gulf's eyes were mesmerizing.

"Beautiful."

TBC