I Want You To Be My Last

Part 19 : Tease

The flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was uneventful, boring even, Gulf spending the almost two-hour flight alternating between reading his itinerary for the day and avoiding thinking of P'Mew altogether, the latter proving to be an entirely difficult feat given the fact that P'Mew was just there, sitting three rows to his front with his manager.

Somehow, it wasn't at all surprising that they ended up taking the same flight to Chiang Mai, given that the person who arranged the itinerary was the same person who'd most likely invited them there. As far as he knew, all attendees taking this flight would be picked up by the same vehicle from the airport to the venue, so it was also safe to assume that he might be sitting in the same car with P'Mew getting to and from the venue to the hotel they would check into after the event.

Which was exactly what happened when they reached Chiang Mai airport, under two hours later, as he helped P'Best with their luggage, realizing P'Mew was doing the same when they ended up bumping against each other helping the driver load their stuff into the van. He bowed his head in apology like an automatic reflex, and then ended up shrieking in surprise when P'Mew very deliberately slapped him lightly on the butt in answer.

Thankfully, their respective managers' attention were on something else when it happened, P'Best hauling Gulf's makeup bag inside the van and P'Mew's manager was on the phone, talking to someone.

They were on the road on their way to the venue, which was Nimman Convention center when his phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling a message.

Before checking it, he made sure P'Best wasn't looking, and that P'Mew wasn't either. It would be difficult to tell from where he was sitting, but he guessed it wouldn't hurt to try.

He swiveled around as carefully as he could manage it, and was met with the cheekiest grin he had ever encountered in his admittedly short life, so obvious despite the mask that was supposed to be covering it.

Jerk , he thought as he turned back around, even though he was helplessly grinning too. He unlocked his phone to check the message, and somehow ended up biting the insides of his cheek to keep himself from grinning even more when he saw what the message was and who it was from.

I am not going to pretend to be surprised about any of this anymore, Nong. Same job. Same schedule. Same flight? I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd say one of us might be stalking the other. But since I do, I prefer not to use that word and call it fate instead. Or destiny. It sounds profoundly romantic that way, if you ask me.

He honestly didn't think of it that way, but now that P'Mew had mentioned it, he couldn't help but wonder if it was, somehow. Part of him wanted to believe it was just a coincidence, or that the both of them simply had a common friend who liked to meddle with his friends' affairs just because he could. Either way, it still wouldn't explain the way things panned out for them from then on, from the time he and P'Mew both agreed on certain terms if only so they would avoid the complications later. Destiny or not, it wasn't hard to admit that he was happy.

That much was enough for him for now.

Biting his lips and absently reaching up to feel the pendant hidden carefully beneath his shirt, dangling from the necklace he'd received as a gift from the other man the night before, he smiled and started typing his reply one-handedly.

Fate, huh? To be honest, I was ready to accept the stalking part, but if you put it that way, well, I guess it might be ., he answered, only because he wasn't that confident about certain things at this point just yet. The flirting was enjoyable enough, their limited time together even more so, but until he was sure what to call this thing they were building, he thought it might be better not to speculate.