Unexpected Fate

chapter 4

"Phâaw?" Lily mumbles sleepily around a mouthful of cereal. "Was Teacher here last night?"

Kao freezes midway through scrambling himself an egg. Is Lily wondering if she dreamt of UP's presence? Should he go along with it, save himself the trouble of trying to explain it, or—he shudders at the thought—Lily telling someone?

He doesn't like lying to his daughter though; that isn't the example he wants to set.

"Yes," he admits with a sigh. "He brought me some medicine."

Well, that part is a lie, but it's not exactly like he can tell Lily the real reason UP came over.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine now, sweetheart, don't worry," he tells her. "What do I always say? A good night's sleep can cure a lot of things. Uh, and medicine."

"Yeah," Lily agrees. "And special magic chocolate."

"Oh?" Kao grins and takes a seat across from her with his eggs. "Tell me about this magic chocolate."

Lily recounts the events that Kao had witnessed himself in the kitchen last night, round eyes sparkling with the memory. She doesn't remember until the end that UP had asked her not to tell Kao, clapping her hand over her mouth and gasping.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you!" she cries. "Please don't be mad at Teacher, he was just trying to help..."

"Hmm." Kao frowns, pretending to consider it. "Let's make a deal. I won't tell UP that you told me your secret as long as you don't tell anybody he was here last night, okay?"

To Kao's relief, she doesn't ask questions, just happy to have an out for her slip-up, and nods enthusiastically. "Okay! Deal."

The last thing Kao needs is Lily blabbing to her coach and having Tul and Max's noses in his and UP's business—especially when he's going to have to put an end to said business on account of his newfound feelings.

His head has been swimming with a nauseating cocktail of fondness and dread since he awoke this morning and stumbled into the curiously bustling kitchen, met with the sight of UP meticulously preparing food and packing lunch boxes for both Kao and Lily.

("Good morning." UP had smiled at him with the golden rays of the morning sun gleaming through the window and painting his face in a pretty glow, and the urge to kiss him was so strong it almost hurt. "I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I figured I'd be productive. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Kao rasped sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he stared at the lunch boxes in awe. "Looks good... Thank you."

"'Thank you?'" UP scoffed, but the smile on his lips betrayed him. "These are both for me."

Kao chuckled weakly and started to make himself some coffee, ignoring the swarm of butterflies in his stomach.)

After saying their somewhat awkward goodbyes where all Kao wanted to do was yank UP in for a kiss, he knew he had to put a stop to this before it could get any worse.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

He formulated a vague semblance of a plan in his head: he'd pull UP aside after school today—or maybe he'd wait until Monday—and tell him the truth. Well, most of the truth. He'd leave out the part about having feelings for UP and just tell him that he's not comfortable with the level of closeness they've reached, suggesting that they distance themselves from each other a bit. He'd tell UP he needs some space to think until he has a better idea of how to end it for good.

In the meantime, he's sure it'll be fine. UP's not one for making things awkward or tense. It'll be fine, and once Kao ends it for good, it'll be fine then, too. It will be hard to ignore the voice in his head that wants to be close to UP, but he's done an okay job defying it so far, and UP... well, this is just sex for him. Good sex, but just that. He can easily find someone else to fulfill his needs, Kao has no doubt in his mind about that.