Tingles and Things

The Concert

Sarawat POV - The Backstory

Sarawat is not a people person and does not make small talk. This was a well-known fact that everyone had come to accept about him. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you that he's attractive, an excellent footballer, a talented musician, and doesn't do the people thing.

He has very few friends and prefers to keep it that way. More people mean more problems, and more problems mean drama, and drama is another thing he simply does not do.

Sarawat is also a very confident person who lives his life logically. He certainly doesn't think he's better than anyone, but he knows his worth. He understands he's good-looking and is an heir to a prestigious family. Hence, he drips with generational wealth and power effortlessly and people throw themselves at him all the time. He used to be uncomfortable and then angry, but now he just accepts it. He knows he's a catch; thus, it makes sense to have admirers. It doesn't mean he has to like the lack of privacy and blatant disrespect for his personal life, but he's mastered the art of tuning them out as he goes about his daily life.

Sarawat likes men. This epiphany startled him one day at a Scrubbs concert. Before the show, he didn't really care about relationships. He thought they seemed dull and were packed with too much drama. And again, Sarawat did not do drama, so – no – relationships absolutely did not entice him. But he was wary of sexual-only interactions with girls because it wasn't worth the chance of unexpected children. A problem his parents firmly stressed when they pulled both him and his brother, Phukong, aside one day.

You're at that age where you need to protect your family name. Girls and women will want you for your wealth and status. You want to avoid getting trapped in a situation that does not benefit both parties. Be careful, be very selective, and most of all, be discreet.

Looking back, the fact that they had to have that conversation was incredibly annoying and ridiculous. And Sarawat often wonders how it would have gone if he also had a sister. Did they want her to trap someone, or would she be warned not to get trapped? Of course, he wasn't dumb or conceited, but he was sure girls would still want him without his family name, so this was always a concern for him.

Nevertheless, relationships were a thing for the future when he had to worry about continuing the family line. Until then, he was happily enjoying his youth and focusing on music and sports only. Therefore, a relationship with a man never crossed his mind as an option. Well, that was until the concert where he saw him .

Another thing about Sarawat was that he did not believe in true love or love at first sight. Love was mostly just lust disguised as temporary feelings. Sure, he knows his parents love each other – which was a rare occurrence in many wealthy arranged marriages. But he also knew for a fact that this love grew over time. They got together because of an obligation to their family names. They just so happened to develop a love for each other with very little drama. It was a development that they were proud of, and they made sure Sarawat understood that was also a possibility for him. Sarawat admired this practical type of love and hoped to find his own one day. And if he was being honest, the idea of marrying for love seemed silly and impractical to him. What if your lust ran out, and you stopped loving them? Being willing to give up everything you worked for to watch it fizzle out was foolish. No, it was better to marry for a purpose and deal with feelings down the line.

So, he was thoroughly unprepared for what happened next when a boy bumped into him as he tried to focus on Scrubb and ignore the crowd of bodies that came with the performance.

The boy around his age turned around, and Sarawat found his heartbeat stuttering and increasing rapidly as though he just beat his best one-mile record. Then, he felt his body numb, and a tingly sensation spread all over.

The boy, who wasn't aware of what was happening in the short span of seconds, gave him a wai, keeping his eyes on the ground. He then quickly turned to the surrounding group, his smile never leaving. Everyone continued to jump up and down, immersed in the show and unaware of Sarawat's inner crisis.

What. The. Fuck.

Scared, Sarawat figured he might be dying from a sudden heart attack. That boy was gorgeous, more specifically, he was stunning. He had never considered a boy gorgeous before. He's seen attractive men in his lifetime, both in person and via media channels. His eyes would linger on strong jawlines and broad shoulders in the past, but he chalked it up to admiration. He noticed other men doing the same to him and his father often. It was out of respect.

This. This was not normal for Sarawat, however. He was fully turned on and felt like he couldn't get enough air. Maybe he was experiencing a panic attack. But panic and heart attacks didn't also affect your dick . Crap. Oh no. Crap .

He needed to get away from all of these bodies. No, he needed to get closer to one body. Fuck . He was so confused and turned on.

He took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm down, just like his mother had taught him. Once he calmed down and started to notice his surroundings again, he realized that people were beginning to leave.

"Wat, do you want to go get a picture? They're meeting fans around the back." Pam asked, smiling up at him. She was one of his close friends outside of Man and Boss and the only girl he didn't feel uncomfortable around. Pam was sweet, attractive, intelligent, and wealthy. As of 10 minutes ago, she was one of his top options for marriage obligations. She even respected his desire not to do relationships and was willing to wait without pressure. She always pushed him to go outside of his comfort zone and was the one who convinced him to come to the concert in the first place.

Panicked, he looked around, trying to find the boy. It wasn't hard; like him, the boy was taller than most people their age. He saw him smiling at about six people ahead of him, presumably heading toward taking a picture with the band. Sarawat, didn't really care about photos with people, but he nodded in agreement and attempted to keep up with the boy and his friends, who did seem to care.

"Slow down, Wat!" Pam laughed. "I didn't realize you were so into meet-and-greets. You usually hate these things."

"I. Uh," Sarawat said lamely, not bothering to give a coherent answer. He saw the boy and his friend leave the queue for pictures and head towards a building instead. Where were they going? This was his only chance. He's positive this boy does not go to his school, and he's unsure when or if he'll ever see him again.

"I actually need to use the bathroom. Don't wait for me. If you hurry, you can catch up with Man and Boss in line. I'll meet you guys at the car." Without waiting for a response, he jogged over to the building entrance.

Sarawat used to be a confident person who lived his life logically until a boy at a concert with a beautiful smile knocked his world out of alignment. Sarawat was also used to feeling in control. Because of this loss, he didn't feel very confident to go up to the boy and ask for his name or contact information. Logically, that would be the best way to get to know him. But instead, he simply turned around and held his camera as though taking a selfie, snapped a picture of the boy smiling with his friend next to a Scrubb poster, and walked away.

He then spent the rest of his summer break illogically going to every Scrubb concert to try and find this boy again.

He finally found him in line at a random campus coffee shop he decided to try on a whim.

A/N: 

I'm uploading the rest of this story slowly here on this platform, but for more current updates you can read it on Ao3  https://archiveofourown.org/works/45468931/chapters/114490516#workskin. 

Below are my original author's notes: 

I'm back. This story is taking on a life of its own. I'm going to continue with what happens after they collided in the coffee shop in the next chapter. However, this chapter focuses on Sarawat's backstory, which is important to the rest of this story as well as his interactions with Tine. I've decided to keep some key elements from the series in this retelling, one of which was the iconic Scrubb concert. Not all characters will make it in, and not all plot lines will be the same, but I'll try to keep the essence of Tine and Sarawat as much as possible. Without further ado...enjoy!