Melting the Devil

Reciprocation From Tin

A/N: My grammar as well as punctuation might be tumbling at the moment. Haha. So sorry for that.

*****

When Tin gets back to Thailand, it appears that he has been gone for longer than three days.

First of all, he hasn't slept much and is exhausted from the nonstop meetings and jet lag. He had the energy to secure the collaboration they had flown out to seek, thanks to coffee and his unwavering will to defeat their fiercest opponent. The three days passed quickly, save for a few important errands, and before he knew it, he was boarding a plane to head back home. Based on the updates that Prem had been sending him, he appeared to know that everything was running smoothly at the office while he and Saint were away. The marketing team has finally devised a strategy to reposition one of their older brands, and Mond, their Chief of R&D, has just asked for a meeting to discuss new trends they've found in the market. In fact, there's been a lot of activity. Tin realized he had a lot of work ahead of him.

The biggest difference—the most obvious, at least to Tin—is that Prem greets him with a smile and a hint of nervousness when he walks into his kitchen on Wednesday morning. He makes a bravely effort to appear normal and asks Prem the same questions he would ask Can every morning, and Prem thrives at it, providing professional answers to all of his questions. Surprisingly, it takes a lot of work for him to keep his disappointment in Can from showing when they are having breakfast together.

When they arrive at the office later, Can is also not there. This is when Tin finally loses it. He abruptly stops and looks at Prem. "Prem, do you know where Can is? "

Prem coughs a little. "Oh, you weren't informed by him? Today he made a sick call! Poor Cantaloupe," he said, scowling.

Tin feels his stomach fall. "Oh, right."

He barely pays attention during meetings and even unintentionally nods off in his office in the afternoon, spending the rest of the day in a bizarre daze. He puts it down to fatigue, but he can't help but feel that the whole Can thing is causing him unusual distraction. Tin was bothered all night by their awkward phone conversation from yesterday. He was worried that he had done something incorrectly to make Can want to stay away from him and that this would reverse all the progress he had made in persuading him to stay. Tin had a sneak peek at what it would be like when Can genuinely does step down that day, and he can't get rid of the feeling that Can is the only one who can bring that something truly significant back into his life.

He arrives home, finds his way around the house like clockwork, takes a quick shower, and changes into something cozier. He spends an excessive amount of time staring at the bookshelf across from his bed before his phone on his bedside table abruptly buzzes to life.

When the video call establishes, he addresses it as "Dad."

"Tin, my handsome son!" Tul Medthanan says, "I've been trying to get hold of you all day," his pixelated smile taking up the majority of his phone screen. "How did Paris go? "

Sighs Tin. "It worked well. Thankfully, they signed on at last." He claims, "It appeared like they were genuinely just thinking about Lax to get us to change some clauses in their favor."

His father chuckles. "Naturally, they were! They seemed to benefit from it, didn't they? "

Sighing once more, Tin runs a hand through his hair. "I suppose."

Tul nods and smiles gently at Tin. "In any case, I just wanted to give you an update from your mother. How are you doing? How's it going with the other acquisition? "