You Taste Better than Sweet Tea|FirstKhao fic

Part 1

KHAOTUNG POV

< Puen - Friend | ai' (prefix before a name) - affectionate or insulting depending on situation/tone > (I almost wanna put chai (sha-ee) instead of yes)
This has a podfic available on AO3 if you would like to hear me read.

The rain was thick and heavy, it was loud against the car windscreen and the wipers squeaked as they tried their hardest to keep the glass clear enough to see. The temperature was still a bit too warm to be comfortable outside, but inside the car was the perfect cool and dry atmosphere.

First and Khaotung were driving home from the set of a new series they were casted in together. Luckily, it hadn't rained while they were filming, but now they had to deal with late night traffic in the wet with minimal light. They were both exhausted from their work that day. There had been quite a few emotional scenes that they'd had to film for their characters individually, which always drained them more than when they got to create emotional scenes together. At one point Khao wasn't even allowed on the set where First was doing his scene. Usually they'd be able to help pull each other out of their characters or just comfort each other after the scene had been filmed well enough to satisfy the director. But today they'd needed to do a few scenes in a row in slightly different settings so the director had wanted the emotions to carry across. Fortunately, everything had been set up for the continuation scene prior so First hadn't needed to be waiting in the emotional state for too long. Khaotung had eventually been able to hug and comfort him after the staff allowed him back on the set.

"You should stay over tonight, driving home in this wet weather isn't very safe, puen," First said, breaking the silence between them that had been around almost since they'd left the set. It wasn't an awkward silence, just a silence between two people who knew each other very well and knew not to try and force a conversation when they're both clearly not up to conversing.

Khao tilted his head considering and felt his stomach twist in nerves, it was always fun to be with First but sometimes he got too comfortable. He forgets that he has to hide something from him.

First is allowed into his most intimate personal time and space, no one else holds the same or even a similar position, Khao had even relented and put First in his favourite contacts on his phone. It allowed him to get past his constant use of the 'do not disturb' function. First had been way too excited when he'd found out, it had made Khao's feel like he was glowing. He's still not sure if that was the best decision for his heart - to have First so easily able to reach him whenever he felt like it.

First doesn't know that Khaotung loves him, in more than just a platonic best friend's way. And Khao, well, he always felt too secure with him and had often acted past friendship boundaries when not being very careful, not that First had ever noticed. First seemed a bit oblivious to the way Khao looked at him. Even though it had been caught on camera multiple times. Whenever one of those videos surfaces on his feeds he always feels a little scared and somewhat surprised that First hadn't seen what he has when watching the videos.

It's hard to be careful of what you do or say when both your body and your brain are exhausted like tonight. Khao was glad he was driving the car or he would probably not be able to snap out of thinking so deeply. In this case he knew he needed to concentrate on driving to avoid having an accident and he was able to extricate himself from his thoughts without getting too lost.

Belatedly he realised he hadn't actually answered First's question so he hummed his agreement quickly. The car fell silent again, except for the low sound of the song that was playing through the radio and the constant tap, tap, tap of rain hitting the car.

The radio wasn't playing a song Khaotung recognised but the man singing sounded excessively cheerful and it felt out of place in the grey rainy atmosphere. It contrasted too heavily with both the present and the past emotions that Khaotung had felt throughout the day. As it continued to play Khao felt a weird pressure in the atmosphere, though he was sure he was the only one feeling it.