TO SHOU WITH LOVE

78 - BCOZ OF YOU

Thanapon didn't know why he had come to Atsadang Slope Street tonight.

Belle had already booked a new resident singer, and he hadn't been here much in the past month.

Sailub still hadn't replied to that message. He probably wouldn't reply.

Even though he had already accepted this fact, why couldn't he help but glance at the phone screen over and over again?

Also, he had had a cigarette in his mouth for half an hour, yet why hadn't he lit it?

What unrealistic expectations was he still holding onto?

He plugged in his earphones, irritably flicking the lighter open and closed, watching a stray dog across the street bark at him a couple of times.

Then he noticed someone approaching not far away.

The dim streetlight cast long shadows, so the shadow approached, but the person hadn't yet.

Thanapon didn't turn his head. He didn't want anyone to bother him right now.

But the person approached anyway, just a few steps away, stopping and staring at him.

He had wanted to be left alone, but now he couldn't ignore it.

He frowned, about to ask "What do you want?" in a harsh tone, but when he turned to see the person, he couldn't bring himself to say it- the person standing a few steps away was actually Sailub.

Thanapon furrowed his brow, his expression unpleasant, still biting the cigarette in his mouth, looking like someone not to be messed with, just standing there like that.

For a moment, he doubted if he was dreaming.

Otherwise, why would Sailub suddenly appear on Atsadang Slope Street in the middle of the night?

Could it be because of wishful thinking?

They locked eyes for a moment, and Sailub took steps toward him.

He stopped in front of Thanapon and reached out to take the cigarette from his mouth.

"Smoking again ah..."

Sailub sighed lightly as he looked at the cigarette in his hand.

Thanapon stood up straighter, looking down at him slightly, "I haven't smoked."

He noticed that Sailub was wearing an earring on his earlobe today, silver in color, shining under the streetlight.

He realized that this might be the first time he had seen Sailub wearing an earring, and it looked very good, even better than he had imagined.

He wanted to reach out and touch it, but after realizing this, he put his fingers back in his pocket and clenched them gently.

"Why aren't you smoking?" Sailub looked up at him.

The slightly deep-eyed young man looked a bit thinner than a month ago, with slightly shorter hair, but his gaze remained the same.

Direct, dark, as if weighted.

"I don't know." After a moment of silence, Thanapon said.

Sailub held the cigarette, after a few seconds, asked again, "What are you listening to?"

Thanapon took off the earphone from his right ear and raised his hand to put it into Sailub's ear.

As his fingers touched his ear, a bit cold, Sailub suddenly remembered the third match, when he helped Thanapon clean the coffee stains off his back in the bathroom.