that's family to me | sotus oneshot

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Arthit's ears practically perked up to the stark sound of knocking against his apartment door. The only person he was expecting today was Kongphob, and even he wasn't due till another hour or so.

Arthit pushed himself out from his desk, tidied his papers into a filing cabinet, and strolled over to the door.
"Sawatdee-" Arthit groaned. "Bright."

With alarming desperation, Bright pleaded to him. "Arthit, I need a favor."
Said favor was 115cm tall, wearing a Doraemon backpack, and staring up at Arthit with huge, beady eyes.

"Bright..." Arthit warned. "Whose child is this?"

"Relax, he's my nephew. But I have a date in," Bright glanced at his watch, "30 minutes, and I forgot I promised to watch him today-"

"I have a date too, thanks for asking." Arthit deadpanned.

"Yeah, with your husband of 50 years."

Arthit rolled his eyes. The jokes never end.

"This is our 3rd date. And, by the way, this does not feel like you 'wholeheartedly supporting me in my journey with committed relationships.' Just, please come through this one time. I'll meet you at Winter Ice Cream around 8 o'clock to swap off, and I'll even make it up to you!"

Arthit bit his lip, then cracked. "Fine."

"There's the Ai-Oon I know!" Bright teased. "I owe you."

Arthit hummed back. "You're right about that."

Bright pressed his hands together in gratitude and tipped his head. "Thank you a million." Then he took off, wallet clutched in his grip, shirt flowing in the wind, and shoes smacking wildly against floor tiles.

"I hope his date escapes in time." Arthit quipped. He sighed, then shut the door, now turning to the pudgy creature nestled in his duvet.

"Hi. I'm Arthit." Arthit began. "Uh, you can call me Ai-Oon, if you want. I went to University with your uncle."

The little boy blinked up at him.

"What's your name?"

"Uncle calls me Kancil."

Arthit wrinkled his nose. It was an odd nickname.

"Kancil is a deer from Indonesian bedtime stories! He stole cucumbers from farmers." Kancil asserted proudly.

"Are you part-Indonesian?"

"My daddy is from Indonesia." He revealed.

"So then your mom-"

"Is uncle's sister!"

Arthit chuckled. "I see. You're very smart."

Kancil nodded in agreement.

"So... What do you want to do? What did you bring in your little bag there?" Arthit asked awkwardly, still leaning against his desk.

"Oh!" Kancil filled with excitement. "Come, Ai-oon." He invited, smacking a dip into the comforter where Arthit could sit.

"Okay." Arthit agreed tentatively, slowly easing next to the tiny monster.

Kancil clapped his hands together and began to fumble with the zipper of his backpack.

Arthit watched him in considerable, yet confusing, intrigue. The little boy had a mess of wavy brown hair flying up from his forehead, a pair of pillows for cheeks, and a devout dedication to poking everything around him. His gap-toothed smile drilled aches into Arthit's heart. Arthit was suddenly envious of those with siblings- to grow up with, and have nephews and nieces from.