long drive | taynew

7 | phuket and us

song : truly madly deeply - one direction

"phuket?" i asked in confusion. i blamed myself for playing rov too much on the car that i didn't realize that were heading here.

i gaped at him to see where he drove us to; karon beach, phuket. one of places we planed to go together. in front of our car now was dark black sea that reflected the starlight in the sky.

"yup. one of places we'll visit." he smiled excitedly at me.

it was already around 11pm when i checked my ipad. i could had just stayed at the car because the wind was way too cold to bear, but the sight of night beach that met my eyes just captivated me so much.

despite that it was quiet dark, i knew that we were standing in front of the most beautiful night beach scenery i'd ever seen. it was all just beautifully soothing with the silence, the dim light of the bar by the beach and the stars that seemed to align at this moment.

"come on out tay!" said him, more like a shout. he had got out of the car and was kicking off his shoes. his barefoot now was on the sand. i didn't even realize since when.

as soon as i took my shoes off, i hopped out of the car. i yelped in surprise as i stepped onto the soft sand barefoot because the sand was much colder than i thought it would be.

i walked a few steps behind new. and i could see that he was so excited being on the beach. i saw him running, jumping in excitement and enjoying the sand between his toes as the wind blowing his hair.

"why are you walking so slowly?" he clucked. in a sudden he grabbed me by the wrist making me walked faster. 

"oh c'mon, like you've never been to beach befo—"

"aw tay, your hand is cold. ah, let me hold your hand." he said. by then his grip on my wrist gently moved to the palm of my hand. he intertwined his fingers with mine as we walked closer to the beach. i couldn't help but smile smile like a completely fool. if peng see me like this, i was sure he would tease me for the rest of my life.

we stopped our steps as we were close enough to the shore. he sunk his feet into the soft, silky sand as the cold waves washed them. his eyes shuted enjoying the cool breeze caressing his pale skin. he still didn't let go his fingers grip on mine. i wasn't complaining, i wouldn't even mine if he wanted to grab them until we go back home.

"hin, can we sit? i start to get cold with the wind," i said as i slumped down to the sand. i pulled his hand to sit beside me.

"what does sitting have to do with getting cold?" asked him once he finally sat next to me.

"because i can do this," i paused my words. i immediately brought my kneees up to my chest and wrapped my hands around them. "to make me less feel cold."

he giggled. "what a ngo~." he didn't say a word after that,  neither did i. by then he leaned his head against my shoulder.

we both remained silent. but we had different reason behind it.

he was silently gazing up st the stars that were evidently shining in the sky, pretending to understand about its constellations. while i was silently watching him. not even single word was uttered between us.

since the very first minute, my eyes were all glued on him only. i observed every inch of his gorgeous face, the lines of his face, his nose, the cute wrinkles around his eyes when he smile that i never had the chance to stare at. it was like we didn't even need to talk to understand what each of us thought.

and the fact that he was sitting right beside me, made everything much more perfect. he completed everything.

"i don't wanna go home," i said.

he looked up to me. and oh what was with his knitted eyebrows. "well i didn't plan to. i mean, why should we? the project we need to attend is delayed for 3 days later, not tomorrow you ngo."

"wait, really? why didn't i know?"

"because you were too busy playing rov and forget to check a message from mae yui??"

my eyes widened at what he said. he was right i didn't even checked my phone on the way here. and i usually don't like any sudden changes, it got me stressed. but this change was like the universe seemed to support me to be only with new a little longer.

my lips curved. this was the time. i needed to confess everything i had been hiding to him before we had to go back to bangkok.

"why are you looking at me like that?"

snapped. i was all stunned in a sudden because he realized i was watching him quietly. my thoughts about were scattered as i turned my head pretending to see the surroundings like a stupid.

"n-no, i wasn't. why would i? i was— i was looking at the sand," i said. my cheeks were heating up and i was sure they were as red as a tomato.

he laughed at me stuttering and my ridiculous reaction. i couldn't help but blaming my own self. why were you so stupid, tay tawan!!

in a few seconds the silence returned. i tried to breathe normally again and getting my heartbeat back to normal until new slowly wrapped his arms around my shoulder, leaning over a little. he pushed himself closer to me that my upper hands now pressed against his cheeks. oh god.

"h-hin. i can't breathe." i said the truth, i couldn't breathe. not because he hugged me too tight, but it was my heart that started to skip a beat that i gasped for air.

"do i look like i care?" he said. more like mumbled, barely clear enough for me to hear because his cheeks that was against my shoulder caused him to pout.

oh damn, a rock shouldn't look this cute!!

"but hin—"

"please tay for now only. i feel a bit cold too."

i didn't utter a word, just letting him hugging me as tightly as he wanted. i always loved his spontaneous act.

but i personally thought he hugged me not because he really felt cold. i knew him, just like a polar bear, new was the type of person who didn't easily to get cold, he even loved it. he could only wear a shirt at a temperature of -5°C.

he might hugged me because he knew i couldn't stand the cold. and of course he was too stubborn to admit it.

let's just take it like that.

slowly but sure, i swung my arms around him and rubbed soothing circles on his back, making him nuzzle further deeper into me. i rubbed it slowly and warmly.

i really wish i could freeze this moment in a frame and stay like this. because it was such a tragic truth and big lie if he didn't feel the same.

***

i wanna point smth out here, ik it sounds impossible for someone to arrive at phuket in only 5 hours from bangkok. but yeah, this is a fiction after all. (except their love, it's so real).

and sorry if this is a bit cringe lol

and guess where they're going next!! (around phuket ofc)