Roommates - Not in Bangkok anymore [completed]

Chapter 27

Tin's POV

Later that evening, after dinner and the study time they had neglected for their bedroom adventures before, Tin and Can were lying in bed again, cuddled together in quiet bliss.

Tin had already tried to get tips out of Can on how to handle the soreness he was starting to feel now that his body was calm again – but it turned out that Can had much better body awareness than Tin and most of his tips didn't work on him. Can seemed to be able to feel exactly which muscles in his body were affected and could easily figure out how to counter it, while Tin could barely get closer than 'somewhere down there'.

The only thing that had helped a little was Can applying soothing cream on his sore spots and carefully massaging his lower back – it was scary to realize that his boyfriend had a better feeling for Tin's body than he himself. But Can couldn't really help him in any meaningful way for the muscles that weren't accessible from the outside.

"Just tell people that you went horseback riding this afternoon for the first time after a long break. That's what you general education people do on Sundays anyway, isn't it? Nobody will check if it's true."

Tin raised an eyebrow.

"Horseback... is that what it's called, these days?"

"Do you want to tell them the truth instead? About whom you've been riding?"

Tin lifted his head.

The thing with Can was... you never knew if he would take a jest like this seriously and suddenly... tell everyone.

"You could make me regret it..."

He pinched Can's cheek in pretend protest. He would never regret it, even if the price for it wasn't nothing.

"It gets a lot better once you get used to it," Can assured him.

Tin wasn't sure if he wanted to get used to it. It had been a surprisingly intense experience he had enjoyed a lot – but he might like giving it to Can even more, and watching him dissolve into a stammering mess underneath him. Luckily, there was no need for them to fix themselves on anything. He couldn't see them fight over this anytime soon, one way or the other.

"Actually..." Tin suddenly got serious and thoughtful, "what are we gonna do when people find out about us? It won't stay secret forever... if we even want that."

For a moment, he had been afraid that Can would brush it off.

It was unnecessary. Tin could see him getting uncharacteristically serious, too.

"You know this school better than me, Tin," Can cuddled himself closer to his chest and looked up at him, "what do we have to prepare for?"

Tin sighed.

There were the gossips... they were annoying, but mostly harmless. Then there was the teaching staff and the board – thanks to his contract with Mr. Yaxley, they would likely be able to keep their room. However, they might be under much closer scrutiny after it became evident why Tin had made this arrangement.

And once the school knew, Tin could expect his family to find out about it, too.

His brother Tul wouldn't stay quiet.

He told all of this to Can and asked him if there were complications to expect on his side.

"I... I have no idea how my family will take it," Can said slowly, "I have never thought about it. I suppose... most of all, they'll worry about my future. There's a lot riding on this scholarship for me. If they get the impression that I got distracted from my goal because of you, they'll resent you. And... well... I don't know how football clubs might take it if your brother creates waves. I mean... if I ever get good enough to be considered for any of the big European leagues."