Growing Together

Chapter 11

Italics – flashbacks
Bold Italics – Reading

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He had never thought he would come to hate having a day off. It wasn't that he disliked spending time home alone, but it left him feeling uneasy. Sun had insisted he stay in bed until he was fully recovered but Mork was finding it hard to stay put. Especially when his boyfriend said they had Rain.

There was no doubt that Rain was a good worker, but hearing his friend tell him how busy the café had gotten these couple of days made it difficult for him to just stay in bed for much longer. He had already been in bed for long enough and if he was forced to rest any longer he was going to lose his mind. He felt perfectly fine now, so why wait another day?

There was only so much he trusted Rain and Sun to actually do without him, besides the whole situation with Pete hadn't gotten any better from what Rain had said to him the other day.

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"He's really scary, Mork! He won't stop following me wherever I go," Rain had whined, complaining further about how Pete had even chased him to a friend's party. "He's too persistent! Didn't you say P'Sun told him to back off?"

"Yeah, he did," Mork said simply. What could they do? After all, they were the only thing standing between Pete and Kao. He didn't particularly like Pete, especially since that day at the café. He couldn't understand how Kao could like someone so possessive and full of himself like Pete.

"You have to help me, Mork. I can't deal with him anymore!" Rain pleaded as he tugged at Mork's arm.

"What do you want me to do?" Mork asked trying to calm his friend.

"What if we talk to Kao?" Rain said.

"You know we can't do that," Mork had simply told him. Kao wasn't in the best state to be troubled with these things at the moment.

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"What are you doing out of bed?" Sun had said when he caught him tying the apron around his waist.

"What does it look like? I'm getting ready to greet our customers," Mork said going to flip the closed sign over and unlocking the front door.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sun had asked not sounding too convinced by his boyfriend's words. After all, yesterday Mork was still feeling a little drowsy and had complained for the better half of the night.

"I'm fine, P'Sun," Mork said holding his hand out to keep him out of his kitchen. "You should go and do a quick look around to make sure everything is ready for the day." To his relief, Sun had indeed given him the benefit of the doubt and gone to do some last-minute sweeping of their café before the customers came in for the morning rush.

A part of him had thought that Rain might have exaggerated when he had told him about how busy it would be, especially when things had started off like every other day. However, after about 30 minutes into their opening people were crowding into the café trying to grab a drink and slice of cake that even Kitty—P'Sun's ex had come in to help them. They hadn't had a break long enough to restock the display case. So, when things had actually begun slowing down Mork had taken it upon himself to restock it while P'Kitty had gone to clean and clear tables with Rain.

"Mork, I'm going to run some errands," Sun said going to find him in the kitchen. "Will you be okay if I leave?"

"Er, go I think we have it covered," Mork said waving Sun off while things were still slow in the café. He had ended up following Sun to the door to bid him farewell before going to the back of the café to finish restocking the display. When he had finished he had gone out to help Kitty finish cleaning up. Rain, on the other hand, had taken full advantage that his brother had left and gone to sit at the bar top table with his computer.

"One of these days you're going to get caught by P'Sun, and I won't do a thing to stop him," Mork said as he carried the dirty dishes past him towards the kitchen.

"Never mind that, never mind that, just come check this out," Rain said suddenly sounding a little too enthusiastic as he waved his friend to look at what had just been sent to him by another one of their mutual friends.

"What is it?" Mork had said putting the tray down on the counter to take a better look at what Rain was trying to show him. Even Kitty had come over to take a look.

" 'I am so happy that SunRain Café, was the place the locals recommended I visit. I was completely blown away by this little hidden gem! I have never been to a café where the employees know every single customer by name. The relationship the owners have made with their customers is truly one of a kind. Even a customer, named James said... "The people who've come to SunRain Café always come back because they feel like family and are always treated so humbly no matter how old they are."

I've been to many amazing restaurants and cafés, but nothing like SunRain Café. If I lived in Thailand, this would definitely be my absolute favorite place to frequent.' " Rain read out to them.

" 'I thought the barista was trying to flirt with me at first, boy was I wrong...' How funny, now I know why P'Sun is so jealous," Kitty had read out loud as she had caught that particular line in the online article. Which had made Rain laugh at her teasing.

"Who wrote this?" Mork asked ignoring the two as he scrolled through the page and saw several pictures of their café, pastries and even of them. He wasn't particularly bothered nor did he think P'Sun would be either. The article was very personal almost like a diary. It was well written and it praised them a lot about their service and kindness, but the thing was, Mork didn't remember speaking to anyone like this.

"It's P'Kate, she's an extremely famous travel blogger." Rain said as he pulled up the picture of the woman. However, when that didn't seem to strike a chord with Mork it had him saying, "How can you not know who she is?" Rain scolded before he was turning towards Kitty, "You know her, don't you?"

"Er, Mork she's a big deal and having her write about the café is such a big deal! No wonder the café has been so busy these days." Kitty said with an excited squeal as she shook Rain by his shoulder. "I can't believe P'Kate was in your café!"

Mork had only shaken his head at their excitement before looking back at the woman's picture again. He did remember seeing her a couple of weeks ago, but he had not remembered doing anything special besides bringing her coffee and a cake, just like he did with everyone else. "Can you send this to me? I'll show P'Sun later," Mork said as he picked the tray back up to take them to the sink.

However, when the bells chimed at the door Mork had turned to greet the new customer but his words fell short when he saw who it was. "What are you doing here Pete?" He asked dryly. Just hearing the man's name being said had Rain excusing himself and rushing to leave before he was harassed for Kao's whereabouts.

"I know you won't tell me where he is, but can you at least give him this for me?" Pete said placing the brown gift bag on the counter. He was desperate to have some kind of communication with Kao, but he was trying a different approach as Sandee said. He wanted Kao to see that he would be there not just for him but for their son too.

"And if I refuse?" Mork said not budging to reach for the bag. Kao and he had grown closer over the months, and because he was one of the few people Kao had to talk to he had come to know a bit more of Pete—or at least the Pete Kao saw. Mork didn't want his friend to be hurt again, so that's why he had been the biggest voice opposing to let him know about Kao, apart from Kao's own.

"Please, Mork, I'm only asking you for this one favor," Pete had practically pleaded as he said, "It's for the baby."

"And how would you even know what to buy the baby?" Mork said letting go of the tray in his hands when Kitty pulled it out of his hands with a quiet 'I'll take this, while you two talk' before she too was quietly removing herself from the middle of their conversation.

"P'Sun gave me the sonogram picture, the last time I came by. Sandee, helped me pick things out so I know they're the right size. Look, can't you just give it to him for me?" Pete asked as he pushed the bag towards Mork.

"Er...but I'm not promising anything," Mork said taking the bag in his hand.

"Thanks," Pete said giving him an awkward smile before he was leaving back out of the café. In midst of it, he ran into P'Sun who he decided to be somewhat civil with, considering Mork had taken the gift. He was in a happier mood so he had greeted P'Sun briefly before heading on his way.

"He seems happy," Sun said when he had come into the café to kiss his boyfriend's head, but to his surprise, Mork had moved away from him. "What's wrong? Did you fight with him?" Sun asked worriedly since Mork seemed to be in a bad mood. "Mork?"

However, Mork had only placed the gift under the counter for the time being before crossing his arms against his chest as he said, "You gave him MY sonogram picture of baby Mini?"

"Oh..." Sun said bringing his hand up to scratch at his nape nervously.

"Oh? Oh? Is that all you have to say for yourself?!" Mork huffed angrily before he was moving past him.

"Don't be angry, hm?" Sun said reaching out for his boyfriend, this time though Mork let him grab his hand. "I know the baby means a lot to you, but Pete wanted to know about how Kao and their son were doing. He's been kept away from it all this time, I thought giving him this much would have been okay."

At that Mork couldn't help but sigh, he knew Sun was right but it wasn't their choice whether Pete got to know or not, this was Kao's choice. "Er, I'll forgive you this once," He said before pulling away from his boyfriend as he motioned towards Sun's hanging apron. "Now get to work, I don't pay you for just looking pretty."

"Very Funny," Sun said shaking his head, but doing as Mork said none the less.