Toxic [2gether]

Part 18

Sarawat ignored the flashes going off around him as he sat down in the cushioned chair, adjusting the microphone stand on the table to the right height and then looked up, eyelashes at half-mast and lips twisted. His hair was flawlessly brushed back on a side part, revealing a wide forehead and arched eyebrows. His nonchalant, clear gaze swept around the room, taking in all the eager faces of the reporters below the slightly elevated podium that his press team was stationed at. He saw Boss pull out a chair out of the corner of his eye, the other man sat down swiftly next to him, passing over a bottle of water to Sarawat. Another smartly dressed man and a pretty woman, the agency's spokes people, installed themselves on each side of Sarawat and Boss.

"Thanks," he murmured to Boss, taking the cold, perspiration slippery bottle off the manager's hand. The flashes and shutter sounds increased at their slight interaction. Sarawat had patiently posed for pictures for several minutes already, before finally being able to sit at the long table, but it seemed that the reporters were dead set on catching every second of this event on camera.

"Mr. Guntithanon what's the reason for this press conference?" A female reported shouted right out, not being able to contain herself until the official opening of the announcement. "Are you going to address the gay dating rumors?"

"Sarawat what are your thoughts on a certain Tine Teepakorn claiming to be your boyfriend?" Another reporter followed suit, bouncing up from his seat and waving his phone around which he seemed to use for recording purposes. Sarawat smirked mirthlessly at the antics, eyes hard, and then looked to the side, blinking rapidly to clear the blatant annoyance off his face.

He had to play nice with these people to ensure that the announcement was well received since it could make a big impact on his career and Tine's soon not so private life. Shit. Were they going too fast with this? It had not been that long since Tine and Sarawat started dating and even less since Tine admitted to liking him. How deep ran his feelings, did Tine even love Sarawat?

The rumors had to be addressed regardless, but maybe they could have thought of another way of doing it?

No.

Sarawat has loved Tine for years and in an underhanded way, maybe even unconsciously, he wanted to make sure that Tine would remain his. Now that he had finally gotten a sweet taste of him, he wanted to bind Tine to himself forever.

Boss stood up abruptly, breaking musician's train of thought as his chair scraped mercilessly on the stage, making everyone wince at the ear piercing noise. The manager raised his hands in a wide, placating gesture at the now rowdy crowd of reporters. The silver rings on his fingers gleamed in the stark light of the room and several flashes went off to catch him in this curious stance, wearing a sleek oversized suit that hung nicely over his broad frame.

"The conference opens in five minutes, please stand by until them. Thank you," he shouted over the crowd without a mike, pressing his hands palms down in a descending gesture to make the reporters sit back in their designated seats. He then patted Sarawat on his white clad shoulder with a frustrated sigh. "Are you ready?" He murmured. "Do you remember everything we agreed on for you to say?"

Sarawat nodded eagerly, head bobbing on his long neck. He was so ready for this. It was almost overdue how ready he was to announce to the world that Tine Teepakorn was his.

***

Tine stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, eyes a little red and pink mouth set in a small frown. He bent over the faucet and splashed cold water onto his face, letting the chilly sensation wash away his weariness. He had been strangely on edge for the last couple of days and had vouched to pack up early at work, planning to read up on some documents in the tranquility of his apartment. But instead he had walked in on another Pandora's box from his stalker, sardonically placed right outside his door.