Toxic [2gether]

Part 24

The female reporter leaned over the wheel and squinted out of the car, her long lashes fluttering, peering at the people gathered in front of Tine's apartment in the late sunset. They were holding signs with the hashtag #tineleavesarawat written on them. Poor guy. He had for sure received the short end of the stick. Glancing last time at the antifans she pulled out of the parking pocket, fair hands turning the wheel swiftly. Tine Teepakorn was for sure somewhere else. Hm, an impish smile spread across her glossy, red lips. She was most certainly sure where the infamous boyfriend could be.

The female parked her black car on the side of the wide road close to Sarawat's apartment complex and peered up at the twinkling skyscraper. She had zero chance to find the musician's exact windows this late in the dark and regardless of that, it would still be too far anyway. She sighed, drumming her long fingers on the wheel, contemplating if it was worth to follow her gut feeling and just stalk around there for a while. Maybe she would be able to catch something interesting on camera in the morning. And then again, maybe not.

Her attentive gaze fell on a black clad figure a little further way in front of her car, standing motionlessly on the sidewalk, hood clad head thrown back to look up at the skyscraper as well. A car passed by on the road, its headlights illuminating the face of the individual. Shit. That was the person from many of the candid pictures that she had snapped of Tine. So it was a stalker in the end? Oh, this could get really interesting indeed. She reached a bejeweled hand for her camera that had been laying in the passenger seat and brought it to her face, zooming and focusing the big lens before snapping a couple of pictures, the shutter going off noisily in the enclosed space of the car.

She lowered the camera, still holding it in her hands and peered at the unmoving figure. It was strange, this stalker seemed to follow only Tine. Initially she thought it was just an upset fan, trying to confront Tine about his relationship with Sarawat but being too scared to. However, something did not really fall into place with that scenario. She inclined her head in thought. Could it maybe be a zealous ex lover? Oh. That would certainly be scandalous.

The wheels in her head were turning as she considered the possible impact of writing an article about this. Should she intervene? Would that be worth it? The possibility to get blacklisted by Sarawat's agency was pretty high if it got out that she was tailing Sarawat and his boyfriend. Furthermore, other agencies might follow suit and block her as well. Hm, it seemed that she had some important things to think about before she took any action.

***

Tine shuffled out of the bedroom to find the living room and the adjacent kitchen empty. What the heck?

"Wat," he called, scratching at his slightly damp neck. Sarawat had let Tine take his time in the shower, volunteering to go out and see what Tine's friends were up to. The sound of several voices travelled throughout the apartment, before a chorus of laughter erupted from the balcony and Tine padded over there, finding everyone gathered there with bags of take out strewn around, plastic cups with soft drinks cluttering the floor.

A hush fell over the guys when Tine stepped through the doorway and out into the sun. A hot flush instantly prickled his neck and Tine suppressed an urge to lift one pale hand to rub at it uneasily. They did not have to make this awkward. Really.

Fong, Peuk and Ohm were snickering at him, harshly whispering and elbowing each other like some preschoolers. Phukong glared at Tine from his perch on the only chair out there, a little bit away from everyone. Even Boss who had suddenly installed himself amongst them waved a hand at Tine, reclining his elbows on the balcony railing, a playful grin plastered on his face. Green had thankfully clamped his hands over his big mouth gleefully, probably to prevent himself from shrieking obnoxiously, sandwiched on the couch between Peuk and Ohm. Sarawat just stared lazily at Tine, his head thrown back while sprawling on the couch next to Fong, a smirk on his sultry lips.