Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Twenty-one: Different Connections

Author's Note: There's barely any MaxTul interactions in this chapter, so if you are only here for that, you will be disappointed. We get some more background about Max's past as well as the beginnings of an escalated war on Team 2.

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Max spent the next day organizing his notes and preparing for two more interviews the following week. When his phone rang, he was nervous, worried that it might be Tul. He didn't want to see him today. Even though he had only seen him twice since his return from Japan compared to several days of no contact, he felt he needed a break to clear his head.

He knew his decision to be perfectly honest at dinner the night before was going to change his relationship with Tul both professionally and personally. It broke with his training in journalism. Reporters were not supposed to be part of the "story" they were covering; once a part of the story, objectivity was lost. This situation with Tul wouldn't be the first time that Max had broke with that training. It had been the reason why he had decided that he didn't want to stay in journalism. He had too many opinions, and he also knew, from experience, that he couldn't just stand by and report on someone in trouble without wanting to step in to help.

However, he also realized that this situation was particularly personal and tricky. He knew he was emotionally involved because of his uncle and the fact that he wanted his uncle to be able to regain some of his sense of self-worth before he died. When Pongpat had been transferred to Team 2,  he had taken the move as well as could be expected, but Max could tell it had hurt his uncle's pride. Pongpat had never been one of the up and coming managers, but he had had many successes and had a reputation for being not only sharp but very honest in his dealings with clients and vendors. In fact, it had been this honesty that had gotten him into trouble. One too many times of refusing to fudge numbers or mislead by omission to make people feel better, and he'd been slowly demoted.

But it wasn't just his uncle or even his fondness for the team—all of whom he considered friends. He knew that his feelings for Tul were getting deeper no matter how much he tried to control them. His concern for the man when he had been in Japan was more than he would have felt if he were just a friend, and the spontaneous joy he had felt upon seeing him show up early at the apartment added to his worry at seeing how tired Tul's eyes had looked despite the bright, warm smile he had given, confirmed for Max that Tul, to his heart, wasn't just a friend.

It's the reason why he immediately thought the person calling could be Tul even though that didn't make sense. Why would he call when he just saw him last night? He also knew it didn't make sense when he was disappointed that the number on his phone wasn't Tul's.

Still, he was happy to hear from the caller. "Chimon? What's going on?"

"Khun Sinjai wants to know when you are coming back. She said you promised to make her marinara sauce. She doesn't like the way I make it."

Max laughed out loud. Chimon had skipped the greeting and went right into the request. He could hear the pout in Chimon's voice. "Hold on, let's video chat. I need to sort through my desk. I'm glad you called; I need something to help me through this pain."

Chimon Ruongwiwat was a university student who lived and worked at Hongtai Farm, a place that Max had worked every summer or part of summers in high school and then weekends and summers during university. It helped him save for university and to pay for university when he got in. It helped him feel less of a burden to his mother and to Uncle Pongpat and Aunt Clara. Chimon was six years younger than Max, and he basically grew up on the farm because his grandfather had helped manage the farm under the current owner's father. Chimon's mother had moved away when she got married, but when her husband died young, she had moved back to live with her father at his house on the farm.