Kongpob wakes up in his room in a bad mood. Aside from not being with his boyfriend last night because he has loads of assignments to finish, today, he has to meet his boyfriend's first love and another girl whom he doesn't know. There will be four of them at the dinner, but his assigned date isn't the one he likes among the other three.

The vision of what will happen tonight makes him scratch his head.

He gets up from bed and looks at his closet. He can't decide whether or not to put effort on his attire later. On one hand, he wants to keep it simple so Joy won't have the impression that he's trying to impress her. On the other hand, he wants to look good because Namtan is there and he doesn't want his boyfriend to look at someone more beautiful than him.

He grabs his phone and texts his boyfriend to ask what the other is going to wear for tonight.

It's just 7 AM, so his reply won't come until a few more hours. Sometimes, he wishes Arthit wakes up a bit earlier. A few more hours of him sleeping also mean a few more hours not being with him.

After tidying his room while thinking about the possible scenarios that can happen later, he decides to take a shower.

Kongpob thinks of how he can face Namtan. She seems like a good lady to him. But her sweet smile bothers him a lot.

Remembering that day at the mall, the day he first met Namtan, makes his chest hurt. He witnessed how madly in love Arthit was with her. When she smiled, he saw how Arthit's eyes sparkled. He trusts his boyfriend, of course. However, while Arthit reassured him that he already got over her, he can't really control his fear of what could happen after their dinner tonight. What if he realizes he still likes her?

Kongpob scratches his head again and turns the shower on.

Drying himself in front of the mirror, he gets a full view of himself. Sad eyes look at himself. He forces a smile. Not bad. But you need to do better. Knowing how Namtan's smile looks like, he tries to copy it: closed lips, slightly curved, with slow blinking eyes.

It doesn't work on his face.

So he tries a different smile, something wider. It still doesn't work. He looks like a ert. Frustrated, he frowns and goes back to showering, forgetting he's already done. "Aaaaaarghhh!"

Just as he steps out of the bathroom, his phone dings to notify him of his boyfriend's reply.

I'll just wear a blue shirt and jeans. make it simple.

He's curious why his boyfriend is up this early. But an idea comes up to his mind. He types his reply with a smirk.

Okay, P'Arthit. I'll wear a black shirt.

He's lying. He'll also wear blue.

~

Arthit tried to sleep last night after Kongpob left, but he couldn't. He was thinking of how he would handle being with Namtan and Kongpob at one table. He also can't stop his mind thinking about how his boyfriend already thinks about , despite their agreement that they won't rush things.

It's already morning, but he still hasn't gotten a decent sleep yet. Giving up, he gets up and checks his phone. Kongpob asks him what he would wear tonight, and he checks his closet for any available shirt. His best ones are in the dirty clothes hamper, so he settles with a blue shirt.

There are still hours to go before their event later, so he decides to work on his assignments, but not for long because 30 minutes into the task, he dozes off on his table and finally gets the sleep he needs.

~

Hours later, Arthit's phone rings, waking him up. He checks who it is and answers immediately.

"Hey, Knot. Why did you call?"

"It's already past 1 PM, and you're still sleeping?" It's really obvious in Arthit's voice.

"It's Sunday. And why do you care?"

Knot ignores the question and goes straight to the point of his call. "We just want to invite you tonight. It's been a while since we had fun, and—"

"Uh..." Arthit interrupts him. "Sorry, Knot, I can't join you tonight. I'm meeting my high school friend."

Knot doesn't believe him, but he says okay. His friends agree to just go without him, but Knot doesn't hang up until Arthit swears he'll join next time.

~

At 5 PM, Arthit goes to Kongpob's room to fetch him. Namtan texted him the place, and it's a grill restaurant located in the city proper, so they have to leave early.

He's about to knock, but the door suddenly opens, revealing Kongpob, wearing a cobalt blue dress shirt. He looks at his own shirt and notices they're wearing the exact same color.

"I thought you'll wear black?"

"I forgot it's in the laundry."

Arthit rolls his eyes and gets in. He goes straight to Kongpob's closet and looks for another shirt Kongpob can wear. He doesn't know Kongpob already hid his other dress shirts earlier today since he knows his senior will do this. Arthit pulls a white short-sleeved shirt and shoves it on Kongpob's face. "Wear this."

"P', I don't have time to iron it."

"I thought you like ironing? Why do you leave this one unironed?"

"I don't usually wear that anymore, so I just leave it there."

Arthit gives up and sits on the bed. He looks at the shined leather shoes Kongpob's about to wear and stops him.

"Are you seriously going to wear that? Do you want to make her think you are putting an effort to look good for her?"

Kongpob gives him a smiling look. Shaking his head, he picks a pair of sneakers from the rack. "Is this okay?"

Arthit just nods. Actually, he wants Kongpob to wear the blue dress shirt and the leather shoes he initially picked, but he wants Kongpob to wear them on their date, when it will be just the two of them. Someday.

In the cab, they talk about what they should and should not do during the date.

"Keep it short. Don't look at her in the eyes for too long. Tell her immediately that you are not interested. You don't want to give her false hopes."

"P', we are already giving her false hopes."

"I know that, but she won't stop, so it needs to be this way."

"Okay."

"And no teasing!"



The couple arrives at their meeting place 30 minutes later. "Are they there already?" Kongpob asks.

"No. Let's go in."

They planned to get the table nearest to the door (for a quick escape plan, if necessary), but two guys are already occupying it, so they settle at the table near the meat section.

Both of them want to back out, but neither says it to the other.

Not long after they settled, Namtan and another girl who must be Joy come in and go straight to their table.

"Oon!"

Arthit stands up. Namtan hugs him, and he returns the hug. Kongpob's eye twitches at the sight. Really? Not even five seconds in and you two are already hugging?

She also greets Kongpob. "Hi, Nong Kongpob. It's nice to meet you again. This is Joy..." She drags her closer. "... and she's so excited to finally meet you." Kongpob gives them a wai.

Joy is as tall as Namtan, and she has wavy brown hair. Today, she's wearing a yellow dress. Kongpob knows that Joy prepared for the date, and he feels bad about it. Her pretty face beams a smile at Kongpob. "Nice to meet you."

She seems like a shy and sweet person. Arthit can't believe she's the girl that forced him to take his boyfriend out on a date.

"And Joy, this is Arthit. Thank him for making this date possible."

Joy freezes on the spot. She recognized Arthit's face when they approached them, but she couldn't remember who he is until Namtan gave the face a name. She knew Namtan's friend helped her arrange this dinner, but she didn't know that her friend is the head hazer of the Engineering faculty.

"P'Arthit, nice to meet you. And thank you," Joy shakingly says.

Namtan notices the two guys' clothes. "I didn't know we should wear matching clothes. I should've worn yellow."

Arthit just shyly smiles at her and glares at his boyfriend. In his mind, he's strangling Kongpob's neck.

"Let's sit," Kongpob says, escaping his boyfriend's sharp eyes. He goes around the table and pulls the chair for Joy. She's touched by the gesture and mutters a soft "thank you" before taking her seat. A sweet smile is plastered on her face.

Arthit glares again at Kongpob when their eyes meet. What happened to not giving her false hopes?

When Kongpob goes back to his seat beside Arthit, the latter punched his thigh under the table. Kongpob flinches, which is noticed by Namtan.

"Are you okay, Nong Kongpob?"

"Yes, I just twisted a muscle."

Namtan nods even though she saw that Arthit is the cause of the pain in Kongpob's face.

They start eating and talking. Awkwardness looms around the table as Joy can't keep her smiling eyes off Kongpob, who glares at Namtan from time to time, who sweetly smiles at Arthit, who, in turn, glares at Joy.

Joy tries to talk to Kongpob, asking him the basic questions one asks on a first date. Kongpob tries to answer her politely, but with just short words. He doesn't want another punch under the table. He also doesn't ask the same questions back, but Joy gives him information, nevertheless.

"Kongpob," Joy continues her interrogation." Did you really want to be an engineer?"

"No," he responds. "I was about to enroll in the faculty of Business and Economics, but someone, a special person, convinced me to choose Engineering."

"Oh? Really?" Joy is somehow excited, but it changes to regret. "Aw. We were almost classmates. Too bad."

Arthit chews his food harder while staring at Joy, as if doing so would make her disappear from their table.

However, it's his first time hearing about the person that convinced Kongpob to choose Engineering. He mentally notes to ask about them and thank them if he would be given the chance.

"Oon," Namtan calls his attention, holding the back of his hand resting on the table. "Are you okay?" She noticed how Arthit is looking at Joy.

Kongpob saw how her hand went straight to his boyfriend's. His eye twitches again, but this time, it's accompanied by him gritting his teeth. He didn't even react? Is this normal for them?

Indeed, it is normal for them. Namtan, Arthit, and Jay are really touchy to each other.

Arthit regains his composure and answers Namtan's question with a short "yes."

Accepting the answer, she starts a topic of conversation. "Do you remember that day when we were by the river?"

The question suddenly makes Arthit's mood change. "Of course!" He answers, almost excitedly.

Kongpob's trying to find the right time when to reject Joy, but he's failing because his focus is on Namtan and on his boyfriend. He saw how easy it is for Namtan to make Arthit happy.

Air escaped through his nose. The dagger of jealousy had been looming around him since Namtan and Arthit hugged, but this time, it finally stabbed him cold.

"I couldn't believe you jumped when Jay jumped. That river was dirty, Oon." Namtan laughingly says.

Kongpob looks at Joy who is acting cute in front of him, then at Namtan, who's all smiles holding his boyfriend's hand.

He has had enough. He knows that Arthit will be mad at him for what he's about to do, but he can't think of any other option. He needs to do something, so he picks a stone that can kill two birds.

By stone, he means a piece of meat from the griller. He picks the best piece of meat and places it on Arthit's plate.

"P'Arthit, you're still recovering from being sick. Eat more." The other three looks at him.

What is Kongpob doing? Arthit mutters to himself.

"Oon, you were sick?" Namtan gets a little worried.

"Uhh, I just had a fever two days ago, but it's gone now."

"I took care of him," Kongpob proudly announces with his chin up. Arthit gives him another sharp look. His eyes are already tired of doing this.

"Wow, Nong Kongpob is really a caring guy. Right, Joy?"

"Yes."

Kongpob needs to do more. He gets more food from the griller and places them on his boyfriend's plate. "P'Arthit, do you want more vegetables?"

Arthit rolls his eyes at him and continues talking with Namtan. Not aware of Kongpob's change of plan, he's curious when's Kongpob going to talk to Joy and tell her he's not interested so that they can end this night and go back to bed.

Kongpob continues to fill his plate whenever he eats a piece, and Namtan, who notices this, can't hide her curious look. Arthit feels the need to stop Kongpob, so when the latter is about to place a mushroom on his plate, he holds his wrist to stop him. "Kongpob!"

Kongpob is successful at parting the joined hands.

The mushroom falls down and so do Namtan's and Joy's jaws. With Kongpob's wrist up like that for an extended time, Joy gets a full view of the white thread he is wearing.

"Oon...," Namtan speaks.

"I— I'm sorry for shouting." He eyes Kongpob, muttering him to stop.

Namtan feels something is not right. Arthit has this look on his face that Namtan recognizes. She knows when he's hiding something.

"Kongpob, what's that thread on your wrist?" Joy asks, trying to avoid the awkward situation.

Arthit looks at Kongpob's wrist. He has also noticed it before. It's been over a month since the flag-capturing day and the wrist-tying ceremony, but Kongpob is still wearing the thread he tied.

"Ah," Kongpob starts to answer. "It's from P'Arthit."

"It's a tradition in our faculty." Arthit tries to control the situation. "The seniors give it to the juniors as a sign of them being accepted."

Joy and Namtan nod at the explanation.

But Kongpob doesn't like this version. "Yes, but I already removed the other threads. I only keep the one P'Arthit tied." He proudly shows it by wiggling his wrist.

Arthit can't believe his boyfriend. Are you trying to get us caught? He just awkwardly smiles at the two girls and drinks his iced tea.

While everything's happening, Namtan pieces everything together: the matching clothes, the eye communication, the ineffectively hidden gestures, the white band, Kongpob taking care of Arthit, Arthit's reluctance to bring Kongpob to the date... They all suggest one thing.

"Oon..." Namtan starts.

Arthit lifts his head.

"Are you two—" She gestures at him and Kongpob. "—dating?"

Joy loudly gasps. She's finally getting it.

Arthit suddenly can't breathe. He's ed. He's not ready to do this.

However, he can't lie anymore. Namtan will corner her anyway. More importantly, he doesn't want to see Kongpob's disappointed face again. The guilt he felt that day at the mall when they saw Praepailin haunted him for days.

Everything will change once he tells her. But everything already changed when he accepted Kongpob in his life. It's as if he can escape this question forever.

"Arthit?" Namtan almost never calls him Arthit.

His eyes are shaking. He takes a deep breath and mutters:

"We are."

"Oon..."
 

"We are dating."