Despite making an effort to wake up early, Arthit still arrives later than Kongpob at their meeting place. With a simple white shirt and jeans, he looks good for his date today.

Date. Kongpob was right. That was what Arthit wanted to tell Kongpob last Tuesday, to take him on a date, but he's sure his boyfriend would endlessly , so he disguised it using the lame excuse of buying a gift for a two-month-old fetus. Nevertheless, in his mind, it is a date.

Their first date as a couple.

They go to the gift store to look for the thing that he will buy. Arthit didn't actually think much about this part of his plan. Maybe he should have used a different excuse to be out with Kongpob because they've been searching for a while now.

"So what do you think?" Arthit asks.

"How about a card?"

"What? No more. Last time I got P'Tum a card, he couldn't stop making fun of me. I think we can get them a toy or baby clothes."

"Wait a minute. You don't even know whether it's a boy or a girl. And another thing is, P'Fon is just two months pregnant. Isn't it too early to get them those kinds of stuff?"

Kongpob is right, but he can't blow his cover now. He hates to admit it, but he still wants to spend time with his boyfriend.

"Uhmmm... it's meant to be a surprise gift in advance, and... and we don't need to buy anything gender-specific. Do you know what I mean? What do you think? You have a niece, right?"

Kongpob nods. "Since she's a girl, she likes something adorable like plush toys. But it will be a different thing for a boy. I used to think about this...

If I have a child, I want a boy."

Arthit's heart skips a beat. While he doesn't show it, since Kongpob became his boyfriend, he wants to give him everything he can.

But a son is not one of them.

Their first date as a couple is not the right time to think about how they can continue being together, but he thinks about it anyway. Kongpob says something, but he's not listening.

"What do you think, P'Arthit?"

With his gaze to the floor, he doesn't answer.

"P'Arthit..."

"What did you say?"

"I said we should buy her dietary supplements. This is the time nutrients are important for pregnant women."

"Um. Good idea," he softly mutters, anything to end the conversation.

"Let's buy it at the store near our dorm so we don't have to carry it around."

"Okay," he says in an even softer voice.

Kongpob invites him to watch a movie together, and he nods, unsure of what else to do.



 

~

Excitedly, Praepailin meets her girlfriend at the mall at 11 AM. They planned to eat lunch together and watch a film to celebrate their 11th monthsary.

While eating their lunch, Praepailin can't hide her excitement for the film they will watch.

"Honey, listen. he is the best director. Have you seen Birdman?"

Her girlfriend just amusingly listens. Praepailin just won't shut up.

After their lunch, they head to the east wing of the mall where the cinema is located. Making a turn to the cinema, she sees two fellows that are the least likely to hang out on a Saturday at the mall.

"Is that Kong? And P'Arthit?"

"Do you know them?," her girlfriend inquires.

"Kong is my classmate. He's the Moon of our university, my partner during the pageant, the one I told you about. And P'Arthit... well... he's... our head hazer. The one I told you who got my number..." Praepailin has no idea why they are together. Saturday at the mall, going to the movies? She didn't know they are this close.

She approached them to inquire, leaving her girlfriend behind. While walking towards them, she hears something about a date.

"Hey, Kongpob! P'Arthit, sawasdee ka," she greets them. The two guys are startled, but Arthit is more uncomfortable than the other. Praepailin knows this look. Arthit just bows a little.

"Hi, Prae. Are you here for a movie?" Kongpob breaks the awkwardness.

"Yes, I came to watch a movie with my friend. Are you here to watch a movie too?"

"Um, I'm going to watch this."

"Really? Me too!" Praepailin remembers what she was excited about. She and Kongpob exchange their excitement for the film and their admiration for the director. Finally, someone understands her love for the director and his works.

They talk for a few minutes, making Arthit feel out of place. Somehow, he feels something inside of him that he can't identify nor explain.

Praepailin notices this, so she tries to include him in the conversation.

"...and are you here to watch the movie alone? Or are you here with P'Arthit?" She isn't sure if should have asked that.

Arthit's discomfort goes off the scale. "No! No! I'm here on my own. We just ran into each other."

Kongpob expects this answer from him. He told me we'll find the right time. Nevertheless, he's still somehow hurt.

Praepailin recognizes Arthit's reaction. She has also used the same reason before when she and her girlfriend were in the first few months of their relationship. We just ran into each other.

Somehow, she gets the idea of why they are together. Oh. My. God.

Feeling the rising levels of awkwardness, she decides to go. The movie will start in a few minutes anyway.

"I have to excuse myself. My friend is waiting for me. Kong, see you. P'Arthit, sawasdee ka."

The other two smile at her and bid her goodbye.

Briskly walking back to her girlfriend, she talks to herself about what happened and what she's done. What if they are really on a date? Oh my... Did I ruin it?

After finding her girlfriend, she drags her into the cinema. They sit in the elevated section. 

 

~

"Kongpob, I hope you understand why I said that," Arthit says flatly. He saw Kongpob's reaction when he told Praepailin thay they just ran into each other. He feels guilty of that.

"Yes, P'Arthit. We already talked about it."

In the sea of negative feelings he is in now, Arthit is still glad that Kongpob is very understanding. He knows that someday, they have to reveal their relationship to their friends, but he's just not ready yet.

They buy their popcorn and drinks and enter the theater. They go straight to the lower section.

When they get to their assigned seats, Arthit clenches his teeth, and Kongpob is laughing like a maniac. Arthit can't believe Kongpob bought tickets for a couple's seat. I should not have allowed him to buy the tickets alone.

Having no choice, he just sits beside Kongpob. It will be a very long movie for him.

 

~

Kongpob's laugh attracted the attention of the other moviegoers, particularly of another couple.

"Honey, those are your friends, right?" Of course, Arthit's lie won't work because they will all be seeing the same movie at the same time. Praepailin looks at the people her girlfriend is pointing to, and there they are. She sees them taking the couple's seat.

"We just ran into each other," huh?

Prae somehow feels triumphant for discovering their secret. Who would have thought not only the Star of the campus is gay? She chuckles silently, thinking about how she and Kongpob fooled the whole campus.

She decides not to tell anyone about what she saw. Of all people, she's the one who understands how it is like to be in that kind of relationship. I wish you and P'Arthit the best, Kong.

She holds her girlfriend's hand as she waits for her next favorite movie to start.