Chapter 6: Mr. Khun Nooh

"Ai Fourth!" Gemini looked around shocked, his eyes wide as he scanned the staircase for anyone who could've noticed their interaction.

"Don't worry," Fourth's hand came over his shoulders, pulling him closer to his body. "I've been waiting for you right here for the last five minutes. No one's around."

"Are you sure?" Gemini still appeared a little apprehensive. "There's no one?"

"Mi mi khab." Fourth's warm smile melted his heart and Gemini found himself smiling unconsciously as he turned towards the boy next to him, his hands going to rest on his thin waist.

"If you say so, Khun Nooh." Gemini leaned down to place a small kiss on his lover's cheek, making Fourth blush as he struggled to remove Gem's hand from his waist.

"What Khun Nooh? I'm not! Speak for yourself!"  Fourth's shyness made Gemini smile even bigger.

"Are you shy? Huh?" He lifted his finger to tickle at Fourth chin. "Are you? Are you shy?"

"Ai Gem!" Fourth's laughter echoed through the empty stairways as he too reached forward to tickle at Gemini's chin.

Their playfulness filling up the emptiness of the stairs of that vast building as the playful teasing turning into a playful fighting and then the two of them pulled each other into a hug, their arms tightly wrapped around each other as Gemini rested his head on his lover's firm shoulders, taking solace in his embrace.

This was it, his happy place; his comfort zone. Fourth was the only person who he could turn to when the rest of the world turned suffocating. He was his breath of fresh air. His happy pill and the one he relied on to put a smile on his face when everyone around him kept draining his energy.

He had met Fourth by accident. It was during eleventh grade, his sophomore year at high school. He had been studying hard to get into his parents desired University, to become a doctor like his father's wanted him to be. Having two talented brother's had already been tough enough. He had to constantly live up to their reputation. People were always comparing him to his sibling, to his father's.

On that particular day…he had found out that his grades for his science exam had dropped. He had had a fever on the day of the exam and even though Hia Dunk had given him medication and he had had plenty of sleep the night before, he still hadn't gotten a perfect score. He knew that his family won't scold him or berate him for getting a low score…but it was the silence from his Dad that he feared the most. Because his silence usually meant he was disappointed. And he hated disappointing his parents.

So he had been wandering around the school aimlessly during recess, hoping that something would miraculously get his mind off of the mess he was in. He sat at the stone benches in the school's backyard, where the rest of the students usually had lunch; the ones who opted to bring their own food from home rather than spend money at the canteen. 

It had been noisy with boys playing and screaming and girls occasionally screaming and laughing at something they saw on their phones. Gemini had been irritated. He had been ready to abandon the area and go back to the library for some peace and quiet…and that's when a group of boys had caught his attention.

At first, it had been for all the wrong reasons. They were the noisiest group in all of campus; their noise would've reached to Chang Mai if they had been any louder. However, what surprised him was that the group was surrounded by a group of girls who were all screaming and clapping their hands as if they were getting ready for something.

Gemini had paused, sitting back down on his seat as he watched the events unfold. 

And then, the boy at the center, the one with the messy hair that fell onto his forehead and his shirt untucked from his pants, picked up a guitar and turned towards the girl with a smile on his face…a smile that transformed his entire face and Gemini felt struck anew with just how handsome and cute he looked at the same time.

And then he had begun to sing.

His voice carried a melodious note that was soothing to Gemini's ears and for the first time in a long while, Gemini found himself just sitting there, admiring the song. He wanted to close his eyes, to feel the song, the melodious depth of his voice with all of his senses…but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to remove his eyes from that boy. Because there was so much joy in his face as he sang…so much peace and tranquility. He loved singing and it showed. Gemini wished badly that he could have that kind of peace and tranquility in his life…he longer for it…

And now…that boy often sang him his favorite songs before bed, his deep, rhythmic murmurs lulling him to sleep almost every single night. It had become their routine and Fourth was not above spoiling his boyfriend from time to time.

Two years later…Gemini still couldn't believe it sometimes that he got to call that boy his lover, his boyfriend, his.

"Why didn't you call me last night?" He asked Fourth now, as they moved away from each other after hearing the rush of footsteps outside the door as the hotel staff continued to work for the event. "I hardly got any sleep."

"Oh ho!" Fourth smiled at Gemini, feeling happy at his boyfriend's response. "Look at you! And you just called me Khun Nooh? You're getting more and more spoiled these days."

But Fourth loved this side of him. Gemini wasn't the person who gave words of assurance to his lover. He didn't say 'I love you' on a daily basis. But instead, he brought Fourth his favourite bubble tea almost every morning; played soccer with him whenever he wanted, even if he was terribly busy with studies; called him every night before bed to say good night, even though he ended up singing him to sleep, and most importantly, he was always there beside him whenever he needed him.

No…Gemini didn't give words of assurance…he believed in act of service instead.

"Seriously!" Gemini's expression turned serious this time. "What happened last night? I called you several times but your phone was turned off. Did you get into any kind of trouble?"

Fourth realized that Gemini was worried about him, and so he decided to put him out of his misery. "Meshai. Nothing happened. Phi Joong decided to throw a party last night and he thought I might get drunk and cause a scene. Well…I might have snuck in a glass or two…"

"Ai Fourth!" Gemini narrowed his eyes at him. "Why would you do that? You know you get drunk easily, right?"

"I know, I know…" he smiled sheepishly. "That's why Phi had turned my phone off and taken it away from me so I don't drunk dial anyone and cause trouble."

This time Gemini raised his eyebrows. "You have more people to drunk dial?"

"No one." Fourth laughed. "No one! I'm serious. Come on, let's get to the hall. Or your dad's will scold you for real this time."

Gemini shook his head but obeyed his boyfriend. He took Fourth with him to the kitchen staff and told them what he had initially set out to do, before he walked back to the main hall where the event was being held. He could always come up with the excuse that he was helping the new contestant who had gotten lost in the hallway. So he wasn't that much worried about his father's finding out about his relationship with Fourth.

"Why did you want to join the workshop anyway?" Gemini asked as they leisurely strolled back to the main event. "It's really expensive. You didn't have to spend that much money."

"It's because I know you like all these international desserts, Mr. Khun Nooh." Fourth told him. "I wanted to learn to make them for you."

"But your pa is a chef as well." Gem reminded him, but Fourth shook his head.

"He doesn't specialize in desserts," he shrugged. "He's more into simplifying Thai dishes for the international fans. If I ask him to make desserts for me, he'll get suspicious."

"Huh…that true." Gemini nodded, before turning towards Fourth when a sudden thought occurred to him. "By the way…how did you get here?"

"Oh…P'Pond drove me, he…"

And that's when the two of them realized…Pond, was nowhere to be seen.