Work Text:
It was Sarawat’s birthday and P’Type, Man, Boss, Phuak, Fong and Ohm were with him to celebrate. Tine wasn’t here since he was busy with work that was important so he couldn’t cancel or postpone. Sarawat was sad that Tine wouldn’t be here for his birthday but Tine promised to spend his day with him tomorrow which he wouldn’t mind. After both of them and the rest of his friends graduated, all of them became busier and busier and had less time seeing each other so moments like this, he truly treasured the most. And he bet the rest of the group also missed Tine, judging from the way they talked and reminisced Tine’s obliviousness back when both groups, Sarawat’ group of friends with Tine’s, first met and how it had been five years since they have been together. And, Sarawat was truly grateful of his friends who helped him wooed Tine back then and gave them advice on how to be better to one another whenever they had arguments and conflicts. Because of them, these special people in his life, Sarwat’s and Tine’s love grew stronger and stronger each day.
They were currently in Mocha which was a cafe owned by Boss. He closed the place today for Sarawat’s birthday and only their friends could enter. Boss opened a cafe after two years after quitting his job as a typical office worker. So, with the money he earned from his previous job, he opened a cafe & bar on a rather quiet road near their old university. The place was a cafe in the morning until late afternoon and it became an indie bar in the evening until past midnight. It still served some of the cafe beverages in late evenings since the bar will have live music in the evenings and some people just preferred to drink a cup of tea or coffee, based on the feedback of Boss’ regular customers. CTRL S played here sometimes when the members were free. They were quite famous back then and even until now so when Boss posted on Mocha’s Instagram and Facebook that CTRL S would play, the next thing he knew, the place would fill with so many customers even before he tried to open the bar.
At the moment they just talked and laughed together before they heard the bell jingled, signalling them that there was someone entering Mocha. “Hey everyone!! Long time no see!” Earn waved at them.
Earn, Pear, P’Dim and Green greeted them and grabbed extra seats. “Happy birthday, Sarwat! I hope you like your gift! Here you go.” Green said with so much enthusiasm while handing him a dark blue gift bag.
“Thank you, Green.” He replied while putting down the bag on an empty table beside him.
They kept talking. Well, this time was mostly Earn and Green who talked. Looking at his friends, he couldn’t help but smile. He missed this. Tine would be the perfect addition to this. It wouldn’t be complete with Tine in it. He heard the bell jingled again. “Sawadee, P’.” Phukong greeted all of his seniors.
“Oh, where’s P’Mill, Phukong?” Green asked him.
“He’s very busy with his current project in his workplace so he couldn’t make it. He just asked me to send his regards to P’Wat. And happy birthday P’.” Phukong said while giving him a brown rectangular gift box.
“Thanks.” He smiled while putting the box away.
He didn’t want to open all of his gifts now, he would do that later. “Oh yeah, Wat. Me and Pear bought something for you.” She gave him a small black gift box tied with a white ribbon.
“Wow, thank you, everyone. You don’t have to, really.” Sarawat looked at everyone and smiled at them.
“Now, It’s our turn,” Ohm said, interrupting the short moment they had.
“So, just to give you a bit of context here. Tine decided to do this when you guys had an argument last year which made him stay in my house. So, I called Phuak and Ohm and we tried to give him some advice. I remembered you guys argued because you were jealous that one of Tine’s senior in his workplace decide to occupy most of Tine’s time, so he couldn’t spend your days off with you. We decided to tell him that he should pay more attention to you because we assumed you must have felt that you were abandoned by him, judging how furious you were when Tine tried to reason things with you. So, we suggested him to do something different that will show how much Tine actually cared about you since talking wasn’t going to work on you. At first, he was hesitant but he did it regardless.” Fong explained to Sarawat.
He knew what they were talking about since that fight he had with Tine was one of the biggest fights he had with Tine after years being with him. It was true that he was furious at that time, considering how busy they were and he just wanted to spend his day off with Tine which was rare. However, when Tine left their apartment, Sarawat calmed down and he realised that he made a big mistake. He didn't want what happened back when they were just starting out, the misunderstanding he had with Pam. It was truly heartbreaking for him. So when Tine came back to their apartment a few hours later, he hugged him and apologised. Tine also apologised and he could remember the night they shared, exchanging words of love and affection and they woke up in each others’ arms the next morning. It was such a huge relief that Tine’s face was the first he saw the next morning. “We thought that he would show it to you but we weren’t surprised that he didn’t. But we were surprised that you guys made up so quickly. Because of that, he didn’t feel that there was a need to show it to you. And because today was your birthday, he asked us to show it to you to make it more special. He saved this for a year now. Here you go.” Phuak continued Fong’s explanation.
“It’s a video?” Sarawat asked the three of them.
They just nodded and told him to play the video. In the video, he saw Tine, sitting on a sofa with a guitar on his lap.
“Is it recording, Ohm?” Tine asked Ohm who was behind the camera.
“Yeah, it’s recording. Stop talking and just get to it already.”
“Okay. Ehem! Ehem!” Tine tried to clear his throat, feeling his anxiety bubbled through his throat.
“Just get to it,” Phuak said.
“Okay, Okay! Geez…” Tine rolled his eyes
“So… Umm... where do I start?” Tine refused to look at the camera.
“From the beginning, duh. And please look at the camera, Tine.” Fong sighed.
“Okay fine! Just be patient.” He took a deep breath before continuing.
“Hey, Sarawat. How’s it going? I-uh… I know we’re having an argument right now and first of all, I just want to say sorry. I know I can be really oblivious sometimes and refused to acknowledge that you’re right. I know that you think that everyone I interacted with wanted to get a piece of me which I understood why. I can be very irresistible, you know.” Tine smirked, while Phuak, Ohm and Fong scoffed behind the camera.
“Even though those people flirt with me, you have to understand one thing, Wat. I only have my eyes on you and no one else in this world could ever replace you. You have to know and realise that you’re my only handsome prince and I’m your only nuisance. I know you pretend to be jealous and try to bury that feeling but deep down I know, that you’re full of insecurities and worries that I would leave you someday. Don’t ever think that, Wat. Even though, with all the fights, arguments and downs that we had together, I will always walk beside you and will never leave you. Please forgive me for being oblivious, for the millionth time, and just trust me that you will be the only one for me.” He finally looked at the camera with so much sincerity in his eyes.
“With that aside, I can now go to the main point of what I’m going to do now. You see, I became very obsessed with this song lately and whenever I listen to it, I’m always reminded of you. I even learnt the chords by myself. So I thought that rather than telling you how much you mean to me, I’m going to sing it to you. Because I know, music is your language and you always sing me so many songs so it’s my turn now.” Tine smiled while preparing his guitar.
Before he could continue watching the video, he heard a strum coming from the stage. The video was forgotten as he was mesmerised by the man in front of him. Tine was wearing a bright yellow bunny printed short sleeve shirt that Sarwat gave for his birthday, beige slacks with a pair of white trainers. He looked stunning regardless of what he wore.
I like your eyes, you look away when you pretend not to care
I like the dimples on the corners of the smile that you wear
I like you more, the world may know but don't be scared
'Cause I'm falling deeper, baby, be prepared
I like your shirt, I like your fingers, love the way that you smell
To be your favourite jacket, just so I could always be near
I loved you for so long, sometimes it's hard to bear
But after all this time, I hope you wait and see
Tine strummed the guitar effortlessly as if he practised this for the hundredth time. Tine closed his eyes but he smiled. His voice was hoarse yet smooth at the right parts of the song. He could feel his hair stood up on his arms and at the back of his neck.
Love you every minute, every second
Love you everywhere and any moment
Always and forever I know I can't quit you
'Cause, baby, you're the one, I don't know how
I love you 'til the last of snow disappears
Love you 'til a rainy day becomes clear
Never knew a love like this, now I can't let go
I'm in love with you, and now you know
Tine opened his eyes and looked directly at Sarawat. He could see the unconditional love in his eyes. He might have never heard this song but he knew that no one could ever sing this song more perfectly other than Tine. The lyrics sounded right in his voice and he could feel his worries slowly fading away. He could feel himself smiling.
I like the way you try so hard when you play ball with your friends
I like the way you hit the notes, in every song you're shining
I love the little things, like when you're unaware
I catch you steal a glance and smile so perfectly
Though sometimes when life brings me down
You're the cure, my love
In a bad rainy day
You take all the worries away
He chuckled at the lyrics. He was filled with so much love and happiness, he couldn’t stop looking away from him. Tine knew how he always looked at him when he wasn’t looking or when he was trying to impress him with his voice and other skills. Tine knew, all this time. It was very overwhelming and he didn’t what to do. He wanted to kiss him so badly but he didn’t want to stop Tine from singing. He could hear it all day. Tine could sing the same song for a million times and he would never get bored listening to it.
Love you every minute, every second
Love you everywhere and any moment
Always and forever I know I can't quit you
'Cause, baby, you're the one, I don't know how
In a world devoid of life, you bring colours
In your eyes I see the light, my future
Always and forever I know, I can't let you go
I'm in love with you, and now you know
He was impressed on how Tine strummed the guitar so smoothly and perfectly. It was right when he said he learnt the chords by himself. He could see his growth every day especially on how Tine was getting so much better at guitar. He caught him strumming his guitar in the balcony one day, playing a Scrubb song without any mistake while humming the tune. Tine stopped when Sarawat entered the balcony which was very unfortunate. Now, Tine could play the guitar while singing so effortlessly, he felt like Tine grew so much. He got better and better at the things he did each day, which never fail to impress Sarawat, and that also included the way he showed his affection to Sarawat.
I'm in love with you, and now you know
He sang the last lyrics slowly and beautifully. His friends clapped their hands loudly and he could see Tine was smiling, showing his teeth. He felt like he saw him in the Scrubb concert during high school all over again. Even though his friends cheered for Tine, he was still in trance. He could only see Tine, only him and no one else. He fell in love with him all over again. He couldn’t stop himself from going on the stage. He grabbed Tine’s cheeks and kissed him like it was the end of the world.
Tine was surprised when Sarawat suddenly went up on the stage and kissed him while he was trying to put down his guitar. He recovered from his shock and gave in to the kiss. He closed his eyes and moved his lips against Sarawat slowly and gently. After what he would feel like an eternity, Sarawat broke the kiss and put his forehead against Tine’s. “As I expected, I could never beat you, tua woon wai. You never fail to make me feel like I’m centre of your universe.” He whispered to Tine while closing his eyes.
“Well, that’s because you are, my handsome prince. You are and you will always be.” He could feel Tine’s smile.
They just chuckled softly at each other. Even though it had been years since they were together, they were more and more in love each day. Tine never failed to make him the luckiest person in the world. This moment was the only he could ever ask for to get rid all of his worries and doubts away. “I’m sorry, I lied to you. I wanted to surprise and the only thing that I could come up with was that I had to work today. It was the only way to not making things suspicious. So, surprise.” Tine opened his arms widely with the brightest smile.
Sarawat could only smile and hugged him. He swayed their body side to side. He was truly the luckiest person that had ever lived. “YES, TINE!!!” Green cheered and clapped his hands.
All of them just laughed. Sarawat and Tine went down the stage while holding hands. Their friends congratulate them. After that, they just talked and laughed all night long. This was the best birthday he could ever ask for. And now, with Tine by his side, his night and birthday couldn’t be more perfect. Tine did way more than enough to convey how much Sarawat meant to him and clear all of his doubts.
Bonus:
Tine was drunk after the celebration so Sarawat had to change his clothes first and clean him up before he went for a quick shower. He wanted to watch the video until the end so he asked Fong for a copy of the video. He watched from the start.
I'm in love with you, and now you know
When Tine sang the last lyrics, he smiled. He thought the video over but it didn't just end there. “Sarawat Guntithanon, I love you and I will always be. Forever.” Tine smiled, showing his teeth, and his eyes were shaped into two crescent moons.
That was his favourite Tine’s expression. He chuckled softly and put down his phone on the side table. Before he went to sleep, he gently turned Tine to face him and put his arms around Tine’s waist and neck. Tine unconsciously snuggled against Sarawat’s chest and smiled. Tine was always going to be the death of him and yet, he could never get enough of him. He kissed Tine’s forehead, nose, then pecked his lips, before departing to his dreamland.