Chapter Text
The sun was beginning to slip beneath the horizon, casting a golden hue across the surface of the Olympic-sized pool at the national training complex in Bangkok. Est stood at the edge, arms crossed, droplets of water clinging to his skin and reflecting the last bits of daylight. He’d just finished a grueling two-hour training session, but his focus wasn’t on his performance stats or his aching shoulders. He was thinking about the fact that as much as he loved swimming, he couldn’t do it forever and he wanted to try something different.
As he looked around, he noticed the guy sitting alone by the bleachers, sunglasses too big, hair styled like he belonged on stage rather than in a place that smelled like chlorine and ambition.
“Is that…” Est turned to his coach mid-sentence, but the man was already walking away, mumbling something about press partnerships and public appearances. Apparently, this wasn’t just another day in the pool.
The guy on the bleachers stood up, stretching long, toned limbs. He wore a casual white tee, fitted jeans, and an effortless air of stardom. William. Est had seen him before, on magazine covers, YouTube thumbnails, billboards in Siam Paragon. Thailand’s pop darling. Twenty years old, all smirks and catchy choruses.
What was he doing here? William caught Est looking. Their eyes locked. For a second, something silent passed between them, acknowledgment, maybe curiosity. William walked over, the corners of his mouth tilted into a polite smile. “Hey. You’re Est, right? National swimmer?” Est nodded, standing a little straighter. “Yeah. That’s me.”
“I’m doing a segment for a variety show,” William explained, tapping the mic pack clipped to the back of his jeans. “It’s called Try Something New . They’re throwing me into random careers for a day. Today I’m training like a pro swimmer.”
Est raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Can you swim?”
“I can doggy paddle,” William offered, grinning like it was a joke and not the truth.
Est chuckled, despite himself. “That’s not going to cut it.”
“Well, that’s why I need you. You’re my coach.” William winked, playful. “Be gentle.”
Est blinked. He wasn’t used to this, flirting, or whatever this was, especially not from a celebrity with perfect skin and eyes that didn’t seem to know how to stop smiling. But it wasn’t just William’s charm. It was the way he looked around the pool with real curiosity, the way he didn’t try too hard to impress. He was comfortable in his own skin. Est couldn’t help but notice.
And William, he noticed the way Est stood like he carried pressure in his shoulders, the way his voice was deep and patient, how he didn't speak unless he meant it.
As Est walked William to the locker room so that he could get changed, he noticed the subtle way William kept sneaking glances at him. Maybe he isn’t used to seeing athletes, especially swimmers, thought Est. He was wearing his usual training trunks, which were really tight, to reduce resistance in the water. Most professional swimmers even shaved their bodies before competitions to help reduce drag.
When William came out of the locker room he was in a regular set of athletic shorts and a tank top. Est could see that he seemed to have a decent upper body, which would be helpful learning how to swim like a pro. William walked over to the pool and jumped in, keeping the tank top on. Guess he’s shy , Est said to himself and chuckled as he jumped into the pool next to William.
William was clumsy in the water but determined. Est was patient but secretly distracted, by the way water ran down William’s collarbone, by the way he cursed under his breath in English when he messed up, by the flashes of sincerity behind his usual idol-smile. The training session was scheduled for an hour just to teach William the basics before they would come back and film the next day, but two hours had passed without either of them realizing it. They both seemed to feel the subtle connection but neither of them said anything.
As the sky darkened, they sat at the pool’s edge, feet dangling in the water.
“That was... humbling,” William said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m gonna feel this tomorrow.”
“You did better than I expected,” Est said.
“For a doggy paddler.” William laughed. It was a real one this time. Quiet, unguarded.
There was a pause. Comfortable. Heavy. “You ever think,” William said, his voice suddenly softer, “that you’re spending so much time trying to be what people expect... that you forget what you actually want?” Est turned to look at him. “All the time.” Their eyes met again. Longer this time. The air between them felt suspended, charged. But neither said anything. Instead, Est looked away. “We should go. It’s getting late.” William nodded, standing up. “Right.”
They walked in silence toward the locker room, footsteps echoing softly in the quiet corridor. Est waited outside while William changed, then walked with him to the front entrance of the complex. As they paused to say goodnight, Est hesitated, then took a small risk.
“As your coach,” he said, managing a half-smile, “I’ll buy you a coffee if you remember everything I taught you and swim well during filming tomorrow.”
William laughed, easy and warm. “You said it. You’re officially on the hook now.”
He gave a quick wave before heading off, and Est watched him disappear into the night. It wasn’t anything obvious, nothing either of them said aloud, but something had shifted between them. Just a small thing. Like the first ripple across still water.
Est had meant to go home, but somehow his feet had carried him back to the pool. As he slipped into the water and began to swim again, the memory of his encounter with William looped relentlessly through his mind. Each lap only seemed to stir it up more, not less, their conversation, his voice, smooth, low. It lingered with Est longer than he expected, quiet and compelling in a way he couldn’t quite explain. Est kept pushing forward, arms slicing through the water, trying to outpace the gnawing, unfamiliar feeling twisting in his gut. He didn’t know what it was, only that it unsettled him, and that no amount of swimming seemed able to shake it.
The next day, William returned to the training center for the filming of his Try Something New segment. From the moment he walked in, Est sensed the shift. William was composed, distant, polite with the crew, professional with the staff. Gone was the ease, the flicker of warmth from the night before.
Est adjusted without a word, matching William’s mood as if it had all been part of the plan. The shoot moved quickly, efficient and uneventful, and they wrapped in under two hours.
At the end, William offered a courteous goodbye, his tone carefully neutral, then disappeared with his manager without looking back.
As Est made his way home, that now-familiar feeling crept in again, restless and uneasy. He replayed the night before, then the filming that morning, trying to make sense of the sharp contrast. Maybe it had all been a fluke. Maybe he’d imagined the spark, projected something that wasn’t really there. Maybe William had just been acting, slipping into friendliness the way he might slip into a role, effortless, practiced, unreal.
Est hated that he couldn’t tell the difference.
He kept walking, but a few steps later, he stopped without meaning to. A thought hit him harder than he expected: He might not see William again.
The weight of that possibility caught him off guard. It sat heavy in his chest, quiet and unfamiliar. Not quite regret, just a slow ache. A strange kind of longing for something that had barely begun to exist. Something he couldn’t name yet, but already missed.