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"The ice cream of that parlor is unbeatable P'Singha!" Thup exclaimed contentedly, leaning on Singha's arm. "Thank you for bringing me here!"
Singha smiled, and took advantage of Thup's position to press a kiss on his head. "If you liked it so much, it was worth the trip."
Thup nodded. "Yes! I adore the sea, so it's…" the sentence died on his lips and he stopped walking, turning towards a gated playground on their right.
"Oh." he murmured looking at the seesaw, where a little girl was playing alone, trying to make it move by herself.
"Do you mind if I go play with her a little, P'Sing?" Thup asked, turning to Singha.
Singha blinked and looked towards the playground. "You want to go play?"
Thup nodded. "I'll just be awhile, I promise!" he exclaimed rushing towards the entrance of the playground, without waiting for a response.
He slowed down at the entrance and approached the girl carefully.
"Hello!" he greeted her. "My name is Thup, can I play with you?"
The little girl raised her head and studied him for a moment, unsure, than looked at the empty spot on the seesaw and nodded.
Thup smiled and took place in front of her and started to move jostling her up and down.
Taken by surprise by Thup's sudden enthusiasm, she started to laugh, amused and grabbed the bar in front of her to hold steady on the wooden trunk.
Thup played for a couple of minutes, before counter weighting at the bottom, and keeping her suspended on air, on the other side.
"What's your name, little one?" he asked, making her bounce a little bit, eliciting happy giggles, she couldn't be more than five years old.
"I'm Meena." She said, hugging the bar and looking at him, big black eyes under a dark fringe.
"Nice to meet you, Meena. I'm P'Thup." He replied, before nodding towards Singha, who had moved at the entrance of the playground, observing them.
"That cool boy over there is P'Singha, my boyfriend."
"What's a boyfriend?" she asked, blinking for a moment, before Thup decided to put her down.
"A boyfriend is someone you love very much, and you want to spend your life with." Thup said, then asked. "Are you here alone?"
Meena shook her head. "Mom and Dad live there." she pointed at one of the houses directly across the playground. "They watch me every day."
"I see, there's not many kids here, do you know why?"
Meena shook her head.
Thup hummed for a moment, thoughtful, before smiling again. "Would you like me to push you on the swing?"
She smiled brightly and nodded eagerly.
"Yes! Please, Phi!"
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Singha watched with a smile while Thup pushed the swing, then moved to the one next to it, sat down and swung, all the while chatting happily.
"He shouldn't be there!"
An old man that was walking by him stopped and looked over at Thup as well.
Singha turned towards him. "Huh? What do you mean, Uncle?"
"Why do you think there's no kids in this playground? It's haunted by the ghost of a little girl! He should run away, immediately!"
The old uncle walked away in a rush, and Singha chuckled, looking back at his boyfriend, seemingly talking by himself on an empty swing.