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Well, this was awkward.
Saifah looked around the room and felt like he was in a movie about rich people. And god, those people really looked rich, because they were. Not in a movie-like fashion, but in a 10,000$ watch kind of way.
To say Saifah was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year. He had worn his only suit, a cheap one a bit too tight because he got it before he had finished his growth. And god, Saifah really regretted being tall because it seemed as if he was the most noticeable guy of the party.
“Are you okay?” Zon asked, coming back with two glasses in hand and extending one in his direction.
“When can we leave?” he replied with a smile, trying to make it pass as a joke when it definitely wasn’t.
“Sai,” Zon responded with a stern look in his eyes. “We’ve been here ten minutes. We gotta stay at least three hours.”
“Three hours?!” he exclaimed, turning a few heads because of it and feeling even more embarrassed.
Now he really regretted Zon’s invitation. He had known Zon’s parents were rich, but not the kind of rich to go to charity galas held in fancy hotel halls. The incessant chatter was already making his head hurt, just like the insane dresses the women were wearing hurt his wallet just by looking at them.
“Saifah,” Zon called from next to him, launching himself at him so his hands would grab onto his face, forcing him to look at him directly in the eyes. “I know you’re uncomfortable, but we’re already here and can’t possibly leave now. Can you please do this sacrifice for me? I will reward you later, I promise.”
Saifah felt himself smirk at the mention of a reward. He somehow knew exactly what Zon meant. “Hm, I suppose I can do that,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “But I need you to promise me one thing though. Never leave my side tonight. I can’t stay alone or I’ll freak out.”
Zon nodded eagerly. “I promise. I hadn’t planned on getting away from you anyway.”
Saifah smiled with content, staring at Zon’s whose hands were still on his cheeks. Gosh… he really wanted to kiss him right then and there, but knew he really couldn’t afford it. It was enough to have officially been brought as his date.
The next hour was spent with Zon conversing with his parents’ friends and their children while Saifah was glued to his side looking like the tall awkward man he was. Zol joined them at some point, and Saifah tried his best not to completely blank out and get lost in his own thoughts while the party went on without him, but he definitely ended up doing that.
He came back to reality when Zon touched his hand softly. He looked a bit uncomfortable as two twin sisters were pulling on his arm and Zol’s.
“Come on, daddy and mommy really want to talk to you both,” one of the girl encouraged loudly.
Zon tightened his grasp on Saifah’s hand, who could only watch in slow-motion as his boyfriend was shamelessly snatched from him. In a matter of seconds, Zon had disappeared in another room, leaving Saifah all alone in uncharted territory.
Saifah swallowed down, looking around the room to see a few eyes looking back at him. But not all hope was lost yet. He could still find Zon’s parents and stay with them.
Hastily, Saifah started walking around the room trying to find them, circling the room multiple times until he admitted defeat. Shit. He was all alone. He really should’ve never accepted Zon’s invitation, he didn’t need a stupid suit and a stupid party to make him special.
Somehow, he ended up in front of the buffet where he took a glass of champagne and a plate of snacks. These were gonna be his best friends until Zon came to rescue him. The champagne’s bubbles made his tongue feel a bit numb and was just refreshing enough that he drank the whole glass in a few gulps, taking another glass and walking to a corner of the room.
The next few minutes were spent silently gulping down the second glass of champagne as well as the entire plate of snacks while everyone ignored him. Though he did see a few people glancing at him from time to time.
“Ai’Zon...” he muttered under his breath, “Come back now and I’ll forgive you for not keeping your promise.”
It turned out that standing in a corner of the room with an empty glass and plate was weird, so Saifah went to the buffet once again to stock up. While he was filling his plate with delicious appetizers, he felt burning gazes on the back of his head which he decided to ignore… until he realized those eyes were attached to a body with a mouth.
“Who’s that guy?” a man asked in a condescending voice.
“I don’t know, I don’t think he’s been here before,” a feminine voice answered him.
“Not with that suit he hasn’t,” the guy mocked.
“Stop,” the girl replied weakly, though she sounded like she was laughing too.
Saifah was now frozen in place, not wanting to move to face them, but definitely not wanting to stay here either. This was humiliating. He hated it. He hadn’t felt like that in years.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the man apologized, though he really didn’t sound like it. “It’s just… who are his parents? Why did they allow him to come here with a suit too small for him? And gosh, this hair...”
The girl giggled again while Saifah closed his eyes shut. Zon… Please come and save me. I’ll forgive you for leaving my side. But please… I need you.
“He should brush it more often,” the girl added to the injury.
Suddenly, Saifah turned around, facing the two gossipers who were just a few feet away from him. Usually, he’d confront them like the chill guy he was, but he really wasn’t chill at the moment. All he wanted was to get away from this situation.
Before he realized, he had ran out of the room, rushing to the nearest bathroom. When he saw the door indicated the men’s bathroom, he ran even more rapidly and accidentally ran into a girl on his way. She looked absolutely floored.
“I’m sorry,” he uttered hastily before entering the bathroom, choosing a stall and sitting on a closed toilet with his champagne glass and plate of snacks in hands.
“Who was that idiot?” the girl he’d just ran into asked loudly, probably knowing he could hear her.
“Nobody knows. He’s been sticking out like a sore thumb and nobody knows who he is. I think he hung out with Zon and Zol.”
“Zon? Don’t tell me they’re friends,” she chuckled in response.
“I think they’re dating,” the other girl laughed. “Zon got hypnotized by this poor guy who wants to steal all of his money.”
They both laughed while Saifah gulped down his third glass of champagne. This party had managed to surpass his expectations in terms of horrible.
He’d been bullied in high school before he had his growth spurt and became the tall guy no one wanted to mess with, and it had sucked. He still remembered how shitty he had felt… exactly like he was feeling right now.
“It’s really sad,” the girl he’d ran into spoke again. “Zon really deserves much more. He’s such an awesome guy.”
Saifah closed his eyes then, feeling tears threaten to come out. I know that. I know he deserves better than me.
“What are you talking about?”
Saifah almost gasped out loud when he recognized Zol’s voice. He nearly ran out of the bathroom to hug her, but he really didn’t want to face these girls too.
“Oh, hey Nong Zol! We were talking about the weird guy that follows Zon around like a puppy. Has Zon accepted his friendship as charity?”
The girls laughed again.
“Hum, he’s not a weird guy, he’s my brother’s -” she stopped herself for a moment, probably realizing she couldn’t out his brother without his consent. “- best friend. And he’s awesome. He treats my brother and me really well and he’s part of our family.”
Saifah was smiling slightly now. He and Zol weren’t very close, but they’d had their moments. He would’ve never guessed she felt that way about him, though.
“Oh, that’s cute.” the other girl replied. “You should’ve at least told him to buy a suit big enough for him. He looks a bit… like a clown.”
Everything became silence for a minute, leaving Saifah to wonder if he should come out of the bathroom to defend Zol. When he was about to open the stall, Zol spoke again.
“You know what, Sugar, you should worry about yourself first. The only clown here is you with that disastrous makeup.”
The girl made an offended sound.
“You know, P’Saifah was already worried to come here since he’s not as well-off as everyone else at the party but he came here for Zon. He was afraid of people judging him negatively and making rude comments about it. And guess what? You just did that. You’ve made him think that all rich people are stuck up and judgmental. So congratulations on making us all look like the pieces of shit you both are.”
“What’s going on?”
“Zon,” Saifah spoke, getting up once again. It was all going to be okay. Zon was here.
“These girls have been mocking P’Saifah in front of me,” Zol explained to him.
“Where is he?” Zon immediately asked. “I’ve searched everywhere and I couldn’t find him.”
“In the bathroom,” one of the girls replied.
“Wait… You’ve been talking shit about him about him while he could hear everything?!” Zon exclaimed, and he sounded pissed. Saifah didn’t think he had ever heard him this angry.
“He ran into me!” the girl justified herself.
“I’m sure he apologized for that, Sugar. And that’s no reason to talk like that about my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” the girl scoffed. “So it’s true that you’re dating?”
“Yes, and I won’t allow you to insult the most amazing guy in this hotel. Gosh, I can imagine how sad he must feel,” Zon admitted. “He came here for me and now you assholes made him feel even worse about it than he already did!”
“I don’t think he’s good influence on you, Zon.”
Zon laughed. “Oh, because you know me? The real me? You know what I want in life? I don’t think so, Sugar. We see each other once every year and that’s it, so you do not get to judge my relationship. Saifah is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I won’t let you even put one negative thought in his head about it.”
“You’re in denial.”
“No, you’re in denial! But I forget you’ve never loved anyone but yourself, so it must be hard to imagine how I could get myself a fucking catch like Saifah. Now, please, never talk to me again.”
Saifah was now standing outside of the stall, walking towards the door when Zon opened it wide and ran into his arms, burying his head in his chest.
“I’m sorry. It was the president of the charity and I couldn’t say no or my parents would kill me. I’m sorry these girls said mean things about you.”
“Kiss me,” was all Saifah said.
Zon detached from him, looking into his eyes with surprise. “You’re not… mad at me?”
Saifah shook his head, closing his eyes. “I love you. I just want you to kiss me.”
Zon stayed speechless before bringing Saifah down so he could reach his lips and kiss him. Saifah immediately felt better, wanting to drown himself in Zon’s mouth.
“I love you,” Zon whispered against his lips. “Let’s get out of here.”
Saifah nodded, but brought him close again, kissing him once more before burying his head in the space between his shoulder and his neck.
Saifah felt relieved. Somehow, despite all of the awful things that had happened to him that night, it felt as if Zon and him were truly a team that didn’t need a lot of talking to get each other. They relied on each other, they understood each other, they loved each other. And the world wasn’t scary at all now that Saifah realized that Zon would always be on his side.
“You know the reason I brought you here?” Zon spoke again. “I wanted to show everyone my tall and handsome boyfriend, show them how proud I am to be with you.”
Saifah felt like crying. “I know that. And I’m happy you brought me as your date, I’m proud of being by your side as your boyfriend, but...”
“I will never bring you to a gala ever again, I promise. Unless you want to, of course.”
“Nah, I’m good,” Saifah smiled as they detached.
Zon kissed his nose tenderly. “There was another reason I brought you, though… at 10 they start playing music, and it’s not very good or catchy, but people dance to it. And we’ve sung together, but we have never really danced together, so I… wanted us to have a first dance, like in the movies.”
“Really?” Saifah’s heart was about to explode. He couldn’t believe the guy stood before him was his boyfriend. Zon had said that Saifah was a catch, but he truly was the real catch here.
“Hm,” Zon nodded, hands caressing his waist where they rested. “ So, if you still feel like it… how about we go show these dumb girls how good we look together?”
Saifah’s first instinct was to refuse, not wanting to bring more attention upon himself and Zon, but then he really thought about it and realized that he absolutely wanted to dance with his boyfriend in front of people who judged their relationship.
The lights had been subdued, though they could still see clearly everyone present. The music was a bit loud, a bit boring, but they both walked onto the ‘dance floor’ hand in hand, positioning themselves in the middle of the room.
Saifah put his arms on Zon’s shoulders while his hands fell on his hips. He could feel the gazes on them, the whispers growing under the music being blasted, and, somehow, didn’t feel bad. In fact, he felt quite powerful. That him dancing with his boyfriend was stirring up so much conversation.
They danced through a few songs, eyes locked into the other’s, small smiles on the corners of their mouths. Next to them, Zol danced with her mom as they both gave them the thumbs up, making Saifah chuckle. Not only had Saifah gotten a catch with Zon, but he was also lucky in the in-laws department.
At some point, Zol’s dad joined her mom and Zol let them have their moment, finding herself alone on the dance floor. Saifah smiled and extended a hand in her direction, which she took, joining their side. Their dancing consisted of holding each other by the waist while they turned around, air playing with their hair.
Saifah even made Zon swirl around, their his sister, who insisted to make him swirl under her arm despite being significantly shorter than him. Saifah ended up hitting his head on her arm, making both the brother and the sister laugh. He laughed too.
And Saifah felt happy. Though the evening had started a disaster, it was ending in a beautiful moment of dancing and joy. And the certainty that even though he didn’t fit in that awkward gala, Saifah did belong here, with Zon’s hand in his as they laughed together.