Work Text:
When Prapai invites Phayu out for lunch “to talk about something”, Phayu knows it’s serious without Prapai having to tell him. Prapai is never that vague unless it’s serious.
Prapai is also not one to beat around the bush, so he gets to the point as soon as they’ve ordered their food.
“I need a really big favor,” he says.
“I figured there was a reason you asked me to lunch,” Phayu says. “What is it?”
“Remember my brother Plerng?” Prapai asks. Phayu just nods. “Well, he and his husband are getting divorced. And not in an amicable way.”
“So you want me to be his divorce lawyer?” Phayu asks. “Remember that I’m not a divorce lawyer?”
“No, I know, but you can do what a divorce lawyer does, right?” Prapai asks. His voice is starting to take on a pleading tone, and Phayu doesn’t get why.
“Why me? Your family knows plenty of good lawyers. At least one of them probably specializes in divorces.”
“Yeah, I’m not asking for Plerng. He can get his own lawyer,” Prapai mumbles. Phayu raises his eyebrows, interest piqued. Prapai sighs very, very deeply. “He’s married to Sky’s best friend Rain. And it turns out he’s also been cheating on Rain. A lot.”
“Oof,” Phayu huffs. He remembers Rain, from some of Prapai’s family events. A really cute guy, with adorably bright eyes, usually sticking close to either Plerng, Sky or Prapai. If he hadn’t already been married, Phayu might have approached him. But as a married man, he’s not Phayu’s type in the slightest. “Poor Rain. Though, knowing Plerng, that’s not all that surprising.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’d hoped he’d be better than that,” Prapai says and sighs again. “Rain is furious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that angry.”
“Sounds like Plerng had it coming,” Phayu comments.
“Oh, definitely. Sky and I are both fully on Rain’s side in this,” Prapai says firmly. “But Rain doesn’t have the connections that Plerng has. He doesn’t know any lawyers himself, and the only money he has is their joint accounts, which are all in Plerng’s name. I told him I’d help him out.”
“By asking me,” Phayu guesses.
“I’ll pay everything, all your fees and stuff,” Prapai says quickly (suspiciously quickly). “You’re the best lawyer I know, even if you’re not technically a divorce lawyer. And I know you’ll take care of him.”
Phayu frowns. “What does that mean?”
Because he knows that Prapai is aware of Phayu’s caretaker tendencies, but he doesn’t think that’s where Prapai going while asking Phayu to be his brother-in-law’s divorce lawyer. More likely, this says something about Rain, or about the state he’s in. Prapai had mentioned that Rain is furious.
“Rain’s just… he’s always been a bit chaotic. And it’s even worse right now,” Prapai explains. “If he’s gonna get the divorce he deserves, instead of just shouting at Plerng during meetings and demanding his balls on a silver platter, then he needs someone who can help him keep it together a bit.”
Phayu snorts. “Sounds interesting.”
“So you’ll do it?” Prapai asks hopefully.
Phayu pauses for a moment to think about it. There’s a reason he’s not a divorce lawyer. The kind of mess that this divorce sounds steeped in is a big part of that reason.
But really, he doesn’t have to think about it much. Prapai is his best friend. Sky is a good friend too. He doesn’t know Rain all that well, but he doesn’t need to in order to know that Rain doesn’t deserve what Plerng has done to him. No one deserves that.
“I’ll do it,” he says.
Prapai slumps with relief.
“Thank you,” he breathes out. “Thank you so much, buddy. I’ll owe you, I promise!”
“It’s fine,” Phayu says, waving him off. He won’t fully dismiss the opportunity to have Prapai owe him, of course, but he’d probably do this without it.
Their food arrives, and Phayu picks up his chopsticks and uses them to point at Prapai. “I hope you know I won’t hold back if Rain doesn’t want me to. I’ll help him come for your brother as hard as he wants.”
“That’s fine,” Prapai says. His voice has gone very serious and a dark look settles on his face. “Do your worst.”
Phayu raises an eyebrow.
This promises to be a very interesting case.
“I still can’t believe he’s done this to me,” Rain says as he furiously throws clothes in a suitcase. He’s not even really sure what he’s packing. It’s hard to see anything clearly through the blinding rage taking up his head. “I know everyone said he’s a massive player, but still!”
“I know, Rain,” Sky says sympathetically. He picks up the clothes Rain had thrown and folds them properly into the suitcase.
“And I know we were never a great love story, either, but I thought we did love each other! And he hasn’t even cheated on me for love! Just for sex, like he didn’t think he got enough of that at home!” Rain rages.
“I don’t wanna know about that,” Sky says dryly.
“You don’t wanna know about his sex life with me or his sex life with others?” Rain asks angrily.
“Either one,” Sky answers. It’s not a surprise. Sky has never wanted to hear about Rain’s sex life with anyone – not that he ever had much of a sex life before Plerng.
Rain doesn’t want to think about that, so he changes direction.
“I gave up my dreams for him, you know,” he points out to Sky, who looks grateful for the change in topic. “I wanted to do stuff. I wanted a career! But I put my dreams to the side so I could support him and his career. I went with him to art gallery openings where I couldn’t talk to anyone because I know nothing about art, and everyone seemed to know that, because they all looked down on me. I travelled with him to study art, find inspiration, go to more fucking art galleries! I did all that for him, and this is how he repays me? By cheating on me?”
“You got to see a lot of the world, though. You experienced a lot, and I know you learned a lot, even if you don’t feel like you did. That’s gotta count for something, right?” Sky says, taking a seat on the bed.
Rain scoffs.
“I sat through all the boring speeches and high cultural bullshit, and he took his side pieces to amusement parks and aquariums and on ziplining trips!” He rips open a drawer, grabs a handful of underwear, and throws it in the second open suitcase on the bed. “Did he not think I’d have loved to do shit like that? That maybe I deserved it for always going with him to his events?”
Sky winces. “Yeah, that was unfair of him.”
“Understatement,” Rain huffs. “And why are you defending him? Did…” Rain trails off for a moment, to try to reign in the doubt he can feel creeping into his voice, no matter how hard he tries to stick with just anger. “Did I deserve it or something?”
“No, of course not!” Sky says, sounding appalled at the very idea. “I’m not defending him at all. You know P’Pai and I are both on your side here, right?”
Rain sighs and looks down at his half-packed suitcases. The ones Sky is helping him pack, so he can stay with him and Prapai until he can find his own place to live, even though Plerng is the one who is Prapai’s brother, not Rain.
“I know,” he mumbles. Then, a little louder, “I know. And I really appreciate it. You guys know that, right?”
“We do,” Sky assures him. “Come on, let’s keep packing. We wanna be out of here before P’Plerng comes back, right?”
“Yeah,” Rain agrees with a nod. He turns back to the drawers and starts pulling out more socks, underwear, and whatever else he thinks is his. If he accidentally takes something of Plerng’s, then he doesn’t care. He’ll send it back. In tiny, confetti-sized pieces.
Sky is carefully folding Rain’s button-downs while Rain shoves his jeans into one of the suitcases when Sky’s phone pings with a message.
“P’Pai’s talked with his friend, P’Phayu” Sky says when he’s read the message. “You remember him?”
“Vaguely,” Rain says. He remembers Phayu being very handsome and cool. If he hadn’t been first dating and then married to Plerng, Rain might have looked a little more closely at Phayu. But unlike Plerng, Rain is not a cheater. “He’s the one P’Pai was gonna talk to about being my lawyer, right?”
“Yeah, and he’s agreed,” Sky says, smiling. “He’ll take your case.”
“Great,” Rain says. He’s happy and relieved and angry, all at the same time now. “I hope he’s bringing is A-game, because he’s gonna help me take P’Plerng as far down as we can. By the time I’m done, I want him on his fucking knees.”
“Oh boy,” Sky mumbles.
“Don’t oh boy me. He’ll have it coming! He’s been spoiling all his little extras all this time.” Rain straightens his spine. “Well, now it’s my turn. I’m gonna have my fun with this, and it’s gonna cost him. A lot. And not just in money, either! I’m gonna make it as difficult for him to promote his art as I damn well can.”
“Don’t let the power get to your head,” Sky says, but he’s smiling, and he looks mildly impressed. “Even if P’Plerng does deserve it.”
“Damn right he does,” Rain huffs and throws another button-down at his suitcases.
Plerng will deserve everything Rain throws his way, and Rain is going to throw as much his way as he possibly can.
Phayu recognizes Rain when he steps into his office, but he doesn’t look the same as he used to. He looks tense, tired, and a little frazzled. Most noticeably, his eyes aren’t bright the way they used to be. Instead they’re now tight set and full of anger.
At least they’re not dead or dull, Phayu thinks. That would signal something way worse.
No, Rain is clearly ready for a fight, and Phayu will help him win it.
Even if Rain isn’t dressed for a fight. Unlike most of his clients, who turn up in suits, Rain is wearing a loose button-down and a pair of worn jeans. Phayu isn’t sure if he’s judging Rain for not dressing appropriately for the situation, or if he’s impressed with Rain for being so bold.
He’ll settle for being impressed, for now.
He also can’t deny that Rain looks good. Even in this frazzled, dressed down state, with revenge in his eyes, he’s still cute, and more beautiful than Phayu remembers.
But that’s not something to dwell on right now, he thinks, getting up to greet Rain.
“Rain,” he says, as Rain gives him a polite wai in greeting. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too, Khun Phayu,” Rain says.
Khun. It’s more formal than Phayu had expected, but then again, he supposes they don’t actually know each other all that well.
“I’m sorry that we’re seeing each other again under these circumstances,” Phayu says.
“Yeah,” Rain sighs and looks away for a moment. His eyes are still the same when he looks back, though. “How much do you know?”
Phayu gestures for Rain to sit down and waits until they’re both seated to answer. “Prapai told me that Plerng has been cheating on you for a while, with more than one partner.”
“He’s been cheating on me for two years,” Rain says angrily. “That’s a third of our marriage that he’s been cheating. And not just sleeping around either. He treated them to expensive presents. He took them on dates and vacations, while he either left me at home or just took me with him to work events and family events.”
“I’m sorry. That’s awful,” Phayu says sympathetically. He feels a little silly saying it. Rain deserves more than the kind of professionally toned placate of that statement, but Phayu doesn’t know how else to say it. He is sorry that Rain is going through this, and what Plerng has done is awful. And while he knows Rain enough to know he deserves more, he doesn’t know Rain well enough to know what more would be.
So that statement will have to do for now.
“Yeah, well, it’s about to be a lot more awful for him,” Rain huffs.
Phayu can’t help but smile a little at that. He pulls a notebook close and grabs a pen, ready to write.
“And how do you want to do that?” he asks.
“I want half of everything,” Rain says firmly. “And I want everyone to know what he did, so that he can’t just shrug it off like it was nothing.”
Phayu huffs out a laugh. “You want to ruin his reputation?”
“Damn right!” Rain says.
“Language,” Phayu admonishes him mildly. “I don’t know how much I can help ruin his reputation. It depends on how much of the divorce and the divorce settlement is public knowledge, and it depends on whether or not he’s done anything illegal that I should know of.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s done anything illegal,” Rain grumbles.
“Then for now, let’s start with what I can help you with, and then you can brainstorm how to ruin Plerng’s reputation with Prapai and Sky later,” Phayu says. “You say you want half of everything. What exactly does that entail?” At that, Rain stares at him blankly. “Rain?”
“What do you mean?” Rain asks.
“I mean, what assets does he have that can be separated in two? Does he have any assets that are exclusively in his name?” Phayu asks.
Rain shrinks a little in his seat. The fire in his eyes dies down a little. His voice is a little smaller when he asks, “Assets?”
“Properties, bank accounts, stocks, shares. Those kinds of things,” Phayu explains.
“Oh. Well, I know we have the apartment, and I think that one’s shared. And we have a couple of shared bank accounts. One for everyday use, one for savings,” Rain says. Phayu notes all of it down.
“And they’re held jointly in your names?” he asks.
“Um…” Rain hesitates. “Like I said, I think the apartment is, but… no, the accounts are just… just in P’Plerng’s name.”
Prapai did mention that when he asked Phayu to do this, but Phayu had hoped Rain was joint holder of something in the marriage.
“And do you work? Have you put money into the accounts?” he asks.
“No, I don’t. I haven’t,” Rain’s voice is small and he looks away again.
All the anger and fire and determination that he’d walked in with seems to fizzle out the more he talks.
Phayu feels for him, he really does. Because if the accounts are in Plerng’s name, then that will make it a lot harder for Rain to demand anything from them in the settlement. Definitely not impossible, but a claim to half of everything is not that easy when only Plerng’s names are on the account and especially when Rain hasn’t contributed to the accounts.
“Okay. Alright.” Phayu puts his pen down and looks Rain right in the eyes. “I will make sure to check if your name is also on the apartment. It’ll be helpful if that’s a joint holding. But I’m not gonna lie to you. If the accounts are only in Plerng’s name, and you haven’t contributed to them, getting half of what’s in them will be a little more difficult. Especially if the apartment also turns out to only be in his name.”
“Wait.” Rain leans forward a little. The fire is back to full force and then some. “Does that mean I won’t be able to get anything? He can cheat on me and leave me with nothing?”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Phayu says calmly. “But it does mean that it won’t be as easy to demand that you get a share.”
“Fucking unbelievable,” Rain mumbles, slumping back in his chair.
Phayu gives him a sharp look. “Watch your language. I don’t like swearing in my office.”
“Sorry,” Rain says, contrite enough for Phayu to accept it.
“I’ll talk with the bank, and I’ll contact Plerng’s lawyer and set up a meeting to discuss possible settlements. And I promise you, I’ll make sure you get a fair share,” Phayu says.
“Good,” Rain says firmly. Then, as if remembering his manners, he gives Phayu another wai. “Thank you, Khun Phayu.”
“I’d like to know why you want half of everything, though,” Phayu says. “It’ll help me when negotiating with Plerng’s lawyer. Is it because you need the money to start a new life? Since you don’t have a job to rely on for income?”
“No,” Rain huffs. “I mean, yes, I need the money, but if it was just about that, I’d rather work as a janitor than get help from him.”
“Then what is it about?” Phayu prompts, curious.
Rain leans forward. “It’s about giving him hell for what he’s done to me,” he growls. “He cheated on me, and he treated me more like an afterthought than his husband. I’m not gonna let him get away with that! He can’t do that to me and walk away without a scratch! I want him to suffer. I want him on his knees in the dirt, and I want him to regret the day he decided to flirt with me, because all I’m living for right now is making him pay.”
Another smile quirks at the corner of Phayu’s lips. Yes, he’s definitely impressed with Rain.
“Then I’ll do what I can to ruin Plerng’s reputation as well,” he promises.
That makes a wild look appear in Rain’s eyes, and Phayu suddenly doesn’t care in the slightest that he’s not a divorce lawyer. This might be the most fun case he’s had in ages.
Rain leaves his first meeting with Phayu wanting to kick himself, because he can’t help but feel like he was a little too intense. Their best friends may be married, but Rain and Phayu don’t know each other that well, and Phayu is just his lawyer, not his therapist, and he’s only Rain’s lawyer because Prapai asked him.
It’s just that Rain had entered that meeting furiously angry, and Phayu had been so handsome and helpful, and Rain had been afraid that if he stopped being furiously angry, he’d end up saying something ridiculous and embarrassing like “You’re so handsome” right to Phayu’s face. So instead he’d been ridiculous and grumpy.
Sky tries to reassure him that he’s fine, that Phayu will tell him if he’s too much or behaving inappropriately, but Rain still can’t shake the feeling.
Not until he turns up at his next meeting with Phayu, and Phayu gives him a warm smile and kind greeting.
“How have you been since last time?” he asks, and he sounds like he’s actually interested.
Rain isn’t really used to people being interested in him, other than Prapai and Sky. Plerng hasn’t shown much interest in him for most of their marriage (and now he knows why), and he doesn’t have many friends, or see his parents or Plerng’s parents all that much. But Phayu sounds interested in how Rain is doing, and it’s… it’s nice. Even if it’s probably because Rain acted like a wild animal last time.
“Uh, good. I think,” he responds. He feels awkward. More awkward than he did last time. Rage doesn’t feel like it’s burrowing a hole in his stomach, which means there’s room in there for awkward swirls and fluttering nerves.
“Prapai said you’re having trouble sleeping,” Phayu says. He sounds concerned now. Another thing Rain isn’t used to from people other than Prapai and Sky.
“It’s just… a lot. All of it,” he says haltingly.
“Have you tried some things to help you sleep better?” Phayu asks. “Drinking something hot can help, as long as it has no caffeine. Calming sounds, too. Or just audio books, if it’s about keeping your mind from going all over the place.”
Rain blinks. Advice on how to sleep better is far beyond what he’d imagined from Phayu. The man is just his lawyer, even if they have met a few times before.
It’s also… not more concern than Rain has gotten from others, because Sky and Prapai have definitely been concerned about him too. But it feels very different. In a really good way.
“I’ll try to remember that. Thank you,” Rain says.
“This must all be pretty hard on you,” Phayu says sympathetically.
“Yeah. I mean –” Rain cuts himself off and straightens up in his seat. “I’m fine. It’s fine. That asshole can’t give me a hard time, not anymore.” Phayu huffs out something that sounds like a laugh and gives Rain an amused look. Rain can’t help but ask, “What?”
“Nothing. It’s good to see that you’re still keeping your fighting spirit up,” Phayu says. Then the smile slips from his face. “You’re gonna need it.”
“What do you mean?” Rain asks.
“I talked with your bank,” Phayu begins, pulling a few papers closer. “You were right. The apartment is in both your name and Plerng’s name, but your accounts are only in his name.”
“Okay. What does that mean?” Rain asks. He can feel dread beginning to settle in his stomach.
“If you had deposited money into the accounts, then you’d have a right to that, even if the accounts are in Plerng’s name. But since you haven’t, you aren’t technically, legally entitled to anything there. It’s all Plerng’s money,” Phayu explains, clinical and to the point but still so sympathetic.
Not that Rain knows what to do with his sympathy right now. On the one hand, he hates that Phayu has to be sympathetic because Rain is in an even worse position than just divorcing his cheating husband.
On the other hand, it’s nice to know that Phayu cares enough to feel sympathy for him. Just because Prapai is paying him to help doesn’t mean Phayu needs to care about Rain as a person and not just a case. And yet it sounds like Phayu does care that much.
And that is, undoubtedly, a nice thought.
But Rain can’t dwell on that just yet, because it sounds like he’s screwed.
“So what do I do?” he asks.
“Firstly, we make sure you get your half of what the apartment is worth. If Plerng wants to keep living there, he’ll have to buy you out,” Phayu explains.
“Okay,” Rain nods.
“In terms of the bank accounts, we’ll have to use a different approach, because technically, you don’t have a right to the money in those accounts,” Phayu says.
Rain’s jaw drops. “Are you serious?”
“I know it sucks, but strictly legally speaking, none of the money in those accounts was earned by you, and when your name isn’t on the accounts either, so you’re not automatically entitled to any of it,” Phayu explains. His tone of voice isn’t really leaving any room for arguments, but his face is so soft, it helps soothe the sting off his words.
Not enough to make Rain stay all that calm, though.
“So what? I just have to accept that? He gets to keep everything, and I only get half of what the apartment’s worth?” he fumes.
He knows the apartment is worth a lot, but still. The money isn’t the point. Dragging Plerng down to the depths of despair is the point.
“No, you don’t have to accept that,” Phayu says firmly. “We just have to negotiate and use the right arguments to reach our goal. We’ll use his affairs, his spending habits, and you traveling with him for work to create compelling arguments for why he owes you more.”
And then Phayu reaches over his desk and gestures for Rain to give him his hand. Blinking, confused, Rain carefully places his hand on the desk as well, and Phayu puts his own on top.
He looks Rain in the eyes and says, “I promise, I will do everything I can do help you get the justice you deserve.”
Something flutters in Rain’s stomach. It’s not that he’s lacking support. Prapai and Sky are fully on his side, and so are his parents, obviously, but support from Phayu feels undeniably different. It feels more free, in a way. He knows Sky and Prapai are behind him, and they’ve both cursed out Plerng enough for Rain to know that they genuinely think what he’s done is wrong, and Rain deserves to get his own back.
But they’re also his friends, and they have been for a long time. They were family even before he married Plerng, and they’re still family now. Rain loves them, and they love him, but he can’t help but feel like a small part of their support comes from a place of obligation. Especially Sky’s, because Prapai, by that logic, should be supporting his brother more.
Rain appreciates them and their support, he really does. But hearing that Phayu supports him just as much feels like validation, because Phayu doesn’t have to support him. He’s being paid to help Rain, yes, but he’s not being paid to back up Rain’s desire for complete revenge, and yet here he is. Promising to do what he can to get Rain what he wants. Soothing his worries. Being sympathetic to his situation. Giving Rain advice on how to sleep better.
Yeah, that all definitely makes Rain’s stomach flip and flutter in all kinds of pleasant ways.
“And Rain?” Phayu says.
“Y-yeah?” Rain manages to say, without too much stammering.
“You can call me P’Phayu,” Phayu says warmly, smiling.
And the fluttering goes absolutely insane.
Phayu has a lot of faith in himself and his work, but he’s also not delusional or unrealistic. He’s a good lawyer, but he’s not a divorce lawyer. Plerng’s lawyer, on the other hand, is a divorce lawyer. He’ll know a lot more about this field than Phayu does.
But that doesn’t mean that Phayu doesn’t approach the first meeting with Plerng and his lawyer with anything less than confidence.
Rain, on the other hand, seems jittery, when he arrives at Phayu’s office.
Phayu has arranged the first meeting to take place in his company, in one of their meeting rooms. It gives them home field advantage. It means Phayu can dismiss Plerng and his lawyer at the most opportune time. It means that Rain will be more comfortable too.
Not that he seems comfortable, fiddling with the sleeves of his button-down and tripping on his feet.
“Are you okay?” Phayu asks.
“Yes,” Rain says, unconvincingly.
“Are you nervous about seeing Plerng again?” Phayu guesses.
Rain bites his bottom lip and fiddles even more with his sleeves. Inexplicably, Phayu wants to reach out and grab his hands to stop him. It’s the same feeling he had at their last meeting, when he took Rain’s hand. But he’s also not sure that had been the right move. They don’t know each other that well yet, and Phayu isn’t sure how comfortable Rain would be with Phayu holding his hands, so he keeps his hands where they are.
Slowly, Rain nods. “A little,” he admits.
“When was the last time you saw him?” Phayu asks.
“A few weeks ago. When I told him I wanted a divorce,” Rain replies.
“Listen, it’s understandable that you’re nervous to see him again,” Phayu assures him, and he can’t help but put a hand on Rain’s shoulder, too. “But you just have to remember that you’ve done nothing wrong. He’s the one who should be nervous, because he’s the one in trouble. He cheated on you, and you rightfully want a fair divorce as a result. You can hold your head a lot higher than he can.”
Rain flushes a little, and it’s adorable.
Phayu’s words seem to have the intended effect. Rain stands a little taller, his hands stop fidgeting, and, despite the still-present flush, a steely confidence settles on his face.
“You’re right, Khun Phayu,” he says. “I have nothing to be ashamed of or nervous about!”
Phayu smiles. “That’s right,” he says. Then, without thinking too much about it, he adds, “And you can call me P’Phayu.”
“O-oh,” Rain stutters. “Oh. Uh. Okay. I’ll – I’ll do that, then. P’Phayu.”
Phayu smiles. It’s nice to hear Rain call him that. It was starting to feel a little weird for Phayu to have Rain call him Khun, so formally. Phi feels better and more appropriate for them, even if it’s technically less appropriate for a lawyer and his client. Phayu wants them to be closer than that, closer than just lawyer and client.
“So are you ready for this?” he asks, getting them back on track smoothly.
After a beat, Rain nods firmly. “I’m ready.”
And Phayu believes him.
With a hand on Rain’s back, he guides them into the meeting room and to their seats on one side of the table. They’re facing the door, so they can be ready to stare down Plerng and his lawyer as soon as they walk in.
It’s not long before they arrive. Phayu and Rain both stand up to greet them. Phayu exchanges fake pleasantries with Plerng (a douchebag who has cheated on Rain, whom Phayu is discovering to be a truly lovely person) and real pleasantries with his lawyer (a man just doing his job).
Rain wais at the lawyer, glares at Plerng, and says nothing.
Once they’re sitting again, Phayu takes stock of Plerng’s appearance. He’s nicely dressed and not a hair is out of place, but he looks unhappy to be here. It’s expected, but it’s also a good sign in Phayu’s book.
“Alright, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Phayu says as Plerng’s lawyer pulls out his papers.
“Yes, let us do that,” the man says.
“We’re here today to discuss the divorce and subsequent settlement of Khun Rain and Khun Plerng,” Phayu begins. “I don’t expect we’ll leave here today with a finished, agreed upon deal, but we’ll discuss possible outcomes. My client has wishes for this settlement, and I’m sure yours does as well.”
“Yes, Khun Plerng has wishes as well,” the lawyer says. “Especially when it comes to dividing the finances of the marriage, and there are some material items as well that he’d like to remain in his possession.”
“Understandable,” Phayu says with a nod. Then he levels both Plerng and his lawyer with a cold, steely gaze. “However, I don’t think you should expect Khun Plerng to get a lot of his wishes.”
“Pardon me?” the lawyer blinks.
“I’d say that in this case, my client deserves the first and last say in how the divorce is settled,” Phayu says coolly.
“And why is that? He’s the one asking for a divorce from my client, who has made it known that he’d be happy to give the marriage another try,” Plerng’s lawyer says, just as coolly.
“Has he now?” Phayu says, raising a single, unimpressed eyebrow.
“As if,” Rain grumbles.
Phayu glances at him briefly, but doesn’t say anything, even though they’d agreed that Phayu should take the lead for the majority of the meeting. It doesn’t hurt to let Plerng and his lawyer know if Rain thinks what they’re saying is bullshit.
“Since Khun Rain is – clearly – the one who is uninterested in making the marriage work and the one insisting on a divorce, why should he get more of a say in the final settlement than my client?” Plerng’s lawyer asks.
“Khun Plerng has had multiple affairs over the past two years, disregarding Rain’s feelings and the respect he deserves as both Khun Plerng’s husband and a human being,” Phayu says, sharp and to the point. Beating around the bush will only give Plerng opportunities to downplay things. “And during this time – during their whole marriage, actually – Rain has refrained from working to instead support Khun Plerng in his career as an artist. Rain has posed for paintings, attended events, and travelled with Khun Plerng wherever he wanted or needed to go for work. This has also meant that Rain hasn’t been able to maintain a lot of friendships. He’s focused his whole life on Khun Plerng, and Khun Plerng has repaid him for that loyalty and devotion by cheating on him, with several different people, for two out of the three years they’ve been married.”
“Infidelity aside, my client was under the impression that they had agreed to a mutually beneficial living situation, with regards to employment, travel and so on,” Plerng’s lawyer says diplomatically. “Khun Plerng thought Khun Rain enjoyed not having to work and live a life of leisure –”
“When did I ever say that?” Rain interrupts.
“You never complained about not having to work,” Plerng says. It’s the first time he’s spoken today, aside from the greetings. He sounds annoyed, more than anything else, and it only makes Phayu more determined to fight for Rain. The least Plerng could do is pretend to be sorry.
“I worked my ass off studying architecture. You think I did that just to be your arm candy for the rest of my life?” Rain counters. “I did that for you. And you repaid me by sleeping around as much as you could, and by treating all the others better than you ever treated me!”
Plerng flinches a little. That’s something, Phayu supposes.
Plerng’s lawyer takes a deep breath and levels Phayu with a calm look.
“What exactly does Khun Rain want in the divorce settlement?” he asks.
“Firstly, he wants half the worth of their shared apartment, which he is entitled to, as it’s in both their names,” Phayu says. “If Khun Plerng wants to keep living there, he’ll have to buy Rain out. And that is non-negotiable.”
“Alright.” The lawyer makes a note. “Anything else?”
“Yes. Rain wants half of the value in their bank accounts, both the disposable income and the savings account,” Phayu says.
“I believe those are both in Khun Plerng’s name,” the lawyer quickly says. “And since, as you said, Khun Rain hasn’t worked, he hasn’t contributed to the accounts. So he can’t demand anything from those.”
“Maybe not in terms of what he technically owns, but that is what a divorce settlement is about,” Phayu says firmly. “And for what he has done to Rain, Khun Plerng owes him a lot.”
“Khun Plerng may have been unfaithful, but he has never treated Khun Rain badly,” the lawyer says, just as firm as Phayu.
“Cheating on me is treating me badly,” Rain interjects.
Phayu just barely manages to stop himself from smiling. Rain is impressive and amusing all at once, and he’s definitely not going down without a fight.
“What do you even need all that money for?” Plerng asks.
“It’s not like I have my own income,” Rain says. “I followed you around instead of working for myself.”
“So that’s why? You wanna keep living like you’ve done without being married to me or having to work for it?” Plerng says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No. I’ll get my own income soon enough!” Rain bristles.
“Then why do you want half of my money?” Plerng challenges, leaning forward in his seat. Maybe he’s trying to be intimidating, but a quick glance at Rain tells Phayu that Rain isn’t fazed by the movement at all. He’s a feisty one, that’s for sure.
Feisty enough to not always think things through, maybe.
“Because I fucking deserve it!” Rain says loudly. “My one mission in life –”
“Language, Rain,” Phayu cuts him off before he can say anything else. Both because maintaining proper tone and language tends to work better in these settings, and because Rain might accidentally say something that Plerng’s lawyer can use against them.
They don’t need to know that Rain’s mission in life right now is to bring Plerng down. That’s not a very good argument for getting a good divorce settlement.
Rain huffs, but he seems to calm down as well. He leans back in his chair and lowers his shoulders a little.
“Yes, let’s all calm down,” Plerng’s lawyer says, looking between Rain and Plerng.
“We are perfectly calm,” Phayu says smoothly. “But yes. Let’s talk about the settlement and why Khun Plerng will be doing exactly as we demand.”
“And then he threatened to basically sue P’Plerng for displaying and selling paintings of me without ever paying me for modeling or giving me a percentage of what he earned! And P’Plerng was so mad, but he agreed to talk about giving me more in the divorce, but P’Phayu kept telling him that he would be giving me half of everything or P’Phayu would let the art galleries know about the dates he’s been on with other people and –”
“And a bunch of other stuff to tarnish his reputation,” Sky cuts into Rain talking with an exasperated groan. “I know. You’ve said it four times already.”
“But he was so cool!” Rain says. He’s practically vibrating. Probably leftover energy from the meeting. “He totally put P’Plerng in his place!”
“I’m glad it’s all working out for you, but you’ve told me this four times,” Sky says.
Rain deflates a little. “I’m just happy about it. This is the first time its felt like things actually go my way since I found out about P’Plerng, and I wanna talk about it.”
“Hasn’t P’Phayu always said he’d do everything to help you?” Sky asks.
“Well, yeah, but now it actually might be happening,” Rain says, with rising excitement. “P’Phayu is so talented! Even if the law is more on P’Plerng’s side, P’Phayu is gonna make it turn to my side. And he was so incredible to watch in the meeting!”
Sky smirks like he knows something. It makes Rain want to lean back a little. Sky smirking like that can be dangerous. Also, it’s a pretty big change from how exasperated he was two seconds ago.
“You’re praising P’Phayu a lot,” he says, far too innocently for the look on his face. “In fact, you’re talking about him a lot in general these days.”
“So? It’s not like I see a lot of other people,” Rain says, and it’s the truth. He doesn’t have very much going on in his life right now. Other than Prapai and Sky, Phayu is the only other person he really spends time with. He doesn’t have other friends, and he hasn’t even started looking for a job yet. He wants to, but with everything that’s happening with the divorce, getting into the job market has seemed very overwhelming. So of course Rain talks about Phayu a lot, when his meetings with Phayu are the only things that really happen in his life.
“There’s still other stuff you could talk about, but you don’t. It’s P’Phayu this and P’Phayu that,” Sky says and leans forward. Not a lot, but enough to make Rain actually lean back in response. “And I can’t help but notice that you’ve started calling him Phi too now.”
“He said I could,” Rain says, steadfastly ignoring how thinking about it makes his stomach flutter again.
“Mhmm,” Sky hums. “And you like it.”
Rain shrugs. “It’s nice, I guess.”
It’s not just a guess. It is nice.
He hasn’t really had the time to process how it makes him feel when Phayu had told him to call him phi instead of khun, with the meeting and the adrenaline rush after the meeting. It had made his already fluttering stomach go wild, and his heartbeat had become audible to himself, but he’s not sure what to make of that.
“You like it,” Sky asserts, leaning back in his chair again. “Actually, with how you talk about P’Phayu, I think you like him.”
An unpleasantly cold feeling runs down Rain’s spine.
Immediately, instinctively, he says, “No, I don’t.”
He can’t like Phayu. He can’t like anyone. Not so close after Plerng, he just can’t.
Sky must be able to tell something from his face, because the teasing look on his own completely melts off and is replaced with a worried frown.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Nothing,” Rain says hastily. “I just don’t like him. Not like that.”
“Then why do you look so upset?” Sky prods.
“I’m not upset!” Rain insists. “I just… I don’t like him, okay? I can’t. I can’t like him.”
He smacks a hand over his mouth, already regretting opening it in the first place. Sky is gonna latch onto that, he just knows it.
And as expected, Sky’s next question is, “What do you mean you can’t?”
Rain tucks in his lips. He hadn’t meant to talk about this. He’s not sure he really wants to, but one look from Sky has him slumping his shoulders. He can’t keep things from Sky, and Sky knows it. And maybe it’s not a bad idea, to talk to his best friend.
“It’s just…” he starts carefully, thinking about where to start and how to word it. “I know P’Plerng cheated on me and I’m getting a divorce, but technically, I’m still married. And my marriage only broke down a month ago! Before that, I had a husband I loved and was planning on spending the rest of my life with. If I’m looking at another guy after just one month, when we’re not even divorced yet… aren’t I just as bad as P’Plerng, then?”
“No,” Sky says immediately and reaches across the arm of the couch to hold Rain’s hand. “If you like P’Phayu, that’s nothing like P’Plerng cheating on you. You’re getting a divorce. You’re basically a free man and that means you can like whoever you want.”
“But it’s too soon,” Rain says, because he can’t shake that feeling. As much as he hates Plerng now, he can’t help but feel like doing anything with someone else when he still loved Plerng a month ago is far too soon.
“It’s not,” Sky insists. “After what he did to you, it would’ve been fine for you to have a new boyfriend after just a week.”
“Sky,” Rain huffs, but Sky ignores him.
“And besides, you never loved P’Plerng that deeply, did you?”
That makes Rain pause.
It’s true that his and Plerng’s relationship was never a grand love story. They got married kind of fast, and Rain always knew that Plerng wanted to get married partly because it would get his mother off his back. But Rain had loved Plerng back then, and he’d loved Plerng all throughout their marriage, too. Not the kind of deep, strong, soulmate love that Sky and Prapai have, but it had felt real enough. Or at least it had been enough for Rain.
“I did love him,” he says quietly.
“I know you did. But does the idea of not being with him for the rest of your life make you that upset?” Sky asks.
“Maybe not,” Rain admits. It’s actually not that difficult to imagine a life without Plerng. It had actually been a lot more difficult to imagine a life with Plerng back when he was still happily oblivious. Sky had asked him a few months ago about his future, and Rain had brushed him off, because thinking about growing old with Plerng had been weird.
He’d thought that was more about the old part than the Plerng part, but maybe that had been wrong.
“Exactly. So believe me, if you like P’Phayu now, that doesn’t make you anything like P’Plerng,” Sky says firmly. “You’re free to like whoever you want, because you’re getting divorced from a guy who cheated on you, and it’s not too soon after P’Plerng. Trust me.”
Sky makes a good argument, and yet, Rain is still unsure about it all.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t wanna like him,” he says. “Even if you say it’s not, it feels wrong right now. And besides, I don’t wanna put myself on the line like that only to be hurt again. It hurt enough when P’Plerng cheated on me. I don’t even wanna think about what it would be like if it was someone who meant more.”
“Okay, firstly, I’ll keep saying it until you get it, but it wouldn’t be wrong for you to like someone right now. P’Plerng cheated on you, and you didn’t love him that deeply anyways,” Sky says. Rain wants to protest, but before he can come up with what to say, Sky continues. “And secondly, P’Phayu wouldn’t hurt you.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Rain says. “I didn’t think P’Plerng would hurt me like that, but he did.”
“P’Phayu is nothing like P’Plerng,” Sky says. “He’d never do that to you. Especially when he knows what you’ve already been through.”
“Maybe,” Rain mumbles. “Maybe someday. But not right now.”
“Rain…” Sky sighs, but he doesn’t say anything else, and Rain is grateful.
Maybe Sky is right and he does like Phayu. He certainly thinks Phayu is handsome and capable and cool, and Phayu makes him feel fluttery and giddy and comfortable in ways he hasn’t since he and Plerng first started dating. Phayu makes him feel safe and cared for, even though he’s just Rain’s lawyer. Maybe all that means Rain likes him, and maybe it even means that it could become something more.
But he can’t make himself accept that. Not yet, at least. He needs more time.
There’s a little porridge shop near the office that Phayu goes to probably at least once a week. There’s nothing particularly special about it, but the food is good and it’s conveniently close. So after their second meeting with Plerng and his lawyer runs a little late into the evening, Phayu takes Rain there to get some dinner.
“Why did you ask me to dinner?” Rain asks once they’re seated.
“Because it’s getting late and we both need to eat,” Phayu replies. Rain gives him a skeptical look, so Phayu adds, “And I thought we should celebrate how well things are going so far.”
“It’s going well?” Rain asks, sounding doubtful. “We haven’t gotten any kind of deal with P’Plerng yet. He’s still being annoying about the whole thing.”
“We’re doing very well,” Phayu tells him. “It may not seem like it, when we haven’t reached an agreement, but we are. We’re negotiating with them on our terms and forcing them to make more proposals and concessions than we make. Even though Plerng legally speaking has the power to simply refuse to split any money from the accounts with you, we’ve made a strong enough argument for him and his legal team to keep meeting us for negotiations. So you see, we’re actually doing very well.”
“I guess. When you put it like that,” Rain admits. A small smile forms on his face. “You telling them I deserved compensation for emotional damage from the cheating was pretty good.”
“Thank you,” Phayu smiles back. “I figured if nothing else, it’ll knock them off their feet a little.”
Rain’s smile gets bigger. “P’Plerng didn’t know what to say.”
“And that’s the plan. Keep him off-balance and he won’t be able to argue his way out of giving you what he owes you,” Phayu says firmly. “You’re doing very well holding your own against Plerng, too.”
“I am?” Rain asks, with something that sounds a lot like hope in his voice.
“Mmh,” Phayu hums in confirmation.
“I thought I wasn’t being calm enough,” Rain admits.
“No, it’s okay. It works, to show him how angry you are. You’re not letting him walk over you or get away with anything, and that’s only a good thing,” Phayu says.
Rain’s smile widens again, this time accompanied by a blush.
Their conversation is interrupted when the server comes over and puts a notepad and pen on the table. Rain thanks him, picks up both, and looks at Phayu expectantly. “What do you like to eat?”
Gently, Phayu takes the pen and notepad from Rain.
“Let me order. It’s my treat,” he says.
Rain blinks at him, a little dumbfounded, then reaches out to take the notepad back. Phayu pulls his own hands back to stop him.
“I should be the one treating you,” Rain insists, making another grab for the notepad. “You’re the one helping me.”
“I asked you to dinner, so I should treat you,” Phayu says. “And besides, it’s your case we’re celebrating. It’s your victory more than mine we’re working towards.”
“If you say so,” Rain mumbles and pulls his hands back into his own lap. Phayu can’t help but smile a little. He looks adorable.
“So what do you like to eat?” he asks.
Rain hums. “Since we’re at a porridge shop, it’s gotta be…” he trails off, thinking, then snaps his fingers excitedly, “stir-fried water spinach. And stir-fried preserved radish with egg!”
“Spicy salad?” Phayu suggests.
“Yes, spicy salad!” Rain nods excitedly. “Spicy salted egg salad. But with century eggs.” Phayu diligently notes down the food Rain rattles off. “And a bowl of porridge for me. It’s late.”
Rain sometimes pouts when he talks, and it’s possibly the most adorable thing Phayu has seen. He can’t help but smile at it as he writes down the last of the order.
“Afraid to gain weight?” he asks.
“Yeah,” Rain says in a quiet voice. He doesn’t look insecure, but he sounds a little insecure.
He shouldn’t be. He’s gorgeous and gaining a little weight won’t change that. But Phayu also knows it’s not as simple as that. And he also knows that it most likely wouldn’t be considered proper for him to tell Rain that, so he can’t do much to alleviate any of Rain’s worries right now.
Rain straightens his back a little, like he’s trying to summon some extra confidence.
“I’m single now,” he continues. “Gotta look good and stay in shape if I want to date someone again.”
“I don’t think you’ll have trouble catching someone’s attention,” Phayu says. He certainly hasn’t needed to do anything special to catch Phayu’s attention.
Because Rain has caught Phayu’s attention, fully and undeniably. He’d been interested when he first saw Rain at one of Prapai and Sky’s parties, but he’d lost any and all interest when he later found out that Rain was engaged to Plerng. Phayu doesn’t go for people who are in committed relationships, and that’s exactly what Rain had been.
But now Rain is getting divorced. He’s single again in every way except legally, which means all of Phayu’s interest in him has started rising to the surface, and he can’t deny it any longer.
He is very interested in Rain.
Now he just has to figure out if Rain could also be interested in him. Dinner like this is an opportunity for that.
Rain starts smiling at Phayu’s words, then seemingly catches himself and forces it off his face.
“You don’t know that. No one’s ever paid attention to me before, or been interested in me. P’Plerng was the first,” he says.
“No one?” Phayu asks, surprised. He finds it hard to believe. Rain is definitely eye-catching, in a lot of ways.
“Nope,” Rain confirms, red-faced. “I know, it’s embarrassing.”
“Not at all,” Phayu says quickly. Rain doesn’t look like he believes him, though. “It’s just hard to imagine that no one would show interest in you.”
“People usually think I’m annoying,” Rain says and looks down. He sounds both like he believes it to be true, and like he’s trying very hard not to be bothered by it.
On one hand, Phayu can maybe, theoretically, see why people would think like that. Rain is a lot. He’s boisterous and feisty and shows his feelings clearly. He’s usually not afraid to voice his thoughts, either. A lot of people can be annoyed or put off by that. But on the other hand, Rain’s looks alone should attract plenty of attention, and that boisterous, feisty personality, and the way he wears his heart on his sleeves, is intriguing and endearing, and it all draws Phayu in and makes him want to know even more about Rain.
Annoying is the last thing Phayu would think of him.
“People don’t appreciate those who are different,” he says, hoping it’ll be enough to lift Rain’s spirits again.
It makes Rain lift his head again, at least. And he sounds both confused and a little hopeful when he asks, “What?”
“You just need to find someone who appreciates you, that’s all,” Phayu says.
For a second, Rain seems frozen. It doesn’t even look like he’s breathing. But it’s just a second, and then he seems to shake himself out of whatever it was and scoff. “Easier said than done. I thought P’Plerng would do that, and now look at where I am.”
Phayu has to bite his tongue to stop himself from instinctively responding with I appreciate you. That seems like too much to say, even if it’s starting to feel all too true.
Instead, he asks, “How did you and Plerng meet?”
“Sky introduced us. He thought we might get along,” Rain replies. “He wasn’t wrong at first, I guess, and I don’t blame him for it! But I fucking wish he hadn’t now.”
“Language,” Phayu admonishes, almost automatically.
“We’re not in your office,” Rain challenges.
Phayu raises his eyebrows. “I don’t like unnecessary foul language. No matter the location. Remember that for next time.”
Rain’s breath audibly hitches. “Next time?” he echoes faintly.
Phayu give shim a soft smile. He needs to find out whether or not it’s completely inappropriate of him to show this kind of interest in a client before he starts flirting for real, but he can still hint to Rain that he likes him. He wants to know how Rain feels as well, and that seems easier to do if Rain has an idea about how Phayu feels.
The way Rain’s whole face brightens seems like a good sign when Phayu says, “Next time.”
“Why did you decide to study architecture?”
Rain hums, pondering the question as he mixes his noodles. It’s lunchtime, and he and Phayu have just left another meeting with Plerng and his lawyer. This time, Phayu has taken him to a café in the nearby mall.
“I’ve always been creative, I guess. I like designing houses,” Rain says with a shrug. “It’s not really… any deeper than that.”
“Passion doesn’t need to be deep,” Phayu says simply.
“I guess not,” Rain says. “Are you passionate about your work?”
“Sometimes yes, and sometimes no,” Phayu replies. “I like doing the work that helps people. But sometimes the cases I take on are more… petty. Sometimes people need a lawyer not because they need help getting justice for themselves or someone they know, but because they want to screw over other people. I try not to take too many of those, but every now and then I have to. Plus, sometimes even cases about justice are more routine than anything else.”
“How come?” Rain asks curiously.
“It’s about the details, usually,” Phayu explains. “I’m guessing it’s the same with designing houses. Sometimes a job is fun or a challenge. Other times it’s not.”
“You’re probably right. Though I wouldn’t know all that much about what designing houses is like either,” Rain says. It feels like an embarrassing admission, even though he knows that Phayu knows he hasn’t had a job.
Rain is a grown adult with a failed marriage behind him, but no job experience to speak of. It’s not something he’s proud of, to put it mildly, and it’s not made better by knowing that Phayu is a very accomplished man. Especially not when Rain kind of wants to impress Phayu or make him proud. At the very least, he’d like to be able to stand proudly in Phayu’s presence and not make Phayu pity him. But that’s hard when Rain feels pretty damn pitiable a lot of the time.
Fucking Plerng.
“You’ve never worked as an architect? Before you married Plerng?” Phayu asks.
Rain sighs and lowers his chopsticks. “No. Not except an internship in my fourth year. I never got to. P’Plerng and I got married when I was in my last year, and we decided pretty quickly that it’d be better if I wasn’t tied to a job and could just follow him around for work instead.”
“Did you agree on that together?” Phayu asks.
“Kind of? He told me he travelled a lot and wanted me to come with him sometimes, and that I didn’t need to worry about contributing to the household or whatever, because he could take care of both of us. And then… I don’t really remember, but I think I suggested that I’d hold off on finding a job for a while, so I could go with him to stuff,” Rain explains. He picks up some noodles but freezes with them halfway to his mouth. “Is that gonna be a problem? For my case?”
“No, don’t worry about that,” Phayu assures him. “I just asked because I was curious.”
Rain nods, relieved, and shoves the noodles he’s still holding with his chopsticks into his mouth. He feels stupid enough for agreeing to not work, even if it was his own stupid idea originally. He doesn’t want it to bite him in the ass even more than it already has, by making his divorce case more difficult.
He goes back to eating, but notices after a moment that Phayu isn’t touching his food. Instead, he’s just looking at Rain.
As subtly as he can, Rain wipes his face, just in case Phayu is staring because there’s something on it.
It doesn’t seem to do anything.
“What are you looking at?” Rain asks.
“Someone right in front of me,” Phayu says teasingly.
Rain feels heat rise to his cheeks. “There are plenty of other people you can look at.”
“What if I only want to look at you?” Phayu asks the question so innocently, but it makes Rain’s stomach do all kinds of flips and flutters. He thinks his face must be starting to resemble a chili pepper, with how hot he feels now. Phayu just keeps smiling at him.
Flustered, Rain gestures clumsily at Phayu’s bowl with his own chopsticks. “Eat your food.”
Phayu lets out a quiet huff of laughter but does as he’s told and picks his chopsticks back up.
He’s really making Rain feel a lot these days, and Rain is struggling more and more to fight the feelings. Or, to be more precise, he’s putting up less and less of a fight.
Sky keeps telling him that it’s only a good thing if he moves on to someone new, and that Phayu is a good choice. He and Prapai have both said that Phayu is a good man, who will treat him right. And Rain believes them (even though he also believed them when they said Plerng had changed for him, and that turned out to not be even a little bit true).
Spending time with Phayu makes him happy. It also makes him flustered and a little nervous, but giddy and happy, nonetheless. He thinks about Phayu more and more, too.
It’s not so much a question of whether or not Phayu would be the right one for Rain to fall for.
It’s a question of whether or not Rain feels like he can fall for someone again.
And increasingly, the answer to that question is yes.
Yes, he can fall for Phayu. Sky is right when he says that he owes Plerng nothing, that he’s technically single, and any relationship he starts now wouldn’t be cheating. Plerng broke his heart, and even though they’re still tangled up in their relationship, because getting a divorce is a lot more involved than just breaking up, it’s been months since Rain found out. It’s been months since Rain effectively dumped his asshole husband, so no, it’s not too soon to move on to someone else.
And Phayu is presenting himself as a very, very good option.
The way Phayu’s smile widens when Rain can’t help but hum around a particularly good mouthful of food also makes him think that Phayu might just feel something for Rain in return. Which makes him even more willing to stop fighting his fluttering feelings and just… jump into it.
He just hopes he’s brave enough to actually do it.
“Do you like the food?” Phayu asks.
“It’s delicious,” Rain says and slurps in another mouthful of noodles. “Do you come here a lot?”
“Yes, with Prapai,” Phayu replies. “It’s one of the places we come to the most when we have lunch together. It’s almost right in the middle between our offices.”
Rain pauses his eating. It must catch Phayu’s attention, because he raises his eyebrows like he’s prompting Rain to say something. So Rain does.
“How did you and P’Pai become friends?” he asks.
Phayu smiles. “You know, that’s actually a pretty funny story.”
Phayu knows he’s still smiling when he comes home from another dinner with Rain. They hadn’t even used the excuse of eating together after a successful meeting. Phayu had simply asked Rain if he wanted to get some dinner together, and Rain had simply said yes.
He’s in such a good mood that he doesn’t even care when he steps into his house and sees Prapai spread out on the sofa.
“Oi, look at you,” Saifah teases from the kitchen. “What a good mood you’re in.”
“Don’t ruin it,” Phayu warns him, but there’s not much warning in his tone, and he knows it. He doesn’t care.
“Hey, buddy,” Prapai says, the very picture of casual.
“What are you doing here?” Phayu asks.
“Sky wanted to spend some time with Rain tonight,” Prapai explains. “I think they might invite over some of their old university friends. I told them I’d leave them to it.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Phayu says, nodding a little. “Rain needs to have friends around him.”
Prapai smirks at him like Phayu just walked into a trap. “And is that what you are now? A friend?”
Phayu rolls his eyes and doesn’t deign to give than an answer. Mostly because any answer he gives will just make Prapai tease him even more, because Prapai knows that Phayu is interested in Rain, as more than both a client and a friend.
“He definitely doesn’t usually take his clients out for meals, and never this often,” Saifah says.
“I know,” Prapai smirks. “That’s what I told Rain when he came home and asked about it the first time Phayu took him out for dinner. I think he said Phayu’s excuse was to celebrate how well the case is going.”
Saifah snorts. “Yeah right. As if Phayu would ever do that before he’d won a case.”
“Rain must be a very special case,” Prapai says lightly.
“Are you both done?” Phayu asks.
“You like him, don’t you?” Prapai ask, still smiling, but also more serious.
Phayu sits down on the couch next to him before he answers. “Yeah. I do. He’s cute and funny, and I love watching him fight for himself.”
“He’s a feisty one, right?” Prapai says, sounding about as fond as he does when he talks about his sister.
Phayu thinks about the way Rain verbally bites Plerng every meeting they have, and he can’t help but smile. “He’s a fighter,” he says. “With a lot of fire. I like that.”
“I haven’t seen you like this in ages,” Prapai observes. “You’re usually a one-night-stand type of guy these days. Even when people come back to you for more, you usually turn them down, right?” Phayu just shrugs. “Seriously, when was the last time you were in a real relationship?”
“The year after he graduated university,” Saifah helpfully supplies before Phayu can say anything.
Prapai chortles, and Phayu gives Saifah the middle finger. Saifah just grins and shrugs, unfazed.
“I’m picky with my partners. I don’t like just anyone,” Phayu says calmly.
“But Rain fits your type?” Prapai asks. His voice has gone a little soft and his face has lost the mirth from before. He’s asking a serious question.
So Phayu gives him a serious answer. “Yeah. I think he does.”
“Phayu.” Saifah leaves the kitchen and comes to stand in front of the couch, facing Phayu with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks very, very serious.
“What?”
“All teasing aside,” Saifah begins, “are you sure about what you’re doing? Because from all I’ve heard, Rain has been through a lot. He doesn’t deserve to be messed with any more than he already has been.”
“It’s true, he has,” Prapai agrees. “And you’ve spent the last five years sleeping around. That’s exactly what Plerng did before Rain and kept doing even after they got married.” He turns more fully towards Phayu, his face now as serious as Saifah’s. “Don’t do anything with Rain unless you’re serious. Or unless he knows you don’t want anything serious, I guess.”
“I would never do what Plerng did. To Rain or to anyone else,” Phayu says. He’d be offended that they even think he’d be capable of that, but he knows it’s not about him.
It’s about Rain, and about making sure Phayu doesn’t hurt him, accidentally or otherwise.
“I know that, but Rain’s sensitive right now. Probably more sensitive than he even realizes,” Prapai says.
“I’m not gonna mess with Rain. I promise,” Phayu says and hopes that the finality in his voice is enough to drop the subject.
“If you did, Sky would eat you alive,” Prapai says, just a little proud. A part of Phayu thinks he’d let Sky do that if he ever did hurt Rain, but he doesn’t say that out loud, and Prapai continues talking. “But if you’re planning on pursuing Rain, how’s it gonna work when you’re his divorce lawyer?”
“Our company doesn’t have any rules against lawyers dating clients,” Phayu says.
“Because we’ve never needed a rule like that before,” Saifah adds dryly. Prapai chortles, while Phayu ignores his brother.
“It won’t be an issue,” he promises Prapai, and Prapai nods.
The only possible issue is that Plerng might use Phayu and Rain’s relationship against them in the settlement case. It’d be extremely hypocritical of him, given that the divorce is happening because he couldn’t keep it in his pants, but it is still a possibility. And if he does decide to make it an issue, then Phayu is willing to wait until after the divorce is settled to make any serious moves.
Rain is worth it.
Rain makes the decision to go to Phayu’s office pretty spontaneously.
He gets a text from Prapai about picking Sky up for dinner, and he’s kind enough to ask if he should pick up Rain as well, but Rain tells him not to. He already feels like he’s imposing on their alone-time a lot just by living with them. He doesn’t need to third-wheel their date.
But he doesn’t just tell Prapai that. Instead, he tells Prapai that he already has dinner plans, even though he doesn’t, and leaves the house immediately, just in case Prapai comes back to check on him or pick something up. His only plan is to go get some dinner somewhere, but as he’s walking towards a nearby food truck, Phayu pops into his head.
Phayu probably hasn’t eaten dinner yet, since it’s still a little early. He might not even be done working yet.
But it’s been a few days since they last saw each other, and even though they’ve texted back and forth a bit, Rain wants to see him again. And Sky has told him to follow his heart and his feelings, and they’re both currently telling Rain to go see if Phayu will go out for a meal with him.
So he hails a motorbike taxi and gives the driver the address to Phayu’s office.
He’s got butterflies in his stomach, and they’re not deterred by the receptionist telling him that Phayu is at a meeting and will be back later. She’s kind enough to set him up with a drink and a few snacks in the lounge while he waits.
The butterflies do start dying out as time passes, though. But it’s okay that the butterflies disappear, because Rain still doesn’t mind waiting however long it takes Phayu to show up.
“Rain?”
He looks up at the sound of his name to see Saifah standing in the entrance to the lounge, eyebrows furrowed.
“Hello P’Saifah,” Rain says brightly and wais.
“What are you doing here?” Saifah asks. “Did you have a meeting with Phayu today?”
“No, I just thought I’d come by and see if he wanted to grab dinner with me. P’Pai’s taking Sky out on a date,” Rain explains.
Saifah glances at his watch. “How long have you been waiting for?”
“Um.” Rain looks at the time on his phone. It’s later than he thought. “About two hours, I think.”
“Really?” Now Saifah’s eyebrows are by his hairline. “Does Phayu know you’re waiting for him?”
“I don’t think so.” Honestly, it hadn’t even occurred to Rain to text Phayu and ask. He’d been told Phayu would be back after his meeting, and that had felt like all he needed to know.
“I gotta say,” Saifah starts as he sits down across from Rain, “I admire you, Rain. Waiting for my brother for hours like this.”
“Why?” Rain asks. Excitement starts bubbling in his stomach, but he does his best to not let it spread or, god forbid, show it. “Am I the first to do that?”
“Pfft, not even close,” Saifah says with a chuckle.
The excitement dies again.
“Then why do you admire me?” Rain asks.
“Because even though a lot of people have waited for him, no one’s managed to tie him down,” Saifah explains. “And let me tell you, a lot of people have tried.”
Something heavy settles in Rain’s stomach, where the excitement had been just a second before.
“What does that mean?” he asks carefully.
“I don’t know what’s up with him. I guess he’s really specific about his preferences or something, but he’s never been in a serious relationship. He’s been a player basically since high school,” Saifah says.
It’s nothing, Rain tells himself. It means nothing. But he still can’t stop the dread and panic from spreading throughout his body. Phayu’s a player. He’s never been in a serious relationship. He’s specific about his preferences, whatever that means.
Plerng had been a player. He’d never been in a serious relationship. And in the end, he’d been a cheater.
Rain has never been anyone’s specific preference. People find him annoying, he knows, and he doesn’t have a long list of past conquests to prove that he’s particularly desirable. Hell, not even his own husband found him desirable, at least not enough to stay faithful. And no matter what Prapai and Sky say, Rain can’t shake the feeling that Plerng cheated because there was something Rain did wrong or couldn’t do for him.
Phayu might seem interested right now, but would Rain be able to keep Phayu interested? Would he be enough to stop Phayu from being a player?
And despite the feelings he knows he has now, does he even want to risk trying?
Saifah must be able to see something on his face, because he straightens up and gives Rain a very serious look.
“I know what happened with your husband. I don’t want to warn you off Phayu or anything, but I thought you should know,” he says.
“Right,” Rain mumbles.
“But I’ve also never seen Phayu take as much interest in anyone as he’s taken in you,” Saifah says quickly. “That’s why I admire you. You’re making him change his behavior. And I haven’t seen anyone else around him for a while now.”
A while is a very vague statement. It can mean anything from a week to a month, and it does very little to make Rain’s nerves settle.
But he’s not about to show any weakness, even if Saifah isn’t dangerous.
So he squares his shoulders and hardens his voice as he says, “Why should I care? I don’t like him like that. And I don’t care what his history is.”
Saifah relaxes back into his seat. Rain can’t tell if Saifah believes him or not, but at least he’s no longer looking at Rain like he’s a startled animal.
“Okay. Sorry if I scared you off him or anything. That’s not what I wanted. I just don’t want you to be blindsided either,” Saifah says softly.
“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal,” Rain says, and it feels like a lie.
Before Saifah can say anything else, the door to the lounge opens and Phayu steps in.
“Speak of the devil,” Saifah says, with his usual grin back in place. “I’ll see you around, Rain.”
He gets up and heads for the door. When he reaches Phayu, he claps him on the shoulder and leans in to whisper something to him. Rain can’t hear what, but it makes the corners of Phayu’s mouth tug up in a small smile. Then, with a final wave over his shoulder, Saifah’s gone, and it’s just Rain and Phayu.
Earlier, that would have made Rain feel giddy. Feel those butterflies again.
Now, he can’t help but wonder if it makes Phayu feel anything too, or if this is just normal for him.
He moves his lips a little, trying to come up with something, anything, to say, but nothing comes to mind that doesn’t sound pathetic.
“Ant bit your lips?” Phayu asks, amused, as he moves closer.
But this doesn’t feel like a very amusing situation anymore. Not after what Saifah said.
“The fuck it did,” Rain snaps before he can think about it.
Phayu shifts his weight onto one foot and gives Rain a stern look. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t like vulgar language.”
Rain forcibly relaxes his body a little. Getting worked up right now won’t do him any good.
“I’m sorry,” he says, clipped, and gets to his feet. “I’m going home.”
Before he can step away, Phayu grabs his arm, keeping him from going anywhere.
“What’s wrong?” he asks softly.
“Nothing. You look tired, so I shouldn’t disturb you,” Rain says and hopes it sounds convincing.
Going by the look on Phayu’s face, it doesn’t.
“You waited for two hours, didn’t you?” he asks. “And you’re happy with just seeing me for two minutes?”
Rain looks away. “Sure,” he lies.
He’s never been very good at lying, which is probably why Phayu sees through him immediately. Phayu’s hand trails down Rain’s arm to his hand to hold it.
“I’m hungry. Let’s get dinner together,” Phayu says.
“It’s fine,” Rain says and he tries to sound firm, but even he can tell that he doesn’t succeed. He’s just not sure what to think or feel right now. He’s only just gotten to terms with how much he likes Phayu, and he’d been pretty sure the feelings were mutual. But now he knows that Phayu isn’t the relationship type, and even if Saifah had tried to reassure him that Phayu has changed, Rain just really doesn’t know if he can go back there again.
And yet he can’t make himself just walk away resolutely. Phayu makes him feel too many wonderful things for that.
Phayu tugs him towards the door. “Come on. Let’s go. I’ll pay.”
And Rain is helpless to do anything but just follow.
Phayu takes Rain to that same porridge shop where they had their first meal together.
He’d been pleasantly surprised when Nui told him Rain was waiting for him, and then a little worried when he’d walked into the lounge to see Rain looking pensive.
“Be nice to him. He’s been waiting for you for two hours,” Saifah had whispered to him before he left, and Phayu hadn’t thought much about it at first. Now, however, he’s thinking about it.
Mostly he’s thinking about what exactly Saifah told Rain while he was waiting to put him in a mood like that.
Rain is quiet the whole way to the restaurant. At least he’s not avoiding eye contact, though, and for the most part, he looks at Phayu the same way he always does. Every now and then something nervous and pensive will cross his face again, but mostly he looks normal. Phayu takes that as a good sign.
They get seated, and once again, Rain picks up the notepad and pen first.
“What do you wanna eat?” he asks. He sounds normal too.
“Trying to get to know me?” Phayu teases.
That makes Rain glare at him, but only a little. “Get to know you my foot,” he snaps. There’s not as much heat to it as Phayu knows he’s capable of, but still. Either Rain isn’t good with teasing, or something has happened tonight to make him like this. “Can’t you see I’m trying to order food?”
“I’ll eat whatever you order,” Phayu tells him.
Rain squints at him. It seems playful, which is another good sign. “Sure about that, Phi?”
“You should know me well enough by now to know what I don’t like,” Phayu says easily.
Rain blushes and quickly looks down. Not quickly enough that Phayu doesn’t see what his face looks like, though, and it looks… conflicted, almost.
Phayu definitely needs to get to the bottom of whatever happened when Rain was talking with Saifah.
Rain scribbles an order on the notepad and wordlessly slides it over to Phayu so he can see it. Phayu nods once, then hands the notepad to a passing waiter and turns his full attention on Rain.
Rain startles a little, like he’s surprised. “What are you looking at?” he asks.
“Someone cute,” Phayu says simply.
“Flatterer,” Rain huffs, flustered. It only makes him cuter.
And Phayu could spend a lot of time just watching Rain and telling him how cute he is, but there are more important things to do right now.
“Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong now?” Phayu asks, not bothering to beat around the bush here. Whatever happened, they need to clear it up. Phayu doesn’t want some small miscommunication or something to ruin things, especially not this early.
But Rain straightens up and looks away, avoiding eye contact. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s wrong.”
Phayu gives him a look.
“You waited for me to show up for two hours, and then tried to leave immediately, after talking with Saifah for a bit. What did he say to you?”
“Nothing,” Rain mumbles. Phayu sighs.
“Rain,” he says softly. “Look at me.” After a moment’s hesitation, Rain complies. “Tell me, please. What happened? What did Saifah say to you?”
Rain studies his face for a moment, like he’s trying to figure something out.
“Just… that you’re a player. And that you’ve never been in a serious relationship,” he admits. His voice is quiet, but steady. Phayu frowns and Rain continues. “I guess he just wanted me to know, in case we…”
He trails off without finishing his sentence, but Phayu doesn’t need him to.
Phayu closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. So that’s what this is about. Saifah said things to Rain that have made him question Phayu’s intentions and sincerity. He probably hadn’t even meant to do that, but Rain’s history with Plerng probably means that hearing about Phayu’s history is enough to make him doubt things. Phayu certainly doesn’t blame him for that, and on some level, he doesn’t blame Saifah for wanting Rain to have all the facts, either.
Though that doesn’t mean that Phayu doesn’t currently want to hit his twin over the head for this.
“I’ve never been a player the way Plerng is,” Phayu begins. Rain tilts his head cutely. “I didn’t sleep around because I didn’t want to settle down, like Plerng did. I did it because I hadn’t found someone I wanted to settle down with, that’s all. But I also wanted to have fun, so I had a lot of flings and casual relationships. I always made sure my partners knew what my intentions were. I never promised anyone anything I couldn’t keep.”
“I see,” Rain murmurs, but he doesn’t sound fully convinced.
So Phayu keeps going.
“Plerng said for years that he would never get married, because he liked playing the field and keeping all his options open too much. I’ve never said anything like that. I’ve always wanted to find the right person to settle down with. I just didn’t want to keep myself closed off while I was looking,” he explains. Rain’s mouth twitches a little at the mention of Plerng. “But I also knew that as soon as I found that person, I wouldn’t look at anyone else. Not even before we got together officially.”
“P’Saifah also said… he said that… he hasn’t seen you with anyone for a while,” Rain says. He sounds hesitant but hopeful, and it’s a lot better than the quiet cautiousness from earlier.
“I haven’t been with anyone since I took your case,” Phayu confirms.
“Because you’ve been too busy?” Rain asks.
Phayu leans forward on the table. “Because I’ve found someone I’m serious about.” Rain’s breath visibly hitches. “I like you, Rain. I like you a lot. And I want to date you. That’s what I’ve been working towards. To me, the meals we’ve had together have been like dates.”
A blush spreads on Rain’s face and his eyes go very wide. It’s cute, but he also looks nervous.
“P’Plerng told me that too, back when we got together,” he says, just as Phayu expected him to. “He said I shouldn’t care about his past because he was serious about me. And then –”
Rain cuts himself off and looks away.
“Rain, look at me,” Phayu says softly, because he wants Rain to see his face when he says this. Slowly, Rain complies. “I know it must be hard for you to trust again after what Plerng has done, but you can trust me. If you ask Prapai and Sky, I’m sure they’ll tell you I’m more trustworthy than Plerng, as well.”
“They said I could trust P’Plerng,” Rain points out. “I’m not sure I trust their judgement anymore either.”
Phayu huffs out a quiet laugh. “I understand that. But I mean what I’m saying. I am serious about dating you. And only you.”
Finally, a small smile appears on Rain’s face.
“Really?” he asks hopefully. Phayu gives him a warm smile and nods. “You want to date me?”
“I do. I really do,” Phayu confirms.
The excitement that bubbles up in Rain is visible. His face brightens and his posture changes as he starts fidgeting, like he’s trying to stop himself from jumping with joy. Maybe he is.
Then, with a burst of confidence, he blurts out, “I like you too, Phi!”
Phayu glances around and isn’t surprised to see that they’ve attracted the attention of some of the other patrons at the restaurant. Phayu doesn’t mind, but Rain’s face goes very red when he notices as well, and he curls in on himself a little, clearly embarrassed.
It doesn’t matter to Phayu how many people are looking at them. All that matters to him is that he knows for sure now that Rain likes him back. He’d thought as much, but there’s a difference between thinking and knowing.
“I was hoping you did,” he says gently.
“Then… where do we go from here?” Rain asks.
“I think we should wait until after your divorce is settled,” Phayu replies. Rain tilts his head again. “It probably won’t matter to your case, but we don’t want to give Plerng any ammunition.”
“You think he’d use that we… against me?” Rain asks. It’s cute that he can’t even bring himself to say that they’d be dating.
“Not really. But there is a risk that he or his lawyer might say you’re not as hurt by his betrayal as you were because you’ve moved on. It’s just better to wait and be on the safe side,” Phayu explains.
“That could take ages. Can you even wait that long?” The nervousness and uncertainty is back in Rain’s voice.
Phayu puts his hand on the table, palm up. Rain looks at it for a moment, then slowly places his own hand on top. Phayu curls their hands together.
“I’ll wait however long I need to. I won’t get distracted or tempted anywhere else when I know what I have waiting for me. Even if it takes months,” he says, with as much sincerity as he can put into his voice.
Rain takes a deep breath. “Okay, P’Phayu. I believe you.”
It’s the best thing Phayu has heard all day. Maybe even longer.
Rain wakes up from his nap to the sound of Prapai’s loud voice. He can’t tell what Prapai is saying, just that his voice is raised, and from the tone, he doesn’t sound happy. Rain gets out of bed and opens the door, with the intention of going to see what’s up, when the sound of another voice makes him freeze on the spot.
“Come on, Phi! He’s being unreasonable!”
That’s Plerng’s voice. And Rain doesn’t have to use three guesses to figure out who the he is in that sentence.
“Unreasonable?” Prapai echoes. “It’s unreasonable that he wants you to compensate for the time and effort he’s put into your relationship?”
“He’s doing this for revenge and we all know it,” Plerng huffs.
“And you deserve everything he throws at you,” Prapai growls. “Why are you making it so difficult anyway? It’s not like you can’t afford it!”
“I’m making it difficult?”
“Just give Rain what he wants and let him be done with you!”
“Why is everyone on his side?” Plerng whines. He’s always been a little whiny, but Rain used to find it cute. Not so much anymore.
“Because you cheated on him!” Prapai exclaims, frustrated.
The reminder of what Plerng did still makes Rain both angry and upset, but not as much as it used to. The hurt in his chest is less piercing, and the feelings in his stomach are more settled. That must mean he’s on his way to getting past it, and that’s a nice realization to have.
And just in time for him to move on with someone way better, too.
“You’re acting like I’m the only person in the world who’s ever cheated,” Plerng says. Rain wants to march out there and punch him. He might be getting past what happened, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped hating Plerng yet.
He doesn’t do that, but he does move closer, while making sure to keep out of sight.
“Just because other people have done it doesn’t make it okay!” Prapai snaps.
“You slept around too, Phi!” Plerng protests.
Rain stiffens, ready to barge out there in a blaze of fury if Prapai has cheated on Sky, but before he can move, Prapai says, “Not while I was committed to someone!” And Rain calms down again. He knows about Prapai sleeping around and having multiple casual partners at the same time. Sky doesn’t care about that, and neither does Rain. The important part is that Prapai doesn’t sleep around anymore. “I didn’t promise loyalty and fidelity to Sky, only to turn around and basically start dating around again. I always made sure my partners knew what they could expect from me.”
Plerng groans. “Why did you encourage me to get married anyway?”
“Because I thought Rain would be good for you,” Prapai says, exasperated. Rain winces. That clearly didn’t happen. “I know you decided to get married to get mom off your back, but I thought you were at least gonna give it a serious try. I thought you respected Rain more than this.”
“Hey, you and Sky didn’t tell him either!” Plerng says.
For the second time, Rain freezes, but this time, it’s even worse. An uneasy feeling settles in his stomach and makes his chest tighten.
What exactly did Prapai and Sky not tell him? Because he’s got a very bad feeling about the answer to that.
“But I also told you back then that if you didn’t come clean, I would tell Rain,” Prapai counters. “And I would’ve fully supported Sky if he decided to go tell Rain immediately. He might have shouted at you, but you only heard the half of it back then. You have no idea how pissed Sky was to find his best friend’s husband on a date with another man.”
Rain feels like throwing up.
He’d found out about Plerng cheating because he walked in on him in bed with someone else. Not on a date. And he’d told Sky immediately that day. There’s no way Sky could have discovered Plerng’s cheating in between Rain discovering it and Rain telling him.
Which means Sky and Prapai found out before Rain did.
They found out before Rain, and they didn’t tell him.
Yeah, Rain thinks he might throw up.
He doesn’t hear what Plerng says in response because his ears are just filled with white noise as he tries to remember to breathe properly. He doesn’t tune into the world around him again until he hears the front door open, and Sky happily calls out, “Hey!”
“Hey baby!” Prapai calls back, sounding less enthusiastic than he usually does. “I’m in the dining room!”
There’s footsteps as Sky walks to the dining room, and when they stop, there’s silence for a moment.
Then Sky says, voice as hard and cold as steel, “What the hell is he doing here?”
“He came to whine at me about how unfair life is right now,” Prapai says.
“Well, get him out,” Sky says. “Rain is home.”
“He’s here?” Going by the tone of Prapai’s voice, he genuinely had no idea Rain was in the house.
Maybe if he had, he wouldn’t have let the conversation go that way.
Finally, Rain manages to get himself together enough to move. While Sky tells Prapai that yes, Rain is home, Rain walks the short distance to the dining room and steps in.
“Yeah, I’m here,” he says, and he’s proud of how calm he manages to keep his voice.
“Rain,” Prapai says, eyes wide, and he’s no doubt wondering how much Rain heard. Next to him is Plerng, looking just as shocked to see Rain as Prapai is, but a lot less worried. Rain ignores him. Plerng isn’t important right now.
“Hey,” Sky says warmly, because he has no idea what’s just happened. Then he turns to Plerng and his voice goes hard again. “You. Get out.”
“I can’t come see my own brother?” Plerng asks, crossing his arms.
“Not while Rain is living with us,” Sky bites back, without an ounce of hesitation. Because he’s on Rain’s side. He and Prapai have always been on Rain’s side.
Except now Rain knows something else too.
“I heard what you said, P’Pai,” he blurts out.
Prapai’s eyes manage to go even wider, and a horrified look settles on his face. Sky looks between the two of them, confused, because he has no idea what that means. Plerng does seem to know what it means, though, because he starts looking awkward and slowly inches his way towards the exit.
“Uh, I should probably go,” he mumbles.
“Yeah, you should,” Prapai says, voice hard.
“I’ll see you some other time, Phi,” Plerng says as he continues to shuffle out of the room.
“Don’t count on it for a while!” Sky says sharply. “And you shouldn’t even be here at all!”
“Sky.” Prapai pulls Sky closer and mumbles something in his ear. Something that makes Sky’s eyes go just as wide and his whole face falls.
“Rain,” he says and reaches out for Rain’s arm. Rain jerks back like Sky’s touch would burn him. “Rain, please listen to me first –”
“You knew!” Rain shouts. He doesn’t care if Plerng is still in the house and can hear him. He doesn’t care about anything but how hurt and betrayed he feels right now. It’s just as bad as when he found out about Plerng cheating on him. “You knew! And you kept it from me! How could you!”
“Rain, listen,” Sky tries again, stepping forward and reaching out, but Rain steps back again. “We didn’t mean to hurt you, we just –”
“When did you find out?” Rain asks, cutting off whatever Sky wanted to say.
The way Sky and Prapai both wince feels like a knife in the chest.
“A couple of months,” Sky admits. Rain’s eyes widen.
“You knew P’Plerng was cheating months before I did, and you didn’t tell me! Why?” he can feel tears welling up in his eyes.
“We didn’t wanna hurt you,” Sky says.
Rain stares at him in disbelief. What kind of excuse is that? They wouldn’t have hurt him if they’d told him. They’ve hurt him because they didn’t tell him.
“This hurts me!” he cries out.
“Rain, please calm down,” Prapai says gently.
“I will not calm down!” Rain shouts. Prapai raises his hands in surrender, but Rain doesn’t care about that. “I thought I could trust you two! And now I find out that you just let P’Plerng keep cheating on me without doing anything!”
“That’s not true!” Sky protests. “We both told him to stop or to tell you!”
“But you didn’t tell me!” Rain counters angrily. He takes a deep breath in a weak attempt to calm himself down. It doesn’t help all that much. He needs to get out of there. “Some best friend you are.”
And with that, he runs. He runs out of the dining room, out of the apartment, and just barely remembers to grab his bag with his wallet on the way out. He ignores Prapai and Sky calling after him, as well as the sounds of their footsteps behind him. He just wrenches the front door open, slams it shut behind himself, and keeps running.
“You’re humming.”
Phayu stops pouring coffee and looks up at Saifah. He’s standing in the doorway to the office kitchen, staring at Phayu like he’s grown a second head.
“Why are you staring at me?” he asks.
“Because you were humming!” Saifah replies. “Are you sick or something?”
“Mind your own business,” Phayu huffs.
“Oh wait, I know!” Saifah smirks annoyingly. “You’re lovesick, right?”
Phayu rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. Denying it would be a lie and confirming it will just make Saifah worse. Silence is the best option. Unfortunately, that also means Saifah continues to talk. “No wonder P’Aon and P’Nui were looking weird when I walked past them, if you’re humming like a lovesick teenager.”
“Mind your own business,” Phayu repeats.
Saifah laughs and leans against the counter.
“I take it that it’s going well with Rain,” he says, as if Phayu had said nothing.
“Yeah. No thanks to you,” Phayu says pointedly.
“Me?” Saifah points to himself, surprised. “What did I do?”
“That chat you had with Rain the other day when he waited for me had him questioning if I was like Plerng or if I was serious about him,” Phayu explains, and turns to face Saifah fully. “Why did you say that to him?”
He’s not mad about it, because it didn’t cause any harm, but he does wonder. He’d talked with Saifah just a few days before that about being serious about Rain, and yet Saifah had said enough to make Rain nervous about Phayu’s intentions.
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I just thought he should know, so you two could talk it out,” Saifah replies. “I also told him you seemed sincere enough.”
“How generous of you.”
“Aow, Phayu,” Saifah whines. “I really didn’t mean to upset him or anything.”
Phayu sighs. “It’s fine. We did talk about it, and it probably was a good thing that we did,” he admits.
“Then why did you make such a big deal out of it?” Saifah asks, exasperated.
“To tease you,” Phayu grins. Big deal also seems like an exaggeration to him, but he chooses not to mention it. Saifah likes being a little dramatic sometimes. Saifah glares balefully at him, and it takes everything Phayu has not to start laughing out loud.
“Are you this mean to Rain, too?” Saifah asks.
“If Rain couldn’t handle it,” Phayu says, straightening a little, “I wouldn’t be pursuing him this hard.”
Saifah scoffs, but he’s smiling. “I feel sorry for Rain,” he mumbles.
Phayu chooses to ignore that.
“I have to work late tonight, so I’ll run down and grab some dinner down the street later. Do you want me to get something for you as well or are you going home before then?” he asks.
“Nah, I’ve got stuff to work on as well. And I never say no to free food,” Saifah says, grinning again. Phayu rolls his eyes, but decides not to mention that he hadn’t said anything about paying for the food. He can buy Saifah some dinner. “Even though I’m sure you’d rather be paying for Rain’s dinner instead.”
Phayu says his reply over his shoulder as he leaves the kitchenette. “Obviously.”
“Rain! Rain!”
The sound of his name shakes Rain out of the daze he’s in. Or at least, it’s enough to make him aware of his surroundings again. He’s not actually sure how long he’s just been standing in front of Phayu’s office building, not doing anything. He barely even remembers rattling off the address to a motorbike taxi. It started raining somewhere along the drive, and by now the rain has turned into a pretty heavy downpour.
And yet Rain is still just standing there. He hasn’t even gone into the reception to stay dry, and he feels like his brain is barely registering how wet he actually is now.
He looks up and spots Saifah running out of the building and towards him with an umbrella in hand.
“P’Saifah,” Rain mumbles. He’s not even sure Saifah can hear him over the rain.
“Rain, what are you doing standing out here?” Saifah asks. He stands close enough that the umbrella covers both of them, and Rain appreciates the gesture, but he knows it doesn’t matter all that much for him. He’s already drenched.
“Is P’Phayu here?” he asks, without thinking. Then he realizes that it must be well past regular working hours. “Wait, never mind…”
He trails off, unsure of what to say or do. He came here to see Phayu, but if Phayu’s not here, then he doesn’t know where to go. And he has no idea what to do. He’s not even sure what Phayu can do to help him. Or what he needs help with in the first place.
Thinking about it makes him want to cry. He’s managed to keep himself from doing that so far, but he’s not sure he’ll be able to stop himself for much longer.
“Not right now,” Saifah replies, and Rain feels his heart sinking into his stomach. “But he’s just gone to get food. He’ll be back soon. Let’s get you inside first.”
Saifah puts an arm around Rain’s shoulders to kindly but firmly move him indoors. Rain follows without a word.
He still feels kind of dazed, but he thinks the reception is empty as Saifah leads him through that, past the lounge where Rain last waited, and instead takes him all the way to Phayu’s office. He gets Rain settled on the couch, and after that, Rain is left on his own.
He sinks into the leather and tries not to cry.
Prapai and Sky knew. They’ve known for ages.
It doesn’t feel the same way it felt to find out that Plerng had been cheating on him, but it still feels like betrayal. A different kind, maybe, but betrayal nonetheless. They’d known for months what Plerng had been doing, and they hadn’t bothered to tell Rain anything.
Though if he thinks back, he remembers Sky saying things that were maybe meant to nudge Rain in the right direction. Like asking him about Plerng’s whereabouts a lot or asking if they were happy.
And there was that time Sky insisted they go to an amusement park, and he kept moving all over the place and looking around, and then they ran into Plerng. He’d said he was there for a business meeting with a whimsical client, and Sky had drilled him for details on the client until Rain had told him to calm down.
He’d probably been there with someone else. And Rain suddenly realizes that Sky had probably known. That he’d wanted to go so Rain could catch Plerng, and when they didn’t, he’d tried to make Plerng slip up and reveal himself.
And now that Rain thinks about it, there had been other instances like that, where Sky had been insistent on going to the mall or the beach, and spent a lot of time behaving weirdly like that. Sometimes they’d run into Plerng, and Rain had felt like it was a happy surprise.
He clenches his fists. He feels like an idiot, for not seeing the signs. But he’d felt like that when he discovered Plerng’s infidelity, and now it’s worse, because he hadn’t seen Sky’s hints, either.
But how was he supposed to figure it out? Why was he supposed to figure it out? Sky should have just told him, instead of trying to make Rain jump through the right hoops to make his own discoveries. No matter how much Sky was afraid that would hurt Rain, he’s completely sure now that Sky telling him his husband was cheating would be far less painful than finding out now that Sky kept that information a secret for months.
Because this hurts.
And he now can’t help but wonder if all of Prapai and Sky’s support for him came from a place of guilt. Did they stand on his side and push away Plerng because they were guilty that they hadn’t told Rain anything sooner?
The door opens and Phayu steps in, a little wet and with a bag of food in one hand. He puts the food down on a table and slowly, carefully, starts moving towards Rain. Like Rain is a spooked animal he needs to treat with gentle care. Faintly, it makes Rain wonder how bad he looks, but more than that, he’s wondering if that’s how people see him.
Like someone who can’t handle anything. Who needs people to walk on eggshells and keep hurtful information from him.
He doesn’t want that to be who he is. He doesn’t want that to be how people see him.
But maybe they’re right to treat him like that. He hasn’t taken the news about Plerng, or the news about Sky and Prapai, with all that much calm.
Phayu sits down on the couch next to Rain and opens his arms to him. When Rain doesn’t move, Phayu gives him a small, reassuring nod, and says, “Come here.”
And after a moment of hesitation, Rain throws himself into Phayu’s arms, no longer able to hold the tears back.
“P’Phayu,” he cries, muffled into Phayu’s shoulder.
“It’s okay. I’m here now,” Phayu says quietly.
“It hurts, Phi,” is all Rain can get out.
“It’s okay, good boy,” Phayu says. He leans back and moves his hands to gently cup Rain’s face. “Let me see.” Rain can’t imagine there’s much to see. He’s a wet, crying mess. “You look like a drowned rat.”
They’re not nice words, maybe, but Phayu’s voice is still so soft and gentle. Besides, Rain knows Phayu is right. He was standing in the rain for who knows how long, and now his tears are mixing in with the water and making his face even wetter.
But Phayu doesn’t seem to care. He just pulls Rain back into the hug without another word, while Rain keeps crying.
After a long moment, Phayu breaks the silence again.
“I’m here for you. Don’t cry,” he mumbles.
“I don’t know what to do anymore, Phi,” Rain says through a thick lump in his throat.
One of Phayu’s hands moves from Rain’s back to the nape of his neck. “I’m here to talk,” he says, “if you want.”
Rain doesn’t even get to think about whether or not he wants to talk before he blurts out, “They knew.”
“Who knew what?” Phayu asks, confused but calming and patient.
Rain squeezes his eyes together, takes a deep breath and pulls out of Phayu’s embrace. He must look awful, with tears and snot all over a tomato-red face, but he doesn’t really care. He wants to see Phayu’s face when he says this. He wants to see Phayu’s reaction.
If he finds out that Phayu also knew… he’s not sure what he’ll do.
“Sky and P’Pai. They knew P’Plerng was cheating on me. They found out a couple months before I did,” Rain croaks. “And they kept his secret. They didn’t tell me.”
Phayu’s face goes very, very blank. “What?”
“P’Phayu, did you know too?” Rain asks. He has to ask. He has to know. “Did P’Pai tell you before? Or when he asked you to help me?”
The horror that spreads on Phayu’s face makes Rain feel just a little bit relieved. And a little bit safe, too, even before Phayu has replied.
“No,” Phayu says firmly and squeezes Rain’s shoulders. “No, I had no idea. If I’d known, I would have told Prapai to tell you, I swear.”
Relieved, Rain nods. “I believe you.”
Phayu breathes out, and he looks as relieved as Rain feels.
“How did you find out?” he asks.
So Rain tells Phayu about Plerng coming over, the conversation he overheard, and Prapai and Sky admitting what they’d done. When he’s done, he says, “I don’t know what to do now. I don’t wanna go back there and face them, but… I also don’t really have anywhere else to go. My parents don’t live in the city.”
“You can stay with me,” Phayu says. Rain looks at him, surprised, with eyes that probably look like teacups, but Phayu just smiles reassuringly at him. “For as long as you’d like.”
Rain doesn’t have a lot of other options. He could probably find some, if he wanted to. But he doesn’t really.
Staying with Phayu sounds pretty wonderful, so he returns the smile and nods. “I’d like that.”
“Good,” Phayu says, with the finality of someone making a decision. “I’ll get you some dinner and then we can go home.”
Home. Home with Phayu. What a wonderful notion.
Especially when Rain doesn’t currently really have a home at all.
Phayu buys a toothbrush and underwear for Rain in the morning, and delivers them to a still tired-looking Rain. He gets Rain to blush by saying he’s good at guessing underwear sizes, but apart from that, Rain’s mood still seems dampened. So while Rain showers, Phayu makes eggs, bacon, and French toast for breakfast, in the hopes that some good food will get his spirits up a little.
The shower seems to help. When Rain comes down the stairs, he’s smiling, at least.
“Food smells good, Phi,” he says. “Can I help with anything?”
“Do you know how to cook?” Phayu asks.
Rain pauses, then shakes his head a little. “I can make rice. And I know how to handle knives and stuff! But I’ve never really cooked a meal.”
He both sounds and looks embarrassed at that admission, but it doesn’t surprise Phayu. Prapai’s family have never been strangers to hiring chefs to cook for them, so he suspects Plerng will have been the same. Rain has talked before about surviving on takeout, instant noodles, and food stalls throughout his time in university, like a lot of other students do, and since he got married before he graduated, he won’t have had any time outside of university to try cooking for real.
Maybe one day, Phayu will get to teach Rain how to cook. Or they’ll at least get to cook together. He’d like that a lot, and he thinks Rain would too.
This morning doesn’t feel like the right time for that, though.
“Why don’t you set the table, then?” Phayu suggests instead and points to a cabinet. “There are plates and glasses over there.”
Rain nods cutely and starts setting the table. Once he’s done, he leans against the counter and just watches as Phayu finishes cooking. It’s the kind of scenario that Phayu wants to be a common occurrence in the future.
But today probably isn’t the day to dwell too much on dreams like that. There are things that need to be handled.
Like Prapai and Sky, and how Rain is going to proceed now.
Breakfast first, though.
Rain helps Phayu carry the plates of food to the table and excitedly digs in once Phayu gives him the go ahead.
“Mmm!” Rain hums happily around a mouthful of French toast. “This is delicious!”
“I’m glad you like it,” Phayu says and starts eating his own eggs. “It’s good to see you smile again.”
Of course, saying that makes Rain’s smile dim down to almost nothing again. Phayu regrets his words almost instantly. Rain avoids his eyes and looks around instead, in what looks like a very obvious attempt to find a distraction.
“You have a beautiful house,” he says, apropos of nothing.
“You can stay here as long as you want,” Phayu says.
At least that makes Rain smile a little again. “Thanks, Phi,” he says, “but I should probably find a different solution. It’s not like the plan was to stay with Sky and P’Pai forever, so maybe I should just find my own place now, instead of waiting for the divorce to be finalized.”
“It’s up to you. But you’ll always be welcome here, whenever you want and however long you want,” Phayu says firmly.
“Thank you.” The smile Rain gives him is still small but radiating. He pick up another piece of French toast and takes a bite. “I might stay at least one more night here.”
Phayu nods. “What are you gonna do about Prapai and Sky?”
Rain puts down his toast and looks at his plate.
“I don’t know,” he says quietly. “I don’t know how to deal with it. It feels like… almost like it hurt as much as it did when I found out that P’Plerng was cheating on me. But in a different way. Sky’s been my best friends since our first year of university. It’s always felt like he was there for me. And he and P’Pai have both been so good to me since I found out about P’Plerng. They’ve been on my side, one hundred percent, the whole time, no matter what. And now I know that they actually knew before I did. And they didn’t say anything. They just let him keep betraying me like that.”
Phayu can’t help but reach over the table and take one of Rain’s hands in his own. Rain looks at him, surprised, but curls his own fingers around Phayu’s as well.
“I’m so sorry you’re going through this right now,” he says, even though it feels inadequate. “They should’ve told you the minute they found out themselves. You had the right to know. And now, you have the right to be hurt.”
“Sky is my best friend. Him and P’Pai are like family to me,” Rain mutters and squeezes Phayu’s hand. Phayu squeezes back. “I’m so mad at them, and I’m hurt, but… they’re also the ones I usually go to when I’m hurt. I wanna shout at them, but I also want them to hug me.”
“You can do both,” Phayu says simply. Rain tilts his head. “In any case, I think you need to talk to them. And maybe start by just talking to Sky. Hear what he has to say and take it from there.”
Rain nods a little. “Okay. I should do that, yeah. I’ll… I’ll call him.”
“And when you’re done, you can come to me. To talk some more, or just for comfort. Whatever you need,” Phayu tells him.
“Phi, you don’t have to do so much for me,” Rain tries, but Phayu shakes his head.
“I’m not doing any of this because I have to. I’m doing it because I want to. Because I like you, and I want to help you and be there for you, so you can be happy,” he says. Rain blushes a cute, deep shade of red. “And once all of this is over with Plerng and you’ve got your divorce papers, I’ll be there for you and make you happy every single day.”
Flustered, Rain opens and closes his mouth several times without making a single noise. Eventually, he pulls his hand away from Phayu’s and picks up his toast again.
“Don’t say things like that,” he mumbles before taking a bite.
“But I mean it,” Phayu says, which just makes Rain even redder, and Phayu smiles at that. Yes, this is definitely the future he wants.
Rain has what feels like a million unanswered texts from Sky and Prapai. Neither of them have tried calling him, but they’ve texted him every version of “we’re sorry” he can think of, and then some more. Rain hasn’t answered a single one of them.
But Phayu is right. He does need to talk to Sky, and he wants to hear Sky’s excuses face to face, so after breakfast, he sends Sky a text asking to meet up later. Sky immediately agrees.
Rain chooses a little coffee shop for their meet-up, so he can go in, get a drink before sitting down, and leave at any time without someone giving him weird looks for not ordering or something.
Sky is already there when Rain walks in, sitting at a table with his own drink. He smiles hopefully when he spots Rain, and it makes something in Rain’s stomach clench. He doesn’t return the smile, just points at the counter to indicate he’ll buy a drink before sitting down. It’ll give him an extra couple of minutes to prepare himself for this.
It doesn’t seem to help much, because when he sits down across from Sky, he still doesn’t know how to feel or what to do.
All he knows is that he hates this. He just wants his best friend to be his best friend.
“I’m glad you texted,” Sky says. “I’ve been really worried about you. P’Phayu texted P’Pai last night to tell us you were staying with him, but still.” Rain just shrugs. He doesn’t know what to say to that. “And I’m really happy you want to talk. I want to explain, and I promise, I won’t lie or keep anything from you. You can ask me anything.”
Rain takes a deep breath. It feels like he has a million questions that won’t consolidate into actual words. But he figures he can start from the beginning.
“How did you find out P’Plerng was cheating on me?” he asks.
It’s Sky’s turn to take a deep breath, like he’s bracing himself for something.
“P’Pai and I were going out for lunch. He’d heard about this new restaurant just outside the city from one of his co-workers. It was supposed to be really good, and we both had a free afternoon, so we went. And when we walked into the restaurant, we saw P’Plerng sitting in a booth with a guy neither of us knew. There was no way it was a business meeting either. P’Plerng had an arm around the guy, and the guy was feeding P’Plerng.” Sky scoffs and shakes his head. “It took me a second to realize what I was looking at. Then when I did, I marched over and pulled P’Plerng away, and I just started shouting at him. I don’t even remember what I said. I was so furious that he was doing something like that.”
“What about the guy?” Rain asks.
Sky blinks. “What about him?”
“Did he know what P’Plerng was doing?” Rain’s not sure why he’s asking, but there’s just a part of him that needs to know if Plerng’s side pieces were aware he was married, or if they were in the dark too.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. He seemed pretty confused, and kind of angry too,” Sky explains. Rain nods a little. He’s not relieved, but it is kind of nice to know. At least it doesn’t feel like Plerng was laughing at him behind his back with all his other dates, if they didn’t know.
“So what happened then?” Rain asks.
“The guy left. P’Pai paid for P’Plerng’s meal and we dragged him outside, so the rest of the restaurant wouldn’t stare at us,” Sky says.
“Right. Wouldn’t want other people knowing,” Rain says sarcastically.
“It wasn’t like that!” Sky says, hurried and panicked. Rain just looks away. “I promise, it had nothing to do with that! We just didn’t want to make a spectacle or cause a scene. And I wanted to know what he had to say for himself.”
“So what did he have to say?” Rain asks. He knows what Plerng had to say for himself when Rain discovered his cheating (“It doesn’t mean anything! It’s just a bit of fun. I still come home to you, don’t I?”), but he wonders what exactly Plerng said that made Sky and Prapai keep their mouths shut.
“A lot of crap,” Sky scoffs. “He said he loved you, but he just wasn’t the type to be tied down. He didn’t enjoy being limited to just one partner, and he missed the chase and the dating that came with early relationships. That’s what he said.”
Rain hums. It sounds a lot like what Plerng had told him, too.
And he remembers Sky being thoroughly unimpressed with those excuses when Rain told him about them.
“When I told you he’d said that to me, you told me it was bullshit,” he says, as calmly as he can manage. “You said I was right to not believe him, and that I was right to be mad at him and leave him. Did you only agree with me because I was so pissed off at the time? Or because you’d already heard it before?”
Sky’s face falls. “No. To both! I meant it, I really did.”
“Because you’d had time to think about it beforehand?”
“No, no, it wasn’t like that. I thought his excuses were bullshit when he said them to me, too,” Sky insists.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Rain asks and tries his best to ignore the hurt in his chest. He doesn’t want to seem hurt right now. Just like with Plerng he wants to be angry. “Did he ask you to and you just listened?”
“Well, he did ask us not to say anything,” Sky says and rolls his eyes. “He asked us not to ‘make a big deal’ about it.”
“And you just did what he asked?” Rain says hotly.
“No way!” Sky insists. “Or at least, that definitely wasn’t the main reason.”
“Then what was?”
Sky’s shoulders slump, and he shrinks in on himself a little.
“A few reasons,” he says quietly. Rain doesn’t know whether Sky having more than one reason makes it better or worse. “We wanted to give him a chance to tell you himself. I told him that he had to, or I’d tell you myself.”
“But he never did. And you didn’t either,” Rain points out. “I’m not surprised he didn’t, cause you finding out clearly had no consequences.”
“Rain, I wanted it to have consequences. I really meant it when I told him I’d tell you myself if he didn’t,” Sky says, with an earnestness that Rain just doesn’t quite feel. “I guess the main reason was that I just didn’t know how.”
“You go up to me and say, ‘Sorry I have to tell you this, but your husband is cheating on you’,” Rain says.
“It never seemed like the right time.”
“There’s not ever gonna be a right time.”
“I know, I know.” Sky looks so guilty. There’s a part of Rain that feels sorry for him. “You just seemed pretty happy and content, and I didn’t know how to break it to you. I know that’s not a good reason, but… that’s why.”
“If I seemed happy, why did you suddenly start asking me about my marriage?” Rain asks. Sky’s eyes widen a little. “You did that because you wanted me to start asking questions myself, wasn’t it? And that’s why you started dragging me around places, so I’d catch P’Plerng in the act. Right?”
Slowly, Sky nods. He clutches his drink hard enough that the lid starts coming off, and he quickly fiddles to get it back on. Probably more to distract himself than anything else.
Well, Rain’s not letting him out of this. “You tried to set it up, so I’d just discover it all myself, instead of just fucking telling me!”
“Rain, I’m so sorry.”
“And I’m hurt!” Rain snaps. Sky looks absolutely devastated. It makes Rain wonder what he looks like himself. “I thought I could count on my best friend, no matter what. I never thought you’d keep something like this a secret from me.”
“I’m really, really sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would,” Sky says. “I’d tell you the same day I found out.”
“But you didn’t,” Rain says, holding back tears as hard as he can. He will not cry in front of Sky. That’ll just make Sky comfort him, and Rain will forgive him before he’s sure he’s ready for that. “You hurt me by doing that a lot more than you would have if you just told me the truth.” He takes a deep breath. “I think you almost hurt me as much as P’Plerng did. I feels almost the same.”
Sky’s eyes are shiny and wet at this point. Usually, Rain would try to comfort him and not doing that now is just another layer of hurt.
“Rain, please,” Sky whispers. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“How could you do that to me?” Rain asks, with a lump in his throat that he’s pretty sure Sky can hear.
“Can you forgive me?” Sky asks, croaked.
Rain looks away again. “I don’t know. I hope so, but right now… I don’t know.” He needs to get out of there. “I’m gonna go.”
“Wait!” Sky’s hand shoots out to grab Rain’s wrist before he can get up. He looks desperate. It’s an odd look on him. It’s not one Rain has ever seen before. “Please don’t go yet.”
“I don’t wanna talk to you anymore right now,” Rain says, wrenching his wrist free, but Sky grabs it again immediately.
“I don’t want us to fall out –”
“Then you shouldn’t have done this to me!” It’s getting very hard to keep the tears at bay.
Sky takes a deep, shaky breath. “I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be. But I don’t want us to fall out forever over this. So… I know I have no right to ask, but… please, can we talk again? Soon? I wanna fix this. I’ll do whatever I can to fix this.”
Rain looks at sky, and he feels a stab of pain in his stomach, knowing that Sky kept something so monumental from him.
But when he looks at Sky, he also sees his best friend, upset and devastated and guilty, and Rain wants to hug him. He wants to comfort Sky, and he wants Sky to comfort him. He can’t imagine never being friends with Sky again. He doesn’t want that to be his future. And he doesn’t want Plerng to ruin that for him as well.
“We’ll talk again. I don’t know when, but we will,” Rain promises quietly, and Sky visibly sags with relief. “I’m gonna go.”
He grabs his drink, walks out, and prides himself on making it all the way to the end of the street before he has to sit down on a bench so he can cry.
What a mess it all is.
But at least he can go back to Phayu’s house and let Phayu make it all feel like a little less of a mess.
Once Rain has left to meet up with Sky, Phayu leaves to go collect a few of his things from Prapai and Sky’s place.
He doesn’t have any plans as such to confront Prapai about Rain’s discovery, but when Prapai opens the door, Phayu can feel his jaw go tense in anger.
Prapai looks tired, and a little stressed and upset, and when he sees Phayu, he sighs deeply.
“Here to shout at me?” he asks.
“No,” Phayu answers honestly, because that isn’t his primary goal. “I’m here to get some stuff for Rain. But now that I’m here, I might shout at you anyway.”
“Not like I won’t have deserved it,” Prapai mumbles as he steps aside to let Phayu in.
Phayu follows him wordlessly to the guest bedroom Rain has apparently been staying in. Phayu spots a bag in the corner that must belong to Rain, and starts gathering a few changes of clothes for Rain. There’s no time frame yet on how long Rain will be staying with him, but one of them can always come back to get more stuff if Rain needs it. For now, he just needs to be covered for a few days.
“How’s Rain?” Prapai asks.
“Upset,” Phayu replies shortly as he folds a t-shirt. “And angry.”
“I guess we deserve that,” Prapai mumbles.
Phayu turns around to glare at him. “You definitely deserve that. How could you not tell him that his husband was cheating on him?”
Prapai rubs his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, that was a bad decision.”
“To put it mildly,” Phayu scoffs and crosses his arms. “I could maybe understand you keeping that secret out of family loyalty, but you’ve been on Rain’s side in this from the beginning. And I certainly don’t get why Sky would keep it a secret. So why the hell did you?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t about family loyalty or anything like that. Fuck Plerng for what he’s done,” Prapai says vehemently.
“Then what was it about?” Phayu prods.
“It just never seemed like the right time, and I could never figure out the right words, and we figured we should give Plerng the chance to be decent and tell Rain himself,” Prapai explains.
Phayu rolls his eyes. “That’s not a good excuse. Wanting Plerng to admit it himself is maybe understandable, but after a few days, you should’ve said something.”
“We were in a bind, okay? It felt like being stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Prapai tries.
“How? Unless it was about family loyalty after all?”
“You’ve never had to break news like that to someone you love,” Prapai says defensively. “We really didn’t know how to say it.”
“Don’t give me that,” Phayu says, voice hard. “I get that it was hard, but you still should’ve done it. Rain was gonna be hurt no matter what, but at least if you had been honest, he wouldn’t be extra hurt right now. Now he feels like his best friends have betrayed him as well. And you more or less allowed Plerng to just keep cheating on him, by not saying anything. Because he didn’t even stop after you and Sky found out, did he?”
“No, he didn’t,” Prapai grits out angrily. “When Rain told us what he’d discovered, I was furious. I’d hoped that at the very least, Plerng was gonna stop.”
“But he didn’t, and you allowed him to continue.”
“I didn’t allow him to!”
“What else would you call it, when you found out he was cheating on Rain and didn’t stop him or tell Rain about it?” Phayu snaps loudly.
“Okay!” Prapai snaps back and runs a hand over his face. “Okay, we didn’t do anything about it, and we should have. I know that. We both know that. We told Plerng to be honest with Rain, and then never made sure he was, and we should have. If I could go back, I’d do everything differently.”
“Well, you can’t. You only had one shot to do the right thing in that situation,” Phayu says.
“Look, I know it’s a mess, okay?” Prapai sighs. “And I know we should’ve told him. But every time I thought about it, I’d look at Rain’s face, and I just couldn’t bring myself to break his heart. And Sky was the same.”
“Do you have any idea how hurt he is right now?” Phayu asks.
“I’m sorry, dude, I really am. And Sky is even more sorry than me,” Prapai says. He’s starting to look like a sad puppy. “Do you think Rain’s gonna forgive Sky? They’re meeting up to talk right now.”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t bet on it just yet,” Phayu says, making Prapai’s shoulders sag further.
“Fuck. We didn’t wanna hurt him, and now here we are,” he mumbles.
Phayu raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Did you and Sky think you could go the rest of your lives without Rain ever finding out that you already knew?”
Prapai shrugs sheepishly. “Maybe? We hadn’t really thought about it.”
Phayu shakes his head and turns back to continue packing some of Rain’s things.
“Rain’s been through a lot already. He deserves better than to have the two people he relies on the most keep that sort of secret from him,” he says, simply and plainly, because that’s the heart of it. “His marriage was gonna end in heartbreak for him no matter what. The least he deserved, after all that, was to know that you and Sky, his closest friends, were there for him.”
“We are,” Prapai says insistently.
“But right now he probably doesn’t feel like that’s true,” Phayu counters.
“Can you tell him that we are?” Prapai asks hopefully. “We know we messed up, but we’re still both fully on his side. We both want to be there for him. Can you tell him that? I want him to know that.”
Phayu zips up Rain’s bag and turns back around.
Prapai looks so sad and so hopeful at the same time.
When Phayu came here, he had decided that he wouldn’t be a messenger for Prapai’s apologies to Rain. But this message isn’t an apology as such. It’s a message that it might help Rain to hear. Ideally from Prapai himself, but since Rain doesn’t want to see him yet, Phayu can do Prapai this one favor. He may be mad at Prapai, but he gets why Prapai wants Rain to know this.
Also, Prapai is Phayu’s best friend. They’ve been there for each other through hard times, and they’ve celebrated happy times together. As much as Phayu is mad at him right now, he does still care a lot about Prapai.
So Phayu nods once. “I can do that,” he says. Then he points at Prapai in warning. “But I’m not apologizing to him for you, or putting in a good word or anything. He can be mad and upset for as long as he wants to be.”
“That’s fair,” Prapai says, raising his own hands in surrender. “I’ll be thankful as long as you tell him that we’re still here for him.”
“Sure,” Phayu says shortly and slings the bag he’s packed over his shoulder. “I think that’s it. I’m done here.”
“You’re not gonna stay a little longer and keep me company?” Prapai asks, but he sounds like he already knows what the answer is going to be.
“No, I wanna be home when Rain gets back from his meeting with Sky,” Phayu says.
Prapai nods. “It’s good that he has you.”
“I’m glad I can be there for him,” Phayu agrees. After a beat, he gives Prapai a withering look. “Especially when he doesn’t feel like he has you or Sky anymore.”
“Well, he does, even if he doesn’t feel like it,” Prapai says. He’s starting to sound tired.
Phayu decides to throw Prapai a little bone before he leaves. “Keep showing him that and he’ll probably forgive you.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Prapai mumbles.
Phayu doesn’t say anything, but he hopes he’s right as well. Rain deserves to have his family back.
Somehow, somehow, Rain has avoided running into Plerng since he moved out of their apartment. Plerng showing up at Sky and Prapai’s place a couple of days ago was the first time Rain had seen Plerng since then, outside of their lawyer meetings.
Until now, apparently.
He’s at a coffee shop, picking up coffee to take to Phayu and Saifah, because he needs to get out and do something, instead of climbing the walls of Phayu’s house (and he wants to see Phayu, but that’s just a bonus. It’s not the reason why he’s left the house. Just a bonus). And when he walks over to the takeout counter to wait for the drinks, he sees Plerng standing there. Leaning against the counter.
Rain freezes on the spot.
He could leave, but he’s already paid for the drinks. And when Plerng turns his head and spots Rain as well, there’s no way Rain can leave. He’s not gonna let Plerng chase him away.
Plerng looks just as surprised to see Rain as Rain feels. He straightens up as well and adjusts his jacket, like he’s feeling nervous or awkward. It’s not a look Rain can remember ever really seeing on him. Not even back when they were just dating and Rain felt nervous.
He’s a little nervous now, too, but he doesn’t let it show. Instead, he straightens his spine and marches over to stand at the opposite end of the takeout counter.
Unfortunately, the counter isn’t very big, so there’s only about a meter between them.
“Hi,” Plerng says.
Rain glances at him briefly, then goes back to staring at the displays. “Hi.”
“Well, this is weird,” Plerng comments lightly. Rain doesn’t say anything, and apparently, Plerng takes that as an invitation to keep talking. “How are you doing?”
“Why do you care?” Rain bites out, still staring resolutely at a display of cookies. He doesn’t even want a cookie.
“Hey, just because we’re getting divorced doesn’t mean I don’t care about you at all,” Plerng says.
“You sure as hell don’t seem to care much when we talk settlement,” Rain counters.
Plerng rolls his eyes. “The settlement is different than caring about how you’re doing,” he says, annoyance creeping into his tone. “It’s not like you’re being reasonable or willing to compromise on anything.”
“Oh yeah?” Rain turns his head to glare at Plerng. “Why should I compromise? How am I not being reasonable?”
“You want half of everything, or you’re gonna sue me for selling art of you without paying you! And for what reason? What do you even need half of our savings account for?”
“Because it was ours,” Rain says.
“And half of the shares? You don’t know anything about shares,” Plerng points out, now visibly annoyed. “You’d have no clue what to do with them, so why do you want them?”
“I don’t care. I’d figure it out or get help.”
“Why are you being so stubborn about this?” Plerng groans.
“Why are you being so stubborn!” Rain counters hotly. “I’m the injured party here, and the one who doesn’t have a cushy, rich family to fall back on.”
“I said I’d give you some money. Why do you have to get half of everything?” Plerng asks.
“Because half of everything was supposed to be mine! We were married!” Rain is close to shouting, so he takes a deep breath to calm himself down again. He’s beginning to understand what Sky had said about not wanting to cause a scene at that restaurant when they caught Plerng. He doesn’t want people looking too closely at him and Plerng right now either, even if he has nothing to be embarrassed about. “We were married, and you cheated on me, and treated me worse than any of the people you were cheating on me with, and you made my best friends keep your secret, and I get to make you pay for that, okay? I can’t even lean on Sky anymore because he didn’t tell me. I’m allowed to get some revenge for what you did to me. That’s my right.”
He's expecting another comeback from Plerng. Some comment about Rain being ridiculous or demanding too much, like he always says during their meetings.
But Plerng doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t look annoyed anymore, either. Instead, there’s a guilty, contemplative look on his face.
Of course, this is when a barista puts a to-go cup on the counter and says, “For Plerng?”
Plerng takes his cup and Rain looks away again. Some of the tension between them snapped with that interruption, and he’s not sure what to do now. Hopefully, Plerng will just take his drink and leave.
But Rain apparently just isn’t very lucky, because Plerng stays where he is.
"So you're mad at P'Pai and Sky, huh?" he asks.
“What did you expect me to be? They lied to me,” Rain huffs.
“If it makes you feel any better, they didn’t like not telling you,” Plerng offers.
It does, a little bit, but Rain isn’t about to admit that. Not to Plerng. He presses his lips together and hopes his face isn’t showing too many emotions right now.
He’d already figured from his conversation with Sky, and from what Phayu told him about his conversation with Prapai, that the two of them hadn’t liked keeping Plerng’s secret. On some logical level, he’s known that since he found out. But logic hasn’t stopped him from being hurt, and Rain can’t stop himself from wondering if Sky and Prapai didn’t tell him because…
Well. Because they didn’t care enough to. Not about Rain, but about the situation. Because they thought Plerng cheating on Rain wasn’t that big a deal, or that Rain wouldn’t ever have to find out (even though he’s pretty sure Sky did try to make Rain find out, which is something he definitely needs to talk to Sky about).
So it’s nice to hear, from Plerng, that Sky and Prapai honestly didn’t like keeping his secret. That they did think it was a big deal, and that Rain deserved to know.
But Rain isn’t telling Plerng that, so he changes the subject instead.
“Why the fuck did you ever propose to me, if you were just gonna cheat on me?” he asks.
He’s asked that before. Back when he found out Plerng was cheating on him, before he moved out, they’d had angry conversations and screaming matches, and one of the things Rain had asked in one of those was why they got married.
Still, he wants Plerng to answer him now, when everything isn’t as raw. Even if the middle of a coffee shop isn’t the most convenient place.
“I don’t know, babe,” Plerng starts, but when Rain glares at him even harder for the pet name, he holds up his hands in surrender. “Sorry. I don’t know. I thought it was what I wanted. And I knew I wanted to get my mom to stop hassling me, and getting married was a way for me to do that.”
Back in the first days after Rain found him in bed with another guy, when Plerng had angrily admitted this in the middle of a heated argument, it had hurt. Badly. But hearing almost the same words now, it hardly registers as painful.
“Why did you have to drag me into that?” Rain prods.
“Because P’Pai and Sky told me you were great,” Plerng replies. “And I did really like you and care about you. I figured if I had to marry someone, you were a good choice.”
“Did you ever love me?”
Plerng gives him a look. “You’re asking questions you’ve already asked before.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how many of your answers from back then were honest. You might’ve been trying to fob me off with lies to stop me from divorcing you,” Rain says, heated.
“I wasn’t, but fine.” Plerng sighs deeply. “I’m not sure. I’d like to think that yeah, I did love you. But probably not as much as I should have loved someone I was married to. And I always knew that love wasn’t gonna last forever.”
Rain blinks rapidly, in the hope that he can make the tears gathering in his eyes go away.
He doesn’t love Plerng anymore. He’s gotten over the hurt he caused, even if he’s still furiously mad at him for being treated like that. It hadn’t hurt a second ago, to hear Plerng say he proposed to Rain mainly to get his mother to stop pestering him. And yet, something Plerng saying he always knew it wouldn’t last forever does hurt.
Maybe it’s the knowledge that Plerng married Rain, knowing he wouldn’t love him forever, and thus probably also knowing he wouldn’t stay faithful. It makes Rain feel like a piece in a game more than anything else. It makes him feel used. And that hurts.
“You’re such an asshole,” he mumbles.
“I hear that a lot,” Plerng says, with a touch of humor in his voice, like he’s idiotically trying to lighten the mood.
“You should set an hourly reminder,” Rain huffs. Plerng smiles a little, but it quickly disappears.
“Can I ask you something?” he asks.
“What?”
Plerng toys with the lid of his cup. “Did you ever love me?”
Rain stiffens. He looks cautiously at Plerng, out of the corner of his eye. Plerng doesn’t seem to be judging him or waiting to pounce on some kind of weakness or admission. He just looks curious, and a little melancholic.
He’s been honest with Rain today. That doesn’t mean Rain owes him anything, but just this once, he can show Plerng a little bit of courtesy and be honest in return.
“Yeah. I did,” he starts, “back when you proposed to me and when we got married. But… probably not as much as I should have loved someone I was married to.” When he sees Plerng nod, he whips around to point threateningly at him. “But that doesn’t mean that what you did to me was okay. Got it?”
“I got it,” Plerng says.
“For Rain?” the barista calls out and puts a cup holder with three take-out cups on the counter.
Rain quickly grabs the drinks and says, “I’m leaving first,” and turns around before Plerng can say anything.
“Bye Rain,” he hears from behind, but Rain doesn’t stop or turn around. He just walks out the shop without looking back at his soon-to-be ex-husband.
As unpleasant as the conversation was, Rain can’t help but feel like his shoulders are a little lighter. Like something about that talk lifted a weight. Maybe it’s the beginning of getting real, actual closure. That would be nice.
“P’Phayu.”
Phayu looks over from where he’s chopping onions to where Rain is chopping carrots. He looks to be almost done, but he’s paused halfway through cutting the last carrot, and is just staring down at it.
“What is it?” Phayu asks.
Rain doesn’t reply immediately. He’s been quiet tonight, as well, more so than he’s been this past week. The few times he’s helped Phayu cook, he’s filled the kitchen with chatter and laughter and questions as Phayu has taught him a few things about cooking. But tonight, he hasn’t said more than to simply confirm he understood the instructions Phayu gave him.
“P’Phayu,” Rain says again. “When is it okay for me to forgive Sky and P’Pai?”
Phayu puts down his knife and turns to fully face Rain.
He hasn’t tried to influence Rain in any way in this matter. It’s entirely up to Rain how and when (and if) he wants to forgive Prapai and Sky. All Phayu has done is relay Prapai’s message and talked about the situation when Rain has brought it up. He supports Rain’s right to be as upset as he wants for as long as he wants. He doesn’t want Rain to push away his own feelings just to please someone else.
Which is also what he tells Rain now.
“That’s up to you. You can take as long as you want.”
“But… what if I don’t know?” Rain asks and looks up at Phayu. He looks undeniably sad. It hasn’t been an uncommon look on him this past week, unfortunately, but today, it’s a different kind of sadness.
“What do you mean?” Phayu asks gently.
Rain bites his lip. “I miss them, Phi.”
Phayu nods a little. It makes sense that Rain would miss them. They’ve been like family to him for years, and he’s relied on them a lot these past few months.
“It’s okay for you to miss them,” Phayu says reassuringly. “Even if you’re still mad at them, you can miss them.”
“But that’s the thing. I don’t know if I’m mad at them anymore,” Rain says, clenching his hand around the knife he’s still holding. “It’s like… it almost feels like I miss them too much to be mad at them.”
Phayu reaches over and gently removes the knife from Rain’s grip.
Once the knife is on the counter, Phayu holds Rain’s hand with his own. Rain looks down at their hands, though Phayu suspects that’s more to break their eye contact than because he wants to look as they hold hands.
“What are you thinking?” he asks. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not sure,” Rain mumbles. “I just want to spend time with them again. We’ve got that meeting with P’Plerng in a few days, and I wanna talk to Sky about it. I wanna tell him and P’Pai how it goes afterwards. But when I think about how they kept that secret from me, I still get upset.”
“Does it hurt when you think about it?” Phayu asks.
“I’m not sure. Not as much as it used to.” Rain bites his lip. “But I feel like it should. I feel like… am I forgiving them too quickly? Or too easily? Just because I don’t have other friends?”
“You do have other friends. You have me and Saifah, and I know you’ve been talking with some of the people you studied with, too,” Phayu counters. It brings a smile to Rain’s face. It’s small and brief, but it’s there and it’s genuine.
“I just don’t know what to do. They hurt me, but I miss them, and it’s confusing,” Rain admits. “They haven’t… they haven’t given me a reason for what they did that made me think oh, that makes sense, and I get why they did that, but at the same time, I guess I can kinda see where they’re coming from? But I don’t know if that’s ok either.”
Phayu has heard Prapai’s reasons in person, and he’s heard from Rain what Sky has given as reason, and he understands what Rain is saying now. Neither of them have given a great excuse, but Phayu can’t deny that the situation they’d found themselves in was probably tougher than he’d first thought.
It seems simple. They’d discovered that Rain’s husband was cheating on him, so they should have told him. But that would also mean delivering devastating news to Rain, that would upend his life. On some level, it’s maybe understandable that they didn’t know how to do that.
That still doesn’t make what they did alright, but it’s also not completely unforgivable.
Phayu takes Rain’s other hand in his own.
“Rain,” he says softly. Rain looks up at him again. “I’m not going to tell you how you should be feeling or what you should be doing. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been going through, but even if I could, it is entirely up to you how you want to deal with the situation. It’s ok that you’re hurt and angry, and it’s ok if you still can’t forgive Prapai and Sky. But at the same time, it’s also just as ok if you have forgiven them. There’s no timeline. It’s just about how you feel.”
Rain squeezes his hands a little, almost like a nervous gesture.
“I don’t know how I feel,” he says.
“What was your first, instinctive answer to that question?” Phayu asks. “Don’t think too much about it. Don’t worry about what you think you should feel. Just say what you actually feel.”
“I feel like… I think I’ve forgiven them,” Rain says. He doesn’t sound fully sure, though.
“Why don’t you try talking to them again? Both of them,” Phayu suggests. “That might give you the clarity you need.”
Rain nods. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.
Phayu pats his head, and Rain’s cheeks turn a beautiful shade of pink. “Good. Why don’t you text or call Sky, and see if the three of you can meet up? And I’ll finish cooking.”
“I feel like I haven’t been of much help tonight. Sorry about that,” Rain says sheepishly, but Phayu just smiles and shakes his head.
“It’s fine,” he says. “We’ll have more chances to cook together in the future.”
The pink on Rain’s cheeks spreads to the rest of his face, and it takes everything Phayu has to not kiss them and feel the heat with his lips. But they’re not going there until Rain’s divorce is finalized, so for now, Phayu simply settles for patting Rain’s head again.
Almost as soon as he sits down across from Sky and Prapai, Rain knows he’s forgiven them.
The two of them are on their couch, and Sky looks the picture of nerves and anxiety. Prapai looks calmer, and has an arm around Sky, probably to calm him down, but Rain can tell that he’s nervous too.
Which makes sense. Rain feels nervous himself.
It’s odd. He hasn’t been nervous around Prapai since the beginning of Prapai and Sky’s relationship, and Rain has never felt nervous around Sky. Not like this, at least. But as he sits on the armchair opposite the couch, he can’t help but fidget a little. Sky seems to catch on, and something that could definitely be worry passes over his face.
And that’s what makes Rain know that he’s forgiven them.
The warmth he feels in his stomach from knowing and seeing Sky care about him like that is all the confirmation he needs. He doesn’t see that and think about how Sky has hurt him. He doesn’t feel the warmth and think about how upset he’s been.
He just sees his best friend again.
But he can also feel that there are things they need to talk about before things go back to how they were.
“How have you been, Rain?” Prapai asks warmly. “Has Phayu been treating you well?”
“He has. He’s really nice,” Rain says, and he can’t help but smile a little when he thinks about how sweet Phayu has been, and how nice it’s been to live with him.
“That’s good,” Prapai says. “I figured that, as well. Phayu always takes care of the things he likes.”
The unsaid and he likes you hangs in the air and makes Rain feel warm and tingly, and his smile gets just a little wider. Phayu likes him. He knows it, sure, but they’re still waiting for Rain’s divorce to be settled before they do anything, and it’s nice to hear that the time so far hasn’t made Phayu lose interest.
After a beat of silence, Prapai says, “So, Sky said you wanted to talk?”
“Yeah,” Rain breathes. “Yeah, um… I’ve been thinking a lot about what you guys did –”
“We really didn’t want to, I swear,” Sky interrupts Rain, but it seems to surprise him more than is surprises Rain. Almost like he needed to say that so badly, his mouth reacted without input from his brain (something Rain can relate to).
Rain’s lip twitches a little. “That’s what P’Plerng said too.”
“You saw P’Plerng?” Sky asks, voice both surprised and hard. “When? Where?”
“We bumped into each other at a coffee shop the other day,” Rain replies.
“Are you okay? What did he say to you?” Sky asks, as if he and Rain had never fallen out. As if it’s still the time before Rain discovered what Sky knew.
“A lot of stupid things,” Rain says, because now isn’t the time to talk to Sky about the whole conversation he had with Plerng. “But he also said that you two hated not telling me that you knew he was cheating.”
“We did,” Prapai says firmly.
“Then why didn’t you?” Rain asks. “Was it because he’s your brother?”
“No. Honestly, now I kinda wish it was, because that sounds like a better excuse, but no. That had nothing to do with it,” Prapai says, with a self-deprecating tone to his voice that Rain doesn’t think he’s ever heard. Prapai is far too confident to ever be self-deprecating. “I just… didn’t know how to break the news to you. I didn’t wanna hurt you.”
“Not telling me hurt me,” Rain tells him, just like he’d told Sky.
“I know, and I am so sorry, Rain,” Prapai says. “I told Plerng to be honest with you, but I should’ve said something when he wasn’t.”
“We should’ve said something,” Sky corrects him. “We never meant to hurt you, but it was just… really hard to find a way to tell you. It never seemed like the right time, or I couldn’t find the right words.” He rubs his hands together sheepishly. “That’s why I started taking you places I knew Plerng would be, and asking you about how you guys were doing. I thought if we could just catch him in the act, or if you said you weren’t really happy, it would be easier to tell you. But I should’ve just told you the day I found out, and I’m so sorry I didn’t.”
Rain nods a little and looks down at his own hands.
He’s heard it all before, and he’s pretty sure he’s not gonna hear anything else. Both Prapai and Sky have told him the truth, and they’re not hiding anything else from him, he’s pretty sure.
Phayu had told him that it might be harder than they assumed to break those kinds of news to a close friend, and Rain can maybe see that being true. He can definitely see that Sky hates that he never told Rain, and that Prapai hates it too. He also thinks Plerng was right, that both of them hated keeping his secret, and that they didn’t do it with any bad intentions towards Rain, or even good intentions towards Plerng.
And maybe they don’t have excuses that make it all okay, or that makes the pain go away, but maybe they don’t need to, either.
Rain can tell that they regret what they’ve done, just like he can tell that they both still care about him, and that’s good enough for him.
So he takes a deep breath and looks up at Sky and Prapai again.
“What you did really hurt me,” he starts. “P’Plerng cheating on me was bad enough but finding out that you two knew about it and didn’t tell me… that might even hurt more than Plerng cheating. Or at least, it hurt a lot. And usually when I’m hurt, I go to you two, but this time I couldn’t, and that made it hurt even more.” Sky and Prapai both look devastated at his words. “But…”
The devastation turns into something much more hopeful. Sky leans forward in his seat. “But?” he prompts.
Rain smiles at him a little, and he can almost see some of the tension leaving Sky’s shoulders already.
“But I forgive you,” he says simply.
“Really?” Sky breathes out, while Prapai sags into the couch with a relieved sigh.
“Really,” Rain confirms as his smile grows bigger. “I guess I can understand that it was hard for you to tell me, but it doesn’t matter either way. I forgive you.” He points threateningly at both of them. “But don’t ever do that again. If P’Phayu cheats on me, tell me.”
“I promise,” Prapai says, raising his hand in a salute. “Not that he’d ever do that –”
“But if he does, I’ll tell you the minute I find out, no matter what,” Sky promises.
Rain nods firmly. “Good.”
Sky slumps as the last tension leaves his body. Rain remembers a time before Prapai, when Sky was almost permanently tense. He remembers how happy he was to see Prapai help Sky let go of that tension. And now, he feels a little of the same. It’s good to see Sky relax again.
Suddenly, Rain starts laughing.
He hadn’t even noticed how much he’s smiling or how happy he’s feeling until suddenly, he’s laughing. The tension has left his body as well, and now he’s just loose-limbed and happy and laughing. Not a lot, but it’s undoubtedly laughing.
Sky and Prapai just stare at him for a moment, before they start laughing as well, and Rain jumps up from his seat to cross over to them on the couch and fall onto them, one arm wrapped around each of them in a three-person hug. Prapai quickly reciprocates with an arm around Rain’s back.
“Rain,” Sky whines, but there’s no annoyance in his tone.
“I’ve missed you guys,” Rain mumbles into Sky’s shoulder.
Slowly, Sky wraps both his arms around Rain. “I’ve missed you too.”
Rain can’t help but think that all is right with the world now. At least, it almost is. He’s got his friends back, he’s getting closer to Phayu, and he’s starting to get real closure over Plerng. Now he just needs to finalize his divorce, and then everything really will be right with the world.
Phayu can tell just by the looks on Plerng’s and his lawyer’s faces that this meeting will be different. They both look a lot more resigned than they usually do.
Phayu takes that as a good sign.
“Well, here we are again,” he says, smiling. “Have you had a chance to think about things? Because my client’s demands remain the same.”
“My client has indeed done a lot of thinking since our last meeting,” Plerng’s lawyer says.
“Oh?” Phayu raises an eyebrow in interest.
“He’s thought a lot about how he and Khun Rain have ended up in this situation, and what it means for both of them and their lives, both together and separately,” Plerng’s lawyer continues. His tone is very diplomatic, like always, so it’s hard to tell where he’s going with this. “He’s aware that this divorce is a result of his own actions. Even if he’s willing to give the marriage another try, he accepts that Khun Rain doesn’t wish to do so, and that he is within his rights, emotionally if not legally, to want to take something with him out of the marriage.”
“How very understanding of him,” Phayu says, just as diplomatically. Next to him, Rain scoffs, but doesn’t say anything.
Plerng looks at Rain for a moment. Then his eyes shift to Phayu, and Phayu isn’t sure what Plerng is thinking, but Plerng looks away again before he can figure it out.
“My client has decided to agree to most of Khun Rain’s wishes for the divorce settlement,” Plerng’s lawyer states. Phayu raises the other eyebrow as well. “He can have half of the value of the apartment, and half of the contents of both of their accounts.”
“Wait, really?” Rain asks, and Phayu doesn’t have to look at him to know that he’s shocked.
Phayu is a little surprised himself. At their last meeting, Plerng hadn’t seemed very willing to budge on his stance that the savings account, at least, only belonged to him. To then open this meeting with an offer like that unexpected.
But at the same time, he had known, the moment he saw Plerng and his lawyer, that today would be different.
“Yes, really,” Plerng confirms.
“That’s a very interesting offer,” Phayu says. “I can’t help but wonder if it comes with some sort of catch.”
He doesn’t think Plerng is that devious, but all lawyers can be devious.
“There is no catch,” Plerng’s lawyer says. “My client’s only request is that he gets to keep all the shares. Since Khun Rain has no experience with shares, he probably wouldn’t get much out of owning them, and since most of them are related to his family’s business, my client would like to keep them in his family.”
Phayu looks at Rain. Plerng probably isn’t wrong to think that Rain wouldn’t know what to do with shares, and while Phayu is happy to fight for Rain to get some shares regardless, he’s also happy to accept this offer. Rain gets almost everything he’s asked for, and going by the look on Plerng’s face, there will be an symbolic victory in it for Rain as well. Plus, this is the first time Plerng has agreed to give Rain this much, with only one condition, and Phayu doesn’t think they’re very likely to get a better offer.
But it’s Rain’s divorce and thus it’s his choice whether he wants to take it or not.
“Why the change of mind?” Rain asks suspiciously.
Plerng sighs like it causes him great pain to be asked that, and when he answers.
“You’re not wrong, exactly, that I owe you,” he says, also like it causes him great pain. “And I’m tired of doing this. I just wanna get it over with.”
“You could’ve gotten it over with a lot faster if you weren’t such a –” Phayu stops Rain from finishing that sentence by putting a hand on his arm. They don’t need Rain agitating Plerng into changing his mind. He seems mellow enough right now, but Phayu knows how much of a diva he can be.
“My client is fairly insistent that this is the final offer we will give,” Plerng’s lawyer says. “What do you say?”
Phayu looks at Rain again. Rain looks back at him, and after a moment, he gives a small nod.
Smiling, Phayu turns back to Plerng and his lawyer. “We accept your offer,” he says.
Plerng’s lawyer smiles, while Plerng himself sinks back in his seat in some kind of mixture of relief and resignation. It’s clear that even if he’s fine with the deal he has offered, this is more a victory for Rain than for Plenrg. Which is exactly as it should be, Phayu thinks.
Rain, meanwhile, seems to get more and more antsy as Phayu and Plerng’s lawyer discuss the final details of the settlement. He starts fidgeting and shifting, and at one point, his leg bounces so much that Phayu has to put a hand on his knee to make him stop. He’s fairly sure it’s because Rain is getting more and more excited, and that is fully understandable, but they need to stay calm until the meeting is over.
As soon as Plerng and his lawyer have left the room, Rain launches himself at Phayu, and Phayu thanks all his hours in the gym for not even stumbling as he catches him.
“We did it, P’Phayu! We did it!” Rain shouts excitedly.
“Almost,” Phayu corrects. Rain pulls back to give him a questioning look. “We still need you and Plerng to sign the final divorce papers.”
“But that’s just a formality,” Rain says with a pout so cute, Phayu doesn’t have the heart to fight him on that. “We’re done discussing things and arguing my case or whatever. It’s over!”
Phayu takes Rain’s hands in his own.
“Yes,” he says, holding back a fond laugh. “It’s almost over.”
Rain looks up at him with sparkling eyes and such joy on his face, it makes every cell in Phayu’s body want to kiss him. And this time, he doesn’t hold back.
He leans forward, slowly enough that Rain can pull back, but Rain stays right where he is, and Phayu presses their lips together.
It’s a simple kiss. Just a sweet touch of lips, moving together slightly, but that’s it. Phayu lets it linger for a few moments before he pulls back. Rain’s eyes, if possible, sparkle even more now. His wide grin from before is gone, replaced with a smaller smile, a little shy and giddy.
“P’Phayu,” he mumbles, but he doesn’t seem to know what else to say.
Phayu finally lets out that fond laugh and pats Rain’s head. “Congratulations, Rain. You’re almost there.”
When Rain and Plerng got married, it was the biggest, most important day in Rain’s life. During the wreath ceremony and the water blessing ceremony, and the party afterwards, Rain thought no day would ever be as big or important as that day.
Now he’s preparing to undo everything that made that day the biggest and most important in his life. And he’s happy about it.
Not that the room really reflects that. There’s a strange atmosphere as Phayu puts down the divorce papers.
Rain is happy, and he’s pretty sure Phayu is as well (that’s what Phayu told him before Plerng and his lawyer arrived), but Phayu has to keep a professional appearance. Plerng mostly looks tired, like he just wants to get this over with, and his lawyer is just blank.
Whatever. Rain doesn’t need the room to be happy to be excited about this.
“I’ve marked where each of you need to sign,” Phayu says in a very business-like voice. “Once you’ve signed your own, swap the papers.”
Rain nods and picks up his pen. He quickly signs his name and slides the papers over to the other side of the table. Plerng is a little slower to sign his, but he doesn’t hesitate to pass them to Rain. Once they’re done, Phayu and Plerng’s lawyer take the papers for one last look, then hand a set to each of them.
“Congratulations. You’re officially divorced,” Phayu announces.
Rain smiles widely and leans back in his chair.
It’s been a long time coming, and signing these papers was more a formality than anything else, but it still feels good to make it final and official. Just like getting married had felt back then.
He’s now officially divorced. Officially free of Plerng, forever.
Plerng’s lawyer gets up and wais at Phayu. “It’s been a pleasure working with you,” he says smoothly.
“Likewise,” Phayu says, returning the wai.
Plerng keeps his eyes on Rain when he gets up, and somehow, that makes Rain stand up as well. There’s a tension in the air suddenly, that he doesn’t really know how to react to.
And then Plerng smiles, almost like he thinks the situation is funny or something, and all the tension vanishes. Rain is instead left with the kind of annoyance he’s felt in pretty much every meeting they’ve had.
“It was a pleasure being married to you,” Plerng says smoothly.
Rain scoffs. “You sure didn’t act like it was.”
Plerng just laughs a little and shakes his head, like Rain told him a good joke.
“I’ll see you around, Rain,” he says and picks up his coat.
“What the hell does that mean?” Rain snaps. He winces internally when he sees the stern look Phayu shoots him for swearing. “I’ll be happy if I never have to see you again.”
Plerng smirks. “My brother’s still married to your best friend. I’m sure we’ll see each other sometimes.”
“Oh. Right.” Rain’s hands tighten around his divorce papers. “I guess you’re right.” He straightens up a little. “But I’ll be avoiding you and ignoring you every time we see each other.”
“Mmh. Bye then,” Plerng says and gives Rain a little wave.
Rain just about manages to stop himself from giving Plerng the finger in return.
Plerng and his lawyer leave Phayu’s office, and then it’s just Rain and Phayu, standing in Phayu’s office, with the sun starting to set outside and rain pattering against the giant windows.
Rain holds up his papers, as if Phayu didn’t hand them to Rain himself.
“I got my divorce,” he says with barely contained excitement.
Phayu gives him a soft but brilliant smile.
“Congratulations,” he says. “You deserve it.”
“Thanks,” Rain breathes.
He watches Phayu for a moment. Phayu looks happy and proud, and Rain remembers all too well how Phayu had kissed him after the last meeting. In the week since then, they’ve spent more time together. Phayu hasn’t kissed him on the lips since then, but he’s kissed Rain’s cheeks and forehead a few times, and Rain still remembers, with complete and utter clarity, what Phayu had said back when they talked about what was building between them.
“I am serious about dating you.”
“I think we should wait until after your divorce is settled.”
“I’ll wait however long I need to.”
Well, Rain’s divorce is settled and finalized now, and Phayu still seems to be serious about dating him. And Rain doesn’t want to wait any longer.
“Now that I’m free,” he starts, just a little carefully, “does that mean I can be by your side now?” His breath hitches a little. He can’t help but feel nervous. “Does that mean we can be together?”
The smile slips a little on Phayu’s face, but not in a bad way. He doesn’t look upset or unhappy or anything like that. If anything, Rain would say that he looks emotional. Or maybe even awed, but people don’t tend to be very awed by Rain.
Slowly, Phayu reaches out and takes Rain’s hand.
“Want to go get some dinner to celebrate?” he asks.
Which is not at all an answer to Rain’s question.
“P’Phayu,” he tries again. “Does this mean we can be together now?”
Phayu uses his free hand to cup the side of Rain’s face. He strokes Rain’s cheekbone with his thumb, and his eyes flit between Rain’s eyes and his lips. Rain can’t help but do the same, gaze drawn to how soft Phayu’s lips look. He knows what they feel like against his own, and he wants to experience that again.
Phayu seems to agree with that, because he leans down, closes the distance, and kisses Rain.
Rain’s eyes slip shut. It’s different from their last kiss. There’s more intention, more heat. The press is harder, firmer, and Phayu tilts their heads for the best angle as their lips move against each other. He licks against the seam of Rain’s lips, and Rain opens up to let their tongues meet. Phayu’s hand on the side of his face moves to cup the back of his neck. Rain drops his divorce papers on the floor, to instead put his hand on Phayu’s shoulder.
Time doesn’t seem real as they stand there. Rain has no idea how long they spend kissing. It feels both like forever and not nearly long enough.
When Phayu pulls back, he leans his forehead against Rains. “This is my answer.”
A small, giddy laugh bubbles out of Rain. Because he knows what that means.
Ever since he patched things up with Prapai and Sky, Rain has moved back in with them. And Phayu’s original plan had been to take Rain back to their place after a celebratory dinner.
But Rain looks so utterly gorgeous and stunning, practically glowing with happiness. When they’re done eating, Phayu doesn’t want to say goodbye to him.
And Rain doesn’t seem to want that either.
So instead of driving Rain to Sky and Prapai’s place, he takes Rain with him home.
Phayu has never been one to beat around the bush, and as far as he can tell, Rain isn’t either. When they get to his house, Phayu takes Rain by the hand and starts leading him upstairs, to his bedroom.
They don’t even make it to the stairs before Rain yanks on Phayu’s hand. Phayu turns around with the momentum of it, but before he can ask if everything is okay, Rain wraps his arms around Phayu’s neck and kisses him. It’s fierce, hurried, like Rain lost the last of his self-control
And Phayu isn’t complaining about that in the slightest.
He wraps his own arms around Rain’s waist and kisses back with the same fierceness and passion. However, he slows down the pace. Tonight, he wants to take his time.
He turns them around and starts (carefully) guiding Rain upstairs. He only breaks their kisses to walk up the stairs, and Rain makes them take a short break on the landing in the middle to kiss some more. Rain pushes Phayu’s jacket off his shoulders, and Phayu can’t help but smirk against his mouth. It’s cute that Rain is so into this.
When they get to Phayu’s bedroom, Phayu leans down just enough to grab the backs of Rain’s thighs. Rain lets out a surprised gasp as Phayu hoists him up, wrapping his legs around Phayu’s waist.
With Rain secure in his arms, Phayu closes the last distance to his bed, and gently lowers Rain down onto it, keeping eye contact with Rain the entire time. Maybe it gets Rain a little overwhelmed, or maybe he’s just too aroused, but either way, he puts his hands on Phayu’s neck and yanks him down into another kiss. Phayu goes happily, licking into Rain’s mouth at a slow, languid pace.
After a while, Rain moans into their kiss, and Phayu takes that as a sign to start moving things along.
He pulls back and instead starts trailing his lips down Rain’s neck and across his shoulders. His hands move down to undo first his own pants, then Rain’s. He slides his hands into the back of Rain’s underwear, making Rain’s hips jerk upwards. Phayu smirks against Rain’s skin. He’s clearly very responsive. Phayu loves that.
He starts pushing Rain’s pants and underwear down. Rain lifts his hips to help, as Phayu takes his time getting Rain fully undressed, feeling up Rain’s legs in the process. Once Rain is fully naked, he pushes himself up into a sitting position and reaches for Phayu’s pants. He’s faster getting them off than Phayu had been with Rain’s pants, but once he’s got Phayu naked as well, he pauses for a moment and just looks Phayu up and down.
“P’Phayu,” Rain says his name like he wants to say more, but nothing else comes out of his mouth.
Phayu takes the initiative instead.
“You’ve only ever slept with Plerng, right?” he asks. Carefully, Rain nods.
“I’d never even really dated before him,” he admits quietly.
“Does that make you nervous?” Phayu asks.
Rain shrugs and looks away. “A little. P’Plerng was great, but… clearly, I couldn’t satisfy him.”
Gently, Phayu pushes Rain back down on the bed. Rain looks back up at him, and his hands come up to rest on Phayu’s shoulders. He’s so gorgeous. Phayu will never understand why Plerng dated around and slept around when he had a guy like this at home.
“Rain,” Phayu says. Rain just blinks up at him. “I promise, I will be more than satisfied with you. There’s no way you could disappoint me.” He tilts his head to kiss the hand on his right shoulder. “And I promise, I’m gonna make you feel better than you’ve ever felt before.”
Rain’s breath hitches.
Phayu knows he’s made a bold claim, because a guy like Plerng knows his way around in the bedroom. But Phayu is pretty good at pleasing his partners, and he’s a determined man.
He starts by taking Rain’s hand and trailing it down his stomach, until it comes into contact with Phayu’s hard dick, so that Rain can see how into him Phayu already is. He moans into another kiss when Rain wraps his fingers around the length. Slowly, Rain starts moving his hand, and Phayu starts grinding into it. It makes Rain’s own hard cock grind into Phayu’s hip, which makes Rain whine cutely.
After a moment, Phayu starts moving down Rain’s body. It moves his cock out of Rain’s reach, but that’s fine. Phayu has much bigger plans than a handjob.
He kisses his way down Rain’s neck, across his shoulders, and over his chest. He takes his time leaving bite marks in his path, ones that will hopefully still bloom red tomorrow morning. Rain lets out little moans when Phayu kisses and licks his way down Rain’s sternum, which Phayu files away for future reference. He mostly ignores Rain’s dick when he gets to his groin, simply nuzzling it a little before moving to the top of Rain’s thigh. He sits back on his heels and throws Rain’s leg over his shoulder.
Like this, Rain looks even more gorgeous. He looks hot. He’s bathed in the soft, purple-tinted light of Phayu’s lamps, and something about it almost makes him look like he’s glowing. He’s flushed all the way down his chest, his hair is a little messy, his lips are kiss-bitten, his dick is hard and glistening at the tip, and with his leg on Phayu’s shoulder, he’s open and on display.
Phayu kisses Rain’s ankle, then moves to grab a bottle of lube from the headboard. When Rain sees it, his eyes flutter. It makes Phayu pause for a moment.
“Do you trust me?” he asks.
“Of course,” is Rain’s quick and easy reply. Warmth spreads in Phayu’s heart from hearing that, but he’s not just talking about sex, and he needs Rain to know that.
“I don’t just mean with this. I mean in general. Do you trust me with all of you?” he asks.
It takes Rain a little longer to answer that, but when he does, he nods and says with as much surety as before, “I trust you, Phi.”
“Then,” Phayu leans forward a little puts a hand on the side of Rain’s face, “you belong to me now, right?”
Rain’s eyes go wide. Phayu wonders for a second if he’s crossing a line, if Rain is discovering now that he’s not ready for this yet. But before Phayu can even think about what he’ll do if that’s the case, Rain smiles, wide and warm, and puts a hand on the back of Phayu’s head to bury his fingers in his hair.
“Mmmh,” he hums with a nod. “Yeah.”
“Let me hear you say it,” Phayu murmurs, leaning down even further. Rain must be pretty flexible, because he doesn’t seem to mind Phayu bending his leg like this (something for Phayu to marvel at some other time).
“I belong to you, P’Phayu,” Rain says. He sounds as elated as Phayu feels.
“Good,” Phayu breathes out and opens the bottle of lube.
He trails kisses along Rain’s leg while he fingers him open. Rain mewls a little and flexes his toes, especially when Phayu does something particularly good. By the time he’s ready, he’s also panting.
“P’Phayu,” he moans.
Phayu lowers Rain’s leg again and pushes Rain’s head down onto the mattress, before lowering himself on top of Rain, lined up and ready.
“You belong to me,” he says. “And I belong to you.” Rain’s breath hitches again. Phayu doesn’t know precisely what Rain and Plerng’s marriage was like, but clearly, Plerng hadn’t belonged to Rain. That’s why it’s important for Phayu now to let Rain know that belonging goes both ways with them. “I’m your P’Phayu. Let me hear you say that.”
Rain wraps his arms around Phayu’s neck. “You’re my P’Phayu.”
“And?”
“And you belong to me.”
“And don’t forget that,” Phayu says, right as he pushes in.
It’s their first time, but it already feels perfect. Like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Like they were meant to fit together like this. Like coming home. And Phayu already knows that he wants to spend forever doing this.
Or at least as much of the night as he can.
Pretty much the only good thing about marrying a player was that Plerng was great in bed. Even though Rain had no experience with sex before him, he could tell that Plerng was an excellent lover. He always made Rain feel great in bed.
And yet Rain feels like Plerng can’t even hold a candle to how good Phayu is in bed.
He can’t point to anything specific that makes Phayu better. He just is.
Maybe it’s an emotional thing as well. Rain doesn’t know, and he doesn’t really care.
Phayu must be able to tell something on his face, because when slides into bed next to Rain, after cleaning them up, he smirks and says, “I told you I’d make you feel better than you’ve ever felt before.”
Rain hits him on the chest. Phayu barely moves, but he does huff out a little laughter.
Before Rain can say anything in response, he yawns.
“Are you tired?” Phayu asks.
“Kind of. You wore me out,” Rain says. “But I also feel exhilarated. Everything that’s happened today has been…” he’s not even sure how to word it. “A lot. Though I guess in reality, not a lot of things happened.”
“But what did happen what a big deal,” Phayu says. “And not just us. You officially got divorced today.”
Rain grins. “Yeah, I did.”
It’s funny. Today was a formality more than anything else, and yet it feels like a huge deal. And in some ways, it definitely is a huge deal. Even if it only symbolically signals the end of his marriage, signing those papers means Rain doesn’t have to deal with Plerng anymore. No more fights, no more meetings, no more anything. Sure, Plerng is right that they’ll definitely see each other again, but Rain won’t have to deal with him. He has dealt with him.
Today, he got the final closure he needed, and now he can move on.
To Phayu, amongst other things, which is very exciting.
“What are your plans now?” Phayu asks, like he could tell what Rain is thinking.
Honestly, Rain wouldn’t be too surprised if he found out Phayu can read minds.
“Firstly, I’m gonna get my own apartment,” Rain says. “I’ve never lived on my own. I lived with my parents until I moved in with P’Plerng, and after we split, I moved in with Sky and P’Pai. I wanna try having my own place and standing on my own feet.”
It’s a nerve-wracking thought, but it’s also exciting. Once upon a time, Rain wouldn’t have cared about standing on his own two feet. Now, he very much does.
“I’ll help you look for an apartment, if you want,” Phayu offers.
Rain blushes for the millionth time that night. “Really?”
“Mmmh.” Phayu nods.
“Okay. I’d like that,” Rain mumbles.
Phayu pinches his cheek, like he thinks Rain is being adorable. It’s a lot nicer than Rain thought it would be. He likes having a partner who dotes on him.
“What else?” Phayu prompts.
“I wanna get a job,” Rain says firmly.
“As an architect?”
“Ideally, yeah, but I know it can be hard, and I don’t have any other experience than my university internship. If I can get a different type of job, that’s fine too. I just wanna actually work,” Rain explains.
Phayu nods a little. “It’s good to be realistic. I hope you can get the kind of job you want, but I’m sure you’ll be great at whatever job you get.” He leans in and presses a soft, dry kiss to Rain’s cheek. “And I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”
Rain sucks in a deep breath, hoping it’ll steady his heartbeat a little. It doesn’t.
He tries for a little fire instead.
“If you ever cheat on me, I’m gonna go to your office and cause a scene,” Rain threatens. “And you know I will.”
“Well, I don’t have to worry about that.” Phayu smiles and brushes Rain’s hair out of his face. “Because I’ll never betray you. Ever.”
Despite everything that has been said between them, those words still make Rain feel warm and flushed.
“P’Phayu…”
“You can trust me, Rain,” Phayu says, in a serious tone. “I won’t hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. I won’t make you cry, unless it’s from happiness.” He smirks a little. “Or from pleasure or embarrassment.”
“Shut up,” Rain huffs.
Phayu just taps his nose softly. He leans in and kisses Rain again, this time on the lips. Rain puts a hand on the back of Phayu’s neck and opens his mouth to deepen the kiss.
They’ve gone two rounds already, but he wouldn’t say no to a third.
Before it can get to that point, though, Phayu pulls back again.
“You know,” he begins quietly, “when I first saw you at one of Prapai’s parties, I thought you were really cute. I would have tried hitting on you, but you were already with Plerng then, and I didn’t want to hit on a guy who was already taken.”
Rain stares at him for a moment. Then he can’t help but laugh a little. What are the odds?
“Really?” he asks. Phayu nods. “That’s funny.”
“Why?”
“The first time I saw you, I also thought you were really handsome,” Rain admits. “But I was happy with P’Plerng at the time, so I didn’t really think more about it. But when Sky told me you were gonna be my lawyer, I remembered that.”
Phayu laughs a little as well.
“If only our timing had been better.” He wraps an arm around Rain’s waist and pulls him in closer. “But we’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
“And now we belong to each other, right?” Rain says, tracing an idle pattern on Phayu’s chest.
Phayu smiles so softly and fondly. “That’s right.”
Maybe with his history, Rain should be a little more hesitant. He literally just got divorced from a guy who promised him everything and then ended up serially cheating on him.
But Rain won’t let that affect him anymore. He’s going to be free and happy.
And he’s going to be those things with Phayu.