Chapter Text
Meen spent the few following days thinking about his encounter with Duean. Not because something particularly grand had happened, but because the memory wouldn’t leave his mind, no matter how hard Meen tried.
He didn’t say anything to Pi, and when Mork had pressed him because he had said that Meen looked weirder, he had just dismissed his brother, telling him that he was just tired. Mork hadn’t believed him then, but he had still enough decency not to bring it up again.
He also tried to avoid meeting Duean again, until he was able to know why he was feeling that way. Unfortunately for him, Duean didn’t know that, talking to him while Meen waited for Pi, greeting him in passing around campus, and being an all around nice person to Meen.
It was driving him crazy.
There was no escaping Duean, especially when he came to the knowledge that Meen was somehow trying to avoid him.
Meen was just sitting alone in the cafeteria, when he was pulled away from his thoughts by the very person he was thinking about.
“Meen?” said Duean, moving his hand in front of Meen’s face. “Are you there?”
“Yes,” said Meen, smiling, trying to act as natural as he could.
“You’re really cute when you smile” said Duean, and Meen almost slapped himself in the face to assert that it was really happening and that Meen wasn’t at home dreaming in his bed.
Meen’s mouth twitched, unsure if he should smile, laugh, say something in response to Duean’s words.
He finally settled on one word. “Duean!”
“What? It’s the truth. Besides, if you react like this to a little compliment, what do you do when someone flirts with you?”
“I… I don’t know what idea you have of me, but I don’t get flirted on” said Meen, lowering his gaze to the table, feeling shy at the revelation.
“Their loss. Looking at you, if you weren’t my brother’s friend I would have flirted with you”
Meen widened his eyes. Had Duean just admitted that he found Meen not only cute, but that he would flirt with you if it wasn’t for his friendship with Pi?
“Why not?” was what came out of Meen’s mouth before he could stop himself.
“Would you like any of your friends flirting with your brother?” asked Duean, looking intensely at him.
“When I was in high school, I only had friends because they thought that my brother was cool and they wanted to be with him. They often invited themselves to my house just to be around him. I ended up alone because my brother said that I needed real friends, and not people who used me to get closer to him.” said Meen, then he added. “Besides, how do you know I even have a brother? I never tell anyone about it anymore”
“Pi told me” replied Duean, like it answered every Meen could throw at him. “So, do I know him?”
“Why? You can’t flirt with me because I’m your brother’s friend so you decided to settle on the very next thing, my own brother?” says Meen, maybe angrier than he should.
Duean looks at him, amused by his reaction. “You look like you’re all sweet, but when someone hits the right spot, your claws come out”
Meen thinks that the conversation is over, so he goes back to doing whatever he was doing before Duean came along, when Duean’s voice attracts his attention once again. “Just to be clear, I wouldn’t flirt with your brother, not because he’s your brother, but because he isn’t you”.
Meen is left alone and confused by Duean’s words. Unfortunately for him, the only people he can talk to about this are his brother and Pi, and being Pi out of the question, he decides to call his brother.
“Meen? Are you okay?” replies quickly Mork.
“Yes, yes.”
“You scared me, calling me while at university” says his brother, his tone now calmer.
“I wanted to talk with you about something, something important to me, and you’re the only person I can talk to”
“Really? What about Pi? Why don’t you talk with him?”
“I need a big brother perspective, and he’s the last of three children, so he can’t help me”
There’s silence on the other end of the phone, before Mork speaks again. “Tell me, but quick, I have a class in half an hour”
Meen thinks about the right words to say “As an older brother, would you ever consider flirting with your younger brother’s friends?”
Mork sighs. “Is one of your friends in love with me again?”
Meen shakes his head, before he realizes that Mork can’t actually see him. “No, it’s just a question.”
“Well, I think it depends on the people. Personally I wouldn’t be opposed to flirting with your friends, but first I would have to make sure that they didn’t befriend you just to get to me, considering our past”
“But if we were different people, and that hadn’t happened to me, would you gladly do it?” Pressed Meen, wanting an answer.
“If I liked the person, then yes”
“And if I wanted to flirt with one of your friends, would you let them do it?”
“Do you like one of my friends, Meen? Is this what this conversation is really about?”
“No, I barely stand half of your friends,” said Meen, not wanting his brother to get the wrong idea.
“Listen, Meen, I don’t care if you have a crush on one of my friends, I just want the person you like to treat you well. I feel like there is something you aren’t telling me… We used to tell each other everything”
“Mork… I really can’t tell you more on this matter” says Meen, not willing to blatantly lie to his brother.
Meen hears Mork breathing, before he speaks again. “I’ll propose to you this. I am aware that you don’t want to tell me everything because I’m your brother or because of whatever reason you have, but I want you to be happy and safe, so why don’t you talk to Nan about it? You like him, don’t you?”
“Yeah”
“Then, I’ll give the phone to him and you can tell him everything, and I promise you that it will remain between the two of you”
Meen thought about it. He liked Mueang Nan, always had, and he trusted him. Maybe telling someone about the situation might shine a new light on the situation.
“Alright”
Meen heard Mork calling Nan and explain the situation to him a little, before he heard shuffling and then Nan’s voice. “I walked a few meters away from your brother, so that he won’t hear us”
“Thank you, Nan” said Meen, relived.
“First thing first, how are you? It’s been a while since we last talked”
“Things have been doing well. I have a new friend, Pi, and I’m doing so many new experiences”
Nan hummed, to show that he was listening. “Then, what is troubling you?”
“Uhm, I have a crush on my friend’s older brother…”
“Yeah…”
“He’s always nice to me when we see each other, looks at me frequently and treats me differently. Today he told me that if I wasn’t his brother’s friend, then he would flirt with me”
“I think he’s interested in you, but maybe he doesn't want to upset his brother. Is Pi we are talking about, right?”
“Yes” says Meen, playing with his own hand.
“I think you should with Pi about this, or maybe even ask Duean why you being Pi’s brother is deterring him from flirting with you”
“You’ve known me for almost all of my life, and you think I am the confrontational type?”
Nan laughs. “You are just like your brother, both of you prefer to bottle up your emotions inside of your chest and then whine about it”.
Meen stops his train of thoughts about Pi and Duean. “Wait. My brother is in a similar situation?”
“More similar than you might think, Meen. You’re subtle, so if you don’t feeling outright confronting Pi or Duean about your feelings, then maybe try and understand why Duean might be opposed to being with you”
“Thank you, Nan”
“Of course, Meen, I’m your brother’s friend, but I consider myself your friend too, and if you ever need my help, you know you can count on me”
“I know, thank you again”
Meen hangs up, still debating on how and if he should talk to Pi about the situation.