Work Text:
Working under Phayu is like a dream come true for View. He’s a few years younger than Phayu, and he went to a different university, but he still heard of Phayu long before he graduated. He’s seen Phayu’s work as well and aspires to be an architect with even half as much creative talent as Phayu has. So to be one of the handful of people Phayu decides to hire when he starts his own company is truly a dream come true.
Except that working under Phayu is no dream.
Phayu is by no means a bad boss. He’s not mean or rude or cold. He pays for a round of drinks on Fridays, even when he’s not joining them at the bar, he remembers details about people’s private lives enough to congratulate on anniversaries and family birthdays, and he always asks everyone if they’ve had a good weekend. He’s understanding if someone needs a little time off or falls a little behind, so long as they have a good reason. He can charm clients so well that View thinks he could sell ice to Innuits, and he can handle difficult contractors like it’s a piece of cake.
But his expectations are high. His demands are high. He expects everyone to deliver high quality and innovation every time, expects them to keep on top of not just current trends but also coming trends. Every single drawing and model they make gets scrutinized, and it usually takes several revisions for him to be satisfied. He’ll praise what he thinks is good, and then immediately give a list of things that need to be worked on.
View thinks four is the least amount of revision rounds he’s had to go through. Kong had to go through eighteen once.
Honestly, Phayu is more demanding than any of View’s university professors ever were, and certainly more than his old boss was.
Phayu is demanding and a perfectionist, and he has the talent to back it up himself, but that’s also what makes it worth it to work for him. View gets to learn from him, and he gets to work on amazing projects, and he knows that just working with Phayu for a few years will give him more notoriety in the architecture community than working with almost anyone else would. Like he’s Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada, working for Phayu for just a year or two will open a lot of doors for him.
And it’s not like he hates coming into work. He doesn’t. He enjoys being in the office (of course one of the top young architects has office spaces that are immaculate and welcoming, even though he’s just renting a floor of a high rise), and he likes all of his colleagues. He likes Phayu as well.
But it’s usually a tense affair to be in the same room as him for an extended period of time and working for him is exhausting. Still, View is determined to get a good experience out of this job.
Not all of his colleagues quite agree with him.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Kitty groans as he collapses on View’s desk.
View pushes his monitor aside so he can get a better look at her. “Do what?” he asks.
“Work here,” Kitty mumbles into the desk.
“Why not?” View asks, though he has a pretty good idea.
“P’Phayu can be such a hard-ass,” she lifts her head and looks at View miserably. “Has anyone ever had their work approved the first time? Or even the second?”
“No, but I don’t think anyone got their work approved the first time at my old job, either,” View says.
“How about getting it rejected seventeen times?” Kong asks pointedly, from his desk next to View’s (all the architects work in a shared, central office). It’s no secret that he’s still a little sore about having to redo a build eighteen times.
“See!” Kitty exclaims, gesturing wildly at Kong. “P’Phayu is way too demanding sometimes! Not all of us are architecture geniuses.”
“Keep it down, Kitty,” View hisses. The door to Phayu’s office is closed, but that doesn’t mean he won’t suddenly come out to talk to them or something. And who knows how he’d react to hearing them talk like this, when he’s as strict as he is?
Kitty looks over her shoulder. “It doesn’t look like he’s even in his office right now,” she says.
“All the more reason to not talk like that. What if he comes out of the bathroom in a second?” View asks.
“Well, maybe he should hear me,” Kitty says defiantly. “That might teach him not to expect us to be able to match him.”
“Exactly,” Kong grumbles.
“I think the idea is that we’re supposed to learn,” View says.
“Well, he goes about teaching in funny ways,” Kong says.
View opens his mouth to say something more, but before he can, the door to the reception opens and Phayu walks in. And, surprisingly, a new person is walking in behind him. It’s a guy, who looks maybe a few years younger than View. He’s wearing an oversized white button down over a bright blue t-shirt with the words Bite Me printed on in white, and a pair of slim blue jeans. He’s got a backpack over one shoulder and a tube for large drawings over the other.
“Hello, P’Phayu,” View says immediately and wais. Kitty whirls around in her seat to greet Phayu properly as well.
“Hello everyone,” Phayu says. He pulls the new person out to stand in front of him. “This is Rain. He’ll be spending the day with us today. Please take care of him.”
“Of course,” Kitty says immediately, and View echoes the sentiment, even though he’s a little confused. Why exactly will Rain be spending the day with them?
But Phayu doesn’t explain. He just nods and then turns to Rain and says, “And you. Behave today.”
“I always behave,” Rain huffs, turning his head to the side.
View is expecting Phayu to frown, to be angry, to scold Rain for that sort of behavior.
Instead, Phayu just shakes his head, smiles a little, and walks into his office without another word. Rain looks after him without turning his head, and a wide grin spreads on his face.
View feels like he just got thrown into an alternate dimension.
Rain clearly doesn’t know that anything is amiss because he bounds up to Prae, who sits on View’s other side, with a wide, excited smile and leans over the desk to peak at the floorplan she’s drawing. He’s young enough to still be in university. He probably doesn’t know what Phayu is like as a boss or as a senior.
“Oh, that looks awesome, phi!” Rain exclaims.
Prae smiles, clearly pleased but also a little startled. “Thank you, Nong Rain.”
Rain spends a few minutes asking her about the project, and Prae explains everything to him with a fond look on her face. She’s always been quick to adopt cute things, and there’s no doubt that Rain is cute.
“So why are you here today, Nong Rain?” Kong asks at one point. “Are you going to be working here?”
“Um, I guess you could say that,” Rain replies with a small laugh. “The plan is for me to work here once I graduate. But today I’m just hanging out because I have nothing else to do.”
“So you’re interning?” Kitty asks.
“Not officially,” Rain replies, which is the most confusing answer ever. But Rain either isn’t aware of that or he doesn’t care, because he just walks over to Kong and asks if he can see how they use their design programs. He listens with rapt attention as Kong explains it all to him, and lights up like a Christmas tree when Kong allows him to try it out himself.
View really hopes Rain’s cuteness and excitability doesn’t get snuffed out by Phayu’s demands. That would be a shame.
**
Rain comes back a few days later, this time on his own, and after greeting everyone he settles down to work on a project of his own. View checks that the coast is clear (meaning no Phayu lurking around), before going over to see what the project is.
“Wow, Rain!” he exclaims when he sees the drawings. “This looks really good!”
“Thank you,” Rain beams. “I struggle more with the theoretical stuff, but I’m at the top when it comes to this part.”
That’s something View can relate to.
He leans down a little to tap at a part of Rain’s floorplan. “I think you should move this window,” he says.
Rain frowns. “Why? It’s centered.”
“Centered isn’t always the best solution,” View points out. It’s a lesson it took him a while to learn. “If you move it to the side, you’ll leave more space to put in appliances and cabinets, without it feeling like they’re crowding the window.”
Rain hums, like he’s considering the suggestion, then makes an affirmative noise and starts erasing what he’d drawn. It’s as he does this that View notices the ring on his finger.
“Nong Rain, are you already married?” he asks in surprise. Rain is still in university. Even if he’s in his final year, that seems a little early.
But Rain brightens like the sun and says, “Not married, but I’m engaged!”
“Wait, really?” Kitty asks, sounding just as surprised as View feels.
“Congratulations,” Prae says kindly.
“Thank you, P’Prae!” Rain grins.
“If you’re wearing a ring, that must mean you’re the one who got proposed to,” Kitty says. Rain nods vigorously. “So are we talking a guy or a very modern girl?”
“A guy. Actually –”
“Have you finished all your work, Kitty?”
The sound of Phayu’s voice suddenly interrupting Rain makes all of them jump a little. View tenses as he looks over to where Phayu is leaning against the door to his own office, one eyebrow raised. He doesn’t look judgmental, but View feels judged, nonetheless, and he’s not even the one Phayu is looking at.
Kitty’s back goes ramrod straight. If she was an anime character, there would be a large bead of sweat on the side of her head.
“P-P’Phayu!” she stammers out. Phayu’s other eyebrow joins the first. “Uh, work, right… I’m almost done.”
“Good,” Phayu says. Then he turns to View. “And you, View? Have you finished?”
“Not quite, but I’m on top of it,” View assures him.
“That’s what I thought,” Phayu says, sounding strangely threatening somehow. “If you have time to help Rain with his work and gossip about his love life, then you must have everything under control.”
View does indeed have everything under control, and yet he suddenly feels panicky about it.
“I’m sorry, phi,” he says, though he’s not sure what exactly he’s apologizing for.
Phayu smiles a little, and some of the tense air disappears. “You don’t have to apologize if you’re not behind. I’m sure Rain appreciates the help from experienced architects. And there’s nothing wrong with getting to know each other better,” Phayu says.
“Right,” Kitty says faintly.
“Rain, don’t distract the employees,” Phayu says sternly.
Once again, Rain doesn’t react in a way that anyone else would. He pouts and says, “I wasn’t. P’View came over to give me some advice.”
Phayu glances up at View. “Does his work look good?” he asks.
“Uh, yes. Nong Rain is very talented,” View says, even though it feels like the universe has tilted a little.
“Mmh, good,” Phayu hums. His phone rings, and he retreats back into his office and closes the door.
Kitty puts a hand on her chest and lets out a quick breath. “That was scary.”
“You think he’s scary?” Rain asks curiously.
Part of View wants to say no, so he doesn’t dissuade Rain from his plan to work here. It’s great if he’s already got a job secured for after graduation. Lots of people don’t. View doesn’t want to ruin that opportunity for him. But he also doesn’t want to lie to Rain. If Rain is going to be working here, he should know what it’s like.
“Sometimes, yes,” View says. Rain’s eyes go very wide, so View quickly continues. “P’Phayu is just very strict about making sure everyone is on top of their work and no one falls behind. And he expects a certain level of quality of work. That’s all.”
“It’s a lot sometimes. A lot of the time,” Kong pipes up. “But it’s usually worth it.”
Rain nods thoughtfully.
“Right,” View breathes out. “I should get back to work.”
“Thanks for the help, phi,” Rain says with a wai. View smiles in return and heads back to his own desk. He sees Kitty doing the same as well.
Phayu comes back out half an hour later and stops by everyone’s desk to check the progress on their work and offer advice. View spots Rain watching Phayu as he moves around the room. He looks curious, like Phayu is a puzzle he’s trying to figure out, but also like he’s having the time of his life trying to figure it out. He doesn’t look dissuaded from working here, thankfully.
Though of course that can still change.
“Rain, stop staring and get back to your work,” Phayu says when he notices Rain’s eyes on him.
“Fine,” Rain huffs, but he’s still smiling, and he turns back to his work without another word.
Rain must be made of something special if he’s not even the slightest bit intimidated by Phayu. And right now, it doesn’t look like he is. In fact, Rain seems more amused than intimidated, and that’s just not a feeling View in any way associates with Phayu. Or maybe Phayu’s not as tough on Rain as he is on his actual employees. If that’s the case, then oh boy, Rain will get a rude awakening when he starts working here.
Right now, though, View thinks it’s more likely that Rain is just a tough cookie. Which could potentially make for some fun times at the office.
**
The next time Rain stops by, he arrives with Phayu after lunch, just like the first time he was here. Phayu heads into his office, and once again, Rain settles down to work on his own stuff, but this time it’s not a project. Instead, he pulls out his laptop and some books, and starts typing. He doesn’t look as confident with this as he did when he was drawing, but then, he did say that he wasn’t good with the theoretical stuff.
View feels for him. It never did make much sense to him why they needed so much theory. Some of it, sure, yes, that made sense. But all the history stuff, for instance? That made a lot less sense.
“Nong Rain, do you need any help?” Prae offers kindly.
Rain smiles but shakes his head. “No thanks, phi, I got this. It’s just tedious.”
He finishes with a cute pout before turning back to his laptop.
Prae’s offer soon turns out to be moot anyway, when Phayu comes out from his office and stands behind Rain, leaning over his shoulder to read his screen. Rain doesn’t react much beyond glancing at Phayu, which View considers fairly impressive. It took him months to stop himself from flinching whenever Phayu did that to him.
But instead, Rain barely takes notice of Phayu hovering.
“You just contradicted yourself,” Phayu says eventually, in that no-nonsense voice of his.
“I’m making counterpoints!” Rain protests, in a way View would never.
“Not with how you’re wording it right now. It sounds like you’re contradicting yourself,” Phayu says. He raises his eyebrows and looks Rain straight in the eyes. “You’ve been writing these kinds of assignments for years. You know how to phrase these kinds of things.”
View winces in sympathy. Even though Phayu’s tone is never mean when he says stuff like that, it’s so firm and so matter-of-fact that it’s scary nonetheless.
But Rain looks at Phayu defiantly and says, “I know! This is just the first draft! Not all of us can make something perfect the first time, phi.”
Next to View, Kong coughs. Phayu looks up at him, with a look that quickly turns from mild concern to mild judgement when he sees that Kong is clearly paying a lot of attention to them. Kong frantically grabs his water bottle, like some sort of attempt to convince Phayu that that’s not what he was doing, and waves him off. View quickly looks back at his own monitor as well, before he’s also caught not focusing on work, but he can’t help but pay attention to what they say.
“Have you checked all your sources?” Phayu asks firmly.
“Only some of them,” Rain says, and by his tone, he knows that won’t be good enough for Phayu.
And true enough, when View looks over, Phayu is shaking his head. “You have to know where you’re getting your information from.”
“I know, phi,” Rain pouts. “I promise I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Phayu says, and his voice almost sounds… gentle.
View is starting to wonder if maybe they know each other better than just being a future employer and employee.
The way Phayu talks to Rain, and (more noticeably maybe) the way Rain talks to Phayu indicates two people that have known each other for a while. They’d arrived together today, too, and while that could simply be because they ran into each other outside the building, it could very much also be because they’d met up before coming to the office. Maybe they had lunch together?
Phayu definitely seems like the type who would be willing to go back to his university to help juniors even after he graduated, so that might be how they met. Or hell, they could be in the same code line. That would explain them both knowing each other and seeming fairly close.
Whatever the case, they must have interacted in some kind of context that was casual enough to give Rain the nerve to talk to Phayu the way he does.
Or maybe Rain is just that thick-skinned.
Though that wouldn’t explain Phayu’s gentle voice.
Unless he’s into that. Phayu is bisexual, after all.
“Alright, everyone,” Phayu calls out, straightening up and looking out at his employees. View’s back tenses immediately. “Remember, we have a project meeting in ten minutes, so start getting ready.”
“Right,” they all chorus, and with a final nod, Phayu heads back to his office, probably to get ready himself.
“Psst,” Kitty whispers.
“Hm?” View hums without looking away from his monitor. He needs to check that his presentation is perfect.
“What the hell was that stuff with Rain?” Kitty hisses. “Is he just the biggest badass ever?” View snorts but doesn’t say anything to that. “Should we try to talk back to P’Phayu like that?”
“Oh god, no,” View mumbles immediately. Just the idea of talking to Phayu like that, of telling him not all of us can make something perfect the first time makes a cold shiver run down his spine. He’s not even sure Phayu intends to be so scary. He’s friendly and considerate outside of the office, but he’s just so intense when it comes to work, he becomes intimidating, no matter how many times he buys drinks on Fridays.
Kitty hisses out a giggle, before turning serious again. “Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone act like that with P’Phayu.”
“I know, me either,” View whispers back.
“And I’ve never seen P’Phayu act like that with anyone,” Kitty whispers. She leans in closer to View. “Do you think they know each other from somewhere?”
That makes View look at her. He shrugs, but whispers back, “I’ve been thinking the same.”
Kitty’s eyes go wide. She opens her mouth to say something more, but before she can, Prae on her other side clears her throat loudly and pointedly, and Kitty whips around in surprise to look at her.
“Maybe you two should stop gossiping and start preparing for the meeting?” she suggests innocently.
“I am prepared,” Kitty huffs, and she’s probably right. She’s a damn good worker. “I triple-checked this morning. It’s all good.”
View needs to give his stuff a once-over again, but he’s fairly sure he’s also ready. Still, he turns back to his monitor, and Kitty does the same. But when Phayu comes out of his office, laptop under his arm, to go to the meeting room, View sees him give Rain a small, soft smile. Rain still has his nose buried in his work, so he doesn’t see it, but View does, and it makes him more certain that he and Kitty are onto something.
Those two must know each other from somewhere else, right?
**
“How did your meeting go?” View asks Kitty as she walks out from Phayu’s office. Going by her face, it didn’t go well.
“I barely survived,” Kitty groans dramatically, putting a hand over her heart for extra effect. “What does he have to be so intense for? I always feel like I can barely breathe in one-on-one meetings.”
“Really?” Prae asks skeptically.
“Okay, maybe not literally, but you know what I mean,” Kitty amends.
“Did you get your project approved?” Kong asks.
“Not quite.” Kitty sighs and flops down in a chair around the big table in the middle, that they’re all sitting around. “He said I had to look into materials and sourcing again, because apparently it’s not exactly what the client wants.”
“Ouch. Better luck next time,” Kong says.
Kitty pouts. “His standards are so intense.”
“Did he give you any help with where to look?” View asks, because Phayu is usually pretty good at doing that.
“Yeah,” Kitty mumbles, dejected, and holds up a slip of paper.
“Well, then at least you have a starting point. P’Phayu is helpful like that,” View says encouragingly.
“I don’t know what it is about P’Phayu that makes it so hard for me to open my mouth in front of him when it’s just the two of us,” Kitty says. Had it been about anyone else, View might have thought Kitty had a crush on Phayu, but they’ve all experienced what she’s talking about, and it’s not because of fuzzy romantic feelings. “Normally I don’t have any trouble speaking my mind.”
“Oh, we know,” Kong snorts.
Kitty throws a pen at him. “Oi! Rude!”
“We know what you mean, Kitty,” View says, before Kitty and Kong start throwing more things.
“Right, and I’m not sure what it is. I’m not even sure he does it on purpose,” Kitty continues as if the little derailment with Kong had never happened. “Like you said, he’s helpful. But when he’s sitting there, looking at my work and scrutinizing every little detail, it’s like my brain shuts down. I get all jittery and sweaty, and I never have a good comeback, but then as soon as I’m out the door, I think of something good to say. Like how the client doesn’t always know what’s good and sometimes needs to see options they haven’t considered.”
“That’s what we do in meetings with the clients,” View reminds her. “We give them what they want and then tell them how that can be changed or improved.”
“I know, but sometimes I think there are other ways to do it,” Kitty says and slumps even further in her chair. “I can just never seem to tell him.”
“I get it. It can be scary to challenge him,” Prae says.
“It’s because he’s so competent it’s scary, I think,” View says thoughtfully.
“And because he’s just fucking intimidating,” Kong says.
“It’s hard to speak up to someone who does the work that well,” Prae adds.
“And the vibes are just like… ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibes, you know?” Kitty says. They all nod and hum in agreement, but before anyone can say anything, they’re interrupted.
“Are you guys talking about P’Phayu?” a voice behind them asks. The three of them whirl around to see Rain standing a few feet away, school bag slung over his shoulder as usual.
“Nong Rain!” Prae exclaims in surprise. “Good to see you again.”
“You too, phi,” Rain says with a polite wai and a smile. “Were you talking about P’Phayu before?”
View looks at the other three around the table. They all look like he feels: a little nervous, a little unsure. Firstly, View doesn’t want to ruin Rain’s post-graduation job prospect by telling him that the boss he’s set to start working for is a tough nut and won’t be easy to crack. But secondly, Rain seems to be fairly close to Phayu already, so View isn’t sure what Rain will think of how they were just talking about Phayu. It all makes him unsure of what to say.
“Uh,” Kong hesitates. “Yeah, we were.”
View expects Rain to frown or to get upset or something like that.
He doesn’t expect Rain to grin like he just heard a hilarious joke.
“He’s super talented, isn’t he?” he asks, giddy.
“Definitely,” View quickly agrees, wondering exactly how much Rain heard.
“And he can be really strict too,” Rain says, taking a seat. He seems a lot more gleeful about that fact that View thinks he should. “And intimidating, without even having to try. His face just gets so intense when he’s serious.”
“Alright, Rain, I gotta ask. How are you not scared of P’Phayu?” Kitty asks. Clearly, her patience is thin today.
Rain laughs. “Sometimes I am! He can be really strict.”
“But I’ve never seen anyone act with P’Phayu the way you do. How can you be so relaxed around him? How do you just talk back to him, like it’s no big deal?” View presses. He’s too curious now as well to hold back his questions.
“Because it’s not? As long as I’m not rude, and that takes a lot,” is Rain’s vague reply, though he sounds less amused and more confused now. “Wait, are you all really that scared of him?”
“How are you not more scared of him?” Kitty asks, sounding just as bewildered as Rain.
What comes out of Rain’s mouth next is just about the last thing any of them would have ever expected.
“He’s my fiancé.”
The room goes so quiet, you’d be able to hear a pin drop.
Rain’s hands fly up to cover his mouth, like he said something he wasn’t supposed to. Like it’s a secret. Or a joke, maybe? A joke would make more sense. Happy, cheerful Rain and stern, strict Phayu? Engaged? That one doesn’t compute. But the look on Rain’s face, with the hands in front of his mouth and the large eyes, doesn’t look like it was a joke.
“I’m sorry, you’re gonna have to repeat that, because I feel like I heard that wrong,” View hears himself say.
Slowly, Rain lowers his hands. His eyes flit between the four of them, and his lower lip twitches, like he’s not quite sure what to say. Then a small, awkward smile spreads on his face and he hunches in a little on himself.
“P’Phayu is my fiancé,” he repeats slowly.
Again, the room goes deathly quiet for a moment.
Then, as if on cue, View, Kong, Kitty, and Prae all simultaneously shout, “What?”
“P’Phayu is your fiancé?” Kong exclaims.
“You’re marrying P’Phayu?” Prae asks.
“Mmh,” Rain hum in confirmation. He’s blushing a little.
“But you’re so sweet and cheerful, and he’s so…” View trails off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence. The first word that popped into his head was gloomy, because it’s the opposite of cheerful, but it’s maybe not entirely fair to call Phayu gloomy. His fiancé (who is View’s boss’ fiancé) probably won’t appreciate that very much.
“Intense,” Kitty supplies.
“Extreme,” Kong suggests. Prae promptly hits him in the shoulder. Hard. “Ow.”
“I just didn’t picture you with someone like P’Phayu. I guess I figured your fiancé was more… smiley,” View says and tries very hard not to feel too lame or too embarrassed.
“He smiles plenty around me,” Rain says. That makes sense, View supposes, but it’s still hard to picture. Rain gets a small, thoughtful smile on his face and tilts his head a little. “You know, usually when we’ve told people, they haven’t thought I was a good match for him, not the other way around. Like he’s too good for me.”
“I can’t picture that at all,” Kong comments. Rain perks up, but then, that does make sense if he’s used to people telling him he’s not good enough for his fiancé. That can’t be very fun.
“Oh no, I’m sure you’re a good match for each other!” View says hurriedly.
“But if anyone is too good for someone, it’s definitely you who’s too good for P’Phayu,” Kitty says.
“I agree.”
View absolutely freezes in place.
Distantly, he thinks they should be better at noticing their surroundings. This is the second time they’ve been surprised like this.
Stiff as boards, they all very slowly turn to look at Phayu. It feels ridiculously like a scene from a drama. Phayu is standing in the doorway to his office, leaning against the doorjamb, looking like the picture of cool relaxation. He doesn’t look upset or offended by anything. Instead, he almost looks amused. And a little proud. And yet it does very little to reassure View because they haven’t exactly been saying the kindest things, and this is the guy in charge of his job.
Nobody heard the door to Phayu’s office open. Nobody noticed him stepping out and standing there, listening to them. How long has he been there? How much has he heard?
“Phi… P’Phayu…” Kitty says weakly. Phayu just raises his eyebrows, and the corners of his lips tick upwards a little.
“You… you agree? With what?” Kong asks.
Phayu pushes off the doorjamb and walks over to stand behind Rain and puts a hand on the back of his neck.
“Rain is the one who’s too good for me,” he says.
“I am not, phi,” Rain protests.
“It’s certainly not me who’s too good for you,” Phayu says dryly.
“We’re good for each other,” Rain says with a firm nod. Phayu’s face breaks out in the fondest smile View has ever seen on anyone, and he gently ruffles Rain’s hair. It’s like seeing a completely different person.
Phayu turns to the rest of them, still smiling a little. “Why don’t you go home early today? I’m gonna leave now anyway.” He looks back down at Rain, and that fondness is instantly back. “I want to take a certain someone out for dinner.”
Phayu very, very rarely tells anyone to take the rest of the day off or leave early, and usually only if they have a very good reason. But it’s only about an hour until the workday is officially over, anyway, there are no pressing deadlines, and frankly, View doesn’t think he could get a lot of work done now anyway. His mind is far too blown for that, from the bombshell Rain dropped.
No one really reacts, though, because everything that’s happening right now is so unusual. Phayu and Rain don’t seem to care about Phayu’s frozen employees, though. Phayu takes Rain’s hand and pulls him up, then starts leading him towards the elevators with a hand on the small of his back.
“So you couldn’t keep from telling them after all?” View hears Phayu say, clearly amused.
“They were asking me why I’m not scared of you,” Rain says. Phayu tilts his head like he’s confused, and Rain hooks his arm around Phayu’s. “I’ll tell you later.”
Phayu pinches Rain’s cheek with his free hand. Rain gets him back by leaning up on his tippy toes and kissing Phayu’s cheek. Phayu looks momentarily surprised, before he starts peppering kisses over Rain’s cheeks and forehead, and Rain giggles more and more with each kiss, even as he tries to dodge them. It’s far cuter than it has any right to be.
“P’Phayu! Everyone can see us!” he protests.
“So what? You already told them about us,” Phayu says, unfazed.
“Still…” Rain mumbles. Phayu huffs out a laugh and strokes Rain’s hair softly. “So why are you taking me out for dinner? I thought me telling everyone would make you upset.”
Phayu shakes his head a little. “I have show my perfect match how thankful I am to have him, don’t I?”
“P’Phayu.” Rain smacks Phayu’s chest lightly.
A low ding signals the arrival of the elevator. Phayu turns around to the office, where they’re all still just sitting around the big table, staring at the couple.
Phayu smirks and waves at them. “Have a good night everyone!” he calls out. Rain waves as well, and then Phayu gently pushes him into the elevator. The last thing View hears Phayu say is, “Where do you want to eat, darling?”
The office is silent for a moment after the elevator doors close.
Then Kong says, “I didn’t just imagine all that, right?”
“If you did, we’re sharing hallucinations,” Kitty replies.
“I guess we got our answer about why Rain seems so comfortable with P’Phayu,” View says.
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to sleep on that, cause I don’t think it’s fully registered yet,” Kong says.
Prae gets up from her seat, as the first one, and heads back to her desk. “Well, I think they’re a cute couple. And I think someone like Rain is probably exactly what P’Phayu needs.”
“It still seems so weird,” Kitty says, getting up as well. She claps her hands together loudly. “Drinks, anyone?”
They all nod and hum in agreement and head back to their desks to start packing up. As View packs up his notebook and laptop, he thinks of the Phayu he just saw. It’s a very different Phayu to the one he normally sees, the one he’s used to. That Phayu is stern-faced, intense, serious. He sets high standards and has high expectations and has mastered the art of both the silent judgement and the silent disappointment. He can certainly smile and charm and be genuinely nice, but it’s not what View sees the most from him. The Phayu View just saw with Rain had no traces of that. This Phayu looks soft, happy, fond. Even a little teasing. He’s affectionate and playful.
Seeing the way Phayu is with Rain makes View think that Rain is right. Phayu really isn’t so scary after all.