It had already been three weeks since Win arrived at their resort and he was enjoying every bit of it. He had this routine going on for quite some time now; he would jog early in the morning and breathe in some fresh air and his afternoons were either spent on the beach or at home. Either way, Bright would be there with him. He found it unusual at first how Bright clinged to him as if he was a magnet and Bright was iron fillings. He got used to it somehow, a little bit thankful that the other guy was accompanying him. He didn't have many friends around the beach; most of the people he knew were workers and he couldn't ask them to spend time with him because they have their own responsibilities too. As a matter of fact, Win was enjoying Bright's company. Bright was easy going, funny and comical. Win knew that somehow, without the other, he'd be bored to death by now.
"When are you going home?" Win asked one afternoon as they were playing some mobile games.
"Are you bored with me already?" Bright replied without looking up, his fingers still working on killing their enemy on the mobile game they were playing.
"No, silly. I mean, it's been almost a month. Are you gonna spend the whole summer here?"
"Why not? You're here. That's good enough for me."
And Win would feel it again, that unknown feeling every time Bright spit out nonsense things like that. His stomach would turn and he would feel funny. Warmth would spread on his chest and he would involuntarily smile. He didn't know what was causing the sudden euphoria and he's been trying to figure it out for some time now but he was still clueless. He had never felt this way before.
Maybe I'm sick, he would sometimes think. I gotta go and see a doctor if this continues.
In his first month on the resort, he tried to try every new beach activity. Bright was very adventurous and was very impulsive; the moment he saw someone doing something he hadn't done before or riding something he hadn't ridden before, he would instantly grab Win and drag him to try it out with him. Win didn't mind it though. He was here to enjoy his summer and soak his skin under the sun. He made a mental note to buy more bottles of sunscreen or else he'd get sunburn, though a little tan looks good on him.
"Win, your cousin will arrive today. Can you welcome him? We need to go to another town. Please tell him to feel totally at home."
It was the first thing he heard right after he went downstairs to get some breakfast. He just returned from his early morning jog and he showered first before grabbing some food.
"Sure mae. You and por take care," He said. He was used to it already, how his parents were away almost everyday. Their business was progressing over the years and they needed to catch up with a lot of things if they wanted to accommodate such a large number of tourists and guests.
He kissed his mom goodbye and listened to the sound of the engine car starting and watched his parents drive away. As soon as he finished his breakfast, he went out to meet Bright. It had already become an unspoken agreement to meet each other everyday and Win, as weird as it was, wouldn't want it the other way.
"My cousin's coming today," He said as he sat down beside Bright, their bodies facing towards the ocean. They heard some cute laughter from the little children that were playing not so far away from them.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, his parents are sort of busy too with their business. He even practically grew up with me though we haven't seen each other for like, almost a year now," He explained.
"That's cool. Invite him tonight, let's grab some drinks. Man and Boss are back and they're staying longer this time."
Win remembered Bright's friends. He went out with them during that beach party a month ago. He didn't see them after that night; he wanted to thank them for accompanying him and looking out for his drunk self. As drunk as he was, he could still vaguely remember Boss' silly moves which made his drunk ass laugh out loud.
"Sure."
They spent their morning swimming again, their bodies now already tan after spending so much time under the sun. Win loved the feeling of his body floating on the water, free flowing and not caring where it would take him. Bright would teach him some few tricks he learned during his time in Miami. And then Bright would smile at him, that genuine, warm smile that he had come to love and Win would find himself staring too long.
Bad. This is bad.
Later that afternoon, he was walking back to their house when he saw a figure standing firmly outside their front door. His eyes widened when he recognized who he was and ran towards his cousin.
"P'Type, it's so nice to see you!" He hugged the shorter guy as soon as he was within Win's reach.
Type gently dumped his bags on the floor before hugging him back and laughed at the enthusiasm that his younger cousin was showing. "Hello Nong, it's nice to see you too!"
"Have you been standing here for a long time?" Win asked as he fumbled for his door keys, opening the front door.
"No, it's fine. I was enjoying the view of girls in bikinis. A lot of them were walking by," Type answered which made Win laugh.
"P'! Playboy as ever. Come in, come in!" He helped his cousin with some of the bags he was carrying. He led the way to the room where his P' would be staying and settled his luggage there.
"I hope you're okay with your room P'. If you want, I could check you in the resort's hotel."
"No, it's okay Nong Win! Why would you do that? The room is perfect and me staying here is already causing hassle to you guys. Thanks for having me," Type said as he smiled reassuringly at Win.
"It's been a long time, right P'? The last time we saw each other was..." Win tried to rack his brain about the last time he saw his cousin.
"I think it was nine months ago during Arm's birthday." Arm was also Win's senior and a close friend of Type. "I remembered that you were with your girlfriend that day. What's her name again? Pear, am I right? How are you guys?"
Type noticed how Win hesitated before answering him. "We're no longer together P'."
"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. When did you guys break up?"
"Two months ago? I don't know. She broke up with me a month before I went home, weeks before the end of the term."
"That's still recent. You don't look like you're broken-hearted to me."
Win grinned and said, "I'm not sulking when I'm in the best place on the earth P'!"
Type raised his eyebrows; he knew something was up and his cousin wasn't telling him. "Of course," he said instead, not wanting to push his cousin. He'll soon find out anyway. They were like brothers and Win had always confided in him about everything.
"Alright P'. Let's catch up later. I guess you're tired. Go take some rest." Win smiled back and was about to exit the room when he remembered Bright's offer. "Oh, a friend of mine knew you were coming so he asked me if you wanna go out and grab some drinks tonight."
"That sounds like the perfect welcoming party. And a friend? When did you have a friend here?" Type said. "Or is it really just a friend?"
"P'! He's a guy."
"Your point?"
Win shook his head and grinned. His older cousin came out as bisexual a few years ago back when he was still in high school. Everybody was surprised at the revelation but Win wasn't; he had seen how Type's eyes would sparkle whenever he sees a hot naked guy on the beach every time he'd spend time with him here in their resort every summer. Type was already working and as far as he knew, he had relationships with both girls and guys.
"You gotta rest, P'. See you later," He said before he shut the door behind him. He dropped a message to Bright before taking a nap.
We're definitely on for tonight.
sent 3:24
***
"What the fuck? Guys!"
Win's friends laughed at his reaction. He had just woken up and he freshened up before heading downstairs. He was planning to grab some dinner with Type before filling their bodies with alcohol tonight. But he was startled and he needed to rub his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming when he saw Pleum, Khaotung and JJ standing in the middle of their living room. His cousin was also there and he was laughing along with his friends.
"Hi! Missed us?" Khaotung said as soon as Win was standing a few inches from them, enveloping their close friend into a brief brotherly hug.
"You guys! Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was your cousin's idea!" JJ pointed his fingers at the shortest guy.
Type just shrugged and grinned. "I talked to Khaotung last week and he said he was planning on visiting you. I told him to bring JJ and Pleum with him and we'll surprise you, although I arrived earlier than them."
"You! Weren't you out of the country?" Win said as he hugged Pleum.
"We were. We arrived two days ago and then I received Khaotung's message, I figured I could spend some time under the sun too since the country we visited was freezing cold!" He shivered, acting out the situation he had experienced and his friends roared in laughter.
"And you? I saw you on a couple of resorts in your posts! Aren't you tired of spending your time on the beach?!" Win greeted JJ through patting the taller guy's shoulder.
"It's fucking free man! I won't miss the party especially if my friends are all here!" He said.
He guided his friends to their rooms. They had a pretty decent beach house with a few extra bedrooms because their relatives would sometimes come over and visit them and since they wouldn't stay long, his parents would often offer their house instead of letting them check in at the hotel. He apologized for not being able to prepare their rooms but thankfully, it was neat and clean. He promised himself to buy some snacks for their part time helper who would come and clean their house once a week.
"You guys don't have time to rest because we are all going out tonight!" Win said as soon as his friends settled in their room.
"Free booze!" JJ screamed and flashed a rock n' roll sign.
They changed their clothes into a much lighter and cooler one, matching the chilling night breeze of the beach. They all went out together, his friends joking around constantly. Type wasn't left behind at all; he knew Win's friends too. They teased how Type was the shortest one when he was the oldest between the five of them and Win could only flash a not-so-apologetic smile at his cousin when Type whined and asked him to make his friends stop. They grabbed some light dinner first, settling with some hotdog buns and sandwiches, before heading to the event that Win had promised them.
They arrived and there were no more chairs and tables this time. Everyone was either huddled on the sand or standing and dancing their hearts out. The music was blasting through those large speakers and a group of people were performing some live fire dance. Win remembered it was Saturday evening so their resort had prepared a lot of special events for tonight. There was a mini bar along the sea, a movable large cart designed to look as if it was in a bar. It was where people would scoop up and get their beer. He spotted Bright passing through the crowd, his friends Man and Boss trailing beside him.
"There they are!" He shouted through the music, pointing to the trio. He led his friends towards where Bright, Man and Boss were standing. They already had a bottle of beer in their hands, but judging on how they talked and how they acted, they clearly had just started their night.
He poked Bright's neck and waved at the other when Bright turned around to face him. "Hey!"
"Oh hey, you guys are here already! We just got here too!"
Win nodded and smiled at Bright's friends. He tried to remember who is Man and who is Boss. "Man?" He pointed at the guy with a cheeky smile.
"That's me!"
"And Boss?" He said, referring to the guy with sharp features.
"Hi Win!" He raised his hand as an acknowledgement. "I still got the moves!" He said and started doing the exact silly dance moves he made when he and Win were dancing back at the beach party.
Win laughed. "Sorry! I just didn't see you guys after that night we went out so I'm not sure!"
"Yeah, that trip was very unplanned so we kind of left a few unresolved things back in Bangkok. But we're definitely staying longer now!" Boss explained.
"Longer summer parties woooh!" Man added and fist bumped Boss as he continued to howl in joy and raise their bottles in the air.
Win realized that he needed to introduce his friends too so he turned and said, "By the way, this is JJ, Pleum and Khaotung. These are my friends." He said and his friends and Bright's friends briefly shook hands. "This is P'Type. He's my cousin." He said lastly, patting Type on the shoulder. They also shook their hands but Man didn't. Win noticed how Man's mouth remained agape as he looked at his older cousin with wide eyes.
Type saw the expression on Man too so he snapped his fingers at Man and said, "Hey, you okay?"
Man blinked and looked around. "Yeah, yeah."
Type glanced briefly at Win as if saying What was that? Win could only shrug.
"Alright! You guys get your own beer right there!" Bright said and pointed to the movable beer counter. "We'll be right here! It's my treat tonight!"
Win's friends howled in joy and made a run to the counter to get free booze. Type offered Win to get him his own bottle of beer.
"Any beer will do!" He shouted through the music when Type asked him what he wanted to drink.
"I'll go get us more beer!" Man suddenly said, leaving Boss, Bright and Win behind. Win was confused; Man was still holding a full bottle of beer. It was barely touched.
Boss was busy ogling at some girls in bikinis, casually flirting and wriggling his eyebrows at them. Win stood beside Bright who was chugging his own bottle of beer and staring at the man who was doing some live fire dance.
"What's with the treat tonight?"
Bright raised his eyebrows at him. "What? Don't you like free booze?"
Win grinned. "I do! I was just asking, idiot!"
"I'm happy I get to see my friends tonight."
"You saw them a month ago. What's the difference?"
"Well, I get to see more of my friends tonight. And I'm happy that you're happy cause you get to see your friends too."
Win stared for a second before smiling at Bright. He noticed how Bright had always looked after him, even at those times when he still treated Bright as a stranger. At this point, he knew Bright was already his best pal.
No offense to Khaotung, he thought.
His friends and cousin were back and Type handed Win his bottle of beer. Win started to gulp down the cold, icy beer. It had been a month since he got drunk and he was even surprised at the fact that he hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol since that beach party. Guess Bright kept him busy.
Everyone started dancing when a pop music came along. Win stood still beside the dance floor. He preferred to take videos of his friends and cherish the memory. Khaotung saw him and walked to Win. He patted his friend's shoulder.
"Man, it's nice to see you! We didn't get to talk much earlier. How are you?"
"I'm always good, man."
"Always? You weren't a month ago."
Win hadn't thought about it, but now that Khaotung mentioned it, he realized his friend was right. He was locking himself up from the world, barely going out but here he was a few weeks later, laughing and smiling non-stop. Pear never crossed his mind after that night he got drunk; hell, he hadn't even thought of texting her or leaving a comment on her post when it was all he thought about ever since she broke up with him.
"I am now, Khaotung. Spending some time away from Bangkok helped me," He said as he took another big gulp. "I don't know, man. I feel better now."
"Good, I'm not used to seeing our fluffy bunny sad and sulking all the time."
"Fluffy bunny my ass!" He said and made a joking attempt to kick Khaotung. The other just laughed and flashed a peace sign.
They later on joined their friends and danced to the rhythm that was blasting through the speakers. Boss was doing his silly moves again which made everybody roar in laughter. Pleum followed Boss and Win couldn't help it and filmed them for he knew they'd regret it later. Win and Bright's friends were surprisingly getting along so well when they had just met.
Alcohol was already taking a toll on them but Win wanted more. He was sweating furiously too due to the excessive dancing so he excused himself, grabbed some more beer and sat on the sand, his eyes still amused at his dancing friends. Type sat beside him too, panting and grinning widely.
"Damn, your friends could dance!"
Win could only laugh. His eyes shifted to Bright, who was now doing some twerking and his ass was just slapped by Boss and Man. He never saw Bright get drunk; he was drunk himself the last time they went out for some drinks.
"It's him, isn't he?" Type said, nodding towards the twerking drunk ass on the dance floor.
"What?"
"He's the reason why you don't look like someone whose heart has just been broken."
He looked at Bright, now doing some retro moves; his dance moves were definitely not appropriate for the music that was on. "Don't be silly P'."
"Don't lie to me. I saw how you looked at him."
"How do I look at him, P'?"
"Like he's a red velvet cake. I know how you look at a red velvet cake. Your eyes starts to transform into big hearts and you would just drool."
"P', I don't drool over Bright!" He said defensively.
"You are still that little child who would never admit anything unless caught, Nong Win."
Win didn't answer. His thoughts were already clouded; he probably had too much alcohol already but he kept on gulping down the remaining bottle that was on his hand.
"But I bet you haven't seen how he looks at you."
Despite the loud music, there was a brief silence between the two before Win answered, "How does he look at me P'?"
Type could only sigh. "Open your fucking eyes, Nong. Don't let the alcohol haze you from something so obvious."
What the fuck does that mean?