Three weeks after the dinner party, we were set to present a mock design to the board before advancing to the next level, which would involve surveying the land in Chiang Mai.
I had several things I wanted to incorporate into my design. This was an important presentation. If they didn't like the design, we'd have to redo it; or even worse, get kicked off the competition. All my attention was on it.
The more of my ideas I incorporated, the more expensive it was going to be to fund it. We had to choose between rent and the project. Of course, the project won. I wasn't going to ask Po and Mae for more money and Nat had already asked his parents for far too much. The only solution was to move into our pitiful office. We were excited nonetheless, spending every waking hour on our projects.
We managed to keep it hidden from Varawut for a short period of time, in an attempt to maintain some kind of workplace decorum in the office. He was an efficient assistant, handling everything else while we focused on the mock designs.
I was still staggering around in my underwear, toothbrush in my mouth, half asleep and exhausted when he arrived at work earlier than expected, catching Nat and I off guard. He was kind enough to not make it uncomfortable, moving straight to his desk and digging into work like he saw nothing. It was awkward the rest of the day.
"I'm off, Khun Kit," Varawut announced, standing by my office doorway.
"Ok, see you tomorrow."
"Good progress with the mockups?"
I nodded with a smile. He smiled back but didn't turn to leave.
"Wut, anything else?"
"No, Sir. Sorry for lingering." He laughed softly and I joined him without any knowledge of what he found amusing. "I was wondering... Would you both by any chance like to move in with me?"
"What?" I furrowed my brow, surprised. "Wut, this... this isn't your problem. We'll sort it all out." I sighed. "Sorry for being the worst boss in the world. This project, I believe in it. I believe we have a chance here."
"Of course, without a doubt. I truly believe in your work, Sir."
"Thank you."
"Which is why I would love to have you both move in with me, so you can only focus on what's important."
"Wut—"
"We'll take it!" Nat interrupted, entering my office. "Listen, I barely got any sleep last night. I'm walking around half asleep, struggling to keep my eyes open because the floor is uncomfortable, and the couch is worse. If he's offering, we will take it. Thank you, Wut." He patted Wut's shoulder.
"Great, I do have others around if you don't mind, but it's a pretty big space."
"We do not mind at all," Nat replied.
"How does tomorrow evening sound?"
"Great. We will be there, just text us your address."
"Sure, see you tomorrow. And sir, you aren't the worst boss in the world," he said warmly. I acknowledged with a nod and a weak smile.
Nat turned to leave, rubbing the back of his neck and my eyes followed him.
"What the hell, Nat?"
"He offered."
"He works for us. We're supposed to be helping him."
"News flash, Kit. We're not in a position to help anybody."
"But—"
"He invited us to stay, we need to stay focused on what is really important, crucify me when you are sleeping in an actual bed." He turned and walked away.
***
The next evening, we arrived at Varawut's apartment complex, confused as we stood in front of the skyscraper.
"Are you sure this is the address?"
"Yes," Nat replied, pulling out his phone once again to check.
It didn't look like a place a mere assistant could afford. It was the richy rich part of town. The building was over seventy flights of concrete and steel, we stretched our necks all the way up to see the top. Doubtful, we checked the address several times before rolling our boxes into the building.
"Welcome to Sathorn Apartments," the receptionist greeted us with a wai. "How can I help you?"
"We are visiting Varawut Jangkamol. He should be expecting us," Nat replied.
"Yes, Khun Jangkamol informed us of your arrival." She typed on her computer for a quick minute before handing over a set of key cards. "Please enjoy your stay and let us know if you need anything. His residence is the penthouse."
We bowed and turned away, still in shock as we moved towards the elevator. The key card activated the penthouse button. As we escalated, we argued the chances of it being a big mistake. There was just no way he earned enough to live in such an expensive part of town, let alone in what seemed to be the most expensive apartment complex I had ever been in.
The elevator door opened, and we rolled our boxes to the only door on the floor then pressed the doorbell with caution. The door swung open and Varawut stood with a big grin, beside him an elderly woman, dressed in simple trousers and a shirt, her hair packed to the back. They greeted us with a wai and we did the same.
"Welcome to my home, Sir." Varawut smiled.
Nat and I exchanged glances before forcing a smile of our own.
"May I take your bags?" the elderly woman asked.
"This is Phi Janya, she is my housekeeper."
"Please come to me if you need anything." She reached for our boxes, rolling the ones she could away.
"I'll help with that." Varawut joined, picking up some other bags.
"Wut, you live here?" I asked.
"Yes, Khun."
"Wha..."
"Hello!" a rather chirpy voice interrupted me. I shifted my gaze to towards its direction and a beautiful woman, dressed like someone out of a save-a-life-for-Jesus pamphlet: long sleeved pink pants suit, an apron wrapped around her, pearls around her neck, a tray with two glasses of juice in her hand was walking towards us. "So sorry I wasn't here to welcome you."
"Sir, this is my fiancé, Nong Purewarin." Varawut placed his arms around her shoulder.
"Fiancé?" Nat and I asked in unison.
"Call me Pure. Lemonade?" she asked with a growing smile.
"S... sure," I stuttered, reaching for the glasses.
"Phi, help them with the bags," she scolded Wut with her eyes.
"On it." Wut picked up the rest of our things.
"First things first! Food! Please, this way." She rushed over, taking us by the elbow and led us to the kitchen.
The counter was overflowing with different ingredients, freshly cooked meals and baked food, the kitchen smelt like a festival.
"You didn't have to do all this," I said, still trying to take it all in.
"Are you kidding? I love doing this! I don't get to cook or bake as much anymore; work has been killing me! I got off work early just for this, don't worry about it! Taste it, tell me I'm a great cook and all will be well."
Soft laughter swept across the kitchen as Nat and I took our seats while she served us food. I reached for the donuts, biting in.
"Holy fuck! This is good!"
"No cursing..." Nat quietly cautioned, reminding me we were in a Christian home.
Pure laughed. "It's alright. I'll take my compliments however they are dished."
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Don't be, glad you love it."
Varawut joined us in the kitchen, proceeding to help with her cooking. He threw on an apron, and she helped him tie it behind his back. Planting a kiss on his cheek after she was done. They giggled, whispering stuff to each other as they moved things around the kitchen in such a sweet manner.
"So, Pure, what do you do?" I asked for the sake of conversation.
"I work at a space center, I'm an astrologist."
"Like the three wise men!" I joked. I was the only one who seemed to find it hilarious.
"You've read the Bible?" she asked.
"Just skimmed through. Had to take a look at the book that condemned me to hell."
"Hmm. What book in the Bible condemned you to hell? Chapter? Verse?" Her focus remained on chopping the vegetables.
"Just... you know, there are several chapters in the Bible... And umm... the whole Sodom and Gomorrah..."
"That's arguable. A lot of evil things happened in Sodom and Gomorrah."
"Yes, burning a city because you don't agree with their ways is kind of evil don't you think?" I pressed on.
"When the angels arrived in Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the city, the men of the city gathered around to rape the angels. That city was rotten to the core. So much so that even after Lot escaped with his daughters, they carried that rot with them. They both raped him in his sleep after drugging him with alcohol, just to impregnate themselves."
"Proving my point." I smiled triumphantly.
"Kit..." Nat whispered, pinching me under the table. "Cut it out."
"No, it's fine, open discussions are always welcome in this home."
"See, Nat?" I wiggled a brow at him.
"You need to understand," Pure continued as she kept fixing our food. "The city wasn't destroyed because there were gay men in it. It was destroyed because it was sinful in every aspect of the word: incest, rape, murder, plain bigotry. The Bible is such an eye-opening book when we read it to understand it and not just to feed into our fears," Pure said.
"But it's what gave us those fears to begin with," I said. "It stamped us with the badge of a sinner."
"People and culture called you a sinner. These differ from place to place. In some parts of Israel, in the Bible, growing hair was completely shunned for men, in other parts, like in the case of Samson, growing hair was what gave him his powers. The Bible is evidence of how people, culture and tradition changes over time. It is evidence of evolution." She finally raised her face to smile at me.
I swallowed. "Very insightful—I'm sorry if I was a bit—"
"Oh God no." She waved a hand.
"She loves this stuff I promise you," Wut said, stirring the soup. "When it comes to the Bible, she'll out-talk God himself!" he teased.
"Sweetie, don't say that!" They both laughed, entering an adorable banter that ended up with Wut kissing her forehead before resuming his cooking. "All I'm saying is, I know that people, especially those who share my faith have used the Bible as an excuse for their own propaganda. At the end of the day, I'd love for you to know that God truly is simply love."
A moment of silence passed as Varawut and Pure shared a loving stare. Her words were comforting in the silence that went on too long.
"Well... thank you very much for letting us share your home and eat your food," Nat expressed.
"Don't mention it. Why don't you both go freshen up and by the time you're done, dinner will be ready."
"Sounds like a plan," Varawut said. "Take the stairs, third room by your left, Phi Janya is fixing it up."
"You go first, I'll stay back and help a bit," Nat said.
I bowed, exiting the kitchen. I traveled up the stairs, amazed at how luxurious and beautiful Wut's home was. It didn't make any sense at the time, but the moment had not yet presented itself for me to ask questions. I was also too worn out. Sleeping on the floor for a week had inflicted my back with an ache I couldn't shake. The thought of finally having a hot shower hastened my steps to the bedroom.
I found the room and walked right in. It was an ultra-modern sleek interior, artfully designed in monochrome hues of black, white and gray. It had a King-sized bed and a mini sitting area. I gasped at the sight of the view. It came as a welcome surprise. I may or may not have busted a few cringey dance moves at the sight of it, but we will not be having that conversation.
I threw myself into the bed, wrapping my body with the thick gray comforter. It was super soft and had a grapefruit scent I recognized but paid no attention to. I shook with excitement before letting out a loud sigh of relief. I was going to sleep in a bed, a proper bed. That alone was enough to make all the worries in the world disappear.
I entered the gorgeous marble bathroom, jumping at the sight of all the luxury. It smelt like a spa. It had a shower and a tub, a remote-controlled toilet with a bidet. I played around with all of them. It was very new and exciting for me. In no time, I stripped myself and turned on the shower. I wanted to soak my whole body for hours in the orange scented bubble bath gel I found in the cabinet, which was oddly packed with a ton of pills, but refrained from doing so to avoid wasting anyone's time.
The time was wasted nonetheless. I turned a quick shower into a full BTS concert, singing every tune I could remember and bursting several moves. A quick shower turned into a forty-five-minute shower, forcing me to rush out the door butt naked after realizing how much time I wasted under the running hot water, performing black swan. I hurried to the closet in search of my boxes, in search of what to wear. I was quick to realize none of the boxes or clothes hanging were mine. They didn't look like Nat's either. In confusion I kept looking through until I heard the door open. I rushed out.
"Nat, did you see..." I was cut short by surprise. My body froze and my eyes widened. "Y... you," I stuttered, pointing at him.
It was the last place I expected to see Jaran as I stood butt naked in the middle of Varawut's guest room. He stared back at me blankly for a few seconds before his eyes traveled from my face, down to my dick.