"Swadee, P's," Kengkla and Technic greet in unison, but Can doesn't wai to Type and Champ, standing up and approaching them with a frown. "P'Type, you told us to be here on time then show up late. What the hell?" Can complains.

He doesn't know what he expects Type to do, Kengkla he wasn't expecting Type to pat Can on the head like a dog. He almost laughs at the sight. "Be quiet, Ai'Can," Type orders with a sarcastic smile then turns to his friend. "Ai'Champ, can you believe this?"

The student named Champ shakes his head. "I can't believe it," He chuckles. "Maybe our captain needs to actually punish his team for once."

Kengkla can feel the insult to Techno dig in under his skin. For all the things people say about Techno, nothing irritates him more than when someone insults Techno's coaching or athletic ability. He's one of the best on his team, even from a non-biased point of view, and he's lead them to many wins. This only puts Champ and Type farther up on his list of people who need to go.

"Hey, I'm the captain ," Techno pouts, dragging the last word into a whine. "You should respect me too then, Ai' Champ. Ai' Type, you too." He sounds like Can now, but Can's no longer interested in the conversation, texting on his phone.

He hears car approaching from behind, a low rumble of the tires on the street, and all of them glance up in direction of the noise. It's a bus approaching with the destination of "Chanthaburi" glowing in red letters, and there are already a few riders on board. The few people waiting at the same bus stop stand up, ignoring Kengkla and others, and walk toward the sidewalk with bags in their hands. The group watches the bus driver exit the vehicle, offering them a polite smile before he unlocks the luggage compartment.

There's a heartbeat of time before Type says "You're right," sounding so completely calm that for a moment Kengkla thinks he's serious. But he's still grinning as he marches over to Techno and drops his bags on the ground. "As captain, you should be responsible for getting our bags on the bus." Champ laughs and follows Type to plop his bag down as well before turning around to head toward the bus.

Techno huffs exasperation. "Really?" He asks sarcastically, and Type grins like he's won something before turning around to follow Champ. "Ai' Type! Ai' Champ! This is unfair. Hey, I'm captain, not a slave!" Type offers Techno a wave behind his head. "Dammit!"

He turns to Good and Can with a frown, and Good says nothing, dropping his bag in front of Techno with a blank expression. "Ai' Good, you can't do that," Techno scolds. "I'm your senior."

But Good just shrugs and lumbers to the bus, passing a pouting Techno. "I'm just...listening to P'Type," Good mumbles so softly Kengkla strains to hear it.

"Ah, come on!" Techno groans, staring down at the bags before turning his attention to Can. He stares at the shorter player then reaches out to flick him in the head. "You too, Ai' Can? Why are you so damn quiet for once? Did your monkey mouth get glued shut?"

Can lets out a whine, glaring up at Techno and slipping his phone into his pocket. "Ouch, that hurt P'No! Don't do that. I'm sensitive!" He sticks out his lip in a pout. "I'm just trying to get Ai' Tin to talk to me. But he won't reply!"

Kengkla is quickly surprised by the name. He's never heard of a Tin before from Techno, but he knows of one named Tin who is much like himself, in terms of family and wealth. There's been questionable stories about this student as well, so Kengkla finds it intriguing that Can would know him and be so familiar that they're texting.

But Techno seems just as confused. "Ai' Tin? Isn't that the IC kid you were bitching about just a few weeks ago? Or was it days ago? Your mouth opens so much I lose track," He chuckles, scratching his hair idly.

This makes Can frown hard and drop his bag alongside the others."I don't complain that much! P'No, you should take my bag for being so mean to me," Can tells Techno then walks right past him to the bus, leaving his bag for Techno.

"Hey, Ai' Can! You can't do this to me! I'm your captain!"

While Techno shouts at the junior ignoring him, Kengkla glances over at Technic and rolls his eyes. He's texting on his phone, completely ignoring the situation around him. "Ai' Nic," Kengkla calls him softly, and Technic looks up with a blank expression. "P'Type said give your bag to P'No and head in the bus." He whispers so Techno doesn't hear, watching the elder mumble to himself while he wrestles with the bags.

Technic nods his head, completely oblivious, and walks over to Techno who glances up at his brother with a frown. "Ai' Nic," Techno gasps, bending down to grab one of the bags and slide it over his shoulder.

"P'No, I'm just listening to P'Type," Technic chuckles and drops his backpack with a plop.

As the bag hits the ground, Techno lets out another moan of annoyance and glares at Technic walking away. "Ai' Nic, you asshole. You're the worst brother," Techno cusses him but the other just ignores him, disappearing around the side of the bus.

Kengkla watches the other passengers loading up their carriage, delaying the departure, then turns back to Techno, muttering to himself as he tries to load as many bags on his back and arms as he can. He gets Can and Good's bags on his back, along with his own, and carries Type's in his hand. Techno's hidden strength never fails to impress and turn Kengkla on.

He strides over to Techno, who's struggling with Technic's bag, and kneels down to look up at him. When Techno meets his gaze, his eyes widen, and Kengkla smiles, slipping his hand over Techno's on Technic's bag. "Here, P'No," He says, stroking the tips of his fingers over Techno's skin. "Let me help you with the bags."

Techno quickly snatches his hand away with wide eyes, and Kengkla picks up the bag before standing back up in front of him. "T-thanks, Ai' Kla," He manages and clears his throat. "At least you didn't leave me your stuff — wait, do you even have anything to wear for the trip?"

Kengkla's heart stutters at Techno's concern. His lips tug to pull his smile wider into a grin, and he nods his head. "I asked Ai' Nic to bring me some spare clothes," He explains before leaning down to grab Champ's bag as well. "Let me help you, P'. I feel bad for inviting myself on my boyfriend's trip. It's the least I could do."

The lie comes easy to his lips, but Kengkla turns his back to Techno, forcing a frown. He gets about two steps away before there's a hand on his shoulder. When Kengkla turns back around, Techno's right behind him but removes his hand, looking away. "Ai' Kla, it's —" Techno begins.

But Kengkla interrupts. "P'No, it's okay. I know what you're going to say," He says softly and takes a step closer, but Techno backs away, stumbling a bit from the weight of the bags. "Unless P' wants me to say something, I won't tell anyone about us. I won't say a thing to your family or your friends." Except for Technic already knows, unbeknownst to the elder.

Techno is watching him, his eyes wide and mouth in a line. He blinks as Kengkla speaks, his gaze flickering down to Kengkla's bandaged hand holding Champ's bag. "Uh, I —" Techno blurts, stumbles a step, and clears his throat.

"I know where I stand in P's life." Kengkla interrupts again, but it's more honest than he intended. Although he's trying to fool Techno into thinking he's upset, it still hurts Kengkla to say out loud. But he tells himself it's only a temporary obstacle. Once Techno falls for him completely, Kengkla will make sure people like Type and Can know, if not give away some hints before that happens.

Techno's mouth tenses on a frown. "Don't say that, Ai' Kla," He says with a grimace.

Kengkla takes a breath. When he says "It's okay, P'No," it's almost as if the conversation never happened. He looks up at Techno and can't help but smile. "We both know you're my boyfriend, right?"

Techno stares at him for a long moment. Kengkla can see the range of emotions he's shifting through — there's fear first, obvious by the way his eyes widen and jaw tenses, but there's pity and guilty too, turning his gaze soft and frown gentle. He can see Techno's fingers flex, can see his hands strain to hold up all the bags, and Kengkla wants to reach out and offer help. But he's too distracted by his heart hammering in his chest. There was always the possibility of Techno backing out.

But then Techno clears his throat roughly and nods without saying another word. His cheeks flush, and he only glances at Kengkla for a moment before walking past him toward the bus.

Techno's words should be reassuring, should unknot the tension in Kengkla's chest and leave him to breathe easy in the certainty of their relationship. Why it doesn't — why it only weighs his shoulders further and digs his chest — is something Kengkla doesn't want to look at too closely.

A/N: Kengkla and Techno have a similar conversation in the novel as they did here in this chapter. Techno's whipped before he's even #whipped.

Q for the day: What do you like/dislike in a BL story?

Thank you all again! ❤❤❤