"Strawberry", point. "Almond", point. "Cheesecake", point. "and mango... no, banana", point. "Ah and some sweetened condensed milk too". Smile.

P'Sing said all that in one breath.

And I painfully looked down at the few notes and coins on my palm...

This was the money that I've been saving for two weeks, sometimes walking all the way to university rather than taking a bus, and at times refusing to go out and eat with friends...

I had 320 baht in hand, and it seemed like, I was about to spend all of that in one evening to satisfy P'Sing's sweet tooth...

Treat me, he said.

ಥ‿ಥ

I mentally calculated the bill, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

I could somehow scrape together all that is in my wallet to afford it!

However, it didn't even take the time for the corners of my lips to curve upwards, when suddenly there was a shuffling sound beside me. The next moment, hot breath fanned my right ear.

I felt goosebumps rise all the way down to my toes.

"Your treat"

I jumped a whole foot away from that burning inferno and wiped my ears, which were sure to be coloured somewhere around the deepest shades of red.

"Y-yeah yeah! S-sure P'Sing!" NOT.

I stuttered out with great difficulty.

I was already very much vexed about having to be the only one who is coughing out assets on our first dat- *cough* night-out.

On top of that, P'Sing's happy-go-lucky attitude only where my wallet is concerned, was not at all helping to snuff out the anger burning within me.

I was not ready to let him off the hook...

"It'll be your treat next time Phi, haha. Treat me later..."

Maybe it wasn't clear enough?

"You can buy me a bingsu next time, haha"

That ought to do it...

"Hmm...? Yeah of course". Smile.

His half-hearted response was not what I was expecting. But I somehow set aside my thoughts of sending a bucket of shaved ice flying towards his direction, and walked towards the cashier.

While I was paying for the order, P'Sing carried our bowl of Bingsu to a table in a corner, beside a window.

Come to think of it, P'Sing seems to be fond of spots beside windows. I could still vividly remember the first time I saw him in that café, then too, seated by a window.

He's such a prickly hedgehog...

I dangerously felt the corners of my eyes crinkle, so close to forming a smile, that I quickly wiped it off, snapped out of my reverie and briskly walked towards P'Sing to occupy the seat opposite him.

I picked up my spoon and was about to dive in when,

"Wait!", P'Sing held one hand up, motioning for me to pause, while he rummaged through his oversized backpack.

He seems to have gotten a hold of whatever he was searching for, since he was handling something within the bag so tenderly.

As if it was his baby...

With my elbows propped up on the table, I expectantly waited for some huge surprise to leap out of the bag, or better yet, the reveal of P'Sing's secret child, maybe, when out came...

His ginormous camera.

There you go...he took out his machine gun...¯\_( ͠° ͟ʖ °͠ )_/¯

The rest of the dat- *oh for goodnes-* night-out was spent with me gobbling up nearly the entire Bingsu, just because I was reluctant to let my hard-earned money go to waste, while P'Sing happily fired away his camera.

I'm quite sure he didn't even let a fly escape the clutches of his lens. He pretty much did a complete coverage of the entire shop.

This is sooo not how I had this day in mind...

"Kit Kit, look here"

I raised my head from the bowl, with a spoonful of shaved ice still in my mouth.

'Click!'

(⊙_◎)

He just- I'm speechless!

I would not let anyone keep blackmail-worthy content of mine without any backup myself.

So, I took out the analogue brick, which was my phone, turned on to the camera and waited, till P'Sing turned back to capture whatever he found fascinating about the potted plant on the table next to ours.

'Click', 'click'. I captured several praiseworthy shots of him, and as silently as it came, placed my phone back in my side-bag.

We chatted away the rest of the night, and it was soon, time for the shop to close for the day.

I won't be lying if I say that I found those latter few hours of talking carefreely about anything and everything, much more enjoyable than the whole month of bonding-time we had through workshop.

It was as if coming to the realisation that all this while, before today, what we had shared was too shallow, fleeting and inadequate.

I came to the realisation that, P'Sing and I are so similar yet completely the opposites of each other, that coming together, we'd make one complete whole of... something. Something that I do not know to name.

It was such a difficult feeling to express through words, although I very well knew that P'Sing completely understood what I was trying to say.

Rather, I saw it in his eyes, the moment that it dawned on him, and how pleasantly surprised he was, just as much as me.

He said we are like the black and white of the Kungfu Tàijítú, the Yin and Yang. I said we are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that perfectly fit each other.

And somehow, I find both those comparisons well suited.

We chatted our way while walking, and reluctantly parted ways on reaching the junction that led us to our homes, on two different paths.

It was a long way home. I shoved my hands inside my pockets and silently walked through the lonely road, occasionally glancing up at the beautifully starlit sky. It was then that I drifted to recalling something that I read sometime long ago.

It is said in Greek mythology, that humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. But, fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.

And when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, even for a moment.

Why I recalled this out of the blue, I do not know... But somehow, I felt myself grinning from ear to ear.

However..., thirty minutes into the walk, when it dawned on me that it was still a long long way from home, there was just one single sentence running chaotically through my mind like a chant.

"P'Sing!!! I'm gonna get back at you for this!!! AHHHHHH!!!"(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

.

.

* To be continued *

.

P'Sing cowering at a corner : Kit... you see...my wallet...is empty...ಥ‿ಥ

3 years later,

P'Sing : Bingsu? Ah, I said, "I have money, but you pay".

Krist : Objection!!! (ノ｀Д')ノ彡┻━┻

.

1) "Then he chose the toppings 'This and this and this and...' " : by Krist - Peraya Party, 2019.

(I chose the toppings as in the story, according to this picture posted by Singto on Twitter after their date 🙈)

2) "He said [tiny hands on waist], 'Your treat'." : by Krist - Peraya Party, 2019.

3) "I said, 'Yeah, it's okay, I'll pay. Next time you then'. After that I told him, 'Khun Singto, treat me back next time'. " : by Krist - Peraya Party, 2019.

4) "...Khun Singto would ever get his own asset out of the pocket and let go!" : by Krist - Peraya Party, 2019.

5) Author's note very much happened in real life ;) : by Krist and Singto, Peraya Party, 2019.

(Below is evidence to show how Krist won't let Singto get away on his promised Bingsu-date, by telling the story everywhere he goes😂 This was from Kissing 3 Photobook)

6) Singto brought his new-bought camera (to which all his pocket-money went) on their first date (🤭) and captured even potted plants on neighboring tables : as shown by Krist from the picture below, posted on Twitter, 8th October, 2015.

7) ^ And they were seated opposite each other, at a table by the window.

8) ^^ And then again, you'll have a glimpse of Singto's "oversized backpack" in that picture.

9) Singto prefers taking candid photos of Krist😏 : by Singto on numerous occasions.

10) Answering the question about a short definition of the relationship between Krist and Singto, it was answered by saying they are a "Jigsaw" : by Singto - OK Magazine Behind The Scenes, 29th October, 2018.

11) "Because we're so different, we're really a good match" : by Krist, OK Magazine Behind The Scenes, 29th October, 2018.

12) They also mentioned about their dynamics saying that if one is black, the other is white, as in completely opposite thoughts and behaviour, and that they get along well due to that reason : by Krist and Singto. (I cannot remember the interview. Will add it once I recall it🙈)

1) That Greek myth exists : by Plato - The Symposium, c. 385–370 BC. 😂

P. S. :

Bonus 👇

Thank you for reading!!!😘❤️

(Don't forget to vote👇⭐)