In retrospect, Sam should have had guessed that P’Tine wasn’t single.

= = =

In retrospect, Sam should have had guessed that P’Tine wasn’t single. He had a ring after all. Just a simple silver ring with no jewels. Sam thought he wore it for fashion reasons. P’Tine was so handsome from head to toe, wearing some accessories seemed a very natural thing to do.

One day when they were studying some stock market data for a case, P’Tine’s phone rang.

“What is it?” P’Tine said in a soft voice, a personal call perhaps.

“Green curry? Sure, I’ll cook tonight.”

“Uh…that’s it? You just called to ask about dinner? You could’ve just message me.”

P’Tine’s smile was tiny, but his eyes were soft like the softest cloud. The air around him seemed to shift colors, halo shined through his hair. Sam stared at the visible change of his mentor’s aura with open mouth.

“I don’t miss you. I’m working. So busy I might be sick.”

“No I am not sick.”

“Lunch? I ate like a good boy, mommy.”

“Alright. Stop whining, go practice. Su su na. bye-bye.” P’Tine hung up.

“Girlfriend?” Sam asked.

“Oh, just my fiancée.” P’Tine shook his head, a little embarrassed.

“Fiancée?” Sam said with widen eyes, he pointed at P’Tine’s finger. ”So is that…engagement ring?”

“Yeah.” To Sam’s surprise, P’Tine blushed like a teenager.

“Wow.” Sam stared at his rosy-cheek mentor, couldn’t help but wonder how this fiancée was like.

= = =

“You met Sarawat in person in your company?” The screaming was deafening.

Sam Wee covered his ears, and nodded painfully. ”Four or five times so far. Lower your voice please P.”

“Four or five times? Damn! And you are telling me this NOW?” Sam’s older sister grabbed the pillow on the bed, and smacked Sam on the face.

“I was very excited at first, but no one in the company made it a big deal! I just…I did’t want to make a fuss about it. What if my mentor took me as an impulsive guy…” Sam whined.

“That is not the point! The point is that you didn’t tell me right away!” Sam’s teddy bear landed on his face too.

“Why do you need to know right away!”

“Your reaction shows that you don’t care about me at all!” She pointed at Sam’s nose. “I came all the way to Bangkok for Ctrl-S concerts, and I had to beg my heartless little brother to let me crash at his place. And you acted like seeing Sarawat in person isn’t a big deal, and it didn’t occur to you to tell me until it happened four or five times? Did you ask him for an autograph?”

“No. But I asked him to get an autograph from Earn for me.”

“You–”

“He ignored me.”

“–of course.”

She rolled on the bed. ”I’m curious. Why does he went to his lawyer so often? Is he suing someone?”

“I can’t–” Sam was going to educate her about confidentiality agreement, but then it occurred to him” –I don’t know.”

“Eh? Don’t you stay in your mentor’s office all the time?” His sister frowned.

“Yeah, but they always have lunch meeting just by themselves. P’Tine always spare me because it’s lunchbreak, and Sarawat glares at me like he really want me out of his sight, so I always leave immediately. He has this very scary Death Glare.”

“So mysterious.” She sat up. ”Maybe it’s something sensitive? You know, the kind of things that need to handle discreetly.”

“I honestly have no idea,” Sam thought hard, but nothing came up. ”P’Tine never mentioned the content of their meeting.”

“I’ll tell you this. There’s a fan site of Sarawat’s, it’s called Sarawat’s Wives. It started as a fangirl group chat when Sarawat was in university, and now it turned into a fan site. Most members there knew Ctrl-S before they debuted, they know lots of things the press don’t.”

“What do you mean? Any secrets?” Sam was intrigued.

“I heard that Sarawat is in a relationship,” she whispered, ”Since his freshman year.”

“How is that possible? And no press ever finds out?”

“It’s top secret. The Sarawat’s Wives are so protective of that person. I’ve been a Ctrl-S fan since first album, but even so I have no idea who that person is. I don’t even know if that person is a he or she. Maybe a he, I guess.” She shrugged.

“But…Most fans don’t know about it? How is it possible?”

“I think some of them do, just like me, but have no way to get further information. Sarawat’s Wives is not a big site, I guess most fans don’t even notice it.”

Sam wondered, considering Sarawat’s fame, it was not likely that the media didn’t know anything about his lover. Maybe that was the reason Sarawat needed a lawyer. Never mind, Sam had a more important question to ask.

“Is Earn dating someone then?”

= = =

When the guitarist of Ctrl-S showed up at the law firm at lunchtime with  take-out boxes in his hand, Sam realized he hadn’t seen him for a while. Right, they were going on tour, tomorrow night would be the first live concert in Bangkok.

Sarawat wore a cap like usual, walking along the corridor to Tine’s door. Sam hurried up to greet him.

“I’m sorry. P’Tine is still in a meeting, you’ll have to wait.” Sam said nervously, afraid that Sarawat might glare at him again.

“That’s alright.” The guitarist said in low voice. He glanced around, Sam was about to ask what he was looking for, he pointed at P’Fong’s office. ”He’s free?”

Sam nodded.

“We’re going on tour.” Sarawat knocked on Fong’s door.

“I know. Tomorrow’s the first concert.” Sam said.

“Yes, two in Bangkok, and then we will go to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Taipei. The tour took half a month,” said Sarawat, ”Which means, I’ll be abroad for quite some time.”

“…yeah.” Sam answered slowly, not knowing where this conversation is heading.

Sarawat took a step closer, his eyes began to shoot out the laser beam that Sam had become more and more familiar with. ”I want you to make sure Tine eats, okay? He skips meals when he’s too busy. He had passed out before. If I find out he isn’t eating regularly, you’re dead. Am I clear?”

Sam Wee nodded with his life.

P’Fong came out of his office. He leaned on the door, arms crossed.

“Hey you,” Fong said to Sarawat, eyes sparkled with mirth, ”Are you threatening our precious newbie?”

“Threatening people in a law firm, do I look like an idiot?”, said Sarawat. ”You’ll come to our concert tomorrow, right?”

“Sure, Earn gave me tickets,” said Fong. Sam turned his head to P’Fong a little bit too quickly, his neck made noises. ”Shouldn’t you be busy rehearsing?”

Sarawat raised his take-out boxes with an innocent face. Fong rolled his eyes, and sighed like this had happened a million times.

“Sam Wee, listen up,” P’Fong turned to Sam, ”You WILL make sure that Tine eats his lunch everyday, or this over-protective guitarist will hunt you down with a pick and make you pay for your mentor’s blood sugar level, you get it?”

“This is intimidation, P’Fong,” said Chirat, hiding behind the office door.