Mek looked around the restaurant. I noticed Tay furrowing his brow, looking displeased. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but Kinn raised a hand to stop him.
“Did you just arrive, or have you finished? Do you want to sit with us?” Kinn asked him. I could see he was sighing to himself but trying to act normally. I remembered Pete had told me that Kinn and Mek didn’t get along.
“No thanks, I’m meeting someone. You all go ahead,” Mek said, straightening up and putting his hands in his pockets. He turned to smile disdainfully at me before walking away.
“Shit! What’s he playing at?” Tay grumbled. He thwacked Time on the head—it was his fault that Mek had come in, after all.
“So, who is this Mek guy?” I turned to ask Kinn, who had put his chopsticks down and was sitting there in contemplative silence.
“No one important. Let’s continue eating,” Kinn replied. I saw Mew rub Kinn’s arm, as if trying to comfort him. The whole situation baffled me. Mek didn’t seem to be Kinn’s friend, with his sarcastic comments and mocking words. But I didn’t want to pry, so I continued eating.
“Excuse me, uni sushi for Mr. Kinn,” a server announced, placing a plate in front of him.
Kinn went still. “…I didn’t order this.”
“Mr. Mek said to give this to you,” the server said.
Kinn huffed and pushed the plate away from himself.
If I remembered correctly, uni was sea urchin. Damn! I’d always wanted to try some. “Are you full already?” I asked Kinn.
“Mm,” he hummed in answer.
“Then I’ll eat it.” I gestured at the uni with my chopsticks. Kinn looked between me and the uni with a blank expression. I frowned, then ate one without waiting for his permission.
“Hey! This is good,” I said. Why did it taste so buttery and mellow? Damn, this was awesome. Why didn’t Kinn order any?
Out of everything I’d eaten today, this was the best. I happily grabbed another one. With the exception of Tem and Jom, the entire table eyed me strangely. What the hell was their problem? Kinn was full already, so it wasn’t that rude for me to eat it!
“The bill, please!” Kinn shouted to the staff. Everyone quickly put down their chopsticks. What the hell was wrong with him? I wasn’t done eating yet…
I felt the atmosphere grow more oppressive by the second. Nobody uttered another word.
Kinn took his credit card from the server and led me to his car, turning around to say goodbye to our friends and driving away. He was completely silent during the drive. I turned to look out the window. The mood felt so off—what was Kinn’s deal? He drove with a grave expression, not saying anything until I sighed loudly, making him turn to look at me with his eyebrows raised.
“Are you still hungry? Do you want anything else?” Kinn asked, breaking the silence. I looked at him and decided I should keep the conversation going.
“I’m full…but that last plate was especially nice,” I said. I pressed my lips into a thin line when Kinn’s face darkened even further. What did I do? Was he allergic to uni? Was that why he was angry? He couldn’t eat it, so Mek purposefully ordered it to taunt him?
Kinn fell silent for a moment. “It’s good that you liked it,” he said at last. I hadn’t seen him like this in a long time—this sort of quiet, brooding Kinn.
“Did I do something to make you angry?” I asked him directly. He turned to smile softly at me and gently grasped my head, rocking it back and forth. “Hey, you’ll fuck up my hair, bastard!”
The mood lightened immediately, and Kinn turned on the music to chase away the last of the tension. I adjusted my seat to lean back and dozed off. With traffic like this, it’d be an hour at least before we got home…
I felt pressure on my cheek, along with the sound of someone taking a deep breath. I squinted drowsily at the sight of Kinn’s face brushing against my cheek. My heart skipped a beat before I pushed his face away and pulled myself upright.
“We’re home,” he said.
“Hmm.” I stretched and brought my hand up to cover a yawn. Was it dark already? Damn, just how bad had the traffic been?
I got out of the car and separated from Kinn to go shower and change into casual clothes, taking the time to talk with my brother. He was lying down and playing games on the bed. Damn, why did it feel like I hadn’t seen Chay’s face in forever?
I sat around in the room for a while until Chay got called over to play games with Tankhun. He pouted, but immediately agreed to go. Had I brought my brother here just to torture him? It was like Chay was Tankhun’s shiny new toy.
I walked up to Kinn’s room. He’d sent a LINE message to me half an hour ago, but I dithered around, holding off until I realized I couldn’t escape my fate. When I walked in, he immediately pulled me into a hug from behind.
“Have you showered already? You smell so nice,” he said, nuzzling into my neck and breathing in deeply.
“The hell are you doing?! Let me go!” I scolded him, pulling away from the circle of his arms.
“You still need to pay me back for dinner,” he rasped in my ear.
“Didn’t you say you’d pay for it? I don’t have the money!” I raised my voice. That dinner cost six figures, you bastard! How the hell was I going to pay for it?!
“I wasn’t talking about money…” Kinn bent down to nibble my neck. I shivered all over, my breath stuttering when I realized exactly what he meant.
“No!”
“I haven’t washed up yet… Will you help me?” Kinn asked. I gulped as his hand began to roam all over my body.
“You can’t bathe by yourself? Wh-what are you, a fucking child?” I stuttered, my heart beating erratically.
“Heh… I promise to be a good boy,” Kinn said.
Kinn pulled me into his bathroom, and there was no need to guess what he had in mind. I wanted to curse at him, but I could only moan as I received his touch. Like he said, the night is young, and we’ve got a long way to go…
My feelings for Kinn had deepened considerably. Soon, there would be no turning back. I knew that the higher I climbed, the more dangerous it would be if I fell.
Even if I fall, I’m not afraid anymore… I want to see how far I can fly.