Hey. Where are you?
New scoffed and deleted Tay's message then continued mixing the ingredients for the banana bread he was making.
Tay calling...
He grabbed his phone and turned it off. As much as he wanted to confront him, he didn't have the right to do so.
"You're just his friend...no scratch that... You're just his secretary, New. There's nothing more to that," he told himself.
"Do you plan on mixing that one forever?"
He jolted when he heard Kay behind him.
"Tsss. Can you at least make a sound before coming in?" he complained as he turned off the mixer.
"You okay?"
He didn't answer and just greased the loaf pans.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have work?" he asked Kay as he filled the pans with batter and placed them in the oven.
"I took a week off. Work's starting to burn me out. And besides I'm courting you so I have to impress your parents, too," Kay replied and wiggled his eyebrows at him.
"Tsss. Will you quit playing games and stop that courting thing? It's not funny."
"I'm serious, New. I've been wanting to court you since Uni days but you were so fixated with Tay that I couldn't even butt in."
He kept his head low and heaved a huge amount of air.
"You still love him, don't you?"
He raised his head to look at him. He could sense sadness in his eyes but it eventually disappeared.
"Never mind. I'm still courting you even if you have feelings for him. As long as you're not officially together, I'll still keep my hopes up."
"Kay, I â"
"I need to go back. I still need to help mom with the customers," Kay said before leaving him in the kitchen.
_____
Tay dialled New's number for the nth time but failed to contact him.
He pressed the intercom to call Pluem.
"Good morning, Sir."
"Has New arrived?"
"I haven't seen him yet, Sir."
"Okay thank you. Please tell him to come to my office as soon as he arrives."
"Yes sir."
He plopped down on his chair after ending the call.
New hadn't contacted him yesterday and he was starting to get worried.
He jolted on his seat when he heard a knock and New came inside.
"Good morning, Sir. Pluem told me to see you."
He cleared his throat and shifted on his seat to sit properly.
"Where have you been yesterday? You weren't answering my calls."
"You told me to take the day off, Sir. So I took the liberty to free myself from anything related to work, Sir."
He furrowed his eyebrows. He was sure something wasn't right based on how New was answering him.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Sir. Is there anything you need, Sir? Can I go back to my post?"
He mentally panicked. He still wanted to talk to New and find out what was wrong with him
"I-I need you to review these documents."
He hurriedly scanned the folders on his table and grabbed a random one.
"Uuuh. Check the spelling, the grammar and uuuh, just check everything," he said as he handed New the folder.
"Okay, Sir. I'll just return this one after I'm done."
"Just stay here! D-don't go back to your table. In fact, you should stay here in my office. There, see that table. That's your table from now on," he pointed the table that he had intentionally placed in his office for New to use.
He heaved a sigh of relief when New obliged.
He secretly wiped the sweat on his forehead and busied himself with the documents that needed his signature.
_____
New furrowed his eyebrows as he scanned the document and found no error. It seemed like it had already been reviewed that he didn't even find a single one.
He closed the folder and stood to return it to Tay but stopped on his tracks when someone barged in the office.
"Hello, Sweeeettiee!"
He froze when he recognized who just came in. It was the woman Tay was with at the mall yesterday.
He secretly scanned her fingers for the ring but saw that her hands were bare.
"Don't you know how to knock?"
"Oh come on, as if this is the first time I did this. I even barge in your bedroom. What difference does it make?" she replied as she scanned Tay's office.
He saw her eyes widen when her gaze landed on him.
"Good morning, Ma'am," he greeted.
"So, is this him?" she turned to ask Tay.
"What would you like to drink, ma'am?"
"Oh, just a glass of orange juice please."
He smiled and excused himself.
_____
New carefully placed the glass of orange juice on the table as he sneaked a gaze at the woman sitting on the couch.
He couldn't deny the fact that her aura was intimidating as she sat there while making comments about the arrangement of Tay's office.
"Tay, you should really replace that painting with a brighter one. That looks so old."
Tay just scoffed and sat on the couch across her.
He immediately excused himself but Tay was quick to call him.
"New, stay here. By the way this isâ"
Tay's words were interrupted when his phone rang.
"Hello Dad?" Tay answered his phone so he quietly made his way out of the office.
He plopped down his chair and huffed a huge amount of air.
"Is there anything wrong?" Pluem asked him.
"Nothing. I'm just tired."
Pluem chuckled and stared at the folder he was holding.
He groaned upon realizing that he hadn't given it back to Tay.
"Why do you have that?"
"Oh, Tay, I-I mean Sir asked me to review this for errors."
"Huh? But I've already reviewed that one."
"Really?" he asked in disbelief.
He squinted his eyes and stared at the door of Tay's office.
"Tsss."
_____
"What are you doing here?" Tay asked Muk as she sipped on her juice.
"Is that how you greet your sister whom you haven't seen for many years?"
"Tssss."
"So, it's him, right?"
Tay leaned back on his seat and crossed his legs.
"Uhuh."
His sister Muk just came back from the States last night and he didn't have any choice but to share everything when she found him sulking in the corner of his room.
"He's such a cutieee. Can I have him instead?"
"Phiii!"
"I'm just kidding!"
"So you think he's gonna like it?"
"I hope so."
_____
New grabbed the folder from Pluem when he noticed the door opening.
"Wai-" Pluem protested but he just told him to keep quiet.
He flipped through the documents but his attention wasn't really on what he was holding.
He jolted when the woman approached their table.
"Hi, New!"
He blinked several times as he stared at the woman in front of him, definitely curious as to how she knew his name.
"I'm Muk. Tay's sister! Looking forward to seeing you more in the near future."
He held his breath and looked at Tay beside her.
"H-hi, ma'am."
"Oh come on. Call me P'Muk from now on. We're gonna be family so you don't have to be so formal."
He gaped at her and wasn't able to say a word.
"I gotta go. Bye!" she sent her a flying kiss before leaving.
_____
"Is that why you were sulking? You thought P'Muk's my girl?" Tay asked New.
As soon as his sister left, he eventually dragged New back to his office.
"I-I saw you together yesterday at the mall. You looked sweet. How come I didn't know you have an elder sister?"
"She stayed in the US for seven years and she rarely comes home. But now she's staying for good. She was even very excited to meet you."
He scooted closer to New who was sitting on the other edge of the couch.
"Were you jealous? Will you be jealous if others approach me?" he leaned closer to New and smiled at him.
"Tsss. Why would I? Friends shouldn't be jealous of each other."
"But friends don't kiss though," he grinned at him but New just glared at him.
"And what's better is I'm your first kiss," he continued and cupped New's face.
"Tsss. It's just a kiss," New murmured but he was still able to hear what he said.
He leaned closer and placed a light kiss on New's nose.
"A kiss is still a kiss though."
______
"Wait for me. Let's get home together," Tay told him as they got back from the meeting with the accounting department.
"But I brought my car with me."
"You have to come with me, okay. No buts."
He just rolled his eyes as he placed the documents on his table.
Earlier, they had an argument about where he should stay. He wanted to stay by Pluem's table so he could at least have someone to talk to.
He was thinking that if he stayed inside Tay's office, the chances of them doing something other than work were high.
But in the end, his boss' decision won.
"Fiiiiiine."
"Is that how you answer to your boss now?"
"It's already past working hours."
Tay chuckled and hugged him from behind.
"Thank you, Hin," Tay murmured and placed his chin on his shoulder.
"Huh? For what?"
"For making me happy."
Tay tightened his arms around his waist. He bit his lips as he tried to suppress a smile but failed.
He felt a light kiss on his cheek and then Tay broke their embrace.
"Come on. Let's go home," Tay said and grabbed his hand.
_____
New furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed that the road they were taking was different.
"Where are we going? This is not the way home."
Tay just glanced at him and didn't say a thing.
Minutes later he noticed that they were traversing a very familiar road.
"What are we doing here?" he asked as they stopped at the amusement park they had gone to before.
"I'm hungry. Come on," Tay replied before getting out of the car.
Quite confused, he got out of the car and followed Tay.
He noticed that no one else was around. There were several staff but apart from them, there was no one else.
Tay held his hand and dragged him towards the Ferris wheel.
"What is happening, Tay?"
Someone then assisted them inside and he almost muttered a curse when he saw a dinner table inside the cart.
"Come on. I know you're hungry."
The cart then slowly moved upwards and New held his breath as he looked down at the city lights.
He looked at Tay and noticed that he was staring at him intently.
"Do you like it?" Tay asked him.
He smiled and nodded.
"Let's eat," Tay started slicing the steak. He watched as Tay swiftly moved the knife on the meat, cutting them into small pieces.
Tay then switched their plates.
"Th-thanks," he muttered as he stared at the sliced steak on the plate in front of him.
The cart then stopped when it reached the highest point.
"Wai-wait, what's happening?" he asked in panic but Tay just laughed at him.
"Don't worry okay. I told them to do that."
"O-Okay," he replied and started eating.
He noticed that Tay would glance at him once in a while.
They ate in silence. As much as he wanted to strike a conversation, he didn't know what to say first.
Tay wasn't saying a word, too, and that made him nervous.
He didn't wanna keep his hopes up but who the hell would set up a dinner date in the sky for a friend, right?
"Hin."
Tay called him the moment they finished eating.
"Hmm?"
Tay grabbed his hand on the table and held it tightly.
He could feel his heart racing as he stared at Tay who was staring at him with the same intensity.
"Hin, I-I won't beat around the bush anymore. I've been carrying this question all this time and I've been wanting to ask you this."
He bit his lips and swallowed the lump in his throat as he waited for Tay to continue.
He wouldn't deny it, he was hoping Tay would ask him that question but at the same time he didn't wanna get hurt by unmet expectations.
"Hin, please be my boyfriend... for real."
He stilled as he blinked multiple times, trying to make sure that Tay was really in front of him.
He wanted to say something but no words came out of his mouth.
"Hin?"
"I-I," he started but couldn't continue as tears started to stream down his face.
"He-hey? Are you alright? Did I say something wrong? Did I offend you? I-I mean you can take your time. I didn't mean to shock you in any way."
Tay grabbed his hand tighter and reached out to wipe his face.
"I-I," he wanted to continue but he was having difficulties continuing as he tried to stop his tears.
"I-I've been waiting for you to ask me that," he was finally able to say, his voice shaky and low.
Tay chuckled and grabbed something from his pocket. He wiped his tears with his left hand whilst his right was being held by Tay.
He then felt something slipping into his finger and gasped when he saw a thin silver band.
"P'Muk helped me in selecting this ring when you saw us. It's a good thing it fits. I just selected the size based on how your hand fits mine."
"Tsss. You looked so sweet back then and you even said you had a more important schedule."
Tay just chuckled and wiped his face.
"Stop crying, okay? This is not even the proposal. I wonder how much you'll cry if ever I ask you to marry me," Tay chuckled and held his hand tighter.
"Oh, shut up."
It was all he could mutter but the idea of marrying Tay just made his heart beat even faster.
Soon, several colors filled the sky and he couldn't help but gape in awe as the beautiful scenery unfolded in front of them.
"Do you like it?" Tay asked him.
He nodded and sniffed.
"I love it."
"But I love you."
He chuckled and hit Tay lightly on the arm.
"Come on. Don't you love me?" Tay pouted and pretended to sulk.
"I love you, too."
He said with his eyes closed for he was embarrassed.
He then felt a light kiss on his hand and saw Tay smiling at him when he opened his eyes.
"I love you, Hin. I really do."