The suit shop was the first place where Thame got to know Po beyond being just a colleague. It was here that he saw a different side of Po, a side he had never noticed before, and Po, in turn, made him realize that Mars was still alive.
This small two-row shophouse was a place that slowed down Thame's otherwise hectic life. It felt like a sanctuary where he could breathe, where time moved gently, allowing him to reconnect with parts of himself that weren't shaped by the demands of the outside world.
They were still standing in front of the shop. Thame had just confessed that he couldn't stay five meters away from Po-it was impossible. He didn't know if Po understood the weight of those words, but Jun had already told him that Po liked him.
"Did you come here just to tell me that?" Po asked, his voice tinged with curiosity.
"Actually..." Thame hesitated. "Jun told me something about you."
Po flinched slightly. "What did he say? About the MV?"
"No." Thame shook his head. "He said...you like..." Thame paused, gathering himself. "...like music a lot."
He couldn't bring himself to say the words "you like me."
"Yes, exactly!" Po nodded quickly, looking flustered. "I love music.
Thinking about the MV is so much fun!" He laughed nervously before quickly adding, "Actually, before you came, Jun told me he went to the game center with you."
"Oh?"
"He said he might've accidentally told you about me, so he told me about you..."
Thame already knew what Jun was referring to, but he decided to play dumb. "What did he say about me?"
"Well..." Po hesitated, clearly flustered. "...he said you like..."
Thame raised an eyebrow.
"...the MV idea. A lot."
"Oh..." Thame chuckled softly. "Well, I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it's great."
"Right, yeah, you haven't seen it yet," Po replied, fumbling with his words.
"So..." Thame grew more serious. "What did he really tell you?"
"He said that you..." Po swallowed hard. "...you'd probably come to see me here."
"I remember you said you're always at the shop on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays to help Uncle Choi. I also remember you saying you wanted to watch a movie. I've had these tickets ready for a while now," Thame said as he pulled two movie tickets from his pocket. "I planned to ask you, but I never got the chance-or the time. I'm sorry for not paying enough attention to you before, for not suggesting you direct the MV, or for not supporting you like I should have."
He looked into Po's eyes, his tone earnest. "From now on, if there's anything you want me to do for you, please tell me. If I do something wrong, you can be angry at me. I'll find a way to make it up to you. For everything I've done that made things harder for you, I want to say thank you and sorry. I promise to make things better." Thame smiled. "Let's...start over, okay?"
"S...Start over? Start what?" Po stammered, his face flushed.
What do you want to start?"
"Start...start..." Po couldn't get the words out. Panicking, he pointed at the movie tickets.
"Start with this! I really want to watch this movie today!"
"Alright, let's go..." Thame started to walk, but then he noticed something on the tickets. He froze. "Wait..."
"What?"
"These tickets expired."
"Oh..."
"Let's buy new ones..." Thame quickly opened a movie app on his phone but frowned when he saw there were no showtimes left.
"It's Thursday. New movies are probably out now, so this one's no longer showing."
"Phi! I'm so sorry!" Thame blurted.
"It's fine, really. We've both been busy-" "I just said I didn't want to disappoint you, and now I've already broken that promise!" Thame looked distraught.
"Hey, it's not a big deal. This movie was actually showing in a special cinema, but it's also available on streaming. We can watch it anytime."
"But I don't want our 'start' to be about expired tickets or me disappointing you..."
"Then let's watch something else-" "No. I want to watch this movie with you," Thame said firmly. "You said it's on streaming, right?"
"Yes," Po nodded.
Thame looked at him and asked softly, "...Then tonight, can I come over to your place to watch it with you?"
TO BE CONTINUED.