After that fiasco, Fai always ate at R&D with me. It was his attempt to get Ice to agree to go on a date with him. And as usual, Ice remained icy (pun) and treated Fai like any admirer he had thus far.

By being a cold bastard.

Luckily for Fai, Earth and Nam seemed to think of him as their brother in law already, teasing Fai as if he was already in a stable relationship with Ice. This made Ice more of a bastard. And I, of course, joined in the teasing.

Might joined us for lunch too. There was a small gleam in his eyes as he watched Fai's attempt to flirt with Ice, only to get thwarted off. I wondered if it was because he was interested in either of them, but further observations proved that it wasn't true. Like me, he must have thought this all just an amusing drama to indulge in.

I still have fond memories as I recalled the first episode which happened when Fai asked Ice out. Cue flashback music please.

__________________________________________

"Oy, Phassakorn, come here," Ice dragged Fai into their meeting room, everyone immediately placing themselves onto the glass walls. Earth, Nam, and me at the door, right at the small gap. Kris made a face as she elbowed Nin and Prija for the rights to the nearest spot.

There was some shuffling, but it was amazing that everyone breathed only sparingly to have complete silence.

"What's going on?" Ice started. Fai shuffled his feet.

"I want to be a couple with you. I want to boost my Instagram followers, and my friends suggested for me to have a partner to do it," Fai began. Ice began to rub his temple again.

"Why me?" Ice asked. Fai looked hesitant before reaching boldly to rub Ice's temple. He always had magic hands, so he knew it was kind of a cheap shot.

"What are you?!! Aaahhhh~," the moan Ice let out was kinda sinful, and I could hear Nin gasped breathily. Continuing to rub Ice's temple, Fai made his case.

"I need a boyfriend because girls are intimidated by my fair skin and long lashes. They also don't like being the ugliest in the picture if I take selfies with my nong Moon. And...," Fai seemed to contemplate telling the truth, pausing in his message. Ice let out an annoyed huff and pressed on his hands to make him start again.

"I want to rake in BL shippers...?" Fai finally let out. At that Ice stared at Fai. They were staring intently at each other so close that I wondered if they were going to kiss, but Nam beat me to it.

"Are they going to kiss?" Nam whispered to Earth, face giddy.

Immediately everyone dropped down to the small strip of clear glass at the bottom of the wall. The rest of the meeting room was opaque in colour to ensure privacy, and only the bottom third was clear. It surprised me that the two occupants in the room didn't flinch at all. Can't they hear 20 so adults dropping and shuffling outside to spy on them?!

Suddenly, Ice laughed loudly, shocking Fai and us.

"Let me get this straight, you want to find a boyfriend to get BL fans to follow your Instagram? So this is what? A fake relationship just for likes?" Ice sat down, waiting for Fai's answer.

"It's not fake. I don't like to pretend to be in a relationship. It's just like a strategic maneuver in marketing. We make a product appeal to certain types because they are the majority consumer group. Same with this," Fai insisted. Ice grabbed Fai and forced him to sit on his lap. Ice, you player!

I could hear Prija fainting behind me. Weak.

"Okay...so what if I agree to this..relationship? What happens when you fall in love and your followers don't increase? What then? We break up?" Ice whispered. Fai was doing pretty well to not panic when he was pulled onto Ice's lap. 

"No! Then we try new marketing ideas! I mean, if other couples can get followers, surely we are just not marketing it right!" Fai insisted again. "Hey, what do you mean when I fall in love??!"

Ice hummed in response. "What is so important about followers anyway? " 

"I want to prove to a prick that I can beat my nong's followers, so he would leave me alone," Fai said, sounding so timid. Ice has heard snippets of it from Rit when the man was eating with them, about one of his juniors being harassed by a guy from their team, but he didn't know it was Fai. He felt a tug in his heart. Especially when Fai was pouting and biting his lips like that. Why are they so RED? Did he wear lipstick?! 

Ice chuckled and released Fai, but the man was comfortable on his lap. Raising one eyebrow, Ice appeared to like Fai's boldness.

"Just to be clear, this is a REAL relationship? Why would I agree to it?" Ice asked.

"Well, I have a great personality, you can ask for reviews from my friends. I am a great cook. I can massage you when you have migraines," at this Fai rubbed Ice's temple again and Ice let him.

"I'm sure he can massage Ice at other areas too," Nam quipped. Earth choked when his innocent brother said that.

"Nam!"

"Like when he gets sore muscles after basketball," Nam replied. Earth seemed placated by this answer, missing the low 'not' muttered under Nam's breath.

"Tempted, but no thanks," Ice made a move to stand up. Fai pressed on Ice's shoulders to pin him down. The move made their face super close, and Prija who just woke up fainted again when she saw this.

Fai whispered something to Ice and Ice took a shaky breath. Finally, after a few seconds, Ice grasped Fai's waist and smirked. Fai smirked back.

"When finally, you came to looooovvee~ guess what? It's gonna be me!" Fai pointed to himself, singing to Ice. Ice scoffed, then relented.

"Deal. You can officially court me,"

Fai smiled and kissed Ice's cheek. Eliciting gasps and squeals from the girls. Ice looked surprised but didn't reprimand Fai for his bold move. I could see Sin gritting his teeth. Huh, I guess I know now who he was looking at when he visits R&D. Prija fainted for the third time.

Weak.