A week later.

At The Bar Peter was well into his shift that night, Meen had stopped by, done with his own work for the weekend. The week had gone by without another visit by Tawin and Tin. At first Peter would fanatically watch the door every time a new person entered The Bar. The need had luckily lessened over time. Out of sight out of mind worked wonders for Peter, he found it much easier to ignore the intense eyes he saw every time he closed his own eyes. Why was he even obsessing over a man he’d never even had a conversation with? It was absurd. 

The door to The Bar opened with a loud bang, causing everyone occupying the space to startle. In sauntered Tin, his clothes rumpled, even dirty, as if he’d fallen several times to the ground. His gaze was unfixed, eyes lazily darting around the place. 

“BEER!” He announced loudly over the crowd of people, his finger pointing in the air. Stumbling across the room to the counter he lost his footing and crashed into Meen. Meen’s hands went up at his sides right away, careful not to touch the drunk man squirming in his lap. 

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Tin yelled accusatively at Meen, who was still not close to touching him. 

“Khun Tin,” Peter said softly, trying to calm the situation.

“You– pervert,” Tin swayed where he stood, a finger pointed a few inches away from Meen’s face. “PERVERT!” He suddenly yelled, doubling down.

“I’ve got this,” Meen reassured Peter calmly, seeing him get flustered by the situation. Meen looked at Tin. “If you don’t get that finger out of my face I’ll bite it off,” He warned in a calm, but deadly serious voice. 

The response seemed to confuse Tin more than anything. 

Since Tin didn’t respond or move, Meen sighed and grabbed Tin’s wrist while putting his drink down on the counter. Tin started pulling against Meen, but it was no use, he had an iron grip on him.

“I’ll show our esteemed guest the door, shall I,” Meen said, grinning at Peter. 

“Stop,” Tin protested, pulling at his hand so vigorously that he lost his footing again and Meen was forced to catch his waist with his other hand to stabilize him. “Let me go!” 

“You accused me of touching you, if anything you should thank me for not making your accusation false,” Meen told him in a low humours voice as he led Tin towards the door. 

“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!” TIn roared, trashing in Meen’s grip. 

“Yes yes Khun Tin,” Meen rolled his eyes. With one quick move he had hoisted Tin over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and strode quickly for the door, meanwhile apologizing to the other customers one the way.

Tin, who was in complete shock at being manhandled, lay still long enough that Meen got them out of the bar. Shouts came from several bodyguards who came running towards them on the outside.

“Khun Tin,” A burly man in a black suit that arrived first. 

“He was causing a disturbance,” Meen told the man with a sigh. He threw Tin off his shoulder and into the waiting bodyguard. “Please keep a better watch on him.”

“YOU–” Tin once again provoked tried lunging for Meen, but was held back by the Bodyguard.

“Tin,” The voice made Tin stop struggling and Tawin showed up at his side. The next they knew Tin threw himself around Tawin in a hug, complaining and whining that he’d done nothing wrong. Tawin was unfazed, as if this was just another day in his life, and focused on Meen.

“Thank you for watching out for him,” Tawin acknowledged with a small bow of his head. “I’ll take him home. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Without letting Meen answer he turned around and started leading Tin down the same road they’d arrived from, no doubt following him home. Meen, confused by the whole interaction just shook his head and headed back inside. 

“What happened?” Peter asked the second Meen slumped back in his chair. The frown on his face deepened when Meen burst into laughter. 

__

Tin had spent his weekend annoyed. Annoyed that he couldn’t get away from his bodyguards after they’d caught him because of the man at the bar. Annoyed at being manhandled like a child by a grown man. Annoyed that he’d felt completely helpless in that stranger's arms. 

Tawin was quietly studying him from the seat next to him in the car. He didn’t say anything, he rarely did, but he said enough with the look in his eyes. It unnerved Tin at times how much Tawin could get across with just a look. 

“I’m just going shopping,” Tin straightened his back, refusing to look at Tawin. “You didn’t have to come.” 

“You know I have to,” Tawin dismissed his words casually. 

“Nothing is going to happen if I go shopping alone,” Tin couldn’t help but pout. His whole life he’d been trailed by bodyguards, they didn’t care about him, his parents were never around and even Tawin wasn’t there from his own free will. Tin felt drained. 

They arrived at the mall, the driver letting Tin and Tawin off at the entrance. It was crowded, like always. The crowd seemed to separate around Tawin, people staring openly. Tin was used with it, and he understood it. Tawin was beautiful, his aloof attitude made him even more compelling.

Tin on the other hand was shorter, easier to blend in, especially at the mall where most people wore expensive clothes. Using the fact that Tawin was surrounded by giggling teenage girls Tin snuck into the crowd. The taste of freedom fresh on his tongue made him speed up, running past the mall and into the shopping streets beyond it. 

The joy of freedom was quickly disrupted when Tin, who’d been paying attention to his back to see if he was being pursued and hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going, felt his wrist getting caught in a strong arm and subsequently he came to a complete and involuntary stop.

“WHAT–” Tin started yelling as he turned to face his capture, but he swallowed the curse that was about to come out of his mouth at the sight of the man in front of him. It was the man from the bar, only, he was wearing the uniform of a Lieutenant. His black hair was combed away from his face and he was clean shaven. He looked clean, and authoritative. 

“Do you know who I am?” Lieutenant Meen smirked down at him, happy with his catch. 

Tin’s face burned with embarrassment and rage. “This is police violence,” he retorted, pulling at his hand. Refusing to be cowed, even if it was a police officer he was dealing with.

“You assaulted an off-duty officer mere days ago,” Meen shot back, turning on his no-nonsense officer mask. Tin couldn’t help but squirm, his usual confidence slipping away. 

“You trying to run away from your guards again?” Meen asked, as the sound of Tin’s phone interrupted them. 

Tin automatically fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, it was Tawin calling. 

“Pick it up,” Meen ordered, noting the name of the caller and Tin’s hesitation. 

Clenching his jaw in defiance, Tin nevertheless did what he was told. But as he put the phone to his ear Meen grabbed it instead.

“Are you looking for a runaway?” Meen asked into the phone. Tin couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation, but he could imagine Tawin’s cold reaction to hearing a stranger on Tin’s phone.

“Lieutenant Meen,” Meen answered after a few seconds. There was a silence in both ends before Meen gave an affirmative grunt and hung up. 

“You should be more careful running around Nattakorn Varayut,” Meen stared at him with an amused gleam in his eyes. 

“How do you know my name?” A flabbergasted Tin mumbled.

“Oh the Varayut family is well-known in prominent and less prominent circles. I wouldn’t be doing my job very well if I didn’t know who you were,” Meen explained, a hint of threat underlying his words.

Tin blushed. 

“Stay out of trouble, Khun Tin,” Meen smiled and put his hand on Tin’s shoulder, giving him a comforting clap. 

Tin stared at Meen. The gentle smile and words he hadn’t deserved. The well fitting uniform that showcased the muscles that had been hidden behind clothes the last time he’d seen him. He silently stared as Meen gave a short bow to someone coming up behind them and left without another word. 

Tawin took a hold of Tin and pulled him into the car that was waiting at the curb. The car ride went by in silence, until Tawin felt forced to speak up. 

“You can’t mess around with a Lieutenant, Tin,” He scolded in a low voice. “If your parents find out–” Tawin couldn’t even finish the sentence, they both knew what would happen if his parents found out about the encounter, it wouldn’t be pretty. 

“Just stop running away and let me protect you,” Tawin finished and went back to sitting in silence. 

“I need a drink,” Tin finally spoke up and redirected them to The Bar. 

Once there he told Tawin to let him be alone and sat by the bar, needing to be alone with his thoughts. 

A bartender came by, asking what he wanted and Tin recognized him as the man Meen had been talking to when he came in drunk that weekend. His curiosity got the better of him as he found himself alone with the bartender. 

“You know the Lieutenant?” Tin asked, trying to sound innocent, casual even. Hiding his burning curiosity deep down.

The bartender looked startled. “Meen? He’s a friend,” He nodded, not elaborating to Tin’s frustration. 

“Does he come here often?” Tin pressed on, leaning closer over the bar counter.

The bartender studied him while busying himself with drying a glass with a cloth. “Often enough,” He finally answered, after a short hesitation he added. “Where is your friend?”

Tin frowned. “Tawin? He’s not my friend,” Tin felt the laugh bubble in his chest. No, their relationship was far more complicated, and friend wasn’t one of the words he’d used. “He’s outside, waiting. Why are you interested in Tawin?”

“Why are you interested in Meen?” The bartender was quick to throw back at him. Tin leaned back in his chair with a sour expression. Why was he interested in Meen? 

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal,” The bartender put down the glass and gave his entire focus to Tin. “I’ll tell you three things about Meen and you tell me how Tawin ended up as your bodyguard?” 

Tin didn’t really need time considering the deal, it was an easy question for him to answer and his curiosity still burned bright in him. “Deal,” he agreed.

“Great,” The Bartender smiled. “My name is Peter. I grew up with Meen and we reconnected when I got back to Thailand 2 years ago. He takes his job very seriously, to the point where he’s said it’s the only thing he’ll truly commit to. You have nothing to worry about as long as you’re not doing anything illegal.” 

Tin thrummed his fingers on the counter in slow deliberate movement, staring straight ahead. Peter let him be in his thoughts for a little while while he mixed up a drink he was sure the other man would enjoy. Putting down the glass in front of Tin he leaned on the counter with expectant look.

Tin picked up the glass– looking at it, smelling it. He tasted it with a sip and immediately went in for another longer sip. “It’s not my place to tell what happened or why, but Tawin got thrown out of school and his parents house. My dad took him in and trained him to be my bodyguard. He wanted someone my age to follow me around, it attracts less attention. Jokes on him though, because Tawin attracts plenty of attention as is,” Tin chuckled into his drink. 

“Tin,” Tawin joined them. “It’s time to go home.” 

Peter turned his back to the two of them, needing to put that barrier between him and Tawin so that he wouldn’t stare. 

“Tawin, say hi to Peter,” Tin patted Tawin’s back cheerfully, forcing him to sit down. “He makes one hell of a drink.” 

Forced to turn around to not seem impolite, Peter cleared his throat. And the second his eyes took in Tawin he lost his ability to speak. He felt small under Tawin’s scrutiny. He was supposed to be the older one, why was he so nervous under this man’s gaze.

“You’re bad at minding your own business,” Tawin noted darkly.

Peter’s eyes went wide with surprise, his mouth falling open. “You–” He started. Tawin remembered him. 

“We’re leaving,” Tawin told Tin and grabbed his arm, pulling him along with him.

Peter stood frozen, heart pounding, watching them disappear into the night. 

Tawin remembered him.