Work Text:
Sarawat looked inside the fridge for food to eat for breakfast; all he was greeted with was half an onion and a bottle of ketchup, though. "Dammit, I forgot to pick up groceries last night." sighed Sarawat, who frequently forgot tasks relating to his well-being as work took up most of his brain.
"I'll just grab some breakfast sandwich from the Starbucks in the office lobby," Sarawat shrugged, pretending not to be annoyed at his forgetfulness.
He grabbed his jacket and headed downstairs to walk downstairs, still grumbling to himself about not getting groceries the previous night.
Every day, Sarawat walked to work unfazed as the walk was a mere 10 minutes to his office, and he was practically sleepwalking the way there. However, today was different, as Sarawat noticed a store had never seen before, approximately 2 blocks away from his work. It was a cafe with a yellow striped awning and a sign in loopy cursive that said "2gether Cafe."
"Strange." thought Sarawat as he had never seen this cafe on his way to and from work before. "Maybe, I'm just dazed and oblivious."
Feelings of intuition ran through Sarawat as he decided to go into the cafe to ditch his plans of eating a pastry that was practically plastic and overpriced coffee at his desk. At the same time, his colleagues judged him for not having his life together for not eating breakfast before work.
The jingle of a bell notified the barista that someone entered the cafe; she turned away from whatever she was preoccupied with. She smiled at Sarawat and cheerily said, "Welcome to 2gether Cafe! What can I get for you today?"
"Uh, an iced americano and a croissant," Sarawat said, not knowing what else to order. "Okay, that'll be out in 5 minutes," said the barista, "Will that be to go or for here?
Sarawat glanced down at his watch, checking the time. He had 15 minutes before his workday officially started. Sarawat definitely wanted to spend his extra time away from his office. "For here." said Sarawat, and the barista nodded in response. "You can have a seat, and your order will be out soon!" "Jeez," Sarawat thought as he sat down at a table near the window, "How can anyone have that much energy and be that happy at ass o'clock in the morning?"
"Maybe that's how it feels to enjoy your job." a voice inside Sarawat's head said while he started to look through his work email on his phone. The endless messages made Sarawat's head spin; there were so many cases he was assigned on. What was his boss going to do if he didn't answer all the emails in time? What if he can't finish them? What if he messes-
"Excuse me, is this your order?" asked someone, dowsing Sarawat's whirlwind of thoughts. Sarawat looked up at the voice owner, and there stood a man holding his food. He was lean and fairly tall; his jawline was sharp, yet his cheeks were marshmallow-like, and his mocha-colored hair was tousled slightly.
Sarawat thought he was the most beautiful man, no person, he had ever seen.
"Yes," Sarawat managed to stutter out, accepting his food, still in awe over the man standing in front of him. "Thank you for coming in," smiled the man, "I'm Tine, the owner of this cafe, and it means a lot that you came in on our first day open."
"Oh," Sarawat thought, "So, I'm not blind, and this cafe had just opened" "It's no problem." he said to Tine, trying not to trip over his words. "I work in the building two blocks away and decided to eat somewhere that wasn't the Starbucks in the building's lobby for once."
Tine wrinkled his nose at the mention of Starbucks. "I'm glad that you came here instead. I guarantee our food and drinks are better than Starbucks," he said playfully, making Sarawat smile softly. "I'll leave you to eat now; thank you for stopping by once again." said Tine, patting Sarawat's shoulder, and then walked away.
Sarawat sat there thunderstruck, gently feeling his shoulder where Tine placed his hand. "I am not going to have a crush on him," Tine told himself, "I am not a lovesick teenage boy." He looked over to the cash register to see Sarawat laughing with the female barista who took his order. Tine's eyes crinkled while he laughed, and his heart-shaped lips curved into a smile.
"Oh no." thought Sarawat as he took a sip of his Americano, "I have a crush on him."
~
The entire day at work, Sarawat's brain was filled with the handsome cafe owner. Sarawat knew he was gay since he was in high school. However, he hadn't properly had a crush since his freshman year in university on one of his seniors. He hadn't paid much attention to dating or a love life since then as he was focused on his job. Sarawat thought love was a waste of time that weighted people down unnecessarily. When Sarawat was at university, his friends complained about their significant others and their issues. This made Sarawat thought he was dodging a bullet by vowing romance away from him. These feelings of curiosity towards another person were a new feeling for Sarawat; he didn't know if he should embrace these feelings or ignore them.
That evening when Sarawat was walking home, he stopped outside the cafe. He started at the cozy establishment through the window. There were a couple of people inside chatting and drinking warm beverages, the yellow tinted lights giving the cafe a homey feel. Sarawat saw Tine inside, serving a couple their drink and pastries while having a lively conversation with them. His eyes were bright, and his lips were curved into a smile like earlier this morning. Sarawat stared at the pretty cafe owner, completely enamored with him.
"What are you doing weirdo?" called out a voice in Sarawat's head, "If he notices you, you're gonna look like a stalker!" The voice snapped Sarawat back to reality, causing him to practically run away from the cafe window, in fear of Tine potentially seeing him. Though, an idea crept inside his brain. What if he went to the cafe after work to finish the work he hadn't completed during the day? He could be productive, and seeing Tine would be a plus, soon Sarawat would begin a routine that would change his life.
~
Five months later...
It had been 5 months since Sarawat decided to visit the cafe every day after work, and everything was going swimmingly. He and Tine grew close despite their contrasting introverted and extroverted personalities. Tine would make Sarawat try new drinks he had created for the cafe, and Sarawat would judge them. The amount of coffee Sarawat drank some days was super unhealthy. He would stay up until 3am, but he would do anything for the pretty coffee shop owner.
One evening, Sarawat walked into the cafe, more irritable than usual. His boss told him he had to do mandatory overtime tomorrow to finish a project. The amount of paperwork and days spent reading documents repeatedly was making Sarawat go insane. He wanted nothing more than to disappear completely and never be found.
"Hi Pear," Sarawat's said, greeting the barista grew close to over the past couple of months, his voice droning due to exhaustion. Pear jumped in response to the tone of his voice. "Jesus Wat, What happened?" she asked, concern evident in her voice. "I'm tired." he said, making Pear sigh in response, "I'll go get Tine for you, go sit down and try not to fall over."
Sarawat sat down at his usual table near the window and rested his head on the table, wishing that his workload would disappear. Suddenly, he felt someone stroking his hair. Sarawat looked up and saw Tine standing behind him, smiling with a soft smile.
"Who's complaints am I going to listen to if you die now?" Tine joked, patting Sarawat's head again. Sarawat just stared in response, too tired to formulate a response. "Oh damn, you're that tired," realized Tine when Sarawat didn't reply with a sarcastic rebuttal as he usually did.
"Why don't you come into the break room and sleep?" offered Tine, worry growing towards the exhausted boy. "No," replied Sarawat. "Need to work." Tine sighed, knowing that there was no way to convince Sarawat. "Okay." said Tine, "I'll be back soon to see if you're okay soon," he walked away, leaving Sarawat alone, head still resting on the table.
"I'll just..rest my eyes for a bit," thought Sarawat, closing his eyes. However, moments later, Sarawat was in dreamland, unable to escape from it.
Hours passed, and Sarawat awoke to a crick in his neck. He emerged slowly from the table, looking around. The cafe was completely empty, and no one was around. "How long did I sleep for?" thought Sarawat, panicking. Thankfully, Tine appeared seconds later before Sarawat could start imaging the worst possible scenarios.
"You're finally up, sleepyhead," smiled Tine. "The cafe is closed. Everyone went home," Sarawat groaned in response, "Shit I needed to do my work." he said, rubbing his eyes. Tine looked at him like he was insane, "You slept like a dead man for the past couple of hours, there's NO way you'd been able to do any work."
"Yes I would have!" said Sarawat, lying through his teeth. Tine sighed at his denial and sat down next to Sarawat, looking at him softly.
"I'm worried about you," said Tine simply, grasping Sarawat's hand to comfort him. making Sarawat's heart race as a result. "This isn't healthy for you and I hate seeing you look so exhausted."
"You know I have to do this, Tine," sighed Sarawat, making Tine nod and softly say, "I know Wat, but what are you gaining from this? Are you truly happy?"
Tine's question evoked something inside of Sarawat, and he finally realized.
"I'm not happy with my life," Sarawat thought, "I tell myself everyday it'll be worth it but will it?" Tears began sprouting from Sarawat's eyes, and Tine enveloped him into a hug, soothing him.
Nobody made Sarawat feel as secure and loved as Tine.
~
Sarawat looked into the window of the dimly lit cafe, watching Tine clean the counters. Was he going to do this? Sarawat took a deep breath and walked through the door, the bell tinkling. "Oh sorry, we're cl-" began Tine, but stopped himself once he realized it was Sarawat who had just entered.
"Oh, Wat! You finished overtime!" said Tine brightly, making Sarawat's heart race. "Yeah," he said, hanging his work bag and coat on a chair. "Need help with anything?" asked Sarawat; Tine shook his head in response. "You already came from work, I'm not gonna make you do unpaid labor," he joked, rubbing Sarawat's shoulder affectionately. Sarawat's breath hitching in response.
"Tine I need to tell you something." said Sarawat, finally mustering up the courage to say those 3 complicated yet straightforward words. "What?" replied Tine, preoccupied with something else. "Tine, please look at me," asked Sarawat; Tine nodded and stepped closer to him.
Sarawat took a deep breath and grabbed Tine's hand, Tine looking at him with a sense of confusion in his eyes."Ever since I met you," began Sarawat nervously, "Something inside me changed, for so long I grew accustomed to feeling like I had no one that cared for me, but you changed that." What I'm saying is that I like you, Tine, maybe even love you, but I'm not used to feeling these things towards anyone before."
"I am so happy you told me this," smiled Tine, interlocking his fingers with Sarawat's. "I'm glad that you see me in that way because I feel exactly the same way about you." "You do?" asked Sarawat, in shock over Tine's response. "Yes, I do, Wat. I've liked you ever since you came into the cafe on opening day," smiled Tine.
Sarawat cupped Tine's cheek and delicately rubbed his thumb against it, "What are you doing?" asked Tine, his cheeks growing the color of crimson. Sarawat chuckling at the boy's shyness. "Doing what I've wanted to do for months," replied Sarawat, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss onto Tine's lips.
"That's all?" asked Tine mischievously, his shyness nowhere to be found from moments ago. Sarawat smirked in response and pulled Tine closer to him by his apron. "Better?" he asked; Tine nodded and wrapped his arms around Sarawat's neck. For the second time, Sarawat leaned down and kissed Tine.
This kiss was much different than the first one. Feelings of shyness and caution were replaced with certainty and passion. Sarawat and Tine were sure that they wanted each other; their hearts looped together and well as their lips. Sarawat pushed Tine against the counter, holding his waist protectively as they continued to kiss in celebration of their feelings.
"Okay enough," said Tine, pulling away, "There's a huge window, and anyone can see what we're doing right now." laughed Tine. Imagine walking down the block and seeing two men make out inside of a cafe." Sarawat became kind of disappointed they weren't somewhere more private, wanting to continue to kiss the boy in front of him.
"Aren't you tired?" Tine asked, "I was really worried about you today," he admitted, making Sarawat smile at his concern. "No, because I saw you today, and that's all I need to be energized," said Sarawat softly, ruffling Tine's hair affectionately. "Such a sweet talker," Tine laughed, pulling Sarawat into a hug.
"I'm so glad I found you," Tine said, his breath tickling Sarawat's cheek. "Me too." replied Sarawat.
"Me too." he repeated, pulling the boy in his arms closer to him.
~
One year later…
"One latte and croissant, order up!" called out Tine, placing a paper bag on the to-go counter and quickly retreated to the cash register to take the waiting customers' orders.
"Welcome to 2gether Coffee!" Tine said, his breath heavy from running around. "What can I get-" he began to ask but was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around him, squeezing him tightly. "Guess who?" the person asked, voice deep with a teasing edge. Tine sighed and rolled his eyes, but a smile crept onto his face.
"Someone who should be working at the cash register right now, but I'm doing it for him!" replied Tine jokingly. He weakly attempting to wriggle free from the person's grasp that began to hold onto him closer.
"Sorry baby," whispered the person in Tine's ear, causing Tine to go red."Enough! We have customers!" exclaimed Tine, making the person holding him laugh and let him go.
"Sorry about that," he apologized to the customer waiting, "My boyfriend Sarawat doesn't understand the concept of work time and play time." Tine said, shooting daggers at Sarawat, standing next to him, who had a cheerful grin plastered on his face.
"It's okay!" the customer replied, smiling, "Being in love is so fun, I know how it feels!" "That it is!" said Sarawat, ruffling his boyfriend's hair and going to attend to other tasks in the cafe.
Tine smiled at his boyfriend and resumed taking the customer's order. He was so happy, he had his own cafe with great employees, and business was booming. However, the best thing about his life was the boy with who he now shared his life with that promised him every day that he loved him and cared about him.
Tine looked at Sarawat, interacting with the customers. He looked brighter and more content, which was the only thing Tine ever wanted for him to be happy. Sarawat brought Tine to new heights, and that made Tine was forever thankful to him.