On the road ahead, a man stared blankly, even though his hand was gripping the steering wheel tightly. As it was quite late, the area was empty, and his was the only car on the road. The person sitting in the passenger seat noticed his absent-mindedness and asked in a suspicious tone.
"Phupha."
"Yeah?"
"What's on your mind?" As if his weakness had been exposed, Phupha went silent, not answering immediately. The young man didn't want Pinyin to feel bad about what he was thinking, so he simply denied it.
"...Thinking? Nothing."
"But your face is so stressed, do you even realize it?" A sweet smile appeared, as it always did, to make him relax. Phupha slowly unfurrowed his brow.
"I was thinking a little bit about Kin." At first, he didn't want to talk about it because the relationship between them and Kin wasn't very good. Especially his childhood friend, who was hated as if he had done something wrong. But Phupha had always known why Kin hated Pinyin.
"Kin? Why?" The other man asked with a surprised and worried tone. This was another reason why he didn't want to talk about it, as Phupha knew how much his little best friend was afraid of Kin.
"Ever since that day we met at the cafe, he's been acting strange and talking about a divorce."
"...Will you get a divorce, Phupha?"
"Not right now. We talked, and we'll have to let it go for a while first."
"Is that so? But Kin isn't a bad person. Maybe the divorce..." But even though Kin acted badly, Pinyin was never angry. He always wondered why he was hated, but Phupha knew that Pinyin wanted to be close to Kin and be his friend, even though he knew it would never happen. Right now, even though he should have felt good, he felt even worse thinking about Kin's feelings.
"Pinyin," he said the other man's name in a firm voice before reaching out to hold the back of the hand on his lap, to reassure him.
"I'll definitely get a divorce." Phupha didn't hesitate at all. He was confident and didn't think anything would change. Even if Kin had a change of heart or caused a commotion later, Phupha would still insist on the divorce. He would be free and finally be with the person he loved.
"...O-okay. But won't Kin be angry?" A good feeling started to grow in his heart, but it was covered up by worry, making him unable to show his happiness openly. Just the thought of Kin's face and eyes, which always looked down on him with words and actions, made him unable to help but imagine that bad things would happen if Phupha divorced him.
"I don't know. He doesn't seem angry. I don't care anyway."
"If you divorce him, then..." Pinyin's cute face was still tightly furrowed, only thinking about what would happen in the future. Phupha used his long fingers to gently stroke the back of the other man's hand, hoping it would help him relax a bit.
"It'll be fine," a faint smile appeared on his face. Pinyin didn't want to believe that a person could change so much overnight, but when Phupha said it, everything he was thinking about really did lighten. The thought deep in his heart was still hoping that the time would come as soon as possible, the day when Phupha and Kin would get a divorce. Both of them hoped that the relationship between Pinyin and Phupha would finally be able to move forward.
The warmth of their bodies was shared through their hands. Pinyin secretly looked at the young man whose face looked better than it had a moment ago. Even when they were together, Phupha seemed more relaxed than usual, but today was so different. Pinyin knew in his heart that their relationship was very awkward. He didn't know when it started, but Pinyin was used to having Phupha in his life. Everything had changed completely from the day Kin came into the picture.
A small Omega like him was bullied and shamed many times. The only thing he could remember about Khin was his mocking laughter and the fearful look in his eyes that made him want to hide. Many bad things happened, but even so, Phupha still stood by his side.
Pinyin had never known how he felt about his childhood friend, until the day Phupha told him with a heavy heart that he had to marry Kin. From that day on, it was as if everything had fallen apart in front of his eyes. Even though he wanted to cry, all he could do was offer his congratulations.
But Phupha was still here. he's taking care of him just the same, nothing had increased or decreased, to the point where he sometimes couldn't help but feel considerate towards Kin, who was his fiancé and now his legal husband. Even though he felt guilty and knew that it shouldn't be this way, he couldn't stop himself from feeling that he was superior.
"Thanks for the ride home," Pinyin said thank you before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting ready to get out of the car, and then he looked at his ordinary rental house. Looking back at the luxurious car, he saw the clear difference between him and Phupha. Maybe that was one reason why he didn't dare to reveal his feelings until it was too late.
Pinyin got out of the car and gently closed the door. He clutched his favorite shoulder bag, feeling sad that the night had ended sooner than he had expected and feeling hurt at the thought that Phupha had to go back to the same house as Kin, who was probably waiting for him.
"Pinyin," the voice made him stop and turn back to see the handsome face of his best friend, who always made his heart beat faster, in the car door window that had rolled all the way down to make it easier to talk. Pinyin, who had already walked a good distance from the car, walked back and bent down with a smile.
"What is it?"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow." His pale face reflected the light from the streetlights, and he couldn't stop smiling. Happiness arose immediately just from what the other person said. It was as if his life had a purpose now, which was to wait to see Phupha tomorrow. Pinyin nodded and answered in his throat before it was time for them to really part.
"See you tomorrow, and good night, Phupha."
"Good night."
The smiles they shared before they parted only reinforced what Phupha felt for the man he had been with since childhood. His heart was beating fast and filled with good feelings for each other. It was a feeling that had been there for many years. Pinyin's smile still made him want to see it every day.
Even though Phupha didn't want to go back to the house he lived in with Kin, he still had to. His life every day since before he got married had been full of discomfort, and he couldn't stop anything, even at an age when he could take care of himself.
His family and Khin's family had always helped each other, or to be more accurate, Kin's family had helped his father when he was scammed and had nothing. The kindness of the other family was, of course, full of a desire for benefits, but his father was still happy. It was very easy for the other family to ask him to marry Kin. So he had to get married, even though he didn't want to at all.
The image in Phupha's mind had been clear ever since the first time he saw Pinyin's smile, which was like the sun. He had fallen in love and kept imagining a wedding and a happy married life, but everything fell apart because Kin came into his life. That moody, gloomy man, even though he had a beautiful face, his heart was filthy. One part of him felt that he hated that the other man had made everything more difficult, but another part felt sorry for a man like that.
After dropping Pinyin off, he headed back to the house, or what they called their marital home. The house was quiet and dark, with only the lights outside and in some parts of the garden on to keep it from being too dark.
He noticed light coming from the kitchen, which made him wonder who was using the kitchen at this late hour. Phupha walked in calmly and found someone he hadn't expected to be there at this time.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for something to eat."
"Now?" Phupha raised his wrist to check the time and saw that the clock's hands were pointing at the number twelve, indicating it was past midnight. From what he knew, and from being with Kin for so long, even though he didn't want to pay attention, it was enough to know that Kin didn't eat late-night meals.
"Yes. I was working, so I'm hungry." Phupha frowned at the young man in front of him who had changed completely, even his lifestyle.
"Don't you have to get eight hours of sleep?" Kin turned to look at him and made a face as if the other man had said something wrong. He looked a little annoyed that he was being pestered and then took out some pork and vegetables.
"What's this? You talk like a health nut," the young man stood up with the two things in his hands and replied. Kin went to the electric stove embedded in the counter and tried to find where the instant noodles were. His efforts were quickly abandoned when he opened every cabinet in front of him and didn't find anything like that.
"..." Phupha could only watch Kin's strange actions, as he tried his best to find something to eat. But in the end, he had to rely on the leftover rice in the box that was in the fridge. Kin did everything skillfully. He took out an egg and seasonings to prepare for fried rice.
Phupha didn't even know that Kin could cook. he was being watched by Phupha's judgmental eyes, which he tried to ignore for his own peace of mind. In his old world, he lived and did everything alone. Having to cook with someone watching was so awkward.
"Seriously, what happened? Why did you suddenly change, as if you're a completely different person?" Kin choked slightly when he heard that because he didn't know what excuse to use. He was a different person, just like the other man said. It was his own decision not to follow the character's original habits, so it wasn't strange for him to be questioned in such an uncomfortable way.
He wasn't 'Kin' to these people and that Kin they knew, even if they didn't like him, was still a person they knew. But to him, these people were 'strangers.' He didn't know anyone, and he couldn't even pretend to know them, to the point where he could only blame himself for only skimming the novel and not knowing anything.
"You never loved me, did you? You don't even need to ask why." His words seemed to ramble on, but he thought it would make him stop wondering. Even if this handsome young man tried to squeeze the truth out of him, he would never be able to tell him. What could he say? 'I just woke up in this body.' Who would believe something like that?
"Is this a new way of seeking attention?"
"Oh, come on! Is that all your brain can think of? Of course not!" Kin cursed out loud while scooping the fried rice from the pan onto a plate. It was a good thing he didn't hit him with the spatula.
"I just don't love you anymore." He turned to face the man and talk seriously. Both of them looked into each other's eyes, and neither of them looked away for a long time. Kin couldn't help but consider the other man's handsome face.
He was truly worthy of being the male lead. His face was so handsome it was as if it was a gift from the heavens. The deep black hair that was styled neatly this morning, but after being out all day, some of it had fallen onto his forehead, but it still looked perfect. He looked handsome even when he wasn't trying. If someone said he was a favorite of God, he wouldn't think it was a lie.
"Then can you apologize to Pinyin?" But what he said made the other man's handsomeness decrease significantly.
"Why should I?" He replied immediately because he hadn't done anything wrong, not realizing that the old Khin had done quite a lot of terrible things. Of course, it wasn't just recently, before he came into this body.
"If you really regret it, you have to do it," Phupha emphasized again in a low voice until Kin felt a pressure that made his heart tremble, but he couldn't explain what it was.
"Okay, okay... Just apologizing is enough, right?" Kin had to accept and clean up what he hadn't done. He sighed with a slightly sour face. He wasn't very happy about having to take responsibility for things he had never done. But if an apology made everything better, then giving in was the better option.
"That's not the words of a person who's trying to change."
"You're just prejudiced," he replied briefly and picked up the plate, walking away, not caring about Phupha anymore. He was done with his late-night meal, so the other man could do whatever he wanted. Kin walked straight up to his room, changing his mind from sitting and eating alone in the kitchen.
No matter how handsome Phupha was, he never made the food taste any better. Kin was angry at the other man for always acting so badly, but at the same time, he knew in his heart that the person who should be angry was the owner of this beautiful face. The beautiful-faced, bad-tempered Omega that everyone hated. It was a good thing that there was still one person in his family who cared about him.
Kin gathered the papers that he thought he didn't need right now and placed them on top of another pile of documents in another corner before placing his fried rice on the small empty space. It wasn't exactly work, but he was trying to study what he should know. Relying on his secretary alone made Kin feel uncomfortable, so he had to spend time outside of work to sit and look at the old work he had done.
He was a little jealous that the old Kin, besides having a good face, also had very neat and beautiful handwriting, while he now only had messy handwriting and a signature that looked fake because he tried to sign like him, but it didn't look the same. So another thing he had to do was practice signing just like the old Kin had, even though it was very difficult.
In his old life, he didn't even have a signature. Even though he was almost thirty, what he did was write his name in the space for a signature.
Now his life was full of work, with so many things to do to adjust. He barely had time to get involved in the relationship between the two of them, let alone the matter of love. When he thought that he had to find the right words to apologize to the male lead, Pinyin, he felt a sudden headache.
Kin sat down in his office chair and stretched his legs all the way out. He leaned back on the chair's backrest, hoping it would reduce his fatigue because he had never sat in an expensive office chair before. If he had known it was so good for back pain, he would have bought one long ago.
"Sigh..." A sigh echoed in the silence of the room, with only the sound of the air conditioner. Let's think about it. What terrible things did Kin, the villain in the novel, do to Pinyin?