Chapter Text
Whenever they all got the chance to go out together, which was rarer now that they were in their final years of university, they had a tradition of putting the names of local clubs and bars into a random generator they found online, whatever the generator came out with was where they would go. Sometimes they would pick outfit themes too, otherwise, they all wore whatever would suit the location of their night out the best.
This time it was a two-story local dance club off the student campus, but close enough that it was filled with students on a Friday and Saturday night. Saturday nights were always the busiest. The ground floor featured vinyl flooring (that was always sticky by 10pm), a long bar with reflective glass and fluorescent lights that had four or five bartenders working non-stop to fulfil all the orders, booths around the edges that were always taken by 7pm, floor to ceiling pillars randomly dotted around (in Pran’s humble opinion they were entirely cosmetic in nature and didn’t support the structure in any way), plenty of floor space which was never devoid of people dancing and a grand staircase that led to the upper floor. No one danced up there; it featured wooden floors (that were also sticky by 10pm), various couches and loveseats and chairs positioned in circles for larger groups of people, there was a smaller bar at the back of the room that had two or three bartenders that were working equally as hard and the restrooms that people always queued for.
“It’s heaving tonight” Pran pointed at the queue to get in the door as he climbed out of the taxi along with the rest of his friend group (Ink, Louis, Safe and Wai) they agreed and stood in a group as they patted themselves down to make sure they remembered everything. As Pran stared at the line of people, some he recognised but most he didn’t, he adjusted his t-shirt by pulling on the hem, a thousand and one thoughts ran through his head, in particular; ‘should I have chosen a different outfit?’, ‘is it going to be too busy to actually enjoy anything?’, ‘need to wash my hands’, ‘where’s my ID?! Oh- back pocket’, ‘what if someone forgot their ID?’, ‘did Pat remember his?’, ‘what is he going to be wearing?’, ‘need to kiss him-'.
“Pran?”
Pran chewed on a small piece of dry skin on his bottom lip as he continued to stare at the line, the people’s faces blurring. ‘Is he already inside?’, ‘what if he’s late?’
“Pran!” Wai was used to his friend checking out whenever he got too into his head. He nudged his friend’s forearm and watched as Pran blinked rapidly, reality catching up with him. “You’re not drunk already, are you? I know we played drinking games before we got here but we didn’t have a lot” Wai teased, prodding at his ribs which got him a light jab to his stomach in retaliation.
“Shut up” Pran shook his head with a chuckle “’M not drunk, just thinking. Are the others here already?” he took his phone and ID out of his back pocket and checked for any messages. 11:42pm. No new messages. Pran chewed at his bottom lip again. He hadn’t seen Pat since last night. They knew they were going to be coming here tonight and they both had separate plans this morning, so it made sense for Pat to stay with his parents last night. After a lengthy make-out session on their couch, Pat sat up with a glint in his eye that suggested he had a dirty plan. That plan was to roleplay that they didn’t know each other when they were in the bar. Pran agreed and they made a bet that whoever broke character first would lose. They didn’t have sex either, they agreed that it would make the game more interesting.
The group talked and laughed amongst themselves as they got into the entrance queue. Pran was restless, he was pleasantly buzzed, and four-drink Pran was… needier than sober-Pran. He was only half listening to his friends because Pat consumed his thoughts. He needed to find him as soon as possible.
They all got into the club successfully and the music volume was nearly ear-splitting, the bass pumping so loud Pran could feel it squeezing his heart on every beat. Ink, Louis and Safe disappeared into the crowd of dancers almost immediately after they all agreed to find each other at a certain pillar in the middle of the room, whilst Wai and Pran got all their drinks. Pran got the first round after Wai gave him his best pleading eyes.
After an hour of drinking and dancing, Louis and Safe went out the back to smoke (something they always did when they got to a certain level of drunk) and Ink squealed at something, nearly spilling her drink down Wai’s shirt in her giddiness. It was Pa, she pushed her way through the crowd and gave her girlfriend the biggest kiss then took her drink and downed it in one, with a shameless cheeky grin on her face, it reminded Pran of her brother. Ink didn’t seem to mind one bit, she looked positively smitten.
“Pran!” Pa hugged him then stood back and admired him “You look great!” she gestured to his clothes. Pran paid attention to his outfits every day, but given the game he and Pat were playing he gave tonight’s outfit extra special attention; a charcoal grey short-sleeve t-shirt that had a tiny logo in the centre of his chest and the back had a full greyscale design print, a black pair of mid-rise jeans that always got Pat’s attention – they were narrow fit and aesthetically worn-in at the knees and Pran always liked to roll them up at his ankles twice, in this case, it showed off his pair of black chukka boots, he wore his watch and the bracelet Ink had made for him on the same wrist as well as a silver chain Pat had gotten him as an anniversary present on his other wrist, his t-shirt was half-tucked in at the front which showed off a simple faux leather stitched black belt and he’d used sea salt spray in his hair and styled it so his waves and curls covered his forehead. What Pa didn’t notice, not that Pran expected her to, was his cologne - Pat’s favourite. Pran thanked her and when she gestured to his nearly empty glass and then the bar, he got the picture and nodded enthusiastically. She and Ink left hand-in-hand and Pran was alone with Wai. Pran drained the last of his beer as he stood on his tiptoes and looked around the crowd with keen eyes. No sign of Pat and still no new messages.
“Pran” Wai clicked his teeth in annoyance when Pran didn’t hear him “Pran!” he nudged his friend again and was successful in his efforts the second time, “why are you so distracted?”.
“I’m not” he tried to deny it, but Wai’s knowing look caused him to laugh, “I’m just wondering where the others are” he put an arm around Wai’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze “I’m here, I promise”.
“Yeah, barely!” Wai shrugged his arm off “You’ve checked your phone like every minute since we got into that taxi”.
“It’s not been every minute” Pran rolled his eyes at the exaggeration “It’s just that if Pa is here then the others must be too”. He looked around again and felt a little relieved when he saw Chang, Mo and Korn weave their way through the many bodies, dancing to the rhythm and cheering when they got close enough.
After exchanging their greetings, Chang and Mo immediately announced they were going to smoke after Korn agreed to get their drinks. Korn threw a wink in Wai’s direction as he left and Pran watched as Wai fumed, following after him likely to berate him. Pran guessed they were hooking up in secret but he didn’t want to press his friend about it, unlike Wai, Pran was willing to wait till he was ready to reveal whatever his relationship was with Korn.
Pran had had just about enough of waiting around. Everyone was there except his boyfriend. He squeezed his way through the bodies and made it to the jampacked staircase, having to squeeze his way up there too. He looked around at the bar and the seats and didn’t see Pat so with an impatient huff, he avoided bags and purses on the floor as he walked to the balcony that overlooked the ground floor. He reached into his pocket and took out a lip balm stick, applying it to his lips briefly as he scanned the crowd for Pat. After he put it back into his pocket, he drummed his fingers against the metal bar to the timing of the song.
Leave it, leave it all behind,
Take it, take it off your mind,
I know you’ve had to fight,
But things are lookin’ brighter
Let it go tonight, I know you need it
Dancin’ is healin’, love is the answer
A figure appeared in Pran’s peripheral vision and before he had a chance to turn the person spoke.
“I noticed you don’t have a drink”
Even with the music blaring, Pran recognised Pat’s voice immediately. Game on. He didn’t want to look too excited or eager so he kept his eyes on the crowd, a smirk forming on the corner of his lips. He leaned forward so his forearms were on the bar, letting his hands fall in front of him, and he jutted his hips back somewhat, casually crossing one ankle over the other.
“I thought I’d fix that for you” Pat held out a beer bottle and angled it toward Pran’s hands, one wrong move and it’d drop into the crowd below. Pran planned to side-eye him at first, tease him a little, but he couldn’t help the double-take or his jaw-dropping when he actually saw what Pat looked like tonight. And Pat, of course, noticed Pran’s reaction. The noisiness of Pran’s brain faded to just one thought: ‘fuck’. Pran was dangerously close to calling it off and Pat knew it if the tilt of his head and his shameless grin were anything to go by.
Pat was dressed to impress, dressed to win, Pran guessed Pa had something to do with it. Pat’s outfit was simple; a V-neck black shirt with the top three buttons undone so the fabric hung loose on his body, exposing his collar bones and the dent between his pecs. Pran could clearly see the marks he’d left the previous day, and he felt the very familiar pull in the pit of his stomach. ‘Mine’. The shirt was fully tucked into a pair of black cropped suit trousers that Pran had never seen him wear before, nor had he seen him wear those black loafers. Pran didn’t miss the fact he was also wearing the bracelet Ink had made for him (they didn’t realise till last year that she’d actually made them a matching set), his sleeves were rolled up tightly and neatly just under his elbows and the veins in his arms were clear as day even in the dark lights of the club. If Pran wasn’t so horny, or seven drinks in, he might’ve worried and felt inferior in the face of his boyfriend’s raw sex appeal and sheer beauty. No, those kinds of ugly thoughts were for hung-over-Pran to deal with tomorrow. Instead, he wanted nothing more than to run his fingers, hands and tongue over every inch of his gorgeous boyfriend’s body. But still, he didn’t forget the bet.
Pran quickly regained himself, closing his mouth and rubbing at his nose before he took the bottle out of Pat’s hand. When he did, Pat took that as a sign he could move closer. He was inches away and leaned on his side against the balcony, resting his arm flat against it. He tilted his head when he sipped from his own bottle, exposing his neck to Pran on purpose. He kept the rim of the bottle near his lips and licked over them, narrowing his eyes as he smiled at Pran who was trying his hardest not to stare. Pran decided it was time to take back some control of this situation; “I recognise you; do you go to STU?”.
“Yeah, Engineering. You?”
“Architecture” Pran swayed his hips in time to the music and he was very pleased when it got Pat’s attention. “I haven’t seen you in here before”.
“Well, clubbing isn’t really my scene, I’m a good boy” Pat tore his eyes away from Pran’s ass and he ran his tongue along the back of his teeth. “I mostly stay in and study with my boyfriend”.
“Is your boyfriend here?” Pran asked, very intrigued by the plot of this roleplay. How much of this had Pat planned in advance? Pran was just making it up as he went along.
“No, I told him not to come”
“Why’s that?” Pran drained some of his beer, straightening his back a little.
“We’re having a fight” Pat pouted, “he says I don’t pay him enough attention”. He turned his body so he was now leaning with his back against the balcony, his elbows leaning back on the metal, “even though all we do is hang out at his place”. Pran leaned toward him, grasping the dynamic Pat was going for. This pretend-Pat wanted to cheat on his pretend boyfriend tonight as payback and Pran was more than happy to oblige pretend-Pat, though he’d always actually condone this behaviour. “I don’t think that’s fair, do you?” Pat asked.
Pran shook his head and stood up “I don’t”, standing in front of Pat he could get a much clearer view of him and he felt so lucky that Pat had fallen for him. Pran tucked a hand into his pocket and sipped his beer.
“I’ve turned down a lot of really good and nice people to stay with him, you know?”
“I bet you have” Pran grinned around the rim of his beer bottle.
“I treat him well! We fool around all the time, and I kiss him a lot. I’m pretty good at it now” Pat grinned, eyeing Pran up and down so obviously.
“He clearly doesn’t appreciate you or the sacrifices you make for him” Pran stepped into Pat’s space so they were inches apart and he watched Pat inhale and gulp down air. The cologne never failed to turn Pat on, Pran could see his ears flushing red. “Why not find someone better? You said a lot of good people ask you out, why not one of them?”
“Because I don’t want someone good” Pat leaned toward Pran in such a way his shirt fell forward, exposing more of him, “I don’t want another boyfriend, I want to teach him a lesson, then he’ll learn to treat me better. I just need…” Pat inhaled deeply as he looked over Pran’s face “…one chance to make that happen. Do you know someone who could help me with that?”.
“I have someone in mind” Pran stepped forward, crowding Pat back against the balcony wall, boxing him in as he put both palms on the metal bar behind him. His long, strong and flexible fingers allowed him to hold the stem of the bottle between his index and middle finger, it rested against the bar, but again, one wrong move and it could've dropped right into the crowd. If Pat wasn't so distracting, he might've worried more about it. All he could do was stare at Pat's lips until he spoke.
“Who are you dressed so handsomely for?” Pat reached out and pressed hard on one of the metal buttons on Pran’s jeans and slipped his fingers under his belt buckle. He tugged on it, causing Pran to step closer. “Surely someone as hot as you has someone they sleep next to at night”.
“Sometimes I do” Pran looked down at Pat’s fingers as they danced and pressed into the hem of his jeans before he flattened his palm against Pran’s stomach. Pran lost his train of thought when he felt Pat’s fingernails dug in through his t-shirt and he closed his eyes briefly before he looked back up at Pat’s innocent face, “it-it has to be the right kind of someone, I don’t like drama, you know?”
“I hate drama” Pat grinned smugly as he slid his hand up Pran’s chest till his forearm rested comfortably on Pran’s shoulder. “So, you’re not with anyone tonight?”
“Nope” Pran took one hand off the balcony with the intention of holding onto Pat’s hip, but someone behind him bumped into him which caused him to knock into Pat, both of them dropped their bottles and what little liquid was left was now all over the floor, most of it on their shoes. In the commotion, Pran had wrapped his arm around Pat’s waist, pressing his stomach against Pat’s as he steadied them “Are you alright?” Pran asked genuinely, though Pat didn’t accept it as a break in his character.
“Wow! I could’ve fallen right over this wall, but you saved me” It was a complete lie, there was no way Pat could’ve fallen, the balcony was too high and thick for that. “But… our drinks” he sighed at the bottles on the floor, “and look! It’s all over my shoes” he pouted.
“C’mon” Pran let go of his waist and took his hand, lacing their fingers together as he spoke against Pat’s ear “I'll clean you up".