Chapter 7
(Tankhun POV)
"NOOOO~" shouted Chan, with a look of disbelief, Tankhun had lost count of the number of times the captain had yelled since the fanfiction crash course began. He could only look at him with pity and amusement.
"I'm sorry, P' Chan, but what P' said is true, your wing backs, both of them, are really shipping Vegas and Pete like that ," restated Porsche, he really took his job as a teaching assistant in "this class" seriously.
"Do I even want to know about that last term, the ETL trope? What does ETL stand for, anyway?" asked Chan, he's drinking his second Cosmo now.
"Enemy to Lovers," answered Tankhun calmly.
"Ah yes, of course , why not inject half-truth into the combo, right? GOD!" replied Chan as he covered his eyes with tips of his fingers.
Tankhun was about to open his mouth to react to Chan's statement, but someone was ahead of him, someone he didn't expect at all.
"Now that I think about it, since Vegas is a former BSFC's arch-enemy player, Arm and Pol really have a good plot for their fanfiction."
"Ei, Kinn~" squealed Porsche as he snickered. "Now that you know about fanfiction and all, you suddenly became an expert?"
"Just an observation," said Kinn happily, his big smile filled half of his face and it made Tankhun feel very content. He will never stop being grateful for Porsche's presence in his younger brother's life. Otherwise, the big smile that had been missing since their Ma died 15 years ago, would never appear again. Ever since he took over the company 100% from their Pa, Kinn is getting quieter, colder, just so immersed in business, the highest level workaholic. Thank God, he met Porsche.
"Kinn! Not you too~" hollered Chan, making all three of them burst into laughter. "I know this must be very funny to you guys, but I'll be the one dealing with the four of them. How can I be sure my face doesn't change the next time I see Pol and Arm, or Vegas and Pete?"
"You know what people say, if you can't fight it, then join it," stated Tankhun with a straight face, though deep down inside he almost died holding back his giggles, particularly after seeing the face of the mighty captain turning pale.
"I think of all of them as my younger brothers, every one of them. Who the hell is capable thinking of their little brother like that? Please , I beg you, let's end this conversation here."
"Yes, Sir!" said Porsche. "Another Cosmo, P'?"
"No, just water, Porsche. I still have to drive, and a new season is just around the corner."
"And here I thought, this mighty Captain aka the rebel , is going to max out my credit card tonight."
Again Chan gave him an amused look, and honestly, those looks started to exasperate him. Tankhun wanted to annoy Chan not to charm him. And if he kept this up Tankhun could start thinking of things he didn't think of before.
"We can always count this as half-a-task, so you have to take me drink one more time before-"
"In your dream, old man!" cried Tankhun, cutting off whatever words Chan wanted to say as he stuck out his tongue at him.
For the love of God, stop giving me that look!
"First of all, P'Chan, I'm sorry for bringing up this topic again, but this matter continues to pique my curiosity," said Kinn suddenly. "I can't believe there isn't anyone who writes fanfiction about you, considering you're one of the most famous footballers in the country."
OMG Kinn~ what are you doing?
Tankhun tried to steal glances at Porsche because he needed an ally to handle this, but the little shit was already hiding behind Kinn's wide upper body.
"Tankhun? Nobody writes about me, right?" questioned Chan, his eyes actually begging Tankhun to give him the answer that he wants.
Should I lie?
No one said anything for almost two minutes and things started to feel awkward…
"Maybe I should just show you'," said Tankhun, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"P', don't…" warned Porsche, still hiding.
"Wait, wait, are people truly writing about me? Are you serious?"
"Ah, shit~ I should keep my mouth shut," stated Kinn, now feeling a bit uneasy.
"Let me see," requested Chan, even though looking slightly worried.
Tankhun hesitated for a while, but in the end he handed his cellphone to Chan.
One… Two… Three…
"T-there… are… hundreds of stories about me here," whispered Chan, his eyes were wide open.
Tankhun really thought Chan's response this time would be exactly like his response earlier this evening – when he finds out the meaning of those terms. He would be shocked as hell, then yelling in disbelief, and in the end they would have a good laugh. Yet, it must have been really bizarre to read someone's imaginary story about yourself.
"FUCK! THEY WRITE STORIES ABOUT ME AND GUN!?"
"ETL trope, P'Chan, remember?" Porsche reminded Chan about the lesson.
"He's like the nastiest sleaziest motherfucker!"
"Yeah~, he's the worst," acknowledged Porsche, finally emerging from his hiding place.
"We HATE each other!"
"But, hate sex kinda hot tho'," blurted Tankhun, waiting for Chan to wail, but the wailing never came.
"P'!"
Chan must have been really shaken up at the time, because he just quietly sat there on the stool, not making any sound, not even a pip. At that moment, Tankhun realized that he might have crossed the line. Sometimes he really hated his smart mouth.
"Chan," called Tankhun softly, "I'm sorry."
Chan was still sitting in silence, his body didn't move an inch.
"Hey, Chan," called Tankhun once again, this time he gently put his hand on Chan's arm. "I shouldn't have shown that to you."
"'I'm sorry, P', I shouldn't bring that up again," added Kinn.
"No, no, you guys misunderstood, I'm not mad about the fanfiction," responded Chan. "Well, it was shocking but what can you do, right? I guess everybody has their hobby."
"But, P', you look-"
"It's Gun," stated Chan as he cut Porsche off. "I never tell anyone else about this but your Pa, Porsche. Remember the old Captain of BSFC?"
"Of course, P', you're his co-captain then."
"Yes. Gun is the one who tackled him illicitly and ended his career. At that time, the referee was too far away so didn't see what happened. Gun didn't get any punishment, not even a lousy yellow card when he should be suspended! My captain decided not to prolong the matter. He said it was time for him to retire and I was ready to replace him."
Tankhun winced. "I'm sorry again for my potty mouth, it looks like I'm endlessly apologizing to you tonight."
"Just forget it, Doctor, nothing to forgive," replied Chan, his amused smile back in place. "At least now I won't be clueless anymore if those boys throw unknown terms at me."
"Good to know."
Chan sighed, a very long one.
"You know what sucks, though? I don't even know who to blame for those stories," said Chan.
"Blame yourself for being too hot."
FUCK ME! WHAT DID I JUST SAY?
Choking sounds attacked Tankhun from two different directions and he didn't even need to lift his head to know that the giggling sound belonged to Porsche. However, Tankhun Theerapanyakun needed to get the situation under control immediately.
"Why are you guys so shocked? I'm a scientist, we only stated the truth and nothing more," said Tankhun casually, while deep down, it was a totally different story. "He is a good looking man."
Fuck, Tankhun, you and your stupid mouth!
"Why, thank you, Doctor," replied Chan sweetly as he got up from the stool where he was sitting and walked closer to Tankhun. "Are you ready to go?"
"No, you go ahead. I still have something that I need to talk to them about, Kinn and Porsche will take me home."
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Chan. He took out his cell phone from the right pocket of his black jeans, unlocked the screen and gave it to Tankhun. "Since you still owe me two tasks, I need your number, honey."
Before Tankhun could protest, Chan had corrected himself, "My bad, Doctor . Your number, please?"
Tankhun took Chan's cellphone, entered his phone number and then gave it back to the captain.
"Good night, boys."
"Good night."
"Drive safely, P'!"
"It's Doctor!"
TBC