Chapter 12

(Chan POV)

At first, of course, he was surprised that Kim slammed the door in his face, but then he imagined himself as a fanboy in front of Paolo Maldini, his absolute favorite footballer, the chances of him doing the same thing as Kim were very high or maybe even worse, that's why Chan just smiled amusingly.

As he faintly heard Porsche's words to Kim, followed by loud shouts of 'Holy Shit', Chan's smile grew wider. Without realizing he did so, Chan touched a large cloth bag containing his old jerseys, his old shoes, and a new BSFC original ball, all of which he had signed, as a gift to Kim. There was a hint of guilt in Chan's heart, for he felt these small gifts were like a bribe to soften Tankhun's heart, but Chan didn't know what else to do. That night, when he called Porsche to ask him for the Theerapanyakul family's home address, he gave him a tip that being nice to Kim was the best way to get into Tankhun's good side. However, considering this boy is his big fan, there was nothing wrong with pleasing his own fans, right?

Chan guessed he just had to wait and see.

There was the sound of the door being opened for the second time, Kim's red face with embarrassment was clearly visible this time, his hair was still a little tousled and his eyes were still puffy as if he had just woken up. No wonder he was so shocked earlier. The Theerapanyakuls really had the heart to prank their youngest brother like this. Although Chan had to admit, it was fucking brilliant. Poor boy.

"Cap… umh… I mean Mr. Knight… umn… I'm sorry about earlier… I…," stammered Kim, who didn't even dare to look him in the eyes.

"Just call me Cap," responded Chan, trying to calm this young footballer's nerves. "I heard you're a Cap yourself."

"Ah, yes. How do you know?" asked Kim who was surprised, yet, there was a hint of pride in his little smile, it seemed he could control his emotions quite well now.

"Your brothers told me," answered Chan, then greeted said brothers that stood behind Kim, "Good morning, Tankhun, Kinn, Porsche."

The Theerapanyakun men had not yet had time to return his greeting, Kim was already shouting.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa~! You mean they know you… umn I mean… You know them!?"

Ah… shit!

Thankfully, Tankhun immediately showed up to save the day.

"Kim, sweetie, shouldn't you freshen up before we talk about this?"

Tankhun's words made Kim self-conscious about his situation in an instant. Chan could see from the expression on his face that Kim was weighing and thinking hard, before finally making a decision.

"Okay, but Cap... you're not going anywhere, are you?" pleaded Kim.

"I'll be here," Chan promised.

Kim quickly ran, leaving the four of them in the foyer of the Theerapanyakul residence.

"I'll be quick, I promise!"

As soon as Kim was out of sight Tankhun yelled at him, "What the fuck, Chan!?"

"Tankhun…," said Kinn in a warning tone. "Please, come in, P'Chan."

"Thank you," Chan replied as he entered the big house.

"Have you had breakfast, P' Chan?" asked Porsche. "Before we came here, we bought P' favorite fried dough stick. There's plenty for all of us."

"I think it's best if Pa doesn't know about this, let's just sit at the table in the side garden," Tankhun suggested, his face still sullen.

"I also think it's the best way," replied Kinn, agreeing to his brother's suggestion. "Porsche, darling, please ask auntie to prepare something for us."

"Just tea and sandwiches, Porsche," continued Tankhun. "Captain needs caramel in his coffee and we never do such things in this house."

Chan grimaced, but strangely, his heart felt happy and relieved when hearing Tankhun shade him viciously like that.

I really need to get my head checked.

"I already had my breakfast, but tea would be great," said Chan gleefully.

The side garden of Theerapanyakul's residence was very beautiful. The semi-circular landscape was dominated by the grass and short bushes that surround the shape of the land as the edge. Hundreds of white and pink rosebuds brought color into that heavenly green space. Chan wondered if he could replicate this garden in his newly built home.

"Please, have a seat, P'," asked Kinn, being the perfect host.

"This garden is so beautiful," said Chan as he sat down and feasted at the exquisiteness in front of him.

"Thank you. This garden was designed by our late Mother. Thank God, we found a gardener who can take good care of it," replied Tankhun in a gentler tone of voice.

Now that the situation had begun to de-escalate, Chan finally got a chance to clearly see Tankhun's appearance this morning. And once again his breath hitched just like the first time he saw this beautiful garden. The bright yellow long sleeves oversized off-shoulder t-shirt framed Tankhun's slender right shoulder and his delicate neck and collarbones perfectly. His ratty short jeans revealed Tankhun's beautifully shaped long legs gloriously – did he ever say that he's a leggy man? – Chan felt a little dizzy. White Converse and multi-color striped short socks completed the outfit. He looked amazing and Chan was 100% sure that Tankhun was aware of that.

Luckily, Porsche and auntie, who pushed the tea trolley, arrived just in time, giving Chan a distraction, before his mind went wild.

Tankhun poured the tea for him, and asked in his signature tone that was on the borderline between mocking and teasing, "One lump of sugar or maybe five ?"

Chan couldn't help but let out another smile, this person in front of him affected him like no other, and the captain didn't know why he was acting like this. Porsche, who was sitting to his right, giggled softly, which was immediately stopped by Kinn, with a super low 'shhh'. These two seemed to know a lot more than Chan about what happened, maybe he should just ask them.

"One is enough, thank you."

Tankhun handed Chan his teacup while glancing at the big cloth bag he had placed on the floor, close to his left leg. Looks like Tankhun saw a soccer ball that was slightly poking out.

"What's that?"

"Oh, this is a gift for Kim. My old jerseys, old football boots, and BSFC original ball, all signed by me," explained Chan.

"Oh, thank God, you are not just a pretty head," replied Tankhun, taking the cloth bag from him to check the content.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kinn and Porsche turning their faces to their right, and judging by their shaking bodies, they must have been holding back their giggles.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or offended," Chan said. "But I'll take it as a compliment."

"It's really not."

Kinn's and Porsche's bodies shook even harder, Chan could only chuckle while shaking his head.

"I'm back~~!" screamed Kim as he ran towards them from inside the house.

"You look nice," said Tankhun sweetly to Kim, it is shown clearly in his face how he adores his youngest brother.

"P', move!" demanded Kim out of the blue. The boy is being a brat if he might say.

"Kim," warned Kinn. "Behaved, please."

Kim blushed in an instant and then pleaded with Tankhun in a much nicer tone, "P', may I have your seat so I can sit next to Cap, please?"

"Sure," replied Tankhun who immediately got up from his seat.

Kim sat down on the empty chair promptly and started talking right away at such a high speed that he was out of breath.

"Cap, I don't know where to start, but I've been your biggest fan for over 12 years. I play football because of you. I wish I could be a professional footballer like you, but just playing football at university level already makes me very happy. I watched your every match on TV, I also watched you at the BOC Stadium many many times, but I never thought I could see you this close... I… it's like a dream…."

Kim took a deep breath, before continuing, "I watched all your videos, followed all your tips on proper exercise and diet..."

Did he just hear Tankhun's snort? But Chan continued to focus his attention on Kim because apart from appreciating all the words of praise these young fans had said to him, he was pretty sure this was what Tankhun wanted.

"... hopefully Cap will be willing to sign some of my BSFC jerseys."

"Are you done, bro? That's quite a speech," asked Porsche. "Here… drink some water."

Kim took the glass of water from Porsche and drank it all in three gulps.

"I have something for you," said Chan as he gave Kim the gift he had prepared.

Kim's loud screams when he saw the content inside the cloth bag, didn't surprise Chan at all, he had seen and felt reactions that were crazier than this.

"Th-this... this is the jersey you've worn before in a match, isn't it, Cap?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God! And you gave me the home and away uniform. Aaaah~ even the Cap armband!"

"From one Cap to another. You can use it for all your matches this season."

"I can't believe this~ your custom-made boots, and holy shit! This is the newest BSFC original ball! Isn't it not available yet?"

"I know some people," Chan said with a wink.

"Duh~ silly me," stated Kim. "And all signed by you~ THANK YOU!"

While Kim was busy with the gifts he received, Chan stole glances at Tankhun. What Porsche had said to him that night was by no means an exaggeration, for the look Tankhun gave him at that moment was very gentle and warm. Unfortunately, it won't last long.

"So, what's the plan for today, Chan?"

"The team of architects and contractors who built my house, last Sunday informed me that the construction of my house had been completed," explained Chan.

"Oh, so happy for you, P'. Congratulations!" said Kinn excitedly. "Finally!"

"Thank you, Kinn."

"What does that have to do with me?" asked Tankhun again, his face getting suspicious.

"You're going to help me move things from the penthouse to my new house today... as your second task," Chan replied with a big smile.

"Excuse me, you want me to do what!?" yelled Tankhun.

Ah~ there he is… the feisty Tankhun...

"I told you, there will be a lot of physical activity," affirmed Chan to Tankhun, whose face was red with anger.

"You really expect me to pack your things and do the heavy lifting? ME!?"

"Yes."

"You must be out of your mind, mister!" wailed Tankhun as he got up from his chair.

"You gave me your words, remember? Three tasks of my choice," stated Chan calmly.

Tankhun was so angry he actually stomped his foot on the floor like a kid. It was the cutest thing.

"Don't tell me it's just the two of us!? I swear to God, I'll kill you."

Porsche, who had been holding back his laughter for a long time, finally couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing.

"You better stop laughing now before I smack your pretty face!" Tankhun warned Porsche, which only made him laugh even more.

"Tankhun, all this yelling, is this really necessary? A promise is a promise," stated Kinn.

"YOU, stop acting like Pa, I'm older than you!"

"Then act like one!"

Kinn also got up from his chair and the two brothers were intensely staring at each other.

"Why, you little..."

"P'... P' Kinn, please behave, we have a guest here," Kim suddenly interrupted the fight between his two older brothers.

"SHUT UP!"

Instead of two, now there were three Theerapanyakuls arguing in front of him. As an only child, Chan had never felt or understood the relationship between siblings, but he liked what he saw. Of course, Chan realized that he wasn't a part of any of this, but being in their midst like this made Chan feel like he was. Without a warning, a warm feeling slipped into his heart.

"Welcome to the Theerapanyakul residence, P'Chan," said Porsche jokingly at him.

Chan smiled.

TBC