The car stopped completely. Anupap stirred awake, blinking rapidly as he tried to adjust his vision. Cool wind brushed against his face, and he caught the faint sound of waves nearby. The surroundings were dimly lit with flickering lights ahead. He turned to look beside him... Atikom was gone.
This wasn't the parking lot in front of his condo...
Anupap whipped around to the left. The car window had been rolled down to the door frame. Atikom stood there smiling, his hand reaching into his pocket.
"Where is this?"
"The seaside house."
"What... seaside house? And my condo..." Anupap's mind began to piece things together.
"Your condo is still where it always was."
"..."
"You slept the entire way," Atikom said in his usual smooth tone.
"Captain Atikom, where have you brought me? Weren't you supposed to drop me off at my condo?" Anupap's voice hardened.
"This is my personal seaside vacation house. I brought you here to rest," he said as if secretly driving someone far to the seaside was the most natural thing in the world.
"You drugged me with sleeping pills and kidnapped me all the way out here." Anupap's voice grew louder.
"Who said that? You ate that expensive special dinner until you were stuffed, then passed out cold. Don't go making accusations against me." Atikom kept his hand in his pocket, standing casually with his legs slightly apart, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Take me back to Bangkok. Right now."
"Oh no, I just got here. I'm dead tired from driving. Have some consideration, will you? How can we go back? It's already very late."
Anupap checked his wristwatch. "I don't care how late it is, I'm going back."
"I'm sleepy. I'm going to bed." Atikom pretended to yawn, raising his hand to stretch lazily.
"Captain…"
"Major," Atikom corrected his own rank.
Anupap ignored this. "If you want to sleep, go sleep. Just give me the keys and I'll drive back myself."
"If you want them, come and get them." Atikom hooked the keys on his finger, showing them off before stuffing them deep into his tight police uniform pants pocket. He crossed his arms and tilted his head with a defiant expression.
Anupap sighed and gritted his teeth, too tired to argue because he knew he could never win against this cunning cop.
He turned back to look straight ahead. Flickering lights illuminated a white wooden house not far away. It was a single-story building, fairly large, with a wide front porch featuring wooden trellises. The sound of sea waves lapping against the sandy beach echoed softly.
Anupap was so exhausted and drowsy he could almost fall asleep sitting in the car. At this point, he'd have to stay at Atikom's seaside vacation house. Two men spending the night together in a big house couldn't cause any harm.
"Khun Nu, I can see you've been working so hard it's pitiful. You came back from abroad and went straight to the office to work late into the night. The next day you worked from early morning until evening. After finishing dinner, you got in the car and within minutes you were dead asleep. I drove all the way here and you didn't wake up. Even now you still don't want to rest. Just a day or two would be fine. You can be angry with me if you want, but I'm not taking you back. I just want you to get some rest and fresh air." Atikom stepped closer to the car door, speaking at length.
Anupap sighed softly, then opened the car door and walked silently toward the seaside house without looking back at his kidnapper.
Atikom gathered their belongings and followed, carrying his own bag and Anupap's laptop case, but no work files.
"I left your files in the car, Khun Nu. They won't go anywhere. If I brought them into the house, you'd just sit and work tonight."
"With the laptop I can still work."
"Tonight I'm keeping the laptop in my room. I'll return it tomorrow."
"If you want it, keep it. No need to return it," Anupap said sarcastically. The other man chuckled softly.
Anupap stood in the middle of the house's main room, looking around with appreciation. The spacious room was painted white with polished oak wooden floors. There were only a few pieces of furniture: a sofa, a wall-mounted table, two bookshelves, a small storage cabinet, and weight-lifting equipment. Bedroom doors faced each other across the room. At the far end was the kitchen with a dining table in the center and a gleaming new silver refrigerator.
"Your bedroom is on the left, mine on the right. There's a hallway separating us. Safe and trustworthy."
Anupap walked straight to the bedroom.
"And clothes..."
"There are t-shirts and boxer shorts in the closet. The bathroom is inside. Everything's complete, don't worry."
"Your clothes... they're huge like..."
"There are small sizes too. Open the closet and choose."
"Oh, every size available. S, M, L, XL," Anupap said sarcastically.
"Oh, Khun Nu, don't be sarcastic," Atikom feigned hurt feelings.
"Wearing your clothes... um... would that be appropriate?" Anupap stammered.
"It's fine. I don't mind."
Atikom spoke with a straight face but his eyes sparkled again. Anupap quickly opened the bedroom door, said goodnight, and shut it immediately, leaving Atikom standing stunned outside.
"Oh..." The young man stared at the white door with longing eyes.
"Khun Nu, are you going to sleep already... Khun Nu?"
No response. Anupap remained completely silent.
The new major smiled at Anupap's small tantrum, proud of his successful kidnapping operation to bring his target to rest at his seaside house.
Earlier, Atikom had been anxious, afraid Anupap would get furious and demand he drive him back to Bangkok immediately. But what happened exceeded his expectations. Anupap still teased him as usual but showed no signs of serious anger.
Or maybe it was because he was too tired and sleepy to have the energy to fight, Atikom thought to himself, walking to turn off the lights before entering his room in a good mood.
Tonight was a night of indescribable happiness for him - the first night he and Anupap shared the same roof in his seaside house, just the two of them.
The young policeman asked himself... when would they share the same room, sleep on the same bed, be close, touch, and satisfy the desire that surged in his heart.
***