#aonboy

Instead of hotpot, which had necessitated the emergency repair last time leading to the reveal of Nott’s hidden screwdriver, the three couples settled on barbecue for dinner. Each one got their own grill and tended to it separately. 

Ram returned with a diverse selection of meats and a sauce with some shredded ginger for King’s tastes. 

“You didn’t have to put ginger in it for me,” King said while patting Ram’s hand.

“If it’s with you, I don’t mind eating ginger,” Ram said quietly before putting on the first pieces of meat to grill.

Meanwhile, Nott returned with all his favorites and only realized it after he took in Pun’s slightly funny expression. “Ah! How could I forget, the pork belly for you, right?” Pun sighed and nodded and Nott ran off to fix his mistake.

“And some chicken skewers!” Pun called out after him.

Boy returned with a cup of ice cream for Aon and a diverse selection of almost everything available to grill. Aon immediately dug into his ice cream while pointing at what he wanted Boy to grill first. 

“Oh and you even got shrimps! Put that on first!” Aon commanded. 

“Yes, sir!”

For the briefest of moments after the eating started, Pun thought things would go smoothly as opposed to the disaster of last time. At least until Nott started shoving more food into his plate.

“What are you doing?” Pun tried to fend off Nott’s chopsticks. “I can pick it myself.”

“You seem so tired, more protein will give you more energy,” Nott said firmly as he tried to put another piece on his plate. “Come on, eat up.”

“Aww, it means he cares for you...” Aon cooed before pinching Pun’s cheek.

“Yeah, and Boy certainly cares for you if he humors your desire to eat dessert first.”

“I know, right?” Pun sighed as the meaning of his words was ignored. “So how about N’Ram? What do you do for King?”

Ram held up his current piece of meat, dipped in the sauce he and King were sharing that was loaded with ginger, before putting it all in his mouth, chewing, and swallowing without blinking.

“Ah, I see, this nong ignores his own taste to save King’s.” Aon started to golf clap. “I am impressed by your sacrifice.”

Ram raised an eye brow, but King pushed some grilled beef into his mouth. “Ignore him, he thinks he’s being sassy.”

“I don’t think I’m being sassy! I AM sassy!”

“And I’m not just a king in name either.”

Aon stood up but Pun pulled him back down. Meanwhile, their boyfriends shared a look. All three of them put a new piece of meat on their respective triplet’s plate at the same time. 

------

“Now, wasn’t that a pleasant dinner?” Aon said as he happily walked arm in arm with his brothers down the sidewalk. “No one got hurt, or yelled at, or kicked out. And P’Nott didn’t take his screwdriver out.”

“I really need to be concerned with how obsessed you are with my boyfriend’s screwdriver,” Pun argued.

“I can’t help it. It’s so big. How does he keep it there?” Nott choked on nothing and Boy pat his back firmly.

“Well it gets the job done when he uses it.”

“Pics or it didn’t happen.”

“I’m not showing you pictures of him using his screwdriver!”

King only bit down on his fist. But whether it was to stop from screaming or crying, Ram couldn’t say. 

“King, as an engineer, what do you think about P’Nott’s screwdriver?” Aon asked. 

“I think... P’Nott needs to start carrying a multi tool on his belt instead. So that you both can talk about him in public and I can keep a straight face while you do it.”

“Not once since his last fight with dad.” King reached for one of the macaron’s and Aon smacked his hand. “Hey! I’ve come all this way and you won’t even treat me nicely?” Aon glared and handed King one of the delicacies. “Oooo... Are these?” Aon nodded as he continued texting. “Wow... So fancy... Who bought them for you?”

“Ai Boy,” Aon said between bites of another one. “Pun hasn’t said anything.”

King frowned. “You don’t think...”

Aon looked up at King. “He wouldn’t.”

King’s eyes widened. “He would.”

Aon picked up his bag and King stuffed another macaron into his mouth. “Did you bring your bike Phi?”

“Mn!” King swallowed quickly. “Let’s go!”

As the two rushed out, Boy rubbed his eyes, certain he was suddenly seeing double. “What?”

“Sorry Boy!” Aon yelled from down the hall. “Family business!”

“What?” Boy started to run after them. “Wait! I have my car!”

------

Ram: P’King, where are the notes you promised me?

King: Ah! I’m sorry! I have them with me, but something came up.

Ram: Where are you? I’ll come get them.

King: It’s really not convenient right now... King: I’m searching for my brother.

Ram: What happened? Can I help?

King looked up from his phone. “Any idea where Pun might have run to?”

“Cheapest apartments near home probably,” Aon said without looking up from his. “Is he texting you?”

“No, just a nong.” Aon looked over at King as he tapped out a quick message and politely ignored the pink tint to King’s cheeks. “I’m going to get him to help.”

“It’s really freaky to hear you two talk to each other,” Boy said without removing his eyes from the road. “It’s like listening to Aon in stereo.”

“Wait until you meet Pun,” Aon said with a sigh. “Then it’ll be surround sound.”

“This was not what I was expecting when you told me you had brothers, Aon.”

“Surprise!” King said while waving his hands. “Now drive faster.”

King: Can you check out this apartment complex? It’s at XXXXXXXX-XXXXX

Ram: I’m on it. Ram: What does your brother look like?

King: Just like me!

Ram: .... Ram: Wait, really?

------

Nott sighed as he gently swung his bag of takeout. “How can someone not have a dream?” Nott looked up at the apartment building. “Well, no harm in helping Pun find one, right?” It was at that moment that Nott saw Pun sneaking around the outside of the apartment building. Or at least, what looked like Pun sneaking around.

“Hey! Why are you sneaking around?” Nott asked while running up and grabbing Pun’s hand. “Let’s go up together.”

“What? Let go of me!” Pun struggled for a moment but Nott held firm. 

“Hey, why are you freaking out?” Nott leaned in and Pun leaned back. “Don’t you remember our agreement?” he whispered.

“What? What agreement?”

Nott covered Pun’s mouth. “Shh! If Porpla-jie hears you, we’ll be screwed, remember?” 

Pun’s eyes seemed to narrow and before Nott knew it, the sky and the ground seemed to flip right before his very eyes. With another twist and turn, Nott’s arm had been twisted behind his back and Pun was sitting on him. “Explain yourself,” Pun said with an unrelenting grip on Nott’s arm. “If I don’t like your answer I might just-”

“What are you doing?!” Nott’s body jerked as another Pun ran from out of the building to confront the Pun sitting on his back. “N’Aon, let go of him!”

“N’Aon?!” Nott looked over his shoulder to see “Aon” scary expression and Pun’s mildly irritated one. “Pun? Aon? What the fuck?”

“You’re in for it now,” Aon said without letting up on Nott’s arm. “P’King is out looking for you too.”

“What?!” Pun frowned. “Why did you two even-”

“Did you honestly think we wouldn’t come looking for you?” Nott felt his mouth drop as a THIRD Pun appeared with two other boys in tow, both incredibly handsome and both looking just as disoriented as Nott felt. “You’re our brother, of course we’re worried since you RAN AWAY FROM HOME.”

“Don’t even start with me!” Pun backed away from the circle of people gathering. “You both don’t understand!”

“Then explain it to us,” King said softly. “We’re here to help you, we’ve always helped you.”

“P’King is special because he’s the oldest and the smartest. N’Aon is the baby and he gets to do whatever he wants.” Pun crossed his arms. “And what about me? The middle triplet? All dad does is complain about how I’m not either of you!”

“And you don’t have to be either of us,” Aon said as he finally eased off on Nott’s arm. “Come back. We’ll talk to dad together and get him to ease up on you.”

“No! I’m not going back just to be more like whatever he wants.” Pun took another step back and King took another step forward. Aon even got off of Nott. “I need to be away from them. I need... I need to find out who I am.”

“Pun...” King’s fingers twitched and Boy and Ram seemed to move from behind him slowly to circle around. Nott pushed himself up and barred the way.

“Pun’s not going anywhere,” Nott said firmly. “He doesn’t want to go back.”

King smiled and Aon cracked his knuckles. “So... you think you can protect him?” King asked.

“Of course! No one is going to bother Pun until he finds himself.” Nott looked over his shoulder at Pun’s frown. “I promise.”

King and Aon shared a look before looking at Pun. Pun nodded from behind Nott. King pulled Ram back and Aon nudged Boy. Both of them stepped back. Pun also put a hand on Nott’s shoulder. Nott blinked and Pun tilted his head. Nott walked to the side. The two other brothers sighed before opening their arms. Pun ran into them. 

“Silly Pun,” King said softly while messing up Pun’s hair. “You could have just stayed with one of us. You know it’d be fine.”

“You promise you won’t tell dad where I am until I’m ready?” Pun asked his two brothers.

King sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, but you have to come have dinner with me and Aon once a week so we know you’re doing okay.”

“Once a month.”

“Once every two weeks,” Aon said.

“Deal.” The three brothers each bumped fists.

Meanwhile, Ram, Boy, and Nott watched the interaction from the side. 

“I’m so lost on how this all works,” Boy said. “Identical triplets?”

“When a mom and a dad love each other very much and the zygote splits three times...” Nott began.

Ram rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. King’s phone beeped shortly after and he untangled himself from his siblings to check it.

“Oh, Cool Boy, that’s a good idea.” King put his arms around Aon and Pun’s shoulders. “Cool Boy says we should all have dinner and catch up properly.”

“Like a... triple date?” Boy suggested. Boy then looked at Ram. “And Cool Boy?” Ram only glared at Boy and Nott laughed.

King, Aon, and Pun all looked at each other before huddling. A game of rock-paper-scissors later, Aon sighed. “We’re paying, Ai Boy. Come on. There’s a hotpot place I saw around here anyway...”

“I don’t remember agreeing to this.”

But good things rarely lasted. Today was one of Pun’s scheduled bi-monthly dinners with his brothers and Pun expected chaos. The addition of boyfriends last time had lead to a particularly wild instance of Nott pulling out his emergency screwdriver out of his pants due to being the only legitimate mechanic despite the high concentration of Engineering students (three) surrounding a broken mini gas stove (hot pot restaurant). 

(It had taken many glasses of vodka to forget Aon’s insistence on finding out just how Nott kept a screwdriver of that size in his pants without any obvious holster.)

Tonight, at least, it was supposed to be only the three of them.

Instead, Pun and Aon had the honor of meeting King’s friend Bohn and his boyfriend Duen.

“Woah... It really is triplets. Identical triplets!” Bohn reached out to poke Aon’s cheek and Duen pulled him back.

“Phi, I’m really sorry.” Duen made a face at Bohn. Bohn returned it with an odd cross between smug and smitten. “Bohn has his moments, I’m sure P’King told you.”

“Wow, it’s a smitten idiot, a real smitten idiot,” Pun said as he reached out to poke Bohn’s face.

This time King pulled Pun back. “Okay okay, that’s enough.” Pun sat back in his seat and rolled his eyes. “I brought Ai Bohn and N’Duen here for one reason. They need our help.”

“Help with what?” Aon looked between Bohn and Duen. “We’re not relationship counselors.”

“As if we need counseling!” Bohn fired back.

Pun held up a finger. “One, N’Duen keeps his arms and legs very tightly to himself, he’s shying away from intruding on personal space and physical touch. The only time he’s touched you since you got here was to pull you into your seat.” A second finger. “Two, N’Duen refuses to address you as P’Bohn, indicating he doesn’t respect you.” A third finger. “Three, P’Bohn, you look like you’re one step away from a tantrum at all times whenever N’Duen doesn’t look at you.” Pun smiled. “Should I continue?”

“Oh? You’ve gotten into profiling?” King cocked his head. 

“I audited a Psychology course this semester. It was interesting,” Pun said dismissively. 

“Ohhhh... Maybe you should consider switching to that faculty instead of Economics like dad wants,” Aon said while looking over the menu and pointedly ignoring Bohn and Duen’s sideways glances.

“You think so? It might help dealing with the other tenants... Oh Phi! I’ll have this one here, the noodles with the pork meatballs in spicy soup,” Pun said as the waiter walked by.

King nudged Bohn and Bohn jerked his head. King widened his eyes and tilted his head further. Bohn sighed. “Okay, so N’Duen and I... Have some issues.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Aon said before pointing at his menu. “I’ll have this one, but with shrimp please.”

“So... I need you to help us get rid of some distractions,” Bohn said firmly. 

“What kind of distractions?” Pun poured a glass of water and put it in front of Duen. “N’Duen, you look like you’re going to explode, your face is so red. Drink some water, okay?”

“P’Pun, you’re surprisingly good at reading people.” Duen accepted the glass and took a sip. “P’King seems to do it too. It’s how he gets along with Ai Ram.”

“Cool boy and I have an understanding,” King said with a smile. “Anyway, Ai Bohn means he wants us to distract the rest of our gang and N’Duen’s friends.” King sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “They’re all too nosy.”

“We haven’t had a proper date alone,” Bohn said before covering his face with his hands.

“In how long?” Pun asked. The table fell silent. “Like what, a week?” More silence. “Two weeks? A month?” Bohn peeked out from under his fingers only to look away and Duen sipped some more water. “Never?!”

“So, we’re gonna help them,” King said with a wide smile before accepting a bowl of noodles from the waiter. “What do you guys say?”

“They’re your friends, P’King. Of course you want to help them.” Aon threw an arm around Pun and pulled him close, pulling Pun away from a delicious mouthful of noodles. “But what’s in it for us?”

Bohn pulled an envelope out of his pocket and slid it forward. “Ai King says you both have been meaning to go on some nicer dates with your boyfriends. Here are some vouchers for a restaurant in Siam. A free meal for you and your boyfriends.”

Pun opened the envelope. “Oh... It’s that new really fancy restaurant! They actually reached out to me and Pao to do a review...”

“Was the food good?” Aon asked.

“Really really good. We ate everything.” Pun turned and looked at Aon with a serious expression. “Everything.”

“So what’s the plan?” Aon said as Pun split the vouchers and stuffed his set into his pockets. 

King smiled and leaned forward. “It’s been a while since we pulled a heist, hasn’t it?” Pun and Aon nodded seriously. “So... let’s steal a date.”

------

“Can you believe Bohn ditched us again just to go on a date with N’Duen!” Boss wailed. Mek pointedly did not look at him, but his fingers twitched around his pencil. “Husband! Won’t you console your wife?”

Mek looked at Tee and King. Both of them kept their heads down. Mek mechanically pat Boss’s shoulder. “Just finish quick.”

At that moment, King’s phone rang. King didn’t even glance at his friends before answering it. “Hey,” he said smoothly. “What? Done already? Yeah me too.” King took a glance at his friends from under his hair. “What’s that? Okay. Sure. I’ll meet you there.” King hung up and sheepishly looked at his friends. “Sorry guys. I’ll head out first.”

After King left, Boss pulled the other two closer. “He’s so shady today! What’s going on?”

“Maybe he has a date too,” Tee said as he tried to pull away from Boss. “No need to be... Hey, look it’s King!” The group turned to see King getting on the bus, hand in hand with a young man. He was tall and handsome, but dressed in a mechanic’s coveralls and they’d never seen him before.

“Isn’t King dating that Nong Ram?” Mek muttered.

“Ah! He is! So who was that?!” Boss threw his things into his bag. “We owe it to our nong to find out the truth! Follow that bus!”

------

Tang looked at his phone. “Duen, really?” He showed the text to Ting and Phu. Nothing but apologies for missing the day’s study session. 

“Ohh... if I was dating P’Bohn, I’d want to go on dates instead of studying too!” Ting’s eyes sparkled with the light of her daydreams. “P’Bohn! Just wait! I’ll punch you so you can love me too!”

“You really need to- Hey, it’s P’King,” Phu pointed out. Ting and Tang turned to follow his finger to see the senior student walking with someone slightly taller than him trailing not far behind, wearing an Engineering smock from another school. “What’s he doing with that senior?”

“It’s a senior from another school!” Ting squinted. “Oh... he’s so handsome and cool!”

“Wait... Isn’t P’King dating Ram?” Tang stood up. “That’s not right!”

“Ah... I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding!” Phu motioned for his friends to sit down, fear of what King or Bohn might do to him was choking him. “It can’t be P’King! P’King... uh... doesn’t dress like that!”

“How do you know what P’King likes to wear when he’s not at school?” Ting asked.

“We went on the service trip, remember?” Phu knocked her head lightly. “Or were you too busy staring at all the Engineering boys?”

“Oh... There were a lot of boys that day...” Ting trailed off as her recollections started. “But... maybe P’King doesn’t want us to know it’s him! So he wore a different style today!”

“All these Phis...” Tang trailed off and clenched his fist. “Come on, if it’s P’King we owe it to Ram to find out.”

“Ah!  But what about Duen?” Phu said as he stuffed his papers back into his bag. “Weren’t we going to find him to drag him back?”

“He can wait. Let’s make sure P’King isn’t going to break Ram’s heart!”

------

“This is... Floating markets?” Boss looked around, trying to spot King and the mysterious boy with him. “Since when does King ever come- Look!” Boss pointed to the side. “It’s Bohn and Duen!” 

The pair were casually walking side by side. Every so often their fingers would brush and their arms would jolt, but return to the same position. It was childish but endearing. Until at last Bohn reached out and grabbed one of Duen’s fingers. At first Duen flinched, but a pink tinge spread over his cheeks. He then opened his hand and held Bohn’s. Bohn’s face lit up and Duen’s eyes turned into nothing but crescents. 

“They’re bound to end up doing something juicy! Let’s go see!” Boss started to pull Mek along only for Mek to stand still. “What-”

“It’s King,” Mek said simply. “And he’s with someone else.”

“What?” Tee ran up and looked in the direction Mek was staring. “Someone different than the person we saw?” But by the time he looked, King and the second man had vanished.

“Phi!” Phu ran up to them. “Have you seen P’King? We followed him here.” Running up behind him were Ting and Tang.

“Look over there,” Tee said, pointing where they had last seen him. “Mek, Boss, look over here.” Tee pointed in the opposite direction. “I’m going to go see if I can’t find Bohn.”

Groups assigned, the three sets split off. Somewhere overhead, King started a call on his phone. “K-P-A. In position.”

“Confirmed.”

“Confirmed.”

King smiled. “Have fun kids. Do everything I wouldn’t do.”

------

“Over there!” Boss ran ahead of Mek, eager to catch King in the act. 

“Boss, wait!”  Mek stepped forward and extended his hand, only to have it grabbed. “Hah?”

“Hi,” Boy said before wrenching Mek’s arm around behind his back.

At that moment, Boss slapped a hand on “King’s” shoulder. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“Me?” Boss found his hand squeezed in a tight grip. “I’m continuing my date. But I think it’s time you took a trip.”

The sky and ground tumbled around Boss before he found himself soaring through the air towards a Mek that had been shoved at him. 

“Ahh!” 

Mek and Boss’s heads collided before they found themselves sprawled out on the ground, their lips just barely touching. Mek sprung back as Boss lay on the ground, dazed.

“Young love,” Aon said as he dusted off his hands. “I’m so glad P’King gave me this assignment. I got to knock some sense into them.”

“I love it when you’re violently logical,” Boy said as he came up behind him. 

Aon smiled brightly. “Na, I saw they have squid ink ice cream down the lane! Let’s go!”

“Aren’t we supposed to neutralize them?”

Aon looked at the vacant stare of Boss and Mek’s panic. “They’re neutralized.” He turned back to look at Boy. “Buy me ice cream.”

“On it!”

------

Tee glanced around him. It seemed as if Bohn or King were circling him. Every which way he looked, he caught glimpses of familiar hair or heard the sound of familiar laughter. He even swore that he saw a flash of Duen’s bright and silly smile or heard the bark of Ram’s dogs. 

Just as he felt the world start to spin with him, King jumped out in front of him.

“Boo!”

Tee did the only thing he could do at that point after turning in circles in the heat.

He fainted.

King sighed. “I knew he was going to be the easiest.” King nudged Tee with his foot. “Hey Cool Boy, help me drag him off somewhere! Ah! Not with the dogs!”

------

Pun and Nott walked slowly, and out of the corner of his eye, Pun watched as Ting and Tang followed behind. Phu followed behind them. Nott poked Pun in the side and Pun smacked his hand. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying this outing but... What are we doing?”

Pun smiled and came to a stop before reaching up and brushing Nott’s hair out of his face. He then leaned in to whisper in Nott’s ear, watching the younger students out of the side of his eye. “Just play along for a bit longer. They’re almost curious enough to burst.”

The two managed to take two steps more before Tang yelled, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing!”

“Tang, no!” Phu yelled trying to pull him back. “You’re going to get me and Ram killed!”

Pun turned to face Tang and with the largest smile on his face, said, “你在找谁？” (Who are you looking for?)

Tang stopped dead in his tracks and Ting covered her mouth. Nott’s eyes widened just a fraction. 

“Um, P’King!” Tang stood firm. “You really can’t-”

“P’King 是谁？我不认识他。也不认识你!” Pun stomped his foot. “你怎么可以来这样说话跟我？糟糕！” (Who’s P’King? I don’t know him and I don’t know you! How can you come and talk with me like this? How awful!)

Tang blinked and looked at Ting. Ting could only shrug and Phu was busy biting his nails. “Uh.. .I... Um... 对不起大哥。” (Sorry, bro.)

Pun huffed and turned on his heel before grabbing Nott’s arm and storming off. Nott, however, saw the giant smile on his face before turning back to look at the confused students. “Really? That’s it?”

“Oh, he’ll be confused for a while. All of them will. And wonder when there was a Chinese speaking version of P’King running around.”

“So when were you going to tell me you speak Chinese?” Nott asked with a hint of amusement. 

“When I felt like it,” Pun said in English before sauntering off. 

Nott watched the subtle sway of his hips. “Pun, you really are so much more than you think,” he said to himself before running after him.

------

“I... We...” Boss, Mek, Tee, Ting, Tang, and Phu sat in a heap. “Three Kings?” Tee muttered to himself. “How is that possible?”

“Did anyone ever say P’King was a triplet?” Phu asked.

“King doesn’t usually talk about his family too much,” Boss said, his mind still distant. It was also worth noting that Mek’s face maintained a pink cast to it. 

“My my... Aren’t you all worn out?” King said, stepping into view with Ram. “What happened?”

“Where have you been?!” they all shouted at once. King remained unruffled.

“I was here with Cool Boy. Didn’t you see?” King smiled and then checked his phone. A thumbs up sticker had been sent by Bohn and Duen. “Well, we’d best be going then. Ram needs to feed his dogs. Bye!”

“Were we just had?” Ting asked as the pair left.

Boss turned his head to look at her in time to see Aon and Boy walk past. Aon winked “I think we were.”

Tang looked up in time to see Pun and Nott walk away with Pun whistling a tune. “We definitely were.”

As the group lamented the plan played against them, they failed to notice Bohn and Duen walking away, hand in hand, large smiles on their faces.

“Mission accomplished,” Bohn whispered into Duen’s ear.

Duen tilted his head. “Dinner?”

“Make me okonomiyaki?”

“Eh?! Do you even know what goes into it?”

“I”ll google it when we get to the grocery store.”

“Spoiled,” Duen said with a pout, but he didn’t let go of Bohn’s hand once.