Love Case Vol. 1

Anupap had become an early riser. Nearly a week had passed since the young man found himself rushing out of bed at dawn to leave for work before Atikom could arrive to pick him up. But no matter how early he changed his departure time, Atikom was always there, waiting outside the condo building.

The police captain would corner him into the car every single day, driving him to the company entrance.

Anupap reached the office around seven in the morning. At this early hour, only he and Trin occupied the office space. His boss, who arrived before everyone else almost daily, had taken to wandering in and out of the main office frequently. His excuse: "I'm here for coffee."

For nearly a full week, Anupap's nerves had been frayed. Home and work offered no difference—morning encounters with Atikom, workplace encounters with Trin. His boss seemed particularly fond of drinking coffee on the employee side, casting peculiar glances his way.

Friday morning, Anupap decided to end his self-torture. The strain of waking before dawn had worn him thin. He resolved to leave for work at seven o'clock as originally scheduled, calculating that arriving at the office by eight would mean facing Arisa, Enek, Pojanee, and several other employees instead of just him and Trin.

Anupap had no idea Atikom had bribed Singh, the condo security guard, to report when the lights in his room turned on each morning—a signal that he was awake. The security guard, who harbored dreams of becoming a police officer himself, had become a loyal subordinate to the mischievous police captain within just over a week, completely charmed by the uniform.

Friday morning brought fresh air. The previous night's intermittent rain had granted Anupap a full, satisfying sleep. He'd slept deeply without worrying about rushing out at dawn.

He down to the parking area, heading straight for the Land Rover parked in the 'reserved spot'. He'd made two sandwiches, intending to give them to Atikom as breakfast—a small token of gratitude, at least.

His surprise grew as he approached the car without Atikom emerging from the driver's side with his usual broad smile.

Atikom wasn't sitting in the car! Anupap reached for the door handle—the car was locked. The handle felt ice-cold. He noticed dew drops and small leaf fragments on the roof, indicating the vehicle had been parked there all night. 

Where had Atikom gone?

Before Anupap could think further, Singh came jogging from behind, calling out to the young man.

"Khun Nu, sir! The key!" The sincere-faced security guard smiled sheepishly, extending a key.

"The captain left this for you. He said he's on official business, returning Monday, couldn't pick you up."

He accepted the key reluctantly—he didn't want to burden Singh, though the guard clearly had been given firm instructions. He could picture Atikom giving orders to the young man, the uniformed police officer commanding while Security Guard Singh could only bow his head in compliance with repeated "Yes, sir."

Traffic was particularly heavy this morning. A bus had sideswiped a taxi, making the already congested rush hour even worse. Anupap arrived late at work. Fortunately, one parking spot remained in front of the office. He slowly backed the Land Rover into the space, unfamiliar with handling such a large vehicle. He had decided to drive to work intending to return the car to Atikom at the police station.

Anupap glanced warily at the office's large glass windows, afraid he might see nosy faces pressed against the glass as he'd jokingly mentioned to Sombat before.

'Atid hasn't come to work yet.' He couldn't see the black Mercedes. 'Or maybe he drove a different car today.' He knew Atid owned several vehicles.

He hurriedly gathered his files and shouldered his computer bag, rushing up the building's front steps. He couldn't help but glance at Trin's office window.

'The curtains are drawn.' Anupap felt relieved. He shook his head. 'This is crazy. Why do I feel like a criminal afraid of being seen?'

Anupap thought of Atikom's stern, intense face, his broad smile, sparkling eyes. This man's smile reached his eyes too, dancing as if they could speak. Since Atikom had entered his life, everything seemed chaotic, nothing falling into its usual place. His previously smooth, peaceful existence had become completely turbulent.

Anupap had accepted the key from Singh and driven Atikom's car to work because he intended to return it to the station. He didn't want to use the young police captain's vehicle. What would Trin think if he knew Anupap had refused his goodwill gesture only to use someone else's car? And then there was Atid. If he found out, he'd probably sulk. And P'Bud would tease him endlessly, demanding he talk to the young man, never letting it go. Were there any secrets in this company?

'Police Captain Atikom, you really make things difficult for me, both physically and mentally.'

Anupap paused at the glass entrance door, sighing softly. For a split second, he thought he saw Atikom's mischievous face reflected in the large, dark-tinted glass panel—smirking and raising an eyebrow at him.

'Crazy person,' he thought, then pushed through the door, preparing to face whatever situations awaited him in the company.

This morning, employees were busily focused on their work. Anupap could hear Sombat's voice complaining to the new assistant, 'Clumsy Weerawan'—the tomboy girl he'd nicknamed, who'd recently started but was already notorious for being scatterbrained.

Pojani and Mark, seated next to each other, looked up and smiled in greeting. Anupap tried to catch both their gazes, searching for any hidden implications, but saw nothing unusual. Atid was already looking at him and smiled—brighter than he'd been in recent days. Lately, the young man had grown quieter, less cheerful than before.

Anupap felt sorry for Atid. He understood how tormenting it was to secretly love someone without receiving love in return. 

What could he do? He didn't feel that way about Atid. He didn't want Atid to harbor false hopes, but he also remembered Sombat's words about letting Atid have some small happiness.

Anupap walked over to Atid. The young man looked up with a gentle smile.

"Thought you hadn't come to work yet. Didn't see your car parked outside."

"I brought the Lexus from home today. My car's in the shop," the young man smiled.

"Nothing serious, I hope... not an accident?" Anupap showed concern.

Atid's smile widened, his eyes brightening. "No, just getting the air conditioning checked. It wasn't cooling properly."

"That's a relief. Thought you might have been out late, drinking, driving drunk, and crashed into someone."

"Not at all, P'Nu. Don't curse me like that," Atid laughed.

"Thought you might be a hot-headed young guy racing against others."

"P'Nu still sees me as a kid. I'll be 24 soon."

For a moment, Anupap thought Atid was complaining, but the young man's eyes still smiled.

"I don't drink to the point of losing my senses, but thank you for worrying about me."

"Take care of yourself," Anupap said gently, genuinely.

"Yes, I'll take care of myself. You do the same, P'Nu." The young man thought to himself, 'I wish we could take care of each other instead.'

Anupap excused himself to work, leaving Atid standing there with a dreamy smile. His world had brightened instantly. At least Anupap showed friendliness and playfulness with him after an entire week of feeling gloomy when he'd heard Pojanee tell Mark that someone had been dropping Anupap off at work every morning. Atid had tried to be patient and control himself from being distracted, not wanting to feel worse than he already did.

Sombat was busy all day, barely having time to come tease Anupap as usual, but still managed to call and poke fun at him.

"You really made Atid smile. The office brightened up so much. All the old maids are fluttering around excitedly," the voice on the other end chattered.

"Just the old maids?"

"Those PLU too, both young and old ones," Sombat laughed heartily.

Atid was everyone's darling in the office, but he'd never been Anupap's darling—the person he'd set his sights on.

At ten in the morning, Anupap finished preparing his report on the new 'Panoview' advertisement—a five-star luxury condo. Then it was time to 'have it out' with Police Captain Atikom.

"Captain, you didn't need to leave your car for me to use. People might get the wrong idea," Anupap protested.

"Wrong idea about what?" the voice on the other end sounded puzzled.

"Wrong idea that..." Anupap couldn't think of appropriate words.

"Oh, Khun Nu, I want you to be comfortable. You complained yourself that I rear-ended you and left you without a car, making it difficult to get around. Don't you remember? And I don't want to spend money filling up your gas tank for three months because I'm afraid of going broke. Police officers don't make much money."

"That's right. Someone said he'd pick me up for work every day until I got my car back. Not showing up today means breaking the agreement," Anupap couldn't help but argue back.

"I'm on official business—important national matters. When you use my car, sitting on the same seat as me, it's like sitting on my lap..."

"I don't want to use your car," Anupap quickly cut him off. Atikom was taking advantage of the opening to tease him. "I can take a taxi. It's more comfortable. If you want to be so responsible, I will collect the receipts and you can reimburse me until I get my car back."

"Do taxis even give receipts?" the voice pretended to sound doubtful.

Anupap sighed. Sometimes he found it amusing that the sly police captain never gave up in arguments. Sometimes he was annoyed at being cornered by reasons that were both logical and illogical. In the end, he had to give in because prolonged arguing would give him a headache.

"Khun Nu, what's wrong with using my car?" Atikom lamented. "Are you afraid people will gossip that we're something to each other?"

Atikom spoke as if he'd been sitting in Anupap's thoughts. 'Hate how well he knows me.'

But Anupap still insisted he didn't want to use Atikom's car.

"I want to pick you up as usual, but I'm on official business. I don't want to inconvenience you. Why? Am I wrong for wanting to do something nice for you?" Atikom spoke in an even tone, without his usual playful inflection.

'He can be serious too,' Anupap thought quietly.

'Or is he pretending to be serious? I wonder what his face looks like when he talks like this?' Anupap imagined the sharp, intense face that liked to make sparkling eyes—would Atikom put on a stern expression when speaking seriously?

"You know how I feel about you. Don't keep pushing me away," Atikom maintained his even tone. "I want to pick you up and drop you off every day. Even when your car is fixed, I still want to..."

"Never mind," Anupap cut him off and quickly ended the conversation. He was afraid this 'serious-voiced person' might continue speaking earnestly, saying something lengthy that would leave him speechless with no comeback.

Anupap hurried to finish as much work as possible because after lunch he planned to visit the car repair shop to see with his own eyes how much progress had been made. If it was too slow, he'd channel his inner 'demon' and demand the shop rush the job to completion within two days. Let Hia Chai be Hia Chai—if Anupap got fierce, he'd dare to storm into the garage and display his assertiveness. Then he'd return the car to Atikom at the station, leave the key, and never have to be involved again.

'Really? What about the police commercial and that pickup truck?' The young man rubbed his temples.

'Never mind. Let P'Bud handle it. That schemer wants Atikom to star in it so badly.'

'We'll have to be involved with him anyway.'

'Then I'll avoid it, stay uninvolved. If I can't handle it, I'll run away. Leave the work for P'Bud and Atid.'

'Atid won't agree. And will the captain agree? He's already made it clear he's starting to court me.'

'Court? Is the captain starting to court me?' Anupap was startled by this thought.

'He started courting when he rear-ended my car. Otherwise, why would he keep making a fuss about the car repairs? This is what you call courting.'

'This is crazy. Why am I arguing with myself?'

Anupap threw his pen onto the desk, leaned back against his chair, and looked up at the ceiling. Atikom's sharp, intense face floated before him like a haunting ghost. This man had stepped into his life unexpectedly like an accident, and it seemed he'd be difficult to push away—whether in reality or in his thoughts.

Anupap struggled to find the repair shop, having to stop to ask for directions and unfold maps periodically. The cars in the shop waiting for repairs were moderate in number, not as many as he'd expected. 

He walked around looking for his car and found it parked near the paint booth—the bumper was gone, the rear hood had been scraped of paint, exposing the raw metal underneath. From the condition, it looked like the mechanic had just started work.

His mood skyrocketed. He stormed into the shop's office. The receptionist said Hia Chai wasn't there—he'd gone abroad. When Anupap complained loudly, the young woman hurriedly called for the head mechanic to come meet him.

"You said there was no need to rush," the head mechanic said flatly.

Anupap argued that wasn't true. Hia Chai had promised to rush it as a special favor. Hia Chai, Captain Atikom's friend, had given his solid word.

"That captain told us not to rush."

After arguing for a while, he pieced together the head mechanic's responses, beginning to realize that Captain Atikom, the schemer, had deliberately delayed the shop's repair work on his car.

"Damage like this—if we really rushed it, one week would be enough," the head mechanic dropped the final bombshell.

Anupap felt even more upset. Such a schemer. Why was he delaying? To avoid paying repair costs? To buy time to pester him? To have time for morning pickups? Or to create opportunities to court him?

The first three assumptions seemed to be true already. Was the last one happening? Please don't let it be like that. He didn't want to be the boyfriend of a player.

Anupap drove into the city with his destination being Thonglor Police Station, his mood simmering. He picked up his phone and dialed the scheming captain's number, but couldn't reach him. The more he realized Atikom had turned off his phone, the more irritated Anupap became.

He accelerated, eyes fixed straight ahead. Atikom's face seemed to float prominently on the windscreen, smiling in his characteristic way, raising eyebrows and winking, his deep voice chuckling softly, good-humored. He desperately wanted to poke his finger into those scheming eyes.

Anupap fought through the traffic jam until he reached the police station. The scorching sun burned his face. He stepped into the station and walked straight to the duty officer.

"I'm returning Captain Atikom's car. Could you please keep the key for the captain?" Anupap informed the duty officer.

"I think you should leave it in Captain Tongrob's room instead. They're close friends," the large-framed duty officer pointed the way.

Anupap strode quickly down the corridor, passing through the general police work area. Desks lined up in rows, people bustling about busily. Some suspects being detained were shouting loudly. A married couple was arguing intensely in front of a thin police officer who was trying to mediate, their faces dark with stress.

He walked past the room labeled 'Police Captain Atikom' and continued to the adjacent room with a sign reading 'Police Captain Tongrob.' The office door was open. He was about to enter just as a tall, large-framed man nearly as big as Atikom walked out. Both froze.

Tongrob was stunned, not expecting to encounter the young man he'd been secretly watching at Route 79 pub right in front of his office.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" he smiled in greeting, eyes twinkling.

Anupap couldn't remember the man in front of him, but those sparkling eyes reminded him of Atikom.

"I'm here to see Captain Tongrob."

"That's me. Did you follow me here to look at my car? I haven't crashed into anyone yet. The car's still in perfect condition. If you're seriously interested in buying, I'll give you a special discount. Post-sale warranty too. If you want a test drive, I can take you right now," Tongrob enthusiastically described the vehicle's features.

Anupap froze, picturing it all. It was him—the playboy who'd been charming people at the pub, driving the same car Atikom had been driving when he nearly crashed into Atid's car in the alley. If so, his assumptions weren't wrong. The duty officer had told him to leave the key with Captain Tongrob—'they're close friends.'

'Close enough to lend each other cars. Are they friends or boyfriends?'

'I drove Captain Atikom's car today too, but we're not boyfriends.'

"So what do you say?" the police officer asked.

"Oh, no. Actually, I'm here to return a car key. I'm returning Captain Atikom's car," Anupap handed over the key.

Captain Tongrob looked confused, then his expression immediately changed.

"Are you Khun Anupap?" Tongrob felt slightly disappointed. Anupap—the person Atikom liked and was courting, the person he had a crush on.

"You know me?"

"Kom mentions you often."

Deep down, Anupap felt slightly relieved that Atikom talked about him to his 'close friend.' They were probably friends, not boyfriends. If they were boyfriends, he wouldn't tell his lover about his affairs with other people. A player like that would try to hide from his boyfriend that he was secretly playing around with others.

He excused himself to leave. Captain Tongrob followed him out, trying to make conversation.

Anupap thought, 'These two aren't very different from each other. No wonder they were close friends.' He imagined when the two young men were together, they must be quite lively and amusing.

Anupap had never thought his life would involve battling with players.

***