After rain comes the clear sky (Kaoearth)

8. Wedding

Kao adjusted his white jacket before entering Earth's home. Greeting the elders, he made his way upstairs to Earth's bedroom.

He stood in front of the door that said 'DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PERMISSION' and knocked thrice.

The youngster opened the door with a smile. "P' Kao you are here."

It had been two weeks since Kao reached Chiang Mai. He was persuaded by Earth's grandmother to stay for a few more days. The few days turned into two weeks.

In the initial few days, he had a fever and was bedridden. He stayed in Earth's room till he got better and moved to his own place next door. He had strictly instructed Siam not to let his family know about his whereabouts.

Kao had spent the rest of the days working as a part-time staff at Earth's family's restaurant. He felt at home there, with Earth's family. Earth's presence around him was also a source of happiness for him.

Even though he knew his thoughts about Earth were not right, he couldn't help but enjoy every moment they spent together.

Earth was especially clingy to him, much to his joy. If not for the fact that Earth had to attend school, he would have spent his whole day with Kao.

Everyday evening, Kao would pick Earth up from school after cheerleading practice. Earth too seemed to like the fact.

The two had grown much closer to each other within such a short period of time. 

Earth had become Kao's tour guide on weekends. And Kao had become Earth's personal photographer.

Earth loved clicking pictures of himself. So, every time they found good scenery, Kao would ask him to pose for photos.

Even though Kao didn't like being photographed, he would pose along with Earth to make the latter happy.

They had only spent two days visiting tourist centres, yet Kao already had tons of photos of Earth.

Today, Kao was there to pick Earth to attend the wedding of Earth's Senior Por's sister.

Initially, when Earth introduced Kao to Por and had him invite Kao to his sister's wedding, Kao was unwilling to attend it. 

Earth had persuaded him saying that Fluke and the music band of their school would be performing at the wedding and they needed to take photographs and videos of the performance to promote their club.

"This really does look good on you." Earth smiled brightly.

Yesterday, Kao had told him that he had nothing that he could wear to a wedding as an excuse to not attend it.

Earth had dragged him to the mall to get the suit he was wearing now. Earth had selected this suit for him- an almond white jacket and trousers paired with a pure white shirt. They had avoided the tie to keep it casual.

In return for selecting a suit, Kao offered to buy one for Earth.

Earth didn't stand formality and chose a flesh pink shirt with a white blazer and trousers for himself.

Kao had to agree that the colour combination suited Earth well. It made Earth look prettier or should he say mesmerizing?  

"Phi, are you planning on going to the wedding like this?" Earth pulled Kao and made him sit on the sofa before going to get his makeup products.

"I don't need to wear makeup. I am not the groom." Kao tried to stop Earth.

Through the interaction over the last week, Kao learned that Earth is especially interested in makeup and skin care.

Earth had forced Kao to use body lotions, moisturizers, and face masks on a daily basis.

"You may not be the groom. But we are going to steal the show." Earth squeezed out a little bit of moisturizer and applied it to Kao's face.

"I don't want you to look bad when you stand next to me." Earth winked before applying the foundation.

Kao sighed and gave in to let Earth do what he pleased.

"Phi, good thing you have been using those skin care products. Your skin has improved a lot. It used to be a lot drier." Earth picked up a brush to blend in the makeup.

Kao was so busy staring at Earth's face that he didn't hear what Earth said.

Earth didn't mind Kao's lack of response. Within a few minutes, he started doing eye makeup.

Kao finally opened his mouth when he saw Earth picking up something like lipstick.

"I don't want to wear that." Kao protested.

"Ho, phi. This is just lip balm. Not lipstick. It helps the lips stay moist. It doesn't have much colour. I am wearing the same." Earth pointed at his lips making Kao gulp secretly.

Pulling away Kao's hands, Earth applied the lip balm.

Kao tried to stand up but was pushed back down by Earth.

"Your hair isn't done yet. We had to do it before makeup. I forgot." Earth applied gel to Kao's hair before combing it back neatly making the hair took denser.

He picked up a tissue and covered Kao's face before applying the hair-setting spray.

Earth finally let Kao stand up after he felt satisfied with his own handiwork.

Kao stood up and looked in the mirror. He was truly impressed by Earth's makeup skills. His face looked natural yet his facial features were highlighted well.

"Can we go now? We will be late for the wedding if we don't." Kao said turning to Earth.

"No need to hurry phi, there are still two hours to the wedding. We will reach the venue in just half an hour by car. I asked you to come early because I knew that you wouldn't dress up properly." Earth said fixing Kao's clothes.

"But this is too early."

"We need to get there before the wedding starts. We need to take pictures of our band before the wedding. You haven't met the other members of the band other than Fluke. You have to be introduced to them. There is a lot of work to do in the extra time." Earth patted off Kao's jacket.

"Before going let's click some pictures" He beamed.

"You pose I will take it for you." Kao took out his camera.

"No phi. I want to click pictures with you." Earth whined.

"Earth, you know that I don't like it."

"You will leave any day and may not come back for a long time like you did last time. I won't be able to take any pictures with you after you are gone." Earth pouted.

Earth knew that Kao would give in to him when he pouts. So, he was not surprised to see the defeated expression on Kao's face.

Earth grinned happily as he dragged Kao downstairs. He asked his father to click their pictures. He pulled Kao to the garden in the courtyard of their house and posed for photos.

Having taken hundreds of photos with him, Kao knew some of his favourite poses. Kao stiffly imitated those poses while Earth's father, Mac enthusiastically clicked photos of them from different angles.

Looking at the photos, Kao had to agree that Mac's photography skills were better than his.

Putting away his camera, Kao started the car with Earth on the passenger seat and drove to the wedding venue.