After rain comes the clear sky (Kaoearth)

80. Date

Curling up inside his cosy blanket, Earth peeked at his phone again and again. He was waiting for Kao's call.

It was his birthday and everyone including his family and friends had already wished him at midnight but there was no sign of Kao.

He knew that Kao had gone abroad along with Kaew and that the timeline would be different there. But still, he was hoping that Kao would be the first to wish him on his birthday.

It was already two a.m. and there were no calls or messages from Kao. This made Earth feel disheartened.

He sulked as he twisted and turned on his bed trying to sleep but he couldn't get a wink of sleep. 

He stared at the sliding glass door that separated his room from the balcony attached to it. Hidden behind the white curtains, the glass door passed the light from the streetlight into his room.

Earth was startled when he saw a dark silhouette behind the glass door. His whole being froze in fear as he watched the silhouette open the supposedly locked door with ease and entered his bedroom.

He could already imagine the following day's news headlines 'Birthday teen found dead in his bedroom following a buglary.'

Earth was clueless about what he should do. He was pretty sure that his parents and grandmother were already asleep. He didn't know if they would be able to hear him if he screamed as his father had insulated his room a few months ago so that the customers in their restaurant downstairs wouldn't get disturbed when he blasted the music in the speaker in his room.

Nevertheless, he opened his mouth to scream. But the burglar was a step faster than him and had covered his mouth with his palm.

Earth struggled to free himself, trying to push the man away.

"Relax, baby. It's me" the burglar whispered in his ears.

Earth paused and looked at the half-covered face of the burglar. "P' Kao?" He said softly as he saw the familiar pair of eyes staring at him full of affection.

Kao took off his hands from Earth's lips, still hovering on top of him in a pushup position. "Happy birthday, love." He whispered pecking his boyfriend's lips.

"Au phi! You scared the hell out of me." Earth complained punching his boyfriend's chest.

Kao caught his little kitten's paws and kissed them. "I am sorry that I scared you. I was planning to surprise you."

"Why didn't you come earlier?" Earth pouted as his fingers fiddled with Kao's shirt button.

"I was waiting for your parents to fall asleep," Kao answered.

"Why do you have to wait for them to go to sleep? It's not like they don't know about us," Earth mumbled.

Kao sniff kissed Earth's cheek "They do know about us. But they don't know that I am going to sneak you out of the house tonight." He sat up straight. "Come on get up and get changed."

"Sneak out of the house? For what phi?" Earth asked with his eyes glowing in excitement.

"It's a date" Kao smirked mysteriously.

Earth narrowed his eyes, examining his boyfriend's expression.

"Hurry up. We have to get back before your parents wake up" Kao urged.

Earth pushed himself up from the bed and headed to the wardrobe to pick a change of clothes. "By the way Phi, how did you open that balcony door? I am damn sure that I locked it in the evening."

Kao rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment "I asked your friends to leave it open for me."

"Those bitches" Earth muttered with a smile.

All three of his best friends were there along with his family to wish him a 'happy birthday'. Since they all lived nearby, in the same neighbourhood it was usual for them to stay late at each other's houses.  

Typically, on their birthdays, they would huddle together and sleep at the birthday boy's place. Yet, this time, each one of them had made some lame excuse for not sleeping over.

Earth had been so busy worrying about getting no calls or messages from Kao that he didn't even notice the oddness of the situation. Now that Kao admitted that he asked for their help, he was sure that those three ditched him because they knew that Kao was coming over.

"Wear something warm, it's cold outside" Kao commented.

Earth nodded picked out fleece pants and a long-sleeved sweat and quickly headed to the washroom to change. He didn't forget to do some nude makeup on his face. After all, it was their first official date.

He came out of the washroom and saw Kao waiting for him. He could see his boyfriend's eyes lingering on the tight-fitting fleece pants that perfectly displayed his curves. The way the latter averted his stare when he knew he was caught, made Earth feel smug. That was exactly the reaction he wanted from his boyfriend when he selected the pair of pants.

"Alright, let's go" Kao stood up and went towards the balcony.

"Aren't we going through the door?" Earth asked.

"Nope. We are sneaking out." Kao grabbed Earth's wrist and pulled him towards himself "That means that we are going to climb down the balcony."

Earth was very excited about it. He had been a good boy all along. Unlike Fluke or Prem who did sneaky things and got into trouble often, he was a quiet homey kid. He had never done something like this before and he was looking forward to the experience.

"You climbed up via the ladder?" Earth asked seeing the ladder that had been set outside the balcony.

Kao nodded, closing the balcony door from outside"I had Fluke and Prem set it up for me" 

He helped Earth climb down the ladder. Once both of them reached the ground, Kao dismantled the ladder and hid it behind the bushes.

"I thought you climbed up the drain" Earth murmured.

"I could have. But it would have been risky to have you climb down the pipe." Kao stole another kiss on Earth's pouty lips. "Let's go now"

Kao held Earth's hand, jumping over the small gate in the backyard of the house to reach the street where his car was parked.

"Wow!" That was the first word that escaped Earth's lips as he saw the red Maserati parked in the alley.

"I had to park it here as I didn't want to draw anyone's suspicion" Kao justified why the red beauty was left alone in the dark alley.

Earth hummed. He wasn't much of a car person and could barely recognise the logo on the car. Still, he was mesmerised by the sight of the car. 

Kao noticed Earth's reaction "I will get you one on your next birthday."

Earth would turn eighteen on his next birthday, which would mean that he could get his own license. "I was just looking. I don't need a car." His cheeks were burning.

"You do. It's better than going triples with your friends in that scooter." Kao commented. "Hop in. We need to get going" He opened the car door for Earth.

Earth smiled and got in without delay.