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One of the professors helping him with his English skills, because he had a lot to work on, had assigned him to go to this event and write something on it. They also wanted him to read it to them when he turned it in. It was, thankfully, a one on one lesson with this professor so it wouldn't be bad if he messed up when doing the presentation part of the assignment.

Already he was planning to go over things with his aunt, and uncle, to make sure his English was as good as could be before the presentation he was going to have to do.

Stepping inside was a shock of color and decorations and other things, nothing he was used to. This was nothing he was used to and he wasn't sure what he thought, at least not at first. He had, with some manner of forethought, brought a small notebook with himself so he could write things down so he knew what to do for his paper on this event. He would need it, he was sure of it, because there were bound to be things he'd forget, things he wouldn't want to forget.

Looking around Boon-nam was hoping to find a place he could stay, somewhere to sit and observe, he didn't want to socialize with people. He had a paper to do on this and his English wasn't the best, socializing wasn't likely to be easy for him, so he wanted to try his best to avoid such embarrassing things.


After his date earlier this morning, December was certainly in a mood. It was a strange one, one where he didn’t want to be alone, but it was more than just him desiring company, it was him wishing so badly to make a friend. The Negaverse provided him with team mates, but when most of them seemed to hate him, it never truly felt like anything more than work. No, what he desired was more than that for sure! He wanted someone who he would see again after they met!

It was for this reason December found himself at this Gala, excitedly looking around after having been escorted by one of his superiors. Since he had no money at all, he couldn’t exactly come to the charity ball without providing some sort of charity, so at first he thought he would be able to come… After the exchange of a certain service to that one captain, they so kindly allowed him to be their plus one. The moment they made it inside, he was left alone, his chattiness becoming too much for the older man..

That was fine! That was just okay! Part of him knew that the Captain wouldn’t care for him beyond the few hours they spent together. No one really did when it came to that sort of thing. But he wouldn’t let it keep him down, nope!

After grabbing a plate of food, he quickly scanned the tables, hoping to find someone sitting alone to try to befriend. And boom, there he was! Eer, there someone was, and with a smile he approached the stranger.

“Good evening! Mind if I sit with you?”

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Looking up from where he was writing down his observations, glasses glinting a bit, he bit down on his lip at the others words. They were fast, excited sounding, and it took him several moments going over the words, slowly, to figure it out and once done he did nod his head. “Yes, you can sit here.” His own English was stilted, accented, but it was progress.

“You are here alone?” Since many people were here with other people, most people were with someone else whether they came alone or not. It was a couples holiday so he wa surprised, a bit, to see someone else who was single, and not looking for they were supposed to be meeting.

Flipping the sheet of paper, which was covered in writing, to the next blank page he took a moment to look around. He was trying not to miss anything...or at least nothing important.



“I am! I came with someone, but they decided to go be with another friend, so… Here I am! That’s okay though, that gives me a reason to talk to you!” Once he was given permission to do so, December happily took a seat beside the quiet man, putting his plate down before him. Personal space wasn’t something he ever really thought about, and before long he was right up beside the other, within elbow range. The stranger’s accent was thick, and it was a little hard to understand him, but he was sure he felt the same way. People did always say he spoke a mile a minute after all!

What was he even doing… Homework? Who did homework at a party?! He couldn’t help but briefly scrunch his nose up as he popped a mini donut in his mouth and didn’t even pretend to be subtle about it.

“Are you… What are you working on? It’s a party, you’re supposed to have fun!”

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He had, at some point, gotten a small plate of food for himself. If he was going to be here awhile he needed to eat also, though so far nothing was touched by him on the plate. It was while he was in the middle of writing something down that he really took note of how close the other was to him - too close. Why were they so close? That didn’t seem normal...not really.

“I am working on assignment...why I am here.” He said, knowing he’d missed a few words in that sentence, he was watching the other now to see how they reacted to his answer. Peoples facial expressions told a lot, sometimes more than words, it was something he had to rely on right now as much if not more than verbal from people.


“You’re here… To work on your assignment? Did you come alone? Why would you come to a party to work on homework?” December’s expression went from disbelief to just confused, none of it really making sense. Then again, maybe non-homeschooled people had a different way of doing work. He had no idea really when it came down to it.

“Are you gonna do anything else? Maybe dance, talk to people? I guess you’re talking to me, so that counts!”

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“Yes, alone here.” He answered as he glanced down, for a moment, to his notebook. “As writing about this ball.” Nodding his head towards the room around them, and the people in it. “It is to work on English.” Since it was not his first language, obviously, and doing something like this was an exercise and would help improve his skills. It forced him into a social setting plus it made him work on the writing, and later on the speech as he would present it to his teacher.

“No….don’t dance. Don’t know anyone either.”


“... That’s… Okay, that’s a little weird. You should come to a party to have fun! Not to work on homework… Don’t you wanna have at least a little fun?” December couldn’t help but frown this time, thinking long and hard about just what the other was doing before making up his mind. Well… If it looked like this foreign student wasn’t going to break away from work on his own, he could always try to pull him away himself!

With that said, he took a moment to stuff the last bits of food into his mouth then immediately taking Boon-nam’s hand with his own, giving it a squeeze but still loose enough so that he could pull away if he wanted.

“How about you dance with me? You can get to know me, and we can have fun, and talking to someone is better practice with English than just writing it down and watching people, right? Sooooo What do you say?”

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When it seemed the other had given up, he was busy stuffing food into his mouth at a worrisome pace, Boon-nam had decided to return to his work. Though really there wasn’t a lot to write about, it all seemed the same, it wasn’t until he felt the other grasping his hand that he looked up. Noticing the other was done with his food, not really a surprise, but he soon had to focus on what the other was saying.

He didn’t hear it all, didn’t even understand everything, but he did understand better practice for his English skills. The other wanted to..help? They didn’t know him but were somehow, at least he thought anyway, offering to help him with his English lessons. He hadn’t caught how, too busy wondering how the other hadn’t choked on his food, but he nodded his head once slowly. He was a bit weary, being rather clueless on how this was supposed to happen, but he let the other, for now, do as he pleased. If they were talking about help he’d accept it...at least he thought so.



December would be the first to admit he truly didn’t expect the stranger to say yes. He was this loud, almost obnoxious young man who didn’t know how to leave people alone, so rejection to most things came easy. And yet here he was, holding this man’s hand and getting a little nod of confirmation to get up and dance.

He wouldn’t give Boon-nam the chance to take it back!

Once he got the yes, December quickly stood up, pulling Boon’s chair slightly away from the table and then helped him to stand too.

“You’re okay with dancing with me, right? Like, ballroom dancing?” Knowing that there was a bit lost between them, he tried to make the hand movements, taking one of Boon’s hands and placing it on his waist, and raising the other one in a makeshift waltz. They wouldn’t dance here, of course, but he could at least try to make sure the other understood. “If not, then we can do something else!”

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While the words were lost on him, his teachers having no reason to bring up such a topic for him to learn yet, he did understand the hand gestures from the other. Shaking his head he opened his mouth to respond. “Not good, can’t do that.” At least not dancing like that, if that was the way in which the other was looking to dance, he was fairly certain he could have used other motions to show him other types of dancing...so he had to mean that kind of dancing he’d seen in movies - right?

“Never to...like that.” He was going to have to ask his teachers to help him learn things, words, he could use in conversations like this. It wasn’t something he expected to need to know, he was on basics, but here he was needing these things.

“Maybe different thing?”


Oh… Well, that was a little disappointing. He didn't know how to dance. But that was alright, especially since he didn’t pull away. And since he didn’t, December only pulled him closer, leaving their hands together and putting his other one Boon’s shoulder.

“Do you think maybe I could show you?”

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Understanding, and maybe tightening his hold on the other, his dark head nodded up and down twice. He might as well, right? There was really no harm in it and if somehow, assuming the other would keep talking, it would help his skills in English it was worth it.

“Mmm, your name is? Never said.” Not that he remembered anyway, and he was certain he would remember if the other gave his name...so he was sure he hadn’t gotten it. “Mine is Boon-nam…” He did, for a moment, consider giving the other his informal name, which was the more common name for him to go by, but that wasn’t something done here...so he didn’t give it. Maybe if they became friends.


December simply beamed at the man, fingers happily leading him closer to the rest of the people dancing, but just far enough that they could take their time learning things. He wasn’t the best dancer at all but he knew the basics from watching lots and lots of tv. Couldn’t be that hard!

It took a moment to get situated, but soon he slowly allowed himself to be led around the dance floor, beaming up at his partner in the same way one would a lover. Perhaps it was natural for him to smiles so earnestly at someone because he hoped the person wouldn’t want to just go separate ways in the end.

He was lonely for sure… And maybe with this person, he could be a little less lonely.

“Um… After this would you maybe wanna exchange numbers? We could be friends if you want!”

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While the other wasn’t the best Boon-nam wasn’t great either, worse really. He had seen it on tv but that didn’t mean he’d ever paid it enough attention to know just how to dance in the same way. It seemed easy...at least right now when thinking about it, it was just walking around in a circle - right? Wrong, watching a few other people told him that much. It didn’t however tell him what to do, or well it did it was just a matter of not getting it.

His hands were in the right place though, that counted for something. He did still wonder why a random stranger wanted to dance with him, but he didn’t question it. It was a holiday about love and those sorts of things...so maybe this one in his arms just didn’t want to be lonely. Or they wanted to make sure he wasn’t, as it seemed that way.

“Friends?” He questioned before hesitating and then nodding his head. It couldn’t be that bad...right? He could use at least one friend here, he was pretty sure he didn’t want several friends. It hurt more when you lost them all...when they turned on you. It hurt when the words came from multiple directions and in several voices. “Ok...friends.”


“Best of friends, for sure!” If it was even possible, December’s grin grew even more as he guided the other man gently around the floor to the softly playing music. This was fun, he thought, and he hoped that just maybe his new friend was having fun as well.

The music didn’t last long, and before he knew it, they pulled apart, clapping for the band. In the next moment December pulled Boon-nam back toward the table they were at, pulling out his phone, scrolling to his contacts, and offering it to him.

“So right here! And then I can put my number in your phone too, okay?”

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Best friends...that word had him pausing for a moment, at least mentally, it was a big word. He’d lost his best friend months ago, along with every other friend he’d had, did he want another best friend? Would this one be the same as the last one? Well, that would only happen if he got attached to this one like he had his previous best friend….he could avoid that - right?

While he moved to the dance, letting the other guide him through the moves, he soon found the music stopping and while people clapped he couldn’t help his dark eyes moving to the white haired male. Why did they want to be friends with him? They didn’t even know him.

It wasn’t until they were seated once more that he decided to ask, while in the middle of putting his number into the others phone. “Why my friend?….Don’t know me.” It didn’t make sense to want to make friends with a stranger, right? His own phone was pulled out slowly, waiting to hear what the other would say, even while he did slowly hand his phone over after unlocking the screen. Everything was still in Thai, since it was easier for him.


“Well… Why not?” December returned the question, taking the phone and typing away his name and number into it. While he couldn’t exactly read it, the icons were familiar enough that he figured it out, though typing out his name was a lot more difficult.

“I want to know you. And it’s easier to get to know someone better once you’re friends, right? Maybe? For me anyway?” Once satisfied with the name and typing in a little smile emoji beside his it <( ^o^ )>, he slid the phone back. For the first time since he came through like a whirlwind he went quiet, turning his own lavender gaze to Boon-nam, contemplating but it only lasted for a few seconds before he leaned in closer and pressed a little kiss to the tip of the quieter man’s nose. That’s what friends did, he was sure!

“And I think you look like you could use a friend. So… There! We’re friends now! No take backs!”

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That was true...why not. There was no real reason, at least not as far as he could tell. Watching as the other typed into his phone he finished doing the same, hoping he got it right, he put his name down as New however. It wasn’t because he was a new friend, or new, but it was just out of habit and it was easier. He also was sure it would be easier for the other to say.

Taking his phone back, handing the other their phone back, Boon-nam took a moment to look over the others entry. An emoji...that was cute sort of. He didn’t have anyone else in his contacts signed with an emoji of any sort, so it would stand out. While he was about to pocket his phone he was distracted by the white haired male moving in close, causing Boon-nam to nearly go cross eyed. The other had...kissed him? On the nose.

Staring at the smaller he found himself slowly nodding, there wasn’t anything he could really say to that. In part he didn’t respond due to shock while also he didn’t understand it all. All he knew was his cheeks felt a bit warm and he was staring at the other. “Kissed me?”


Good! There wasn’t any protest. Not that what he said was really anything to protest against. It was a valid argument, at least he thought so.

At the little cross-eyed gaze, December laughed softly, tempted to do it again only to see the eyes cross again. It was cute! Oh… He was blushing… Oops, he hadn’t meant that but it was still cute in a way! Kelly had that same sort of cute blush going on too at times.

“Yes, kissed you! We have a saying here, sealed with a kiss. You use a kiss to seal a promise, and my promise to you is to be your friend!” Hopefully that made sense too.. It suddenly dawned on him that maybe being from somewhere else meant that… Just maybe that was that wrong thing to do. That thought was enough to make his smile falter, just a little bit. “... Was that bad to do?”

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Watching as the smile faltered, and unsure on just why that was, Boon-nam shook his head at the other. “Smile...nothing wrong. Nothing to be sad for.” If the other wanted to be his friend, as they seemed intent upon being, than he didn’t want them upset. It seemed that for this person smiling was just natural...that they were a happy person, smiling was what they did. Assuming that meant that the look they now wore was wrong.

“We are friends, yes? So don’t...like that.” Pointing at the others face. “Why not smiling now?” He didn’t understand why the other had kissed him, still, but he figured with time he’d get it. He was going to have to put a lot of time into working on his English...maybe it was time to start watching tv that was English as well? Anything to help so he wasn’t such a bad friend?


Boon-nam was indeed curious to December. His words were unclear, but it did seem that he had the best of intentions, and it was because of that he allowed himself to smile again, this time a bit shyer than before. There was something about this man that had December want to impress him a little bit. Probably the language barrier, since they couldn’t communicate well they relied a lot more on body language, so that’s what he needed to focus on.

“Yes, friends. I’ll smile now, for you.” At that he reached out and squeezed Boon-nam’s hand gently, nodding a little. While he had been here for the party, he felt tired so quickly… Maybe it was time to head home. It looked like his friend Kelly wasn’t going to show up, and Valentine’s Day really was weird when you were alone. He did have Boon-nam, he supposed, but if the other wanted to stay and study people more, he didn’t want to stop him.

“Are you gonna stay here? I think I’ll go now, maybe for a walk. We could text later if you’d like!”

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Smiling as the other took his hand, it was good to have a friend, he pulled the other close enough to hug once. It was brief but it was a hug. This was his friend now, whether they understood how much emphasis was placed on them being his friend was surely unknown to the other, Boon-nam got up when the other started to mention leaving. “Will follow you out...walk you home if you want - make sure you get home safe.” He offered.

He knew how this city wasn’t safe and he wanted to make sure his friend was safe, it didn’t matter that they had only just met. “Think I have enough for paper.” He was sure of it, he’d manage, he would rather make sure the other got home safe. Stretching his legs he offered a hand to the other, his other hand closing his notebook and putting his things away. He was packed rather quickly, as he hadn’t come with much.


December couldn’t hide the fact that he was surprised when he felt Boon-nam’s arms around him and he happily hugged back. Part of him didn’t want to let him go, given how much he adored that body contact, but they were still new with one another, so when Boon pulled away, he allowed it without protest. Friends were in such short supply right now, so he didn’t dare to push for more.

And Boon just kept surprising him with the offer to take him home and the hand again, which he readily laced his fingers together with. Maybe there’d be some here at this party who thought they were dates leaving together, but none of that even crossed his mind. He wasn’t the sort to think much about romance in the least; he only saw himself holding the hand of a new friend that he just wasn’t about to let go.

“That’s good, that’s good! I wouldn’t want your work to suffer. My home is… Uh… A bit far away, but if you’d like to walk me to the bus stop, that works!” Had he still had his home, he’d be more than a little excited to have more time with Boon-nam, but he didn’t. He was homeless now, living in the barracks so not exactly within walking distance. The bus, however, was just as good. He could take it to the park and meet up with the General who was so nice to offer him a trip back to the barracks.

“Come on then, let’s get going!” Just as eagerly as he had done with everything else that night, he happily pulled Boon-nam along, leading him right out of the party and into the cool night air.

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“Ok, bus stop is good.” At least the other would be safe once he got onto a bus, and to wherever home was for him. Had he a clue about the others living situation he might have found a way to move the other into his room and into the home he shared with his aunt and uncle. They would, he hoped anyway, be kind enough to understand a friend in need. But Boon-nam hadn’t a clue and so took the others words at face value.

“Show me way to bus stop.” And then he could, and would, head himself home so he could get to work on the paper for school. He was, thankfully, in possession of what he figured was enough notes to properly put this paper together. He just would need the time to make sure it all made sense, that his English and grammar was accurate and proper.

“We can talk soon.” Maybe not tonight but soon they would talk and perhaps see each other again, he was hoping for that since this was a friend of his. He would make time for December.


As they walked hand in hand out of the party and towards the bus stop, December felt his heart sink. He didn’t want this night to end, after all he had made a friend, who was warm and kind, and he got to dance and eat great food, and it was wonderful! He really didn’t want to go back to the Negaverse where it felt like he was completely isolated from the world.

“Yeah, soon…” December didn’t try to hide the fact he squeezed Boon-nam’s hand a little tighter as they arrived, the bus already pulling up. Talk about timing…

“I had fun tonight with you, so… Yeah, I’d really really like to see you again, so don’t forget about me, okay?” For a moment he hesitated, but then leaned in, kissing the other’s cheek and hoping that he really wouldn’t be forgotten, and that Boon would want to hang out again. The bus pulled up and sadly he let Boon’s hand go and gave a little wave. “Until next time, okay?”