#this may seem random so I’ll give context: I saw a poll asking who had the better shiny between Rillaboom and Greninja

[fierykitten2]

I’m just gonna say it: the Galar starters have really cool shinies

[constantconfusion111]

And Suddenly, Green Eyes

Thanks very much @nomoredarksadlonelybatman for the lovely request, I hope you’ll enjoy this. :D

Lenght: 1.7K Pairing: Khai x Third Summary: Khai’s romantic history is longer than the phone book, he’s very familiar with the concept of exes. And yet, he somehow wasn’t prepared to learn that Third had one as well. AO3 link

XXXXX

Khai wasn’t the one, in their group of gangsters, you’d go to if you ever needed advice. He knew it and wasn’t discontent with that knowledge. Khai’s departement was more around comfort and cheering up. If you felt down and just wanted a change of mind or pace, Khai was your man. His personality was exuberant, just on that side of overwhelming that it was impossible to focus on anything but him. Great for distractions.

If you wanted a sympathetic advice, you asked Two, if you wanted a practical one, you went for Third. If you wanted a crazy advice, Bone would be more than happy to oblige.

And yet, Khai would still tell anyone that would listen, and also many that couldn’t care less, that they should all just fall in love with their best friends and start dating already.

He had had his fair share of romantic experiences. Many would say he overindulged for a long time. And yet dating his best friend was an unprecedented experience for him. Things just… made sense. He could be flirty and seductive in the morning, enticing Third into following him in bed, despite all reason and fake excuses, with just the right look or the touch of a finger. And then be an absolute mess in the evening, too drunk and walking straight into a poll or vomiting over his favourite shoes without fear the other would be revulsed. Well, the vomiting part definitely revulsed Third, he still led him home and cleaned him up before holding him in bed all night.

They also knew each other inside and out. How one preferred their coffee in the morning, which snack were the other’s favourite. How one absolutely hated a particular smell while the other couldn’t stand a random noise.

Sometimes, it also meant they knew a little bit too much.

“Hey Khai, didn’t you promise that girl you’d become an idol so you could sing love songs for her in front of the whole world?”

Two Bone and Khai all turned in the direction Third was pointing out with a head nod. Next to a juice stall, in the middle of the busy mall, was standing a stunning young woman. Her hair was white and braided in complex loops at the back of her head, giving a lovely view of her face. ‘Moji’ supplied his brain. Third had a formidable memory.

“I didn’t know you said that,” laughed Bone, sipping on his frozen coffee without trying to hide his mockery. 

“How’s the career going for you Khai?” continued Two, bumping their shoulders together. 

Not one to take the teasing lying down, Khai turned his nose up and looked at his friends with contempt.

“It’s a work in progress, but my friends are definitely bringing me down.” 

The three broke in a concert of good natured protest so sudden that some bystanders turned to look at that.

“Third? Is it really you?” 

The unknown voice came from a man, tall, pretty much their age. His features were simple, Khai wouldn’t turn around if their path crossed in the street, but he was built like an athlete: strong shoulders, broad chest, thick thighs. He was accompanied by a shorter male, a foreigner with blond hair, that looked at them with a curiosity Khai imagined must be reflected in his own eyes.

“Ard? I can’t believe this!” 

Third had a large smile, the kind Khai knew for a fact was sincere, which only helped to exacerbated his interest. He didn’t remember anyone called Ard, and he certainly didn’t remember that face. But him and Third looked quite comfortable around each other.

“Since when are you back in Thailand?” asked Third, getting closer to the man.

“I arrived last weekend. I’ll just be staying 2 weeks to visit family and then I’ll be going back.”

“Still living in Germany?”

“Yes, you remembered!”

Both men seemed to have forgotten their respective groups and were happily catching up with the usual ‘and what do you do know’ or even ‘you look great!’ or ‘we should have lunch before you leave’. Khai made eye contact with the foreigner who smiled at him and wai-ed back, which seemed to catch Third’s attention at last.

“Ah, Ard. These are my friends, we met at Uni, we all work together now. This is Bone, Two, and Khai.”

“This is Lee, my boyfriend.”

They all greeted each other properly, and Ard put an arm on the blond’s shoulder to bring him closer.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to barge in during your free time, I was just so surprised to see you Third.”

“I’m happy you saw me. Your Line ID is still the same?” wondered the shorter man, grabbing his phone to check his contacts.

“Yes, message me and we can grab some food soon!”

Shortly after checking both still had the other in their contacts, Ard and Lee left to continue their window shopping.

“So, who was this guy Third? I don’t remember him from anywhere,” asked Two, beating Khai to the punch.

“You guys never met Ard. We were in high school together. He left for Europe just before Uni to join a football club. He was already super good back in the days.

“Get us free tickets for a cool match! Use your connections!” pleaded Bone, already checking which games they could hope to snatch tickets to.

“I haven’t spoken to him in 4 years, I’m not going to pester him for free tickets Bone.”

“Come on!” joined Khai, grabbing Third by the arm to make his plea more efficient. “What’s the point of having famous friends if you can’t get some things out of it?”

Third scoffed, but didn’t try to dislodge him.

“First of all, that’s a terrible way of thinking. Second, he’s not exactly my friend.”

“That’s not what it looked like, you guys seemed pretty close,” said Two.

“Well… we were.” conceded Third, shuffling slightly from one foot to the other. He glanced briefly at Khai before refocusing on the other two. “But that’s because we used to… well. We used to date.”

Once again, their shouts made people turn around with worry.

“Third banged a football super star!”

“Way to go Third! I’m so proud of you!” Two actually clapped him in the back for that.

“I don’t know that he’s a super star…”

“He didn’t say no to the banging…” muttered Bone.

Yup, Khai had noted that as well.

So they may know so, so much about each other. But apparently there were still some secrets to unravel.

Xxxxxx

“So… How long were you guys together?”

Third looked up from the spring onions he was slicing, starting to prepare their dinner for  the evening. Khai was posted on the other side of the worktop, picking at his nails, elbows propped against the counter. It took Third a second to put the random question in context and remember their meeting with Ard earlier today.

“Mhh… we started dating our last year of high school, so a bit under a year.”

‘Less than us, take that super star’ thought Khai, pursing his lips in an attempt to hide a smirk.

“Why did you break up?” he wondered, trying to maintain a light tone. 

“Well, he went to Germany to play football. It was kind of natural to break up,” explained Third, moving from his spring onions to little green pepper, chopping and cleaning the vegetables.

“I see. Is he any good? What position does he play in?”

“I’m not sure, I think it was something like attacker maybe? Is it the right name?”

“You dated a footballer for a year and you don’t even know the name of the positions? Did you not talk when you were together”

At that, Third raised a brow and looked at his boyfriend through his eyelashes.

“We were a bit too busy to talk about football.” 

“Why? What were you doing?” asked Khai, frowning.

Third simply stared at him, blinking slowly.

Khai gasped.

“You little pervert!”

“Are you serious right now?! Why do you care anyways? That was half a decade ago,” complained the shorter man, abandoning his knife, crossing his arms on his chest and staring down at his boyfriend with an incredulous look.

“Well, would you go back to him?”

Third felt his eyebrow raise incredulously. He couldn’t make much sense of the conversation overall, but Khai seemed to grow agitated, abandoning all pretense of nonchalance.

“He has a boyfriend.”

The answer only seemed to offend him further. 

“That’s not what I asked!” he shouted.

“Of course no. You’re talking nonsense Khai, stop it.”

“And if he didn’t have a boyfriend? Would you go back to him?”

Third had to take a deep breath to avoid shouting himself. Khai soft features were furrowed and tense. Only 3 years of experience of pining allowed Third to recognise that look for what it was: jealousy. 

What an idea, Imagining that Khai would ever feel jealousy for him. His cold way with women never left anyone with the slightest shadow of a doubt. Never gave anyone any reason to wonder if, maybe, Third could ever not love Khai.

Third was left flagabaster for an instant before snapping out of it. Going around the counter, he walked to Khai that was staring at him, as if afraid today was the day he’d get stabbed. Instead, he slowly slid his arms around the taller man’s neck and brought him into a firm hug.

“Khai. When Ard left, I was sad because we got along quite well, and he was the first boy I did stuff with. I recovered in a summer. And then I met you and frankly Ard completely slipped my mind. If you left for Germany, I wouldn’t get over it. I’d come with you”

Khai hugged him back, bringing him as close as he could. He buried his nose in the soft mass of hair and smelled Third’s usual brand of shampoo as he left his tense shoulders relax.

“Does it have to be Germany?”

“What?” asked Third, confused. He pulled back to look at his boyfriend’s face.

“I don’t really want to go to Germany. Would you follow me to Korea or Australia maybe.”

Third half laughed, half sighed, and definitely rolled his eyes.

“Germany is a metaphor, I’d follow you anywhere, dumbass.”

Third pulled down until their lips met in a kiss, softly brushing together while they breathed the same air. Khai grabber Third’s hips in an inviting grip, slithering a hand under his shirt to gently rub the delicate skin underneath. As Khai slotted a knee between Third’s legs, he could only spare the ex-boyfriend one last thought. 

‘He’s the dumbass, who could give up on these lips just to kick a ball around.’