Prepare For Trouble and Make It...Quadruple??
After an uneventful weekend, the interns prepared for their third week of their second month. Win was ready to get out of the kitchen, and Zol was ready to get out of housekeeping, but their wants paled in comparison to Pun, who hated being at the front desk. He was sick of giggling girls and blushing boys. He just wanted to be back at the apartment, where yes, it was chaotic, but it was also home.
The day started confusingly for Pun when he went to the cafe before his shift and saw two Manaows.
“Hi Pun!” one Manaow said. “This is my twin sister Cake, she goes to a different uni”
“It’s just as filled with boys though” the second Manaow--Cake, Pun supposed--said.
Pun shook his head and went to the counter to get his free drink of the day.
“The special?” Tom asked.
Pun nodded, watching the two squeal as they compared notes.
“They’re extremely alike, I’m surprised Manaow kept this a secret” Golf remarked as he wiped a clean cup dry.
“Is the twin staying all day?” Pun asked, noticing her eyes following him. He didn’t want to deal with that.
“I doubt it, Manaow isn’t off today” Phume called.
“Thank goodness” Pun muttered, accepting his drink from Tom. He supposed he could have remembered that himself, but seeing two Manaows had made that knowledge fly from his head. As he sat down to drink his mocha with vanilla, he saw Win come in and stop in his tracks.
“TWO OF THEM??” Win nearly shrieked.
“You’re being rude, Win” Zol said as she snaked around him.
Win shook his head and left without a drink. Pun felt sorry for Pao and Tutor, knowing that they would be bugged by the easily excited, very dramatic Win all day.
Once Pun finished his drink, he went to the front desk, feeling tired already. His every move had been followed by Cake, which he immensely disliked. Fortunately, Phume had been correct and Cake had left by hugging her sister goodbye. Manaow was chatting with Del at the other desk about her sister, while Zen looked at Pun with sympathy.
“You okay, Pun?” he asked.
“Just a little tired. Not used to getting this much attention” Pun replied grumpily.
“Yeah, Junior’s mentioned how chaotic it can be at his sister’s apartment” Zen smiled.
Pun made a face, then helped the customers that--of course--came up to him, not Zen, not Del, not Manaow, but him.
The morning passed by slowly, with Pun checking out customers and giving them towels. Del seemed to notice he wasn’t in a good mood and was helping by giving the customers the information he wasn’t willing to give, which he was grateful for.
During a lull, Pun could have sworn he saw two Valens, but his attention was taken by a pair of two guys around his age who had their arms interlocked.
“Hi gorgeous, I’m Park. We’re looking for the perfect room, with the perfect man, for us perfect twins” the one with a slightly rounder face said.
“King??” the other asked, looking surprised.
“Mild? Do you know this handsome fella?” the one who had called him gorgeous asked.
“Do you two want a room or not?” Pun asked, not in the mood to deal. He felt extremely uneasy with these two, a sentiment that seemed to be shared with his fellow interns, who had all stiffened when the two approached.
“Yes, we do, two twin beds, please. But don’t you recognize me, King?” the one who called him King asked.
“My name is Pun” Pun said as he looked at Zen’s screen, where there were listings showing the available rooms. “I’m sorry but we don’t have any rooms with two twin beds available. We have two double beds, though, which will be a 320 baht increase” he said, hoping the increase in price would drive the two away.
“Double beds? It would be a shame if we had to share those beds” Park said, placing his hand on Pun’s arm, untroubled when Pun yanked his arm away.
“Park, don’t kid yourself, I’m the more handsome twin” Mild said, smiling at Pun creepily. “But we’ll take it”
Pun managed to get through the transaction without killing anyone. When the two finally turned away, the four interns looked at each other, troubled. The vibes the two set off were creepy.
As Pun watched the two head towards their room, Pharm and Tutor came in. Pun figured they were on break and were heading to the cafe. That probably was their plan, but Park and Mild had other ideas, it seemed. Park went to Pharm, while Mild went to Tutor. Pun couldn’t hear their words, but Pharm looked panicked and Tutor looked mad. When Park actually touched Pharm’s face, Pun was ready to jump the desk to save the smaller intern, but he didn’t have to when both twins were grabbed by the wrist and slammed against the wall.
“How DARE you touch the staff like that” Valen growled, holding one twin in each hand.
“Suthee? What are you doing working at a hotel?” Park asked, looking confused.
“My name is Valen, and I’m inheriting this hotel at some point and trust me, I do not want anyone who harrasses the staff in here”
“They’re just interns” Mild sniffed, although he looked spooked.
“No one is ‘just’ anything. Give me your keys and get OUT” Valen ordered.
When the two didn’t react, Valen huffed and took the room cards out of Mild’s hand, then took them by the wrists again and dragged them out of the hotel. The four at the front desk looked at each other, then at Pharm and Tutor.
“Sorry about that” Valen came back in, dusting his hands.
Clapping from a doorway startled everyone.
“Good job little bro!” cheered someone who looked exactly like Valen but wearing a medical coat.
“Suthee, I’m three minutes younger” Valen said, rolling his eyes.
“P’Valen, you’re a twin too??” Manaow asked.
“Yes, I go to the same uni as your twin if you’re not Cake” Suthee replied, looking Manaow up and down.
“Nope, I’m Manaow. How funny! P’Valen, our twins go to the same uni and we both work here and we had no idea!”
“Suthee here didn’t want to do the business thing, so he stayed here and is a medical student” Valen explained. “I’ll be inheriting the hotel at some point and he’ll be a doctor”
Valen then went to Pharm and Tutor, who were standing still in shock, putting his arms on their shoulders and taking them to the cafe. Pun could hear him saying they could get two drinks that day and he would pay for them and to not worry about getting straight back to work, that he would text Chef Man and P’Mod.
“P’Valen is so cool” Manaow said admiringly.
“For a straight guy, yeah he is” Suthee said, watching the trio leave.
“Does that mean you aren’t?” Del asked absentmindedly.
“There’s a boy at school I’m interested in” Suthee admitted as his phone rang. “Oops, this is him. Nice talking to you guys though” he said, picking up the call with a smile.
Eating his lunch, Pun went over what happened with Pao. A few of the other interns were there as well, but they were talking amongst themselves, leaving Pun with only Pao. Pun was fine with this, as he was still upset over the creepy twins.
“One touched Pharm! How can you just do that?? Touch someone who is clearly panicking?” Pun griped.
“Isn’t that sort of how you got your boyfriend though?” Pao asked through a mouthful of chicken.
“I wasn’t panicking, I was just confused. Also, Nott gives off nothing but good vibes. You know this. Also also, I could have left at any time, I wasn’t trapped in a job setting like Pharm. I just needed a place to stay”
“Arm gives off even more good vibes” Pao said thoughtfully.
“These twins, on the other hand...nothing but creepy vibes” Pun ignored the slight jab at his boyfriend.
“Good thing Valen was there, then” Pao commented.
“Yeah, Valen the twin. Along with Manaow the twin” Pun rolled his eyes. “Is anyone else here a twin, I wonder?”
“Well, they say everyone on Earth has several doppelgangers. I’ve read seven and forty-one, so either way, extremely low chances of meeting them, considering there are 7.8 billion people on this planet” Pao shrugged.
The two finished their lunches and headed back to their respective stations. Pun was ready for the day to be over, but he knew he wouldn’t get his wish when he noticed people coming over out of the corner of his eye. They seemed to be wandering a little, one of them touching the various plants in the room. As luck would have it though, Del and Manaow were on their lunch break and Zen was using the restroom, so he was the one would have to deal with them.
“Hi, welcome to the Love Para-” Pun, who had been looking down, looked up--at himself. Stunned, he pushed his hair back--which the other Pun did as well.
“P’King??” the sudden voice startled both of them, and Pun noticed that this doppelganger’s...boyfriend he guessed, judging by their interlocked hands, was mixed and had several tattoos.
“Ai’Ning, you startled me!” the doppelganger said.
Cool Boy...Pun had to admit the nickname fit the young man. He was looking between Pun and his boyfriend, looking very confused. The doppelganger--King--Pun reminded himself--looked slightly lost in thought, then shook himself out of it, reaching out and touching his boyfriend’s face.
“No, Ram, I promise I don’t have a twin I didn’t tell you about” King reassured his boyfriend.
“Literally impossible” Pun mumbled under his breath, thinking about what Pao had said earlier. It looked like he had met one of his doppelgangers--which Pun figured would never happen, since it shouldn’t be possible.
“So…you guys want a room, right?” Pun asked.
“Yes, please” King said, turning his attention away from his boyfriend. “What rooms do you have available?”
The transaction passed quickly, with King getting several silent answers from Ram, who still looked slightly dazed at the fact that his boyfriend had a doppelganger.
When the transaction was over, Pun sighed, glad that it was over, running his hand through his hair.
“Hey, you okay?” Zen asked, having come back from the restroom.
“Just saw my doppelganger but yeah, I’m fine” Pun replied.
“Oh, yeah I saw him. He looks exactly like you” Zen said. “I was like ‘no way is Pun also a twin’”
“I can promise you, that guy is in no way related to me” Pun said firmly.
When Win’s shift was over, he passed Pun heading to his room. They waved at each other, and Win went to the cafe, where he would be meeting Ram, and he could finally get his drink, which he had passed in favor of being left alone from Manaow and her twin.
“Hi Win, we missed you this morning” Golf teased Win as he came up to the counter.
“Did you see the two Manaows?” Win asked grumpily. He had gotten more used to her and Zol but he still sometimes felt like a piece of meat with them. His friends had teased him and Tops, but they still treated him like a person.
“I did, and the two Valens, and the two Puns” Tom said from where he was making a hot chocolate. “Valen never told us he was a twin, so rude. He goes to Boston to study and just neglects to tell us he has a doctor twin”
“P’Valen seems to be pretty quiet” Win said absentmindedly, watching Phume make latte art, not really listening to Tom.
“Anyway, what would you like, Win?” Golf asked.
“My usual” Win answered.
The three baristas looked at each other. Phume mouthed “decaf” to Tom, who nodded as he started making the drink.
Once Win got his drink, he looked around for his cousin. He didn’t seem to be here quite yet, so Win sat down at a table next to a table with two guys and two girls. He thought one of the girls looked a little like Nook, but thought nothing of it. He also thought the other girl looked vaguely familiar, like he had done a gig with her. He pulled out his phone when he overheard a familiar name.
“Yeah, P’Akk asked Beam and I to be his groomsmen at his wedding. He said that his friend Kin would be the best man” a tall guy wearing a sweater that Win had seen on Pun before said.
“What about Type?” asked the tan, Latino-ish looking guy across from him.
“He was never close to Type, and he wouldn’t want to do it anyway, you know Type” was the reply.
“Didn’t he not approve of your dating at first?” asked one of the girls.
“Pear, you’ve heard this story ten billion times” reprimanded the other girl.
“I like hearing it, Earn! Sue me”
“Yeah, this nuisance likes telling the story now. I remember when he just wanted a fake boyfriend…”
“Saraleo!”
“Khun Tine, you know my name is Sarawat, not Saraleo” teased the Latino-ish looking guy.
The tall guy stuck out his tongue, and the four of them laughed. Win shrugged, wondering if it was the Akk Neung never shut up about, when Nook came over and hugged one of the girls, explaining to the group that she was-apparently- Pear’s cousin. She sat down and explained her job, while Win waited until his cousin appeared in front of him.
“Ram! Hey!” Win greeted him with a fist bump. He knew Ram wouldn’t be talking much, but it was still nice to be catching up with him.
“Hi Win” Ram said quietly, looking at someone at the counter, who was touching a plant while ordering. “My boyfriend is going to be with us, if that’s okay”
Win nodded distractedly, having received a text from Tops about how his shift was over, so he would be in their room. When Win looked up again, sipping from his drink, Ram was looking softly at someone who looked exactly like Pun, causing him to choke on his drink. Ram thumped him on the back as Win coughed. He looked over at the baristas accusingly.
“Two Puns!” they said in unison.
Win made a face at them, then looked back at Ram and the Pun-look-alike.
“Who’s the boyfriend?” he asked Ram.
“This is P’King, he’s an engineer like me” Ram replied. “And no, the ‘Pun’ that works here is not his twin”
“Ai’Ning, this is the fifth time today we’ve had to explain that” King said with a laugh, sliding into a chair. “I’ll admit, though, seeing my doppelganger wasn’t something I was expecting today. You’re Ram’s cousin?”
Win nodded. “On the Thai side. My mom’s British. Has Ram told you about our group chat?”
“No, he hasn’t” King said, looking interested.
“Win, are you going to spill all our secrets?” Ram asked, looking pained.
“What, the very obvious ‘these four dudes are mixed’ one?” Win asked, put out.
“Oh”
“You have more mixed cousins?” King asked.
“Yup, Pha, who’s also half British, and P’Mil, who’s half American” Win explained. “But we’re all related on the Thai side. Our parents think it’s hilarious they all had mixed kids. The family reunions are so loud with both English-in three accents- and Thai being spoken”
Ram rolled his eyes. The conversation changed to other topics, and Win found that King, while kind and caring like Pun, was a lot more talkative and very observant. He was also obsessed with plants. When Win had finished his drink, he excused himself and went up to his room.
“Hi Win” Tops said, dressed in his pajamas and drying his hair with a towel. Win’s face softened, seeing Tops look so cute in his pajamas.
“What?” Tops looked over himself, looking confused.
“Nothing, you’re just cute” Win said, coming over and taking the towel from Tops. “Here, let me”
Tops smiled patiently and sat down on the bed, letting Win dry his hair.