Work Text:
As the sun beamed in his eyes, Thomas woke up to another reminder of his loneliness. He closed his eyes tighter out of pain, headache. Or maybe it was all of the alcohol catching up to him. His head slowly rose from the coffee table as he opened his eyes, did he seriously fall asleep while getting shit-faced? His nose felt all clogged up and he could feel himself drooling from mouth-breathing.
It has been 572 days since Thomas’ boyfriend, Kong, died in a boating accident. Since then, Thomas has spiralled into a state of depression. He spends his days eating, working, drinking, and sleeping. There has never been a moment where he hasn’t thought about Kong; where he didn’t recall Kong’s bright personality, his big doe eyes, and his warm hugs. Thomas never had a moment where he thought about anyone, but Kong.
Thomas slowly walked to his sink and filled up a cup of water, before downing it within seconds. “Holy shit I feel so hungover” he started talking to himself. Thomas has often caught him talking to himself more; mainly because he refuses to surround himself with people, but also it makes him feel like he is talking to Kong.
He lazily made his way to his room to change out of the smelly t-shirt he slept in and took off his pants to find shorts.
Ding Dong
“Shit, is it already Friday?” Thomas quickly put on the first pair of shorts he saw and made a run for the door. “Coming!” He hurriedly unlocked the door but gently opened it to look nonchalant. Only for his little act to break. “N’Kong?!”
Thomas immediately slammed the door shut. Holy shit. Was that his dead boyfriend at his door?! “What the fuck was in that drink?” But his hopes were held high, slowly, he opened the door again, holding his breath.
“P’Tho!”
His breath hitched.
“What’s that look for? Did you not miss me?” Kong teased as he sulked.
Thomas just stood there, he was too scared to move; too scared that his N’Kong was going to disappear if he cleared his mind.
“Hellooo?” Kong started waving his hand in front of Thomas’ face, “Hmph! I come to see you and you don’t even hug me or anything!” He crossed his arms and pouted. “P’Tho is so mean!”
Slowly reaching his hand out, Thomas touched Kong’s arm.
Holy shit.
Suddenly, Thomas pulled Kong inside of his apartment and hugged him tightly. He planted 10 million kisses all over Kong’s face and cupped Kong’s slim but round cheeks, “N’Kong, is it really you?” his breathing intensified.
“I don’t know, is it?” Kong’s eyes formed into the shape of a crescent moon as he smiled with his teeth. He held onto Thomas’ shoulder, “Has it been too long that you forgot about me?” he teased again.
“How could I ever forget you?” Thomas commented as he was inspecting Kong, “There has never been a day that I haven’t thought about you…”
Kong giggled, “Oh really?” He grabbed Thomas’ wrist and put his arms down. He got close to Thomas’ face, their lips inches away from each other. “Why do you still have my shorts?” he suddenly asked while smiling mischievously.
Thomas looked down, he just now realized that he had put on one of Kong’s old shorts. “I thought you were the landlord, I was naked when you rang the doorbell!” he sulked.
“Mhmm, right!” Kong teased more and more, “This is a new house..” He looked around until his eyes landed on the empty shot glass with the half empty vodka bottle right next to it. He furrowed his brows as he looked back at Thomas, “Since when did you start drinking?!” Kong’s teasing tone shifted into a scolding tone.
Thomas swallowed hard. He knew he didn’t have an excuse to lighten up the mood, his long pause was evidence that he had a drinking problem, “I just had friends over, that’s all.”
“Liar.”
A single word that would pierce Thomas’ heart, that would realize that there was no getting out of this. “Okay, so what I just drank a little last night, it’s fine.” He tried to downplay the situation in order to not get even more scolded.
“No! You can’t just start drinking once I have passed!” Kong started to raise his voice.
Wordless, Thomas still tried to de-esculate the situation, “My little star,” he hugged Kong by the waist, “You’re here now, let’s not worry about that.”
“Fine.” Kong still didn’t look at Thomas.
“Let me change into actual clothes and we can go somewhere fun okay?” Thomas moved his head to be face to face with Kong, “Think about where you want to go while I change, alright?”
“Sure, whatever.”
Thomas frowned and went to his room. He changed into a green and white striped collar shirt and white linen pants. His eyes landed on an old photo of Kong, when he was still alive. Thomas’ eyes teared up as loving memories rushed over him like a tsunami, which reminded him to make more while Kong is here right now.
He walked out of this room and looked in the living room, Kong wasn’t there. But neither were the glasses he left on the coffee table. Thomas started tearing up, maybe his mind was really playing tricks on him. Hopeful, he started looking around his apartment for Kong.
Ding Dong
Oh! Maybe Kong was just taking out the trash!
Thomas ran to the door to greet Kong, but instead it was his landlord. “Oh, Mr. Asnee…”
“I told you, your lease ends today,” Mr. Asnee said firmly, “Are you renewing it or what?” His arms crossed.
“ Oh yeah, let me just grab my last paycheck, come in.” He allowed Mr. Asnee in and sat him down on the couch, “Stay here, it’s in my room…”
Thomas quickly went into his room, only to be met with Kong. “Kong!” he whispered, “Where were you?”
“I was just tidying up your bathroom, your trash was overflowing…” Kong whispered back, “Go deal with your lease, I’ll be waiting right here.”
“You better,” Thomas grabbed his paycheck and ran out to the living room, “Here is the payment Mr. Asnee.”
Mr. Asnee looked at the envelope and then back up at Thomas, “Okay, where is the rest of the payment?”
What.
“I’m sorry?”
“Remember? Mr. Asnee raised his right eyebrow, “You need to pay to renew the lease and the rest of last month’s rent.”
Shit.
“Lettme go to my room real quick, I should have some cash in my wallet.” Thomas quickly ran to his room and scurried through his drawers for his wallet. Usually his rent was automatically paid, but his guess was that he didn’t have enough for the last month’s rent.
“What are you looking for?” Kong asked as he stared at Thomas.
‘My wallet…”
“It’s in your nightstand, not your drawer, you always keep it there, remember?”
Right…
Thomas grabbed the last of his cash, $250, and ran out again to Mr. Asnee, “Is $250 enough?”
“You only needed to pay $100, Thomas.” Mr. Asnee sighed, “You are too young to be acting like this, you need to get your life straight.” He gave Thomas a reality check as he grabbed the rest of the money and left. Thomas could do nothing but watch as Mr. Asnee shut the door behind him.
Mr. Asnee was right. Without Kong, Thomas didn’t know what to do with his life. Thomas felt incomplete, worthless. Whatever, Kong was here now, that was all that mattered. He quickly went back to his room. His little star was still sitting on his bed, “N’Kong, I’m sorry about that.” He sat next to Kong and hugged him.
Kong just stared at Thomas. “What was that about?” he asked in an angry tone. “Have you not been going to work?”
“It’s not that baby, I promise, my work attendance has been perfect, if not better!” Thomas coaxed, “I’ve just been spending on other things…”
“Like what?!” Kong shouted, “You don’t even leave your apartment unless you’re going to work, you’re such a fucking liar!” Kong pushed Thomas away, “I’m not going to talk to you unless you tell me the truth of your life!” He got up and walked out the room.
“N’Kong!” Thomas rushed to the living room, nothing. He checked the bathroom, nothing. Fuck, Kong really was gone now. Thomas fell to his knees as tears fell down his face. He knew he fucked up big time, he knew that Kong would be disappointed if he knew the truth. Well, guess Kong already knows the truth; like Kong has been watching him, he was just waiting for Thomas to admit it.
“I’m sorry N’Kong…” He managed to choke up through his sobs. “I’m just a big fucking loser without you, I can’t move on from you and now my life is a fucking shit hole.” His hands were fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, “All I do is stay home alone and talk to myself and act like you’re still alive; when I do remember that you’re not coming back I just drink. I get rid of my fear by using alcohol and get shit faced until I pass out. I’m sorry my star…”
“You didn’t need to be so harsh on yourself…” Kong knelt down and hugged Thomas, “I just wanted you to realize your situation right now.”
Thomas held onto Kong, “I’m sorry my little star,” his grip tightened, “Now that you’re here, I’ll try to be better, I promise” he said through his tears.
“P’Tho.” Kong pulled his head away and cupped Thomas’ cheek, making them face to face, “You can’t revive the light of a dead star.”
Reality settled in deeper, Thomas had to face the fact that Kong is forever gone. He had to do this all by himself.
Kong started caressing Thomas’ hair, “You have to remember that your star will still be there for you, even when it doesn't shine.”
All Thomas could do was just sit there, not wanting to let go of his one and only. “Please don’t go just yet.”
“You have to let me go.”
“Not yet…” Thomas buried his face in Kong’s shoulder, “Give me another minute please.”
“P’Tho, let go…”