"They call me ruthless. But in front of him—
I found myself brushing foam from his lips like a fool."
— Kao Neptune
[ Important Note—
From this point onward, the character previously referred to as 'Stranger' will be identified by his real name, Kao Neptune, as his true identity has now been revealed. ]
Nil sat quietly, his slender fingers curved around a warm porcelain cup, its steam rising faintly into the stillness of the café. The hour was late, yet time no longer moved in the usual way—it hung suspended, wrapped in the faint clink of ceramic and the hush between heartbeats.
Across the table, Kao watched him.
That boy—was not beautiful in the usual sense. His hair was too wild, falling stubbornly across his brow no matter how often he pushed it back. His brows were thick, his lashes long and downturned, his lips often pressed into a line that hinted at defiance more than grace. And yet—under the golden light of the café, with his head bowed and his throat exposed each time he swallowed—the curve of his Adam's apple catching the light just so—Nil looked...
Incomparably perfect.
A flame born of raw humanity. No polish. No pretense. But something more devastating than either.
Kao's gaze had not left him for a while now.
Across the table, Nil sat in a silence heavy with thought, his mind stormed with questions that refused to settle. He was so deep in contemplation that he did not notice the way Kao had leaned in slightly, his voice low, nearly hesitant.
"Why so quiet?"
Nil looked up slowly. His eyes, wide and dark, met Kao's. There was no anger in them—just something gentler. Something that stung more than fury.
"...Thank you, Stranger."
Kao blinked. "...For what?"
Nil looked away, his voice quiet but sincere, "For helping me. None of this... coming to Bangkok, meeting such kind people, surviving this long—none of it would have been possible without you."
He paused, then added softly, "And today... again, you helped me."
His words trailed, but their truth lingered like incense.
"I will repay you soon," Nil continued, his voice thick with restrained emotion. "You're a businessman. I know that. So let me be useful, at least once."
Kao stared at him. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, his voice dropped—low, unreadable.
"Angry?"
Nil startled. "No! No, why should I be?"
Kao didn't answer. Instead, in one graceful motion, he leaned forward—reaching out without hesitation—and with a movement as gentle as a breeze, wiped a bit of milk foam from the corner of Nil's lips with the pad of his thumb.
The gesture was quiet. Not intimate. Not calculated.
But it sent a quiet jolt through Nil's entire body, as if a string somewhere inside him had been plucked.
Their eyes met. Silence bloomed again—this time heavy, as if the air between them had become honey.
Nil was the first to look away.
To hide his unease, he lifted his chin and offered a crooked smile, laced with teasing spite. "Stranger... this morning you couldn't even stand to look at me, and now here we are—sharing coffee. Will you be charging me for the damage to your clothes next?"
The words were light, but his voice trembled ever so slightly.
Kao didn't laugh. But one corner of his lips tilted, almost imperceptibly.
"Don't you think you talk too much?" he said quietly. "In my dictionary, that's called 'blabber.'"
Nil blinked,
Nil took Kao's comment in stride, but his brows furrowed. A slow, bewildered sigh slipped out as he lifted the cup once more, pausing with it near his lips.
"You never say more than two words," he muttered, voice edged with disbelief and just a touch of irritation. "Sometimes three—if I'm lucky."
He took a sip, then placed the cup back down with a quiet clink.
"How is anyone supposed to talk to a person like that?" His tone wasn't angry—it was... genuinely puzzled. "I tried, you know?" He rubbed the back of his neck, flustered. "Tried to understand. Tried to guess what you meant or didn't mean..."
He trailed off, caught in the mess of his own thoughts.
"I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore! You're just—" Nil's eyes narrowed at Kao, exasperated. "You're very difficult!"
Kao didn't flinch. He merely watched him, his posture as composed as ever, gaze steady as polished glass.
Nil, his fingers tightening slightly around the cup, breathed out, "But... You're also kind of amazing."
Still, Kao said nothing.
Nil rushed to fill the silence, panicked by his own confession. "I mean, if you talked more—smiled a little—people wouldn't find you so scary."
Kao's brow rose, ever so slightly. "Do I scare you?"
Nil stiffened. His teeth caught the edge of his lower lip. "No," he replied quickly. "No one scares me."
Then, after a pause, muttered under his breath, "You just annoy me."
He looked away, ears tinged faintly red. "You're too complex."
Kao's expression didn't change, but something in his gaze deepened—quiet, unreadable, as though Nil's words had peeled back something hidden beneath years of practiced distance.
Nil, realizing the gravity of what he'd just said, groaned and buried his face in one hand.
"Forget I said anything. You'll probably end up with a headache from trying to understand me."
He laughed awkwardly, one shoulder rising in a half-hearted shrug. "It's the first time I've ever sat with you like this. I guess I'm just saying whatever spills out."
Across from him, Kao gave the smallest nod. It wasn't agreement, nor dismissal. Just... acknowledgment.
In the back room, behind the kitchen curtain, Mary was hiding. Not well.
Her eyes were wide, her mouth half-open, her hands gripping the edge of the counter as she peeked into the café with exaggerated carelessness.
"Is Nil possessed?" she whispered. "He's saying anything that comes to mind—has he lost his mind?!"
Techno, leaning against the wall nearby, chuckled lightly and offered her a nudge. "Maybe you should go to sleep."
But Mary didn't budge. She leaned in further, whispering louder than she thought, "He's such a fool! That's Kao Neptune. The Kao Neptune! And he's actually sitting across from him with coffee and just—ruining it!"
She buried her face in her hands, peeking through her fingers. "How can someone be this dumb and this lucky at the same time?!"
From the café, Nil's voice floated in again—still flustered, still unpolished, still painfully sincere.
Mary groaned. "Ugh, someone gag him."
But she didn't turn away.
Meanwhile, as if summoned by fate's hand, a sleek white car pulled into the shadowed lane outside Moon's Smile. The headlights cut through the misty air like blades, flickering once before going dim. From within, a figure emerged—heels clicking softly on the pavement.
It was Lava.
She hadn't planned to stop here. In fact, she had only been passing by, her mind full of trivial meetings and magazine deadlines. But the moment she spotted a familiar silhouette—that car—her heart skipped a beat.
She stepped out, drawing her shawl tighter around her shoulders, and quietly approached the café's window.
The sight inside stopped her breath in her throat.
Behind the dim glass, under the faint golden wash of tired lightbulbs, sat Kao—her beloved Kao. But the man she saw was not the one she knew. Gone was the cold, distant CEO with eyes sharper than a blade. Instead, here was a version of him she had never seen: relaxed, shoulders unguarded, lips curved in something dangerously close to contentment.
And across from him sat a boy. That same café boy. That same waiter.
Lava's hand, still resting lightly on the glass, trembled.
"What's this..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Why is he... smiling like that? Since when has Kao ever smiled like that at anyone...?"
Her chest tightened, breath catching as jealousy flared sharp and sudden in her veins. "I've been beside him all these years," she murmured, eyes darkening. "And not once have I seen him look at me like that..."
Clenching her jaw, she turned on her heel, heels striking the ground like anger made sound.
"I need to know what's going on," she hissed under her breath. "What is Kao thinking?"
With that, she left, her heart a storm.
—
Inside, the silence between the two men lingered. It wasn't heavy—it was full. The kind of silence that knew not absence, but stillness. The kind that came after a moment, when one was too afraid to speak, for fear it would vanish.
Nil finally broke it.
"I've finished... my coffee," he said softly, almost to himself.
Kao, who had been quietly observing the foam left in his own cup, looked up. His eyes sparkled, and though his expression remained neutral, his next words betrayed something strangely tender:
"Do you want me to leave?"
His voice was quiet, barely a murmur, and yet it sent a shiver down Nil's back.
Nil blinked, startled. "What's gotten into you tonight?" he blurted, his tone sharp with disbelief. "Are you even real?"
He laughed nervously. "If I were the one who came to see you, you'd have kicked me out already..."
Kao's eyes lowered, as if remembering something old and unspoken. His voice was barely audible. "I never meant to stay. But as you looked up, and the night forgot to end."
''Nil...''
With a sighed, Kao glanced at his wristwatch, sighing. "It's already 2:30 a.m. I should go."
Nil nodded, looking down. "Goodnight," he said.
But then—he paused.
Something flickered in his eyes. A decision. "Wait just a moment."
Before Kao could respond, Nil had already stood and disappeared into the back of the shop.
Kao waited.
Outside the window, streetlamps flickered. The café's light spilled faintly onto the sidewalk, and within it stood Kao—alone once again.
Then, Nil returned.
In his hands, he carried a bouquet. Not fresh—faded daisies, their petals curling inward from time, exhaustion, or both. They were wrapped in crinkled silver paper that caught the dying light like frost.
Nil stopped in front of Kao, chest rising and falling with a breath he didn't quite know how to release.
"I went to your office earlier today," he said. "To thank you."
His fingers tightened around the bouquet.
"But your assistant said you weren't in. I waited for hours. I thought maybe you'd come back."
He held out the daisies, the gesture awkward and sincere. "These were expensive for me. I bought them with tip money from customers. I meant to give them to you while they were still fresh..."
He laughed softly, bitterly. "But now, look at them. Useless."
Kao didn't speak. His lashes, always long and impossibly perfect, were lowered just slightly. And in that moment, they framed a silence more beautiful than any word.
Nil looked away. "You don't have to take them. I just wanted to show you my thanks. I'll pay you back soon. And tomorrow... I'll bring you better ones."
For a long moment, Kao said nothing. Then, slowly, he reached out and took the bouquet from Nil's hands.
He looked at it as though it were priceless.
"It's still beautiful," he said.
The words came so gently, they almost vanished into the air.
"You don't need to bring another."
And then—he stepped back.
Because Kao knew.
He knew that if he stayed one second longer, if he even looked at Nil again, he might do something reckless. Something irrevocable. Like pull this boy into his arms. Like let go of everything that had once made him Kao Neptune.
"Goodnight," he whispered.
And then he turned, bouquet clutched in hand like a relic, and walked away.
—
Outside, the night had deepened. The street had emptied. And in the quiet, Kao climbed into his car without a word.
He placed the daisies on the passenger seat, stared at them for a long moment, and laughed to himself—softly, helplessly.
"Kao Neptune," he murmured, resting his forehead against the wheel. "What's wrong with you?"
'' He offered me broken things—
his flowers, his voice, his honesty—
And I took them like a man starving for warmth.''
Nil stood in the stillness of the now-empty café, "What's wrong with him today?" the thought repeated, low and persistent, like wind whispering through a closed window. "Why did he seem so different... so strange?"
He didn't understand. That man—Stranger—was not someone who acted without reason. Every move he made was sharp, controlled, untouchable. But tonight, something had slipped. Just a little.