Can had always been loud. With alcohol, he was louder.
But Can + dating Tin + alcohol?
That was a brand new form of entertainment for the entire soccer team. Well for the team minus Ae.
“P’Noooooo, he’s just sooooo cute sometimes.” Can leaned against Techno, arms around his neck, rubbing his cheek against Techno’s shoulder. “Like when he wakes up and is all disoriented. And and like when he comes back from the gym. And also that one time-”
“Is it the time he got caught in the rain?” Techno asked.
“No, but that was also a very good example too. Did I tell you about the time he got caught in the rain?”
Type held up his phone and motioned for Techno to play along. Techno put on a long suffering face. “No, you didn’t. Tell me about it, N’Can.”
Champ giggled after he took another swig of his drink. Can had already lost the thread of the original story and started talking about how Tin looked when he came home from the gym.
“It’s not faiiiiirrrr P’!” Can whined. “He looks like he should have been in Sports Science! He’s got more muscles than P’Champ!” Champ sputtered on his next sip of his drink.
“He does not!”
“He does too, P’Champ! I counted! He has eight abs! You only have four!”
Type laughed in earnest at Champ’s stricken expression. “Look at you, you act like you’re hot shit but you’re beaten by an IC kid.”
“Shut up! I just haven’t been focusing on my core lately.”
Techno watched all three of them banter back and forth before watching Good slip his phone out of his pocket to start typing something. “N’Good, what are you doing?”
Good typed for another minute before he replied. “Ai Tin… Told me… To text him… When Ai Can… Gets this… Drunk again…” Good snapped a photo of Can leaning against Techno with Champ and Type bickering in the background before sending it to Tin. “Said he… Worries about… Can when… He drinks… This much.”
Techno blinked. “Oh shit.”
Minutes later Tin walked into the bar, still dressed in his neat uniform. He took one look at Can, who was now expounding on how great Tin’s legs were to Good who simply kept nodding along. Type was now trying to get Champ to prove his legs were better than the description of Tin’s. Techno had also gotten involved some how by trying to make a tape measure out of napkins and a pencil.
Tin sighed and waved the bartender over. “I’ll pay for their drinks and clear them out for you.”
The bartender offered a grateful wai and took Tin’s credit card before Tin walked over to the rowdy gang.
“Ok Sports Science, break it up. Cantaloupe, it’s time to go home.”
Can’s red face immediately brightened at Tin’s voice. “Ai Tin! You’re here! Now I can prove to P’Champ that you have an eight pack! And calves that are firmer than his! And-”
Tin pressed a finger to Can’s lips, immediately silencing him. “Have you been telling stories about me again?”
“Mmmmph.”
Tin sighed and rolled his eyes before he looked at Good. “Thank you for texting me. I paid the bill. Make sure your seniors get home safe, Ai Good.”
Good nodded. “Thank you… Ai Tin…” Good got up and started to push the drunk seniors towards the door. He had mild success while Champ was attempting to count his abs without lifting his shirt in front of everyone.
Tin removed his finger and Can fell into Tin’s chest with a drunk smile. “Mmm hi.”
Tin smiled back despite his better judgement. “Cantaloupe, how many drinks did you have this time?”
“Like this many?” He held up four fingers. “And then plus this many.” He held up another finger on his other hand.
“Five?”
“No Ai Tin. Like six.”
“Can, four plus one is five.”
“No… Wait…”
Tin sighed before dragging Can towards the door. He took back his credit card before stepping out into the late night air. Hopefully Can would remember how to do math in the morning if he could talk about the number of abs Tin had.
Don’t give me one-sided unrequited love, give me two-sided unwanted love. Both sides are deeply in love with the other and both sides are like ‘fuck, really?? them??? really?’
People always said that love was blind. Tin knew that it had to be. If it had been any other way, he would have never fallen for Can.
And what a pain it was to be in love with someone like Can.
Too loud when he should be quiet, Louder when he should just be loud.
Can wasn’t a picky eater, but he was just voracious. If Tin didn’t have the financial means he had, he was sure Can would eat him out of house and home before long.
Can also had no manners, no idea of how polite society worked. Tin’s ears itched with every informal word Can used.
But despite all the flaws, Tin could feel his heart opening up to the Thai Program Sports Science boy. For once in his life, Tin questioned his sanity. Maybe there had been one betrayal too many from Tul.
—–
Can’s phone pinged again and he fought the urge to throw it against the wall. He didn’t want to owe Tin any more than he had to.
Tin was ridiculously needy. For a busy IC Program student, Tin had a stupid amount of time to send him text after text after text. And none of it made sense.
Strings of emojis. GIFs of Kpop stars making cute kissy faces. Lines of poetry in English. Songs Can couldn’t understand, but with slow beats that lulled him to sleep.
It was like Tin didn’t understand who he was actually talking to and was trying to be as cliche as possible.
The memory that Tin probably didn’t know enough about Can failed to float to the surface as Can contemplated this Tin-shaped burden on his heart.
Why did his heart have to feel funny whenever he thought about Tin? Couldn’t it think of someone else? Someone who actually knew how to communicate outside of pictures and strange foreign references?
—–
They were both reluctant. So caught up in each other’s flaws, the never noticed how much closer they kept getting.
Tin never noticed the moment when Can’s strange manners became charming instead of bizarre. He did, however, notice the moment he thought Can’s outdated hair style was cute instead of childish.
Can started to understand Tin’s texts slowly. And some of the English songs were pretty good. They even helped him do better on his last test.
And when at last they did realize what had happened, still wondering why they had fallen in love with someone so intolerable, they found more than just tolerance. They found each other as they were, accepted entirely and not in part.
Because @thewickling sent me a very timely reminder about writing, have a follow-up drabble to overture.
“What are you doing?” is the first thing that leaves Zhan Yao’s lips when Bai Yutong unceremoniously tucks himself into Zhan Yao’s bed.
“Sleeping,” Yutong says simply, turning on his side to face Zhan Yao, and then rolling his eyes at the look of affront on Zhan Yao’s face. “Relax. I’m clean. I just showered, remember?”
Zhan Yao swats at Yutong’s arm. “You’re not sleeping on my bed.”
Is this the first time I managed jealous Tin?? I guess it is – yeah
TinCan Ficlet
“There was no need to hug him,” Tin grinted out, “there was literally no need!”
“It was his birthday!”
Tin grabbed the steering wheel harder and the tension was visible in every line of his body. “You said you met Good’s brother one time in your life, a wai would have been sufficient.”
Can had known something was wrong the moment Tin had put on his neutral face. When he was around Can, Can’s family or their friends he looked like a smile was hiding in the corners of his mouth. Not now.
The anger vibrated under his skin but Can knew that he wouldn’t get loud or punch something to let his frustration out. Not like Can.
But Can wouldn’t let Tin’s anger fuel his own. He wouldn’t apologize for hugging someone he thought was worth hugging. Was he sad that he caused Tin pain? Yes, but their relationship didn’t make Tin the only person allowed to receive Can’s affection.
“Could you please stop the car?”, Can asked.
“I am not going to cause an accident because I am angry,” Tin said through clenched teeth, but halted the car nevertheless.
And that was why Can loved him. Because he listened to everything Can said.
It was dark outside, and the lights of passing cars painted weird shadows on Tin’s face. Can waited. Dealing with Tin’s anger and possessiveness was always a waiting game, while Can’s anger had to be dealt with immediately. He was quick to burst, but also quick to soothe.
Tin stared straight ahead and maybe it had been one minute or ten but some of the tension left his body, and he closed his eyes, and leaned back against the headrest.
“I am more angry at myself,” he murmured and finally looked at Can. There was anger still lurking in his eyes, but also sadness and a sort of resignation.
“This jealousy is stupid. His wife was standing next to him.”
Can unfastened his and Tin’s seatbelt and crawled on Tin’s lap. It was an easy move, because he did it all the time. Making out in Tin’s fancy ass car was one of his favourite things to do.
“I love you,” he said and caressed the smooth skin around Tin’s eyes. He hated to see wrinkles out of worry or anger there. He wanted laugh lines, happy wrinkles.
Tin put his hands on his waist and his eyes softened, like everytime Can said those three words.
“I know,” he answered and the arrogant smirk was back on his face. Can loved that smirk, too.
Can kissed him with a familiarity that was both reassuring and exhilarating. He couldn’t get enough of Tin’s taste. Their tongues played lazily while their breath quickened.
“We will get arrested for offending public decency,” Can murmured. “I will make a donation to the police headquarter,” Tin replied and put his hands under Can’s button down. Can shivered but…
“Wait, bribing the police would work?” He felt Tin’s shurg. “Rich people are wild!”
!!! We stan a healthy relationship that has communication!!
Fanfic Series Master post Series: Love by Chance Pairing: TinCan
Banner made by the lovely and amazing @andwebegin. GIVE HER TONS OF LOVE.
(Also on AO3) Fanfics are listed here in the order they should be read.
The Worst Kiss: [Tumblr, AO3] Tin has a plan to get more kisses out of Can. It may or may not be a bad idea. It also may or may not get out of hand.
So baby, can I?: [Tumblr, AO3] Can and Tin have been dating for months. It takes Pete’s teasing and Can’s sister to get them to finally be more than that.
The smile that charms me: [Tumblr, AO3] Can knows how to get what he wants out of Tin. Bribery, sex, food, cute words, all those things do not matter. Tin knows better, knows those as tools of manipulation. But Can has one tool Tin will always fall for, his smile. And Tin falls willingly.
The walls have ears (But they’re not yours): [Tumblr, AO3] Tin has his moments of being melodramatic, talking to himself in the mirror, spending time under the shower contemplating deeper thoughts, and Can had never found anything too bothersome about it. Until it comes to a boiling point.
Can I have this dance (Teach me the steps): [Tumblr, AO3] Tin may have been cold and aloof, but Can was always the one who was comfortable in his skin. So comfortable, that he’d forgotten the distance between their social standings. An invitation to a ball and a crash course in etiquette make Can wonder just how cut out he is to be with Tin after all.
All your little hurts: [Tumblr, AO3] Can hurts, a little emotionally and a little physically. Tin hasn’t been able to do much about it lately, but tonight he does his best to fix everything. He’s not always good with words, but at least he’s good with his hands.
Counting Devotions: [Tumblr, AO3] There are nights where Tin is fast, nights were Tin takes his time, nights where the only goal is to drive Can insane before Can reciprocates. Tonight, Can’s body feels like an idol and Tin is paying devotions.
Repeat after me, I need a vacation: [Tumblr, AO3] The sky is blue, water is wet, and Tin has a mountain of classwork. These are some of the truths that Can knows. But another thing he knows is that it’s been MONTHS since Tin had some proper down time and while Can might not have a lot of money, he’s determined to take Tin on a vacation of sorts.
Reblogging this because I still have prompts to answer, but maybe some of you want to indulge in an AU where Tin and Can actually have most of their shit together. THUS I ALREADY WROTE FIX IT.
“So, Tul says you’ve been seeing someone.” Tin’s father doesn’t even look at him, doesn’t notice how Tin’s body has prepared itself for a fight. Tin’s father continues pouring himself some brandy. “You haven’t introduced her to your mother and I yet.”
“No, I haven’t introduced him to you yet.”
Tin’s father pauses. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll arrange a dinner, father. Do tell mother to clear her schedule.”
“And Tul?”
“Hasn’t Tul already made up his mind? If he wants to join, how can I stop my older brother?” —– It was as casual a dinner as Tin could manage to arrange.
First, at least dinner was at home. And Tin made sure the cooks were preparing only Thai food. That would give Can some manner of comfort.
Second, it wasn’t in the extravagant dining room his mother preferred for parties. It was in the smaller one for small family gatherings. Tin also absolutely refused the use of his mother’s best settings. Tin insisted that they use the unpainted china set.
Third, Tin managed to his father to not dress like he was at a business dinner and his mother to not dress like she was at a charity ball. There was no helping Tul’s face though.
Can showed up wearing his nicest button down shirt and khakis. He smiled at Tin and Tin fought the urge to grab his hand and run away instead of having this stupid dinner.
“Hi…” Can pressed a kiss near the corner of Tin’s lips. “Ready?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Can shrugged. “You’ve warned me about them plenty. Did you warn them about me?”
This time Tin smiled. “Not at all.” —– Tin introduced Can. Can, to his credit, performed the most respectful greeting of his life.
What followed next was borderline disrespectful.
“So what major are you in?” Tin’s father asked.
“I’m in Sports Science, sir.”
Tul smiled, but Can thought it looked very predatory. “I didn’t know the IC program had a Sports Science major.”
“They don’t,” Can said with a shrug.
Tul looked as if he was ready to go in for the kill. “Then, you are in the Thai program?”
“Why, yes I am P’Tul!” Can’s face lit up. “P’Tul, tell me, you must be so impressed that I am a Thai program.”
Tul’s face twisted into a weird expression. The conversation was not going how he intended. Tin was only smiling softly to himself. Mother and father were silently watching the debacle.
“So if you’re a Thai program, I do hope you have Tin’s best intentions at heart.”
“I assure you P’Tul, I have better intentions for Tin than you do.”
Tul’s face didn’t give away any hint of his anger, but Can could see it in his eyes. Tin’s mother motioned for the both of them to calm down, but neither had even raised their voice yet.
“Now now boys, we have only just sat down to dinner. Please, do calm down.” Tin’s mother then turned to Can. “I do apologize, Can. Sometimes Tul gets so protective of Tin.”
“There are many words I would use to describe P’Tul, Khun. I am not sure protective is one of them.”
Tin snickered into his water glass, but Can kept his expression placid and polite.
“Well, I’m glad there is no bad blood then. I will only ask you to be mindful of Tin. Help me keep him out of trouble, hmm?”
“Oh Khun, I will absolutely make sure he stays out of all unnecessary trouble.”
Tin’s father coughed this time. “Unnecessary trouble?”
“Oh of course sir. Sometimes just a little trouble is necessary.”
“For what reason could anyone want trouble?”
“Sometimes,” Can said as he turned to look at Tin, “We need a little trouble to shake up our lives, make us see what’s really important. We learn to let people in and help us after a little bit of trouble.” Can turned back to smile at Tin’s father. “A tiny bit of necessary trouble does no harm then, don’t you think, sir?”
Tin surveyed the field. His mother and father were perplexed. Tul was fuming.
“Tin, open up!” Can calls as he knocks on the car’s window. Tin rolls the window down but doesn’t unlock the door. The last time Can was in his car he broke his heart, he doesn’t need a repeat performance.
“What do you want?” Tin asks coldly.
Can doesn’t answer right away, and Tin feels all the ice he wrapped around his heart melt at the sight of tears gleaming in Can’s eyes. Shit. He opens the door and Can slips inside without a word.
“I miss you,” Can blurts, eyes fixed on the dashboard in front of him. “I think about you all day long, and all I can see when I close my eyes is your face, and I wonder how you are all the time and I can’t even call because I’m the one who rejected you.”
Tin isn’t breathing.
“Can we go back to how we were before? Start again from there?” Can asks, finding the courage to look directly at Tin.
“No, Can,” begins Tin, and before he can finish his sentence Can is nodding, tight lipped, one hand already reaching for the door’s handle. Tin grabs his shoulder to make him stay, and they both freeze at the first contact they have had in weeks.
“Can,” Tin says slowly, trying to control his breathing. “I don’t want to go back to how we were before. It’s not enough for me, and you know it. I can’t be just friends with you, Can.”
“I know,” Can says, and there’s something in his expression that Tin doesn’t dare to trust. “Tin, I – I don’t want to be just friends with you either. Not anymore,” and there’s a hopeful look in his eyes that Tin can’t deny for the life of him. Can reaches for Tin’s hand tentatively, letting his own hang in the space between them, waiting for Tin to take the next step.
“Do you mean it?” Tin whispers, too choked up to talk any louder.
Can nods, and Tin takes his hand.
Later, after dinner, Tin drives Can home. Before Can leaves the car, Tin has something to ask.
“Tell me, did you change your mind because you missed my kisses?”
“What? No! I missed you as a whole!” Can says, gesturing vaguely to all of Tin.
“You’re lying, you’re blushing.”
“Shut up, no I’m not!” Can denies, his palms coming up to cover his cheeks.
“You are, and it’s terribly cute, and I’m going to kiss you again, alright?” Tin says as he leans forward into Can’s space. He stops before reaching him, letting him take the next step.
Can meets him in the middle, sighing against his lips, one hand coming up to cup Tin’s skull and hold him close. As close as they should always be.
OF COURSE Can is sleeping inTin’s shirts, what else should he wear?
Warning for NSFW under the cut
TinCan Ficlet
The first time it happened Tin didn’t realize that Can was wearing his shirt. He had been half asleep and heard Can complain about the AC, the bed had wobbled and Can had came back with a shirt on. Tin had fallen asleep. The next morning he watched how Can crawled out of the bed a bit sleepdrunk and his eyes fell on Can’s butt, which was hidden beneath a shirt longer than normal. He was suddenly wide awake.
Hey anon ❤ i’m turning this into a canon-ish fix-it!!!! (I say canon-ish cause i don’t want to see the ep but i’ve seen the transcript that broke my heart)
12 – “How long have you been standing here?” “Long enough.”
Okay warning: this starts out angsty but it ends happy! I cannot have them sad for long, i just can’t.
________
Tin has changed his study spot, thinking, in a futile attempt to obsess less about Can, that changing his other habits would also make him change his stalkery behavior. Maybe by going to different places, places where he doesn’t have memories with Can, it will be easier to let Can go. He has to let go, he knows, not only because Can and him went through as close to a break-up as people who weren’t ever together can go through, but also because he is turning into a pathetic pining cliché and he’s starting to hate himself for it.
So that’s why he’s hidi-, no, not hiding, just seeking quiet in a place full of hormonal young adults- on the roof of the Science building, right behing the big ventilation shafts that are, okay, hiding him from view. He told himself he would study up there, but he’s rereading (for the last time!) the text messages he and Can exchanged, trying to find something to fault on Can and of course, finding nothing. He knows Can never led him on, he was always quite honest about his feelings- or lack thereof in this case, he supposes. Can’s reasons for rejecting him felt like a punch in the gut, they still do, but he has no choice but to accept Can’s decision.
It’s only… It really sucks. Tin trusted Can with parts of himself he never showed anyone, he trusted him with his past, with his present and with his could-have-been. That’s the worst part, he thinks, all the things they could have done that never saw the light of day. Between their first and last kiss, Tin had made up a thousand little and big could-have-beens, going from kissing Can behind his ear to grocery shopping on Saturday mornings to picking the color of their bedroom wall. And Can doesn’t want that.
He has made the mistake of letting hope blind him, and it’s time to face the ugly colors of reality again.
Tin scrolls down his phone, selecting everything he has that’s slightly Can-related and fluttery-feelings inducing: Can’s “can’t wait for tomorrow!!” text, Can’s sister’s Twitter posts about them, the selfies he took with him, the email confirming Can’s new phone would be insured.
He’s going to erase it all, he is, his thumb is just there, hovering over the little trash symbol, but it might take a little while. He’s feeling all numb and emotionless, wrapped in cotton and waiting for some sign that he’s about to make a mistake. Looks like it’s raining, there’s water on his cheeks. Maybe this is the sign.
“Tin?”
Tin doesn’t look up at once, frozen by the voice he longed to hear call his name again.
“How long have you been standing here, Can?” Tin sighs after wiping away the wetness in his eyes after realizing he’s seeing blurry shapes. Not the rain, then.
“Long enough to worry about you doing something stupid, you fuck. You scared the shit out of me!” Can blurts out, sinking on his knees in front of Tin.
“How did you know I was on the roof?” Tin asks, not meeting Can’s eyes. What is he doing here, anyway? He made it abundantly clear he didn’t want to worry about Tin in any way, shape or form, so what gives? Tin doesn’t want Can’s pity.
“I checked your phone gps position, there’s an app for that, but that’s not the point! I don’t want you to hurt yourself because of me,” Can says, and understanding dawns on Tin.
“Oh. Oh, I see. Bold of you to assume I would jump off the room because of you, Canta- Can. You rejected me, and to tell you the truth it hurts, but I will move on. Eventually.” Not yet, not for a long time, maybe not ever, but Tin cannot burden Can with his unwanted affections. He still hasn’t looked at Can, eyes glued on his phone.
Don’t tell him about how you cried in the shower, he thinks.
“But Tin, I don’t want you to move on,” Can whispers, and that makes Tin look up at him in cold fury. How dare he?
“What the fuck, Can? You don’t get to say that to me. You said no. You were very clear about not wanting to worry over me, not wanting to get jealous, and worst of all not being sure if being with me would make you happy. So fuck off, Can,” Tin says, and he would really like his voice to stop wavering, but Can looks stricken and damn it, he still loves him, doesn’t he.
Can looks so small, like he’s been punched with guilt, and Tin fights the urge to hug him even though he’s mad at him. Only Can can make him feel contradictory emotions like that, even now.
Can flinches when Tin crosses his arms, then takes a deep breath.
“I deserved that,” Can says softly. “But Tin, listen to me. I was wrong when I said all that. We haven’t talked in a week, and I miss you a whole lot more than I expected, and I think about you all the time, and I worry about you anyway but now I don’t get to see you smile at me or be there for me and really I was a fool for turning away from you, and I am so sorry,” he says in a rush to get everything out at once. He’s blushing fiercely, but he’s facing Tin like he’s gathered all of his courage just for this.
Tin can only stare at him, hope fluttering in his chest as Can tentatively reaches out for his hand.
“What do you want, Can?” Tin asks when he trusts his voice once more.
“You,” Can answers. “If you’ll forgive me for being a dumbass.”
Tin snorts, too choked up to speak. Can squeezes his hand, and Tin knows they’re going to be okay.
3- “Come with me to the other room.” – “We’re not going to talk about this now.”
Yes hello i know i am taking forever but i’m trying, okay? This one is short but it took forever, sorry 😅
_____________________
“Come with me to the other room,” says Tin, eyes burning. He’s not sparing a glance at either Ae or Pete, who came over for dinner tonight and are looking at them with an amused expression from Ae and a bewildered look from Pete.
“Tin, we’re not going to talk about this now,” Can whines and gestures at their friends.
“Who said we’re going to talk?” Tin says with a particular glint in his eyes, and Can bites his lips, looking guiltily at Ae. Ae grabs Pete’s hand to help him stand up faster.
“We’re going, thanks for dinner, next time we’re doing this at Pete’s apartment. Can, you owe me one,” Ae says, hurrying to get Pete out of what he can tell will quickly become a den of debauchery. Pete only has time to wave goodbye before the door closes behind them.
As soon as their friends are out, Tin stalks towards Can, shepherding him from the dining room to the bedroom with a hand on his hip, the other in his hair, and his lips locked with Can’s.
The Last Good Bar 
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