Work Text:
“Nonggg, would you like a banana?” Mae Cha called out as she rummaged through her purse.
Ever since being assigned to manage Keng and Namping, her bag had slowly evolved from a small designer purse into something closer to a survival tote.
Inside were all sorts of things people normally wouldn’t expect someone to carry around every day—portable umbrellas, handheld fans, lotion, free mini hand sanitizers from random brand events, baby wipes, deodorant, tissues, painkillers, along with other pills, snacks, and emergency sewing kits.
At this point, it resembled a mom bag more than a manager’s.
Then again, she practically was taking care of children.
Very tall children.
Children who happened to be twenty-five and twenty-six years old and both well over 180 centimeters.
Namping, despite being gentle and careful, somehow always managed to stain his clothes whenever food was involved.
And Keng—while equally careful—had an uncontrollable habit of touching absolutely everything he saw.
Mae Cha swore she spent half her life stopping one from making a mess and the other from accidentally breaking expensive props.
“Yes pleaseee, I’m soooo hungry,” Namping whined dramatically, rubbing his stomach as he skipped over to where Mae Cha had placed her bag on top of the large white folding table.
Mae Cha snorted softly as she handed him a banana.
At the same time, she glanced across the practice room toward Keng, who was busy talking with a few staff members on the opposite side.
“Keng!” she called out.
No response.
Mae Cha narrowed her eyes.
“Nong,” she sighed, gently pushing Namping in Keng’s direction, “can you please go drag your boyfriend over here before he gives himself another headache from skipping meals?”
It wasn’t exactly unusual for Keng to get carried away with work, but lately the constant schedules had made it worse.
Instead of eating proper meals, he often survived on protein bars, iced tea, and whatever snacks Mae Cha could force into his hands between rehearsals.
As a result, the small bottle of ibuprofen she carried around for him had been emptying far faster than she liked.
“Khap phii,” Namping said as he hopped across the practice floor toward Keng.
When the two of them finally wandered back over, Mae Cha handed the second banana to Keng before stuffing everything back into her mom bag.
“Now, nong, quit forgetting to eat,” she scolded, smacking Keng’s arm lightly with the banana before handing it over.
When Namping finally had time to peel his banana and actually enjoy it, he and Keng found the rest of their friends and naturally slipped back into their usual groups.
Keng wandered off toward Zee and the self-proclaimed gym bros 😛, while Namping settled beside his dramatic “diva boys.”
“WAITT—” Otto suddenly gasped, trying—and failing—to unwrap himself from North’s ridiculously tight grip around his waist.
“So are you and P’Tle finally dating or what?”
FirstOne nearly choked on his Ichitan honey lemon tea.
“Well—I mean—we’re trying to keep it lowkey,” he admitted, brushing his hair back nervously. “We don’t want things to be too public yet.”
A faint pink flush spread across his cheeks as he spoke.
Anyone else might’ve assumed it was leftover adrenaline from rehearsal, but the group immediately knew better.
“Well, I think you guys should do what you’re comfortable with doing right now. Take your time, and don’t feel pressured to immediately say anything publicly,” P’Kim said gently, his calm voice instantly soothing FirstOne’s nerves.
The younger boy visibly relaxed a little.
“Yeah,” Namping chirped in, lifting his banana as if he were about to make some grand speech. “Just do what you guys are comfortable with.”
Now, most people would assume Namping should’ve finished his banana by now.
But Namping was a professional yapper.
The second he got distracted talking with friends, he completely forgot about whatever he was eating.
“Just take your ti—”
Namping never got to finish the sentence.
Because Mr. Giggles himself—Kong—suddenly shoved the back of Namping’s head forward.
Straight into the banana.
“OY, KONG!”
Namping shot back upright, eyes wide in betrayal as the rest of the banana disappeared halfway into his mouth.
The group exploded instantly.
Namping smacked Kong’s arm repeatedly while trying to recover from his unexpected banana incident.
“What is WRONG with you?!” he yelled, face bright pink.
Across the practice room, several of the tops immediately turned around at the sound of Namping yelling.
Namping was not a loud person.
So whenever he raised his voice, everyone assumed something serious had happened.
Instead, they were greeted with the sight of:
a traumatized Namping,
Kong wheezing with laughter,
and one very suspiciously shaped banana.
The other bottoms stared at Namping.
Then at the banana.
Then slowly back at Namping again.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.
Andddd that was the exact moment Mae Cha realized she should probably stop recording.
The boys were far enough away that the audio likely wouldn’t pick anything up clearly anyway—but after whatever that was between Kong and Namping, she knew better than to keep filming.
She lowered her phone immediately, trying very hard not to laugh.
Unfortunately for Namping, the damage had already been done.
Mae Cha had caught the entire incident on video:
Kong nearly committing murder via banana,
Namping screaming in betrayal,
and the rest of the group reacting like absolute idiots.
It was comedy gold.
And because Namping was painfully adorable whenever he sulked, Mae Cha may—or may not—have casually informed him that she planned to post the clip later.
The practice room fell silent.
Namping slowly turned toward her.
“…Mae.”
“Oh don’t give me that look,” Mae Cha said instantly, already clutching her phone protectively to her chest. “Your fans are going to think it’s cute.”
“No they’re NOT,” Namping whined dramatically, still holding the now slightly destroyed banana.
“They absolutely are,” Kim snorted.
Ohm had fully collapsed onto the floor laughing by this point.
Meanwhile, across the room, Keng walked over after finally piecing together what had happened.
Namping immediately pointed at Kong in betrayal.
“He assaulted me.”
Kong nearly choked laughing again.
Mae Cha sighed.
Every single day with these boys felt like supervising an overgrown kindergarten class.
“Sooooo uhmmmm…” Yim dragged out dramatically, barely holding back his laughter. “Looks like someone’s been practici—”
Before he could even finish the sentence, Namping lunged at him in horror.
“YIM!” Namping shrieked, trying to cover the older boy’s mouth while Tutor nearly folded in half laughing beside him.
“It was ONE banana!” Namping defended himself desperately.
“That’s not what the video looked like,” Nat wheezed, hiding behind his boyfriend Max, dodging when Namping tried to smack his arm too.
Across the room, Kong was still laughing hard enough to cry.
Meanwhile, Keng leaned casually against the mirrored wall, arms crossed, looking far too entertained by the entire situation.
Namping immediately pointed at him in betrayal.
“Why are YOU smiling?!”
Keng shrugged innocently.
“I thought it was cute.”
Namping looked genuinely embarrassed.
Mae Cha sighed loudly from behind her phone.
This video was absolutely getting posted later.
~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~
*video uploaded on X*
@nampingphatass: YO THAT WAS WAY TO SMOOTH!!!
@Nampingismywife: that looked a little too reall….HES DONE IT B4
@kengsrightarmleftring: …..Im just gonna keep my mouth shut….i think we all need to touch grass…..💀