❝ be for real. i don't get crushes. ❞

―

ALL DECHA COULD THINK ABOUT WAS DEMETRI.

He remembered the first time he saw him on the last day of school of his freshman year. His interest had been instantly piqued, but the chance to talk to him had never come. For some reason, all he could do was stare at him. Now, finally, he knew his name, and he couldn't stop repeating it over and over in his head.

The morning had been off to an awful start, but the afternoon was proving to be much better, and it was all because he had seen Demetri once again. All because he had finally gotten the chance to talk to him.

As Decha sat in his last class of the day, he didn't think that anything could top the feeling of being on cloud nine that he was currently experiencing after seeing Demetri again, but then he noticed him walk through the door.

Decha's eyes followed him as he walked through the room. He couldn't stop the smile on his face as Demetri sat down in the seat in front of him.

"Hey, Demetri, right?" Decha spoke.

Demetri ignored him.

Decha tapped his shoulder. "Hey."

Demetri didn't even bother to turn around. "No thank you."

"Huh?" Decha asked, confused.

"I said no thank you," Demetri repeated.

Decha's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Demetri turned around for the first time. "It means I know exactly who you are, and I'm not interested in becoming one of your conquests, so go try your luck with someone else. I'm sure they won't be hard to find."

Decha wasn't sure how to respond to that. He was absolutely dumbfounded. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. People were usually smitten with him, and after just a simple 'hey' would already be swooning without giving it a second thought, but not Demetri.

Decha couldn't help but smirk. Demetri's rejection of his attempt to flirt with him only made him even more interested and determined to get to know him.

After class was over, Decha made another attempt to talk to him. Before he even had the chance to open his mouth, Demetri was out of his seat and making his way out the door. Decha stood up quickly, not even bothering to zip his backpack as he followed after him. When Decha reached the hallway, Demetri was nowhere in sight. He had disappeared into the flood of people.

"Damn, he sure walks fast..."

"Who walks fast?"

Decha jumped and turned his head to see Achara standing next to him. "What the hell, Achara? You scared the shit out of me. Where did you even come from?"

"My class is literally right next to yours," Achara replied. "Now, back to my question... Who walks fast?"

"You're never going to believe this, but I found him," Decha told her.

"Found who?" Achara asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

"The boy I saw on the last day of school. The one from the library, remember?"

"You mean the one you wouldn't shut up about?" Achara questioned,

Decha and Achara began walking through the hallway. "I didn't talk about him that much..."

"Yeah, you did," Achara said. "You mentioned him at least three times a day."

"Okay, whatever, that doesn't matter," Decha brushed her off. "What matters is that I finally know his name and I talked to him."

"Poor him," Achara replied sarcastically.

"Could you at least show a little enthusiasm?" Decha asked with a slight frown on his face.

"Yay!" Achara said, with clear fake enthusiasm present in her voice. "Is that better?"

Decha rolled his eyes. "I hate you sometimes."

"You'll get over it," Achara responded. "So, what's his name?"

A smile appeared on Decha's face. "Demetri."

"And what happened when you talked to him?" Achara asked him as they reached the car.

Decha's smile disappeared. "Well, I tried to say hi, and long story short, he rejected me."

"Aww, baby's first rejection," Achara remarked, taking the seat in front of the steering wheel. "I can only imagine how crushed your ego must be."

"You really know how to add salt to my wounds, don't you?" Decha asked.

Achara scoffed. "Please, we both know you aren't going to give up. You'll just keep bothering him."

"You're right," Decha nodded. "You know me so well."

Achara looked out the rearview mirror as she pulled out of the parking space. "What's so special about him anyway?"

Decha shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"It seems like you have a crush," Achara noted.

"A crush?" Decha couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Be for real. I don't get crushes."

"Deny it all you want, but you have a crush," Achara said, not taking denial as an answer.

Decha shook his head. "You're crazy. I do not have a crush."

Achara nodded her head and pressed her lips into a thin line. "If you say so."

"Achara, when have I ever had a crush on someone?" Decha questioned her, unable to believe that she was insinuating such a thing.

"Right now," Achara pointed out.

Never in his life had Decha ever had a crush on someone. Sure, there were people that he thought were attractive or people that he was interested in, but he had never had a crush the way that other people did. Just because he thought Demetri was cute, spent more time thinking about him than he should, and smiled every time he thought about him, did not mean he had a crush. Achara didn't know what she was talking about.

"Whatever," Decha responded.

"I'm telling you," Achara began, "You have a crush on him. I've never heard you talk about someone as much as you talk about him. Do you even hear yourself when you talk about him? It's fucking annoying."

"You know, if Mae and Pa heard you say that, you'd be in big trouble," Decha replied.

"And whose going to tell them? You?" Achara asked. "As if they'd believe you."

Decha reached over and punched her shoulder. Achara was quick to return the favor.

"Are you seriously hitting me while you're driving and taking your hand off the wheel?" Decha asked, putting his hand over his chest dramatically. "How irresponsible!"

Achara chuckled. "You're such an idiot."

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Achara knocked on Decha's bedroom door. She waited for him to respond before opening the door. When she walked in, he was sitting in front of his computer, playing some game that Achara didn't understand, no matter how many times he tried to explain it to her.

"Dungeon Lord? Again?" Achara asked. "You are such a nerd. Your cool guy reputation would be absolutely ruined if people at school knew you played that."

Decha turned around in his chair to face her. "First of all, do not diss Dungeon Lord. Second, nothing will ever ruin my cool guy reputation."

Achara rolled her eyes. "Overconfident much? I swear I cannot stand you."

"Says you," Decha retorted. "You're the one that came into my room. What do you even want? Because right now, all you're doing is being a pain in my ass."

"Well, Aisha texted me and said she couldn't come over, so I was going to ask if you wanted to come to the skatepark with me, but you annoyed me, so I think I'm going to take back my offer," Achara explained.

"I annoyed you?" Decha asked. "You're the one who came into my room and started criticizing my choice of entertainment."

"Because your choice of entertainment makes you a nerd," Achara shot back.

Decha put his hands out in front of him. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Exist," Achara replied immediately.

"Wow," Decha responded. "And to think I was actually considering taking time away from my game to keep you company."

"I don't need your company," Achara crossed her arms. "Robby is going to be there. I was just trying to be nice."

Decha perked up. "Robby's going to be there? Best friend Robby? The greatest guy in the entire world Robby? Why didn't you start with that? What are we still doing here? Let's go!"

Achara didn't even have the chance to say anything before her brother put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. He started to push her out the door.

Achara smacked his hands away. "Let go of me. I can walk myself."

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When the twins arrived at the skatepark, Robby was already there. He smiled and waved when he saw them approaching. Decha ran up to him and enveloped him in a hug, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.

"Robby! Long time, no see. How have you been?" Decha asked.

Robby laughed. "You saw me like, three days ago."

"And that is way too long," Decha said, letting go of him.

Achara shook her head at them. "You know, it's a miracle people don't think you're dating the way you two hang off of each other."

"Been there, done that," Decha replied.

"I don't think you could really call it dating," Robby responded.

"Yeah. I think it's more like best friends who kissed because someone's sister dared them to," Decha said, glaring at Achara.

"Don't put that on me," Achara defended herself. "You were the one who decided to be stupid and say, If you give me ten bucks, I'll kiss Robby right now' and when I said you wouldn't, you were the idiot who said, 'Dare me to do it.' So, I did."

"You could have said no," Decha pointed out. "But, point is, we had some weird sort of not friends but not quite dating relationship after that...I'm still not sure how to define it."

"Me either," Robby agreed. "But hey, the past is in the past. At least we're still friends."

Decha, Achara, and Robby had been friends for as long as they could remember. They used to play soccer together when they were kids. After the kiss—which was both Decha and Robby's first kiss—the two avoided each other for almost a week before finally talking about it. They were both conflicted on whether or not they had feelings for each other and decided to give being more than friends a try.

In the end, it only lasted six days before they decided they were better off as friends. Sometimes, the way they acted around each other made it seem like they were more than friends, but the truth of the matter was that they were just really comfortable around each other.

"So, are we going to sit around rehashing your weird relationship or skate?" Achara asked.

"Yeah, you two go do that," Decha responded. "I'll be over here on the sidelines watching. Me and skateboarding are sworn enemies."

"You only say that because you fall on your ass every single time," Achara pointed out before turning to Robby. "Come on, let's go."

Decha watched as the two of them walked away. Skateboarding was one thing that he could never get the hang of, but he liked watching. The skatepark was the one place besides school where he could truly see Achara being herself and doing something that she loved. It was the one place Achara got to be carefree and not worry about trying to be perfect. That was all he cared about.

Plus, if he got bored, there was an upside. There was always a cute skater boy around that he could sneak off with for a few minutes to help ease his boredom while he waited.

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The next morning, Decha was surprisingly the first one downstairs. If he wasn't sneaking through his bedroom window after staying out all night, then he would sleep in until Achara had to come and wake him up. But he was motivated to get up—a certain someone had caught his eye.

For the first time in his life, Decha actually wanted to go to school. He never thought that would ever be a possibility, but that was just what the thought of seeing Demetri again did. He was bound and determined that he was going to get Demetri to talk to him.

When Achara walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, she had to do a double take. For a second, she thought that her eyes were deceiving her. There was no way that her brother, who needed an alarm set every five minutes and still needed to be dragged out of bed, was awake before her.

"Am I still dreaming, or have I entered a parallel universe?" Achara questioned, stopping in her tracks to stare at her brother. "What the hell are you doing awake before the sunrise?"

"What can I say?" Decha replied. "I've been suddenly very motivated to learn."

"You? Learn?" Achara couldn't help but laugh. "That's absolutely hilarious. This doesn't have anything to do with Demetri, does it?"

"It has everything to do with Demetri," Decha answered, taking a bite of the omelette he made.

"I'm not surprised," Achara replied. "Wait a second, did you—you actually made omelettes and didn't burn the house down?"

"I know how to cook, thank you very much," Decha responded. "There's more if you want some."

Achara walked over to the counter, and sure enough, there was a plate of them. Achara didn't hesitate to grab a plate. "You should have a crush more often."

"Not a crush," Decha reminded her.

"If you say so," Achara said.

Decha didn't have the chance to say a snarky or sarcastic comeback before their parents walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"Angel, did you make breakfast?" their mother asked Achara with a smile.

Achara shook her head. "Decha did."

"There's more if you'd like some," Decha told his parents, a smile on his face.

There was a proud tone in his voice. His father nodded his head in his direction but didn't say a word. He walked over to the stack of omelettes. Decha watched him closely as he opened the cabinet, hoping that he would get a plate, but instead, he grabbed a mug and proceeded to make coffee.

Decha tried not to let his smile falter as he looked at his mother. "Would you like some, Mae?"

He stood up and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. He quickly put an omelette on the plate before grabbing a fork. Decha smiled at his mother as he placed the plate on the counter in front of her. She stared down at the plate for what seemed like the longest time before picking the fork up. Decha felt like he was on the edge of his seat waiting for her to eat.

When she finally did, Decha smiled brightly. He was practically beaming as he watched her take another bite. She never said a word, but seeing her eat the food he made was enough to make him overjoyed with happiness.

"Pa, would you like some?" Decha asked his father with a smile, basking in happiness.

Decha was hoping that he would say yes, but instead, he just shook his head. Decha felt disappointed, but he didn't want to dwell on it.

Achara placed her hand on Decha's shoulder, getting his attention. "Thank you, Decha. We all appreciate it."

Decha nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

Decha sighed. Even if his parents didn't acknowledge him or the things he tried to do to make them proud of him, at least he had Achara.

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Decha sat at the lunch table, but his focus was not eating. His focus was entirely on Demetri. Achara and Aisha were in the middle of a conversation, but Decha wasn't listening. He was so lost in his own little world that he hadn't even noticed Achara trying to get his attention. She was shaking his shoulder and calling his name, but nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, he stood up and started walking over to the table Demetri sat at with his friends. Achara and Aisha stared at him in confusion.

"What's he doing?" Decha heard Aisha ask.

He heard Achara answer her but paid no attention to what she said. He just continued to walk towards the table. When he reached it, he took a seat in an empty chair.

"Hey, Demetri."

Demetri rolled his eyes. "Didn't I tell you that I wasn't interested?"

"Yes, but—"

"So, you don't know how to take no for an answer? Is that it?" Demetri asked, clearly annoyed.

"I just—"

"He said he wasn't interested," a voice spoke up.

Decha turned his attention away from Demetri. "Aren't you that guy from yesterday? The one that walked up to the popular table?"

The boy looked down at his tray. "Yeah..."

"Hey, don't worry about it, man. I'm not associated with those assholes," Decha told him. "I'd rather chew off my own leg."

The boy didn't respond, so Decha introduced himself. "I'm Decha. Decha Thirasawat."

"I know," he replied.

Decha raised an eyebrow. "You know?"

The boy nodded. "I've heard about you."

"Good things, I hope," Decha responded, followed by a smile.

The boy glanced over at Demetri before turning back to Decha. "Not really..."

Decha's smile faltered. "Oh." His smile quickly returned. "Well, since you know me, I think it's only right that I know you. What's your name?"

"Miguel Diaz."

"Nice to meet you, Miguel Diaz."

Demetri scoffed. "I say I'm not interested, so you start hitting on him? Real nice."

"That's not what's happening at all," Decha said. "Can't I just be friendly?"

"I think we have two entirely different definitions of the word friendly," Demetri replied.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Decha stood up from his seat. "See you around, Miguel." He looked over at the other boy, who was sitting next to Demetri. "You too—sorry I didn't catch your name."

"That's because he wasn't throwing it," Demetri retorted.

"It's Eli."

Demetri elbowed him in the side.

"What?" Eli asked, only to receive a glare in response.

"See you around, Eli," Decha said before he turned to look at Demetri and winked. "I'll see you in class, Demetri."

— EMILIA'S NOTES *VERY IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ!!*

so you might have noticed that achara & decha often call their parents ma and pa and in this chapter, decha said "mae." in thai, mother is  mae or sometimes ma. for father, i have seen it written as both por and phaw (pronounced like pa). for mom, i will be using mae and ma and for dad i will just write pa.

so, in this fic, you will often see achara and decha say ma, mae, and pa rather than mom/dad or i will use them interchangeably. like for instance, when addressing them to their face they will say mae/ma and pa. or sometimes when talking to other people, they'll simply just say mom and dad.

since, achara and decha are thai (as are the actress/actor), i might start including some thai words/phrases. i have been trying to learn thai and know a few phrases, but my knowledge is still pretty limited. however, i wanna try and incorporate the language.

when and if i do include something that is thai, i will make sure to write out the pronunciation and how it's written phonetically. if something is not explained within the chapter, then i will make a note about it at the end with an explanation of what it means.

also keep in mind that i am in no way fluent or an expert by any means. literally everything i know has come from watching thai dramas, language learning apps, and guides on tiktok. however, i still want to incorporate the thai language into this fic and will try my best to provide pronunciations and meanings for y'all.

ANYWAYS....

it took me literally forever to finish this chapter. like i literally posted the first chapter a month ago and then i just couldn't figure out where to end it so i just left it at an awkward place...

alternative title for this chapter: decha denying the fact that he has the fattest crush on demetri

and in case you missed it, dungeon lord is the game that we see kenny and hawk playing in cobra kai... decha being a secret nerd that plays dungeon lord is everything to me. y'all don't get it.

also yes. i did throw in a little decha/robby. the idea came to me and i thought why the heck not? so now they're iconic besties who kissed, thought they had feelings for each other, tried to date, but then decided they were better off as chaotic besties and i love it

also @ achara and decha's parents - can y'all just be proud of your son for once and appreciate the fact that he tried to do something nice??? i created them and i don't like them...

also i promise, actual cobra kai plots will be happening soon. i'm still just trying to set up the basics. also kinda wanna take my time with this fic and not rush things because let's be honest, the entirety of cobra kai is very very rushed.

and one last thing, if you're still here reading.... helloooo... but next chapter will be more achara/miguel centered

okay bye now <3