Sorry this is my first post, so apologies if I write messy or go on too long. I'm 26, freelance in Korat. I live near the uni and work from home and little cafés on some side road. Might be hard to read because I'm just dumping my thoughts out loool haha

So here's the thing: I've been with my boyfriend almost two years. We started talking last year and it was sweet at first. We met at a small workshop and swapped Line. It was a slow-building thing, not super official, but he said he wanted something serious. I was kind of happy because I’m busy with work and don't have time for big drama. I like him in that low-key way.

Problems started from small behaviors that piled up until I began to feel weird. Like before he used to send pics of his lunch pretty regularly and cute messages in the afternoon. But in the past two months it's mostly stickers and sometimes he reads and doesn't reply. He’s not a big social media user normally, but I know at night he'll post IG stories that are just nothing much—sometimes photos of meetings with other people or a view, but no caption saying where or with whom. Hmm.

So quiet. Weird.

Last week I accidentally scrolled our chat and saw he had a lot of messages from one person on Line but he often deletes chats. I got suspicious and asked indirectly who it was. He said it was someone he knows who’s working on a project with him... I half believed it, but my mind spiraled so I checked his Facebook (yes I was in the same phone, I showered first, not hardcore stalking but still). I saw a warm comment from that woman under a post where he’d posted a photo with team members. The comment was soft and not the kind of comment my boyfriend usually leaves for others. Made me feel like maybe something changed?

Another time we had dinner at a small place by my soi around 8pm. I ordered basil pork, he ordered curry paste with rice. We were talking about work when his phone buzzed and he stepped outside to talk. I heard “are you free tomorrow morning?” on the wind. He came back with a blank face and said it was work. I believed him again but there was a prickly pain inside.

I've been imagining stuff so much. Really. T_T

Some nights I try to calm myself and wonder if I'm just overthinking. I work freelance, my relatives don't fuss, and I’m alone a lot so there's time to think. But his behaviors make me uneasy: lately he's staying out later than usual, sometimes doesn't come home at all, I text and it shows read with no reply or he replies suuuper late. Should these be signs or am I just jealous?

I once confronted him directly, shyly asking “is there someone else?” He laughed and said “nope” jokingly and tried to change the subject. I laughed along but my heart quietly cried. Like... so confused lolol haha or am I just imagining things?

People tell me to talk to him straight, but I hate fighting in public or in that little food stall. I'm scared if I ask strongly he'll shut down or answer dryly and I’ll lose the relationship. I want to be strong but I'm soft inside. I like slow-building relationships and I'm terrified of a quiet loss.

I want to ask everyone: what should I do? Should I catch clear proof first and then ask, or keep observing quietly and collect evidence (that's bleak), or should I open up and calmly say I feel uncomfortable? I'm scared speaking harshly will ruin things, but I'm also scared staying quiet means living in uncertainty forever.

Do you have gentle ways to communicate this? Ways that won't hurt but will get the truth? I'm a bit tired and also laughing at myself for overthinking so much lolol haha

Thanks in advance. Honest advice welcome. P.S. If anyone wants to tell me I'm narrow-minded or untrusting, say it plainly—I’ll listen—but please don’t judge.