❤︎

Part 40

As the door banged shut after Arthit running after Kongpob, Mama suddenly sat down on the sofa and burst into tears.

"Now now," Papa put his arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"I did a terrible thing...I hit my son and oh gosh, why did I do it?" Mama was sobbing uncontrollably and it hurt to see her so sad like this.

"Don't cry, dear. Kongpob was raising his voice and we all got a bit emotional and it just...happened. Don't worry, I'm sure he understands and will forgive us both. We never wanted to force him to work in my business, but I had always hoped he would take over some day. I think we have to sit down again and listen to what he really wants, okay? I'm sure our son will make the best decision for himself, and that's all we want, right my dear?" My Papa was calming down Mama and gradually she seemed to calm down as she kept nodding to what Papa was saying.

As I listened to Papa argumentative like that, I realized how smart and understanding my Papa was in that moment. He was obviously angry with Brother to have ran off like that, but he also wanted to listen to his desires about his future.

"...But...now I see how hopeless it is..." Mama wept in Papa's arms, hiccuping between her small sobs. "Kongpob's my son. I can see that he really likes Arthit, even though he never shows it. Call it mother's intuition but I swear I haven't made this up, I would never force him to like someone he doesn't care about. But from the day Rojnapat family moved in with us, I saw a change in him, tiniest motion flicker behind his poker face and I decided to try my best to get them together. I...I really thought he would finally admit his feelings for Arthit. But after what he said, it's obvious I have made a terrible mistake. I really can't believe that I am wrong. I really really felt it. Maybe I overdid things a but. But by trying to push them together, I've succeeded in tearing them apart..."

Papa simply passed Mama his handkerchief, comforting her the best he could, but I could see a small tear in the corner of his eyes as well. He quickly wiped it away and turned to help Mama wipe her tears.

I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I can never stand seeing Mama cry. Especially when she is blaming herself for something she didn't do wrong.

"Mama," I walked up to them. "Calm down. You were all right. Brother likes Arthit, he always has. Don't worry and please, don't cry anymore."

Her sobbing stopped immediately and her wet eyes lit up. Recognizing the familiar mischievous glint in her eyes, I secretly groaned and quickly ran away, fleeing to the safety of my bedroom – I can't tell them more details. I can't break my word to Brother.

As I had expected, she ran after me upstairs, yelling excitedly, "What do you mean by that Daniel? What do you know? What have you seen? What evidence do you have? Spill it, child!!!"

Fortunately, I had reached my room before she could catch me and quickly slammed the door shut, locking it behind me. Mama continued to hammer on my door for a while, ordering me to unlock the door and promising me all my favorite sweets if I would tell her what I knew. When she mentioned baking my favourite chocolate brownie cake for me, I almost...aaaalmost gave in, but I kept still on the bed and resisted till the end.

Luckily, she eventually gave up when I proved immune to all her threats and sweet-talking, and went back downstairs. A few moments I heard her rummaging around the kitchen, humming her favorite 'cheer up' song and immediately I knew that my words had helped lighten her mood.

I heaved a sigh of relief and as I lied down on my bed, my thoughts flew back to the fateful day at the holiday resort...

I was walking through the park towards the hotel, when I saw a familiar figure sitting on the grass and leaning against a huge tree. Walking closer, I realized that it was Arthit. He was sleeping soundly and there was a small smile on his face. A book was opened on his lap – obviously he had fallen asleep halfway reading the book.

Then, I saw a little beetle scuttling down the tree trunk and the wheels in my devious little mind started turning. Picturing that Baka's hysterical reaction if he were to wake up and find his lap filled with creepy crawlies, I couldn't repress a chuckle. That would be so much fun!!!

Chuckling to myself, I crept behind a large bush near to him and bent down, starting to look for some earthworms and beetles in order to put my plan into action.

Almost immediately, I heard the sound of a breaking twig nearby. Lifting my head from my squatting position behind the bush, I saw Brother walking up toward Arthit. I realized that he hadn't seen me yet and I was about to call out to him when something made me pause – call it intuition or perhaps it was because he was acting a bit...different from his ordinary behavior.

There was this strange expression of warmth on his face as he walked up to Arthit and simply stood there, looking down at him sleeping peacefully for a long moment.

And then something unexpected happened...

My Brother smiled. At Arthit. He smiled wide and happy, and...it had been a while since I'd seen my Brother smile like that. Heck, he never moved a muscle around Arthit, except reprimand him.

But then, the unimaginable happened...

I froze in shock when my Brother suddenly knelt down next to Arthit, bending over his sleeping form with his right arm resting on the ground and his left arm resting on the tree trunk slightly above Arthit's head.

I watched in shock as he leant in very close to him, smiled one more time while staring at Arthit's peaceful face, and then, closing his eyes, he pressed a very soft, gentle kiss to his lips. So tender and loving, I was completely frozen and speechless.

My big Brother kissing Arthit!???

I'd never seen him so gentle and...loving with anyone else...and gosh, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought it could be the person he seemed to hate the most - Arthit!

After a long moment, he drew back. Again the same strange expression of warmth appeared on his face as he gazed at Arthit's sleeping features and the small smile on his face when he pouted his lips in his sleep.

Right then, I must have moved unknowingly and made a sound, because my Brother suddenly turned around and saw me peering at them from my hiding place behind the bushes.

I expected him to be mad and yell at me, but all he did was smile and put a finger to his lips.

I knew immediately he was silently asking me to keep what I'd witnessed a secret between us two. Then, he straightened up and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Arthit woke up soon after and that Baka obviously thought that everything was a dream...

...while I was left to remember it all and re-evaluate my Brother's feelings towards Arthit.

❤︎

A figure caught my eye as I was heading back to the hotel through the park after delivering some parcels that my boss had required. One quick glance told me that it was Arthit.

From his stillness and relaxed position against the big tree, it was obvious that he was deep asleep.

I didn't realize I was heading in his direction until I found myself standing in front of him. For the first time since I could remember, I could observe him closely in piece without any screaming and comments from anyone from my family or from the Baka himself.

He was sleeping peacefully – there was a rosy blush on his porcelain complexion and a small smile on his face. I smiled to myself, wondering what he was dreaming about to smile so sweetly like that. The long eyelashes curled on his puffy cheeks, reminding me of the unique beauty of a porcelain doll. I had to admit that Arthit was handsome, but also very...umm... cute.

I kneeled down in front of him, my one hand resting on the tree trunk beside his face, leaning so close that our noses were only inches from touching and I could observe him from an even closer proximity. True enough, Arthit wasn't what I would consider a great beauty – I mean look at Jessica and Krystal. Both of them could beat him hands down anytime. However, his beauty was different in his own unique way. He was not meant to compete with other women...or men, he was Arthit, handsome, cute, determined and caring in his own way, something that I hadn't seen in anyone else before.

Also, I've never really analysed what I exactly felt for him – I've usually linked his name with trouble, stupidity, irritability and persistence. Yet somehow, there was something about the Baka that was actually ...actually rather ... ... endearing...

And I knew I had been feeling this sense of...endearment and care for him for a long time now. I had tried to suppress it when I started to realize what it could meant, so in my confusion and disbelief, I kept treating him coldly to push away my...growing affection towards him... In the process, I've pushed him away many times and hurt him a lot, but...no matter how much I tried, I still unconsciously watched over him and cared for him. No matter how cold I pretended to be, he kept appearing before my eyes and I couldn't...ignore him anymore.

As I continued to gaze at his beautiful sleeping form, I couldn't stop the past memories from flooding my head – the softness and smoothness of that peaches and cream skin when I applied medicine for him, the slimness of his wrist when I grabbed his arm to pull him away from other guys, the plump softness of his rosy lips as we shared our first kiss... It was the most shocking and uncharacteristic thing I had done in my life - kissing him like that, so irrational and...emotional, but I had felt such blind jealousy when hearing him threatening to go seek out other guys to date that I just couldn't...control myself.

And since then, my feelings were never the same again. No matter how much my mind tried to hate him and ignore my heart.

The stubborn heart always won...

My eyes were automatically drawn to the rosy lips that were gently parted in slumber. Suddenly, my heartbeat began to accelerate, beating loudly in my chest, blood rushing to my ears, and I felt the strangest urge to taste those soft lips once again – it was uncontrollable.

What on earth was happening to me – to my cold iron will? I swallowed, trying to calm myself down when suddenly...

"Kongpob Suthiluck..."

I froze as my name slipped over those enticing lips. My eyes flew to his face in shock – he was still asleep. That Baka was dreaming about me! And from the little smile, it was obviously a good dream.

I had to admit to myself then and there that I really liked the way that Baka pronounced my name – there was a depth of emotion behind his words that I could never really comprehend, something akin of care and longing, but it felt ... ... really good.

And my stubborn heart agreed by thumping even faster than before, making me feel light-headed.

"Kongpob Suthiluck..." he repeated softly, his lips parted as if in sinful invitation.

My iron resolve crumbled and I finally surrendered to my whim. Leaning over him, I gently pressed my lips to his soft plump ones. They were so soft against mine, like kissing the softest puffy clouds (if I ever knew how soft clouds were like) and they tasted as good as I recalled, a faint taste of strawberries, yet they probably tasted even better this time. I wanted to deepen the kiss, to feel him responding to me, but I was afraid that he would wake up and my world would be thrown into chaos again.

Reluctantly, I pulled back after a long time and licked my lips unconsciously. Yes, definitely better than our 1st irrational kiss.

Trying to calm the turmoil in my mind (or was it my heart?), I stared at him for a while longer, smiling happiest I had felt in a while, and then stood up to leave.

I realized that Daniel had witnessed the entire scene, but I knew he would never give me away.

My secret feelings were safe until...until I could figure out what to do with them.

❤︎

Since Kongpob Suthiluck has decided that he wants to be a doctor, I have been thinking rather seriously of becoming a nurse. Don't get me wrong, I had always liked helping other people and had interest in medicine and nurse work, but I had never looked into it seriously.

But now, knowing that I could assist Kongpob in his future career, I started to think about it more seriously again. Working side by side to him, supporting him, has always been a dream of mine. Who knows, maybe I could really pull through with the entrance exam and pursue nursing.

Fighting, Arthit! You can do it!

That's why I'm currently in the library, reading an enormously thick book on nursing and trying to write down everything for extra studies later at home. Gosh, it was much harder than I thought, all the terminology, medicines and disease aspects to remember...

Ugh, no giving up yet, you can do it, Arthit!

And somehow I knew I could, cause I was actually passionate about pursuing this job.

Things in the Kongpob household have returned to normal – although Kongpob has not come by to visit for a while, Mrs Suthiluck seems less tense and nervous than before. I can see she misses her son a lot, but she has decided to wait until Kongpob is ready to forgive her.

I sincerely hoped Kongpob would make up with his parents soon; it was difficult to see Suthiluck family like this, and well, I missed having Kongpob around for dinners.

Strangely enough though, recently I have often walked into scenes, where it is apparent that Mrs Suthiluck is trying to get something out of Daniel, who remains stubbornly silent. Luring him with sweets and promising all kinds of things to him if he would "reveal what he knows or has scene"...

Really weird...

❤︎

I sat down at the table overlooking the cooking area, watching Mr Rojnapat cooking, and wondering what he wanted to discuss with me. He had previously requested for my presence in his restaurant and I expected that he had certain things that he needed to talk to me about – I really hoped it wasn't about Arthit...

...cause I still didn't know how to answer to him.

"Kongpob, I have heard that your parents are rather unhappy at the moment."

I bowed my head with guilt. So I was in for a lecture. However, he continued, "I don't have any rights to interfere in your family affairs and I don't have any intention of doing so. I just wanted to remind you that although your future is important, so are your parents. You can do whatever you want, but it would be good to go home once in a while and visit them."

"That's it?" I couldn't help asking after he was quiet for quite a while. "I knew you had something on your mind that you wanted to discuss with me, but I thought it would be related to Arthit."

To my surprise, he burst out laughing rather heartily. "What can we talk about relating to him?"

"Marriage to your son. Isn't that what you all want?" I said on his behalf, slightly surprised.

He laughed again, "Impossible." I was rather taken aback by the sureness in his tone. "Well," he relented, "perhaps next time when you know what you want and you are both older?"

"No thank you, spare me please." I pleaded jokingly, but deep down, I could feel my heart soar at the mere mention of "marriage with Arthit".

❤︎

It was growing very dark and I scolded myself for setting out to look for Kongpob Suthiluck so late at night. I wanted to give Kongpob Suthiluck the scarf that I had specially knitted for him to make him feel better – actually I was a bit worried about his reaction because one side of the scarf was kinda longer than the other and the knitting was rather uneven...

Well, I really really did my best and you can count the number of hours that I have slaved over it undoing and redoing the scarf.

Anyways, he wasn't at his apartment and I had to leave the scarf in his mailbox.

As I was walking back to Suthiluck house, I kept thinking about the recent fight between Kongpob and his family, and his feelings about being forced to do things he didn't want to. I felt really sad for him and I really hoped that he likes the scarf......

...Oooompf!

I suddenly found myself sitting on the ground with a loud yelp after colliding into something hard. I lifted my hand to massage my forehead, feeling the faint beginnings of a bruise forming. Stretching out my hand, I felt this long pole in front of me... Oh! I had been so deep in thought I didn't realize I had already reached the gate to the house and bumped into our mailbox! I seem to have a strange affinity to mailboxes tonight! Well, blame it on my night blindness, I'm always knocking into things in the dark and fumbling around like a blind bat.

"What did you bump into again this time?"

My head shot up and I squinted into the darkness. Sure enough, there was a pair of long legs standing in front of me, and they belonged to none other than... Kongpob Suthiluck!

What on earth was he doing back home when I had just gone out to look for him? My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I gaped wordlessly at him.

"You're back really early." Was that sarcasm that I heard in his voice? I took a peek at my watch – it was already 10pm. He was just making fun of me.

"What are you doing here Kongpob Suthiluck?" I finally found my voice as I looked up at him unsurely.

"Well, have you forgotten that I live here too?" He lifted an eyebrow, an amused smile dancing on his lips.

"No ... no ... that's not what I mean... But I thought you are living at your apartment? Did you come to visit?"

There was a pause, then he spoke up, "I've decided to return back home because I've reached a new decision and it'll be more convenient for me back here." He was looking at me intently as he spoke, but as always, speaking so cryptic I couldn't understand what he meant.

A new decision? What new decision? I need to know!

"Well, good night." He turned and walked passed the gate towards the house. At the doorstep, he turned and looked at me, "Next time, don't come home so late." With those parting words, he disappeared inside.

I still sat stunned on the cold hard ground.

0_0

Is it possible that Kongpob Suthiluck has returned home?

Seriously???

But...why???

Why...now???

A new decision? What is that...?

Slowly a wild feeling of elation started to overwhelm me – who cares why he returned?

I'll be living together with him!!!

I'll be able to see him everyday again!!!!!!!!!!!

❤︎

I couldn't believe that the Baka actually gave me the "horror of a scarf" that he made for me. Firstly, it was barely maroon, the shade being close to what is usually known as shocking pink. Secondly, it was lopsided. If there was a prize given to the most "artsy fartsy" representation of a scarf, Arthit would have easily gotten it.