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And then, staring at my reflection in the mirror and feeling the pain and anger grow, I found myself realizing something. All these times, I thought I was battling with Kongpob Suthiluck. All the effort I gave, I thought they were all to fight my own battle with Kongpob Suthiluck.

But I had been completely wrong. It wasn't me who was battling Kongpob after all.

It was Nam, battling Kongpob, using me.

And she had played me well.

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"Arthit, can I join you?" a voice I recognized to be Daniel's spoke as I stared lifelessly at my lunch. That was all I could do, having no appetite at that moment. But upon hearing Daniel, I looked up from my food and nodded at him as he took the seat across from me. "Why are you alone? Did you and Nam had a fight?"

I let out a deep sigh to prepare for a long explanation. "It's worse than that. Remember what I was talking about the other day? My thoughts were wrong. Nam didn't want me to like Kongpob after all. She was just using me for revenge and I can't believe I was so stupid to actually believe her. And now, I've really hurt Kongpob and I'm left with nothing..." I spoke sadly without even thinking whether he would understand what I was blabbering about.

Sure enough, when I finished, he was looking at me with a confused expression. "Okay, can we please talk about this slowly? I didn't get anything what you just said. What exactly happened between you and Nam?" he remarked in a comforting tone.

I took a deep breath and said, "She betrayed me. When we planned this revenge plot against Kongpob, I was in control. She was only helping me. But then, all of the sudden, she spills the cat out of the bag without telling me first. And now Kongpob thinks I'm the evil one, who played him all this time." I explained, hoping this time he would understand better. I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes again.

"Wait a minute, what's wrong with that? Wasn't it part of the plan to break it to him when he's completely fooled by you guys? And shouldn't you be already expecting him to think that way from the day you started planning your revenge against him? Who wouldn't get mad at a person who wants to ruin his life?" Daniel asked me with a confused expression.

He was right, it really had been part of the plan to break it to Kongpob after a while to make him feel really bad and make him realize his mistakes. And now that Daniel mentioned it, Nam really just went along with our plan. But ironically, I despised her more than ever for doing just that. She should have given me the chance to talk to Kongpob first and explain the situation to him, so he would understand that my feelings had changed along the way and I wasn't playing with him anymore...I mean, just yesterday Nam was encouraging me to be together with Kongpob...Gosh, this was so confusing.

As I was deep in thought, Daniel was looking at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to answer. "Yah, Arthit, you've fallen for your own trap, haven't you?" he remarked knowingly, not really in an insulting or accusing way, but rather in a sympathizing tone. "You really like Kongpob now, don't you?"

At first, I wasn't sure how to answer that. After all, it was just a few days ago when Daniel told me that he liked me. Wouldn't I hurt his feelings if I told him that I liked Kongpob now? But then again, even if I didn't answer to him, the sad expression on his face showed that he already knew what my answer was going to be. So I only gave him a small nod as my answer and moved on to the problem between me and Nam. "You know Nam had known about my feelings even before yesterday. She said she'd known for years I had hidden feelings for Kongpob. Just yesterday, she was telling me to continue being with Kongpob. And then suddenly, she stabs me by hurting Kongpob and making me the liar." I spoke angrily, my frustration and hurt only growing with every word I spoke. My blood was boiling at the thought of her betrayal.

And how I had hurt Kongpob in the process. Because of a stupid revenge.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Normally, when I ranted about these things, Daniel would offer me a different perspective, something along the lines of 'Maybe Nam was just upset about something so she vented out her anger on you and Kongpob'. But for the first time ever, he didn't do that. "I told you before, didn't I? You don't deserve a friend like Nam. She's been doing bad things to you behind your back from the beginning, hasn't she?" he remarked angrily.

It surprised me to see Daniel just as mad as I was about Nam's actions. This was why I enjoyed spilling out my problems to him. He really seemed to understand what I felt every time and had become a trusted friend of mine over such a short time. Unfortunately, before I could answer him, my eyes caught a glimpse of the cafeteria door open and revealed May and Kongpob talking to each other cheerfully. Wait, wasn't Kongpob just really mad at me? And now he looks more than fine...

Now, I wasn't the type to feel jealous whenever I saw a person I liked talking to some girl. I mean, what was wrong with them talking? But as I started following them with my eyes, I could feel something in the pit of my stomach. And Daniel, having noticed me suddenly being distracted, he followed my gaze and said exactly what I was thinking. "What are the two of them talking so happily about? Shouldn't May be with Michael today? After all, it's Michael's birthday. I thought Michael mentioned earlier about having a special lunch today with her."

I recalled May saying something similar earlier today, about surprise birthday event for Michael. But as I watched May and Kongpob sat down at the same table and start eating together, I realized that there had definitely been a change of plans. And I was curious to know what.

"Maybe they're planning a surprise for Michael together." I said, trying to sound indifferent.

"I guess." He answered in agreement as he took a bite off his sandwich. "So, what do you plan to do with Kongpob now?"

"I have to talk to him. I need to let him know the truth." I replied with confidence. "But the thing is, he doesn't seem like he wants to talk to me. He left his cell phone with Jessica, not wanting to talk to me. He even asked Jessica to tell me that we wouldn't be eating lunch together today. What should I do?"

Daniel cleared his throat. "Don't get mad if I say this, but you know what? What you just said sounds familiar. That's exactly what I was thinking when you found out about the deal Jessica and I made." He remarked in a serious tone. "I think it's going to be hard for you to explain this to him. After all, he's just as stubborn as you are. Maybe even more."

"What should I do then? Just let him be for a while until he calms down and is ready to talk with me?" I asked him desperately.

But before Daniel could answer, I once again got distracted as I noticed Michael entering the cafeteria with his pink cell phone held to his left ear, as he scanned the cafeteria for someone. And it wasn't long before he found May and started walking towards her.

Even though we were two tables away, we could sort of overhear what Michael told May cause his voice was rather loud and irritated. "Where have you been? I've been calling you for the past 20 minutes. And why are you eating lunch now? Have you forgotten our plans for today?"

It looked like Michael was quite upset with her. No, it was pretty obvious that he was. But May seemed to ignore that. "I'm sorry, Michael. I promised Kongpob I'd eat lunch with him today." She remarked, a smile still present in her face. "Let's just eat together tomorrow."

"What are you saying? We've already planned about this day since last week. You were even the one who suggested it." he replied in a calm tone, but crossing his hands to his chest in clear sign of disapproval.

"I'm really sorry, okay? Something came up. Besides, we eat lunch together everyday. What's wrong with skipping today?" she spoke apologetically.

"...Have you forgotten what today is?" Michael asked slowly, obviously in disbelief.

Seeing this could turn into an ugly fight, Daniel stood up from his seat. "Come on, let's end their fight, before it gets more serious." He told me and headed towards their table in a hurry.

I followed behind him hesitantly. I didn't want to get involved in their fight and I was afraid that something bad might happen between Kongpob and me, since he was sitting across May, eating quietly as if nothing was happening in front of him.

When I reached their table, Kongpob didn't even acknowledge my presence. He just kept on eating, like no one was around him. 'Look at it this way', I tried to console myself. 'At least he's not singling you out. He's ignoring all of us'.

Turning back to May and Michael, Daniel immediately became the mediator. "Look, can you two stop arguing," he told them as he stood in the middle. Then he turned to May. "May, did you forget? Today is Michael's birthday."

When he said that, I expected her to apologize to Michael. I mean, that was how May was, after all. She didn't like fighting. But surprisingly, she didn't. "So what if it's his birthday? Just because it is, that doesn't mean he can act like a jerk." She remarked angrily.

"A jerk? How can you call me a jerk when you're the one who planned a celebration ahead and ended up not showing up like promised?" Michael shot back at her.

0_0 What was going on today? Everybody was acting so strangely. "Fine, so I'm a jerk. Have lunch by yourself then." May answered back, standing from her seat and turning to Kongpob. "Let's just leave, Kongpob."

And as if Kongpob was a robot following May's orders, he stood up and walked over to May. Then they started walking together towards the cafeteria door, leaving Michael with his eyes wide and mouth open in surprise.

Thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could approach Kongpob now and ask him if we could talk in private, I decided to do so. I ran after them and called for him. "Yah, Kongpob!" He didn't turn to look at me, so I grabbed his hand to stop him. "Yah, we need to talk."

But he didn't even look at me as he shook his hand away from my grip and then, he and May disappeared behind the cafeteria door, leaving me behind.

Gosh...this is a real mess now...

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I'm in a rush to finish this story, so only 3 or 4 chapters left. Hopefully you will enjoy it till the end~

PS: Those who like romantic comedies, do check out "The Devil wears a Tie" for lots of ridiculous fun and fluffy romance~ ❤︎