A Tale of Thousand Prompts

Chapter 8: Longtae's Crush

"If it's nothing why do you avoid me then? What happened? Why are you avoiding me?" Tian asked. Longtae kept silent. "No matter how much you avoid me, I won't stop until you talk to me."

"Just leave me alone, Phi." Longtae said.

"No! If you have a problem with me, tell me! Don't just avoid me all of a sudden." Tian said.

"I'm not avoiding you, okay? I just--" Tian cuts him off.

"Really? Then why is it every time I walked over to you, try to talk to you, sit next to you, you go and do something else. You can't even look me in the eyes, right now." Tian said.

Longtae kept silent. He feels like he is the most awful person ever to avoid Tian like this without explanation. Tian reached out and tried to make Longtae face him but he refused to turn to him. When he tried to talk again, Longtae snaps.

"It's because I like you, okay?! I wanted the crush I have for you to pass so that once it was gone, everything would go back to normal!" Longtae said as he faces Tian with a blush on his cheeks.

Tian was speechless. He did not expect Longtae to like him like that. He always thought of the boy as his best friend here in Pha Pun Dao, as a little brother. He didn't notice that Longtae was starting to like him as more than just a friend.

Longtae didn't like the silence so he just looked to the side with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, P'Tian. I just wanted to get rid of my crush for you but in the process, I was worrying you. I couldn't handle seeing you with Chief, looking at each other lovingly. I thought if I tried to avoid you in the meantime, it would go away." Longtae said softly.

Tian still kept silent for a few moments until he just hugged Longtae in a comforting way. He felt the way Tian rubbed his head and back. And at that moment, Longtae wanted to cry.

"Oh, Longtae. I didn't notice what you were feeling. I'm sorry for being clueless about it. I want to say I'm sorry for something else but that would hurt you even more, so, Thank you. Thank you for liking me even if I, myself, don't see why anyone could ever like me." Tian said.

"It's not that hard really, P'Tian. You are an amazing person through and through. You risk your life, your health, just to help the villagers and to protect them from harm. You have more patience with the kids than anyone ever had. You always stayed positive and thought for better solutions to improve the village and help everyone here. You never gave up on us even when we all turned our backs on you. You are an amazing person, P'Tian. It's no wonder why Chief is in love with you. You have the purest of hearts here, even if you say that you are a brat back then, we still believe you're actually just hiding your care for people before. No one can ever replace you here" Longtae said.

Tian smiled at that pulled away from the hug while ruffling Longtae's hair. "Thank you naa. You are the best person, a brat like me can ever have as a best friend. I may not return your feelings but I know one day, you'll find a person that you will genuinely fall for and they will fall for you too." Tian said.

Longtae smiled, contended with Tian's response to his feelings. He felt lighter and felt like he can breathe after that. His dad was right, he should have told Tian the truth. Knowing Tian, he won't let a friendship go wasted because of petty secrets like that.

"Although, it's best not to tell Phupha. You know how that green giant is." Tian laughed.

Longtae laughed with him. "Oh, I know. You know when we kept in contact despite you being in America? Chief won't stop following me around and kept looking at me like he was about rip my head off. I had to reassure him that all we ever talked about was him, to be honest." Longtae said.

"Seriously? I should have stayed away longer then." Tian chuckled.

"If you did, the rangers would have suffered, especially P'Yod and P'Rang. Those two were always the reason why the kids managed to tease Chief." Longtae said as he laughed.

Tian shook his head as he smiled at the ridiculous behavior of the ranger. Still, despite the ridiculous jealousy, he loves that green giant. Longtae noticed the fond smile that Tian had and accepted that those are really just meant for each other and only for each other. "Come on. I'm sure dad will be wondering where I am." Longtae pulled Tian as they joked around for half a mile back to the house. Khama noticed the ease atmosphere around the two and knew that they finally talked.

Tian is right, somewhere out there, he will find someone that will like him just as much as he likes the person. It may not be now but someday.

_______________

When Phupha came back, he thought Tian would around him but no, he was once again, glued next to Longtae as if their twins. Longtae may have noticed the glare so he went and pulled Tian over to the chief and pushed him, causing the teacher to stumble and crash to the ranger's chest.

Phupha gave a confused look but Longtae just smiled and left them alone.