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36 - The Choice.

His eyes never left the object. His chest felt so heavy and his hands started to shake. He had the sudden urge to run but he tamped it down. He swallowed his fear and forced his body to move.

As soon as he answered the phone, his screaming mother greeted him with scathing words.

"You ungrateful child! Is this the respect I deserve?! I've been calling you for days and you had the nerve to ignore my calls?! "

He winced at the tone of her voice. His throat locked up. Arthit's mind blanked. He was so afraid to speak. He wanted to say the reason but it felt like no matter what he said, it would remain unheard by his furious mother.

"You shameless thing! I really regret letting you go to the capital. All the people around you are bad influences. But no matter, I know a conversion therapy-"

Arthit's world came crashing down at her words. He couldn't understand. What was so wrong about liking a man?

"What are y- give it back!" His mother's voice suddenly sounded far away from the phone.

"Arthit..." His father's voice came out from the speaker of his phone. Arthit's nose stung. He was so close to crying. His heart was in pieces. His mother's words replayed in loop in his head.

"Lie low for now and don't think too hard about your mom's words. She must have taken something bad and is suffering from an allergic reaction. I call you when she manages to calm down. We'll talk later. What's important right now is you must take care of yourself and stay with your friends if you have too. You have my support son. You will always be my son."

The call ended.

In a way he was relieved that his parents didn't know what happened. It was better this way.

He smiled and then broke into a cry, sobbing so hard that he couldn't see anything.

His father's words gave him a lot of comfort. It meant a lot to know that he was supported by his father. At least, there was one parent that accepted who he was.

Arthit cried for a long time. He cried so much that he couldn't recognize his face when he woke up.

When morning came and his friends returned to bring him breakfast, Bright had the shock of his life.

"Fuck Arthit! Is that you?!" He exclaimed as soon as he entered the room.

Toota also saw the shocking image of Arthit's eyes.

"Step aside Bright. Don't worry Arthit. I know just the thing to fix that." He didn't ask and simply sashayed into the room and helped his friend deal with his swollen eyes.

Toota was a lifesaver, giving him some ice and cloth to cover his swollen eyes with. Somehow within a half an hour, swelling receded.

Sunday morning and Kongpob still remained without a phone and heavily guarded by his management. Currently, he was at a product launch of a popular fashion brand.

He sat beside his fellow artists and luckily Tew was also invited to the event. His friend was sitting 2 rows away from him, and he couldn't approach him.

Kongpob smiled his first real one as soon as he saw Tew. Tew smiled a little but he didn't look too happy.

The event was ongoing. He couldn't get out of his seat and his phone was not with him. He had to be patient.

"Doing alright?" Phana, an actor he once worked with and was sitting beside him, asked.

"Not really." He admitted in a whisper. "You must have heard what happened."