Me After You ✔

016

"Why should he grow any white hair?" Jamie retorted, "That bastard Jay has already been expelled from school; the responsibility of monitoring him now lies with his parents, so the school has nothing to do with Jay. Previously, the school administrators didn't want to admit that their students were involved in such a huge scandal, so they tried various ways and means to resolve the incident amicably. Now, they're probably thanking the heavens that Jay is no longer connected to them – otherwise, the reputation of the school would go down the drain."

Arthit spotted John standing behind Jamie, and nudged Jamie indiscreetly; Jamie turned around, an awkward expression flashing across her face upon seeing John. Turning back to Arthit, Jamie stuck her tongue out in an attempt to diffuse the situation. The topic came to a halt.

.

.

.

Evening time.

Arthit headed to the entrance of the school, and saw Kongpob waiting in his usual spot, on the street opposite the school compound. But...... Kongpob wasn't looking at him; instead, Kongpob was staring at John, a strange, cold smile forming on his lips. It was only when John hopped into his parents car did Kongpob turn to look at Arthit.

Weird.

Puzzled, Arthit mulled over Kongpob's odd behavior before coming to the conclusion that he must have seen wrongly.

On spotting Arthit, Kongpob began to walk towards Arthit.

Arthit continued to walk by himself.

After the previous incident, Arthit often felt ill at ease, and had to frequently turn back to look at Kongpob in order to feel a sense of security.

Just as he turned his head to look at Kongpob, he heard Phana's voice ring out, "Arthit!"

Arthit's gaze flew towards Kongpob, only to see Kongpob staring at him. Stuffing his hand in his pockets, Kongpob took a small, deliberate step to the side – only to ram into Phana's shoulder when Phana ran past him. Kongpob reeled slightly from the impact.

"Oh, sorry!" Phana turned back, apologizing brightly to Kongpob before continuing to run towards Arthit.

Arthit quietly glanced at Phana before turning back and continuing to walk ahead.

Sensing the strained atmosphere, Phana hurriedly explained himself, "I'm heading to my aunt's place for dinner again."

"Oh."

"By the way Arthit, I heard that Jay's missing."

"Is that so?"

"Maybe he fought with his parents and ran away from home." Phana mulled over it before continuing, "I suppose it's good that he left. That way, he can no longer affect you."

Upon hearing this, Arthit's sensitive nature caused him to raise his head, and he cut him off, "I have no, connection with Jay. The way you said it, made it sound like, I would be extremely happy, if he disappeared. He didn't, affect me. It's probably more accurate, to say that he affected Jamie."

Phana was momentarily stunned. After coming back to his senses, he began to apologise, "That's true."

His apology hung awkwardly between the two of them as they continued walking side by side. Just then, Phana unintentionally cast a backwards glance. His smile faltering slightly, he lowered his head and warned Arthit under his breath, "Oi Arthit, I've seen this person before. He had previously followed you before."

"Ah?"

"Don't turn back!"

But Arthit had already turned back. The very next moment, Phana grabbed Arthit's hand and dragged him forward into a run, "Run! We have to ditch him!"