KongArt Week Stories

Fishy Fishy! - Part Two

Arthit’s eyes widened in shock hearing that name and he finally sat up, looking at the other boy properly. Kongpob never took his eyes off him, eyes twinkling in a manner so familiar he knew he was seeing things. He blinked a couple of times before breaking their eye contact and looked out the window once more.

No. This was a human, his name just happened to be Kong. He must have been going crazy from missing his pet. How could he think that a fish and a human being looked alike? Sure, people often said dogs or cats looked like their owners but Kong was a fish! And Kong was his fish no less, the person had no business looking like Kong, or vice versa. 

Shaking the madness out of his head, Arthit finally turned his attention back to what was happening in class and was just in time to hear his teacher announce, “..there’s only the space next to Arthit left so why don’t you take it?”

Kongpob nodded at her before turning to beam at Arthit, completely oblivious at what his smile was doing to the female population in class. He strode quickly before sitting himself down in the empty seat next to Arthit. “Hello Arthit,” he said quietly, waving at the other boy who was now staring at him, dumbfounded. 

Arthit couldn’t help but to stare at the other, gaping slightly. Was this his Kong's way of sending him a friend? What were the odds? Everything was all too strange right now. Truth be told, he had often wondered what Kong would look like as a human and this person right now had basically outdone his imagination by miles. There was also something very familiar about him that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“I don’t have any of the textbooks yet, we’re waiting for them to be delivered. Could I share yours please?” Kongpob asked politely, smiling naturally again and Arthit felt his heart skip a small beat. Even his voice sounded like his imagination, and once again eerily familiar. 

What on earth was going on?

“Sure,” he managed to murmur absent mindedly, pulling out his textbook and nudging it into the space between them. “I’m of no use with literature class though.” 

“I know.” Kongpob quipped lightly, eyes twinkling at him once more. 

“What do you mean you know?” Arthit shot back. What the hell would a boy he had just met not ten minutes ago know about him.

“You don’t have any notes written around the text, I figured it probably isn’t your favourite subject.” Kongpob shrugged nonchalantly.

“Arthit, Kongpob! I’m glad to see you two are getting along well but class has started so please focus.” Their teacher’s voice rang out and the rest of their classmates turned their heads to stare at the two. 

Arthit blushed and mumbled a small ‘sorry’ whereas Kongpob made a small wai in apology and ducked his head back down, pushing a little into Arthit’s personal space as he leaned over the small book between them. 

“It’s nice to meet you Arthit.”

~***~

“Kong, are you going for the camp this weekend?” 

“Kong, have you found a partner yet?”

“Kong, do you want to have lunch together?” 

Suddenly, there was a clamour of their classmates around their seating area, a scene that Arthit did not have the privilege of seeing on his first day of school. Guess looking good has its perks. All of them had gathered around, boys and girls alike. When it was his first day of school, no one had bothered to even look his way. Let alone invite him to lunch. Maybe it was his ‘don’t talk to me vibes’ leaking out. 

He sighed softly and looked out the window once again, tuning the various voices out. All except one.

“Yes, I’ll be going for the camp. We were informed of it when I had enrolled.” Kongpob answered politely before turning his body to face Arthit. “Arthit’s going to be my partner, and we’re going to have lunch together.” 

Arthit turned around in shock to face the other, only to see him grinning once more at him. Kongpob raised an eyebrow and jerked his head slightly, indicating that he should answer so that they could be left alone. 

Dumbfounded for the second time of the day, Arthit could only nod mechanically, unsure why Kongpob was doing this. He just had the most popular gang in the class ask him to join them, so why was he sticking to Arthit like this? The guy barely knew him, they’d literally just met today.

“Kong, you should just leave Arthit. He likes being alone doesn’t he?” Aaron sneered, crossing his arms haughtily. 

“It’s fine, I like peace and quiet too.” Kongpob smiled, turning to his classmates. A somewhat dangerous glint flashed across his eyes, causing the others to double take before scampering out of the classroom in a hurry. 

"You should go join them," Arthit said dejectedly. He felt guilty for some reason, that Kongpob was now going to be treated like an outsider like he was. He didn’t ask for the other’s company but it felt nice, having someone want to spend time with him. But he couldn’t be selfish just because he was lonely. He was used to it, he told himself. He would be fine. 

"Nope," Kongpob replied, popping the P. Pulling his own lunch box from his bag, he said with a small smile, "I'm right where I wanna be."

"And why would you want to be with me? Aaron's the coolest and most popular in class. I'm just a nobody."

"Hmm… because.. I think you're nice." Kongpob flashed Arthit a full blown toothy grin.

“You’re weird.” Arthit blurted out before he could stop himself. He winced at his own stupidity as he cursed himself internally. Way to go, insulting the only person who had shown him interest.

“So I’ve been told. My siblings tell me that all the time too.” Kongpob answered with a hum. “Egg roll?” He held out the small piece of egg between his chopsticks, offering it up to the other who was getting more and more confused by the minute.

Arthit took a quick look at the lunchbox, only to find that Kongpob’s lunch box was full of his personal preference food. He blinked a couple of times before shaking his head. It was a coincidence. Who didn’t like eggs and fried basil pork right?

Kongpob persistently held the egg roll up to his mouth, even going to the extent of saying ‘ah’ which obviously left Arthit with no choice but to open his mouth to be fed. Chewing on the eggroll, he shot Kongpob a look of surprise.

“It’s salty?” Arthit asked in between chewing. It was rare to find salty egg rolls but it was a personal preference. He’d often preferred savoury food to sweet ones.

“Yup, I like ‘em salty.” Kongpob happily mused before spooning a mouthful of basil pork up to Arthit once more. “Try this one.” 

The look Kongpob gave him was so sincere that Arthit couldn’t find it in himself to refuse, opening his mouth once more. “Spicy enough?” Kongpob asked as Arthit was chewing through his mouthful. Arthit nodded, pleased at the spice spreading across his tongue. 

“Good.”

By the time Arthit was done with his lunch, he had realised that Kongpob had actually fed him most of his own and in his haze of confusion, he had eaten it without question as well. 

“Kong, did you just feed me most of your lunch?” Arthit finally geared up enough nerves to ask. 

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“Because you like the spice, and I can’t take it.” Kongpob answered, packing his utensils away.

“Doesn’t your mum know it?” 

“She doesn’t make my lunch. I do.”   

“Huh?”

Kongpob gave a mysterious smile before stretching out a hand to clean the last bits of sauce away from Arthit’s mouth. “Don’t worry about it.” He said winking before stepping out of the classroom to wash his utensils, leaving Arthit gaping after him.

~***~

Author's Note:

I don't actually know where this story is going because I started it on a whim. Heh. Help? 🤣