Five Minutes In Summer

8. Act Of Service

"Thank you, Phi," Beam said quietly. 

He glanced at Forth and it turned out that Forth was looking at him, making Beam suddenly feel hot and blushed. 

"W-what about the cat you brought earlier, Phi?" Beam asked, trying to act normal. 

"I took him to the shelter. He's okay, just hungry and cold," answered Forth while adding water to Beam's glass and gave him a tissue. He also gave Beam another shrimp.

Beam felt confused with the Forth act of service toward him. 

"And why did you call me the five-minute man?" Beam asked curiously. 

Forth stopped bribing and stared at Beam for a moment, then smirked and shook his head. "That is a secret." 

"Oh? You must be playing with me," snorted Beam irritably. 

Forth laughed. "I will tell you later, five minutes Nong."

Dinner was lively.  Abundant food, cool beach breezes, and lively conversation create a warm atmosphere. 

Phana nudged Wayo's arm under the table and with his chin pointed at Ming who was teasing Kit until his friend's face turned bright red. 

"I'm worried about Kit," Phana muttered. "Ming kept teasing him. Kit will shy."

Wayo looked in the direction Phana was pointing and he sighed. "I think you're right, Phi Pha. I'll warn Ming to stop teasing Phi Kit. He might misunderstand." 

"What do you mean misunderstanding?"  asked Phana confused. 

Wayo turned his head and looked at Phana with a worried look. "Ming is a heavyweight playboy. He attracts people very easily because of his royal attitude and good at flirting. I'm worried that after a while the Phi Kit will like him." 

"What if Kit likes him?" asked Phana in surprise. "Ming became a playboy because since he was a teenager he was matched with a woman. That's why he spent his time having fun dating, before marrying the woman he was married to," answered Wayo quietly. 

"Oh, that's like Beam. He was also matched with a woman and Beam was against it, but the funny thing is that the woman actually asked Beam to work together to help her because she already had a boyfriend," said Phana.

"Oh, why is it so funny," muttered Wayo. 

After dinner was over, they tidied everything up together and moved inside to relax. 

"Pha, when are we going back to the hotel?" Beam asked while nudging Phana's arm. 

"You want to go back now? I think--"

Phana's words were cut off by a sound of thunder that was so strong that it shocked everyone and not long after that heavy rain fell as if water from the entire ocean was being poured down onto the earth at once. 

"Hey, it was so sunny earlier, why is it raining so hard now?" Park said confused. 

"How are we going to get back to the hotel?" Kit asked confused. 

"There's no need to go back to the hotel first," said Forth casually. "Just stay here. There are lots of empty rooms here."

Finally, because the rain was getting heavier, they slept at Phi Ai's house.  Beam, Kit and Phana sleep in the same room, Park with Lam, Ming with Wayo and Forth prefer on the sofa in the living room. 

After midnight, Beam felt thirsty and wanted to get a drink. Kit and Phana fell asleep quickly because they were tired of watching the opening of the beach festival in the afternoon. 

Beam opened the door carefully and walked slowly into the kitchen.

Beam took the drink from the counter in the kitchen slowly and brought it to the dining table. 

He saw that the glass door that separated the living room from the garden where they were having the bbq earlier, was open and letting in the night breeze. 

The rain hasn't stopped, but it has reduced to just a light drizzle. Beam cleaned up his drink, then walked towards the door, intending to close it. 

However, his steps froze when he saw someone sitting in a large rattan chair on the side of the garden, smoking and drinking alcohol. 

That's Forth. The man apparently hadn't slept yet. 

Beam didn't want to be suspected of watching him secretly, so he cleared his throat softly. 

Forth turned slowly to Beam. 

"Phi, why haven't you--owh? Phi Forth? What's wrong?" Beam asked in surprise.

***