A Guy Like You

Chapter 6

ARTHIT

Four months ago

"You're... you're back!"

Namtan opens her arms wide, a smile on her face, though there's something hidden in her eyes. Jay stands a little ways behind her. She laughs brightly. "Surprise!" Arthit steps forward to accept her hug, wrapping her in his arms tight.

"I missed you," he whispers into her soft-scented hair.

"Missed you, too," she whispers back.

And then she steps away, lightly pushing him back. "But... you've seen Jay, right?" She motions back to him. "He's... he's missed you." She's no longer looking at Arthit.

Arthit looks up at Jay. "Hi."

Jay gives him something like a salute. "Hi."

Their relationship upon Jay and Namtan's moving away wasn't a particularly good one.

❋ ❋ ❋

Three and some years ago

She's in the backyard again, just like when they were kids and she had to climb over fences instead of just ask to get the dog's ball back like a normal person. Her hair is long and flowy, elegant curls springy around her shoulders, and her laughter flows in through the open window as she helps Jay with his homework. Arthit watches them through the window.

There's a pause, then, and Arthit sees Jay stand, leaving Namtan behind, twirling her pencil between long fingers. Arthit jumps when Jay walks up next to him.

"Jay," he says. "Hi. I'm almost done." He holds up a cup. "Do you want something else to drink?"

"I think I'm going to ask her out." Jay says it so decisively. Arthit drops the cup he was holding, grateful that it's plastic, so it just clatters noisily into the sink. "Yeah," Jay says, nodding to himself, and Arthit glances up to see his eyes locked on Namtan. He looks to Arthit then, and Arthit swallows, taking a step back. "How should I do it?"

"Do what?" Arthit asks.

"Ask her out," Jay clarifies. He leans against the counter. "It's almost Valentine's Day, right? Maybe I can do something then."

"Yeah," Arthit says, chewing his lower lip. "Well," he pats Jay on the back, "good luck?"

Jay glances over at him before smiling softly. "Thanks."

❋ ❋ ❋

Arthit doesn't like to think it, but he knows he was the one to pull away from their friendship, leaving Jay to court Namtan alone, and then, it was Arthit by himself, Jay and Namtan moving away to some other city, leaving Arthit completely, entirely alone.

And now here Jay is. Right in front of him.

"What's up?"

Jay shrugs, and Namtan scampers over to his side, delicate hands reaching up to clutch at his arm. Arthit knows where this is leading.

"Um, well," Namtan flushes, looking away before shaking her head and looking up at Arthit, "we're dating now! Surprise!"

The surprise she had said before now tastes bitter on Arthit's tongue.

Either way, he smiles. "Wow," he says, hoping he appears authentic, "I'm really... happy for you!"

And he is. He really is. If Namtan is happy, then so is he, but still, the unresolved childhood crush he can't let go is a heavy weight in his chest, and Arthit doesn't quite know how to deal with it.

He shoves it aside.

"Really," he says. "I mean it."

❋ ❋ ❋

KONGPOB

"I remember her," he says to Prae, who sits on the desk, legs swinging back and forth slowly. "Of course, I remember her! She was always by his side when we were kids!" He groans into his hands before looking up at her, fingers pulling at his skin. "So you know, don't you?"

Prae looks up from her nails, letting out a soft sigh. "I do." She straightens. "I wouldn't if I were just a casual friend, though!" Placing her elbows on her knees, Prae leans forward as she rests her chin on her hands. "I know you, Kongpob. It's alright."

Kongpob lets out a breath. "Yeah. It's just... what if he still...?"

"He still...?" Prae studies him, concern painted clear in her eyes. She stays like this for a second before giving a quiet gasp. "Oh." She climbs off the desk, moving to sit next to Kongpob. A light hand comes to rest on his shoulder. Kongpob leans into the touch. "When did you realize...?"

"Not long ago," Kongpob replies. "But it makes sense, doesn't it?" He lays his chest flat atop the desk, arms hanging limply off the front. It's a juvenile display, a sharp contrast to his usual image. "It's just... not fair."

He hears Prae make a sympathetic sound. There's creaking from the desk beside his. Kongpob doesn't look over. "When is it ever fair?" Prae asks. It seems rhetorical. A sigh. "Never, Kong," she answers her own question. "It never is."

Kongpob sighs, too, rolling his head to look over at her. "So what now?"

Prae stares right back. Then, a shrug. "That's up to you."

Kongpob groans, pressing his face into his arms. "I hate when things are only up to me."

A heavy hand pats his back. When Prae speaks, she sounds smug: "No, you don't."

She's right. He doesn't.

❋ ❋ ❋

ARTHIT

"When is it ever fair?" A sigh rings throughout the otherwise silent room. "Never, Kong. It never is."

Arthit sucks in a silent breath, stopping just short of the open doorway leading into classroom 2-A. Prae's voice barely filters out, the only reasons Arthit can hear it being that the hallway is completely empty and his hearing is fairly sharp. It must be her and Kongpob, unless there's some other Kong in the school that Arthit doesn't know about. Arthit allows himself a peek into the room.

There is not another Kong in the school he doesn't know about.

He's quick to return to his back pressed against the wall, just outside the door of the classroom, as Kongpob speaks: "So what now?"

Arthit frowns.

"That's up to you."

"I hate when things are up to me."

Arthit has to restrain himself from laughing. No, he doesn't.

"No, you don't."

Arthit bites his lip when silence falls.

There's the sound of rustling fabric, and then— "You said it makes sense, but... you hate him, don't you?"

At the word "hate," Arthit goes stock-still. As far as he's aware, Kongpob isn't known for hating people, so there's only one person Prae is likely asking about. And that person is....

"What are you doing out here, young man?" He gets a smack on the head for his troubles by a passing-by teacher, her assignments rolled up in her hand, a perfect weapon to hit students with.

Arthit stutters out something dumb as the voices in the room stop. He tries his best to get out another sentence, but at the sound of shifting desks from inside the room and footsteps, his heart rate picks up speed, and he's quick to rush down the hall, back to his own classroom, away from the threat of being spotted by Praepailin and Kongpob.

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A/N: Follow my Twitter @perayatwt!