Just By Chance

19. dRuNk: Part 2

"Yea...you loosen up a bit when alcohol is involved." Phana watched them too for a moment then turned back to Beam. Beam was about to lift the glass again when Phana caught his hand again. "I mean it, Beam. Take it easy."

Beam tried to glare at him but Phana wasn't fazed and held his gaze. Beam looked away first.

"Alright!"

"There you are! I've been looking for you." P'Sam came bounding over towards them, taking Phana by the arm. "Come with me, I have someone I want you to meet."

P'Sam was probably the tallest guy in the university. Even taller than Phana, he stood at a whopping 6'3" and completely towered over Beam. He made Kit look like a small child. Many people used to tease him and say he wasn't fully Thai because there was no way a Thai person could be so tall. But he was Thai through and through.

Phana hesitated. "Er...no offense P, but I am not interested in meeting any more girls." Phana said as politely as he could but his friends could still hear his irritation. Much like Forth, Phana hated being matched with girls by other people. He had eyes for one person and one person only, and that was their darling Nong Wayo...who hated him at the moment.

P'Sam shook his head. "No worries about that. I want you to meet my senior."

"P'Ice?"

P'Ice was Sam's direct line senior. Sam shook his head.

"Mai. This is P'Ice's direct line senior. We all have the same line number. He graduated last year. You never got to meet him because he was always away for his doctoral internship while you were a freshman. After I told him about you, he wants to meet you."

Phana nodded and stood then turned back to his friends. "I'll catch you guys a little later." He looked at Kit, giving him a look and motioning with his head back to Beam. Kit understood and nodded and watched the two guys walk away.

Kit took the seat Phana had been previously sitting in and turned toward his friend. Beam was back to playing with the condensation on his cup.

"Come on, Ai'Beam. Don't tell me you're gonna sit here for the rest of the night like this."

"Okay, then I won't tell you."

Kit sucked his teeth in exasperation. "What is sitting here going to do for you? Why not go find someone to dance with yourself? Or come back to the guys and talk with us?"

"I'll be okay. I'm not mad."

"You might not be mad but you're clearly sad and feeling bothered." Kit looked around into the crowd.

"I'll meet you over there. Let me finish this first."

Kit's eyes landed back on his friend and he did his best to give the look of warning that Phana was so good at giving.

"I mean it. I'll meet you over there."

"Seriously, Beam. Don't jump to conclusions over this. I don't want to come back and find you passed out on the floor next to the bar."

"Where's my beeeerrr! I asked for a beer pleeaasseee." A loud voice from the end of the bar rang out. Kit's head popped up immediately. Drunk or not, he was becoming very familiar with that voice. He looked down the way to see Ming laying out over the bar while an annoyed bartender slid another drink toward him and walked off.

"...Ming?" Kit said in mild shock. It was surprising to see the always poised and slightly arrogant Ming laid out across a bar, drunk out of his mind like this. Beam looked up just long enough to see what Kit saw and turned back to his cup.