Fateful Encounter (Completed)

Chapter 08

*A/N This mischievous kid 

Prem and Knott watched, frozen with shock, as their friend hug the senior head hazer of engineering. The friends soon forgot their shock when they realized that Arthit was crying. Something the two friends hated. It took them back to their middle school days when Arthit was bullied. And the irony was that those middle schoolers bullied Arthit for the same reason these seniors did. Jealousy. 

'Prem can you go and get our bags? And a water bottle too. Arthit will need it. I'll stay with them.' Knott asked Prem.

'I'll get it. Do you suppose we should call P'Jane?'

'Not for now. We'll wait for Arthit and P'Kongpob to finish their thing.' Knott replied, indicating the two boys who were hugging each other.

'What is P'Kongpob doing here anyway? And Arthit! I can't believe he just did that with someone he met two hours ago.' 

'Me neither. This looks like trouble no matter from which way I look at it. Let's just get Arthit and go home for now. Get the bags while I intervene and calm him down.' Nodding his consent, Prem went to get their stuff from the locker. Meanwhile Knott slowly approached the two boys. 

'Umm... P'Kongpob. Arthit. We are at the main entrance. Let's just sit over there for a while OK?' Knott said in a gentle voice. Still hiding his face at the crook of Kongpob's neck, Arthit nodded his head. Taking a deep shuddering breath Arthit slowly let go of Kongpob. Knott was concerned about his friend and missed the super annoyed glance Kongpob threw his way.

'I'm sorry P'Kongpob. I was a little upset. Really sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.' Arthit said looking at Kongpob. His eyes were red rimmed and his nose was red too.

'I'm really not a cry baby. I swear. You can ask Knott.' Arthit said earnestly, looking at Kongpob. Kongpob had a sudden urge to pinch Arthit's cheeks. But now was not the time. 

'What made you cry?' No point beating around the bush now, is there? 

'Nothing much P'. I was just feeling a little sensitive. That's all. Thank you for worrying about me.'

'Hmm... So what made you so sensitive?' The two friends looked at each other.

'Well P'... Uh... That is to say...' 

'We were at lunch and then there were frinds.... Uh..'

'Yes! And the dare... Uh and...' It was almost painful to see the two juniors stumbling around searching for words.

'Forget it. What are you going to do now? Didn't you say you are free on the second half? Why are you still here?' Kongpob asked.

'Uh.. P'.. That is... we had a meeting for band practices. So.... Now it is over...'

'We are going home now P'Kongpob. Thank you for taking care of us.' Knott wai-ed and proceeded to drag Arthit towards the car park. 

'I'll walk with you. So that nobody cries again.' Saying that Kongpob joined the juniors and started walking beside them. This time he kept his hands inside his pockets. Knott was feeling a little stressed with this cool senior walking with them. Arthit, however, was feeling rather happy.  

If Arthit was asked why he was so happy to have Kongpob walk with them, he didn't have a clear answer just yet. He surprised himself, earlier, when he hugged Kongpob. He wanted to be close to Kongpob and he really wanted to know more about Kongpob. He couldn't explain why he was feeling this way and he didn't want to try and figure things out just yet. He just felt safe and excited with Kongpob walking beside him. And for some unexplainable reason, Arthit was feeling extremely happy.