Hye cupcakes,
I strongly recommend you guys refer to the previous chapter to remember what happened before this.
Enjoy.
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"Forth! We met again," stated Leo thrilled as he did a bro fist with the newcomer.
Upon hearing the stranger's name, a gasp left Beam's mouth as he inhaled a big air into his lungs. He avoided eye contact with the new guy as Beam never likes to express his emotions openly.
Now that even the face and name of the stranger matches with the marine engineer in his dreams, the reality of finally meeting the one person he always wanted to meet become real.
The dreadful part is it become real together with the pain in his heart and a nostalgic feeling, which he doesn't know why.
"Yeah, it's the campaign arranged by my faculty. So you guys are the medical staff from overseas?" asked Forth but, his eyes stayed on Beam's face even though the other didn't face him.
"We are not the staff. We are 3rd-year medical students under a transfer program from Canada. Meet my best friend, Beam," introduced Leo, happily unknown of Beam's mood change.
"Hi B-,"
"We should get on the bus. It's getting late," said Beam cutting off Forth as he walked past Forth and got on the bus. Beam's sudden change in mood confused Leo and worried Forth.
"Your friend is right. We should get going, bro," stated Forth as he guided the confused Leo and his own set of friends into the bus.
Leo sat beside Beam and noticed that the laters eyes were quite red and sad, unlike a few minutes ago. As the bus left the campus compound, Leo started to interrogate Beam.
"You okay, meng?" asked Leo worriedly.
"Hmmm," replied Beam shortly.
"What happened out there?" questioned Leo more.
"Nothing," answered Beam in one word, not interested.
"Nothing? Beam, you never cut off a person like that before. Do you know Forth before this? Is he your enemy from high school or something? Should I complain about him to your dad? How about telling grandpa Gulf?" asked Leo in single breathing.
"Are you trying to perform a rap here, Leo? Ask one question a time, will you?" replied Beam, annoyed.
"Did he not pass your vibe check? Talk to me, Beam. You had never behaved like that before," urged Leo as he noticed how pale Beam's face was getting with each passing minute.
"I don't think I know him personally even though I felt like it, and it has nothing to do with my vibe check. I felt a slight headache coming my way just now. I'm going to take a nap. So, don't bother me, okay?" finished Beam without giving any other options to Leo.
Forth watched Beam and Leo interacting from the last seat on the bus. He has no idea what went wrong. He is sure that he saw the curious eyes and the smile in Beam's lip the moment their eyes met.
But what changed it? Why did Beam give him the painful eyes and the betrayed look before he got onto the bus?
So what now? Should he approach Beam as he always wanted, or should he leave him alone?
"Ai'Forth, do you know Mo'Beam before? What happened out there?" question Run as he sat in between Inn and Forth in the back seat.
"Nothing," said Forth as he closed his eyes to avoid further questions from his preying friends.
'Maybe I was the only one with flashes about him.
Maybe I'm just another stranger to him.
Maybe I'm thinking in between the lines too much.
It's better to approach him another time,' thought Forth as he took one last look at Beam's way before he decided to take a nap too.
~
"P'Inn!!!!! I didn't know you followed us in this campaign," said Fiat as he hugged the senior and clung to his shoulders.
"You little idiot, I planned this campaign for this year with Forth," replied Inn as he headlock his silly junior, who is trying to pull his leg.
"Nong Fiat, let him be and come help me here," ordered Run from far.
"Coming P'Run!" shouted back Fiat as he skipped towards him.
As Fiat was being silly and clumsy, enjoying his time, someone by the corner of the bus was paying him a little more attention with a sweet smile on his lips.
"Quit looking. You are going to bore a hole on that boy's head," teased Beam as he hit Leo's head to get his attention.
"Seems like someone is back in a good mood," taunted back Leo as he checked Beam's condition. Even though Beam was not as pale as he looked before they left the campus, he doesn't look completely normal as well.
"It was the headache," defended Beam.
"Yeah, yeah, I believe you. But you kind of scared off my new friend," added Leo as he checked Beam's expression.
"Where did he go? I haven't seen him since we reached the port," said Beam as he looks for Forth.
His bothering feelings could wait. For now, he wants to meet the man from his dreams.
"Now you're interested? Then why did you behave like that just now? He didn't approach me since your little stunt earlier," criticized Leo.
"I told you, it's the headache. We finished packing late last night, and I didn't get much sleep in excitement," argued Beam again.
"Whatever, meng. I saw Forth walking towards the port lobby to get the tickets to the ferry ride. We have to use that to reach the campaign site," explained Leo.
"I didn't know about the ferry ride. Either way, I'm excited. I missed Thailand beaches the most in Canada. Especially this Phuket beach. I feel like I have a unique bonding with it. I used to come here with my mom before," expressed Beam as he stared at the sea. But didn't receive any response from Leo.
Beam turns around to find out why his talkative friend miraculously became quiet out of a sudden. In a normal situation, he would have mocked him already.
Beam notices that Leo is once again focused on the new boy and smiling to himself like a lovesick fool.
"You know what, Leo, the god is finally giving you a sign to date someone. You should talk to the boy and get to know him," said Beam as he pushed Leo towards Fiat.
"You still look a little pale. I'm not leaving your side. I promised your dad to look after you," reminded Leo seriously.
"I'm not a china doll, idiot. Go away now," pretend scolded Beam as he pushed Leo once again.
Even though Leo was not ready to leave Beam alone, he took reluctant steps towards the boy as he turned around to get encouragement from Beam.
Once he saw that Leo had reached the new boy's side, Beam walked towards the sea as the sea breeze welcomed him with open arms.
As Beam reached the shores, he slowly took off his shoes and walked on the sand as the waves washed his feet.
The other students are also waiting for the next ferry. Therefore, they spend their time at the seashore. The students were either taking photos or playing around with their friends.
Beam watched them playing as he continued to walk by the shores.
What he ever wanted in this campaign was to enjoy and feel happy while looking for the reasons for his nightmares and phobia. But upon setting his foot on the campus or meeting Forth, all Beam ever felt was feeling sad and hollow. Beam doesn't know why but he felt overwhelmed by the emotion, which made him sad beyond words.
As Beam stared into the vast ocean, the flashes of his dream about the fire came back to him like a surge with a sharp headache.
It was like the slow-motion movie where the same tragic scene repeats like a broken record. The screams of running away engineers and the fire scene kept playing in his head.
Beam covers his ears tightly with trembling hands to stop hearing the screams as he grunts in pain.
It is the first time he is experiencing this kind of pain without having a nightmare while sleeping.
He squats down on the sand as he tries to fight back the same pain he felt every time the flashes of nightmares visited him.
~
"Inn, here are the tickets for the ferry ride. Where are the rest?" asked Forth as he returned from purchasing the tickets.
"Some decided to wait by the port, while the rest chose to play by the shores," replied Inn.
"Okay. Where is Run?"
"Ohh him? Nong Fiat dragged him towards the street food stall a while ago," responded Inn, uninterested.
"And, I'm back, P'Forth," said Fiat excitedly as he clung to his arms. Sometimes Forth wonder if he is a koala bear.
"Nong Fiat, I didn't even ask about you. Let go of me," scolded Forth as he struggled to get off Fiat's grip.
"Nong Fiat, your grip is too tight, naa. You are going to hurt your P'Forth in this case," advised Leo softly with his sweet smile as he took off the arms around Forth's arms.
"Thank you for putting sense into his dumb head, Leo," commented Forth as he laughed at the pouting Fiat.
"By the way, where is my friend?" questioned Leo as he couldn't spot Beam at the place he left him.
"Is he your friend or boyfriend? Why are you so worried about him?" asked Forth, annoyed or jealous? He doesn't know himself.
"Nothing like that. Beam is my only friend, and his father will bury me alive if anything happens to him."
"Is he a son of any hotshot or something?" asked Run teasingly.
"I'm not sure about that. But Beam's family name is Jaturapoom," added Leo.
'Jaturapoom? Why does it feel familiar?' wondered Forth as the others carried on with the conversation.
Suddenly he started to feel restless, and the first thing he did was look for Beam. As if his heart knows where the other half is, Forth starts to run towards the ocean.
Even though the seashores got filled with students and tourists, Forth's eyes landed on Beam, who was squatting down by the shore.
The next thing he did was rush to Beam's side.
Beam tried hard to stay calm despite his headache and the upcoming anxiety attack. But, it was getting out of his hands, and he didn't know how long he would last before he gave in.
Beam suddenly felt a pair of hands covering his ears from behind, stopping the screams in his head. He felt protected in the strong arms as he relaxed. The flashes stopped slowly.
"Beam, Beam, are you alright?" asked Forth as he held him firmly in his arm.
"Forth....," called out Beam weakly as he fainted in his arms, in which he felt home.
~
Phone ringing sound echoed in the chairman room as the office landline phone rings continuously.
Mew returned from his meeting with his junior lawyers, who are working on the ongoing political crimes in the country noticed the phone sound.
Even though it's an office phone, only considerable people know about it, and barely anybody contact him with it, unless?
"Hello.....," he talked through the phone and waited for the reply, which he didn't receive.
"Hello, Phana. Is that you?" asked Mew tensed, once again.
"Long time no see, P'Mew," answered Phana.
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End of Chap 4.
TBC.
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Hi, cupcakes,
So here is the update as I promised earlier. I hope that I'm not boring you guys with this chapter.
Since this story is still in the beginning stage, I have to let the characters develop into what I want them to be. By that, I could let them take the lead in the plot.
Bare with me till the very end, guys. I promised not to disappoint you guys.
Have a blast new year celebration, and have a wonderful year ahead.
Don't forget to vote and comment about your thoughts on this chapter, cupcakes.
Till we meet again with a new chapter, stay safe, guys.
~