"P' Kao, are you sure that you want this guy to play the main role in that series? Aren't you afraid that this stone face will turn this love story into a horror story", Boun playfully nudged Ohm as he slowly reached out to the wine bottle.
"Instead of worrying about me, you better worry about yourself." Ohm slapped Boun's hands away.
"Aw, both of you are enjoying the wine and I don't even get to take a sip of it? ", Boun pouted, trying to act cute.
"Stop making that face, it makes me want to puke." Ohm pushed Boun's face away.
"Boun, it seems like your acting lessons didn't go to waste", Kao laughed seeing his cousins bickering with each other as usual. "On a serious note, Ohm are you sure that you want to do this role? If you don't want to, then you don't have to force yourself. As for the old fogies, I will handle them."
"Ohm is not doing this because of the old fogies from the board of directors. He is doing this to prevent trouble from a leech", Boun started searching for food inside the refrigerator.
"Leech? Who are you talking about, Boun?" Kao felt left out.
"I am talking about your agency's best actress 'Khun Peach Kha'. "Boun said imitating her tone and body language.
"How do you know all this Boun?" Even Kao was clueless about the whole matter.
"How can you not know anything about this? The gossip is all over the company's intranet. Ohm why the hell is there no food in this house? I'm starving."
"If you are feeling hungry, then you can order delivery. I'm not in the mood to cook", Ohm refilled the glass of wine. "If you are ordering, get something for us too."
"Hey, two of you. Talk about food later, tell me what's going on with Peach. Isn't she in Beijing?", Kao interrupted his cousins who were about to start a war.
"As you know she is the only actress that has done so many films with Ohm, fans started shipping her with him. This ship has been gaining momentum these days and a lot of companies wanted to hire them as a couple. They even got offers in a few new series." Boun was going through the menu trying to decide what to get for dinner.
"She and her manager were supportive of their idea of acting as a couple and she confessed her feelings for him. But our Khun Ohm was not interested."
"Even if you had rejected personally, you guys could still be an on-screen couple." Kao looked at Ohm expecting an explanation.
"That's where the problem started. They still continued being an on-screen couple. Many people didn't know it. Peach started claiming that she was his girlfriend in real life and caused chaos in the company. Ohm caught her bullying the company staff in his name. he denied that they were a couple. She created such a huge scene then and there."
"Ohm publicly said that he was never, will never be interested in her. Peach felt insulted and she spread rumours that Ohm is not interested in women. She was worse than your ex-wife." Boun shook his head as if he just recounted a nightmare.
"Really? Such a thing happened? I had no idea." Kao was shocked to hear Boun's words.
"Luckily P' Yacht intervened on time and arranged Peach a c-drama. She won't be back for a long time now."
"I can't believe that you decided to do this series. I thought you were doing this because of your fans' request" Kao looked at his younger cousin.
"No, not completely but yeah it was a part of the reason. The scriptwriter is a friend of P' Mint, the one who wrote my last series. He strongly recommended this one. He said that the writer wrote the script with me in his mind. So went through it and felt that I should give it a try. I want to try something new." Ohm shrugged. "I could also get rid of those rumours with Peach. She has already created a mess for me to deal with."
DING DONG
"The delivery is here. I'll go get it", Boun ran off to the front door.
Ohm and Kao ignored their cousin and went on with their conversation.
"So, who is the partner you selected, I just heard that he was from our company. Are you sure that he is not going to be the same?"
"It doesn't matter. In fact, I, myself, wanted to transfer him to the main office and renew the contract." Ohm set up the dining table. "And for me, dealing with a guy is much easier than dealing with a woman"
Kao nodded in understanding.
"P' Kao, why did you want to meet me and Ohm today?", Boun looked curiously at Kao
"Actually, your dad called and gave me an earful yesterday. He was thinking that you would return back home after ending your career as a model this year and help with the family business. Now that you have chosen to switch into acting, he is fuming mad."
"P' Kao, it is a fact that my career as a supermodel is already coming to an end, but I don't want to leave the entertainment industry. So, I planned to switch careers. I don't want to do family business."
"Khun Saen [1] already has his favourite eldest son, Alan, and P' Oreo [2] to take care of all their businesses. He himself threw me, his youngest son, all these years out of the house a few years ago. Did he get a memory loss or something?" Boun was annoyed at the mention of his father.
"We understand that. That is why we are supporting your decisions. But you should at least contact your mom, she is worried about you."
"Khun Tessa [3] is worried about me? After all these years? Maybe worried that I would bring shame to her other two sons." Boun said sarcastically.
"She is not like Pa Jane [4] or Mae Ann [5]. All she cares about are her husband and her two elder sons. I was stupid enough to only realize this fact until that night. In that family, other than P' Oreo, the rest are mere strangers to me. I am not going to contact any of them. End of discussion. Period."
It was rare to see Boun being so serious. Both Kao and Ohm knew that this matter was not something that they could solve. So, they tactfully decided to drop the topic.
"Let's eat. The food is turning cold" Kao urged.
Slowly the discussion turned in another direction and the former weird atmosphere around the dinner table dissipated.
Boun's mood also improved as he went back to bickering with his cousins. Having a meal with them, made him feel at home. He put his past at the back of his mind and started enjoying the meal.
[1] Khun Saen - Boun's father, Ohm's and Kao's uncle.
[2] P' Oreo - Boun's second brother
[3] Khun Tessa - Boun's mother
Boun addresses his parents formally as strangers.
[4] Pa (Aunt) Jane- Kao's mother
[5] Mae Ann - Ohm's mother, Boun addresses her as Mae as she is closer to him than his own mother