The meeting was over.
Ohm and Boun left the conference room to discuss something with the higher-ups. The crew had already left as well.
The two friends stayed back in the conference hall, waiting for Earth and Sammy to pick them up.
Fluke felt that Prem had not changed at all. He was the same as ever- funny and reckless.
The time gap between the last time they met and today, seemed to have nullified. There was no discomfort or awkwardness between them. They never ran out of topics to chat about.
Prem was mimicking their old teacher who always liked to pick on the four of them back in school as he did in the old days.
Fluke felt like he would die out of laughter. He was clenching his stomach which had started aching due to prolonged laughter.
Prem got a text from Sammy telling them that she and Earth would be picking them up in ten minutes. "Fluke, let's go wait in the front lobby. They are almost here." He shoved his phone to his pocket
"Ok... wait a minute. Let me catch my breath." Fluke wiped his tears as he calmed down from laughing for so long.
"We are going straight to my place, right? I have already told Earth to do grocery shopping."
"Of course, we have to celebrate our reunion. It's BBQ night."
They were coming out of the conference hall when they saw a group of people walking towards them.
Seeing the man in the middle of the group, Fluke's smile faded. He was caught off guard seeing the man there. His eyes met with the man. His initial good mood died out. The other party was also shocked to see Fluke in front of him.
"Swadee Khrab, P' Kao," Fluke said and bowed to the man, after a few moments of silence. His face was devoid of any expression.
"Swadee... N' Fluke." Kao greeted the junior.
"Swadee P' Kao", Prem who was a step later than Fluke, greeted. It was rare to see Prem being serious.
"Oh, Prem, you are also here? Swadee." Kao responded. "It is really the two of you. No wonder I found the names familiar." He had an awkward smile on his lips. "How have you guys been?"
"We have been doing well, P'," Prem said. He could see Fluke's clenched fists under his sleeves.
"Oh! you guys know each other?" Boun asked as he wrapped his arm around Kao's shoulder. He looked at Kao and then at Fluke who was staring at Kao, expressionlessly without blinking.
"What happened to you, N' Fluke? Did you get facial paralysis? Hello... here... N' Fluke" Boun tried to attract Fluke's attention.
Fluke shifted his gaze from Kao to Boun.
Boun smiled at Fluke.
"I know I am handsome, but you don't have to look at me like that," Boun said narcissistically as he flipped his hair.
Ohm stood behind him silently. He could sense that something wasn't right about the situation.
Fluke looked at Boun from head to toe and said nothing.
Prem sensed that his buddy was going to explode. He had to do something before Fluke did something that they may regret.
His phone rang. It was a text from Sammy, saying that she and Earth were already in the parking lot waiting for them. He suddenly found an excuse to leave the scene.
"Sorry Phi, we have got to go. Our managers are waiting for us. Please excuse us" Prem dragged Fluke away while shooting daggers with eyes at Boun, who was stupid enough to not read the situation.
Prem pulled Fluke into the elevator and quickly left the scene.
"What did that kid mean by giving me that look?" Boun was about to follow the kids when Kao stopped him.
"Stop pushing his buttons, Boun" Kao warned.
"What did I do? I didn't push his buttons." Boun was annoyed by the accusation.
"Don't talk if you don't know how to talk," Ohm said in a serious tone, secretly annoyed by his cousin. "You have been bugging him since today morning. He just met you and you are making stupid jokes about him. It is only natural that he feels uncomfortable around you."
"I was only trying to be friendly to him. Do the two of you have to gang up against me?" Boun pouted.
"We are not ganging up against you. We are only stating the facts. You should know when, where and on whom to make jokes." Kao said. He was disturbed after meeting the people from his past
"If it was the old Fluke, he would have already made your handsome face Un-handsome by breaking your nose bridge. He has a better reign on his temper now. Prem too. Those kids have really grown up." Kao sighed.
"P' Kao, how do you know Fluke and Prem? Their expressions didn't look good seeing you." Ohm asked.
"I used to tutor these kids when they were back in school. Somethings happened. It is a long story. Leave it." Kao walked into his office.
Ohm and Boun exchanged gazes and followed him.
Inside Kao's office.
All three of them took a seat.
Boun was thinking of what had just happened in the hallway. Suddenly, he felt like a bulb lit up over his head.
"P' Kao, is Fluke your first love? The one you broke up with before marrying Shelly? I heard he is from Chiang Mai as well." Boun asked excitedly, almost jumping over the table.
Kao heard Boun and looked up. He was slightly taken aback by Boun's question.
Both his cousins were eagerly looking at him.
"We know everything Phi. Dream told us about your first love." Ohm cleared Kao's suspicion.
"Oh, I thought nobody knew about this matter. Looks like all of you do..." Kao bit his lips. "How did Dream know all this?"
"She said she heard it from Pa Jane," Boun stated the obvious.
"Mom knows too?" This was big news for Kao. If his mom knew, then it would mean that everyone in his family knew. He had kept everything under wraps all these years. He wondered how everyone got to know about it.
Kao could see the worry in between Ohm's brows. Even the possibility of Fluke being Kao's first love scared Ohm. "Don't worry it's not Fluke. My first love... he was Fluke's best friend. We didn't break up on good terms. I messed up. That is why Fluke's like this. He is very protective about his friends." He explained.
"He must have badly wanted to punch me then and there." He leaned back in his chair.
"Friend whom Fluke is protective of? Don't tell me it is Earth! I heard Fluke is very protective of Earth." Ohm put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Yes, Earth... wait Ohm! How do you know Earth?" Kao looked at Ohm with wide eyes.
"Earth is Fluke's manager. He signed a contract with our company along with Fluke. He is currently under P' Yacht, working as his assistant. Didn't you approve his transfer yourself?"
"I guess I did" Kao blinked realising something.
"He even attended the quarterly meeting last week with P' Yacht. Didn't you see him?"
Kao was lost in his thoughts hearing Ohm's words. He hadn't seen him. He didn't notice...