Happy reading!!
First woke up with a headache, thankfully today was a holiday so Khaotung could make his sleep even longer. This alone made him wake up around 9am. Like a dazed person, First was seen sitting on the chair of Khaotung's study table with his hair disheveled.
This wasn't the first time First bought Beer, but it was indeed the first time he chose to drink it in Khaotung's room.
Thankfully, when he woke up his best friend's room again smelled of flowers, but at least it didn't smell like alcohol.
"Khao, I'm hungry."
Khaotung had just walked into the room and First cheekily asked for food.
Khaotung looked at First with an awkward look, then threw his gaze on the mattress that looked less neat because First woke up late.
"Yes, you go home." Khaotung pulled First's used blanket and folded it without looking at his friend who said he was lazy to go home and wanted Khaotung to cook for him.
"I'll just have breakfast outside," Khaotung said again. While First was still sleeping, Khaotung went out for morning exercise alone.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I already did, you just didn't want to get up."
Then there was silence, Khaotung who was busy making the bed and First who looked at him with furrowed brows.
Something was strange, this kid didn't scold him even after waking up late and not immediately making the bed, nor did he get angry when he whined about wanting something to cook.
"Hey, Khao."
"Hem?" Again, Khaotung reluctantly looked back at First.
"Did I do something to you last night?"
Khaotung froze instantly, then turned his head to First. "N-no, nothing happened."
"Then why don't you scold me?"
"Why should I scold you?"
First looked confused and got up from his seat and approached Khaotung. Unusually, Khaotung backed away as if afraid of being approached by First.
"What's wrong with you?" Asked First confused seeing Khaotung curled up like a kitten.
Khaotung couldn't stand it anymore, he immediately hit First's neck to get him away from him.
Then cursed him not to approach him like that again, not forgetting to warn him about beer.
"I'll kill you if you do that again, you useless bastard!"
First immediately changed his mind, nothing had changed about Khaotung.
"You're really going to kill me by hitting a human's neck like that!" First shouted back. "I'm really going to haunt you if I die just now."
"You being alive already scares me, I'll get used to it when you die."
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First returned to Khaotung's house after he had cleaned up, Mrs. Thana was already home, while the head of the household seemed to have gone back to work.
First of course took the time to greet Khaotung's mother who was busy cooking in the kitchen, he felt bad for Khaotung for coming home late and not making his breakfast, so instead he would make all of Khaotung's favorite foods for the upcoming lunch.
"Your mom said you stayed here last night, huh?"
First nodded his head, then lied that it was Khaotung who nagged him to stay over because he was scared to sleep alone.
"Since you've been keeping him company, what would you like me to make for lunch?"
"Everything you cook I like."
"Alright, auntie will call you when lunch is ready."
First then nodded his head and quickly excused himself to go Khaotung's room.
After arriving at his friend's room, Khaotung was seen getting ready to go out.
"Where are you going?" Asked First, confused.
"To read books in the library with Joong and Lui.",
First then sighed, did Khaotung really not understand what a day off from school meant?
"Even my father still works on holidays, let alone an unemployed human like me. If I don't work, I should at least keep studying."
"Why all of a sudden become wise?"
"Don't stand in front of the mirror, bitch."
Khaotung pushed First who was casually replacing the mirror Khaotung was looking at, even though the spicy cutie had not finished dressing up.
"Your hair isn't neat," First commented.
"This? I'm trying to make it tidy," Khaotung replied, then used hair gel to tidy up a few strands that looked untidy.
"How is it?"
"Still not neat."
Khaotung went back to wrestling with his hair. "How is it?"
First then told Khaotung to come closer to him, then asked the owner of the room to bend down a little because he was lazy to stand up from sitting on the bed.
"Why is it so hard to tidy up your hair?" Asked First, looking more and more focused on making Khaotung look perfect.
Both of Khaotung's eyes saw how focused the boy was, this was also too close for Khaotung to feel First's warm breath on his face.
First also occasionally spoke in a low voice, sometimes Khaotung could also hear the sigh that his friend let out whenever he felt like he failed to fix his hair.
It was getting weird so Khaotung immediately backed up his body.
"It's not coming down yet, your hair."
"You're so weird!" Khaotung shouted and then left the room without explaining whatever weirdness he felt to the confused First.
----
First only went to take Khaotung to the library in the city center, he had wanted to join but in the end felt it was better to sleep in Khaotung's room until nightfall.
In fact, the extra class gang was only in the library for an hour. Because afterward they went to hang out at one of the nearby cafes.
"Hey, Khao. Did Mr. Nan ask you to take the English test last Friday?"
Khaotung shook his head at Joong's question, as Joong sighed. He said that last Friday he was persuaded by Nan to take the test with Pawin.
"Pawin? He's already going for the physics competition."
"I was thinking the same thing." Joong answered Louis' confused words.
"Can a student enter two competitions at once?" Now, Louis asked Khaotung. As a student who participated in the most competitions, Louis hoped Khaotung could answer his question.
"I don't know, maybe you can? I've never done it before."
"If you can, Pawin is great."
Then, the conversation started about Pawin and his intelligence. Joong even likened Pawin to Khaotung, equally crazy about studying but the most relaxed. Unlike him who was very visible to just maintain his ranking position.
Louis also added that Pawin and Khaotung were indeed the same, it was just that the way of delivery was different.
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Monday saw Marc actually move into First's house after he and his parents came over last night.
Early in the morning, First's house was noisy, the two young men were both warming up their bikes in the yard with no tops on, showing off their bikes and fitness for no apparent reason.
"First!"
Marc and First then turned their heads, looking at Khaotung who seemed to have just returned from jogging.
Khaotung looked confused seeing First and Marc both shirtless with motorcycle rags in their hands.
Khaotung already knew about Marc who would be staying at First's house during his high school years, last night Marc stopped by the house to chat, even Marc had started to get along with his mother.
"What?"
"It's okay, just calling." Khaotung then went back out of First's gate, but soon returned.
"I'll take you to the bookstore first," he said and then disappeared back to his house.
Marc smiled when he saw Khaotung running into the house on the other side. His life would be more fun from today, he could go see Khaotung more often and the possibility of becoming his lover was much more hopeful here.
"If you're done, take a shower and have breakfast." Mrs. Khana was seen coming out of the door of the house, she was about to go to Khaotung's house by previously reminding First and Marc to change their clothes immediately.
"You shower first, I have business with Khaotung's father."
First then turned off the motorcycle engine and followed his mother to Khaotung's house. As close as First and his family were, Marc was even more convinced that First had feelings for Khaotung.
Said to be worried about losing, Marc was obviously worried, but still the decision was up to Khaotung.
After that, Marc also turned off the motorcycle engine and went into the house to take a shower as ordered by Mrs. Khana.
"Uncle not home today?"
Mr. Thana apparently had a problem with his car last night, still fortunately he could go home. But unfortunately, now his only car was no longer usable, long time out of service was the biggest possibility why there was damage to the car according to First.
First understood a little about engines whether cars or motorcycles, but the damage to Khaotung's father's car was beyond his ability, so he suggested to take it to a repair shop.
"The garage people will come here to fix it, but if Uncle has a job it's better to have it towed to the garage."
"What do you think would be good? You have work, but it's not that important."
"The damage isn't too bad, it can be fixed in a day I think. It's better to fix it at home, want me to call now?"
After the call, First and Mr. Thana were even more engrossed in talking about the car engine. Mr. Thana did not understand much about the engine, the important thing was that he knew how to drive.
So First gave some tips on getting the car fixed.
Khaotung looked ready in his school uniform, but instead he saw First chatting with his father who happened to have the day off after a busy week.
"Hey, it's about noon." Khaotung immediately reminded First who apparently didn't realize that it was almost 7am on his watch.
"Damn, why so fast!"
First hurriedly came out of Khaotung's house and saw that Marc was already tidy. In fact, he had already opened the gate of his house to help Mr. Khana's car out by already wearing his school uniform like Khaotung.
"Gosh First, I thought you were going to take a bath!" Cursed Mrs. Khana, she apparently didn't realize that First was still at Khaotung's house. Maybe because First only went to the car garage so Mrs. Khana didn't see her son chatting with his father Khaotung.
"First! I'll be late if you're not done yet!"
Khaotung stood in front of the gate of First's house with a shout of annoyance.
"Gosh, Khao. That's right, you'll be late." Mrs. Khana then called Marc.
"Well, Khao. Just go with Marc, let First get punished."
Khaotung then turned to Marc, he was apparently ready by moving his bag to the front, so Khaotung could sit on his motorcycle comfortably.
"Come on," Marc invited.
"Huh, alright." Khaotung nodded his head and got on Marc's bike.
"Auntie, tell First that I'm leaving with Marc," Khaotung continued.
---
Marc and Khaotung came to school quite early, but fortunately the school bell had not yet rung.
But it was certain that First would be late.
The parking lot was already full, so Marc parked his motorcycle quite far away from his usual spot.
"How about buying the book after school? I'll take you."
"Eum, okay." Khaotung smiled a little and then invited Marc to go straight to class, along the way Khaotung grumbled about First who overslept.
He didn't usually wake up early, but once he did, he overslept because it was fun to chat with his father about vehicle engines.
"Now you can count on me if you can't count on First," Marc said. His confident smile made Khaotung smile back and nod. Marc did seem to value time more than First, so it seemed that Khaotung would rely on Marc more than First.
When they entered the classroom, there were many students gathered around Khaotung's bench, including Pawin.
"Khaotung," Louis called.
"How's this? What are you going to do?" He said with a worried face.
Louis then pulled Khaotung's hand followed by Marc. It can be seen that many of Khaotung's textbooks that he often deliberately left under his stool are now soaked, the water from the books even soiled his chair.
Not only that, Khaotung also got some swear words in his seat.
'Confess if you're the book thief.'
'Do you think you're the center of attention in this class?
'You're the only thief who's still considered a friend, bitch.
'I heard you're the best in the supplementary class too, do they know you're a thief? No, what if they find out that you and Mr. Mike are in a relationship?'
Khaotung seemed to be trying not to panic or be surprised. He then turned his head to Pawin, who looked surprised by Khaotung's stool.
Feeling noticed, Pawin looked at Khaotung.
"It looks like these books can be saved, let's move them to the school roof first." Joong said.
"Joong, the bench?"
"There's another bench in the school warehouse, after we replace it, let's report to Mr. Nan."
"No, I don't want to." Khaotung rejected Joong's idea to report this incident to the teacher.
His gaze was still fixed on Pawin, as if it was certain that his accusations this time were right on target.
"This is too much, Khao. You should report it," Dunk said.
Pawin only smiled a little at Khaotung's gaze, feeling that he was under suspicion from Khaotung.
"I no longer blame the book like Lui, Khao." Pawin tried to explain that he too had just arrived and saw the kids already crowding around Khaotung's bench.
"Don't make accusations like that just yet, Khao." Joong tried not to escalate the situation between Khaotung and Pawin.
"The people who found your bench like this were me and Dunk, Pawin doesn't know anything."
"That's why I'll let Mr. Nan follow up," Joong continued, thinking that if an adult solved the problem it would be resolved quickly.
"He also doesn't know anything about the disappearance of his own books but accuses me of being a thief," Khaotung said and walked toward Pawin, but Marc quickly held him back. It looked like Khaotung was about to go on another rampage like when he found his math books in Pawin's bag.
"Khao, you're going to make things more complicated." Marc also held back Khaotung's anger.
"But I have my reasons. First, you're always giving me hateful looks. Second, you don't like cause Louis is always with me, right?"
Pawin did not accept being accused like that by Khaotung, he also had a good feeling because now many students were asking Khaotung not to accuse him. It gave Pawin the strength to push Khaotung mentally deeper.
---
First was really late, he came after the class had started. So, for the entire first period, he was sentenced to stand in the field facing the Thai flag.
He didn't know anything about what happened to Khaotung yet.
After the first period was over, First went straight to his class as people started to leave the classroom to go to the cafeteria.
Unlike usual, the class looked very quiet even though there were many students in it, especially with Neo and Dunk.
"Where are Khaotung and Marc?" First asked.
"The roof of the school," Joong replied.
"Want to come?" Invited Louis, he and Joong were going to the roof of the school.
"What are they doing?" First asked confused while staring at the roof of his classroom.
Joong forgot that First didn't go to class first this morning, he went straight to the field to receive punishment.
Joong explained what had just happened to Khaotung's bench, he also explained about Khaotung not wanting this problem to be known by the teacher.
"What? All the textbooks are wet?" First looked surprised, he just realized that under Khaotung's bench which was usually full of books was now empty.
"But he keeps accusing Pawin of being the culprit, even though he also came quite late this morning." Dunk continued Joong's explanation.
"He's accusing Pawin because Khaotung also got a few words of accusations of book thievery on his desk," Neo continued.
"Whereas as far as I know Pawin no longer disputes it, right Paw?"
Pawin who was asked by Dunk nervously nodded his head. "Um, I didn't do it."
"But that time you tried to secretly search Khaotung's bag," said First.
That fact shocked the entire class, even though Pawin had hoped First wouldn't tell anyone about that day.
"You secretly tried to search Khaotung's bag?" Louis asked, not believing that Pawin would do such a thing.
"If Khaotung accuses you like that, then I will accuse you too." First left the classroom for the school roof after that.
Followed by Louis and Joong, although both of them still looked surprised because Pawin always said that he no longer cared about his missing physics book.
----
First had already climbed the stairs to the school roof, and when he opened the door he found Khaotung in Marc's arms with the books scattered around, probably being dried by the sun.
Joong and Louis immediately went to Khaotung, but only First froze at the scene.
TBC.