Rain doesn't look up when Phayu walks into the bakery. That is the first sign that something is wrong. Rain has never greeted Phayu with anything less than the sunniest of smiles.
Rain finishes up with the customer in front of Phayu then says, "Can I help you, sir?" In a cold business-like voice.
Rain has never called Phayu anything but Phi before.
"Rain?" Phayu asks in an unsure voice.
"Please place an order or leave, sir. There are customers waiting." Rain says.
It's then the Phayu realizes that Rain knows.
"Rain I was going to tell you." Phayu tries.
"Oh, you were going to tell me that you came to town to destroy my source of income with your money hungry chain? That makes things so much better." Rain says sarcastically. "You can leave now."
"Rain..." Phayu tries.
"I said, you can leave." Rain turns and greets the next customer. Ignoring Phayu completely.
As Phayu leaves, the possibility of punching Pai as soon as he gets into town this weekend crosses his mind.
"P'Rain, is handsome movie star uncle not coming here tonight?" Lys asks.
Rain almost snaps at her not to call the alpha that but bites it back just in time. None of this is his sister's fault and it would be wrong to take his hurt out on her.
"Not tonight Eerie." He says with false cheeriness. Lys scrunches her nose at the hated nickname. "Why don't I call P'Sky to see if he can come for dinner. The two of you can nerd out."
In truth, Rain just wants someone to talk to. Maybe he and Sky can break open that bottle of rum after Lys goes to bed. Rain very seldom drinks but tonight it just seems like a good idea.
"So are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" Sky asks. Rain had just tucked Lys in and grabbed the bottle of rum and some sodas from the cupboard. He mixes them each a drink, adding a few cubes of ice, before answering.
"P'Phayu is the owner of Tasty Treats, well one of the owners. I looked them up online and he and someone named Prapai own the company together." Rain says before taking a large swallow of his drink. He pulls out his phone and pulls up the page that has the information about Tasty Treats on it. He shoves the phone over to Sky.
Sky looks a little shocked at the news. He studies the phone carefully with a frown and reads through the article a couple of times.
"So, P'Phayu and this," Sky studies the name carefully again, "Prapai are the owners of Tasty Treats and P'Phayu never told you."
"He said he was going to." Rain says with a slightly bitter laugh.
"So are you upset because P'Phayu didn't tell you or because he is one of the ones bringing the chain here?" Sky asks.
"Both I guess," Rain says. "I don't know, it just hurts."
"It hurts because you like him," Sky says. "You are feeling betrayed."
Rain shakes his head in denial. How can he still like him? The alpha had broken his trust.
"Rain, for the first time since I met you, there was something beyond work and your sister that made you happy." Sky says, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to just forgive the alpha. What he did was horrible. I am just saying, maybe don't close that door and lock it."
Rain knows Sky is trying to help but he doesn't see a way that he and P'Phayu can get past this. Maybe Rain could forgive the alpha for not telling him, but how can Rain get past the fact that P'Phayu is taking away one of the things Rain loves most.
"Let's forget about it for tonight. I want to get drunk and watch a bunch of those stupid cartoons you and Lys are always going on about." Rain says.
Sky sighs, "They aren't cartoons, they are anime."
"Whatever, just pick something cute, I don't want to think too hard tonight." Rain says.
Sky puts on a series about a clumsy high school girl who joins her school's music club which. It is the perfect mix of cute and funny and even has some pretty good music.
Rain, who isn't used to drinking, falls asleep a couple of episodes in. Sky shakes his head at his lightweight friend.
He then grabs his own phone and pulls up the information that Rain has shown him earlier on the owners of Tasty Treats.
He ignores the information on P'Phayu and instead scrolls down to read up on his partner. Prapai. P'Pai.
He knows this alpha. In a fit of loneliness, a while back he had gone to a bar in one of the nearby towns. The alpha had been passing through on the way to a vacation home but had ended up staying and they had spent the weekend together. Until now Sky had thought of that weekend with fondness and a slight bit of wistfulness that it could have been more. Now he only feels fury looking at the alpha's picture. That asshole.
Phayu's first instinct is to attack Pai the minute he sees his stupid puppy dog face. He knows not everything is Pai's fault but the fact that his partner wanted to open a chain here because of some omega he slept with is infuriating. If it wasn't for that, Phayu would have never come here. The thought of never meeting Rain aches but not as much as the realization that he really hurt the omega.
It's only the fact that Pai's family, including his parents, are there that keeps Phayu from grabbing Pai by the collar and shaking him.
The crowd surrounding the alpha however doesn't stop the omega from marching up to the bed and breakfast, slapping Pai full in the face, and calling him an asshole.
The omega, Phayu, is pretty sure this is Rain's friend Sky who picked Lys up the other afternoon, turns on his heels and stalks off without saying another word.
Phayu watches in amusement as Pai stares after the omega in shock and surprise.
Pai's family also reacts with varying levels of amusement. His siblings are doubled over in laughter and even his parents are looking hard pressed not to laugh.
Phayu moves close enough to where he won't be overheard and whispers, "Please tell me that wasn't the omega who you spent the weekend with."
Pai gives a grin as if he hadn't just been slapped in front of his family and says, "That's my Sky."
"You idiot, he is best friends with the owner of the bakery." Phayu informs him.
Pai groans, rubbing his cheek where he had been slapped.
Rain looks up and smiles as the customers file in. He isn't feeling his best, but it's been a slow morning and Rain would be glad to make any sales today. His smile slips from his face when he sees P'Phayu and another handsome alpha he recognizes at the other owner of Tasty Treats.
They look at Rain warily as if they expect to be kicked out, but Rain just takes a deep breath and says, "How can I help you?" He isn't ready to forgive P'Phayu but Rain has decided to be civil and professional to the alpha.
"Rain, this is my partner. Prapai. I would like you to hear his proposition." P'Phayu says.
Prapai comes up to the counter and says, "Rain, I would like to buy the bakery from you." He hands Rain an envelope.
Rain opens in and stares at the dollar amount on the offer. It's four times what the bakery is worth and would give him and Lys enough to live on for several years and enough to put away for her college.
"There is also a job at Tasty Treats for you if you want it." P'Phayu says.
Rain sighs and hands the envelope back. "I don't need your charity and I don't want to work for a big chain where I'm not allowed any creative freedom."
P'Phayu nods as if Rain's answer was pretty much what he expected it to be. "Just consider it, the offer is there if you change your mind."
"I owe you an apology, Rain." P'Pai says. "It was never my intention to bring hardship on a small business owner like yourself. If you don't want to sell, believe me I will work tirelessly until I find a compromise that works for everyone."
"Why would you?" Rain asks, genuinely curious.
"Because Yu says that you are a naturally talented baker and what you have achieved at such a young age is nothing short of amazing." P'Pai says.
Rain stops short. "You said that?" He asks P'Phayu.
"And meant it," P'Phayu says, "I've never known anyone with your talent."
For a minute he feels pleasure course through him at the compliment, then he remembers he is mad at the alpha.
"It doesn't matter." Rain says letting a little of the misery he has felt since first learning the chain was opening here creep into his tone. "I won't be able to compete with such a large corporation as yours. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I will close up early and pick my sister up from school."
Rain waits for Lys outside the school, he can't help but to smile when he sees her run excitedly over to where he is waiting.
"P'Rain, why are you here?" She asks.
"What, I can't walk my sister home from school once in a while," He ruffles her hair. "Did you have a good day today?"
"I made a perfect score on my test and guess what we are having a field trip next month. They are taking us to a safari park. Can I go?" She hands him a permission form and he frowns when he sees the fee for the overnight trip. If Lys really wants to go, he will figure out something.
"We'll see," Rain says.
Rain wonders how Lys will do if they have to move back to Bangkok. His sister thrives here, but there aren't many jobs where he would be able to work and take care of her as well.
He remembers the amount of money P'Pai offered for the bakery. He thinks in the end he will have to take the alpha up on his offer for his sister's sake. Maybe he should even take the job they offered on a part time basis. He could always focus his creativity on other directions.
"P'Rain, looks it's handsome movie star uncle." Lys says, breaking into his thoughts. "Can I go say hi to him?"
Rain looks up and sees P'Phayu with P'Pai standing in front of an empty lot talking with another man. Of course, this is where the Tasty Treats will be built. It's due to break ground next week.
"Not now," Rain tells her, "See he's busy. Let's go get ice cream, what do you say? A treat for getting a perfect score on your test."
Lys gives a happy little squeal at this.
"Excuse me, do you have any of the Fruit Basket series?" The young woman asks. Her arms are already full of manga and comics.
Sky raises his eyebrows, "They are in the back, you can lay those on the counter while you look if you like."
"Thank you," she somehow looks familiar to him. Just as she turns away, he remembers, she was at the bed and breakfast with P'Pai this morning.
"I'm Phan," she says as she returns with yet another armful of books, "I believe you have met my brother, P'Pai." She says the last with a giggle.
Sky flushes, "I'm sorry about this morning."
She laughs harder and says, "I am sure he deserved it. Even my parents asked him what he had done this time."
Parents, Sky thinks with a groan. He had been so furious as to slap the alpha in front of his parents. Sky who never even raises his voice or argues with anyone if he could help it.
"P'Plerng, that's my other brother, and I have a bet. He said you were mad at P'Pai because the two of you slept together and P'Pai bounced leaving you with a broken heart. I said it was something else." She says, "I mean I don't doubt that they two of you slept together but you don't seem the type to get crazy jealous enough to slap someone."
Sky blushes at how casually she says this as if P'Pai is always getting slapped by people he slept with. Maybe the alpha was.
"He didn't break my heart." Sky murmurs.
"I knew it, wait until I make P'Plerng pay up." She hands over a black credit card and Sky rings up her purchase, more than he has sold in six months combined. "I'll be back," she promises, "You have such a wonderful selection. I haven't been able to find half of these in my favorite shop in Bangkok."
Lys watches her big brother carefully. She hasn't missed the fact he had been sad for the last few days, and she wants to do something to help. She knows the reason he is sad has something to do with handsome movie star uncle. She doesn't know what happened, P'Rain was happier than he had been since their parents died. She had even begun to wonder if Uncle Phayu and P'Rain were dating. She knows all about dating and how sometimes people who dated got married. She would love to see P'Rain get married.
Lys remembers how happy her parents had been together and she wants that for P'Rain. She thinks Uncle Phayu would make P'Rain happy, but they have to get back together first.
Lys thinks she might need to call in help on this one. It will be like when Captain America assembles the avengers for a mission. She has her team of heroes all picked out too.