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Kongpob leaned his head back and sighed heavily as the car exited the campus.
"You okay back there?" Jane asked worriedly, looking at Kongpob through the rear view mirror.
Physically, yes. He was doing fine. There were no injuries thanks to Arthit.
His heart however felt different. When the attack happened, he could not do anything. The feeling of helplessness, it grips the heart as if it was slowly being crushed.
He unconsciously put his hand over where his heart was, massaging it, trying to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling.
"Having troubles breathing? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"I'm fine. The whole thing was just starting to sink into me. " He smiled and looked outside the window, staring at the buildings they were passing by.
"I've talked to the management and gave you an approval to rest for a couple of days."
His manager insisted for him to take a break but Kongpob was stubborn. Staying at home won't do anything except the growing restlessness from the incident. It won't do anything good.
"I don't want to rest. Staying at home will just make me go crazy." He replied.
"Then go home and spend time with your dad. I'm sure he misses you." Jane suggested, driving straight back to Kongpob's small apartment.
At the mention of Kongpob's father, Kongpob's phone rang. He suspiciously looked at his manager who was turned all his attention on the road.
"Hi dad" He warmly greeted his father.
"Jane told me about what happened." Kongpob could hear the worry from his father's tone.
He raised a brow in his manager's direction and shook his head. He had forgotten to stop his manager from telling the incident to his father. His father was already old. Kongpob didn't want to worry his old man.
"It's nothing dad. I wasn't hurt. A friend of mine protected me. I have sent him home just now." Kongpob looked outside as his mind strayed back to the scene where Arthit covered him with his body to protect him.
"I see. Bring him next time to meet me. I would like to personally thank him. Take good care of your friend son. Even friends ditch their friends when there's trouble and yet he protected you. He's a hard find. When are you coming home? Jane told me that you'll be getting a couple of days of rest. It's been a while since you last visited."
"I'll be home before dinner. I'll pack a couple of things and head straight there." He was only a couple of hours (four at most when there's traffic) from his parent's house.
"See you soon son. Take care."
------
Arthit feeling too much pain on his back with every step that he had forgotten one simple detail when he let his best friend, Knot help him to his room.
It was already too late when he realized it. Knot was already supporting him to sit on his bed and had looked up.
Knot made a pause at the large poster of a very known actor, Kongpob Suttiluck. It was a poster-sized picture on display on top of Arthit's headboard. Usually, Arthit would hide the poster under his bed whenever his friends visit.
"I-...I can explain." Arthit stuttered, wide-eyed and embarrassed on what his friend had discovered.
There was a growing smile on Knot's lips but forced himself not to. He knew of his friend's temperament.
With no other choice, Arthit told his friend the truth. As he told his friend, he felt so embarrassed. It was worse that when he told Maprang. At least Maprang was also a fan. Knot was different. He was his best friend. He didn't want to be looked with disgust. He had seen the stories other fanboys like him who shared their experiences when they told their friends. It wasn't pretty.
Knot listened attentively to Arthit, never interrupting and spoke only when Arthit finished. He finally understood why his friend would often go missing during the weekends and spend it with Maprang. He and the guys definitely had it wrong. Their friend wasn't going on dates.
Arthit was going on events.
Arthit couldn't look at Knot after he finished telling the truth.
"I'm a fan of Forth." Knot said in response to Arthit's confession.
Arthit smiled wryly. "It's not the same Ai'Knot but thanks for trying."
Knot touched his harm to comfort him. "It really doesn't matter Ai'Arthit. You're still you. Nothing has changed. So what if you're a fanboy? It doesn't change who you are. You're a good guy."
Never thought he would hear his friend call him a fanboy, he slightly cringed. "Please don't call me that. It's embarrassing."
Knot laughed. "Fine. You're a fan. Nothing is wrong with that. You're not doing anything wrong."
"I don't want to get laughed at." Arthit said, sharing his fear.
Arthit's friend raised a brow. "Do you see me laughing because of that? Don't think about what other people will think Arthit. You're not doing anything wrong."
His friend's words, made Arthit smile. If he didn't hurt so much, he would have hugged the guy for the support. "This is why you're my best friend and the wisest in our group."
This made Knot laughed. "I had made mistakes Ai'Arthit. I'm not a wise person."
"You're a lot better than Toota and Bright."
"Don't be so harsh on them. They have their good points or point." Knot smiled. "Enough chitchat. There's no time to rest, you missed out a lot and I heard our professor made this exam specially difficult because some doofus cheated on the last one."
Normally, Arthit had checked his online accounts but Knot didn't give him the luxury to do so. His friend was strict as he helped Arthit with the lessons. He won't let the shorter male get close to his phone.
They ate dinner quietly and studied until 10 in the evening. His body was so tired and all the studying sucked out all his energy. As soon as he rested his head on his pillow, he was dead asleep. He had forgotten about his phone.
Arthit was woken up by his alarm. It was set at 6 in the morning, giving him enough time to eat breakfast and prepare for school without rushing. His class starts at 8 that day.
He took his time with his bath. The cool water helped with the pain on his back. He stayed there more than usual and came out feeling refreshed. It still hurts to move so he ate the leftovers from last night and took medicine for it.
It was still early to leave for school. He then remembered that he hadn't been online all day yesterday so he checked his phone. What he saw made him bite his nails.
The forums were going crazy with photos of Kongpob in the market near his apartment with an unknown male wearing some university's uniform.
This is bad, Arthit thought.
Someone had seen them at the market and took pictures. What was worse was that he was wearing his uniform. He hadn't too much about it when he agreed to go with the celebrity. He had forgotten that he was with a famous person. Of course, there would be people watching anyone close to Kongpob.
In the picture, Arthit was looking somewhere making his face blurry but the maroon tie on his uniform was a dead giveaway.
+ that's our university's color! oh my gosh! Kongpob knows someone in our school?
+ does that mean Kongpob had visited the school without us knowing?!!!!!
+ too bad you can't see the guy' s face.
+ does anyone have a better picture than this?
+(from poster) This was done in secret. Kongpob doesn't like fans taking pictures when he's hanging out with family or friends. We had to keep our distance too. The guy was pretty cute.
Other than the photos in the market, there was also the cctv footage of the crazy fan who threw more than eggs at them. He cringed when he saw the egg-like balls hitting his back. It was like he was experiencing the whole thing again. Arthit immediately exited the video and searched for any information on the anti-fan. There were screenshots of the culprit but with the hoodie the anti was wearing, no one could identify the person except for the gender. It was obvious that it was male. Aside from that, it was a lost cause.
A lot of the users speculated that the person who protected could also be the one in the market. The original poster of the photos had mentioned seeing Kongpob's friend enter the building but not exiting.
+ do you think something happened *wiggles eyebrows
+ *smacks previous poster* get your mind out of the gutter. they're just hanging out. Although that is plausible *laughs
+ But Kongpob is straight, right?
+ of course he is!
Arthit can't imagine what Kongpob must be thinking if he saw what this people are saying. He avoided checking his line account. He knew that Kongpob had left a message. He didn't know what but he was too shaken by the posts in the forums so he put his phone in his pocket and left for school.
------
Arthit was feeling down. From the way he blanked during the middle of the test, he was sure that he had failed.
Everyone could feel the effects the difficulty of the exam. Arthit leaned his head on his arms on the table, drained mentally. He didn't expect that it would be that hard. Even the usually temperamental Prem felt the effect of the test. He was surprisingly cuddling with Toota, who in turn wrapped one arm around his boyfriend. The brutality of the exam must have sucked the life out of him or else, he would have never been so publicly affectionate to his boyfriend. Even Knot, the smartest of all of them was a bit out of it. No one had the energy to do anything except stare into space.
Bright was also unusually quiet, but it didn't last long when he looked like a bulb lit up inside his head.
"Someone's been a liar~" Bright cheekily sang. His eyes looking very mischievous as he looked at his friends.
His statement had Arthit sitting up so quickly, making him gasp in pain. He managed to cover it up with a cough. He didn't tell his friends except for Knot, not wanting to worry them.
Bright pulled something out of his bag. It was a fitness magazine with some famous actor on its cover.
Arthit looked at Bright in confusion, the new couple also mirrored his expression. He was relieved. For sure, it wasn't about him since it's not a tabloid magazine. There was no way in hell he would be featured in that.
Prem blankly reacted. "So?...."
It was Knot who got real quiet.
Bright rolled his eyes and opened the glossy magazine, turning it page by page until he found what he was looking for.
It was a muscly Knot posing in front of a motorcycle with only a pair of jeans and brown shoes. Aside from his friend, Arthit recognized the other male model who was wearing a denim jacket and pants with a black boots. Like Knot, his well-toned abdomen was showcased.
There was a long silence before Toota made an "ooooooooh....." sound.
"Okay. I think I drooled a little." Toota remarked, earning a very sharp glare from his boyfriend.
Every one looked at their sneaky friend, Knot who was looking elsewhere avoiding eye contact with everyone.
"Ai'Knot! Why haven't you shared your riches with us!" Bright was sitting beside Knot and shook the fit male.
Knot rolled his eyes while Arthit and Prem took it upon themselves to smack their ridiculous friend.
"Dumbass! What kind of friend are you?"
"The honest kind?"
He was really honest.
"Well.... you're really buff." Prem commented. "When was this?"
Knot awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of his neck as he explained. " During the summer. I got scouted while working out. He's the guy who scouted me." He pointed at the model beside him in the picture.
"Tew?" What a small world, Arthit thought.
"How do you even know his name? I thought you're only following K-" Knot had forgotten that they were among friends. Arthit quickly covered his mouth and whispered his response.
"Sssh! He's friends with him. I had met him more than once. He even asked if I was interested in being a model."
"It pays good money." Knot replied.
"How much did they pay you?" Bright excitedly asked.
Knot told them the figure and they whistled. It was really a good amount especially for a new model.
"It feels weird to be in front of the camera. Doesn't it feel weird for you?" Arthit looked at picture of his friend in the magazine. Knot looked really good.
"Hmm... It was uncomfortable at first, but I was confident with my body so I it got easier."
Everyone was green with envy.
Arthit snorted. "Who wouldn't feel confident with that body of yours? All you do other than study is either work out or hang out with us."
Prem, Bright, and Toota all agreed with Arthit.
"Before I forget, Arthit why are you moving all funny? Did you and Maprang got all worked up yesterday? You were gone the whole day so I assume you did." As usual Bright had a big mouth. He would always say what's on his mind.
"Bright, why am I friends with a moron like you. Did you forget? Maprang greeted us during lunch." Prem shook his head, giving up on how Bright's mind worked.
"Oh." Bright looked disappointed.
Maprang's timing had always been amazing. Just the mention of her name, she will magically appear like those in anime.
She was screaming when she saw Arthit and immediately started fussing over the male. She touched her senior's face and inspected it, looking for signs of injuries.
Arthit was too shocked to avoid her so he let her look over him. He had figured out that a gossip queen like her would have connected the dots especially with the pictures of him wearing their university's uniform and his absence the day before.
Maprang was really bold. She pulled Arthit's shirt up, showing the purple bruises on his back to his friends. Arthit pulled down his shirt quickly but his friends already saw.
Knot was wincing. He didn't think it was that bad.
"OMG Arthit!" Toota and Maprang exclaimed at the same time.
Prem stood up suddenly, his hands forming a fist, ready for a fight.
"Who should we beat up Ai'Arthit? Which assholes did that?!"
"I'll join you Prem. No one does that to our Pink milk monster." Bright supported him.
Arthit covered his face with his hands and groaned. He wanted to strangled Maprang for doing such a thing. He understood that she was worried but she could have at least asked him privately instead of doing things impulsively.
Arthit had to seek help from Knot. It took a lot of effort to calm his friends. Eventually they calmed down but with a condition of someone helping him get home. They were all feeling bad that they couldn't help their friend when they were needed the most.
Arthit laughed, touched even in the weirdest way his friends show their affection.
------
kongpob_:
evening P'
I'm with my dad's.
warm:
oh! they gave u more rest days?
yeah.
we were all shaken up by what happened.
that's good.u need more rest.
u doing ok?
how was the exam?
my back still hurts
but it's not getting worse
as for the test........
😑
that bad huh?
yeah.
she was really strict
this tym.
some1 cheated last tym
as long as u did ur best,
it's fine.
it's getting late.
u should rest.
and my dad wants 2 meet u
nxt time as a thank u
suppose ur right.
i did my best 🙂
i'm gonna rest after this
u told him? 😱
haha 😄
don't worry my dad's a cool guy
plus, he's a lot better in cooking than me
good night P'
u still have school, right?
ok. thanks for the invite.
i'll be a pig if u guys keep on feeding me
😄 good night Kongpob.
have lots of rest and have fun with ur dad
good night P'
😘
Arthit fell from his bed and shouted in pain. "Fuck! that hurt!"
It was totally different from what he was feeling inside. He was shocked but at the same time VERY VERY HAPPY! His heart felt like it was going to explode any moment from beating to hard.
oops.
wrong emoji. hehe😝
Good night again
Arthit wasn't sure what he wanted to do: cry or laugh.
lol. good night Kongpob.
✌️
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