Previously:
"Now do you remember P' Arthit?"
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Arthit blinked numerous times slowly, processing what just happened. He opened his mouth to say something but all that came out of his mouth was air. He didn't know what to say.
What the fuck did you do Arthit?! How could you attack him?! You even kissed him! And Kongpob kissed him!
Let's not forget that you're NAKED! N.A.K.E.D. under this sheet Arthit Rojnapat!!! I know you like him and all but have some control of yourself! How can you face him now?
The room's temperature had risen up for reasons he was fully aware of. It was almost hard to breathe. The embarrassment and mortifying knowledge that he made a move on the Kongpob, whom he just realized that he had feelings for only a couple of hours ago, was sinking fully in his brain.
He really likes Kongpob; not like a fan admiring his idol but as a man liking a man. Arthit didn't think- okay scratch that- he had a hunch about this feelings of his but he was in denial. Liking someone is a big thing for him. Toota wasn't lying when he was the marriage type of guy. By admitting to himself that he liked Kongpob, he was considering the younger male his forever guy.
He was really freaking out right now! This was the first time he had liked someone.
Can you imagine how much of a big deal this was too him? It's like discovering that the earth is round!
While he was freaking out mentally, physically, and emotionally, Kongpob cut off his mental tirad.
"P'Oon! You're bleeding!"
Arthit felt something wet above his lips and touched it. There was blood. He got a nosebleed.
"Haha." He laughed monotonously as he looked at his bloodied fingers. He didn't expect that he would have a nosebleed. All his life, he never experienced a nosebleed except now. Love is truly a curious thing.
Kongpob got off his bed and ran to get the first aid kit in the bathroom.
Arthit wasted no time. He got dressed as fast as he could. The only thing in his mind right now was to leave at once. He was too embarrassed right now to face the young male.
Kongpob was only gone for a moment, but when came back, Arthit was gone leaving his coat.
Tok tok tok
Tok tok tok
Tok tok tok
"Wait! Hold your pants! Just a minute!" Toota could be heard crying out from behind the door.
Tok tok tok
Tok tok tok
The knocking only intensified until Toota opened the door. Wearing rollers on his hair and a bedazzled shirt, he was surprised to see his friend, Arthit, visiting him so early in the morning. Not only was the male awake he didn't look like himself. Arthit's hair was sticking all over the place more than usual and he was wearing wrinkled designer clothing. Toota always has a sharp eye on fashion. There was no chance in hell that Arthit bought those clothes. The coat alone was cost a chunk of their tuition fee. Arthit doesn't have that kind of money.
"Well well well... look who's being mr. fancy pants. Got lucky last night?" Toota grinned slyly. Arthit ignored his friend's teasing and tried to look behind the taller male. He doesn't have time for it. He needed to talk to Prem ASAP!
"Ai' Toot I need to speak to your boyfriend."
Toota's large build was making it impossible for Arthit to see anything past his friend. He really needed to talk to Prem. He was the worst liar in the group and would surely clarify a lot of things for him.
"He's still asleep."
Arthit tiptoed, still trying to look behind Prem's boyfriend. "I don't care. Wake him up. I really need to speak to him."
Toota shook his head. "No can do. He-"
"I DON'T CARE! I need to talk to him! PLEASE!" Arthit grabbed Toota by his collar and shouted. He was past caring whether Toota's neighbors heard him. HE NEEDED ANSWERS.
"What the fuck do you need to be bothering us?" His loud voice have woken up a grouchy Prem in loose gray sweater, a cotton pants too big for him to be his, and glasses he would never wear outside. Arthit was secretly relieved that his clothes didn't have glitters. He might have to bleach his eyes if that happened.
Under normal circumstances, Arthit would be afraid of doing anything to annoy Prem, but this was an emergency. He needed to know why he acted in such a way. Only his friend, Prem was honest enough to tell him the truth. If it was Knot, he would find a way to avoid answering him. Arthit was speaking from experience.
"I got drunk and I remember doing things that I don't normally do." Arthit admitted as soon as Prem came into view. "You guys have told me nothing about my drunken behaviour. Rather... you guys refused to tell me anything about it. What is it that you're not telling me? I need to know. I need to know NOW!"
Prem blinked. There was a long silence between the three of them.
"SHIT." The loud expletive from Prem already told Arthit that his friends hadn't told him the truth about his drunken antics.
Toota blinked twice and looked at his boyfriend then back to Arthit. He even tried put a finger in his ear, thinking he misheard. "Sorry babe, but did I hear him say he got drunk?"
Prem sighed and kissed Toota's cheek in habit. "Toot babe can you call Knot and Bright? Tell them we have an emergency."
"Wait. I need to tweet this first." Toota already had his phone out, typing as he spoke. He didn't mind Arthit's glare in his direction. This was too juicy to ignore.
Minutes later, the whole gang assembled in Toota's cramped dorm room. All of them lived not far from each other. Of what should only be enough for two people, five grown men awkwardly arranged themselves as best as they could in the small room. Arthit sat on the sanrio covered bed with Knot and Prem while Toota was beside his boyfriend sitting on a chair wearing a feather boa and with Bright on the floor.
It got awkwardly quiet until Toota elbowed his boyfriend who passed the same gesture to Knot. Knot had no choice but to speak for the rest of the group.
"Toota told us you got drunk. And judging from your clothes-" Knot pointed to Arthit's luxurious clothes. "he invited you to that party?"
"What party? Am I the only one who doesn't know?" Bright wasn't the only one who was clueless. Prem and Toota were also unaware about the recent happenings in Arthit's life.
Arthit felt like his face was on fire. He couldn't look at anyone and nodded his head. "I got drank at the party. I wasn't paying attention to my limit so I ended up doing something stupid. I got naked at my friend's place. Gah! It's so embarrassing and I don't even know how to face him."
Prem couldn't help but roll his eyes as he yawned sleepily. "What's the big deal about getting naked? You have done this before. At least you weren't acting like a cute drunk. That was something I would want to erase from my brain."
"I WAS NAKED AND KISSED HIM!" He glared at Prem and pulled at his own hair.
All four of his friends' jaws dropped. It went quiet that you can only hear the hum of he air-conditioning unit in Toota's room.
Knot cleared his throat. "Well.... The kissing part is new. You do have a habit of taking off your clothes though."
"Arthit tends to me more honest and cute when drunk. Remember that time when he told Knot that he's-"
"You're digging your own grave Bright. Zip it." Toota wrapped his feather boa around Bright's face before he could say more.
"What is it that you're not telling me? What have I done or said that would be worse than this?"
"We'd rather not say."
"We want to live longer."
"It's not a really big deal so you don't have to worry about it." Knot patted his back. It was only Arthit who would make a big deal out of it. This secret was something they agreed not to tell in respect and care for their friend's shyness.
Arthit didn't think too much about Bright's words and anxiously thought about his problem. "How can I face him now? Tell me what to do guys."
"Nothing." Prem shrugged unworried. "It's just a drunken behaviour." In his perspective there wasn't much reason to be fretting over what happened. No one got knocked up and everyone was safe and sound. What happened to his friend was still a regular drunken episode that they would laughed about some time in the future.
Bright agreed with Prem, looking at home on Toota's floor. "You're thinking too much Arthit. Believe me when I say, I've done worst things than you. It's nothing to be worried about."
They didn't need any evidence to believe Bright's words. They had witnessed some of his embarrassing episodes.
Arthit wanted to throw a pillow at his friend but Bright would have probably just use that pillow and sleep right then and there. His mood considerably brightened by his friend's craziness and felt better.
Knot clap once to call everyone's attention. "Let's call this meeting over. I want to catch more sleep if you don't mind."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone were still sleepy.
"Thanks guys." Arthit said to them.
"No problem. This is why we're your friends. Although you can ditch this one." Prem smiled at Arthit and then kicked Bright, who was already making himself comfortable on the floor. "Bright! You have your own room. Sleep there."
"It's too far away." Bright grumbly answered, refusing to move an inch on his spot.
Knot, the strongest of them all took it into his own hands to drag Bright out of the room to give the couple their space back. Bright tried to get away but Knot had both of his feet, dragging him on his back.
Arhit was about to follow them when Toota called out his name. He looked back and Toota leaned closer to him to whisper. "So... you finally figured it out?" Toota was careful not to let anyone hear. He understood his friend's shy character.
Arthit paused for a moment before admitting it. "Yeah." He smiled before continuing. "It's kind of scary. It makes me realize how brave you are for being with Prem."
"Tell that to me when I get to admit to my parents that I have a boyfriend." Toota replied and looked his boyfriend who already ignored the rest of the world to sleep.
The following days after his drunken episode, Arthit would often stare into space and then cover his face in embarrassment once he remembered how shameless he'd been that night. There was also that kiss that morning. What does that mean? Was it Kongpob's way of messing with him?
Arthit didn't dare think of the possibility that Kongpob liked him back. NO. As a fanboy, there were boundaries that he didn't dare cross.
A heavy sigh escaped the senior student's lips. His chest did not feel right, as if his heart was doing flips every time his mind wanders back to that kiss. And when he remembers that particular moment, his fingers would touch his lips unconsciously. It was like he was feeling that kiss again. (KYAH!)
He thought back about the fan items in his room. In his closet, there were the fanmade chibi shirts he bought when Maprang showed him a certain fansite master's design and the magazines Kongpob appeared in. And on top of his headboard was the big poster he lined up for hours and got it framed.
He really had come a long way. In a way, he wasn't as shy as he used to be and he had finally had fallen in love. But the problem was, how a fanboy like him could dare to like that star he admires. Does it have a future? There are too many unknowns to consider.
"Ai'Arthit. Snap out of it. Even Toota is making more progress than you." A roll of paper hit Arthit's head, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He looked at the culprit and saw that it was Prem holding the rolled paper. "What the hell Prem?!"
"You. Should. Do. Your. Paper." Prem emphasized each word. "Prof. Bjorn will have our heads if you fail to submit a decent work. You know how he acts. He'll be breathing fire if you keep doing a half-assed work. We don't have much time left."
It was rare for Prem to be the one doing the nagging instead of Knot. Being in their final year, he must also felt the pressure. Arthit got too caught up with other things instead of focusing on the most important thing in his life at this moment.
"Sorry." Arthit apologized and keep his thoughts away from Kongpob. It was difficult but he had to.
Now focusing in his paper, he noticed how much he was lagging behind his friends. He was seriously in trouble. "I'm gonna go to the library. My references are shit. Anyone wants to come along?"
Everyone shook their heads. Arthit quickly left with his things and went to the library.
The rest of the gang remained in their usual spot in one of the tables at the side of their department building. Books and notes were scattered all over the table. It was amazing that they were able to make sense of studies with the mess.
Everyone was busy reading case studies and making analysis of them. Even Toota and Bright, who were the common cause of commotion, studiously kept their noses buried in their studies.
Not one noticed a male figure dressed in all black approaching the table until he spoke.
"Excuse me but do you know where P'Arthit went?"
At first no one spoke. The male stood awkwardly, waiting for a response until Knot looked up and made a double take, thinking hard if he was imagining things.
Kongpob waved at Knot, remembering Tew mentioning the male student in more than one occasion. "Hello. Have you seen Arthit? Shouldn't he be with you guys?"
Toota was in the middle of drinking from a bottle of water and sprayed it on Bright, spotting who it was that was talking to them.
"Eew." Bright made an ugly expression, wiping his face with his hand before looking at Kongpob, unaffected by his presence and answered him. "He's been slacking off so he went to the library to collect some materials and study."
Prem was lucky not get sprayed with water but he was shocked as well when he saw Kongpob.
"Thanks." Kongpob thanked them and said something to Knot before he left. "And Tew says hi." What that meant, only Knot knows.
There was a whole 10 seconds of silence after Kongpob left, before Toota screamed at the top of his lungs, finally digesting what just happened.
"What the fuck?! That was Kongpob Suttiluck! THE KONGPOB SUTTILUCK! My dream guy?!"
Under normal circumstances, Prem would have been jealous but he was also shocked by Kongpob's sudden appearance.
"Please tell me I'm not high or anything to imagine Kongpob Suttiluck approached our table, talked to us and looked for Arthit." Bright was staring at the same spot where the celebrity male was standing earlier.
Prem smacked Bright's head. "If you were high or anything, we might as well be."
"I wouldn't be able to conjure such a perfect being. He's the real deal." Toota was gushing excitedly and then remembered Kongpob calling their friend's name so familiarly. "Guys, do you think he's the friend Arthit was talking about?"
"Ai'Knot, what do you know about this?" All three looked at Knot, knowing that he was closest to Arthit.
Although Knot looks scary because of his big physique, he was no match against his friends. He put down his pen and answered them. "Yeah. He's the guy, who invited Arthit to a party. Don't ask me the rest of the details. I'm as informed as you guys are."
"WOW. Being naked. Kissing. Arthit got game." Prem nodded approvingly. He was happy for Arthit to FINALLY have a love life.
"Why am I friends with you guys? Shouldn't you be worried for Arthit?" Knot sighed hopelessly at the direction of their conversation.
The trio looked at each other and shook their heads.
Bright waved his hand. "Nah. Arthit needs someone like Kongpob. He needs someone to tame him. I do wonder who tops. It would be Kongpob. I'm sure of it. Girls would only be a competition to our pinkmonster's beauty." Bright got another smack on the head as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Nothing proper would come out of this guy's mouth.
"When you think about it, it's a fanboy's dream come true, isn't it?" Prem chuckled.
"Oi, you better not mention that to Arthit. We all swore to keep it to our graves. That burnt marshmallow wants to remain a burnt marshmallow." Knot reminded his friends. Bright was really fortunate to be able to keep his life with that mouth of his. Toota and Prem should keep their mouths sealed. It was safer for all of them that way.
There had been only two occasions where Arthit got drunk. And in those times, the male had revealed a lot of things about himself. His friends understood how shy Arthit could be and if he knew what they know, he might just use violence to silence them. This was the real reason why Knot wasn't surprised when Arthit admitted that he was a fanboy. He's big but he's scared of Arthit.
Coincidentally, the books Arthit needed where located at the corner of the library where students rarely go. It was really quiet in this parts.
His eyes scanned the rows and columns of books, searching for topics related to his paper. He had managed to collect a few but felt it was still not enough. His hands skimmed over the titles, but just as he was about to reach the end, he saw someone in the other aisle, staring at him.
Arthit narrowed his eyes to get a good look and almost dropped the books he was holding. "Kongpob!" Arthit whispered loudly. "What are you doing here?" He looked left and right to check whether someone noticed Kongpob. The place looks deserted except for the both of them.
"You kept ignoring me so I decided to drop by. This way, you can't avoid me." Kongpob grinned at older male and walked over to the same aisle as Arthit's, blocking the only exit.
"Who said I'm ignoring you? I'm simply busy these days." Arthit lied, looking for an exit as he unconsciously stepping back. He really didn't know how to face the male celebrity. He was terrified to face Kongpob. "How did you get in? How did you even know that I was here?"
Kongpob showed his visitor's pass badge. "It was cool that they didn't recognize me and it was one of your friends that told me where you are."
The older male cursed his friends silently. His friends really don't know when to shut it.
Arthit really couldn't look at Kongpob straight in the eyes and kept avoiding eye contact. He showed the books that he was holding, hoping the younger male would give him space. "As you can see, I'm busy. Let's talk later."
But Kongpob was not backing down. They have made it this far, he was making sure that Arthit wouldn't run away. He had a feeling that the older male was the type to run away.
Kongpob stubbornly stood his ground and smiled in a way that grated to Arthit's nerves. "I can wait. I can even help you find materials for your paper. Or if you want, I'll be quiet and let you complete your paper in peace."
Stubbornness is one of Kongpob's known traits. Arthit understood that he had no chance in convincing the younger male when he didn't budge the second time he said he's busy.
With a sigh he went back to look for more books, doing his best to ignore Kongpob. That attempt only lasted for a couple of minutes before he totally gave up on looking for more books. Having the younger male hovering over his every move was too distracting. Knowing that there was a big chance that Kongpob would ignore his celebrity status and would follow him to the main study area that would possibly get him recognized, Arthit opted to sit on where he stood and began writing his paper. As much as he didn't want Kongpob to be here at the moment, he still cares a lot for the male.
"I thought your schedule is packed these days?"
Kongpob followed suit and sat beside Arthit, keeping enough room for the older male to work in. He was trying to be a good guy instead of pouncing like he wanted to. A little more patience won't hurt but he still won't let Arthit run away.
"Oh-" On the There was that teasing smile again that both infuriates and makes Arthit's heart skip a beat. "So you're updated with my work schedule?"
Arthit didn't need to look in the mirror to see that he was all red. He could feel his face heating up. "Of course. We're friends. I don't want to disturb you when you're busy. Shoo. I need to finish this."
Seeing Arthit all flustered was all Kongpob could take. At first, he wanted Arthit time to finish his paper but there's only so much restraint he could have. He couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around the older male.
If it was any other person, Arthit would have freed himself the moment he felt those arms around him. But this was Kongpob we're talking about. A simple smile from him could send him to hours of daydreaming. He's also the one person that could make him look forward to boring messages and put a smile on his face with a simple greeting.
"Kong! What the hell are you doing?" Arthit couldn't shout loud, not wanting to call attention. His plan on finishing his paper was already in the gutter with the way Kongpob was acting.
"Stop being so darn cute P'. I can't help myself if you keep on acting that way."
"I'm not cute!" The older male argued weakly. "Come on. Stop fooling around. I still have to finish my paper."
Kongpob stubbornly wrapped his arms tighter around the other male. "I don't want to, but I'll let you go on one condition."
The older male was desperate and didn't think carefully of his words. "Fine. Whatever it is. I'll say yes."
"Really P'?" Kongpob smiled from ear to ear, almost changing his mind to let Arthit go.
Arthit nodded. "Yeah. Can you let me go now?"
"You can't take back what you said P'." The younger male said.
Arhit sighed heavily. Kongpob wasn't taking any chances.
"I promise I won't take back my word."
With that said, Kongpob released the older male and held his hand instead. "Let's date P'Oon. I really really like you."
"You're joking, right?" Arthit choked in his own spit.
The younger male took advantage of his shock and kissed his nose. "If it's about you, I'll never joke about it. I kissed you because I like you.
"Remember what you said, P'. You'll say 'yes' no matter what it is.
"Can I hear 'yes' now?"
"Yes." Arthit dumbly said 'yes'.
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Finally! Chapter 24 is done! I wanna cry right now. XD
I also have a little announcement to make.
Since SOTUS S has ended, I have decided to end this around chapter 30-35. If possible, shorter. I guess that's enough for our Arthit the fanboy to have his happy ending, right? Hopefully we can finish this before June. Thanks everyone for supporting me. May we see this journey until the end.
Until next time.
And BTW, Have you guys seen their Songkran photos? So HOT! 😍😍😍😍
Ciao.