Kongpob: P'Bright, have you talked to P'Arthit these past few days?
Bright: He came to my bar last Thursday. Haven't seen him or heard from him since, though. What's up?
Kongpob: I was just wondering if he's busy, because he hasn't been returning my calls or messages.
Bright: Is that so? I'll try to contact him and ask him.
"Kongpob, what are you still doing here? Everyone's ready to go. Come on." Achara urges the young man to stand up from his desk.
"You know what? I don't really feel like going anymore."
"No way! You can't change your mind at the last moment! Yuta and the others are looking forward to drinking with you. Let's go!" she insists and literally drags him out of the classroom.
The place is your typical izakaya (*), full with loud salarymen who came to unwind after another stressful day at work. Kongpob and the other students who are participating in the training program sit at a table that accommodates all 15 of them.
(*) izakaya - informal Japanese pub usually used for after-work drinking.
He chooses to sit at the farthest corner so he could check his phone without being seen and/or teased by others. He is sure he must have sent at least 50 messages to his P' in the past week, but he has yet to receive a single reply. The only reason Arthit might be upset is because he didn't tell him sooner that his father knows about them, Kongpob muses. He checks the phone for the nth time but, of course, still nothing. He runs his fingers through his hair, sighing.
"What's wrong, buddy? You're not having fun? You don't like this kind of place or ...?" Yuta asks him. Kongpob has grown the closest with him, being the same age and sharing a common interest in games and comics.
"No, it's not that. I just ..."
"Come on, try this shochu (*). I'm curious to see if you like it. It's your first time trying it, right?" the young man encourages him.
(*) shochu - Japanese beverage typically distilled from rice, barley or sweet potatoes
The truth is Kongpob is kind of tired of studying until late into the night, of worrying over what might have happened to his P'Arthit and of raking his brains about how to make his father fully accept his relationship. So he decides he will drink enough to become numb and able to forget for just one night.
"I'm all about trying different drinks but make sure not to mix them too much, or else you're going to feel like s**t tomorrow morning." another student from Indonesia warns him.
And Kongpob takes his advice but it still doesn't help anyway, since he is not too good at holding his liquor. It's only after a couple of beers and glasses of shochu that a nasty headache already kicks in and the room starts spinning with him. He can barely hold his eyes open.
When the party is over and they call it a night, Yuta helps Achara take Kongpob back to their hotel.
"Yuta kun, thanks a lot. See you tomorrow." the girl says, once they've reached the hotel entrance and they part ways.
"My pleasure. Goodnight. See you."
However, Achara was wrong in thinking she could take Kongpob to his room all by herself. As she is struggling to support him, she wishes she had asked her friend to bring him upstairs.
When they arrive in front of his room, she asks him for the key and he murmurs a "Back pocket". She hesitantly reaches behind and slowly pulls out the card key from the pocket of his jeans. She moves him inside and turns on the lights. He just leans against the wall, eyes closed.
It's the first time since they met that she gets to properly look at his face from up close. He is indeed handsome and she can understand why he's turning heads on the streets of Tokyo. Without even thinking, she reaches to touch his cheek and he mumbles something she can't understand.
She is startled when Kongpob takes her hand in his and leans into her, eyes still shut. He kisses her, cupping one side of her face, while pulling her closer by the waist. It all happens so fast that the girl freezes in shock. His arms holding her are unexpectedly strong for someone who's drunk, his body is hot and he tastes like beer and yakiniku. When he breaks the kiss to rest his forehead against hers, she can finally discern what he's been whispering this entire time.
"P'Arthit ..."
"K-Kong ... Kongpob?"
It seems her voice was what he needed to sober up, as the young man opens his eyes, snapping out of it.
"Wha-?"
"Are ... are you okay?" she asks.
Kongpob looks at her pink cheeks and swollen lips and realization hits him hard. He stumbles backwards, hitting the wall behind him. He can't believe he's just kissed someone other than his boyfriend.
"Who ... who is P'Arthit? Is it your ... lover?"
"I ... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I swear. I'm not like this usually, in fact never!" Kongpob is desperate to earn her forgiveness. If only he'd meant to kiss her, it would've been a different story.
"Don't worry about it, Kongpob. I can understand exactly how you feel."
"You ... you can?"
His confused look urges her to explain herself.
"Yes. I also have a boyfriend, back in Thailand. He is three years younger than me, so still in university. He is studying photography and he is planning on working as a freelance photographer after he graduates. My father found out about us by accident and he told me he will not let me date someone without a stable future who can't provide for me. So yeah ... Can ... can I ask about your ...?"
Kongpob smiles, despite feeling like he is about to throw up. Only the mere thought of Arthit can improve his condition.
"P'Arthit ... he is everything to me. I will never let anyone or anything break us apart. I can't wait to go back home and hold him in my arms. I miss him so much that it drives me crazy."
❈❈❈
Much to his desperation, Arthit now knows he has been tricked into signing a fake contract and transferring a large amount of money into an equally fake account. Everything was going smoothly and he was so happy he'd been able to find a provider for the key component of their new product, yet all his efforts are gone down the drain.
"I will be honest with you, Khun Arthit. We have had several complaints from other companies in the past, similar to your case, which makes us believe it's people from the same network. We've been trying to catch the culprits for a long time but they are always able to slip through our fingers at the last moment. I ... can't promise you we can get your money back. In fact, I'm sure that money has already been laundered."
This is what Arthit was told when they went to report it to the police. He refuses to believe there's really not much to be done so that's why he keeps returning to the station, waiting for minutes on end to talk to the one in charge of his case, asking if there is any progress. Even the lady who cleans the floors remembers his face now.
To top it all, work is crazy busy; his team is frantically working on other projects, in order to fill back the hole left in the company's budget. Sure, nobody directly blamed Arthit for what happened but neither did anyone try to lift his spirit and tell him it's going to be okay. Except maybe for P'Earth and Tod.
"Arthit, it's late, we should go home."she says, standing up from her desk. "You've been working non stop for the past week. I'm worried you're not eating or sleeping properly."
"I'm fine, thank you. I'm almost done anyway. You can go ahead."
"Then, we'll see you tomorrow morning."
Arthit slumps in his chair once alone in the office. His eyes hurt, his head aches and his stomach is rumbling, making it hard to concentrate. He regrets having taken medicine on an empty stomach. His phone buzzes with a new message from Kongpob. He hasn't contacted the boy in days, he figures the junior must be worried sick but ...
After what happened, he is sure Kong's father thinks he is a good for nothing, (now, more than before) not worthy to be his son's lover. Arthit has no idea how he could ever redeem himself in the eyes of Mr. Suthiluck.
What am I gonna do? God, what should I do?
"Do you want to have dinner out or do you want to cook something?" Tod asks his girlfriend, on the way to the parking lot.
"It's already late, let's just order something to go and ... Oh, I forgot my bag! I'll go get it so wait for me in the car."
Earth enters the office, expecting to see Arthit still at his desk, but the sight her eyes behold is completely different.