Saint stared excitedly outside the car window. They were at the main entrance of the King Dusit Royal University College and it was bustling with cars and people. Registration day. He could not help but going ohhh and ahhh looking at the buildings, facilities and of course the people milling around the campus. He thought that it was so cool that he could study at this prestigious college. He had received a partial scholarship from his father's company and that helped a lot with the college fees. Saint felt grateful with what he had. Their family was not poor and at the same time they were not wealthy. They led a pretty comfortable life. To him that was just enough.
His father parked their family's MPV in front of Alpha Condominium where he would be sharing a condominium with another student. Each condominium has a small kitchen, a bathroom and fortunately for Saint a separate bedroom for each. Those were some of the perks of studying in a college under the Royal Academy. Students from all over the country worked so hard to get into these colleges simply because of its benefits and not forgetting the quality of its education. Saint walked into the foyer and was awestruck by the sheer number of people there. He checked his email because the college had sent every information needed for the day for all the students. Saint was reading his email without realising that he was about to bump into someone.
"Saint? Saint Suppapong?" Saint heard a familiar voice.
"Oh my goodness! Tommy! You're here too? I didn't know!" Saint exclaimed.
"Yeah... I'm doing law. You?"
"I'm doing culinary."
"That's cool! You have to make sure to feed me a lot." Tommy joked.
"Not a problem." Saint grinned.
"So... you're staying here for this semester?" Tommy asked.
"As long as I could I guess... because this is the closest student condo to my faculty." Saint explained.
"Alright... my faculty is a little farther down the road but it's not that bad. Do you still use the number from high school?" Tommy took out his phone.
"Yes and how about you?"
"The same."
"Cool... maybe we hang out together sometime?" Saint suggested.
"Sure! I got to head to the Law Faculty. I'll call you later."
"No problem Tommy. It's nice to see a familiar face." Saint said to Tommy.
Saint read the email again and he knew what to do. He first check his condo number and it was 1-01 meaning first floor and number one. He then check out the counters and saw counter 1 indicating the first floor. He greeted the person at the counter and he managed to secure his keys. After that, he and his parents lugged all his belonging up to the first floor. He wondered if his roommate had already arrived. Saint smiled when he unlocked the door and gasped when he opened it. The condominium was spacious and beautiful. He could not believe his eyes. There was a living room with a flat screen television. He turned to the right and he simply blinked with his mouth open. The kitchen was beyond perfect. There were 4 stoves, a state-of-the-art kitchen counter, a huge oven and the list went on.
"Honey... this is like your dream kitchen!" Saint's mother gushed.
"I know right? The is crazy Mom!"
"It's like MY dream kitchen too!!" She added.
"You'll be so happy here." His mother the hugged him.
"I can cook anything here! I hope my roommate likes to eat." Saint said as he ran his finger on the shiny counter top.
"Which room will you pick?" His father asked.
"I have no idea... let's check them out."Saint suggested.
One room was bare but it had a huge bed, a wardrobe, a study table, some comfortable sofas and a balcony facing the small lake behind the condominium. Saint felt like that he really liked the room and wanted to choose it as his, nevertheless his mother suggested to check out the other room. His father opened it and all of them became speechless. The room had a king sized bed with a thick comforter. On the bed there were numerous pillows of different shapes and sizes. Saint's mother touched the pillow, ran her fingers on the cloth and she made a surprised face. Saint himself had never seen these many pillows in his young life. There was a gaming set equipped with the state-of-art computers and screens. There was a big study table with a huge iMac Pro and gadgets of all kinds. There was also a separate smaller room that was filled with someone's clothes. They walked quietly into the room and were dazed.
"I think this is silk." Saint's mother whispered as she touched one of the shirts.
"Why are you whispering?" Saint asked.
"I don't know." Saint's mother looked bewildered.
"Well... I guess I shall choose the first room." Saint laughed nervously.
"I think we should leave... if anything goes missing... we're dead." Saint added making his parents laughed nervously with him.
They began unpacking but all they were talking about was about Saint's roommate and also who was actually Saint's roommate. His mother suggested that his roommate could be some rich kid, but Saint's father had a different idea. He said that it could be a royalty.
"A royalty? Why would a royalty study here?" Saint commented.
"They always get their degree from the Royal Colleges. It is common practice among the royalties." His father explained.
"Honey... you must have forgotten. You had a brush with a royalty long ago when you were young." His mother said.
"I remember you told me about it when I was young but I have forgotten about it." Saint muttered as he hung his clothes in the wardrobe.
"You actually met Prince Zee Pruk Panich III when both of you went missing in the palace." She narrated.
"We couldn't find you and actually the Royal Guards found you and the prince together. They thought you were a girl!" His mother giggled.
"Ya... Ya... I got that a lot when I was young. I hated it!" Saint complained.
"Honey... you were simply adorable... that's why!" His mother commented.
"He used to have that long curly wild hair of his that he refused to cut! That didn't help." His father laughed.
"Hey... They won't mistake me for a girl now. I am a very handsome manly man!" Saint protested. Lips pouting.
"You are... You are indeed very handsome... my boy!" His father smiled and patted his back.
Saint's parents left at around noon and by then he was famished. He opened the impressive refrigerator but sadly he was not impressed with what he saw as there was nothing much there. A tub of ice cream. Vanilla flavoured. A carton of milk that has expired. A shrivelled banana. A bottle champagne. And that was it. He cleaned the refrigerator and the kitchen. It did not need much cleaning but he enjoyed being in the kitchen while marvelling at what he had. Saint decided to head out for lunch and to do some grocery shopping for himself. He texted his parents telling then that he was heading out for a while. His mother replied asking him to be careful. Saint smiled when reading her message.
Saint went to Google Map and searched for grocery stores closest to Alpha Condominium. He was glad that there were a few stores just outside the condo. He got into the elevator and got down. People still filled the foyer as it was still registration day. Saint was crossing the road and suddenly his eyes caught someone. His blood froze. As fast as he saw that someone, that someone seemed to disappear. Saint looked around but there were too many people around that he was not able to find him. He thought he saw one of the men from the day before. Saint shook his head thinking it was rather impossible for that to happen because that happened in his hometown like 150 kilometres away. Maybe he saw some look alike.
Saint entered the first grocery store he saw. He was happy with the selections there and decided to shop there. He even got to know that the grocery store could send his grocery straight to his condo. He texted his father telling him that he was going to splurge on grocery using the credit card his father gave and that he wanted to cook something for his new roommate. He strolled around the grocery store and checked out every single aisle until his cart was filled to the brim. He then paid for everything and requested that they send the grocery to his condo later in the evening.
Saint arrived back at his condo just before the grocery arrived. He was disappointed that his roommate had not made an appearance. He was indeed curious to know who he actually was. He arranged the grocery he bought in the kitchen cabinet and also in the refrigerator. He wanted to cook dinner and also to cook for his roommate. He fiddled with his phone for a while and texted his grandfather. His grandfather suggested him to cook something simple. Shrimp Lo Mein sounded simple and scrumptious. Zee took out the ingredients he needed and in less than half an hour everything was done.
Saint ate his dinner while watching television. His family had never owned a television set as big as the one in his condominium. He wondered if Tommy's condo had the same facilities. After dinner, Saint flipped through the numerous channels as he waited for his roommate. By 10 o'clock, Saint was getting groggy. He cleaned the kitchen and put a plate of the shrimp lo mein on the kitchen counter. He even wrote a note saying "Hello to my new roommate, I am Saint Suppapong. Let's be friends!". He grinned at the tiny cartoon he drew at the bottom of the note. He loved Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants since he was small that made him painstakingly learned how to draw Patrick. He was horrible at drawing, hence having to learn to draw Patrick was a blessing. He went into his room and read messages from his friends and parents. He showered, put on his Patrick Star pyjamas and got into bed. He hugged his Patrick Star stuff toy thinking of his still missing roommate before sleep took over.
******************************************************************************************
It was 2 in the morning. Saint was in deep slumber but he felt something was amiss. He slowly opened his eyes and proceeded to rub his eyes. He then squinted. Was there something wrong with his eyes? He saw a face just inches from his.
"Handsome man?" He croaked and studied the face above him.
Then, his brain cells began working. Handsome man? Handsome man with the bloody nose? Why was his face so close to him? Why was he here? Why was he in his room? Why was he on his bed???
"Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" Saint yelled and at the same time swung his right arm.
His fist hit the man's jaw. Saint was terrified. He tried hitting him again but failed. The man gripped his arms at the top of his head. The terrifying man then spoke.
"If you hit me again. You're dead." The man growled. His voice chilling.
"Why... why are you here? Are you... Are you... going to kill me?" Saint sputtered.
"Maybe I am." The man threatened.
"Please! Please don't kill me! I promise I won't tell anyone!" Saint begged.
"Tell anyone about what?" The man asked.
"I don't know....." Saint cried.
"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.
"No!"
"No?"
"NO!" Saint wailed.
"You're annoying." The man closed his eyes and he looked exasperated.
"I'm not annoying... I just want to live..." Saint reasoned.
"I have met you twice... both times... you were the one who hurt me. I should be worried about MY life rather than the other way around." The man grumbled.
"But.. but ... you wanted to hurt that man." Saint answered.
"Do you even know who I am? Do you even know who the man was?" The man raised his voice. Saint slowly shook his head.
"Exactly." The man muttered.
"But... Why... why.. are you in my bed? And... in my room? How... how.. did you get in?" Saint nervously asked. The man was straddling his body. His face inches from him. He had his arms above his head in a vice-like grip. Saint was beyond terrified.
"Maybe I want to ravish you." The handsome man's eyes glinted.
"Huhhh..?"
"But Patrick Star pyjamas...? He's not really my taste." The handsome man grumbled.
"What????" Saint croaked.
"You did say I'm handsome. Maybe... you find me... irresistible!" The man smirked.
"Pleaseeeeeeeeee.... let me goooooooooo!!!" Saint wailed.
"Oh my God!!! Shut up!! You're such a pain in the ass!!" The man growled.
"Don't hurt me!"
"What did I say?" The man barked.
"Shut up." Saint hiccuped. "And I'm... I'm a pain in... in... your ass." He cried.
"You're giving me a headache. Now... look at me. REALLY ... look at me." The man commanded.
"Who am I?" He asked again.
"I don't know...." Saint croaked.
"Think carefully before answering." The man reminded.
Saint studied the man through his tears. He hiccuped and snorted. He turned his head to see him better. Then, it dawned on him. He had DEFINITELY seen him before. On the television sometimes. The girls at his school loved him. Some even wanted to marry him. Some would die just to meet him. His eyes got bigger when the realisation hit him.
"Oh my God... You're... You're ... Your majesty..." Saint stuttered.
"Now that you finally know who I am... get to the living room right now. You have a lot of explaining to do my new roommate. Let us start with why... did you elbow my royal nose." The Prince stood up and jumped off from Saint's bed before leaving Saint's bedroom.
"Mommmmmm.... Dadddddd...... HELP!!!." Saint wailed.
****************************************************************************************
Saint made Shrimp Lo Mein. Maybe the dish looked like this.