Author's Note : Phukong makes his entry.
Recommended soundtrack :
Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry - Feels
I feel like both brothers bring different energies to the story 💜❤️
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Sarawat's POV
"What the hell are you doing here? And why didn't you call before just showing up at my doorstep like this?" I snapped.
My little brother, like all little brothers, was a pain.
"And good morning to you too, bro" drawled Phukong, completely unconcerned, and pushed his way inside without an invitation.
"Whoa! This room ended before it even began. Why are you living in a mousehole? Did the folks at LCoHol finally realize what a hack you are and stop paying you to play?" he smirked, wandering around the flat happily.
Like I said, irritating.
"You're welcome to leave any minute now", I said, arms crossed over my chest.
"Hey, I was just teasing you, bro. I love this place. It's nice and cosy. I'm going to enjoy staying here for the next few days", he said, settling himself comfortably on the couch with a bottle of juice from the fridge.
"What do you mean the next few days?", I sputtered. This was news to me.
"Mom said she told you last week. Maybe she meant to call you but dialled someone else instead. Or maybe she wrote a letter and forgot to post it. You know how she gets during theatre season", said Phukong, casually sipping from the bottle.
I sighed and ran my hand over my eyes to calm myself. I loved Mom more than life itself, but she was way too scatterbrained.
There were times when I wondered how my parents survived this long, given how incapable they sometimes seemed to be in performing simple day to day tasks.
"Okay, listen. There are some ground rules. You'll sleep out here on the couch. You will not enter the bedroom, ever. And you will not speak a word of what I'm about to tell you right now to Mom or Dad, or I will kill you with my bare hands", I said, in my most serious voice.
Phukong smiled sweetly at me.
I took a deep breath, "I have a boyfriend. His name is Tine. We live together, here obviously. He will be home in an hour. You'll meet him then."
"Are you trying to tell me that my brother, Sarawat the Strong but Silent, has actually managed to find someone who can put up with him? And not some brainless bimbo, but a law student who looks like a supermodel? There's hope left for me, after all!" said Phukong, raising his hands in a hallelujah.
"One second, how do you know what he looks like?" I said, shocked.
"Elementary, dear Watson. I saw law textbooks and his picture on the study table in the bedroom. Also, P'Man added me to the WatTine Fan Club on Facebook months ago", he said rolling his eyes.
"There's a fan club?" I exclaimed.
"Yes, and it is filled with blurry and odd-angle shots of the two of you around campus, apparently taken by members of Sarawat's Wives from behind bushes. It's fun reading the comments stream though. I've bookmarked a few for future use against you", remarked Phukong.
"Do mom and dad know?" I said, panicking now. The whole world seemed to know about us.
"You know they don't believe in the concept of social media. They call it the Curse of the Millennials. But you never know how something might accidentally reach their ears", said Phukong, observing his fingernails closely.
Blackmailed by my own brother.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Nothing right now. I will let you know as and when needed", he said, smiling sweetly up at me again.
*
Tine walked in, checking the letters from the mailbox downstairs. He held a bright pink card in his hand.
"Hey Wat, I have a postcard here for you from a Mel G. Wasn't she a Spice Girl?" said Tine, smiling. "It says "Phukong Friday" and nothing else."
"So mom did post the letter", said Phukong brightly.
Tine looked at Phukong, "Hello. I didn't realize we had company."
"You mean family. I'm P'Wat's brother, Phukong", he said, extending his hand.
Tine shook it, surprised but delighted.
"Hi! Nice to meet you, Phukong. I'm Tine, your brother's roommate. You're clearly the one with the looks and the personality in the family" said Tine charmingly.
Great. My boyfriend and my brother could team up to tease me.
Phukong laughed. "I like you already, P'Tine. And you don't have to bother hiding anything from me. I know you're my brother's boyfriend. I wish I had a boyfriend like you."
"Watch it", I said, in a warning tone.
Both of them rolled their eyes.
"Ignore him, please. I wish I had a Nong like you. Look how cute you are. And a lot of fun too. I hope you're here to stay for a while", said Tine happily.
"I'm here till Monday, Pi. I'm here to attend the open house at your University. I wanted to explore my options before I apply for uni next year. But now I'm sure I want to enrol here and be near you, Pi", replied Phukong, starstruck.
"Wonderful. Let's go out in the evening. Your brother is playing at the bar. And you can meet the rest of the gang, too", said Tine, a little too enthusiastically for my liking.
"Ahem", I cleared my throat. They'd forgotten all about me.
"Do you need water, P'Wat?" asked Phukong, solicitously.
"Aren't you both getting a little too friendly given that you've just met?", I asked with a frown.
"So you don't want your brother to like me?" asked Tine, coldly.
The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees.
"No, I didn't mean that at all. Of course, I want him to. Who wouldn't like you, you're perfect. It's so great to see you getting along so well", I backtracked immediately.
"Whoa! You've got to teach me how you did that", said Phukong, suitably impressed.
Tine smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "All in good time, Nong".
I'd be dead in three days.
Phukong's POV
P'Tine was awesome and his friends were so much fun.
I didn't know P'Phuak was one of his closest friends. I'd been a huge fan of his vlog since he started it.
P'Man and P'Boss were as nice and brotherly as always, although P'Man did seem unusually quiet and low-spirited.
"He fell in love at a seminar, while on a date with someone else. But he doesn't know anything about the guy and hasn't been able to find him since then. He tried to follow Wat and attended every seminar, lecture and workshop in the university for two weeks. But I think his brain couldn't process all that knowledge that he was exposed to, and is starting to shut down", explained P'Boss patiently.
I looked at my brother as he played onstage at LCoHol. His eyes were constantly on P'Tine and he laughed as P'Tine made a heart out of his fingers for him.
My brother had changed. He used to be so quiet and introverted, hardly ever smiling or joking around. Now he seemed happy, laughed easily, and openly expressed his love for P'Tine.
P'Tine had improved my brother beyond all recognition. And I was grateful to him for that.
As I sat enjoying my lemon soda (P'Tine refused to let me drink alcohol), I heard some guys talking at the table beside ours.
"Mil, come on. Forget about him. You know he's already taken", said a calm voice.
"I know, Chat. But I can't seem to get him out of my mind. I'm trying, I really am", said a deep voice.
"How are you trying to get over him if you keep coming to this bar on the days he's here?" said Calm Voice.
Deep Voice sighed, "The heart wants what it wants. I will stop coming when it stops wanting".
Deep Voice seemed to have gotten the feels pretty badly.
"Look at him. He's happy and committed. And in all honesty, his boyfriend is a keeper. You can make out from the way they look at each other that they're soulmates" said Calm Voice.
Calm Voice was doing a really bad job of comforting Deep Voice.
I suddenly put two and two together. The guy that Deep Voice liked came to the bar every Friday, was happily committed, and had a great boyfriend.
Deep Voice liked P'Wat!!!!
I turned around to look at the guy who had a crush on my brother. And was blown away.
The guy before me was tall and ruggedly handsome. He had "bad boy" written all over him.
But he had a lost look in his eyes and a sad smile on his lips.
His large, dark, slightly crinkled eyes, and his moist, plump, luscious lips.
I wondered how those lips would taste. Probably like whiskey and smoke.
What on earth was I thinking?
I shook my head. Stop it, Phukong.
P'Wat had finished his set and came to join us at our table.
He eyed Deep Voice with disdain. P'Tine placed his hand on my brother's and P'Wat looked away.
"Mil, you're up next. Do you want to do a quick sound check?" said a technician who was fitting him with a collar mike.
Deep Voice, aka Mil, nodded. He downed his drink in one go, patted his friend Calm Voice on the back and went onstage.
The next thirty minutes went by like a dream. P'Mil had a deep voice that you felt reverberating inside you.
His fingers strummed the guitar expertly and it seemed to take a voice of its own.
He sang a series of love songs that ranged from mildly moody to deeply depressed. A fun set.
P'Man became gloomier with every song.
P'Boss patted him comfortingly on the back.
P'Wat had a frown on his face throughout.
P'Tine and his friends were the only ones who looked unaffected.
As for me, I felt myself strangely attracted to P'Mil.
I seemed to have a thing for sad, bad boys.
Maybe one brother could make up for another? Things were about to get interesting around here.