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Part 26

"Mrs Suthiluck, here are the tickets that we won from the contest." I smiled as I pushed the tickets into her hand. They were tickets to some mountain springs...sounds nice.

"Why aren't you going with Kongpob?" She asked, making me blush to the roots of my hair.

"Urm, I think Kongpob isn't too keen about the idea." I shuddered as I remembered the huge frown on his face when I asked him if he wanted to go to the hot springs together. Well, seeing that there was only ONE hotel room provided, I don't blame him for it.

"Hmm ... ..." Mrs Suthiluck appeared to be in deep thought for a moment. "I know, let's all go together!" A bright smile lit up her face and immediately, off she went and before I knew it, the entire family was off to the hot springs. Even Kongpob Suthiluck was impressed with her ingenuity and efficiency, and finally caved in under pressure from her.

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So here we are, relaxing in the hot bath springs. It's really lovely, the steam that rises from the hot baths condenses into water and vapors above the hot water, creating a romantic environment enveloping the baths in dark mist.

Since all the ladies were asked to wear thin bathing suit and men wore a towel around their lower half, I decided to stay as far end of the bath as I could, where the water reached up to my nose and no one could see me.

I was lying comfortably, letting my relaxed body soak up from the hot water and starting to feel drowsy ... ...

"Arthit, you really have a built figure!"

Just the right words from Auntie to jolt me wide awake, dissipating my sleepiness. I flushed to the roots of my hair, turning redder and redder by the minute as she continued to extol my physical assets to the skies with an extremely loud voice that traveled to the other end of the bath...

...where Kongpob was with his father and Daniel.

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Mama's voice suddenly destroyed the peaceful silence that was surrounding the baths. When the content of what she was saying penetrated through the fog to us, I saw my father, Arthit's father and Daniel starting to look extremely uncomfortable.

On my part, I felt only annoyance. Please, it is so darn obvious what her aim was – either to impress me with a detailed description of the wonders of Arthit's physique (the way she was going on you would think Arthit wouldn't have a problem trying to win Mr Universe title) or trying to incite my eeeerrr hmm "mild" interest in Arthit.

Sorry mum, your scheme is not working and you're only making the rest uncomfortable and embarrassed. Arthit would probably be dying of embarrassment as well, knowing that Baka.

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When we gathered for dinner, I was rather quiet as I didn't feel like speaking. I saw Arthit glancing my way several times – I guessed that he noticed my sudden silence. However, that did not bother me at all.

"I'm going for a walk," I reported to my mother when dinner ended.

"Brother can I go with you?" Daniel quickly stood up as well.

"Daniel, you sit down. You haven't finished your rice yet. Arthit, go with Kongpob."

Arthit blinked in surprise, but got up obediently as I didn't protest, but simply headed for the door with him trailing behind me.

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I thought Kongpob Suthiluck would kick up a huge protest. However, he simply kept quiet and allowed me to follow him to the beach where we sat down and stared at the peacefully flickering waters in the dark. Although it was quiet and peaceful, my imagination was working over time, wondering why Kongpob Suthiluck was so silent.

I mean we simply sat in companionable silence for probably about an entire hour before heading back to the lodgings. Not a single word passed between us in that duration.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, puzzled by the events of the day.

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To my surprise, Kongpob Suthiluck emerged from his room the next day with huge dark rings under his eyes that looked just like mine. Did he have problem sleeping too?

Well, in that case it must be the beds, I smiled to myself, delighted at my ingenuity at reaching a conclusion and pushed the thought out of my head.

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To my horror, Kongpob family wanted to play tennis. As usual, Mrs Suthiluck wanted to pair up Kongpob with mef. It would have been a great idea as definitely he would be needed to compensate for my non-existent skills.

Unfortunately, Daniel kicked up a fuss, so we decided to draw straws. Guess what? "Dear" Daniel must have regretted his objections bitterly because we both ended up being partners and playing against Mr and Mrs Suthiluck. The end of the match was a foregone conclusion. It wasn't surprising that we both got thrashed by the older yet vigorous couple.

Also, it didn't help my concentration when I realized that Kongpob Suthiluck and my father were having what appeared to be a most absorbing conversation at the side when our match was on-going. Somehow, my eyes kept diverting to their faces and they looked as serious as ever.

I didn't like it...

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"Papa, what were you and Kongpob Suthiluck talking about?" I could barely contain my curiosity the moment the tennis match ended.

"Oh, we were talking about dreams and life in general. I told him that the reason why I became a chef was simply because I enjoyed creating delicious food to be enjoyed by others."

I could tell that he was holding something back and there was definitely more to the story, but well, if he didn't want to tell me, then he wouldn't and there was nothing I could do about it.

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The short weekend vacation had ended and university had resumed. I was wandering along, minding my own business when I accidentally walked into Mike. He was looking a trifle anxious as he gazed at me, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"Are you okay?" He asked me. I looked even more surprised. Geez boy is he acting weirdly today.

"I'm fine," I peered at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just surprised that you seem so fine with the news," He looked at me searchingly and touching my forehead to check if I was sick or something.

"What news?" I was puzzled by his question.

"Haven't you heard from Kongpob?" At the mention of his name, my heart started pounding. What had happened? What didn't I know?

I quickly pounced on Mike. "No, tell me!"

"Well, Kongpob is thinking of moving out of his parents' home."

For a moment, I just stood there stunned, my brain unable to digest this particular piece of information. Before I could recover, he continued, "And he may re-take SK's entrance exams to go study there."

My entire world suddenly crashed down and turned dark. Mike was still saying something – or at least I could see his lips moving – but I could no longer hear anything. Without any word of farewell, I turned and ran to Kongpob Suthiluck's class, wanting to confront him with this latest thunderbolt. To my disappointment, I was told that he had already left for home, so I quickly dashed back to the house as well...

My heart was pounding fast as I ran the whole way back.

This must be a mistake, right? Why would he want to move out all of a sudden???

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"Hi Arthit!" Mrs Suthiluck greeted me in her usual cheerful way and my spirits lifted a little. Maybe it really was just a stupid rumour. "Could you put Kongpob's laundry in his room please?"

"Sure Auntie," I quickly took the heavy basket and lugged it to his room.

Perfect! This will give me an official reason to do a little snooping of my own. After quickly folding and putting away his clothes, I started searching around his desk, but everything looked normal and I found nothing that could verify that terrible rumor of him leaving.

Just as I was about to give up and leave, a piece of newspaper with lots of red circles caught my eye. I bent over to have a closer look – they were advertisements for jobs in the area, mostly part-time. Jobs?

What is Kongpob Suthiluck thinking of now? I was very confused – there is no way I will be able to comprehend him ever.

"What are you doing in my room?" A familiar deep voice suddenly resounded in the room, making me jump up from my crouching position. I spun around, seeing Kongpob Suthiluck leaning against his doorframe and looking at me with his usually cool expression. I was a little relieved to see a trace of amusement in his eyes. "Did you find anything good under my bed?"

I turned bright red at being caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

"Umm Mike told me that you intend to move out and re-take SK's exams – i-is that true?" I asked him carefully, my voice wavering as I stared at him anxiously.

He looked rather taken aback at my outburst for a second. Then the usual passive expression returned. "Yes."

My heart dropped like a rock.

"...But why are you moving out? Is it because of my father and me? Don't do that, we'll move out if you don't like us being..." Before I could complete my blabbering of a sentence, I realized that he had grabbed my arm and pulled me out of his room.

"Kongpob..." I started protesting.

"I want to change my clothes."

And with that the door was shut in my face, leaving me standing at the door with clenched fists, not knowing what to do. My heart felt empty and I didn't know how to handle this situation.

It was much later that night when I felt thirsty and wanted to get a drink from the kitchen. As I was about to go downstairs, voices floated up from the living room, making me pause on the stairs.

"... ... what do you mean by that Kongpob? Why have you decided to move out?"

It was obvious from Mrs Suthiluck's voice that she was pretty upset and my heart sank further when I realized how serious Kongpob must have been with his decision and already told about his intentions to his parents.

"I have grown up and it's time I learn to be more independent."

"Being independent doesn't mean that you have to leave home!"

Auntie's voice was rising and I could hear tears in her voice, but then Mr Suthiluck spoke in a low and soothing tone, trying to calm her down.

"Kongpob, if this is your decision I will respect it. You can go ahead and try living on your own."

I stood there stunned when I heard Mr Suthiluck giving Kongpob his permission.

No, you were supposed to try to stop him so that he will remain at home!!!

I turned and fled back to my room, tears flowing from my eyes within seconds as I landed on my bed crying my heart out.

Why are you leaving Kongpob Suthiluck, why???

Is it because I've turned your life into a hell-hole yet again?

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