When we arrived at Kit's apartment, Chak's face changed from calm to cold. Before he rang the bell, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Chak rang the doorbell. A few seconds passed, and Kit opened the door. He was wearing a red-and-black apron with the words Best assistant written on it.
"You're quick," he said and turned around.
Chak and I entered the apartment and took off our shoes. It smelled like onions, meat, and pastry...
Kit's apartment was modern, mostly decorated in white and beige. I handed Kit a gift bag and said,
"Just a little something."
Kit smiled and placed it on a small table by the entrance. Taeng was in the kitchen, wearing a black-and-red apron that said today Chef.
Kit's kitchen was small but modern. The upper cabinets were a dark mint color, and the lower ones were beige. Chak walked over to Taeng and said,
"Why didn't you tell me Niran has a girlfriend?"
"A girlfriend? What girlfriend?" Taeng looked at Chak in surprise.
"A girlfriend from Europe," Chak said angrily.
"He doesn't have one. I'd know if he did," Taeng replied.
Taeng turned to me, puzzled.
"Niran, do you really have a girlfriend from Europe?"
"I do," I answered, blushing slightly. I stepped closer to Chak and added,
"Her name is Chaky."
I saw Taeng and Kit exchange glances. For a moment, there was silence. Then Kit asked,
"What's going on?"
Chak's face turned calm again, and he said,
"Today, when Mrs. Orasa came to my home, she asked Niran if he'd go on a date with me. Niran told her no, because he has a girlfriend from Europe, and they've been together for three months. Now Orasa wants to meet her—in two days, in the conference room."
"Wait, what?" Kit said, looking at me with raised eyebrows. "You lied to Orasa? Where on earth are you going to find a European girlfriend?"
"I have no idea, Kit," I sighed. "I'll come up with something… say she couldn't come because of something or that something unexpected came up."
"That's actually a great idea," Taeng chimed in with a grin. "Can I be at the meeting in two days? I'd love to see Orasa's face when she hears about Chaky."
Kit's face lit up. "I'll allow it, but someone else has to approve first." He tilted his head toward Chak.
Taeng confidently walked over to Chak. "Boss, may I be present at the meeting where Niran introduces his imaginary girlfriend? I promise to behave, pretend I don't know Niran, act like I have no clue what's going on, and I won't sit next to Kit."
"Hey!" Kit protested playfully. "You will sit next to me. I want you beside me. End of discussion."
Chak paused for a few seconds, his face thoughtful. Then he gave a small nod.
"You can be at the meeting, Taeng. But be careful Orasa can be... hellish."
"Got it, boss," Taeng replied with a smirk and went back to the kitchen.
I walked over to a white cabinet by the wall, where several framed photos were displayed. I looked at them for a moment, then noticed a familiar face in one of the pictures. I picked up a silver-gray frame and studied it.
Kit appeared beside me a few seconds later.
"This one's me," he said, pointing to the boy with messy hair and a green T-shirt. "And this one you should recognize," he added, pointing to the other boy short brown hair, wide smile, wearing a dark green and black T-shirt.
I stared at the photo for a few seconds before quietly asking,
"Is that…"
Before I could finish the sentence, Kit nodded.
"Yeah, that's Chak. I met him when I started university. Actually, this apartment is his."
"What do you mean?" I asked, surprised.
Kit turned and sat down on the couch next to Chak. He looked at him and asked,
"Can I tell , Little one?"
Chak glanced at me and gave a short "Yeah."
Just as Kit was about to start talking, Taeng entered the living room and sat beside me.
"I want to hear this too," he said with curiosity.
Kit smiled and began his story.
"When I first came to Bangkok," Kit began, his voice soft and a little nostalgic, "I had nowhere to stay. I couldn't get into the student dorms because I didn't have the money for the deposit. My family… we didn't have much. I come from a pretty poor background."
He paused, rubbing the back of his neck before continuing.
"I was just wandering around campus with my suitcase, not knowing where to go, when Chak noticed me. He didn't say much of course he didn't but he asked if I had a place to stay. I said no. He nodded once and said, 'Come with me.' That was it."
He gestured to the apartment around us.
"He brought me here. It was darker back then, more… lifeless. No decorations, no warmth. But it was a roof over my head. I tried to pay him back, even after I got a part-time job. I'd leave money in envelopes on the table or hide it in drawers. He never took a single baht. He'd just say, 'If you want to pay me back, then prove that you're not a waste of space.' Harsh, right?" Kit chuckled. "But it lit a fire under me."
Taeng smiled. "Sounds like him."
"I started working harder. I learned to code, built small apps. And the more time I spent around him, the more I started to understand him. Chak doesn't talk much, but when he does… it matters. We were classmates back then. I got to watch how he worked, how girls were all over him."
Kit glanced at Chak, amused.
"They adored him. All of them. But Chak never paid them any attention. Not once. It was like he didn't even notice them. He was focused, nice, unreadable. But I could see something else behind it this quiet, heavy loneliness he didn't want anyone to see. He'd never admit it, of course."
I noticed how Chak shifted slightly on the couch, his jaw tightening just a little.
Kit continued, "Then one day, Chak's family came to visit. We didn't know they were coming, and I was here living here. His mother walked in and saw me, and the look on her face said it all. They were furious. They thought I was taking advantage of Chak, that I was freeloading or... worse."
Taeng gasped. "What did Chak do?"
Kit smiled, his eyes softening.
"He stood between me and them. Looked straight at his mother and said, 'If you're going to blame someone, blame me. I let him stay here. He's my friend.' That shut them up real quick. I'd never seen anyone stand up for me like that. Not even my own family."
There was a long silence. Taeng sat back slowly, visibly moved. I could feel something heavy and warm in my chest as I looked at Chak who still hadn't said a word.
"And Chak and I lived here together all through university all the way until we graduated and opened LF LAB. This apartment saw it all: sleepless nights, arguments, celebrations. It was our base."
He smiled a little to himself.
"And when Chak bought his house," Kit went on, "he gave me this place. Just handed me the deed one day. Said I'd already earned it. I didn't even know what to say. I cried in the bathroom like an idiot."
He turned to me with emotion in his eyes. "Chak is a true friend. The kind of friend you only wish to have in your life. He doesn't say much, but he's always there when it matters. Always."
Chak finally broke his silence, letting out a quiet breath. "You're exaggerating, Kit." A rare, small smile appeared on his lips.
Kit grinned. "Am I?"
Kit leaned back on the couch and said,
"When Chak moved to his own house, I slowly started renovating the apartment. First, I changed the kitchen cabinets, then the couch, gradually adding color and life because I never thought I'd actually stay here so long. But one thing stayed unchanged."
He looked toward the door at the end of the hallway.
"Chak's room. Just as it was when he still lived here. I haven't changed it even a centimeter. The bed, the desk, the bookshelf… everything is there. As if I'm still waiting for him to come home after long rehearsals or lectures. Sometimes he even comes to sleep here."
He sighed with a slight smile.
"He just appears at the door wordlessly, like it's the most natural thing in the world. And you know what? For me, it is. When he sleeps there with headphones in, like in the old days, I feel like nothing has changed."
Taeng quietly said, "That's nice. A little sad, but nice."
Kit smiled, this time more calmly.
"Yeah. There are so many memories in this apartment… And I still feel a part of him is here. Chak is family. Not just a friend — he's the person who saved me when I had no one. You never forget people like that. Never."
He looked at Chak and said,
"That's why, even if you sometimes look like an iceberg, Chak… to me you are home."
Chak shook his head, but his expression softened.
"You're really exaggerating now, Kit," he said with a rare smile.
Kit shrugged.
"I'm just telling the truth."