"He broke into my life like a storm—
How dare I miss the rain?"
—Nil
Without offering the courtesy of a warning, Kao stooped and lifted Nil effortlessly over his shoulder, as if he weighed nothing more than a silken robe. The boy let out a gasp—more offended than startled.
"What are you doing?! Have you gone mad?" Nil shouted, squirming. "Put me down this instant!"
Kao remained calm, a storm behind shuttered windows. "I already warned you."
Nil pounded weakly at his back. "Stranger! What would people think, seeing us like this? I'm not some sack of rice for you to haul around!"
"I am going with you," he insisted, voice rising.
Kao didn't even slow his stride. "You should've thought of that earlier," he said coolly, "Now it's too late."
Outside the closed door, Mary clutched Techno's sleeve, eyes wide with unconcealed delight. "See! See! Didn't I tell you?''
''Kao doesn't just like him—he's gone mad for him!''
''They've been in there for so long. Techno, do you have any idea what they could be doing inside?"
Techno's face twitched, as if physically assaulted by her words. "Can you shut up for once?" he hissed, but Mary only grinned.
The door creaked open.
Kao stepped out, and on his shoulder—Nil. Still flailing.
The staff gasped in unison. Nil looked like a kidnapped courtesan from a gossip novel. He twisted around, red-faced, voice cracking from outrage, "Let go of me! You're humiliating me!"
He struck Kao's back in frustration, fists like a kitten's swats. But Kao walked on, composed, sovereign.
Techno moved forward instinctively, but Mary caught his arm with surprising gentleness. "Let them be," she murmured. "Love birds don't fly straight when they're this deep in heat."
Kao's car door opened like the mouth of a beast. Nil was set inside—though not exactly with tenderness—and the car glided off like a whispered command through the winding streets of Chiang Mai.
Inside, the silence throbbed.
Nil, still fuming, growled, "You... you bloody... pig-face... ox-nosed... donkey-ass bastard!"
Kao drove without a word.
"You arrogant, two-faced peacock! —Strutting around with your diamond cufflinks and your dead fish expression!"
Still nothing.
"Wanker!" Nil spat at last, breath ragged, eyes burning with tears he refused to shed. "You fucking wanker!"
Nil's chest heaved with pent-up fury. But Kao, maddeningly composed, spared him a glance, eyes dark with mischief.
"Is that all?" he asked, tone almost indulgent. "Surely your vocabulary has more weapons in it.''
'' Go on—curse me.''
''I won't mind."
Nil turned sharply toward him, eyes narrowing like twin blades. "Stranger, don't try me. I'm not afraid of you." His hand hovered near his pocket. "Stop the car, or I'll call the police. You hear me? Stranger, stop! I said—"
Kao didn't even blink. "This car will only stop at its destination."
Then, as if nothing had just happened, he tilted his head, voice featherlight and dry. "Why are you ignoring me?"
Nil scoffed, arms folded tight across his chest like a barricade. "You think you're so important that I owe you explanations?"
Kao shrugged, lips curling into a languid smile. "Maybe."
A silence passed—sharp and delicate, like glass held at the edge of a fall.
Then Nil's voice returned, low and biting. "Don't pretend to be so innocent. That night... you kissed me."
Kao's hands tightened briefly on the wheel. "Nil—", said quietly, cutting him off. "I kissed you. I'm sorry."
Kao went on, voice slow and almost tender. "I didn't mean to hurt you. That was... something I couldn't control. Maybe neither of us could."
For five full minutes, neither spoke. The car's silence grew so thick it felt alive, pulsing between them.
Then Kao asked, out of nowhere, "Why so quiet?"
A beat passed.
"I think..." he drawled, "you're falling for me."
Nil snorted. "Keep dreaming."
After a long and silent drive through the winding dark, the car finally came to a halt.
Kao stepped out first. He moved without hesitation, circling to the other side, and with the grace of an old-world gentleman, opened the door for Nil.
But Nil only stared at him, unmoving. His lips curled with defiance. "Don't treat me like some sissy."
Kao made no reply—only held the door open, gaze patient.
With visible reluctance, Nil stepped out, feet landing on the cool ground. He blinked once—then again.
The breath in his throat hitched.
The sand was soft, silvery under the stars. A line of red candles flickered against the breeze, guarding a narrow path that led to a clearing veiled in soft white cotton—canopies hung like the wings of angels, swaying gently, as if breathing.
Nil stood frozen. The air smelled of salt and jasmine. It was all too much.
"What is this...?" he whispered, voice barely a thread. A helpless, boyish smile tugged at his mouth before he could stop it.
Kao's voice came low, steady. "Do you like it?"
Nil stood frozen, his eyes widened, his chest rose and fell, each breath trembling faintly through parted lips, and an almost imperceptible smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, like the first hint of sunlight shyly painting the edge of a long night.
The sky above was not star-strewn. Instead, it hung heavy with unshed rain, clouds clustered like whispers too shy to break into sound. But the air—ah, the air! It was filled with the scent of salt and something soft, like the far-off breath of the sea. The cold wind curled around them, tugging at Nil's apron, tousling his hair, and yet he stood still.
Kao stood a few steps away, but it might as well have been lifetimes. He had been watching—no, witnessing—the boy as if seeing a forgotten part of himself walk out of a dream. Under the flickering lantern light, Nil's uniform clung to him with a carelessness that only made the moment sharper. His white shirt was wrinkled from work, his sleeves rolled unevenly, and there, across the front of his apron, a bright yellow stain from spilled curry like an emblem of the ordinary.
But to Kao, nothing had ever looked so extraordinary.
He exhaled softly, a long breath that seemed to come from somewhere deep and aching. Without blinking, his gaze stayed fixed—greedy, reverent—"...Nil,"
Your smile, My lifeline
When I saw you first,
I was never myself.
Your smiles—
They mattered me most.
Just your one tear—
shattered my world.
You turned so important,
turned my breath.
You are light—
with you, I'm scared in dark worlds.
Never leave,
just hold me—
and let's walk together
for the whole life.
Kao knelt on one knee.
In his hand, a slender platinum ring shimmered like starlight gathered into form. He tilted his face upward, lips curved in a quiet smile—gentle, not playful. His hair lifted softly in the sea breeze, and in his eyes, there was no arrogance, no defense. Only sincerity. Only light.
He looked at Nil as though nothing else in the world was worth seeing.
His voice was low, but steady.
"From that time... until now," he said, "there hasn't been a single minute I didn't think of you."
The words paused on his lips, as if he was not sure he deserved to say more. But still, he continued.
"I was cold to you... not because I didn't care, but because I was afraid. Afraid of feelings I didn't recognize—for someone I had no right to know."
"I tried to run." He gave a breathless laugh, almost inaudible. "Again and again. But no matter how far I went, it was always you I returned to."
Nil stood frozen, head bowed, his shadow cast long beneath him. His lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. Only silence.
Kao's voice softened, a tremble threading through it.
"I used to think I was nothing but air. Something invisible. Something that passed by without ever touching anything real."
"But you—" He looked up, gaze unwavering. "You made me human."
"You taught me that life isn't just responsibility. That it's worth standing still. Worth fighting for a dream."
"You're not just the most beautiful chapter of my life," Kao said. "You are my life."
A hush fell, broken only by the sound of wind through leaves.
Then, with both hands, Kao lifted the ring.
And asked, not with desperation, but with all the calm faith of someone who had already decided:
"Will you make me yours?"