Before returning to the Master's house, Jett, Khem, and Chan stopped by the banana grove to cut some banana leaves. They didn't forget to ask for forgiveness before cutting, and after that, they continued walking, picking up beautiful flowers along the way. They got so engrossed in collecting flowers that Khem had to use his shirt as a makeshift container when his hands were full.
Master Pharan, who had come down to the kitchen to make some coffee, raised an eyebrow when he saw Khem walking in with his belly exposed but quickly turned away and went upstairs to continue his meditation.
The trio carried banana leaves, flowers, and borrowed tools from Grandma Si to a bamboo platform. As soon as they picked up their tools, the artistic blood within Khem and Jett started to boil. They decided that their work had to be something Master Pharan could be proud of. Chan, who wasn't artistically inclined, could only help by tearing the leaves for Jett and Khem to fold.
When there were no more leaves to tear, Chan switched to helping with other tools like needles, thread, flowers, or scissors, quietly observing the duo's work.
Jett and Khem worked away, heads down in concentration, not speaking a word to each other, each lost in their own world.
Time passed until it was well after one in the morning.
"Ouch."
"Ouch." Jett and Khem exclaimed together after finishing attaching the last piece of banana leaf. When they lifted their heads, their necks cracked in unison, their backs aching so much they nearly cried.
"Damn, Khem. Next time, I'm not going all out like this with you!" Jett said with a grimace, while Khem, looking at his hand pricked full of needle marks, agreed in pain.
"Yeah, me too."
Chan was amazed at the sight of their work, his eyes sparkling with admiration, so he took out his phone to take pictures.
How could he not? His two friends had crafted a tray in the shape of a seven-headed Naga.
This piece was Khem's idea, inspired by an image from a ceremony where rain suddenly fell, soaking Master Pharan's back, revealing his tattoo clearly to Khem, who was very impressed.
Jett explained that Master Pharan's tattoo was, "The Maha Yant Ananta Phaya Nakaraj, or the seven-headed Naga, the king of all Nagas in the cosmic ocean. It was inked by a famous monk who was a close friend of Master Pharan's grandfather."
The next morning, Pharan looked at the tray of offerings with an inscrutable gaze, before locking eyes with Khem who was watching with bated breath, and then said something that Khem never expected to hear.
"You can stay here too, but you don't have to offer yourself as a disciple.
I'll only accept Chan." Khem was left with his mouth agape, while Jett and Chan also looked equally stunned.
"Why, sir?" Khem asked in a rush, almost unable to get the words out, as Jett turned to look at his friend, knowing that the master must have had some reason.
And indeed, after much contemplation, Pharan had his reasons for not wanting to accept Khem as his disciple.
Pharan met Khem's eyes again, his calm and serene gaze subtly trembling.
"To become someone's disciple, you must swear an oath to revere that person as your master. You cannot disrespect, harm, or have any impure thoughts towards them. If you break this oath one day, not even a hundred Jetts and Chans could help you."
Everything the master said was true, and Jett could confirm this because he knew of a student who betrayed the master to join a dark sorcerer, stealing personal items to perform unorthodox rituals. Within three days, that student had lost his mind.
Those who believe in mysticism call this phenomenon the 'Power of the master'.
Khem slowly lowered his head, unable to refute the master's words, admitting that since the dream about their past life last night, he had seen how much they loved each other and how painfully they parted.
Even if he tried to forget the past, Khem couldn't do it; he couldn't think of the other as his close friend's master anymore.
"I understand, master." Khem nodded before backing away to sit at a distance, leaving Jett and Chan to handle the tray together. Jett was confused and bewildered, not understanding what the master and his best friend were discussing, but seeing the master's gaze, he had to refocus on the ceremony. Chan felt the same.
Jett had conducted this ceremony before. This time, he was merely guiding Chan, much like a tour guide leading a chant and explaining the next steps.
The master turned to light incense and candles to honor the Triple Gem, nodding for Jett and Chan to bow first before he clasped his hands in prayer.
After finishing their prayers, they all chanted "Namo" three times as they had practiced.
"Na mo tassa, Bhagavato, Arahato, Sammā, Sambuddhasa...
After chanting, Jett instructed Chan to recite his oath, then moved to sit beside Khem, allowing Chan to proceed with the next steps.
Chan recited his oath in a soft, pleasant voice, his eyes firm and unwavering:
"Dear revered master, I, Chanwit Panichakorn, hereby offer my body and soul as your student to learn your teachings. I promise to study diligently, obey your instructions, and treat you with respect. I will never do anything to dishonor you."
He then bowed down. The master nodded and placed the offering tray beside him before touching Chan's head, closing his eyes, and chanting a mantra to connect their spirits. This was to aid Chan in times of danger, similar to what Jett had experienced during an incident on a bus.
After the mantra, he tied a sacred thread around Chan's wrist, blessing him for happiness and success. Khem watched with a mix of envy and sadness...
Once done, Jett took the tray to store in the master's storage room. Khem glanced at his own work, which he had meticulously crafted late into the night, but noticed the master seemed uninterested. Khem then looked at his hands with a heavy heart.
The master then suggested they all go to rest, knowing they had stayed up late and woken early. By three in the afternoon, he called them back downstairs for the final step of the disciple initiation ceremony. Hearing this, Jett swallowed hard.
"You will go into the forest behind the house and find a red piece of paper rolled into a spiral. Bring back the first one you find." Chan clasped his hands in respect.
"Yes, master." Pharan glanced at his good student standing there relieved, then continued,
"Jett, you go too."
"What!?" Jett turned sharply to look at the master, mouth gaping, but when the master raised an eyebrow, he had no argument, just stood there accepting his fate.
"Jett, Chan, good luck." Said Khem. Though he wanted to join the fun with his friends, he didn't dare enter the forest again. The master must have known this, hence not ordering Khem to participate.
Seeing his friend downcast, Jett quickly walked over to pat his head, promising to bring back delicious wild berries. Chan also approached, giving an awkward fist bump, unsure how to comfort Khem, but this made Khem smile happily, waving them off before sitting to wait for his friends on a low stool by the bamboo bed where the master was reading.
Suddenly, the master stood up, went up to the house, and returned with a silver bowl containing about one to two thousand baht in coins, placing it in front of Khem. In the bowl were small scissors and several colored ribbons.
"Coins for almsgiving, folded into flowers?" The master asked. Khem, not yet daring to look up at the master, nodded, pulled the bowl towards him, and bent over his assigned task.
Pharan watched Khem silently, knowing what was on his mind, but he couldn't force Khem's feelings to stop, nor offer any comforting words.
Instead, he left him to find distraction in the task.
Luckily, Khem had been trained in handicrafts since childhood, including folding coins like this to make a living for his education; he took any job he could get.
Khem began using the ribbons to fold the coins into various shapes like jasmine, roses, lotuses, and even fruits like oranges and apples, and soon he was enjoying himself, forgetting about the master's earlier words.
"Cute..."
"..."
"Dragonfruit is hard to make..."
When Pharan saw that Khem's mood had improved, he returned to his book, but his ears were still tuned to Khem's quiet murmurs.
Switching to Chan and Jett. While searching for red colored paper rolls on the ground and among the bushes, Jett kept looking for something he dreaded to find.
This was the main reason he feared entering the forest behind the master's house.
It was something that usually slept during the night and woke during the day, unlike other spirits.
"Hey, Chan, have you found it yet?"
Jett asked with a nervous tone, truthfully, if he wasn't afraid of getting a beating from the master with a stick, he would have run back out immediately.
Chan was looking up and down for a while until he found a red paper roll. When he turned to tell Jett, his eyes caught sight of something else. He slowly raised a finger to point at it and said,
"Khun Jett...behind you." Jett's eyes widened, his hair stood on end, praying it wasn't what he thought, and slowly turned to look...and it was exactly what he feared!
A fierce wild boar, nearly thirty years old, almost as old as the master, was staring at them intently, reminding Jett of the time he was chased by it like it was a matter of life and death.
The master had named it 'Phrai', and it was the lord of this forest.
"Listen, Chan, I'll count to three, then run. One..."
Bang!
Jett was left with his mouth agape when he felt a gust of wind rush past him. He then shouted after Chan,
"I haven't even counted to two yet, you bastard!" Chan ignored the insult and the person insulting him who was running close behind, not understanding why they had to wait for three, couldn't they just run already?
Crash!
The wild boar, seeing people running, chased them, and it was fast.
Chan and Jett ran until they reached the outskirts of the forest. The wild boar, having chased them to the edge of its territory, stopped, looked at the two kids who had escaped with a slight sense of regret, then turned back into the forest.
As evening approached, Jett and Chan returned to the master, looking quite the worse for wear. One had lost a shoe, the other had lost his glasses.
"Here you go, master." Chan handed over the red paper roll after kneeling down. Before Jett's hand could slap him on the back,
"Damn, that's the wrong guy! The master is over here!"
The scene was Chan kneeling on the ground. The master, however, was sitting on the same old bamboo bed, this time with a dog named 'Dang'
lying by his side.
Besides having terrible eyesight, Chan's attention was also off...
Pharan shook his head in exasperation, picked up the red paper Chan had retrieved, and read it: "Metta Mahaniyom, Kong Krapan Chatri". He nodded, then pulled something out of his bag and handed it to Chan.
Jett grabbed Chan's hand to accept it. Chan, peering closely, saw that it was a coin made from meteoric iron.
"I give this to you. Keep it with you, it'll help in times of danger. It's not hard to honor, but you must never break the third precept." Pharan explained that each sacred item has its own way of veneration and precautions.
Chan bowed in gratitude to the master and put the coin in his shirt pocket, intending to make it into a necklace.
As for Jett, last time he received a carved wooden monkey statue that had helped with luck and business.
Khem, who was quietly folding coins, reminded himself not to be jealous when he saw what his friends received, no matter how hard it was.
When it was time to sleep, Jett and Chan, exhausted from the day's activities, fell asleep easily, leaving Khem tossing and turning on his bed, his mind filled with confusion and turmoil, before finally drifting off to sleep near midnight.
Meanwhile, Pharan. After setting up the tray of offerings that the three boys had prepared, he sighed after looking at it for a while, then stood up and walked out of the room to another part of the Thai house.
The door to Khem's room was gently opened for the second night in a row. Seeing that everyone was fast asleep, he didn't chant any spells, walked directly to sit beside Khem, took out a small tin of herbal ointment for wounds from his pocket, opened it, and used his fingertip to apply it to each of Khem's slender fingers, both left and right hands.
Once he was done applying the ointment, he didn't linger, stood up, and walked out of the room immediately.
At that moment, hearing the door close, Khem slowly opened his eyes, his lips tightly pressed together, his face flushed with a heat that couldn't be controlled in the darkness.
Who wouldn't be touched by such an act?