The next day, Khem, Jett, and Chan woke up at five in the morning, got up to clean the house and prepare breakfast for the master. Most of the ingredients were vegetables and fruits grown by the villagers and brought to the master. For meat, the master would have the village chief buy it from the market every week.
The master ate simply. He didn't have any particular favorite foods, so Khem prepared dishes he was most skilled at, like clear tom yum soup with stir-fried Chinese kale in oyster sauce, omelet with acacia leaves, and garlic pork. Chan, who could cook a bit, assisted. Jett, besides cooking rice, wasn't good at much else and was afraid of hot oil, so he stood in the corner behind a pillar, waiting to help carry the dishes outside.
Once they finished eating, they separated their own portions from those of their friends, because the students could not eat with the master.
When Jett invited the master to come down to eat at the table, the three of them distanced themselves and sat in a circle around a bamboo bed set up outside the house, not far from where the master was eating, just in case he needed them.
Khem kept glancing at the master while eating, which was noticeable.
Jett slightly squinted at his friend, feeling suspicious about Khem's behavior towards the master since yesterday, but hadn't found the right moment to ask about it. He decided to wait and watch for a while before having a heart-to-heart conversation.
As for Chan, luckily he had brought spare glasses for emergencies.
Otherwise, he would have had to go back into the forest to find his old ones or perhaps borrow the village chief's pickup truck to go into town to get new glasses.
After they finished eating, they collected the dishes and helped each other wash them. Then, they lined up to go up the stairs where Pharan was waiting.
Khem crawled to sit at the side, leaving Jett and Chan to crawl forward and pay their respects to the master.
Once the students were gathered, Pharan began to explain the path ahead in learning the mystical arts, starting with Chan.
"Before learning the magic arts, the basic practice is to train in meditation, or what we call 'Samatha-Kammatthana'. Meditation involves chanting mantras while controlling your breath. As for Kammatthana, it's a bit more complicated." Jett nodded in agreement while listening with his hands clasped. Chan, not yet knowing what Kammatthana was, sat quietly and listened intently to the master.
Pharan pulled out two books; one was a common guide on Kammatthana practice, and the other was a compilation of various spells that a beginner could learn in a short time.
"There are forty objects of meditation, you must choose one to focus on.
Try reading and see. If you want to practice, I'll guide you, but mastering it takes time, whether it's slow or fast depends on the individual. If you don't want to practice, that's okay too."
"Yes, master." Chan bowed in gratitude and reached out to take the two books.
"The other one is a spell book compiled for protective Buddhist magic.
You are absolutely forbidden to misuse it." Chan nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"The rules of learning the art of black magic are important. First, you must have unwavering faith in the subject you're studying, believe in your master, behave according to moral precepts, and have patience. Only then can you succeed in this art."
Chan clasped his hands together in reverence to accept the instructions.
"I understand, master."
Pharan nodded, his sharp gaze meeting Khem's just as he was caught peeking. Khem, startled, quickly lowered his head, his face turning red to avoid the master's notice.
But there was no way he wouldn't be noticed. Pharan raised his eyebrows slightly, aware that what happened last night probably meant Khem hadn't slept as soundly as he thought.
"Then let's start with the first step of training." After that, Jett and Chan were often taken by the master into the shrine room to practice meditation for their lessons, without Khem being allowed to join. They would spend their time there from morning till evening, only coming out during lunch
breaks and bedtime, during which Khem would always prepare meals for everyone.
However, the master rarely came out where Khem could see him, and if he did, it was when Khem wasn't paying attention, almost as if the master was avoiding him.
Today, as usual, Jett and Chan came out from their training room at lunch to eat, but the master did not join them.
Khem looked at the omelet with acacia leaves on the separate plate meant for the master with a sad expression because the master wouldn't come down to eat.
"Khem, do you want to eat this? If not, give it to me." Jett, who was gobbling his rice, asked Khem, who was just staring at the remaining omelet without touching his food, having been lost in thought for some time.
"Khun Khem, is something wrong? You seem less cheerful lately." Chan, sitting across from him on the bamboo bed, pushed up his glasses and inquired.
"Yeah, that's right. Or are you lonely? Should I ask the master to let us go for a day or two and take you out somewhere?" Jett's eyes sparkled with the suggestion, and Chan nodded in agreement, though he didn't dare speak up too much for fear that the master might overhear.
The master had whispering spirits, Chan felt that sometimes he seemed to be listening to someone, and Jett seemed to see it too, but no matter how hard he looked, he never saw anything.
Khem swallowed his rice and shook his head.
"We. We made it for the master, but he probably won't come down to eat.
Jett, you can eat it. We'll make another one for the master this evening."
Khem said before passing a plate of omelet with acacia to Jett.
Jett, dizzy with hunger, didn't notice his little friend's feelings and accepted the plate out of sheer hunger, as the training had sapped a lot of his energy.
"I'm not lonely, really. The master is going out of his way to teach us, so Jett and Chan, focus on your training. Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure? If you feel lonely, just tell me. Don't worry about the master scolding you; he's actually very kind at heart."
Khem felt reassured.
"Oh, thank you."
Chan blinked and looked at Khem again, it seemed like he might have had a hint of tears in his eyes but was trying hard to suppress his feelings.
Chan wanted to ask but decided against it if Khem wasn't willing to share, so he continued eating with his head down.
As evening fell, Jett and Chan came down for another meal, washed up, and then returned to the shrine room to continue their training. Khem sat swatting mosquitoes while guarding the master's meal on the bamboo bed until almost midnight, but still, the master did not come down.
What could have happened to the master? Considering just last night, he had come to Khem's room to apply some ointment...
Khem clenched his jaw, feeling both uncomfortable and sad, thinking he must have done something wrong for the master to avoid him like this. But no matter how hard he tried to figure out what it could be, he couldn't. So, he decided to take the plate of fried rice with egg upstairs. He intended to knock on the master's door and insist he come out to eat, even though it was well past dinner time.
Khem walked upstairs carrying the plate of fried rice, but before he reached the shrine room where Jett and Chan were training, something tugged at his shirt from behind. Turning around, he saw something fleeting disappear into the door of the master's bedroom, which was adjacent to the shrine room.
That thing indicated that the master was in there, not in the shrine room where Khem was heading to knock.
Khem turned back towards the master's bedroom door, took a moment to steel himself, and then knocked.
"Master, are you asleep?"
There was no immediate response, but after a moment, the door slowly opened, revealing the master in cotton clothing, his gaze cold as he looked at Khem.
"What is it?" The master's stern voice made Khem clamp his lips tight, his eyes burning with emotion, feeling a tightness in his chest he couldn't describe, but he still tried to keep his composure, knowing there was no turning back at this point.
"I...I noticed that you haven't come down to eat...so I brought some for you." Pharan looked at the plate of fried rice in Khem's hands without expression before replying,
"I'm not hungry. You can take it back and eat it yourself."
Khem swallowed hard, as if swallowing his hurt along with his saliva.
Seeing Khem with his head down and silent, Pharan was about to close the door to dismiss him, but before the door could shut, a small hand got in the way and was caught in the door.
Pharan pushed the door slightly away from Khem's hand but didn't open it to look at Khem's face again.
"Have I...done something wrong, master?" Khem asked, trying to keep his voice from trembling.
"..."
"If I've really done something wrong, could master please tell me? So I can apologize properly, master."
Pharan was silent for a moment before gently prying Khem's fingers from the doorframe.
"You haven't done anything wrong. I just don't want to eat. If you're not going to eat it, give it to the dog, don't waste it."
"..."
"And from now on, don't make extra. If I'm hungry, I'll make something for myself."
The door closed. The sound of the lock clicked in Khem's ears, and tears continued to flow down his cheeks from earlier, but not wanting to bother the master further, he carried the plate of fried rice away.
Khem went to give the fried rice to the spotted dog, watching it eat with joy, which slightly comforted him, and he gently patted the dog's head.
"Thank you, dog. Sorry for giving you something that someone else didn't want."
Inside Pharan's room, after Khem left, the peace that had settled in his heart for several days from not facing Khem was once again disturbed.
The reason was the night Pharan realized he had been caught sneaking in to apply ointment to Khem.
Pharan thought that his excessive attention towards Khem was due to lingering feelings from a past life. If he hadn't looked back, he wouldn't feel this way, but forgetting was impossible. So, he tried to avoid and distance himself from Khem, treating him like any other acquaintance who wasn't his student. Even if it were his student knocking on his bedroom door late at night for such matters, he might face more than just his usual cold words.
It wasn't like he hadn't eaten anything lately; he often used magic to make himself invisible to Khem, so Khem wouldn't notice when he went
down to eat.
Sitting down by the bed, he loosely clasped his hands, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at the closed door as if he could still see Khem standing there. When he heard the dog named 'Dang' bark several times in a row, he guessed that Khem had probably given the fried rice to the dog as he had intended, and he let out a soft sigh.
The two friends, Ekk and Thong, who had tried to play matchmakers, exchanged looks and then shook their heads in resignation.
Jett and Chan had made satisfactory progress in their meditation practice in a short period, and they had memorized almost all the magical spells the master had assigned. The only remaining step was to apply these skills in real situations, which would be their next test before all three, including Khem, had to return to university for the new term.
Two days had passed, and Pharan and Khem still hadn't had a proper conversation, which Pharan thought would continue.
Today there was no training, but Jett, Chan, and Khem weren't just lounging around or going out to play. They helped clean up around the house, sweeping leaves, and weeding. Meanwhile, the master was weaving bamboo into mats for covering food.
Not long after, a four-door pickup truck arrived, and three people got out: a middle-aged man, a young woman, and a young man in his late twenties, all dressed in expensive-looking clothes.
"Hello, master Pharan." The man greeted with a respectful wai, and Pharan, who had stopped his work, returned the greeting.
"Hello, village chief."replied the village chief with a smile and quickly calling his daughter and son forward to pay respects to Pharan.
Prim, once her father made way, quickly moved to the front and performed a wai, then gave Pharan a sweet smile, followed by her younger brother, Pong.
Pharan nodded in acknowledgment. Although he didn't make eye contact with Prim, his expression wasn't as cold as usual.
"What business do you have with me, chief?"
The chief nodded, gently stroking his daughter's hair with a look of concern.
"Recently, Prim's luck has been down. She was even grazed by a car a few days ago, so I wanted to bring her to you, master, to take a look. And
for Pong, he's got a match next week with the neighboring sub-district, so he'd like to ask for something blessed by the master."
Pharan nodded in acknowledgment and invited the chief, his daughter, and his son up to the house, amidst the curious glances of the disciples standing not too far away.
Especially Khem, who, upon seeing the look in the young woman's eyes, immediately understood how she felt about the master.
"That's strange. Normally, Khun Prim never gets to come up to the master's house." Jett remarked, arms folded over the broom handle, his voice filled with curiosity. His words made Khem pursed his lips slightly before asking hesitantly, while Chan continued pulling weeds silently.
"Why, Jett?" Jett then recounted that once, 'Prim' or 'Khun Prim', the chief's daughter, was almost engaged to the master according to the elders'
wishes, because the master's father and the chief were close friends.
However, the master's grandfather loved him more than anything and didn't want the chief's family to use his grandson's magical skills for their own benefit, so he opposed the engagement and made the master become a monk to follow a more spiritual path.
The master, who loved his grandfather more than his own father and had no affection for the chief's daughter, went along with his grandfather's wishes. This caused a great rift between the master's father and both his grandfather and him, leading to his father remarrying and moving abroad, never setting foot here again since that day. The master's mother had passed away when he was young.
Khem's expression saddened upon hearing the master's backstory, never imagining he had such a sorrowful past.
"Poor master."
"Yeah, and that's not all." Jett continued, explaining that Khun Prim liked the master a lot, to the point where even when the master became a monk, she would drive from the district to offer alms in the village almost every day, and on special Buddhist days, she'd come to make merit at the temple.
"But besides Khun Prim, there were many young women enchanted by the master. I don't know what he did to charm so many people. There was even a Pharan Monk Fan Club formed back then. On Buddhist days, groups of people would come to the temple looking for the master, causing the abbot to constantly remind them of their manners."
Khem's mouth hung open slightly in surprise.
"Was it really that much?"
"Men can be like that too, that's why I told you not to make eye contact with the master for more than three seconds." Jett remarked. In Jett's eyes, Khem often seemed more like a girl than a boy, which prompted him to caution him without knowing whether Khem liked men or women. But regardless of Khem's preferences, the feelings Jett had for him would never change.
"Is that why the master disrobed?" Khem guessed, not thinking he was right.
"Yeah, the master didn't want to trouble other monks, so he chose to disrobe and set up this school at the end of the village."
"..."
"Even now, Khun Prim hasn't given up on wooing the master, but it's been a long time, and the master still hasn't softened towards her. This is the first time she's come into the master's house. Normally, he doesn't allow women into the house unless it's absolutely necessary."
Khem clenched his jaw, his eyes burning, as each word from Jett made his heart squeeze with fear.
"Or maybe the master wants to walk the middle path again, hey, Khem, why are you crying!?"