Chan quickly stood up in shock as Khem suddenly started crying. Seeing Khem's behavior, Jett got goosebumps, something screaming in his head that this was bad. He dropped the broom and dragged his little friend to sit on the bench under the mango tree.
"Khem, what are you hiding from me? Tell me everything!" Jett accidentally raised his voice at Khem, causing Chan, who was standing nearby, to intervene while pointing at Khem, who was now sobbing heavily.
"Khun Jett, calm down first, can't you see Khun Khem is crying even more now?" Jett pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve stress and then hugged his friend.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead and cry it out, there, there."
Khem hadn't intended to cry...but all these feelings were being filtered out by memories from past lives that the master had once told him to forget.
Thinking that the master might soften his heart for that woman named Prim, his chest ached painfully.
After crying until he felt slightly better, although tears still flowed and his body was still hiccupping lightly, Khem moved away from Jett's shoulder, his head down with embarrassment, wiping his tears.
"Jett, Chan. I'm sorry."
"Khem. You and the master have something going on, right? I've been puzzled ever since the master refused to take you as a disciple, and then he said some weird things." Jett asked with a tense voice, his eyebrows furrowed. Initially, he intended to wait until he was sure before asking, but now things seemed to be getting clearer.
Khem pressed his lips together tightly, looked up to meet the eyes of his two friends, his round eyes quivering, until Chan softly asked,
"Khun Khem...do you like the master?"
"Uh..." That question was like a bolt of lightning striking Jett's head. He was about to turn and curse at Chan for being so direct, especially when Chan had just advised him to stay calm!
Khem started crying again, nodding and shaking his head, looking utterly confused.
"Me and the master, hic, we were lovers in a past life." Jett's mouth dropped open; a second bolt of lightning struck the same spot, followed by a third, fourth, and fifth as Khem recounted everything, including how both he and the master had shared a past life and had revisited those moments together, as well as what had happened in the middle of the night.
Both Jett and Chan believed Khem's entire story without reservation.
"Actually, I wasn't asleep that day either." Chan said. Usually, he was a light sleeper, and because the house was made of wood, footsteps were clearer than in a concrete house. The faint scent of incense told Chan it was the master who had entered, but he thought the master was just checking on them, so he didn't bother to open his eyes to look.
Khem nodded, "I'm sorry, even though the master is your master, and yet, hic."
Khem wanted to forget, tried to forget, but he couldn't. As long as he sawthe master's face every day like this, there was no way Khem could forget...
Chan, imagining a future where they both decided to be together, nodded in agreement.
"For me, the master is just an ordinary person. Not a monk forbidden to marry or start a family. Whom he loves or likes, or how Khun Khem feels, that's a matter between both of you. Khun Khem, you don't have to worry about this."
Jett nodded, but his expression didn't improve; it actually looked worse.
"That thing. If you and the master both like each other, that's fine, I wouldn't mind, it would be good knowing someone would take care of the master in his later years. But from what you've told me, that's not the case now, right?" Jett's words felt like a lump stuck in Khem's throat, and Khem couldn't deny that the master had always set clear boundaries with him.
It was only Khem who harbored one-sided feelings for the master...
Seeing the pain and confusion still in Khem's eyes, Jett further emphasized the truth about the master he knew.
"I've known the master since I was a kid, and he's always been a man of his word. When he said he wouldn't help you, he meant it. He only took in Chan because he wanted to pass on his knowledge, so there would be someone to help you in the future, even though the master usually doesn't take just anyone as a student. That's already him bending his rules for us..."
Yes, so Khem shouldn't complicate things for the master any further.
Everything seemed dark to Khem; wherever he turned, he was haunted by old memories, especially those from just a few days apart when they parted in such pain, reminding him of the hurt from not being able to change anything.
Moreover, in this life, Khem was a man, which might be one of the reasons why the master rejected him.
With tears in his eyes, Khem asked softly,
"What...what should I do, Jett?" Jett pulled Khem into another hug, gently patting his back in comfort, although his words felt like sharp spears piercing his best friend's heart.
"Let it go, Khem, just let everything go. It's hard, but I'll help you, trust me."
Khem closed his eyes tightly before breaking down in tears he could no longer hold back.
"Ugh..." Khem was like a fragile glass that had shattered repeatedly, like a small creature wounded all over, yet still struggling to breathe.
Chan had no words to add because he agreed with Jett's sentiments. He could only stand silently, shielding his friends from the sun...
Pharan led village chief Chang, along with his daughter and son, upstairs to the house. They sat down in positions that were level with each other but at a certain distance, as the others were not his students who needed to show him reverence. They were like the forest and the tiger, interdependent.
For the village to receive funding, it was exchanged for sacred items and assistance from his magical abilities, as long as it wasn't beyond his capacity, like in this case.
The master asked Prim and Pong to write down their birth dates on paper and give it to him. He then calculated the numbers and gave a prediction based on what he saw.
However, in the midst of silence, Pong suddenly clasped his hands together and spoke up.
"Master, could you do me first, please? Uh...I need to use the bathroom."
chief Chang glared at him.
"I told you not to drink so much water!"
Pong, still with his hands clasped, raised them over his head in a gesture of apology, and Pharan glanced at him briefly before switching to Pong's birth date paper.
"Before the fight, try not to leave home much. As for the sacred item, I'll make an armband for the boxer and send it to your house, but it'll take about three to four days."
The armband Pharan referred to wasn't just a piece of cloth with magical inscriptions; it was a specific type of equipment boxers wear around their upper arms during fights, considered a talisman for protection and invulnerability, made from cloth or sacred thread inscribed with magical symbols, sometimes containing herbs, yantra scrolls, or other amulets inside.
Pong smiled broadly, his hands clasped over his head in gratitude.
"Thank you so much, Master. Uh, may I use the restroom?"
"Go ahead." Once given permission, he quickly excused himself and went downstairs.
Pharan then turned back to Prim's birth details, furrowing his brows as he calculated, before shaking his head and sighing silently to himself.
"Khun Prim doesn't have a fate for accidents, but she does have health issues. It would be better if you rest more during this period."
Prim blushed because it was evident she often had minor accidents due to overworking herself and not getting enough rest, though she had covered it up with makeup, and her father couldn't tell, leading him to make up an excuse to bring her to see the master.
"Oh." when he turned to see her gaze, she was startled and gave a dry, sweet smile instead. Then, she took the opportunity to talk and catch up with the master as planned, especially since this was the first time she had a chance to be in the house.
"Is the master well?"
Pharan nodded with a softened demeanor, a mix of resignation and fondness for the young woman, because despite her age nearing thirty, Prim still hadn't decided to settle down with anyone. She was only a couple of years younger than him.
For Pharan, Prim was like a little sister who grew up alongside him, someone he had known since childhood, so he never thought of her in any other way, even if she didn't feel the same and had declared she would only let go when he got married. But this couldn't change his feelings.
"I'm fine, and how about you, Khun Prim?"
"Ha ha, as you can see, I've been busy with work lately, so I haven't been sleeping much..."
The initial solution to the issue between Khem and the master was this: after Khem agreed to let go of his feelings for the master as suggested by Jett, the approach was for Khem to avoid meeting the master. If they had to meet, he should keep his behavior and words reserved, like a layperson speaking to a monk.
As for the master, Jett would continue to keep an eye on him because, in reality, there weren't many who truly understood the master well enough to see through him. But because of this, he didn't want Khem to take such a risk, as if the master truly didn't like him, Khem would be the one to suffer the most.
Jett and Chan decided they needed to master their skills quickly and take Khem back to Bangkok as soon as possible.
Khem understood and was aware. When Jett gave him a straightforward reminder, he regained some composure. Even though it was hard, he had to try. He reminded himself not to trouble the master and to look at his own situation.
While sweeping leaves, lost in thought, he backed into someone in the kitchen.
"Sorry." Khem quickly moved away, bowing his head in apology. The other person was a tall, well-built man with tanned skin and an undercut hairstyle, who was blinking at Khem in confusion.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before. What's your name?" Instead of accepting the apology, the man asked in a friendly manner, addressing Khem with 'casual mung', which Khem found a bit awkward, making him more inclined to want to run away.
"Uh, my name is Khem." He said, and then the man standing opposite him had a strange glint in his eyes, causing Khem to lower his gaze.
"Such a cute name. I'm Pong, nice to meet you." Khem was about to bow in greeting, but instead, Pong extended his hand, so Khem had to lower his hand and offer a handshake instead.
However, before they could shake hands, Khem felt a chilling cold on his back, and someone standing behind him passed a scripture through Khem to Pong.
"You have a tendency to get hurt physically during this period. I recommend you recite the thirty-fourth verse before sleeping every night, Pong." Pharan said calmly, yet suddenly Pong felt a chill down his spine.
The image of Master Pharan standing protectively behind Khem seemed
like a warning to back off. Therefore, Pong clasped his hands in respect, took the scripture, gave a stiff smile to Khem, and then walked away to find his father and sister. Even though he felt it was a pity to let someone so much to his liking slip away.
Khem stood silent, head bowed, not responding to the master, until he heard the master's quiet command.
"Finish sweeping the leaves and then go prepare the meal. When it's done, cover it with a lid, and I'll come down to eat."
Khem looked at the table and saw that the lid the master referred to wasone he had made since that morning. After giving his instructions, themaster walked away, leaving Khem standing there alone.
And he said I didn't need to make it...
Khem wanted to ask but didn't dare, so he just took a deep breath, tryingnot to think too much about the master's actions, believing that the mastermust have his reasons for behaving this way.
"Don't waver, Khem. Otherwise, Jett will surely beat you to death." He told himself three times before heading to the kitchen to prepare the food as instructed.