At almost one in the morning, the four of them parted ways at the base of the apartment building. Jett drove off in his personal car with Chan, heading straight to Kanchanaburi, Khem's hometown.
Once Jett and Chan's car was out of sight, the master, standing beside Khem with a black toolbox in hand, quickly pulled out an old-style flip phone and dialed someone. The name that came out of the master's mouth was one Khem had never heard before.
"Khachen, come pick me up." The master said before his fine eyebrows furrowed together, his dark eyes glancing briefly at Khem who was watching with wide eyes, then he looked away and responded.
"..."
"I can't wait."
Khem whispered, feeling guilty for causing trouble for others again. His face turned red as a loud moan of a man and woman came through the phone.
"..."
"Is it that hard to just put it in your pants?"
"..."
"Apartment...in the alley..."
"..."
"Okay." Khem didn't know what the other person replied, but it was enough to make the master agree and hang up the call.
Pharan put the phone back into his pants pocket as before, then reached out to take one of Khem's hands, which was tightly gripping the other, showing signs of stress and guilt.
"It's my friend; this is nothing I can't handle." Said Pharan with a deep voice as Khem looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. Hearing this and feeling the priest's hand holding his for the first time, a warm feeling surged in Khem's chest.
Khem smiled with gratitude and nodded in acceptance.
"Yes, Master."
They didn't have to wait long before a luxury two-seater sports car pulled up alongside the sidewalk in front of Khem and the master. The driver's side window slowly rolled down, revealing the handsome face of the car's owner leaning down.
The man had dark hair, a tall, slender build, wearing a slightly disheveled long-sleeved brown shirt. His gray-blue eyes sparkled with a gentle, almost teasing curve as he made eye contact with Pharan, accompanied by a faint smile that seemed to beckon anyone who looked at it to fall in love.
Khem quickly averted his eyes, feeling like a small mouse being watched by a lion. He raised his hands to greet him, but before he could say anything, he was startled by the sound of Pharan tapping on the car's roof.
Ping!
"Why did you bring this car?" Pharan asked, frowning. Khachen blinked innocently at the question.
"You didn't tell me how many people were coming." He replied. Pharan felt the urge to open the door and kick him out, but Khachen had always been an irritant to him, even though they hadn't seen each other in nearly three years.
This expensive car was seldom driven out by Khachen from his garage for others to see, and Pharan knew well that Khachen had intentionally brought it to annoy him.
Pharan didn't like supercars, nor did he appreciate overly expensive things. Though he never explicitly expressed this, their long-standing friendship from school days made it easy for Khachen to guess.
But he could swear, Khachen had no idea that his best friend was bringing along this cute-looking young man.
"Or do you want me to go change the car?"
Pharan checked his wristwatch, then shook his head. Waiting longer would be too late. He opened the door, placed his box on the back seat floor where there was still some space, sat down, and then turned to tell the still-dazed Khem,
"Get in." Khem looked around inside the car with confusion, not noticing the facial expression of the driver who was looking out the window, before asking hesitantly,
"Uh, where exactly?" The response he received was the master spreading his legs slightly to make space, pointing to that area and saying,
"Right here." Khem suppressed the heat on his face and his embarrassment, taking a deep breath to gather his wits, because now was not the time for such frivolous thoughts. He then slowly maneuvered his body into the car, almost hitting his head on the top of the door frame.
Fortunately, the master's hand cushioned the impact.
"Thank you." Khem said in a voice quieter than a whisper as the master's strong hand helped him sit properly. Even though there were only two seats, the interior was spacious enough to not feel cramped.
The master's body was very warm, Khem realized that day.
The car started moving when the door was closed and the driver knew the destination.
After sitting for a while, Khem suddenly felt he was being watched by the person next to him. He turned to meet the other's gaze, only to receive a teasing, caring smile in return.
But before he could blush, the master's thick hand lifted to cover his face and turned him to face the window instead.
"Sleep." The master simply said, and Khem's bright eyes soon grew heavy and closed.
"I wouldn't believe it until I see it with my own eyes." Khachen's voice broke the silence, his eyes still sparkling with teasing that he didn't bother to hide, but Pharan, who was resting his eyes, didn't respond.
Khachen was used to Pharan's temperament, having known him since vocational school days, and it had always been like this. While others might see Pharan as frightening and dangerous, he appreciated that side of him.
"Don't forget what you promised me, I'm missing your dear disciple badly." Khachen continued talking alone until he got a slightly irritated response from Pharan, which finally made him stop talking and focus on driving.
Who would have thought that someone like Khachen would be forbidden by his close friend from stepping into the village or contacting a disciple like Jett since he was seventeen, due to an incident in high school where he almost led him astray?
Really, it wasn't that serious. He just helped one kid see the world a bit, that's all...
After nearly two hours, it was past three in the morning when the luxury sports car drove through the desolate road to the base of a mountain in Phetchaburi province, surrounded by forests on both sides.
Khachen didn't feel the need to ask why Pharan had instructed him to drop them off here. If Pharan wanted him to know, he would have explained from the start. If he was still silent upon arrival, it meant he preferred to keep it undisclosed. So, he simply said,
"Give me a call if you need anything."
"Thanks." Pharan replied. Khem, who had been leaning against Pharan, stirred slightly and opened his eyes upon hearing a quiet whisper by his ear,
"We're here." Khem nodded quickly, turned to thank Khachen with a wai, and then got out of the car to stand outside.
Pharan reached back to grab the box, turned to Khachen, and said as a final note,
"Keep the amulet around your neck until Sunday. On your way back, stop at the nearest hotel to rest, and come back tomorrow morning."
Khachen immediately nodded in agreement.
How could he not comply when they had just been chased by a horde ofspirits...
Once Khachen drove off, Pharan led Khem to the side of the road where a large 'Phayom' tree stood, with a wooden sign indicating it was a meditation site, complete with stairs leading upwards.
Judging from the look of things, it didn't seem like many people visited often.
Soon, they reached an open area surrounded by five small, partly old, partly new two-story wooden houses that resembled monks' quarters, but there was no one there at the moment.
"Why are we here?" Khem looked up and asked the person beside him.
Pharan took Khem's hand and led him to one of the houses, opened the door, and then answered,
"I'm looking for the monk, a close friend of my grandfather, because there's something I need from him. But he's been on a pilgrimage for years, and we haven't been in contact. According to Jett and Chan, this was the last known location of him from his disciples." The door closed, and Pharan moved towards the corner of the room in the dark, still explaining to Khem.
"What he has might be the last thing that can help us, so I need to find him before tomorrow night." As he finished speaking, the lantern in the room suddenly lit up, revealing a well-cleaned interior with basic amenities like kitchen items, dried food, and neatly folded beddings.
"I've already had someone prepare things. Now you rest and regain your strength. You can cook in the morning." The master said in a deep voice as he handed Khem a lantern to hold.
Khem's eyes were filled with various emotions swirling within them: respect, gratitude, and deep appreciation, to the point where he didn't know how to express everything in words.
Khem knelt down, placing the lantern beside him, intending to bow at the master's feet. However, after just a slight bow, his hands, which were clasped together in respect, were placed into the master's hands that bent down to catch them in mid-air.
"That's enough." Pharan said curtly, and Khem nodded in compliance.
Once Khem stood up and began to set up the bed mosquito net effortlessly, Pharan walked back to the corner of the room where there was an altar with a Buddha statue. He sat down on a meditation cushion, lit a large candle, then closed his eyes, placing his right hand over his left to meditate.
When everything was calm, he began chanting a mantra to create a luminous golden shield, like a dome, over this area to prevent wandering spirits from intruding. After that, he let his spirit extend in all directions to search for the master as he had intended.
Switching scenes to Jett and Chan:
This time, it was Chan who was driving, even though he wasn't very familiar with the route. However, his calm and meticulous nature, combined with an unyielding spirit, made this journey seem safer. Additionally, he brought along a black ebony box.
Previously, when both had an accident and crashed into a tree, they were lucky to have been wearing seatbelts, and the car's safety features worked effectively, so they weren't seriously injured. Once they regained consciousness, they got out of the car to call the owner of the vehicle, another disciple of the master.
The other party, upon receiving the call, rushed over immediately.
Fortunately, he didn't hold it against them since he was quite close to Jett, almost like senior and junior disciples. Not only did he handle the car issue himself, but he also helped take both of them to the village as requested, albeit too late...
After that day, Jett lost all confidence in his own driving. He even allowed Chan to drive his precious car, which he didn't even let his parents
or his sister touch.
"Is anything following us, Jett?" Chan asked while focusing on the road, and Jett glanced at the rearview mirror before furrowing his brows in response.
"None. Since we left the apartment, not a single one has followed."
Weird, this was too strange, Jett didn't expect their journey with Chan to be this calm and quiet.
Thump!
"Shit!" Jett jolted as something was thrown against the window on his side. Since the car wasn't moving very fast, and with the occasional streetlights, he could see what it was.
It was a ripe banana with an incense stick still sticking out of it, rotting chicken meat, and some offerings that were clearly not placed there by a human hand.
Jett remembered they had just passed a three-way junction.
Thump!
This time, similar items were thrown towards Chan's side, but Chan remained unfazed, continuing to drive steadily without any sign of panic.
However, the closer they got to Kanchanaburi, the more intense things became. Not only were offerings being thrown incessantly at the car windows, but stray dogs and cats kept darting in front of the car every five minutes.
"Na-ut, a, tu, wi, ka, lo, to-ka
Su, no, pun, sam, na, ra, ja cha
Wi-chi, tho, put, sam-ma, sam, hang, ra
A, wa-ka, pha, so, pi-ti-i"
The more Jett chanted to ward off spirits, the more it seemed to provoke them, increasing their anger.
Just as they were about to cross a bridge over a river under repair, with wooden barriers placed along the sides to prevent falls, a truck suddenly swerved into their lane from the opposite direction.
At that moment, the bright headlights of the truck blinded both Jett and Chan. Chan made a split-second decision to swerve, crashing through the wooden barriers, sending the car tumbling off the bridge.
Boom!!!!
Water quickly surrounded the car, while the lights were still on. Both unbuckled their seatbelts in haste, used hammers they had to break the car
windows, and swam out with difficulty.
Unfortunately, the current was quite strong, but Jett managed to swim to Chan, whose glasses had come off, just in time.
However, now, driving above water wasn't easy, and both were hesitant and scared.
With their last breaths, their lips met in a sudden kiss.
But then, suddenly, their bodies were pulled back as if yanked, along with a flood of memories.
The faint, dreamlike vision revealed scenes that Jett and Chan had neverseen before, stories of three women who were close friends: one namedJintana, another Khemika, and the last one named Chaiada.
These three were best friends from middle school at an all-girls school,loving, caring, and attentive to each other, especially towards Khemika,who wasn't very strong, so Jintana and Chaiada always took special care ofher.
However, there was a secret Khemika didn't know: Jintana and Chaiadawere attracted to their same sex and eventually fell in love with each other.
But because society at that time did not accept such relationships, theyhad to keep it hidden from everyone, even Khemika, fearing herdisappointment or rejection for being different.
One day, their love was abruptly cut short when their families found out.
Jintana was forced to get engaged to a promising young civil servant shedidn't love. Chaiada was to be sent abroad for further studies right afterhigh school.
On the day of Jintana's engagement, it happened to be the same dayChaiada was leaving the country.
They met secretly at a place known only to them. Jintana was still in herceremonial dress, while Chaiada was ready to head to the airport.
They couldn't say much, only wishing each other a good life.
They hugged for the last time, kissed for the last time, but still cried everytime we remembered their times together.
There was only one word to remember forever.
Goodbye, the one person I love with all my heart.