Khachen was staying at Pharan's house during this period because the whole month was dedicated to ordination ceremonies for the villagers'
children. His primary aim was to enjoy free liquor and listen to the lively traditional music, as he loved being social.
His secondary goal was to rest his mind and body from exhaustion, as there was no place in the world more peaceful and serene than Pharan's home.
"Phii Khachen, what would you like to eat today?"
Plus, there was a little chef always ready to whip up delicious meals, which added to the envy of others.
"Do you have any fish? I'm craving something hot." He said as he sat down on a chair, resting his face on his arm, and closed his eyes.
Khem, who was peeling garlic next to him, nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"Sure, once I'm done peeling the garlic, Khem will make tom yum with snapper for you to eat."
Khachen slowly lifted his head, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Khem. His gray-blue eyes flickered with something before he spoke softly.
"Nong Khem, has Pharan ever told you stories about the old days?"
Khem furrowed his brows slightly, then shook his head.
"He never has, and I didn't dare to ask."
"Do you want to hear?" Khem looked around, then met Khachen's gaze and replied hesitantly,
"Would that be okay? Won't Phii Phran get angry?"
Khachen let out a soft laugh, his gray-blue eyes sparkling with flirtatious fun.
Khem had to admit that Khachen was very handsome, with a charm that enticed like a flower emitting a sweet fragrance that constantly attracted beautiful butterflies.
Different from Pharan. If likened to a flower, he would be more like a lotus, worthy of reverence and worship.
In terms of looks, they were on par, but when it came to being approachable, Khachen took the lead by far.
Because with Pharan, only Khem is allowed to approach him; others are off-limits!
"It's not something that needs to be kept such a secret, what do you say, do you want to hear it?" Khem nodded quickly, his light brown eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Yes, I want to."
Khachen began to tell the story from the time he first met Pharan when they were both fifteen, on the first day of enrollment at the vocational college. Both Khachen and Pharan had chosen to study in the electronics engineering department.
Back then, their good looks were the talk of the college. Everyone wanted to get to know them.
Pharan was quiet and rather reserved, focused solely on his studies, not interested in socializing, while Khachen was friendly, always smiling, fun-loving, and enjoyed social interactions. Plus, with his relatively wealthy background, it wasn't long before he had many followers.
We two were not in each other's circles, but one day fate brought us together due to what is called a school project, where we had to draw lots to choose partners, and we both ended up with the same number.
At the time, Khachen thought he was lucky to be paired with Pharan. One reason was because Pharan was incredibly smart, having scored the highest in the last exam, while Khachen was not particularly adept at studying, but rather at using money to buy people. So, he proposed that Pharan should do all the work and he would pay him.
"Do you know what he told me that day?" Khem mused, then tried to guess.
"If it's the Phii Phim I know, he definitely wouldn't take the money and would insist on working together." Khachen laughed heartily, pleased with the answer.
"Exactly, he's your boyfriend, after all. He rejected my offer of ten thousand to do all the work alone and told me to meet him under the school building on Saturday before he walked out of the classroom."
"So, what did you do?"
"I was stunned. That was the first time in my life someone refused my money, especially not a small amount for a sixteen-year-old."
That was the first instance that made Khachen truly interested in Pharan, and it led him to reflect on his own behavior of using money to gain favor with others. However, being young, he hadn't yet fully grasped whether his actions were right or wrong.
But if he wanted to find an answer to this question, he would have to immerse himself in the company of the person who provoked such questions.
Two days later, on the appointed day, while Khachen was waiting at a traffic light on his big bike, several motorbikes surrounded him, telling him to follow them. Khachen immediately sensed he was in trouble but was curious to see what would happen next, so he followed willingly.
They led him to an abandoned warehouse in a secluded area, a common spot for rival student groups to settle disputes, and Khachen remembered that day well.
The ones waiting were a group of students from a rival technical course at his college, around twenty in number. Before any words were exchanged, someone attacked him.
That was Khachen's first encounter with physical fighting, and unfortunately, he wasn't particularly good at using force.
Just when he was about to be overwhelmed, right before someone kicked him in the stomach, Pharan appeared out of nowhere and pushed the attacker away with a chest bump, sending him flying back.
At sixteen, Pharan was nearly 180 centimeters tall, with an intimidating and chilling presence. His sharp, cold eyes could make one shiver all over.
His deeply lined lips moved constantly, speaking something. Khachen noticed that some of the rivals stopped in their tracks, others were confused and dazed, and in the blink of an eye, they were all knocked down by Pharan's powerful punches.
After handling everything, Pharan sauntered over and sat cross-legged beside Khachen, who was lying there in pain, watching the scene unfold with astonishment.
Then he said something even more shocking,
"Get up. Do you want to work?"
Upon hearing this, Khem burst out laughing so hard he choked, causing Khachen to pour water into a glass for him. After drinking, Khem asked
excitedly,
"Is that true?"
Khachen smirked,
"Absolutely true. I was nearly dead from the pain at that time."
"And then what did Khachen do?"
"What else could I do? I handed him the keys to my big bike to drive, and I got on the back." Khem laughed so much his face turned red.
"Phii Phran is so cool."
"Don't fall in love." Khem laughed again.
"And what happened after that?"
After that incident, they found out the cause of the other side's grudge.
One reason was that Khachen was very good-looking, attracting many girls from their department to pursue him. The second reason was that there had been a longstanding rivalry between Khachen's department and the other.
That's all there was to it.
But one thing Khachen learned was that in life-or-death situations, if you don't know how to defend yourself, you could end up hurt like he did that day. And how fortunate it was that Pharan came to his aid without expecting anything in return.
Khachen had never truly appreciated the concept of "friendship" before, as everyone approached him for his looks or wealth. But Pharan was entirely different from those people.
After that day, Khachen decided to stick close to Pharan, learning numerous valuable lessons, until a bond was formed that could not be severed, no matter how much Pharan might want to cut it off.
"And in that kind of social setting, has the master ever had a drink?"
Khem asked out of curiosity. Even he himself, sometimes for social reasons, had to drink, though not much because he had a weak tolerance.
"Hmm, occasionally, yeah. He's tried everything once just to know, but he didn't like it."
"And what about women?" Khem blushed, not daring to continue, while Khachen burst into loud laughter, nodding cheerfully before saying,
"Yep, when he was eighteen, nineteen, Pharan wasn't to be underestimated. He had plenty of admirers, but he never had a girlfriend.
He didn't like anyone messing with his personal life."
Before Khachen could finish speaking, the subject in question approached silently from behind.
Pharan extended his hand to the side, took a tray from Chan, and immediately used the edge of the tray to hit Khachen on the head with full force, causing a sharp screech that rang in everyone's ears.
"Have you talked enough? Move away, sit further."
"You cruel person! We're friends!" Pharan raised the tray again, prompting Khem to quickly intervene. Khachen took the opportunity to leap over the table to escape. Not content with just that, he grabbed some garlic that Khem had just peeled and threw it at Pharan, teasing that Pharan looked like a vampire. Annoyed as he already was, Pharan took off his shoe and threw it, leading to quite a commotion.
Chan shook his head in exasperation, thinking it was fitting that Khun Jett called him a master...
Once Khachen had run off, Pharan turned to the person clinging to his arm and asked softly, "Do you believe him?"
Khem blinked, "Phii Khachen, are you lying?"
Pharan shook his head.
"He's not lying, but he exaggerates."
Khem laughed brightly, soothing Pharan's shoulder to calm him down, then smiled and said,
"The past doesn't matter, what's important is how you are now."
They had been through many good and bad times together, and the past had no bearing on Khem's feelings anymore. It was just another humorous story to him.
"I don't feel bad about Phii Phran's past that Phii Khachen told, right?
Phii Phran, you are just a normal person, it's natural to have trial-and-error moments during one's youth, I have felt that way too sometimes."
Khem explained with a cheerful voice, his eyes softening with affection.
"And how about now?"
Khem felt a flutter seeing Pharan's sweet gaze.
"Well, you are a good person, kind-hearted, likes to do good deeds, helps people in need, and is very nice."
"And what else?"
Khem bit his lip, his face turning red as he looked down and said softly,
"You are my boyfriend."
This answer brought an immediate small smile to Pharan's lips before he leaned down to kiss Khem's smooth forehead as a reward.
"Very good."
After this, he would settle this with Khachen several times later.