The sound of footsteps from students of another school, at least five of them, was like a voice of encouragement that made "the one who didn't intend to call for a beating, run faster."
"Stop now, man!"
Thud Thud Thud Thud
"I'm not stopping, babe..."
"I told you to stop, you idiot!!"
"I'll die if I stop... you dumbasses!!"
Even though he knew that yelling back and forth with rivals from another school would only make them angrier and more likely to use their strength, he couldn't help but retort.
Where in the world would anyone tell someone they're about to beat up to stop running?
Because he refused to stop and make it easy for them to beat him up, he had to play the role of a ghost runner to survive. He kept his eyes peeled for a place to hide, but a call from one of his rivals almost made him stumble.
"You bastard!!!"
"Stop! I told you to stop! Huff...Huff..."
If he got beaten to death in this alley that connected to the back of the school, he wouldn't blame those guys. He'd blame his best friend instead. His best friends always messed up his name, calling him "Teiy" instead of "Hia."
It wasn't surprising that Sia almost stopped running when he heard his rivals yell "You bastard!" Fortunately, he was quick-witted enough to keep running at full speed and yelled back at them.
"Don't think I'm falling for your trick..."
"My name is 'Hia,' not 'Teiy'!""Whatever you call yourself, you're not getting away!"
"You idiot!... I'm not afraid of you!"
Even though he said that, he was thinking something else. "Dad, Mom, please help me! School is so far away, I can't run anymore!"
Hia knew that thinking about the small alley not far away wasn't because his parents were sending him psychic guidance. It was his own survival instinct. He thought that if he could run into that narrow alley, only wide enough for two people to pass, he might escape the ten or so guys chasing him.
It wasn't because they wouldn't be able to catch him if he ran into that narrow alley, but because it led to the "smoothie shop" where he and his friends liked to hang out before school. Knowing there was still hope, he used his last bit of strength to run as fast as he could.
As he approached the entrance of the narrow alley, he felt like he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But the two elephant-like feet that were moving faster than a train on tracks made him feel like he couldn't stop himself.
If he passed this alley, Sia... you can prepare to die. His narrow eyes focused on the entrance of the alley, counting down in his head as he got closer...
Five... Three... Two... One...
At the moment Hia was about to turn into the alley, he felt like he was being sucked in by the narrow space, not just because of the strength from his shins propelling him forward. But if he thought clearly, he would know that someone standing at the entrance of the alley had reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him forcefully into the alley.
The strong pull from the hand swung him close to the tall figure. Sia glanced at the white school uniform, just enough to see the real name and surname embroidered on it. He breathed a sigh of relief.
His narrow eyes quickly moved away from the name "Prachya Pana" and looked up at the face of the taller person. He saw a handsome face that the younger students in the school all praised as "Jade-faced."But his best friend's good looks didn't affect his heart. The one who was so shocked his heart fell to the floor spoke up in annoyance.
"You son of a bitch, Real... I was scared to death!"
"How was it? Running from the Chinese by yourself? Exciting, right?"
"Funny, you bastard."
"Real," or "Ai Real," one of his best friends, twitched his lips into a small smile when he heard that, before turning to look at the entrance of the alley. After hearing the sound of dozens of footsteps getting closer and the angry, vengeful voices of his rivals, it caught the attention of the two of them.
Thud Thud Thud Thud
"He ran into that alley!"
"Do you think he'll get away, you idiot!"
Hia took his eyes off the entrance of the alley and looked up at the long, narrow eyes again. Because Ai Real turned back to look at him, they made eye contact at close range. At this moment, he just thought,
"Even if it's just him, Ai Real will get me out of this. This guy... never leaves me behind... not once..."
"Let's go before your dad comes to beat you up..."
"They're not my dad!"
"Then who is your dad?"
"The only one I'd call 'dad' besides my real dad is only 'Ai Fah.'"
Hia knew his best friend would guess his answer after throwing that question at him. When the answer was what he thought, Ai Real chuckled lightly in his throat, amused.
"Ai Fah," or "Meun Fah," was one of Hia's best friends too. They'd been in the same class since 10th grade and were now in 12th. Even though their group of friends was large, they were close to almost everyone.
The reason he was willing to call his best friend "dad" even though he was just a friend, not comparable to his real father, was because Ai Fah was the most brutal friend in the group. His fighting skills with other students were unmatched. He had survived manytimes because Ai Fah saved him, and he had also survived many times because Ai Reow (real) saved him too.
To sum it up, Hia was the one who called for a beating... He called for a beating(unintentionally) all the time.
The word "dad" given to Ai Fah was "not dad, meaning 'dad.'" It meant "You're so brutal, dad" and "You're so cool and handsome, dad." That's all the meaning of the word "Dad Fah" had. And because sometimes Hia wanted to be cool and handsome like him, he appointed himself as his son.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right?
But all of this... it was just a joke they would tell each other in the group, no one took it seriously. But what they did take seriously was that none of their friends would be left behind alone, like right now, when Ai Real nodded to invite him to run. He pulled his hand away from Hia's arm, which he had been holding since the beginning, and changed to holding his hand instead, before leading him out of the narrow alley.
Because Ai Real ran ahead of him by several steps, he had to keep looking back at him. He smiled in a way that made the younger students in the school melt. Hia thought, "He's so handsome it makes me want to curse him. Handsome enough to make me want to tell him to stop being handsome."
"What are you smiling about?"
"Do you think running from a beating is fun, you bastard?"
The tall figure didn't answer anything. Ai Real just chuckled in his throat as usual and turned back to look at the front. Hia craned his neck to look at the end of the alley that led to the smoothie shop. He could see that the end was not too far away.
But the sound of dozens of footsteps from his rivals still haunted him. When Hia turned back to look behind him, he saw his rivals running after him from a distance, holding wooden sticks. He sighed deeply as he ran, saying in disgust,
"Oh, you little...!"
"You bastard! Stop it... stop it, you bastard!"
"You guys are the ones who should be stopping!" Hia yelled back at the panting dogs."You really think you're clever, you guys?"
"Do you study that hard?"
After throwing the question back at the wolves, Hia started panting too. He turned back to look at the front and felt a little reassured when he saw that his friends hadn't let go of his hand. The one who was still holding his hand tightly laughed and asked, "You're
asking them?"
"Yeah!"
"Are you going to stop and wait for their answer?"
"That's a really stupid joke..."
It was like usual, Hia's words would get a laugh from his best friend. But this time, he wasn't proud of his humor. That's because right now, Hia didn't care about anything except "I want to escape this crisis of ten feet, I'm going to be in trouble!"
"Front!"
"Ugh... I'm finally here. I've been running until my legs are numb."
Hia groaned before he could finish his sentence, his best friend led him out of the narrow alley and they met his group of friends who were hanging out at the marble table in front of the smoothie shop that wasn't open yet in the early morning.
"There he is... Ai Real went to get the idiot."
"There he is... they're calling me wrong again, those broken-hearted guys."
"There are some guys from school xx, Ai Fah's old enemies, chasing him."
Ai Real led him to stand in front of everyone. When the friends in the group heard that, they all stood up, ready immediately. The cheerful atmosphere from just a moment ago quickly changed. Now the situation was gloomy with the ferocity of his friends.
The last friend to stand up to his full height was Ai Fah. He tossed a wooden stick to Ai Real, and the one who was still holding Hia's hand used his other hand to catch the weapon in a cool way.
"They're coming this way, right?" Ai Fah asked."Yeah..."
As soon as Ai Real answered, Ai Fah walked towards the entrance of the alley without saying anything. There was only the sound of the long wooden stick in his hand dragging on the concrete floor, making a "scrape" sound. The other friends followed Ai Fah, holding wooden sticks.
"Ai Hia..."
Hia took his eyes off his group of friends and looked at the person next to him who called his name correctly. Ai Real stared at him before saying in a serious tone,
"Go stand behind the trash can."
"Behind the trash can again?"
"Yeah! Or are you going to go fight like the others?"
"..." Hia was silent, looking into the serious eyes of his friend. There wasn't even a hint of fear in his brown eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call for a beating for you guys. But I happened to walk past the rice shop where they were sitting."
"When they asked if you were a friend of Ai Fah?"
"I answered truthfully... 'Yes, I am.'"
"Then cut to me running away from a beating."
Ai Real shook his head, as if he was tired of his best friend, before saying, "Yeah... whatever. Just go hide now."
"Okay... behind the trash can?"
"Yeah!"
Ai Real answered that with a slightly annoyed tone before running to join the other friends. And in the moment Hia walked to hide behind the dark green trash can, he saw his rivals running out of the alley and charging towards his friends.
Hia's eyes widened when he heard the screams of his best friends as they ran towards the rivals. One hand was raised to touch his chest when he saw the two groups hittingeach other hard with sticks. The other hand was raised to cover his nose because he couldn't stand the stench from the trash can that was wafting under his nose.
He thought to himself... "You guys should know what it's like to be hurt... so you'll stop fighting."
"Ai Fah, watch out!"
He yelled loudly, hoping to warn his best friend to watch his back. Hia saw a kid from another school raise his hand to swing the stick at Ai Fah's back. When his best friend heard his warning, Ai Fah dodged the other guy in time before swinging his stick back at the rival's torso.
"Dad!... You're so cool, dad."
Then Hia had to widen his eyes even more when he saw Ai Real being attacked by a rival who swung a stick at his face. But his best friend raised one arm to block his face in time. The image of his best friend being hit hard made him worried because Ai Real seemed to be losing to the other guy.
But Ai Real threw his own stick away, before punching the other guy in the stomach. The kid from the other school lost his balance and staggered backward several steps. Hia guessed Ai Real wanted to make the rival fall, so he ran in and punched the rival in the face hard, making the guy fall to the ground.
He couldn't help but clap his hands as he watched Ai Real shake the hand he used to block the rival, as if he was trying to shake off the pain. He raised that hand to pull his shirt out of his blue shorts, before running to help the other friends.
"You guys... be careful!"
Hia said that with genuine concern, and he unconsciously took a step away from the area. That's probably because he wanted to help his friends who were being hurt, but he knew he didn't have the fighting skills of the others. If he went into the middle of the fight, he might come out damaged.
"Ai Go!"
But it was at this moment that he saw his friend being punched in the face and falling to the ground. Hia yelled loudly in shock, before deciding to run to help his friend. He didn't have any weapons in his hand, but while he was running towards Ai Go, Hiathought,
"I have two hands and two feet. No matter what, I have to help my friend. Just push him off balance, that's good enough! Better than Ai Go getting hurt more..."
Push!
And Sia really did that. He chose to run and charge into the rival who was standing over Ai Go. The one who was punching Ai Go relentlessly lost his balance and fell to the ground. Sia threw himself to his knees next to his friend who was lying there with blood coming out of his mouth. Ai Go's eyes were glazed over, as if he was about to pass out.
So he reached out and slapped his face lightly to bring him back to consciousness.
"Ai Go, don't do anything yet..."
"Even though I hate it when you disagree with me, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"You idiot!"
Hia swallowed his saliva, making a loud gulp, when he heard someone calling him. He could tell from the sound that it was brutal. He didn't need to look to know it was the voice of the guy he pushed to the ground. Hia let out a sigh and looked up at the other guy. The bald rival holding a stick in his hand stared at him fiercely with hatred, before raising his hand with the stick above his head. In the next moment, the tall figure was about to swing the long stick at him. Hia closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate this time.
Thud!
Hia heard the sound of the stick hitting something hard. And that something should havebeen his face. But he didn't feel any pain, even though he should have felt pain... Or was it so painful that he was numb?
Or maybe I'm dead, so I don't feel the pain of dying on the spot... I just passed out. He thought that as he kept his eyes closed, but not long after, he slowly opened his eyelids. The image he saw made him widen his eyes in shock for a second time. Ai Real was kneeling in front of him, trying to hide his pain, but his friend knew that he must be hurting a lot.
"Ai Real..."
"You idiot...""I told you, right...?" Ai Real closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before saying in a calm voice, "...I told you to stay behind the trash can."
"If I had come to help you and hadn't been in time, and they had hit me in the face with that stick... what would I have done?"
"Ugh... I'm sorry. I was worried about Ai Go." Hia whimpered in his throat, feeling guilty, before moving to wrap his arms around the tall figure kneeling in front of him. He tried to protect his friend from being hurt. If anyone tried to hurt Ai Reow from now on... they would have to get past Hia first!
But the image in front of him, Ai Fah beating up all the rivals from the other school, including the one who hit Ai Reow with the wooden stick, made Hia feel a littlerelieved.
"I'll take you to the hospital... Go with Ai Go."
Because Ai Reow didn't answer anything, Hia loosened his arms and looked at the face with a small cut on the corner of his mouth. Ai Reow smiled slightly before saying...
"Take care of yourself, you idiot..."
This was the image and sound that stayed in Hia's memory. The story of his high school days kept replaying in his head whenever he was sad, as if it was reminding his heavy heart,
"Even if no one truly loves you in this life... there are still friends who truly love you from the heart."
Even though those memories that created the bond had passed a long time ago, until now, when Hia had graduated from the Faculty of Engineering for two years, that friendship had never faded. But there was one thing that made those memories slowly fade, and that was the alcohol in his body, which was too much. That's because Sia had been drinking since early evening until after two in the morning, and he had been drinking a considerable amount. He was so drunk that he was starting to lose his mind.
One of the bar staff had been watching this customer for a while. The young employee, impeccably dressed from head to toe, shook his head slightly as he watched Reow's friend mumbling like a delirious person. He decided to approach him.
"Sir..."
"Oh... more..." The man, whose face was red from drinking, groaned in his throat, hiccuping intermittently. He looked up at the young employee. The drunk man grinned widely when he saw him, before saying,
"How are you... back then, I was so... so damn hot, right?"
"Uh... sir..." He didn't understand what the handsome customer was saying. But he knew that... when someone's drunk... don't take it personally, and don't contradict them, otherwise, there will be trouble.
"Reow... he's such a good friend." The drunk man said, giving a thumbs up. "Awesome, my friend..."
"Are you really friends? Even when you're drunk, you still think about him." The young employee muttered to himself. "Amazing..."
"Sir... how are you going to get home?"
"Reow..." Then the really drunk man slumped his face onto the table, before mumbling softly, "...I'm sorry, I didn't take care of myself. Sniff..."
The young employee secretly sighed with concern, before looking around for help. But his eyes caught sight of "Pee," the owner of the bar, who was Reow's senior. He waved to Pee, who had just walked back into the bar.
"Pee! Pee!"
The bar owner didn't ignore him. He walked slowly towards him, before asking,
"What's up, Golf?"
"This customer... do you know him, Pee?"
Pee, who turned to look at the drunk man, widened his eyes in surprise, before saying, "Oh! Hia, you're still not going home?"
"I thought he checked out and left a long time ago."
"Not yet, sir. He's so drunk he's passed out on the table."
"He came alone, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, okay. Wait a sec..." The bar owner, Pee, pulled out his phone from his pants pocket, before calling his close friend. After a short wait, the other side picked up the phone.
[Hello?]
"Reow... your best friend is passed out drunk at my bar. What do you want me to do?"
[That idiot went to drink at your place?]
"Yeah, he's been here since early evening."
[That idiot!... He said he was going to stay home.]
"I don't know about your wife, go deal with it yourselves. But what do you want me to do now?" Pee teased, laughing.
[If you weren't my senior, I would have cursed you out of your mind.]
"Well... you've said so much already, you might as well just curse me out. Don't be afraid."
[Let's deal with that later. Right now, the idiot is the most important thing.]
"Put a sticky note on him too, you bastard."
[He came alone?]
"Yeah, he came by himself, all by himself... but wait, let me ask to make sure."
[You said he's really drunk, how can you ask him and get a sensible answer?]
"Just try it." Pee lowered the phone from his ear slightly, before walking closer to the drunk man who was face down on the table. He reached out and gently touched the other guy's shoulder, saying in a soft voice,
"Hia, it's me..." The drunk man responded with a voice that was barely audible. "Okay, I'm still responsive."
"Who did you come here with?"
"Uh..." The drunk man, who was now fast asleep, let out a small sigh, before repeating the same phrase, as if he was singing a song.
"...Hia, Hia, I came with Reow, and I came with Fah.""I got my answer, who he came with. Ugh... drunk people are so..." Pee said that to himself, before raising the phone back to his ear and saying, "You..."
[I heard you.]
[He came with Reow and Fah, you stupid sewer!]
[I'm in Phuket.]
"Before I ask anything else, can I ask one thing?"
[What is it?]
"Why do you always call Sia (hia) "Sewer" or "Red Water"?"
[It's a long story. I'll tell you later.]
"I really want to know, but okay... later then."
[Where are you staying tonight?]
"Even if it's like this..."
[Uh... can I ask you to stay with him for a while?]
[Let him sleep in your office for now. I'll take a plane back to Bangkok early tomorrow morning and drive to pick him up.]
"I'm doing this because I see myself as the Grim Reaper... Oh, no, not the Grim Reaper."
[It's Cupid! Don't be so sarcastic, Pee. It's giving me a headache.]
Pee laughed out loud when his junior figured out what he was thinking, before saying,
"Yeah... I'm doing this because you made me and my wife fall in love and stay together until today. I'll watch over your "Red Water."
[Thanks, Pee.]
"Then I'll carry Sia to sleep on the sofa in my office."
[Okay... but when you have him ride on your back, make sure someone is there to support his back. When he's really drunk, he likes to lean back.]"Me? I have to let Sia ride on my back?"
[Of course... who else could it be? I don't trust anyone else.]
"Wait, Reow... I'm getting old, I'm in my early thirties..."
[I know you're strong. You're still as fit as you were when you were twenty, right?]
"Oh, you bastard. You're saying all this, I can't really refuse, can I?"
[Please, Pee.]
"Alright..."
[Before I hang up, let me talk to Red Water.]
"But he's drunk..."
[That's the point.]
"Okay, okay. I don't want to go against anyone's faith..."
Pee lowered the phone from his ear and held it next to the drunk man's red ear. He didn't know what his junior was saying, but the drunk man, who was leaning his face against the table, slowly opened his eyes and smiled slightly.
"Uh-huh..."
Honestly, Pee wanted to know what Reow was saying to the drunk man. He was afraid of being rude if he turned on the speakerphone, but because of his insatiable curiosity, he gathered his courage and turned on the speakerphone.
[Red Water...]
[I'll pick you up tomorrow.]
Pee pursed his lips to hold back a smile, before saying in a sweet voice, "Okay..."
[Pee... you're so picky. Can you tone it down a bit?]
Pee laughed loudly before saying, "That's just how people are, it's not the price of fruit in the market. You can't just lower it easily."[Whatever... it's your business. I'm getting a headache.]
"..." The annoyed voice on the other end made Pee even more amused.
[If you take him to sleep in your office, please take a picture and send it to me.]
"Do I really have to do that?"
[That's how it is... do you understand what I'm saying?]
"Yeah, I understand."
[That's all I'm asking of you.]
"Yeah..."
Pee tapped the speakerphone, before hanging up from his close friend. The bar owner, who had just received a heavy burden, sighed softly, before putting the phone in his pants pocket.
"Golf, come help me carry Hia on my back."
"Yes, sir." The young man crouched down near the drunk man, who was now asleep, and Golf helped support Hia's body so he could ride on Pee's back. Pee shook his head slightly, thinking,
"Life is really impermanent. Before, he could easily carry things heavier than his junior. But now, he feels like carrying heavy things is difficult."
"Pee, are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Pee answered the employee in the bar, before standing up, carrying his unconscious junior to his office. "Golf, help me support Sia's back."
"Yes, sir."
"More..."
"Hey, hey, Hia... don't."
Pee turned to look at the drunk man's smooth face resting on his shoulder. Hia was about to vomit, so he had to stop him, even though he knew he couldn't stop it.
"...Don't vomit. I didn't bring a change of clothes."
"Swallow it down... please, I'm begging you."Pee stopped walking and stood still to reduce the urge to vomit, which was triggered by the movement. When he saw that his junior seemed to calm down, he slowly continued walking.
"What kind of karma is this, Pee!" The bar owner, who was in his early thirties, mumbled softly, before stopping in front of his own office. Golf, the employee in the bar, quickly opened the door, knowing his duty. Pee carried Reow's drunk friend to the long leather sofa.
"Ugh..." The tall figure raised his hand to hit the aching area of his back as he looked at his junior lying on the sofa. Hia groaned in his throat, turning his face towards him and Golf.
"My back hurts..."
Pee said that, tilting his head to look at his junior's flushed face. Hia was a Thai man of Chinese descent with narrow eyes, dark brown hair, a prominent nose, and plump, rosy lips. Overall, he was a handsome man. Since Reow had brought Hia to see him many times, Pee thought he was both handsome and cute.
In his mind, he imagined Reow and Hia standing side by side. Reow, who was about 5'9", and Hia, who was about 5'8". The taller one had a larger physique and looked stronger. The shorter one was a man with a proportional build. As he thought about it, Pee smiled to himself, thinking...
Perfect... perfect...
"Pee..."
Pee, who was pulled out of his daydream, turned to look at the person next to him, before saying, "What, Golf?"
"I've noticed this many times. Pee, do you think Reow and Hia have a crush on each other?"
"No way..."
"Pee, you're making that face... that means you're thinking the same thing as me, right?"
Because Pee was trying to hold back his smile, he looked suspicious. But the bar owner could only reach out and pat his employee's shoulder lightly.
"Golf, I'll tell you..."
"Those two have been friends for a long time, and they're really close."
"This is a dream I dare not dream, you understand?""But you can still dream, right?"
When Pee heard that, he pulled his hand back and stood there, staring at the other guy, before saying, "Let's put it this way, Golf..."
"You're shipping this couple, right?"
Golf chuckled lightly, before saying, "What are you talking about?"
"It's shipping, you don't know what shipping is? My wife screams about their shipping every day."
"I've heard of shipping."
"Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, my god! I forgot."
Pee spoke up, as if he had just remembered something, before pulling his phone out of his pants pocket in a hurry. The tall figure took a half step back from the long leather sofa, before raising his phone to take a picture of the drunk man who was fast asleep. Pee sent the picture to his junior through the Line app. Within a minute, the word "Read" appeared immediately, showing that Reow was waiting for the picture from him. Soon, his junior sent a message back...
R: Thanks again, Pee.
Pee tapped his fingers on the keyboard to reply to his junior.
Pae: No problem.
Pae: Just come pick him up tomorrow.
R: I'll pick him up as soon as I can.
R: As soon as I can.