4 Hearts: Second Generation

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Rawina's Desires
 
FOUR HEARTS OF THE MOUNTAIN CONTINUATION: SECOND GENERATION

Mai Davika as Rawina Adisuan (Roong) - daughter of Fai and Jeed

Weir Sukollawat as Angkhan (Phu)

Pope Thanawat as Khirilak Adisuan (Mek) - son of Lom and Krati

Om Akapan as Wanalee Adisuan (Ton) - son of Din and Cha-Aim

Mario Maurer as Asakhon...Rajaput (Yot) - son of Nam and Puwanes

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Chapter 1

The family had always found it funny that between the quadruplets, the last ones to get married were the first to give Adisuan grandchildren. During winter time, just a year after the fourth Adisuan quadruplet married, the farm celebrated the birth of Lom and Krati’s son, Khirilak, whom they call Mek.
Nearly a year passed by before the new addition to the family arrived during the autumn before Mek turned one year old; he received a little cousin from his auntie Cha-aim and uncle Din; their son Aranmai is fondly called Ton. Mek was delighted to have a playmate, especially a strong one like Ton, who was up and walking by his sixth month.
Once spring came, Mek would have the vague memory of flying out of the country. He did not know what was going on until after he and his parents landed. The next day, while a wall of soldiers stood guard, he looked into a crib at the new cousin, Crown Prince Asakhon Wanathep Srivasatava Rajaput. But Mek just called the little guy Yot and planned on introducing him to Ton.
Auntie Jeed had not been able to go see Yot because she was pregnant at the time, and uncle Fai stayed to take care of her. A few months after Mek returned to Rai Adisuanrangsan where Ton was waiting, the two of them went to the hospital. The day was very hot, but the hospital was air-conditioned. Mek and Ton crawled onto the hospital bed where auntie Jeed was holding a bundle in her arms.
“Hey buddies,” she crooned, “say hi to your little sister.”
The two took one look at the tiny creature named Rawina, and fell in love. Since then, they have recruited Yot and the trio have become like heavenly bodyguards to the new Adisuan daughter, whom everyone calls Roong.
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Mek is less of an artist than his father, having inherited the spiritual practicality of his mother. Being the oldest one out of the group, he makes sure to shade his younger siblings from any harm and is often the one to settle disputes between them, although in the past they have only had minor disagreements.
Ton is mischievous and often stubborn. He is the first to resort to physical confrontations because he is full of pride for his family and does not tolerate any bad actions directed towards them. He can be overbearing towards the ones that he loves, but he always has good intentions.
Yot grows up in a different kind of setting from the other three, so he learned to be a particularly disciplined and critical thinker. But he always takes whatever opportunity he has to have fun with his siblings, because being a brother is as important to him as being the heir to a country.
Roong is very beloved of everyone, not only because she is the only girl, but like the sun’s sizzling rays, she lights up everyone’s heart. Since birth she has been energetic and curious about everything in the world, and able to keep with her cousins in everything they do. The problem is that she seems just as hot-tempered as her father is. Because of this, she grows up even more determined to be independent, and she develops a sort of rebelliousness. This creates trouble for her brothers who are always eager to shield her.
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“Dad says no, and that means no,” Fai spoke so sternly that anyone would guess he was talking to a criminal he locked up and tortured for a confession. However, the pint-sized girl glaring back at him from across the table was not a criminal, but was just as fierce.

“But you promised,” she accused.

“When did I do that?” he shot back.

She answered, “Last night you said if I go to bed early, today you’ll let me eat as many cookies as I want,” and hit the table with her little fist. The dispute about the jar of cookies standing on the table has grown intense. “You’re not going to be a liar, are you daddy?”

Fai frowned grumpily. He should have known his devilish baby girl would hold him to his word. “Roong, let’s discuss this rationally. If I let you have anymore, mommy will punish me. Pity me a little, ok?”

She thought it through. Her mommy can be a little rough, and she doesn’t want her to be mad at daddy. “Only if I get to have five more.”

His jaw dropped. “No way! One more.”

“Four more.”

“Two more.”

“Three,” she said stubbornly, “or else you will face mommy by yourself.”

He sighed in defeat. “Fine. Three.” He reaches into the jar and hands over three cookies. She smiled sweetly at him and skipped out of the house. Fai couldn’t help grinning after her. He knew she’s going to go share it with her big brothers. One time, she even asked to send a single cookie to Yot in Parawat, but he convinced her she should wait until Yot visited them, then they could enjoy the cookies together. But if he gave her the whole jar as he promised last night, the farm would have three hyper munchkins all over the place.

Not that there was anything about his daughter that Fai didn’t love and adore. In his eyes, she held all that was precious and worthy of living for. And of course, he had his one of a kind, lovely wife, Jeed, to thank for this blessing. He felt that everyday didn’t hold enough hours for him to express his love, to kiss his wife, to laugh with and tease his daughter, and simply give them everything their hearts desired.
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The bully of the primary school was called Pete, and he thought that he could pick on Roong today because her two brothers were absent, sitting in detention for making mischief the previous day. He wanted to get back at all the times that Mek and Ton had fought him or beat him at football. And the three Adisuans seemed to excel at just about everything they did; if one lacked in any area, the others were there to make up for it. That wasn’t even to mention that they had a prince cousin!

At recess, Pete went on the playground and pushed Roong off the swing. She landed on her hands and knees.

“Ha! There’s no one to fight for you now. Your stupid brothers got in trouble, and when they get out tomorrow, I’m going to kick them!”

Through a classroom window, Mek and Ton saw what happened. They ignored the teacher and ran outside.

Seven year old Roong, who had been minding her own business, suddenly looked up at the brutish kid behind her with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. She got up and demanded, “Apologize to me!” Her parents had taught her that if you did something wrong, you had to say sorry; her father had also taught her to never let herself be vulnerable, and to little Roong, her father’s word was a law that applied to everyone.
Pete laughed. “I’m not going to apologize!”

Quick as lightning, she whipped the swing seat so that it hit him in the chest, and knocked him backwards. Then, while he was moaning in pain, she dragged him onto the swing so that he was on his stomach, then used all her might to twist the swing over and over.

By the time the teacher came over, the swing had untwisted, and Pete was throwing up from the dizziness.

The next day, all three Adisuan children were in detention at recess time.

“Yot called last night and said if he was here with us, he would have beat Pete to the ground,” Roong whispered to them.

“Not before I did it first,” Ton declared, being the fiercest one in their school, and always up for a challenge.

“I didn’t even need your help,” Roong smiled smugly.

“Shh! The teacher’s coming,” Mek warned them, so that all three hurriedly pretended to read their books.

Mek looked over his book up at the front and noticed that one of the boys was secretly taking peeks at Roong. Mek took his eraser, gave a little prayer to the spirits for good aim, then fired the eraser. It hit the boy's forehead, forcing him to become distracted and look away from Roong. Mek smirked and went back to reading--real reading, whereas Ton and Roong were still trying to whisper to each other while pretending.


When Roong came home to the Adisuan farm, her parents were waiting for her.

Jeed said sternly, “Roong. Have you learned your mistake from yesterday?”

Roong nodded sullenly. “Yes mommy.”

“But she wasn’t at fault. No one messes with my daughter. My little girl had to teach that kid a lesson, right honey?” Fai proudly went to hug Roong.

“Fai! Don’t teach her to be violent like you!” Jeed smacked his arm. She picked up Roong. “Remember, you can’t hurt somebody else like that. Next time, you have to tell the teacher and they will take care of it.”

“Yes mommy.” But Roong secretly caught her dad’s smile at her, as he gave her the thumbs up. Fai had always been the quick-tempered one in his youth, and each day, Roong seemed to follow in his footsteps more and more. This wasn’t a problem to him, since he didn’t want her to be bullied, and had been quick to encourage her in physical fitness. Sometimes, however, her temper got the better of her, so that she acted without thinking.

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“Call me a slut one more time and I’ll stick you where the sun doesn’t shine!”

Ton, Yot, and Mek arrived at the scene where much screaming was going on.

“Eeek! Get off me!”

Ton pulled Roong off so that Yot was able to help Fern up and then hold her back. The two young high school girls still tried to reach each other with clawed hands.

“You’re crazy! How dare you slap me!” Fern screamed. She was a hi-so girl attending the same school and as the Adisuan children.

“Watch your mouth next time if you don’t want to be disciplined by me again!” Roong shouted, aggressively trying to tear away from Ton. “Let me go p’Ton!”

“Eeek! You dare speak to me like you’re my mom!’

“Well someone has to teach you that having a forked tongue is a sin!”

“Enough!” Mek ordered, “Ton, get her out of here.” Before things get even messier.

Ton threw Roong over his shoulder and hurried away from the crowd that had gathered around the fight.

“P’Ton! P’Ton, put me down!” Roong demanded all the way to the side of the school. “I haven’t finished with her yet.”

As soon as he set her down, she tried to push past him but Ton stopped her and a voice arrived that said, “Yes, you are finished with her.”

“P’Mek, get out of my way,” she replied.

“Stop already. Don’t you know you’re less than a hair’s breadth from being suspended? This is the third fight you got into this semester!” Mek said.

“Does it look like I care? There are plenty of schools in Thailand! Even if I get expelled from this one, I can just go somewhere else.”

“Hey, I said that’s enough. What is up with you and Fern anyway? You don’t like her, just stay away from her. You should know that already.”

“I know that, but it’s her that doesn’t know how to mind her own business. She’s been putting out stupid rumors about me again and I’m not going to let her off easily. No one messes with Rawina Adisuan.”

Her three brothers sighed simultaneously. Uncle Fai taught his daughter a little too well, it seemed, because those were his very own words. Once in a while, there would come some idiot who didn’t know what they were getting into and would provoke Roong’s wrath. And it was the three of them who had to clean it up in the end.

Yot held her arm, “Roong, just stop and think a bit first.”

“What more do I have to think about?” she barked. “Yot, don’t come lecturing me. It’s not going to stop me.”

“But you know physical revenge is only temporary. Haven’t you learned enough from Ton?”

“Heuy, don’t blame things on me. I’m a peaceful person,” Ton declared indignantly.

“Yeah right, who taught Roong how to put people in headlocks? You’re violent and stupid,” Mek goaded him playfully.

“I’m not!”

“No, you’re too violent to be stupid,” Yot said.

“I’m not too violent to be stupid, I could be stupid if I wanted—“ Ton stopped and glared at Yot, who snorted.

“Fern’s just jealous.”

“I know that, but it doesn’t give her an excuse,” Roong crossed her arms.

Yot smiled at Roong, “Look, don’t give her the satisfaction that she can upset you.”

She stubbornly looked away.

“Hey, what’s the one thing Fern is most afraid of? Being humiliated. So we just have to make use of our resources.”

Mek and Ton suspiciously watched as the younger two exchanged secretive looks. It was a good thing Yot was studying for a year in Thailand with his cousins, since he was good at distracting Roong’s anger, but whenever he put an idea into her head, the outcome was unpredictable.

The next day, Roong was sitting in the cafeteria. She saw Fern and went up to her.

“What do you want?”

“I just want to say that I’m sorry for punching you yesterday. And shoving your face in the dirt. And slapping you.”

“I don’t care about your apology,” Fern said.

Just then, Yot appeared at Roong’s side. “Roong, I got you your drink.”

“Thanks.”

“Uh,” Fern, who was one of countless female students in love with Yot and dreamed of becoming his princess, quickly said, “I’ll forgive you. But only if I can have the drink Yot bought.”

“Sure,” Roong handed it over.

“Thank you so much, Yot,” she looked sweetly at Yot, who gave her his cute smile, making her squeal mentally.

“Why don’t you drink it right now, so that Yot can see you enjoy it?” Roong asked.

“Yes, of course!” she quickly opened it and took a deep gulp, smiling at Yot and hoping he would say something to her.

“I hope you like it,” he said.

“You should drink all of it, otherwise Yot will be sad,” Roong encouraged.

Lost in her prince’s handsomeness, Fern nodded and drank it all. “It’s delicious! Thank you!”

Roong and Yot went to sit over by Mek and Ton for the lunch period. Only five minutes later, they heard a chair being pushed back roughly. Fern was standing up, with a look of horror frozen on her face while her friends ask what’s wrong. From their table, Roong heard a loud deflating sound, which could only mean…flatulence. It happened again and the students nearby started laughing. Fern grabbed the drink bottle and looked at the label, then turned to see Roong eyeing her complacently. Fern sped away out of the cafeteria to the bathroom.

“I wonder if she’ll make it to the bathroom,” Roong said casually, eating up her lunch.

“Don’t tell me you poisoned her,” Mek asked sternly.

“I didn’t do anything. The smoothie is completely safe, but I’m surprised she liked it much, even though she’s highly lactose intolerant.” She and Yot high-five one another. “I guess she was too deep in lala land looking at her Prince Yot.”

“You knew, so why didn’t you tell her?”

“She asked for it,” Roong said, with an underlying note of retaliation in her words. And that was one less person she had to deal with for the semester. Mek sighed.

"Hey, Roong," one of their male classmates came by, "I was wondering if you--"

"She's not interested," Ton cut in, cracking his knuckles intimidatingly, so that the male classmate nodded and quickly made his escape. Ton snorted with a laugh, but yelped out loud when he felt Roong toss her milk carton at him, hitting him in the chest.

"Stop doing that," she hissed. He merely shrugged, not at all about to stop what he believed was his duty to rid Roong of any opportunities to get involved with guys, who couldn't be trusted...except for him, Mek, and Yot, of course.


And thus, each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses, their different loves and hates that were experienced as fiercely as most children throughout the world could experience, the Adisuan children grew up tighter than peas in a pod together, surrounded by loved ones.
 
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I will be alternating between calling the kids 'cousins' and 'siblings' because of their closeness...
 
jjinxx
 
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 2
 
For the most part, the boys made sure to include Roong in whatever they did; they believed that no matter how dangerous or outrageous the activity was, as long as they were present, there was no need to fear. However, things were completely the opposite when she sought to do things on her own. If she wanted to go to a girls’ party, they didn’t mind, but if the party had boys, then Mek and Ton insisted on accompanying her. If Yot was in Thailand, he went along with it—if he was in Parawat, he made sure to support the two boys in their surveillance of their sister. There was hardly any excuse that the boys did not use in order to be allowed to follow her and scare off guys who tried to woo her. This became especially persistent when they became teenagers and guys gave more attention to Roong.
The boys only toned down their level of protectiveness when Roong complained to and got the back-up of her mother and aunts, so that she was eventually given a bit more space, much to the dismay of her cousins. But the one who gave her the hardest time was, of course…
 
 
[present]
“Roong! Roong, dad’s not done talking to you yet!” Fai is furious as he watches his daughter grab the nearest horse and ride off towards the woods. Why did he let her learn horse-riding until she was better than even her mother? Throwing his hands up, he heads back inside in a livid mood.
 
“Stop sulking already,” Jeed says, not looking up from the monthly dairy report she is reviewing, as Fai drops into the seat next to her.
 
“Sulking? You’re accusing me of sulking when our daughter is about to become a runaway?”
 
Jeed looks up with impatience, “She’s not a runaway. She clearly explained what she wanted. You were just too fast to reject her idea without any reasoning.”
 
“You want reasoning?” Fai counts off with his fingers, “One, she’s my precious daughter. Two, she’s too young. Three, she’s going to be alone. Four, she’s my precious daughter.”
 
“One,” Jeed counters, “she’s your daughter so you should give her a chance. Two, she’s not too young. Students her age go abroad all the time. Three, she is going to be with her close friends, not alone. And four, she’s also my daughter, so I have some say in this too.”
 
“What are a bunch of kids thinking, traveling around like that?” he demands.
 
“Didn’t I say that they’re not kids anymore? You can’t baby her forever. She has to grow up and see the world for herself.”
 
If Fai had his way, he would want Roong to never leave the Adisuan farm. She is his most precious gem. But this gem was forged with fire that gave her a stubborn temper.
 
“Fai,” Jeed’s voice softens. “Think about this again, okay?”
 
He sighs, and squeezes her hand. “I’ll think about it.”
 
..
A young twenty-two year old woman, dressed in comfortable riding denim and leather boots, is seen tearing through the Adisuan land and the workers make sure to stay out of her way. Everyone can recognize Fai’s daughter and knows that when she is riding at this fast pace, she is either excited or angry.
 
Roong dismounts from her horse and marches to the river platform. As she fumes and paces back and forth, she takes off her hat with an angry fist, so the black hair in its usual braid flies wildly about her face.
 
Why does her dad have to be so stubborn? In some ways, he will spoil her and always take her side; yet, when it comes to the biggest matters, he completely refuses to give her the freedom to do as she pleases.
 
“I’m so fed up with this!” she shouts, sitting down at the platform’s edge and kicking her legs furiously in the river. The scent of musky woods and new summer flowers does nothing to sooth her; even the crystal water cannot cool her temper today; it’s more like the water is steaming from her own displeasure.
 
“Aow, Roong. No need to yell, or you’ll scare away all our pretty birds and our trees will wilt down.” A man appears and arrives at her side. He wears an easy smile that enhances his otherwise ordinary facial features—the smile that works like an enchantment, relaxing even the most frightened child or uptight snob. Toned limbs swagger with each step he takes.
 
Roong crosses her arms, snapping at him, “Don’t make fun of me, P’Mek. I’m in no mood for it and dad is being terribly selfish this time.”
 
Before he responds, they hear another impatient voice. “ChaOom, stay here!” comes an order to a horse. Loud and heavy steps announce the presence of their cousin, Ton. He is all tanned broad shoulders and buff arms, well shaped from his always-ready commitment to be challenged by any physical act.
 
Mek says, “Uncle Fai isn’t being selfish. He’s just concerned for your well-being.”
 
“Oh really? Are you saying uncle Lom isn’t concerned for your well being since he let you take that back-packing trip through Europe?”
 
“But you’re a girl, Roong,” Ton adds in, “It’s normal for him to be extra worried. Even I wouldn’t readily agree to you going on a trip, even if it’s with your friends.”
 
“You should wait for me and Ton to get our vacation days first, then we can all go together.”
 
“Oi, it’s always the same excuse!” Roong replies, not at all appeased. “Wherever I go, I have somebody babysitting me. I’m not a helpless kid! This is not doing anything to help me grow.” Truthfully, when Roong and her friends came up with the idea to travel abroad after graduating, she purposely arranged the dates so that they coincided with her brothers’ work. That way they wouldn’t be able to interfere since they have just started working. All of Roong’s life, they were her shadows, along with Yot whenever he came to the farm. She loves her cousins but there is only so much she can take when they are treating her like she has no life, has no interests in the outside world. She needs time to establish her own self-worth and independence, to know that she has the strength to take care of herself.
 
But of course, she should have expected her dad to be the biggest problem.
 
“What’s so good about Brazil anyway?” Ton asks full of skepticism, “There’s no hurry, you’re still young and have time to travel in the future with us, your favorite brothers. Or…” he quickly sits down beside her with an accusing finger pointing at her, “don’t tell me it’s because you want to go looking for guys out there.”
 
Roong clucks her tongue and slaps at his finger. “I’m not like you, p’Ton, always going out with girls here and there. Just the men in my family are enough to drive me crazy.”
 
“Crazy…with love?” Ton jokes, hugging her. She is used to his cheesiness, so all she can do is pout.
 
“P’Ton, you’ll never understand. You two take it for granted that you are men so the elders are more lenient towards you. But they’ll never trust me. Do you know how worthless that makes me feel?”
 
Mek and Ton glance at each other, aware that this time, she is upset beyond being able to give in easily, and the matter of her pride is truly hurt.
 
“Roong,” Mek sits on her other side, “who says you’re worthless? Do you know how smart you are and how much conviction you have? I’ve never seen you face a challenge without pulling through with success.”
 
It looks like this time is going to be different. Her father would be the unceasing challenge she faces for the rest of her life. Roong splashes the water more with her feet.
 
 
“It makes me want to shove someone through a wall already! I can’t believe dad would make such a big deal over something this small. I’ve planned and planned for this trip for weeks. I’ve worked my butt off at school to graduate with high honors and now I don’t even get a simple reward? What is this?! He is always spoiling everything!”
 
“Have you ranted enough yet?”
 
“No!” Roong answers into the phone with Yot on the other end. “Do you know what dad said? He said he would buy me a new horse as my graduation present. A horse! What an insult to my LaOng! LaOng is the only horse I’ll ride and besides, we have plenty of horses on the farm!”
 
“A new horse is better than a set of bodyguards,” Yot rolls his eyes, remember his own father’s gift for his eighteenth birthday. Sure, a prince needs to be extra cautious, but one can’t help appreciating the privilege of privacy once in a while.
 
“Serves you right. You, Mek, and Ton are always up in my business. But as I was saying—I’m not going to yield this time. I’ve had enough! Dad thinks he can control my life the way he controls his farm? No way!”
 
“Oh come on,” Yot uses a soft voice to wheedle at her, “Not long from now I’ll be on the farm and you won’t be bored anymore. We can celebrate our college graduation together. I promise to go with you wherever you want! That way, Uncle Fai won’t have any complaints.”
 
Roong isn’t satisfied though. Is she going to have to walk a tightrope for the rest of her life to keep her dad from going ballistic? “Well, you’ll have to hurry up and get here soon.” Before she takes things into her own hands.
 
There’s a knock at her door, she says bye to Yot and hangs up. “Who is it?”
 
“It’s dad. May I come in?”
 
“Yes.” Sitting pretzel style, Roong remains on her bed as Fai enters and grabs a seat at her desk chair.
 
He pats one of her teddy bears before turning to her, “How are you doing today?”
 
She shrugs. “Fine.”
 
“Are you still mad that I’m not letting you go on your trip?”
 
“Yes,” she says bluntly.
 
He sighs. “I’m only doing this because I’m concerned—“
 
“Dad,” she holds up a hand, “we are not going to repeat our conversation from earlier. I know where you stand. If we’re going to discuss this again, then it’s going to start with you telling me I’m allowed to go.”
 
He crosses his arms. “Well that’s not about to happen.”
 
Roong huffs in aggravation. “Then we have nothing else to speak of. You may leave my room.”
 
“Your mom told me to come get you for dinner.”
 
“I’m not eating. My appetite is spoiled because someone is being stubborn.”
 
“Roong, you’re the only one being stubborn here,” he argues.
 
“You’re the one that keeps forbidding me from pursuing my dreams.”
 
“You’re the one that has ridiculous dreams. What’s so wrong with our farm that you want to leave it that badly? Do you hate it so much?”
 
“If you keep forbidding me, then maybe I will start to hate it! Maybe one day I’ll leave it forever!”
 
“Roong!” her words work up more impatience in Fai, “Don’t raise your voice to me!”
 
“You’re the one raising your voice first!”
 
“You did it first!”
 
“You did!”
 
“You did!”
 
“ENOUGH!” Jeed walks, looking incredulous at the shouting match they were having. “Fai, how can you be so immature? This is your daughter, you can’t yell at her like that!” She turns to Roong, “And Roong, this is your father, why are you being so disrespectful?” Roong and Fai look away angrily. “If you’ve both finished acting like children, you can come down and eat. But if not, I’ll throw you both out and you can eat by the hay barn!”
 
“You’re raising your voice too…” Fai mumbles. Jeed glares at him.
 
“Mom, I’m not hungry right now. I’m going to bed early.”
 
“If you want,” she replies, then hisses at Fai, “Fai, go.”
 
He opens his mouth to argue but catches sight of her face, and drags himself out of the room. When the door is closed, Roong can hear her parents whispering sharply to one another. She pulls her laptop open, and after a few minutes of deliberating, she makes a final decision.
 
------
“Everything is set?” Phu asks through his small mic attached to his shirt.
 
“Yes sir. The vehicle is ready, the luggage is stowed away, and the airplane is on schedule.”
 
“Alright. Wait for his highness’ word, and then we’ll be on our way.” Phu makes sure his cap is on straight before heading down the palace halls to the private area where the royal family resides. He stops outside of the large family room lit from the sun shining through the tall windows. Sitting within are three people who are probably the most down-to-earth, humble, and respectable people he’s met, almost contradicting their luxurious residence.
 
“Send our love to Grandma and Grandpa, okay son?” Queen Nam says, holding her son’s hand. “I wish I could come with you this time.”
 
“Mom,” Prince Yot replies, “You don’t have to worry. I’m going to be safe with the family.”
 
“Who says mom is worried?” King Puwanes teases, “She just wants to go with you so she can run around with her siblings again.”
 
Nam glances sharply at him. “Of course not.”
 
Yot shares a laugh with his father. “I know you miss the uncles. I’ll make sure to let them know you are doing well and that you will go visit as soon as possible.”
 
“P’Phu!”
 
Phu turns and smiles, catching hold of the little boy who ran at him. “Hello there, prince.”
 
Prince Lek clings to his neck. “P’Phu don’t forget to send me a letter while you are in Thailand. I wish I got to go too.”
 
“Don’t worry, I will definitely not forget my favorite prince. Now, go on inside and say bye to your brother.”
 
Phu watches the happy family, and smiles before returning to his quarters. He remembers the past decade of residing in the palace. From the age of fifteen, he was noticed by one of the palace officers, who assigned him as the personal attendant of the crown prince. As an orphan who had no relations and an unsure future, this was a stroke of luck no one could predict for Phu. He was forever grateful thereafter, not only for a secured future, but also for obtaining such a high honor as protecting the royal family.
 
Since his duties began, Phu yet again encountered the fortune of gaining a close friend. He never presumed to be anything more than a subordinate to Prince Yot, but Yot treated Phu as a brother and confidante, and once Phu was able to overcome his own hesitance of whether such a relationship is appropriate, he too came to treasure Yot’s friendship more than anything.
 
 
The crown prince of Parawat is placed under much scrutiny, however, much of Parawat feel optimistic about him, though he is still young. He is known to actively help the citizens, treat those who he meets with respect and has earned the adoration of a large population.
 
Yot was determined and intelligent enough at the age of five to request from his parents that they let him visit his cousins four times a year. He gave rational reasons, and did not throw tantrums, so Puwanes and Nam saw no reason to deny their son. The two of them wanted him to grow up surrounded by loved ones, and Nam especially wanted Yot to know how it felt to have close siblings the way she did. So it became a tradition for the children to spend their birthdays together, and they grew up just as close as their parents did. Once Yot entered high school, he had to focus on his studies, and therefore, only visited twice a year, along with studying a full year in Thailand with his cousins.
 
Yot never ceases to love his mother’s homeland; it is loved by him equally as much as he loves Parawat, and he looks forward to every time he returns to the farm.
 
This time around, Yot insists to his father that he doesn’t need a large number of people accompanying him.
 
“Just Phu will be enough.”
 
“Alright, I’ll let you have your way this time. I know you can take care of yourself,” Puwanes says. He isn’t worried because there is still a small party of guards going with his son. “Take care while you’re over there.”
 
“Yes father.”
 
------
 
@Bieluvr, why thank you! Hope you enjoy!
 
jjinxx
 

Vimalee

Live Love Laugh
Wow, another fan fiction from jjjinxxy and I love it!
 
Thanks again for continuing the 4HJHKK stories .  I missed them all.
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
**Introducing Sammie B. as Kaew
 
 
Chapter 3
 
The procession consisting of a BMW and a van of half a dozen guards drives onto Adisuan land. Yot wastes no time in getting out of the car, but Phu’s breath is taken away as he drinks in the landscape around him, like the sight is an oasis in a desert. The green seemed to never end, and he can think of no place more peaceful and full of life than the Adisuan farm. No wonder he is always hearing Yot express yearning to return during every season. A place like this can’t be admired without seeing it at all the different times of the year.
 
Phu then enters the main Adisuan house. He watches from the sides as Yot greets his family, who all welcome him with kisses and hugs of the most endearing degree. It’s a warming sight, and Phu smiles as Yot bear-hugs his two cousins while laughing joyously.
 
“And where’s Roong?” Yot asks, turning to look around the room.
 
“Roong went over to Kaew’s house this morning.  She said she wanted to pick up a book,” Grandma answers.
 
“Huh, she had all that time and she chooses the day I arrive to go get it? Just wait till she gets back,” Yot jokingly threatens.
 
“Everyone, I’d like to introduce Angkhan. Aside from serving our family, he’s also the close friend I’ve mentioned before.”
 
Phu smiles. “Hello everyone. It’s an honor to meet Yot’s family.”
 
“Come here son,” Grandma Supansa says. Phu steps forward self-consciously, not used to being surrounded by so many people on a personal level like this. He stands stiffly as Supansa reaches up to touch his face and she smiles. Phu finds that he likes the kindness and youth in her eyes—it gives him a nostalgic feeling, though he has never known a parent before.
 
“Thank you, Angkhan, for accompanying Yot.”
 
Her soft voice is exactly the kind of soothing tone that Phu imagines a grandma’s voice should be, “It’s my pleasure. And you can call me Phu. It’s a nickname Yot himself gave me.”
 
“Yot dear, why don’t you and Phu go refresh yourselves? I’ve prepared lunch already. Once your Uncle Lom gets here, we’ll eat.”
 
Yot leads Phu upstairs, giving him a tour of the house. “…My Aunt Krati is traveling with her editor to collect research for her next novel. You might get to see her next week.”
 
“Ah, the Aunt with the supernatural powers?”
 
“Yup. My Sixth Sense Auntie,” Yot joked affectionately.
 
They reach the landing and Phu pauses when his eyes land on the family photo that fits all the current fifteen members of the Adisuan family.
 
“That was taken the year Roong and I graduated from high school.”
 
Phu then found the face of the youngest woman in the photo. Her smile revealed perfect teeth and a curtain of raven hair brushed her shoulders. She is lined up with Yot to her right and Prince Lek sitting on her lap.
 
“Isn’t she pretty?” Yot grins.
 
“Yes.”
 
..
“Roong is still not back yet?” Mek asks, seating himself at the table and grabbing a strawberry out of the salad bowl, earning a slap to his hand from Auntie Jeed.
 
Grandma says, “She called and told me she has a lot of things to talk with Kaew about, so she’ll be back after lunch, and for us to go on and eat without her.”
 
“What the heck?” Yot grumbles, digging into the food on his plate. Clearly he isn’t happy about the absence of one of the people he was most excited to see. He begins guessing whether she is doing this to avoid her father. “Grandma! This is delicious!”
 
“Then you must eat a lot, dear.”
 
Throughout lunch, Yot and Ton showered Grandma Supansa with compliments on her cooking, both of them trying to out-eat the other. They’ve always had fun vying for their grandma’s attention.
 
“Have your stomachs burst yet?” Mek shakes his head.
 
“No way. Every time Grandma cooks, I grow an extra stomach,” Ton says sweetly to Supansa.
 
“No need to keep checking your watch like that,” Jeed pushes Fai’s elbow with hers. “She said she’ll be back after lunch.”
 
“She should at least call to tell her father and mother herself. Doesn’t she know I’m worried about her?”
 
“It’s because she knows that you’re overly worried, that’s why she doesn’t want to deal with you,” Lom points his spoon at Fai.
 
“Lom, don’t you get started,” Fai warns.
 
“Uncle Fai, when we’re done here, I’ll go over to Juntasa Farm and pick her up,” Yot says.
 
Fai nods.
 
After lunch, the adults gathered out in the backyard to relax.

 
Phu finished his lunch with his colleagues quick and went over to the closest part of the farm, the dairy area. He’s never been on a farm before and the systems of each section draw his curiosity.
 
“Who are you?!” Two women’s voices ask in unison.
 
When Phu looks up, the pair of young ladies’ jaws drop. They’re both carrying cleaning utensils and look about the same age as Yot.
 
“Excuse me,” he says, “I thought the farm was open so I came to take a look. I hope I’m not in the way.”
 
Upon receiving a clearer view of his face, and his full muscular stature, one of the girls looks at him dreamily. “Of course you not. We didn’t think that way at all. But I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you a worker from one of the neighboring farms?”
 
“No, I’m not. I came with—“
 
“Who’s that?!”
 
“Dad!” the girls yell.
 
Sak marches over and stands in front of his daughters. “Pim, Nok, why are you talking to strange men?”
 
“Not strange men, dad. Just one very handsome man,” Nok giggles.
 
“Who are you? A robber?” Sak demands.
 
“If he’s a robber, I’ll let him steal me,” Pim simpers, earning a push of her head from her dad.
 
“Don’t speak nonsense. This is Khun Fai’s farm. I can’t have weirdos running around here or I’ll lose my job. You! Come with me.”
 
“Uh, sir, I…I just—“
 
“No need to talk so much, get your butt over here.”
 
“Phu!”
 
Phu turns, relieved to see Yot and Ton heading towards him.
 
“You know this person, Khun Yot?” Sak asks.
 
“He came with me from Parawat.”
 
“Is he a prince too?” Pim asks eagerly.
 
“How is a person like him supposed to be a prince?” Sak pushes her head again.
 
“He’s my friend and will be staying here with us until I return to Parawat. Phu, let’s go.”
 
“Yes.” Phu leaves with them.
 
Ton holds out a hand, “I didn’t get to officially greet you earlier.”
 
“Nice meeting you, Khun Ton.”
 
“No need for formalities. We’re all friends here.” Even as he says this, Ton smirks and tightens his grip on Phu’s hand, flexing his bicep to give a crushing grip.
 
Yot rolls his eyes. “Enough with your macho-ness, p’Ton.”
 
Indeed, Phu was unaffected and returned just as much strength, more than Ton expected, until he realized he wasn’t going to win easily, and finally yields. “You’re pretty strong.”
 
“You yourself have strength to boast about,” Phu returns, so that Ton’s ego is satisfied.
 
“We’re going over to one of our neighbors to pick up Roong. Want to come along?”
 
“Sure,” Phu answers.
 
“Can you ride though?” Ton asks.
 
“Ride?” Phu looks over and sees a stableman leading three horses over.

 
Phu is familiar with horses, but he seldom had the opportunity to ride so freely in such open land. The ride over to the neighboring land exhilarates him.
 
“This is Juntasa Farm. It wasn’t established as long as Adisuan Farm, but the owner is a close friend to my grandparents.”
 
“Hello there, Khun Yot, Khun Ton!” The farm manager, Sunthorn, greets them.
 
“It’s great to see you, Uncle Sunthorn. Is Kaew around?” Yot asks.
 
“She’s out in the orchard. I can see you there.”
 
“Oh, it’s okay. We know our way.”
 
“Go on then.”
 
In the orchard, a woman is working with the other reapers, finishing filling up a basket with mangoes, setting each fruit gently on top of the pile.
 
“Khun Kaew, it looks like you have guests.”
 
Kaew stands, taking off her gloves. “Hey! Yot, you’re back!” She hugs him, but when she sees his cousin, her face falls flat, “Nai Ton, what are you doing here?”
 
“Aow, I came to visit of course. Juntasa Farm welcomes everyone, isn’t that right?”
 
“Too right, I should tell dad to set up a tighter security,” she says with a sarcastic voice. “And who’s this?”
 
“This is my friend Phu. Phu, this Kaew.”
 
“Nice to meet you.”
 
“Likewise.”
 
Ton notices the smile Kaew gives to Phu; it’s not a special smile or suggestive of anything, but he can’t help wanting to step in between the two of them.
 
“Kaew, are you and Roong finished talking? I’d like to see my cousin, if she even remembers that I got back today,” Yot looks around but doesn’t see the person he’s looking for.
 
“Roong? Isn’t she at home?” Kaew asks.
 
“She hasn’t been home all day. Grandma said Roong called to say she was with you.”
 
Kaew shook her head in confusion. “No, I haven’t seen her since two days ago. She called me last night to complain about Uncle Fai, but that was it.”
 
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ton asks.
 
She turns to him exasperatedly, “It means I don’t know where she is and whatever she told Grandma Supansa were—“
 
 
...“LIES,” Ton says as they trio make their way back to Adisuan farm. His brow is creased with puzzlement. “Why would Roong lie to Grandma? Or do you think she’s still angry and has been hiding out in the woods?”
 
“I don’t know,” Yot says absentmindedly.
 
Phu doesn’t really know what to make of the situation. Something really big is amiss, he can sense it, and so can Yot.
 
“Well, when she gets back, she’s going to have to answer a lot of questions. From me, first of all,” Ton says firmly. He takes out his cell phone to try calling Roong. “Oi, she’s not answering. Hey Yot, I’m heading back to the resort. Let me know as soon as she gets back.”
 
Yot nods. “Oh, p’Ton. Don’t let any of the elders know about this. We don’t want Uncle Fai flipping out. Wait until later, na?”
 
Ton agrees it’s for the better.
 
“Phu, I’ll see you around.”
 
“See you, Ton.” While the two ride back across the farm, Phu studies Yot’s silence. “Yot, you look worried. What is it?”
 
“I’m just surprised. Roong is usually the first one to see me whenever I come back to the farm. It’s not weird that she missed it this time, but I just…didn’t think she would be gone this long.”
 
Phu knows Yot is even more particularly close to his cousin Roong, so he asks, “When do you think she’ll be back?”
 
“The question’s not when. It’s IF. Come on, we’ll go this way.”
 
Phu follows as Yot leads them on a trail through the wood. Hey cross some waters and continue deeper. Phu catches sight of the rushing waters, and the platform placed in the middle of the river for relaxing. He can hear a waterfall nearby as well. The whole place seems like a hidden treasure.
 
“Not here…”
 
“Yot?”
 
“I thought Roong might have come here. She likes coming here whenever she needs time to cool off.”
 
Phu can definitely see the appeal in this corner of the farm. “This farm has many hidden places.”
 
“And most have been discovered by me and my cousins,” Yot reminisces. “When we were kids, there was no place that scared us. If there was, we’d egg each other on, calling one another chicken and that sort of thing, until we all got over it.”
 
“Shall we look for Khun Roong in those other places?”
 
“No. If she isn’t here, I don’t think we’ll find her anywhere else.”
 
He says it with such little hope, Phu thinks.
 
Later that evening, as Phu is sitting outside watching the stars come out, Yot joins him.
 
“Any news of your cousin?”
 
Yot hesitates, stroking his chin. “Just a short while ago, she called. She said she’s staying overnight at a different friend’s house. I’ve told the elders already.” Yot notices Phu looking sternly at him. “What?”
 
“You lied to them too?”
 
“Oi! How can you tell?”
 
“Yot, I was the one that taught you how to be sneaky. You always had the habit of touching your chin when you lie, so you practiced with me to stop that habit. It works when you’re with other people but with me, you always forget you’re doing it.”
 
Yot groans in self-disgust, sitting up straight. “Phu, you have to swear to me you won’t tell the others.”
 
It isn’t like he can disobey his prince. Phu nods, but feels uneasy. “What’s that?” he nudges his chin at the paper sticking out of Yot’s pocket.
 
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
 
...
 
Jeed watches from the doorway as Fai leans on the sill, the window opened to allow him an uninhibited view of the night sky. She can sense the tension in his muscles even before she goes over to slide her hand on his back, soothing him.
 
“Fai, go on to bed.”
 
He sighs. “Do you think Roong is that angry at me, that she doesn’t even want to see my face?”
 
“She just needs time to herself. Once she calms down, she’ll be back. You know how she is.”
 
“But this time, she doesn’t seem to want to forgive me.” Fai wraps an arm around Jeed. “Am I’m a terrible father?”
 
“Of course not. But sometimes you’re a bit…overbearing.”
 
He frowns at her.
 
She smiles, caressing his jaw, “But it’s because you love her. You want to keep her safe from harm. But no one likes being kept on a leash. The more you do, the more she’ll rebel, until she reaches as far as the sun.”
 
------

jjinxx
 

Bieluvr

XiaojuXiyou
Loving it na, Awe, the last part with fai and jeed is just so cute, but the funny thing is i'm imagining Nadech and Yaya and that's just hilarious cause they're supposed to be older now right? LOL :)
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 4
 
Ton looks up from the computer where he is researching Thararin Resort’s investors. “What’s up?” he asks when he answers the phone.
 
Mek replies, “It’s bad.”
 
“What happened?”
 
When he hears the news, Ton yells out in alarm, loud enough that a few of the employees look in on his office with concern. “You said Roong did what?!”
 
“Get over here.”
 
Mek meets Ton outside the Adisuan house. “How are the adults taking it?”
 
“Everyone is worried of course. Uncle Fai was going to go to the airport and force them to cancel all of the flights just in case she hadn’t gone yet. Good thing dad convinced him to stay.”
 
Ton scoffs, “How did he manage that?”
 
“Er, knocked him over the head.”
 
“Crap. If only Auntie Nam was here too, she could sedate him.”
 
Just then, they hear the distinctive outraged voice of Uncle Fai from the house, making both young men wince.
 
Yot was the one who first entered Roong’s room ever since they suspected that she might be missing, and he found the letter in her room. Ton reads from Roong’s letter, “’Dear my beloved family. Please do not worry about me. I have prepared well, and will explore my world to the fullest. I will take care of myself, and once I am done, I will return home. Dad, I know you will forgive me because when I return I will prove that I have the ability to take care of myself. Please do not send the others after me because it will only make me look for even more remote places to run to. I just want this chance to have time alone. Brazil will be the perfect place to experience new things.”
 
“You see now?!” Fai demands. “I told you before that she was going to be a runaway, but you wouldn’t listen! Now this happens!”
 
“Fai!” Jeed snaps at him.
 
“What is she thinking!? She’s always been smart, but why is she being so stubborn this time?”
 
“Maybe because of the way you are,” Lom says under his breath.
 
“I knew I should have had Sak stand guard at her door. No, wait, stupid Sak should have known to do it even without me telling him!”
 
“Blaming others,” Din sighs, so that Cha-aim shushes him.
 
“Fai, shut up!” Jeed orders, “You think yelling and making us all deaf is going to help the situation?”
 
“What, you want me to just sit still while my baby is putting herself in danger?! I’m going to the airport. Din, call the airport and tell them to get a ticket to Brazil ready for me.”
 
“Wait!” Everyone objects and holds him back.
 
“Let go!”
 
“Fai, don’t go doing things so rashly. Use your mind once in a while,” Din says, shaking his head. “Didn’t you read the letter? She said if we send people after her, she’ll just run farther away. You’re going to really chase your daughter all the way across the world like she’s some criminal?”
 
“I don’t care about any stupid criminals. But I know that once I find her, I’m going to have her locked up for life!”
 
Ton, Yot, and Mek exchange droll looks. A criminal would have it easier than Roong.
 
“We have to have a plan first,” Din says.
 
Fai begins to protest, “My plan—“
 
“Is to stay here, and wait for your daughter’s return.” Everyone looks over to Jeed. She faces Fai with her hands on her hips. “I’ve had enough of your stubbornness, and it seems like Roong has also. This time, you are not going to do anything other than what I tell you. You will stay here. I’ll be the one to go look for our daughter.”
 
“No, Auntie Jeed,” Mek interjects. “Let us go instead.”
 
“That’s right,” Ton agrees, “we’ll go look for her.”
 
“We’re near to her age, so she won’t feel as…oppressed when we find her, and maybe she’ll listen to us when we ask her to come back home,” Mek reasons.
 
Fai looked around, and sees his brothers as well as his wife getting ready to talk him down. He is not any less calm, but he knows none of them will support him. So finally, Fai nods. “Okay. We’ll do as you say.”
 
“I’ll book us the next flights to Brazil,” Ton says.
 
Up in Yot’s room, Yot searches on his laptop for tickets with Mek and Ton looking over his shoulder.
 
“Why are only buying two tickets?” Ton asks, seeing Yot make the final reservations.
 
“Because I’m not going with you two.”
 
“Not going? Then what will you be doing?”
 
“Same as Uncle Fai; I’ll stay here in case Roong comes back so someone is here to broker peace between them. We all know I’m the one who’s best at calming her down.”
 
“You’re really not going to go? You’re the one that’s like…like…hexa-lingual,” Ton looks up with a question.
 
Yot can speak the Parawat language, Thai, English, French, Spanish, and Chinese. “It’s not like I can speak Portuguese, so I wouldn’t be any help to you guys, plus you know if my dad hears I’m traveling abroad, he’ll prepare a whole group to go with us, which will just waste time. At least if I’m here, I can keep talking to her friends to see if they have any clues for me to send to
you.”
 
“Yot’s right. One of us has to stay and be the eyes and ears here. Make sure you keep Uncle Fai from flying to Brazil and tearing down the rain forests,” Mek says. "I''ll have to go put a few things in order over at the vineyard before getting ready to leave."
.
.
Fai takes a deep breath and turns to look at two of his nephews. “I’m asking both of you, man to man, to bring back Roong.”
 
“Yes Uncle Fai. We’ll do all that’s in our power to find her,” Ton says. “You can count on us.”
 
“Alright then. Keep in touch while you’re over there.”
 
Ton and Mek grab their bags and head out to the car that will take them to the airport. Yot is with them. He says, “If you don’t find her there, don’t be discouraged. Just keep looking.”
 
“We’ll track her down. She’s not exactly the subtle type,” Ton says assuredly, slipping a pair of sunglasses on his face.
 
“Wait!” They see Kaew running up the driveway. She’s carrying a duffel bag. “I’m going with you two.”
 
“What? No way, you can’t,” Ton says.
 
“Who’s going to stop me? I’m going to look for Roong too.”
 
“The car owner hasn’t even invited you.”
 
“And are you the car owner?”
 
Ton has to admit, “No.”
 
She turns to Mek, “P’Mek, please let me go too. I’m worried about Roong and I want to help you.”
 
“Is your dad okay with it?”
 
“Of course. I already cleared it with him. Can we get going now so we don’t miss our plane?”
 
They pack things up and open the doors. Ton tells Mek, “Mek, you sit up front with the driver.”
 
“Why?”
 
“Well…it’ll be more comfortable that way. You know how I like having room to myself.”
 
“Maybe if you weren’t such a pig, you wouldn’t take up so much space,” Kaew taunts him from inside the car.
 
“Okay, okay, don’t start arguing here. I’ll sit up front.”
 
Satisfied, Ton gets inside next to Kaew, who ignores him and starts reading a book.
 
“Be safe,” Yot tells them, “Call me right away if you get into trouble.”
 
------
“You wanted to see me?” Phu enters Yot’s room and sees him surveying the view outside. Yot carefully closes the balcony door, and locks the hall door before getting to the heart of matters.
 
“Phu, you have been with me for ten years now and I know you are someone I can rely on. You are top of your class,
not to mention you have a sharp mind.”
 
He inclines his head at the acknowledgement of his accomplishments.
 
“I have a special assignment for you.”
 
Phu straightens up. “Yes, your highness. I am here to serve you.”
 
“Before I officially assign this to you, you must give me your word that the business I speak of will not be leaked to anyone else. This includes my father and mother.”
 
Phu curiously questions these instructions. “May I ask why not?” It is not often that any private matters pertaining to the royal family were kept from the king and queen.
 
 “Let’s just say I don’t want things to get complicated. Do I have your word?”
 
“Yes. What is the manner of this assignment?”
 
“Safety.”
 
“Then I promise to protect you with my life.”
 
“This isn’t an issue of my safety.” He could tell Phu was surprised. “There’s a person I want you to find and keep track of. I can’t trust anyone else with this job. Phu, I must stress that the job I’m putting you on is very important to me, otherwise I would not be sending away someone I trust so much.”
 
“And this person isn't a threat to your safety?”
 
Prince Yot gives a crooked smile. “She’s certainly a troublemaker.”
 
“Do you want her apprehended?”
 
“No,” Yot says firmly, “Do not lay a hand on her. Make sure no one else harms her, and do your best to keep out of her way. If she knows you are after her and connects you to me, things will get messy. Here,” he hands over a cell phone, “I prepared this for you. When I want reports, I will call you. Otherwise I want you to focus your complete attention on this person. Do not miss a single thing.”
 
Yot places a photo on the table. Phu took a look at the image of a young woman who could be anywhere from eighteen to twenty-five years old. She has dark hair, light skin, and generally pretty features. Aside from her brown eyes that glitter like two stars, and a smile that was almost a smirk, she looks harmless. Phu immediately recognizes her from the numerous other photos displayed in the Adisuan household.
 
He looks up in perplexity. “Your cousin?”
 
Yot nods. “Yup. I had the royal investigation team from Parawat trace where she disappeared to.”
 
“I thought the letter said she left for Brazil.”
 
“Nope. You’ll never believe it. She’s still in Thailand. She misinformed them all to throw them off her track.”
 
“But then your other cousins, Khun Ton and Khun Mek, they’re heading to the wrong place.” Phu watched Yot take in a deep breath, and he grew suspicious. “Yot, how long have you known all this?”
 
“Since the day before yesterday.”
 
“You mean since before your cousins left. That’s what you were talking about the other night, isn’t it? I don’t get it. Why didn’t you tell them?”
 
“Because I understand Roong the most. I’ve always been united with Mek and Ton in protecting her, but I also know her deepest desires for freedom. There’s no way she’ll ever stop yearning for it if she isn’t given the chance to experience adventure. She’s…she has the wildest, strongest spirit of anyone I’ve met, and a person like that can’t be caged—she’d burn herself out with
frustration. So I’m doing her a favor.” He didn’t miss the unsure look that crossed Phu’s face. “I trust her. Once she’s had her fill, she’ll return, and besides, I know exactly where she is right now. It’s going to be hard on the elders, but I have a plan to keep them calm.”
 
“But if it was Parawat’s royal investigation team that found her, wouldn’t King Puwanes and Queen Nam also know by now? Wouldn’t they have informed Khun Fai?”
 
Yot chuckled. “I intercepted them. But that’s the part where you come in.” Phu waits for him to elaborate. “I said it already. I need you to protect Roong. You’re the best at being inconspicuous, plus I trust you most to not give away this secret.”
 
Yot makes Phu swear confidentiality because if his mother finds out where Roong is, she would immediately inform Uncle Fai and then all hell will break loose—which is putting it literally, considering how fiery the father-daughter pair are. Yot knows that Phu is a person with good morals, so if Pat is threatened, Phu will surely step in, and Phu is completely unknown to Pat, so there will be no way for her to recognize him and have their cover blown.
 
Phu is contemplating the assignment. The technicalities are simple and straightforward: follow the prince’s cousin and essentially, make sure no trouble comes up.
 
“You’re sure you want me to go?”
 
Yot chuckles, “You say that like you think I’m in danger staying here. It’s my grandparents’ farm, it’s the safest place in the world. Just do what I requested.”
 
“Yes sir.”
 
“Let’s head downstairs.” They make their way to the lower level.
 
“Noi?” Phu stands up in surprise at the bottom of the stairs. “What are you doing here?”
 
The woman named Matsaya holds back the urge to roll her eyes at the nickname, which Yot bestowed on her years ago, though she had been unwilling. But what can you do when you serve the prince, even if he is annoying? She was just greeting Grandma and Grandpa Adisuan, and turns to answer him, “I’m here on orders,” her eyes land on Yot, who smiles devilishly at her.
 
“I see you’ve met my grandparents already.”
 
“Yot, she’s a lone woman. How could you tell her to come here and not even pick her up to bring her home?” Grandma chastises.
 
“Aow, she’s the one that works for me, not the other way around.”
 
“It’s fine, Khun Supansa, I found my way here easily.”
 
“Yot told us that your family is close to Puwanes,” Grandma Supansa says.
 
“Yes. I’m the daughter of the First Commanding Officer of the royal family.”
 
“We heard you finished your political studies and are working your way up in the third level division of national security. So I see you want to follow in your father’s footsteps,” Grandpa Montri says, impressed.
 
“Yes sir, it is my dream to serve my country.”
 
“Since you’re here for Yot’s sake, you are welcome, and please feel free to treat this as your home,” Supansa smiles.
 
“Thank you very much.”
 
“Grandma, Grandpa, please excuse us while I brief them about their duties.”
 
When they are by themselves out in the gardens, Phu asks, “Why is Noi here?”
 
“I’d also like to know, Prince Yot. You know that you’re taking away my training time, don’t you?” Noi can’t help keeping the irritation from her voice. “If Queen Nam didn’t specifically instruct me to be here, I wouldn’t have taken time off from my training.”
 
“How was I to know you would be the one mom sends? I asked for anyone. Of course, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t crucial. The reason is so that you can do Phu’s job while he is absent."
 
“What?” Phu and Noi ask at the same time.
 
“Yup, you heard right. Noi, you’ll be my personal bodyguard while Phu is away.”
 
“Are you sure?” Phu asks.
 
“You have six other guards here,” Noi points out.
 
“I don’t want a group of people hanging out inside my grandparents’ house. Just one is enough, and I would rather it be someone I know personally,” his arch brows make her scowl at him. “Unless you’re willing to let the heir to Parawat risk his life here, this is your chance to show how much you want to ‘serve your country’. I mean, if you’re not confident in your abilities yet, I
completely understand.”
 
She faces him off, “Don’t even try to insult me after I flew all the way here already. Of course I’ll stay. I’m the best trainee in the third level regiment anyway.”
 
“So it’s settled then,” Yot claps once with satisfaction. “You’ll stay in the room down the hall.”
 
“Y-you’re having me stay in this house?” Even as a person with status, Noi did not consider herself able to live under the same roof as Yot, not being anywhere near the same level as the prince of her country.
 
“Yeah. I respect your father. I’m not going to have you stay somewhere else. Why?” He laughs, “You want to sleep outside with my uncle’s cows?”
 
“Staying with you is no different from staying with a stupid cow,” she retorts, shutting him up.
 
Phu sighs, not even bothering to reprimand Noi anymore for talking to their prince like he’s a commoner since he knows she won’t listen and since Yot appears to always enjoy her talking back. “Alright, well, if that’s all for now I think Noi should go get some rest. Yot, you can tell me more and I’ll set off tomorrow.”
 
They show Noi to her room. “I’ll just put my belongings away then and come back,” she says.

They reach the room that had been prepared for Noi. “Take your time, little fish,” Yot grins as Noi closes the door on him and they return to Yot’s room.
 
“And here I thought you said this was the safest place on earth, yet you went to the trouble of bringing Noi here,” Phu shakes his head knowingly.
 
“I didn’t ask for her. Mom was in charge of this.”
 
Phu gave him a Don’t even lie look, so Yot conceded, “I’m just helping her out, you know, giving her hands-on experience.”
 
Phu replies drily, “I’m sure.”
 
“So here’s the deal. Your finances for this assignment are taken care of, so no worries there. She’s in the city of ~~~~~~ and having just arrived, I don’t think she’s going to be going anywhere else soon. She’s staying at the Green Sea Hotel, so you’ll check in there. Your eyes must stay on her. From there, I’ll update you on any of her next moves. Wherever she goes, you go, got
it?”
 
“Got it.”
 
“Thanks for doing this.”
 
Phu gives his shoulder a pat, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”
 
------A/N
@Bieluvr, lol yeah, even when I was writing this, I imagined Yadech as Fai and Jeed and had to remind myself that they are old now. :)
 
jjinxx
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 5

“The bank can’t track her card because it appears that she took out cash from her savings to use instead,” Din informed them all. “The ticket to Brazil that she bought is destined for Rio de Janeiro, but there’s no knowing where she’ll continue from there.”

Lom adds, “But since her cousins are heading there already, I’m sure it can’t be too hard to find her.”

Fai sighs, standing up, “Thanks for your help. I’ll go get some work done now.”

He strolls along the rolling lands, eyes on the horizon as if he’ll catch the silhouette of his daughter somewhere along there. In Fai’s mind, he can still visualize all the memories of watching Roong grow up, all her smiles, all her little tantrums, the bumps and bruises that he helped heal up and named her as his little warrior. He thinks back to their argument and how she must have taken her words more serious than he imagined. He can’t bear it if she was to really not come back.

“But no matter what, she’s my daughter.” Maybe Jeed is right, and he just has to have faith in Roong. But there’s no telling how long he can wait like this before he dies of fretting.

That’s when Fai notices someone also walking his way. Phu stops and respectfully inclines his head at him and stands aside.
Fai comes to a stop too, “I heard you’re being called away for work.”

“Yes sir. There’s some…thing Prince Yot needs me to take care of.”

Fai nods. “You look like someone who is diligent. Take care while you’re away. Your parents will worry if you’re not aware of yourself.”

Phu looks down awkwardly, “No. I don’t have any parents.”

“That’s so? I’m sorry to bring it up.”

“Don’t be. Anyway, I suppose it must be tough, being a parent. In a way, maybe it’s better this way in my case so that my parents don’t have to worry about me.”

Fai smiles sadly. “No parent ever regrets worrying about their child. It’s a blessing to have such a duty. It’s when a parent fails that’s when they are regretful.”

Phu knows he is talking about his daughter, Roong. “Sir, I’m sure that your daughter will be protected from harm. Your concern and your prayers have a lot of power.”

“That’s something Krati would say,” Fai chuckles, “But I believe it too. Get some rest son, and have a safe trip tomorrow.”

As Fai walks away, Phu looks at his receding figure and quietly promises, “I’ll keep her safe for you, sir.”

------ - -
Roong steps out of the hotel, shading her eyes from the morning light, and smiling. “Ah! This morning is beautiful! A perfect day for an outing.” She eagerly makes her way down the street. First off, she stops in at the pastry shop for breakfast. Next, she heads to the city square where each day, a different artist performs music. After enjoying a live show, she takes her time going through the market, tasting fruits and taking note of vegetables she wants to try in the future. She makes a stop at one of the stalls to buy a bouquet of flowers. Next is lunch time, where she sits right out on the open balcony area, observing the city people going about their business; there’s the woman threading beads into necklaces, and the man who always reads the same book while sitting under an umbrella across the street, and other people who are moving about freely.

Returning to her hotel, she stops at the front desk and gives the bouquet to the desk worker, a friendly woman whom she conversed with regularly for the past three days of being here.

“You’re really leaving tomorrow, Roong?” Sita asks after thanking her for the flowers.

“That’s right. I’ve really enjoyed my stay here, thanks to you, p’Sita. But I still have much to do elsewhere.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck dear. Have a fun trip.”

“Thanks!”

Before arriving in P~~~~~~, she had stayed two nights in one of the more crowded cities. Upon stepping out at night, Roong was nearly trampled by the people of the city; not to mention the night life was beyond what she is used to. On the second evening, someone nearly stole her wallet, but upon going back to the streetside restaurant, she found her wallet on the table she ate at, with all the money still there. After her third day, Roong decided it was time to start moving. She booked a train and landed in this city.

Today is her last day, and Roong goes up to pack her things in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. She is sorry to leave the lively city of P~~~~~, where she has felt the most independent ever in her live, waking up when she wants, eating what she wants, talking to who she feels like, and going to any place in the city that she was interested in.

Her next destination is the town west of here that she thinks sounds interesting, and which will take her through another town first.

Before going to sleep that night, Roong unscrews her thermos and sips on some warm milk. It reminds her of home, and she can’t help thinking of her father. He must be angry at her right now. “Forgive me dad. I’ll explore a little and then return home to be with you and mom.”

------
Kaew looks up from consulting her dictionary and asks the store clerk whether there are other inns or hotels nearby.

“Any luck?” Mek asks when the three of them rejoin outside of the store.

“There’s no way a bunch of kids can get by so easily in this place,” Ton looks around.

“Do you even know how big this city is?” Kaew asks him. They arrived in Rio de Janeiro two days ago and had no luck in finding Roong and her group of friends. “And it’s not like Roong is going to just announce herself to us.”

“Let’s grab something to eat. I’ll finish calling the group after.” Mek had compiled a list of phone numbers that he got from the parents of Roong’s friends, which were used for international calls. “The phone cards aren’t reallyreliable because I keep getting disconnected  before any of them answer.”

“Alright. Let’s get moving. I want to hurry and find Roong. She’s never going to hear the end of it from me when I find her,” Ton toughly shoulders his bag and leads them out.
.
.
It’s almost a week after Yot’s arrival on the farm when Noi comes up to him and holds something out. “It’s all set.”

“Thanks.” Yot winks at her. She spares him a brief frown before going back outside. Yot goes into the living room where his Grandma and Aunts Jeed and Cha-aim are sitting.

“Aunt Jeed, look at this!” he hurries in. “A postcard from Roong.”

“Let me see!” she takes it and flips it to the written side. “’Dear everyone. I miss you all very much. I hope everyone is doing well. Brazil’s weather is very nice right now and I’m having a lot of fun. Love you all, signed Roong.’” Jeed checks the postmarkings. “Well…” she sighs, “At least we all know she’s still alive.”

“Then Mek and Ton might find her very soon now,” Cha-aim comments, taking the postcard for her own inspection. Yot resists touching his chin as he nods in agreement.

Jeed is handed the card back, “I’ll take this over to Fai, so maybe he can feel more at ease.”


“Are you sure it was a good idea to have me postmark that card from Brazil?” Noi questions, once she is walking alone with Yot outside.

“Don’t worry about a thing. This is all part of my plan,” he assures her. Yot figures that as long as his uncle thinks that Roong is really in Brazil, he’ll feel more reassured and then Roong will have more time to herself here in Thailand.
 
“Have you called Phu?” Noi asks.

“Mm,” he nods, “He said he’s found Roong and nothing out of the ordinary has happened.” He glanced at her. “Why? You’re worried about Phu?”

“No,” she answers, “I know he can take care of himself.”

“Good that you know it,” he grabs her by the wrist, “so you can use your energy to take care of me instead. Come on.”

“Yot!” she tries telling him to let go, to which he happily ignores, pulling her along to the car, and driving towards the vineyard.

As they take a stroll through the grape vineyard, he offers to help the workers stack crates in a truck.

“What are you waiting for?” he asks when Noi doesn’t bend down for the crate.

Noi peers at him like he’s thick-headed, “How am I supposed to when you’re still holding me like this?” She waves her hand up, the one that he’s still clasping.

“Use your other hand, of course,” he points out, “This is a team effort.”

“Yot, seriously, who does work like this? I need my two hands!”

“This is practice,” he explains, “every year Uncle Lom holds a celebration here, and there’s a race. In the race, two people are paired up and their hands are tied and they have to gather as many grapes as possible and carry them in a box together like this. That’s why I’m doing this. It’s practice for me so that I’ll win this year.” He leans and tugs her down, giving her no choice but to follow as he does, using her left hand to grasp her side of the crate and together, they carry several crates to the truck.

“Khun Noi, is Khun Yot’s arm hurting so that he’s not using it?” Nok asks.

Before Yot can answer, Noi says, “We’re practicing for Khun Lom’s vineyard race.”

“The race? But they usually tie their ankles, right?” Nok says, scratching her head.

“Do they now?” Noi turns to glower at Yot, how ruffles his hair awkwardly.

“Uh,” he laughs, “that’s right…I guess I forgot.”

Noi yanks her hand out of his. Catching his smile, she presses her heel into his foot before stalking off to finish moving the crates. Hopping on his foot, Yot follows her.

------
Roong finishes up her first morning in N~~~u by going into a dusty and quiet bookshop at the end of the lane. Selecting a travel photo book and a novel titled “Light Years Closer,” she heads over to the counter to pay. The ancient little bookkeeper runs the purchase through, but when she hands over the bag, she takes hold of Roong’s hand.

“I see so much fog in your heart, child,” she says.

“Me?” Roong asks in confusion. She looks around the room, seeing only one other customer browsing the shop.

“Yes you.” The bookkeeper frowns. “Not fog…smoke. Would you like me to read your stars?”

Roong decides it wouldn’t hurt to humor the little grandma. Upon request, Roong tells the grandma her birth date, so she can look at her zodiac and horoscope.

“Seems like you had some issues to sort out in your life recently. Strange, just last night, I saw the path of the stars. Mars, the red planet, is close to you, meaning some more conflicts are coming your way.”

“So that’s a bad sign?”

“Not necessarily. Mars is not crossing paths with any other planets as of right now, it is actually guiding you towards your goals and alighting a finer passion in you. You should take advantage of this ordained energy.”

“Hm…” Roong smiled, “So this must mean that my decision to travel alone was right. I’ll probably get to meet new life-changing things. Thank you grandma!” She bids her farewell and exits from the shop.


Phu waits a few minutes before following Roong out. Just then, he hears a commotion to his left. The grandma that Roong talked with
earlier was on the ground, having tripped over the doorstep.

“Are you okay?” he helps her up.

“I’m fine son, I’m fine. Thank you for your help.” Suddenly, she looks at his face slowly.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“It is you that needs to beware. Fire is in your path right now.”

“Fire?” Phu looks around helplessly, wondering what she’s talking about. “Grandma, there’s no fire.”

She laughs, surprising him, “Oh, you have sharp eyes, but don’t forget to look with your heart. That’s where the true light will be found.” She turns away from him, all but seeming to forget he is there.

Since she appears to be unhurt, Phu decides to go back to his previous job. But looking up, the person he was keeping an eye on is no longer in the street. He quickly hurries out, eyes trying to spy the blue cardigan she was wearing. She can’t have gone far, so he’s not worried, since he knows she’ll return to the inn soon, as the dark is settling over the town already. Phu always wanted to visit Thailand, and now he can’t help admiring the culture he finds himself in. It is not so foreign that he can’t adjust, but there are plenty of new things he discovers. He decides that today is going to be another uneventful day and spends a few minutes getting to know his surroundings.

As he takes a leisurely walk along the road that is lit sparingly with electric lamps, committing each scent and sound to memory, Phu wonders what Yot is up to back on Adisuan Farm. He’s probably doing his best to irritate Noi. Just when Phu is recalling one silly   incident with Yot and Noi, his attention is drawn away from his thoughts by some commotion.

He searches for the source and discovers a man shoving a woman to the ground. Phu can’t help the urge he feels to go see what the situation is. By the time he arrives close enough, he sees her kick the man’s shin. The man roars in anger and bends to grab hold of her, but she rolls away and gets up, holding her hands in front to defend her.

“You tramp. I’ll make you pay for hitting me.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re all talk and no action. Come on, I could use the practice.”

He pulls his fist back…but isn’t able to swing it forward as planned. Turning, the man is kicked backward by Phu. The other men in the gang back away from him.

“Anyone else want to give it a try?” the woman demands, but they all run away. She snickers at their cowardice and starts heading away.

“Hold on—“

Phu definitely wasn’t expecting her to turn and punch him in the face, which is exactly what she did.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She is once again standing in a defensive position, her cap throwing shadows on her face.

He stretches his aching jaw. “Huh. That’s the thanks I get for helping you?”

“Who asked you to grab me?”

He had barely touched her! “Oh, sorry if I frightened you.”

“I wasn’t frightened, just extra cautious after those idiots came up to me. Who knows, maybe you’re one of them.”

“Well that’s nice. I helped and yet I’m receiving ill treatment.” Phu turns to go, “…not as kind as the other Thai people I’ve met…”

“What did you say?!” she shouts. “Hey!” She runs to block his path. “You were insulting Thai people?”

“No. I was just voicing my opinion on one individual person.”

Her jaw drops, offended by the way he obviously referred to her. “Take this!”

This time, he intercepts her strike.

She sizes up the guy in front of her, then decides to unleash her best beating skills.

When she attacks him, Phu is ready for her.

What the eff, Roong thinks. How was he able to deflect her? The question only went this far, since she has to concentrate on following up after she failed to knock him out as she planned. She elbows him in the gut so he releases her and studies him more warily this time.

Phu was nearly taken out just now. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to block her attack; what surprised him was that the move she used is one he had practiced himself with the prince. It was of high skill and he wouldn’t ever expect a common girl to know it.

She attacks him again, catching his face with her fist, but he ducks her next one, swiftly stopping her arm and twists it behind her back. She runs backwards, smashing him into the wall behind them and swings her head into his nose, enabling her release.

Breathless, Roong pauses to look around them and realizes they are surrounded by half a dozen thugs.

“Get behind me,” the stranger she had just been sparring with says.

She scoffs at him over her shoulder. “As if,” she says before swinging a high kick at the thug that snuck up on her. She and the stranger litter the ground with the bodies of the gangsters. When finished, Roong eyes the stranger warily as he dusts himself off.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah.” She decides that she owes him some credit for his assistance and asks in return, “You?”

“I’m fine. We should get going now, before more show up.”

Once they round the corner two streets down, both relax a bit. She adjusts her cap and says, “You can go where you need to go now.”

“I’m heading to the inn.”

“You’re staying there too?”

“Yep.”

“Huh…” He must have only arrived, because Roong can’t recall seeing him at the inn. “Well, I guess we’re going in the same direction for now.”

“Say, back there, where did you learn to fight like that?”
 
She shrugged, “Anyone can learn to fight like that.” Especially if their father is overly paranoid and insists on them knowing how to beat people. “I grew up surrounded by males.”

“Same here,” Phu thinks of when he entered into the army and trained to work for the prince. Speaking of which, he should hurry back and double-check to make sure Yot’s cousin returned to the inn.

“You couldn’t have had it worse than me though. I have the most overbearing family of males ever.”

He glances up thoughtfully. “I don’t know about other people, but to me, those who have family are awfully lucky.” He can still remember the heart-warming scene of Yot and the Adisuans. “It’s a shame when people don’t realize how fortunate they are to have that kind of love.”

Hearing his words, Roong feels an uncomfortable twinge of guilt pinching inside her chest. “Well, sometimes it’s nice to experience a solitary life. Personally, it gives some flavor to my life, so I’m not feeling tethered like a little dog.”

“You live around here?”

She shakes her head. “I’m traveling. I’ll admit, when I’m not with my family, I do miss them. Even those annoying brothers of mine.”

“You don’t sound very annoyed by them,” Phu offers in a light tone. She smiles.

“P’Yot is the one that I miss most, because he lives so far away.” She laughs softly. “I complain about being too sheltered, but P’Yot is the one always surrounded by soldiers and duties.”

Soldiers and duties. “P’Yot?” Phu asks cautiously. It can’t be…

She smirks. “You probably wouldn’t believe me, but I have cousin who is a prince. He will be the next ruler of Parawat. Prince Asakhon Wanathep—“

“…Srivasatava Rajaput,” Phu finishes naming the prince with her.

“You’ve heard of him?” she asks. She tugs at the neck of her shirt, trying to cool off, and it was then that she finally decides to take off her cap. Phu watches the unveiling, stunned that he was so oblivious, as her whole face is revealed to look exactly like the picture Yot gave to him. She hadn’t returned to the hotel like he expected. She wasn’t wearing that hat earlier, and she must have lost her cardigan somewhere back there, so that he didn’t recognize her. Right before him is none other than the person he was ordered to go after.

Of course, how many times did he watch Yot pack up to go visit his family on the farm in Thailand? How many times did he watch Yot brainstorm over the internet chat with his male cousins over how to scare away guys, and keep watch over the only woman, other than Queen Thipthara, who was most important to Yot, the one named Rawina Adisuan, the one whom Phu had heard them call…

“…Khun Roong…”

Roong stops fanning herself with her cap, turns to look at him with wide eyes. “How do you know my name?”

“Huh? No, I was, uh…” Phu stutters for an explanation, avoiding her scrutinizing eyes, “I meant that, I wonder when the sun will come up.”

Damn it. He’s watched her from afar this whole time, that must be why he’s stunned to meet her for the first time up close like this. It doesn’t really make sense, but he’s too busy walking and hoping she doesn’t ask anymore questions, that Phu shakes off the scolding his mind wants to give him for being shocked to find out who she is.

“Your face looks like boiled chicken. Did I hit you too hard earlier?”

Hit him? Phu grimaces, suddenly just now remembering that he had actually fought her. Yot instructed him specifically to not lay a hand on her yet due to letting down his guard and mistaking her as a stranger, he fought with her.

Roong searches his stricken-face in concern. “Are you okay?” She is surprised when he stops suddenly and kneels in front of her.

“Khun Rawina, please forgive me for my past transgressions. I wasn’t aware that you are Prince Yot’s cousin. I am willing to accept any punishment you deem I deserve for my mistake.”

“What are you talking about? What does p’Yot have to do with this? Wait,” a suspicion blossoms in her mind, “how do you know p’Yot?”

“I have worked for and trained with Prince Yot for the past ten years.”

“Like…a bodyguard?”

He keeps his head bowed.

Anxious, Roong starts thinking wildly. “Don’t tell me that you…you were sent by p’Yot to follow me?!”

Phu lifts his head. “…” Crap. The most vital part of his assignment: he was not to let her know who he is and what he is doing. Well, that cover was blown.

Her mouth is hanging agape. “Oh my gosh!” she slaps her forehead. “You are! You are here to follow me! ARGH! I should have known! Gosh!”

“Khun Ravina! Wait!” He follows her. She stops and eyes him fiercely.

“Whatever my cousin told you to do, I am ordering you to forget it and go back. I do not need a baby-sitter and I do not need you to do anything for me!”

“But Prince Yot said—“

“I said I don’t want it!” She stands adamant in front of him. “Go back to Parawat and protect p’Yot who is your crown prince. Oi, I cannot believe he actually did this…”

Phu groans inwardly.

------A/N
jjinxx
 

Bieluvr

XiaojuXiyou
Loving it so far. I have to LOL once again for imagining the characters like themselves. It's just too cute! :)
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 6

Fortunately for Kaew, Ton, and Mek, they
are finally able to contact Roong’s group of friends and meet up with them.
Unfortunately, they learn that Roong was not with them after all, that she had
canceled going on the trip with them.

“And you have no idea where she
might be?” Mek interrogates, watching them all closely, and not able to find any
untruth in their answers.

“Maybe she’s returned home by now,” one of them
suggests. “Has she called home yet?”

“Not that we know of,” he replies.
“But I’ll call home later to double check. If we’re lucky, it will be as you
say.”

Ton is a little less ready to give up. “You’re sure you all aren’t
just covering for her? If I search this hotel, I’m not going to find her hiding
in one of the rooms?”

“We swear it, Khun Ton. She’s not with us. Why
would we lie to you?”

Ton glares at the guy that had spoken, whom he
recognizes as one of the guys that used to have a crush on Roong. “We’ll
see.”

“Stop it. You’re making a fool of yourself,” Kaew whispers to him.
“If they say she’s not with them, we should believe them.” She faces the group
of friends. “Thank you for your help. Sorry to interrupt your trip like
this.”

“If you hear of any news of Roong, please let us know too,” the
guy stands and holds a hand out to her. Kaew shakes his hand and the trio set
off again.

“What madness is Roong thinking with? How could she seriously
run away from home without even a clue of where she’s going? Damn it, Uncle Fai
is going to have our heads for this…”

“It must be the influence of those
friends of hers,” Ton accuses.

“Don’t blame them without evidence,” Kaew
argues, “You know that Roong is a strongheaded person. There’s no one who can
influence her if she doesn’t want to do something, and if she does want
something, no one can stop her.”

“Why are you defending
them?”

“Will you two hurry up and follow me?” Mek calls over his shoulder
to Ton and Kaew.

“I bet you’re so in love with that guy that you want to
go back and have some fun with him, huh?”

Kaew rounds on Ton, angrily
pushing him, “What is your problem? Who said I was in love with that
guy?”

“Well then why did you speak with such sweet eyes at
him?”

“Ugh! I’m wasting my time talking to you!”

Ton grabs her
arm. “You don’t have to get so upset. I was just teasing.”

“Since when
have your jokes been funny? Hmph,” she stomps on his foot til he lets go of her
and starts walking away, but doesn’t get very far before she slows down. “Mek?
Where’s p’Mek?”

“He was just here.” Ton and Kaew turn on their spot
trying to search for Mek, who disappeared from their vision.
Kaew wails,
“Look at what you did, idiot!”

“How is this my fault?”

“If you
hadn’t stalled us with your stupid joke, we wouldn’t have lost
him!”

“Alright, stop your whining. I’ll just give him a call, it’s that
easy.” Ton brings his backpack around to the front and reaches in the small
pocket. “Hey! What the hell!” The small pocket has a rip on the
bottom.

“My wallet and phone are gone!” Examining the rip, he determines
someone must have cut it and stolen his belongings. “Which bastard dared to
steal my stuff?! I’ll kill them!”

“Shush!” Kaew covers his mouth,
noticing that his loud voice is drawing attention.

“You call him
first.”

“I don’t have a phone that works with international calls,” she
says hopelessly.

Ton kicks the ground.

“Let’s head back to the
hotel.”

“Wait.”

“What?” she asks.

“I’m hungry,” he looks up
at her with puppy eyes.
Kaew shakes her head.

------
“Yot, just
wait until the next time I see you. Parawat’s future leader is going to be in
danger for sure,” Roong vows, stuffing her things into her knapsack quick. She
can’t believe that he would dare set a hound to follow her, and that she didn’t
notice until now. There was no knowing how far back he kept watch of her
from.

“Hm. No wonder he was able to undo my secret attack. He must have
learned it with Yot.” Roong decides right away that she must leave the town as
soon as possible. If that man is here, there could me more too, which will
defeat the purpose of her coming out here alone. Besides, Roong hates having
people interfere in her business.

..
It’s three in the morning. Roong
tiptoes down the stairs of the inn, sweeping her eyes in every direction to make
sure none of the other patrons are around. Then she quickly checks out, paying
her fees, and steps out into the dark streets. The sun is not yet up as she
double checks the train schedule in the pamphlet she brought along. She checks
over her shoulders, hoping that the guy isn’t following her, but the town sleeps
on quietly.

It takes her twenty minutes to reach the train station,
which isn’t yet opened, so she waits outside. Yawning, Roong wills herself not
to fall asleep. She looks up at the sky, where stars peek out at her. She
doesn’t see the particularly bright star which she was taught is Venus, so she
knows that sunrise is far off yet. Tilting her head from side to side to give
her neck a stretch, Roong says, “I should get up and stay active, so I don’t get
sleepy.”

Jumping to her feet, she begins her usual stretch regiment, and
quietly giggles at the one time she practiced boxing with Ton and smacked his
nose so hard that it bled.

“Well, well, well.”

Roong squints into
the flashlights that shine at her. “Who’s there?”

“Who else if not your
husband?” It’s the same gang from last evening.

“Husband?” she looks
disgusted at the idea.

“You shouldn’t have messed with me yesterday. I’m
not letting you off that easily. I’ll teach you a lesson, you little
slut.”

One of them runs at her. Roong whips her backpack at him, then
runs forward to smash his face in with both her fists held together, then kicks
his knees.

She smirks, “Seems like your flies are dropping all over the
street. Why don’t you just run back to whatever hole you crawled from before
things get bad for you.”

“You arrogant *itch! Get her!”

Roong is
able to take down two, but before long, they gang up on her and she finds
herself being held on either side by another two. They hold onto her too tight
for her to loosen away, but she reaches over and bites one of them on the
shoulder, then elbows him. While she is trying to get away, she hears shouts
coming from the rest of the group. Kicking him to the ground, Roong looks up and
sees Yot’s guy avoiding a knife and flipping one of the thugs onto the ground.
Both she and Phu find themselves distracted. She’s pinned on the ground this
time, with her neck squeezed by a pair of dirty, rough hands, and quickly losing
air.

Phu manages to pull the thug away. Enraged at nearly being
overpowered, Roong goes after the slimeball.

Phu runs up to her. “Hey,
let’s go!”

“But—“

He forcefully drags her down the street, while
some of the gangsters chase after them.

Panting, they look for a hiding
place.

“This way!” she points.

“That looks like a dead
end.”

“It isn’t! I’ve seen this alley before!” They both turn into the
alley. It wasn’t a dead end, except that two remaining gangsters were coming at
them from the other end.

Roong yelps when caught off guard. One of them
had come from behind them too, and grabbed hold of her.

“Khun Roong!”
trying to go after her, Phu isn’t able to defend himself and gets nicked with a
knife by a thug. He turns to beat the guy. “Let her go!” Phu points a gun at the
one who was holding Roong.

All of them freeze at the sight of the gun.
The thug swears and releases Roong, who whirls and punches him. Phu points the
gun around at all of them. “Get out of here!” he roars. They scatter down the
alley.

Phu and Roong exchange one look before they both run in the
opposite direction. Out of the alley, they make for river.

“Why didn’t
you pull out that gun earlier?” Roong demands.

“You shouldn’t use these
things unless it’s necessary,” he retorts. They hear a gunshot back towards the
alley. “And I’m not the only one with a gun!” They both swing off the road into
the trees by the river.

------
“I’m going to ride over to Juntasa Farm
to ask Kaew’s dad if he’s heard any news from Kaew. You’re coming with me,” Yot
says.

Used to following orders from officers, Noi follows him without
question.

Outside, Yot easily mounts his horse, and looks down at
Noi.

“Aren’t you going to get on your horse?” he asks her.

“I
never had the chance to practice riding, you know that,” she says.

“We
can walk then.”

“Won’t walking take too long?”

“Then…” Yot
pretends to wonder for a solution, biting back his smile, “get up
here.”

Noi folds her arms at him, “There’s no way I’m riding up there
with you.”

“If you’re not going to ride your own horse and if walking
takes too long, then are you going to be able to go with me to protect me?” he
asks.

She stubbornly replies, “Tell Rawit to go with you.”

“Rawit
is busy. And how can you pass your duties along to someone else so easily? This
is my life we’re talking about here.”

“Oi! Stop complaining. Fine, I’ll
ride with you.” She grabs the hand he holds out for her and pulls herself up to
sit in front of him. “We can go now!”

“Yes ma’am,” he says, smiling
widely.

As the horse is trotting along, Yot is quite enjoying the
situation, and when Noi turns to her left to look out at the mountains, he
sneaks a peck on her cheek.

“Prince Yot!” she exclaims in
shock.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do it. The road is just too rough I
guess.”

“Then maybe you should slow the horse down a
little.”

“Okay, okay…so bossy. Who’s working for who here…”

Noi
throws her head back, so it smacks into his nose. He exclaims in
pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess the road really is bumpy,” she says without
any hint of remorse.

“That’s how it’s going to be?” Yot grins and fixes
his arms around her a little more snugly. She makes a sound of protest but he
ignores it. “This way, we both won’t fall off.”

Noi resists the urge to
shove him off, not sure if being responsible for a prince’s death will make up
for the satisfaction of getting back at him.

“I’ve changed my mind. I
just remembered that Kaew’s dad told my uncle yesterday that she and my cousins
are doing fine.”

“You’re only remembering this now?” she asks in
disbelief.

“Since we’re already on our way, I’ll take you to someplace
pretty.”

Yot continues guiding the horse across the Adisuan land, giving
Noi a tour of the most beautiful spots.

------A/N
Ugh...! Every time I copy and paste from my word document, AF has been structuring my pasting really weird. I'm too lazy to go back and fix the spacing. 55
jjinxx
 

Bieluvr

XiaojuXiyou
I know, mine too, but i always go back to fix it anyway. Loving it so far. Yot is just too cute, reminds me of Fai and Jeed. LOL. update soon. :)
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
<p>Chapter 7</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;WHAT?!?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Din and Lom unplug their fingers from their ears. &ldquo;Here we go.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;What do you mean she&rsquo;s not in Brazil?&rdquo; Fai shouts.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I mean exactly what I said,&rdquo; Din patiently repeats, &ldquo;Ton called me just a while ago and said they met up with Roong&rsquo;s school buddies. Her buddies said that she didn&rsquo;t go with them since you didn&rsquo;t let her go.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Are those kids being serious?&rdquo; Fai paces, &ldquo;Were they just kidding around?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is Ton&rsquo;s very own report. You know we can trust him, otherwise he and Mek would have brought Roong home by now. So it must be true that she&rsquo;s not with them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;If she&rsquo;s not with them then where can she be?! Forget this, I&rsquo;ll go look for her myself.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;And exactly where are you going to start looking for her?&rdquo; Lom asks, standing in his way before he can get out the door.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll start with looking right outside our farm!&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Now he starts making some sense, and yet&hellip;&rdquo; Lom shakes his head but insistently pushes Fai back inside. &ldquo;Fai, as your brother I can&rsquo;t let you do this.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re forbidding me from looking for my daughter? That&rsquo;s you being a good brother to me?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;He means we&rsquo;re going to use logical methods to find her, not your rash, hot-tempered methods,&rdquo; Din crosses his arms confidently. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll go to the police and request video image of the different terminals in the airport. If Roong was at the airport that day, we could catch which flight she got on. We can also check the train stations, and call the taxi stations to see if they received a customer from Adisuan farm that day, and where that customer was driven.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Fai forces back his instinct to go out and take care of the issue himself because he knows Din and Lom are right; he isn&rsquo;t going to be able to solve everything without having a plan first. He sits down, elbows on his knees and tries to breathe deeply.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>------<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t bring mine, and p&rsquo;Mek has our other room key. Let me go rest in your room for now, okay?&rdquo; Ton slips past Kaew, whose protest is ignored.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Ton, get off,&rdquo; she orders when seeing him stretched out across her bed.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;If you want to rest here too, there&rsquo;s plenty of room for the both of us. You don&rsquo;t have to be considerate of me, okay?&rdquo; he leans on his elbow and smiles at her.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She scoffs. &ldquo;Is that what you say to all the other women you get with? Because it doesn&rsquo;t even tempt me one little bit.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Aow, and who said I was tempting you,&rdquo; Ton grins at her frown, &ldquo;Oh I see. You were thinking of something personal about me. You know, on regular occasions, I wouldn&rsquo;t mind, but since we&rsquo;re on a serious mission right now, let&rsquo;s just stayed focus. But&hellip;&rdquo; he turns to lie on his stomach cutely, &ldquo;once we return home, I can give you all of my attention. I promise.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Idiot. You&rsquo;re crazy if you think I want to have anything to do with you.&rdquo; She goes into the bathroom. When she comes out, Ton is laying asleep, head resting on his arms. Kaew is reminded of once having found him just like that in the past. At that time, he was out on the farm, having dozed off under the warm breezy weather. Kaew remembers thinking how handsome he looked then, all roughness and gentleness rolled into one as he sighed in his sleep. But that was before she started seeing him walking about with different women.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Kaew makes a face at him. &ldquo;No courtesy at all,&rdquo; she grumbles. The room feels stuffy to her, so Kaew crosses to open the window. As she passes the bed, Ton&rsquo;s hand shoots out and yanks her down beside her.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Ton!&rdquo; she yells.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>He winces playfully, &ldquo;Try not to make me deaf. Otherwise I won&rsquo;t get to hear your voice anymore. Now, if you speak sweetly to me, like you did to that other guy, I might be nice and let you go.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She fakes a smile. &ldquo;Oh really? P&rsquo;Ton, please let me go, okay? I can&rsquo;t stand being close you, my skin is crawling right now,&rdquo; she keeps her voice high and sweet, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like I&rsquo;ve been infected. And your face is giving me the shivers. Let me go, okay p&rsquo;Ton?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>He smirks, &ldquo;So sassy. I&rsquo;m giving you the shivers right now? Maybe it&rsquo;s just not warm enough in here.&rdquo; She squeaks when he hugs her tighter. &ldquo;Do you feel better now, hm?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;No! I feel like puking,&rdquo; she struggles in his grasp.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t start puking yet. We haven&rsquo;t even shared that special moment yet.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Kaew brings her knee sharply up to his sensitive area, then rolls away when he cringes. &ldquo;Be careful, or you might not be able to share those special moments with anyone else in the future.&rdquo; Someone knocks at the door.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Kaew answers it and comes back in with Mek.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Where did you two go? I went looking all over for you.&rdquo; Mek gives Ton a kick. &ldquo;In addition to Roong, you&rsquo;re going to give me more trouble?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Geeze, we just got lost a little. You see me right in front of you now, don&rsquo;t you? I don&rsquo;t see what the big deal is.&rdquo; But Ton quickly evades Mek&rsquo;s second kick.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Pack up. We&rsquo;re going home.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Really?&rdquo; Ton asks.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Duh!&rdquo; Kaew answers. &ldquo;Roong&rsquo;s not here. What&rsquo;s the use of staying?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I just thought&mdash;&ldquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t even dare mention that guy again,&rdquo; she warns.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Hmm,&rdquo; he grins, &ldquo;You read my mind so well. This is what they call soulmates.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t push your luck.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>------<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>They both collapse on the ground, catching their breaths.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu hisses in pain, inspecting the wound on his upper arm.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Roong leans in to peer at it. She takes out a handkerchief and leans over the edge of the river to soak it. Coming back to kneel in front of him, she twists out the excess water and orders, &ldquo;Stretch out your arm. I&rsquo;ll clean it.&rdquo; He complies, and she dabs at the wound gingerly to wipe the blood away.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Are you satisfied?&rdquo; he demands, &ldquo;I told you we should have avoided that route.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;How could I have known things would turn out crazy like that?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why you should have listened to me. My instinct&mdash;&ldquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Oh, right, sorry for not having your mighty psychic soldier powers,&rdquo; she rolls her eyes, thinking of how he was sent by Yot to act as a secret agent follower. &ldquo;Since when did Yot send you after me?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>He replies, &ldquo;While you were in the previous city.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She glowers at his arm, &ldquo;No sense of privacy at all&hellip;&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like I was hiding in your bathroom.&rdquo; Besides, how is he supposed to reject a job given to him by his prince?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Ow! Be more gentle,&rdquo; he complains.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Will you be quiet? You want those guys to find us?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not going to help me nicely, I&rsquo;ll do it myself.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She glowers at him, handing over the handkerchief and dusting herself off angrily.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your name anyway?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;You can call me Phu.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Pat notices his fist clenching in order to keep his arm steady, so she sighs with annoyance and snatches the hanky back. She guides his hand and lets it rest on her hip. Phu glances up at her and would have moved his hand away but she pressed it. &ldquo;Keep it there. Your arm won&rsquo;t shake that way.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fine.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Stop acting like a prideful man and just do as you&rsquo;re told.&rdquo; Guys are always acting tough, she shakes her head. She&rsquo;s back to kneeling in front of him, trying to get a clear look at the wound in the half-darkness. She&rsquo;s so close, his eyes stray away to follow her jawline, the slope of her neck, the fall of her chest as she breathes, before he catches himself and looks away. He is acutely aware of the curve of her hip in his palm.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>After a moment, he comments, &ldquo;Yot never told me you were a doctor.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She scoffs, &ldquo;I have three male cousins who typically like being physical and received their fair share of drawn blood.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;So you&rsquo;re the one who patches them up.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Roong smiles wickedly, &ldquo;Not as often as they&rsquo;ve patched me up.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yes, he has already witnessed how rough she can be when provoked. Phu wonders just how much she takes after her parents. From what he observed on Adisuan Farm, Khun Jeed is pretty patient, although Khun Fai is more prone to expressing his discontent whenever he disagrees with anything. The stories Yot recounted to Phu before sending him off hinted at Roong&rsquo;s character, and he can now confirm that Yot wasn&rsquo;t kidding when describing how tough and wild his cousin is.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Shit, I think you&rsquo;re going to need stitches for that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Whose fault was it?&rdquo; he grumbles quietly. But not quietly enough.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re blaming me?&rdquo; He just looks at her archly, so she huffs, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the one helping you right now, you know.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Are you going to tell me you&rsquo;re a seamstress too? You&rsquo;re going to sew me up?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Fed up, she purposely presses down on his wound.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu shouts out, and in his pain he squeezes her hip, yanking her towards him so that she falls atop him.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Roong can feel his arm around her waist holding her in balance, along with his warm breath tickling near her ear. Underneath her braced hands, his muscles are taut.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She pushes herself up to glare down at him, and with the rising sun showering more light over them, this allows him a clear view of her scowling face and her large eyes with lashes that flutter like feathers when she blinks. His eyes travel lower to observe the dip right above her lips, and then to her lips themselves that are parted at the moment and looking very soft.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Idiot! You haven&rsquo;t earned enough injuries, huh? Want me to give you more?&rdquo; She gets up to sit at his side, brushing dirt off her and pushing her hair out of her face grumpily.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu rises to sit, but before he can finish sighing, Roong pulls at his arm again. He watches silently while she bandages his wound with her scarf, tying it neatly. He wonders how she can speak so roughly while at the same time tending to his wound so gently. In honesty, he could take care of this type of thing himself, having served time in Parawat&rsquo;s army, but her work is clean and as careful as anyone can do it. Roong seems like a person full of opposites.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;What are your plans after this?&rdquo; Phu asks.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Before I go anywhere, I have to go back and get my bag.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Why? If you go back there, those gangsters will attack you again.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not going to do anything in broad daylight. I can tell with just one look how spineless they all are.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu feels more doubtful though and can&rsquo;t help being skeptic of her overconfidence. She yawns into her hands. &ldquo;If you want to rest, you should. I can keep watch.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She eyes him suspiciously. &ldquo;No thanks. I don&rsquo;t trust you.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Exasperated, he says, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re accusing your cousin, Yot, of sending a bad person to follow you? That&rsquo;s how little trust you have in him?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Well how can I be sure that he sent you anyway? Maybe you just know him a little.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Look here. I&rsquo;ve served Yot and the royal family since I was fifteen years old. I practically grew up with Yot, went everywhere with him, went to school with him, watched over Prince Lek, listened to all of Yot&rsquo;s problems about how anxious he is thinking about his duty as the future ruler of Parawat, and have always been a loyal friend to him. I&rsquo;m not going to let you insult someone like me who has dedicated my whole life to protecting and serving my country and my friend.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Okay! You don&rsquo;t have to talk big, I get it already.&rdquo; She was only talking smack a moment ago, but now there&rsquo;s no doubt he&rsquo;s who he claims to be. Yot has never shared his secret concerns about being the crown prince to anyone except Roong. &ldquo;Be honest now. You&rsquo;re really the only one who knows I&rsquo;m here, aside from Yot? He didn&rsquo;t have anyone else help you track me down?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu nods, &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t want you to suspect anything, so he only sent me.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She sighs with discontent. &ldquo;Still, he needn&rsquo;t have. Once morning comes and I get my backpack, you are returning straight to Yot, got it?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I take orders from Yot only.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She rounds on him, &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want you with me, do you hear? Why would you waste time with me when Yot is the one you should be taking care of?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t question my orders,&rdquo; came another curt answer.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She resists making more comments, knowing it&rsquo;ll be useless with someone as strongheadedly loyal like Phu obviously is.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>A while later, Phu looks over to find Roong curled up on the ground, fast asleep. He scoffs, seeing that she doesn&rsquo;t even hold to her words that she doesn&rsquo;t trust him. In the morning light, he watches as she inhales and exhales, her breath catching a lock of hair that tickles her nose, until she brushes it away. Phu cocks his head, studying the small smile that her dreams have etched on her lips.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;&hellip;p&rsquo;Mek&hellip;I&rsquo;ll beat you in the race with LaOng&hellip;so annoying&hellip;&rdquo; she mumbles. Phu smiles, before taking a deep breath and checking the hour. The train that he knows Roong scheduled for is leaving in less than an hour. He decides to wake her up so they can make it back to the station.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Khun Roong. Khun Roong, we should get going.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She doesn&rsquo;t stir from her little nest of leaves. On his knees beside her, Phu cautiously leans down to pat her shoulder. &ldquo;Khun Roong? Wake up.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The moment his fingers make contact with her, Roong responds by grabbing his arm and pulling him down beside her, then throwing an arm across his chest. When he struggles to pull her off, she groans, &ldquo;I want to sleep!&rdquo; and tightens her hold on him.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Phu has no choice but to lay still, lest he provoke her into unconsciously abusing him further. This might not be as easy of a job as he thought&hellip;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>------A/N<br />
Watching RLSL right now! &lt;3</p>
<p>jjinxx</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 8
 
As Roong grows conscious, she can feel her body aching from sleeping on
the ground. She seeks out the warmth beside her and hugs onto it.
 
Roong then opens her eyes, curious about her surroundings and the
soothing rhythm close to her ear. Soon, however, her sleepy eyes grow big with
horror, finally seeing how she’s half laying on Phu, and the steady thundering
that had been under her ear was Phu’s heartbeat. Roong exclaims and scrambles
away from him as if his touch was scorching flames.
 
“You! What…what happened?”
 
Phu sits up, “You fell asleep.” He hadn’t fallen asleep, but instead
had lied stiffly staring up at the treetops as she slept, so he stood up now
and stretched to work strength back into his muscles.
 
“Don’t tell me that I…” Roong cringes, knowing she has a habit of
hugging things while sleeping, a habit rooted since childhood with all the
teddy bears her father bought for her. “I…I have a habit of holding things to
sleep,” she quickly explained.
 
“Miss, that’s not called holding, that’s called a death grip,” Phu
teased.
 
“Well why were you near me?!”
 
He looks away to hide his amused smile.
 
Ruffling her hair, Roong looks around. “Heuy! What time is it?” She
looks down at her watch. “It’s eight already! Why didn’t you wake me?!”
 
“I tried,” he says.
 
“You’re useless!” she stomps away.
 
“Khun Roong, wait up.”
 
“This is all your fault. Argh, now what am I going to do? There’s only
one other train leaving today."
 
“Since yours left already, you shouldn’t go back to the station.”
 
Climbing back up to the road, Roong replies, “There’s something
important in that bag that I need for my travels.”
 
“What is it?”
 
She doesn’t bother answering him.
 
When they approach the train station, they slow down and make their way
more warily closer. Looking all around, the few people who showed up that morning
do not include the gang, so Roong begins walking more at ease, searching for
her bag.
 
“Over there,” Phu points out, spotting it first. “Wait,” Phu stops her
from leaving. “Look, there they are.”

Roong swears under her breath.
 
“They’re determined to get you,” he says.
 
“I know!” She clucks her tongue.
 
“We should get out of this town as fast as possible.”
 
“I know!”
 
“But they’re probably searching for us all over."
 
Her eyes fire annoyance at him. “Will you stop? I’m trying to think.
Let’s see…”

“Do you really need your bag?”
 
“I’m not going anywhere without it,” she stubbornly states.
 
“But there’s only one train left and it’s leaving soon. If we don’t get
to it, we’ll have to stay another night and then they’ll gang up on us again.”
Phu is confident in his own skills, but he’s still human. He knows there’s no
way to fight forever.
 
“If only we had a disguise…Those guys are so thick-headed, I’m sure if
we had disguises, they wouldn’t even know us if we passed under their noses…”
Then Roong snaps, an idea coming to her. “Hey, you got a shirt I can borrow?”
 
Phu pulls his spare shirt out of his bag and gives it to her.
 
“Come here.” Roong sneaks over to one of sellers, buys a scarf, and
wraps it like a turban on Phu’s head. She lost her hat though.
 
“What else do you have in that bag?”
 
He digs around. “Clothes, water bottle, pocket knife…”
 
“Give it to me!”
 
Phu’s eyes grow wide in alarm. “What are you doing?”
 
“Creating a disguise.”
 
He wouldn’t guess she’d go as far as cutting her hair though, but there
she stands right in front of him, using a razor to snip off large chunks of her
long hair. When she deems the job is done, she looks at him.
 
“How does it look?"
 
“Uh…different.”
 
“Good. Now let’s go.” Without waiting for his response, Roong steps out
confidently, wearing his baggy shirt over her and taking big steps like a man.
Phu watchfully follows, trying to keep his head down slightly.
 
Glancing once more to make sure none of those hooligans will ambush her
again, Roong runs and grabs hold of it, feeling relieved to have it back in her
possession. “Gotcha!”
 
“Now what?” Phu asks once they are safely inside the station with none
of their enemies in sight.
 
Roong looks at him bluntly, “Now you leave me to my own business and be
on your way.” She pushes past him to get to the ticket booth, asking where the
second train will be departing for. “One ticket please.”
 
“Two,” Phu adds, standing right behind her.
 
She sighs with impatience. Once they get their tickets, she demands,
“Stop interfering. Didn’t you see how efficient I was at taking care of myself?
I don’t need your help.”
 
“I admit you’re efficient, but,” he glances at his arm wound, “would I
have gotten hurt like this if I hadn’t helped you out? It’s not that easy,
fighting a whole group by yourself.”
 
“Don’t worry, it’s not likely to happen again.”
 
“And were you expecting this to happen in the first place?”
 
She reluctantly shakes her head.
 
“Then how do you know it won’t happen again?”
 
“If it happens, I’ll just use this to end things quickly.” She opens
her bag and invites him to look inside. Phu catches sight of a gun.
 
“Where did you get that?”
 
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have it. Are you going to
leave now?”
 
Phu straightens his shoulders, “No. I was given specific orders not to
let you out of my sight.” Before she can get out an argument, he says, “If
you’re sure you want to get on the train, now would be the time.”
 
The train’s first horn alerts Roong, so she hurries outside and steps
into the train, looking for seats.
 
They’re both heading towards the end of the row and Phu undoes his fake
turban, wiping his brow, when Roong gasps, seeing the thug leader at the
opposite end.
 
“Crap!”
 
Phu notices as well.
 
“They’ll find us for sure! Don’t these stupid pigs know how to give
up?”
 
Just when the thugs were entering into the compartment, Phu pushes
Roong into the nearest seat, hiding her body with his. Roong’s panicking eyes
search out the thugs, but fearing they’ll recognize her face, Phu tugs her by
the chin into looking straight at him.
 
“Shhhh,” he urgently brings his face closer, when seeing her about to
speak. His puckered lips that only meant to shush her lightly brushed the
corner of her mouth, effectively halting all speech from her.
 
One of the other travelers on the train barks towards the thugs, “Why
the hell are you all standing in the way?”
 
“Shut up!” the leader yells.
 
“Want me to get the police officer here? Move! Why are you peeking at a
lustful couple? Haven’t seen it before or what? Out of my way!"
 
The leader cusses at him and takes his guys out of the compartment.
 
After what felt like an eternity for Roong, Phu finally checks at the
aisle. “I think they’re gone.”
 
“Then get off,” she shoves him away, scooting far from him, feeling
particularly indignant for being held by him even though he did for their
safety.  
 
Phu is checking down both sides of the aisle when he hears Roong
exclaim, “Hey! My ticket! I can’t find it!”
 
“Are you sure? You took it, didn’t you?”
 
She checks in her pockets. “I think I dropped it.” The horn blows again
loudly. “Can you go look for it?”
 
“But the train’s about to leave.”
 
“Then you should hurry! Are you here to help me like Yot wanted, or
just sit there? Go!”
 
Phu agrees and hurries back into the station. Once he’s gone, Roong
smirks, pulling out her ticket and waving it happily.
 
After asking at the booth and looking all over the ground without any
luck, Phu finally looks out the window. “Hey!” The train is already picking up
speed.
 
“So long Phu. Nice knowing ya.” She sits back comfortably, feeling the
wind from the open window cool her face.
 
“There you are.”
 
It’s the leader, standing next to her seat, yet again, and he looks
viciously angry. “I knew you would be on this train. That was a nice trick you
played earlier. Where’s your boyfriend, huh?”
 
She isn’t able to reach her gun before the leader covers her mouth with
his hand so she couldn’t scream, then drags her up off the seat. She kicks her
legs, twisting all ways to escape.
 
“Maybe you kicked your boyfriend off the train because he wasn’t
skillful enough? Should I give you a taste of my love?” The leader goes in for
a kiss, but someone behind him grabs his hair and wrenches him away so hard
that he tumbles down the aisle, unconsciously rolling to a stop.

 
The train’s conductor stops the train briefly to throw the scum leader
off, and then continues on its path.
 
Roong peers up and then quickly away, feeling uncomfortable with Phu’s
austerity. He clearly isn’t happy that she lied to him. “Stop standing above me
like that already.” His eyes remind her of her dad’s, and she doesn’t need to
feel like a child at the moment.
 
“Do you know what might have happened if I didn’t get back on the train
in time? How can you be so reckless?"

 
“I didn’t know!” she huffs.
 
He drops down in the seat opposite her. She’s much more full of tricks
than he anticipated, not to mention stubborn and willful. He’ll have his hands
full keeping up with her.
 
Roong rubs her stomach hungrily and searches in her bag, pulling out a
single apple, all bruised and spotted.
 
“Here,” Phu offers her some dried jerky meat. He can tell she wants to
preserve her pride but is too hungry, so in the end she accepts it. He has some
for himself as well, sipping water from a canteen. She doesn’t bother being shy
or prideful anymore and holds her hand out for his canteen.
 
“I’m thirsty,” she jabs her hand out impatiently until he gives it
over.
 
She’s nodding off to sleep, and making sure there aren’t any other
suspicious people aboard, Phu allows himself to take a nap. Ten minutes later,
Roong yawns and gets up from her seat, but is held back before going anywhere.
 
“Where are you going?” Phu asks.
 
She thought he was deep asleep. “The bathroom.” She tugs her hand away
and heads off. When she returns, she instantly sees him waiting, eyes alert and
aimed at her. “You don’t have to watch me so close like I’m a deer you’re
hunting.”
 
He scoffs, thinking she’s more like a tiger than a deer. “When are you
thinking of returning home? Your family is worried.”
 
“I’ll return when I want to.”
 
“Are you sure? Don’t you miss your brothers? Or your parents? Or your
grandparents.”
 
“What do you know about my family?”
 
“I had the pleasure of meeting them on Adisuan Farm recently. They’re
worried sick about you. Your cousins, Ton and Mek, even flew to Brazil to look
for you.”
 
She rolls her eyes, “Of course they would…”
 
“Don’t you feel bad at all that you’re making them upset like this?”
 
“They wouldn’t be upset if they just sat still and waited for me to go
home. Oi,” she turns away to look out the window, “I don’t have to talk about
this with you. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to leave.”
 
Phu, used to facing challenges and being patient, grows quiet.
------

 
“Uncle Fai!” Yot jumps over the cow pen fence and runs over to where
Fai is talking to one of the vets. “Uncle Fai! I got a call from Roong!”
 
“What?!” He takes the cell phone from Yot, “Hello? Roong? Roong?!”
 
“Uncle Fai, she already hung up,” Yot looks at him apologetically, “I
got the call and immediately ran here, but as soon as she heard that I was
coming to you, I think she hung up.”

Fai groans. “Roong, what are you thinking? Why won’t you talk to me?”
 
Yot claps him on the shoulder, “I think by now, she’s not mad at you
anymore, but she’s probably afraid that you’re still mad at her, so she didn’t
talk with you. But before I got here, Roong told me that she’s doing fine and
she doesn’t want any of you to worry about her.”
 
“Did she tell you where she is right now?”
 
“No. She wouldn’t give that information easily.”
 
“Wait. Maybe Din can get someone to trace the phone call. I’ll take
this with me, okay? Thanks Yot.”
 
“No problem,” Yot watches him leave. He knew that Uncle Fai might go to
Uncle Din about this, so he made sure ahead of time that the call was
untraceable. He already called Phu, and knows nothing is wrong with Roong, what
with Phu being there and all.
 
Satisfied, he returned to the house yard, where Noi stayed while he
played out his charade to Fai.
 
------
 
jjinxx
 
I'm reposting chapter 7 because it's all messed up in the post above *sigh*
 


 
Chapter 7


 
“WHAT?!?”


 
Din and Lom unplug their fingers from their ears. “Here we go.”


 
“What do you mean she’s not in Brazil?” Fai shouts.


 
“I mean exactly what I said,” Din patiently repeats, “Ton called me
just a while ago and said they met up with Roong’s school buddies. Her buddies
said that she didn’t go with them since you didn’t let her go.”


 
“Are those kids being serious?” Fai paces, “Were they just kidding around?”


 
“This is Ton’s very own report. You know we can trust him, otherwise he
and Mek would have brought Roong home by now. So it must be true that she’s not
with them.”


 
“If she’s not with them then where can she be?! Forget this, I’ll go
look for her myself.”


 
“And exactly where are you going to start looking for her?” Lom asks,
standing in his way before he can get out the door.


 
“I’ll start with looking right outside our farm!”


 
“Now he starts making some sense, and yet…” Lom shakes his head but
insistently pushes Fai back inside. “Fai, as your brother I can’t let you do
this.”


 
“You’re forbidding me from looking for my daughter? That’s you being a
good brother to me?”


 
“He means we’re going to use logical methods to find her, not your
rash, hot-tempered methods,” Din crosses his arms confidently. “We’ll go to the
police and request video image of the different terminals in the airport. If
Roong was at the airport that day, we could catch which flight she got on. We
can also check the train stations, and call the taxi stations to see if they
received a customer from Adisuan farm that day, and where that customer was
driven.”


 
Fai forces back his instinct to go out and take care of the issue
himself because he knows Din and Lom are right; he isn’t going to be able to
solve everything without having a plan first. He sits down, elbows on his knees
and tries to breathe deeply.


 
 


 
“I didn’t bring mine, and p’Mek has our other room key. Let me go rest
in your room for now, okay?” Ton slips past Kaew, whose protest is ignored.


 
“Ton, get off,” she orders when seeing him stretched out across her
bed.


 
“If you want to rest here too, there’s plenty of room for the both of
us. You don’t have to be considerate of me, okay?” he leans on his elbow and
smiles at her.


 
She scoffs. “Is that what you say to all the other women you get with?
Because it doesn’t even tempt me one little bit.”


 
“Aow, and who said I was tempting you,” Ton grins at her frown, “Oh I
see. You were thinking of something personal about me. You know, on regular
occasions, I wouldn’t mind, but since we’re on a serious mission right now,
let’s just stayed focus. But…” he turns to lie on his stomach cutely, “once we
return home, I can give you all of my attention. I promise.”


 
“Idiot. You’re crazy if you think I want to have anything to do with
you.” She goes into the bathroom. When she comes out, Ton is laying asleep,
head resting on his arms. Kaew is reminded of once having found him just like
that in the past. At that time, he was out on the farm, having dozed off under
the warm breezy weather. Kaew remembers thinking how handsome he looked then,
all roughness and gentleness rolled into one as he sighed in his sleep. But
that was before she started seeing him walking about with different women.


 
Kaew makes a face at him. “No courtesy at all,” she grumbles. The room
feels stuffy to her, so Kaew crosses to open the window. As she passes the bed,
Ton’s hand shoots out and yanks her down beside her.


 
“Ton!” she yells.


 
He winces playfully, “Try not to make me deaf. Otherwise I won’t get to
hear your voice anymore. Now, if you speak sweetly to me, like you did to that
other guy, I might be nice and let you go.”


 
She fakes a smile. “Oh really? P’Ton, please let me go, okay? I can’t
stand being close you, my skin is crawling right now,” she keeps her voice high
and sweet, “It’s like I’ve been infected. And your face is giving me the
shivers. Let me go, okay p’Ton?”


 
He smirks, “So sassy. I’m giving you the shivers right now? Maybe it’s
just not warm enough in here.” She squeaks when he hugs her tighter. “Do you
feel better now, hm?”


 
“No! I feel like puking,” she struggles in his grasp.


 
“You can’t start puking yet. We haven’t even shared that special moment
yet.”


 
Kaew brings her knee sharply up to his sensitive area, then rolls away
when he cringes. “Be careful, or you might not be able to share those special
moments with anyone else in the future.” Someone knocks at the door.


 
Kaew answers it and comes back in with Mek.


 
“Where did you two go? I went looking all over for you.” Mek gives Ton
a kick. “In addition to Roong, you’re going to give me more trouble?”


 
“Geeze, we just got lost a little. You see me right in front of you
now, don’t you? I don’t see what the big deal is.” But Ton quickly evades Mek’s
second kick.


 
“Pack up. We’re going home.”


 
“Really?” Ton asks.


 
“Duh!” Kaew answers. “Roong’s not here. What’s the use of staying?”


 
“I just thought—“


 
“Don’t even dare mention that guy again,” she warns.


 
“Hmm,” he grins, “You read my mind so well. This is what they call
soulmates.”


 
“Don’t push your luck.”


 
 


 
They both collapse on the ground, catching their breaths.


 
Phu hisses in pain, inspecting the wound on his upper arm.


 
Roong leans in to peer at it. She takes out a handkerchief and leans
over the edge of the river to soak it. Coming back to kneel in front of him,
she twists out the excess water and orders, “Stretch out your arm. I’ll clean
it.” He complies, and she dabs at the wound gingerly to wipe the blood away.


 
“Are you satisfied?” he demands, “I told you we should have avoided
that route.”


 
“How could I have known things would turn out crazy like that?”


 
“That’s why you should have listened to me. My instinct—“


 
“Oh, right, sorry for not having your mighty psychic soldier powers,”
she rolls her eyes, thinking of how he was sent by Yot to act as a secret agent
follower. “Since when did Yot send you after me?”


 
He replies, “While you were in the previous city.”


 
She glowers at his arm, “No sense of privacy at all…”


 
“It’s not like I was hiding in your bathroom.” Besides, how is he
supposed to reject a job given to him by his prince?


 
“Ow! Be more gentle,” he complains.


 
“Will you be quiet? You want those guys to find us?”


 
“If you’re not going to help me nicely, I’ll do it myself.”


 
She glowers at him, handing over the handkerchief and dusting herself
off angrily.


 
“What’s your name anyway?”


 
“You can call me Phu.”


 
Pat notices his fist clenching in order to keep his arm steady, so she
sighs with annoyance and snatches the hanky back. She guides his hand and lets
it rest on her hip. Phu glances up at her and would have moved his hand away
but she pressed it. “Keep it there. Your arm won’t shake that way.”


 
“It’s fine.”


 
“Stop acting like a prideful man and just do as you’re told.” Guys are
always acting tough, she shakes her head. She’s back to kneeling in front of
him, trying to get a clear look at the wound in the half-darkness. She’s so
close, his eyes stray away to follow her jawline, the slope of her neck, the
fall of her chest as she breathes, before he catches himself and looks away. He
is acutely aware of the curve of her hip in his palm.


 
After a moment, he comments, “Yot never told me you were a doctor.”


 
She scoffs, “I have three male cousins who typically like being
physical and received their fair share of drawn blood.”


 
“So you’re the one who patches them up.”


 
Roong smiles wickedly, “Not as often as they’ve patched me up.”


 
Yes, he has already witnessed how rough she can be when provoked. Phu
wonders just how much she takes after her parents. From what he observed on
Adisuan Farm, Khun Jeed is pretty patient, although Khun Fai is more prone to
expressing his discontent whenever he disagrees with anything. The stories Yot
recounted to Phu before sending him off hinted at Roong’s character, and he can
now confirm that Yot wasn’t kidding when describing how tough and wild his
cousin is.


 
“Shit, I think you’re going to need stitches for that.”


 
“Whose fault was it?” he grumbles quietly. But not quietly enough.


 
“You’re blaming me?” He just looks at her archly, so she huffs, “I’m
the one helping you right now, you know.”


 
“Are you going to tell me you’re a seamstress too? You’re going to sew
me up?”


 
Fed up, she purposely presses down on his wound.


 
Phu shouts out, and in his pain he squeezes her hip, yanking her
towards him so that she falls atop him.


 
Roong can feel his arm around her waist holding her in balance, along
with his warm breath tickling near her ear. Underneath her braced hands, his
muscles are taut.


 
She pushes herself up to glare down at him, and with the rising sun
showering more light over them, this allows him a clear view of her scowling
face and her large eyes with lashes that flutter like feathers when she blinks.
His eyes travel lower to observe the dip right above her lips, and then to her
lips themselves that are parted at the moment and looking very soft.


 
“Idiot! You haven’t earned enough injuries, huh? Want me to give you
more?” She gets up to sit at his side, brushing dirt off her and pushing her
hair out of her face grumpily.


 
Phu rises to sit, but before he can finish sighing, Roong pulls at his
arm again. He watches silently while she bandages his wound with her scarf,
tying it neatly. He wonders how she can speak so roughly while at the same time
tending to his wound so gently. In honesty, he could take care of this type of
thing himself, having served time in Parawat’s army, but her work is clean and
as careful as anyone can do it. Roong seems like a person full of opposites.


 
“What are your plans after this?” Phu asks.


 
“Before I go anywhere, I have to go back and get my bag.”


 
“Why? If you go back there, those gangsters will attack you again.”


 
“They’re not going to do anything in broad daylight. I can tell with
just one look how spineless they all are.”


 
Phu feels more doubtful though and can’t help being skeptic of her
overconfidence. She yawns into her hands. “If you want to rest, you should. I
can keep watch.”


 
She eyes him suspiciously. “No thanks. I don’t trust you.”


 
Exasperated, he says, “You’re accusing your cousin, Yot, of sending a
bad person to follow you? That’s how little trust you have in him?”


 
“Well how can I be sure that he sent you anyway? Maybe you just know
him a little.”


 
“Look here. I’ve served Yot and the royal family since I was fifteen
years old. I practically grew up with Yot, went everywhere with him, went to
school with him, watched over Prince Lek, listened to all of Yot’s problems
about how anxious he is thinking about his duty as the future ruler of Parawat,
and have always been a loyal friend to him. I’m not going to let you insult
someone like me who has dedicated my whole life to protecting and serving my
country and my friend.”


 
“Okay! You don’t have to talk big, I get it already.” She was only
talking smack a moment ago, but now there’s no doubt he’s who he claims to be.
Yot has never shared his secret concerns about being the crown prince to anyone
except Roong. “Be honest now. You’re really the only one who knows I’m here,
aside from Yot? He didn’t have anyone else help you track me down?”


 
Phu nods, “He didn’t want you to suspect anything, so he only sent me.”


 
She sighs with discontent. “Still, he needn’t have. Once morning comes
and I get my backpack, you are returning straight to Yot, got it?”


 
“I take orders from Yot only.”


 
She rounds on him, “But I don’t want you with me, do you hear? Why
would you waste time with me when Yot is the one you should be taking care of?”


 
“I don’t question my orders,” came another curt answer.


 
She resists making more comments, knowing it’ll be useless with someone
as strongheadedly loyal like Phu obviously is.


 
A while later, Phu looks over to find Roong curled up on the ground,
fast asleep. He scoffs, seeing that she doesn’t even hold to her words that she
doesn’t trust him. In the morning light, he watches as she inhales and exhales,
her breath catching a lock of hair that tickles her nose, until she brushes it
away. Phu cocks his head, studying the small smile that her dreams have etched
on her lips.


 
“…p’Mek…I’ll beat you in the race with LaOng…so annoying…” she mumbles.
Phu smiles, before taking a deep breath and checking the hour. The train that
he knows Roong scheduled for is leaving in less than an hour. He decides to
wake her up so they can make it back to the station.


 
“Khun Roong. Khun Roong, we should get going.”


 
She doesn’t stir from her little nest of leaves. On his knees beside
her, Phu cautiously leans down to pat her shoulder. “Khun Roong? Wake up.”


 
The moment his fingers make contact with her, Roong responds by
grabbing his arm and pulling him down beside her, then throwing an arm across
his chest. When he struggles to pull her off, she groans, “I want to sleep!”
and tightens her hold on him.


 
Phu has no choice but to lay still, lest he provoke her into
unconsciously abusing him further. Yot, this might not be as easy as you
thought…
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 9


 
“Hurry up!” Kaew runs in front as Ton and Mek hurry behind her. They
are running to catch their flight. Their morning started off bad, unable to
find a cab available. When they finally flagged one down, the traffic lagged
until Mek thought they would miss their plane.


 
“Whew! Made it!” Ton laughs.


 
“Move! I can’t get to my seat with you in the way,” Kaew scolds,
shoving him.


 
Mek shakes his head, deciding then and there he is not going to deal
with the two’s childish quarrels.


 
“Mek, where are you going?”


 
“My assigned seat is down this way. You two just sit where you’re
supposed to.”


 
Kaew grabs the window seat, then frowns at Ton. “Why are you sitting
here?”


 
“My ticket says this is my seat, see?” He shows her the ticket.


 
“Don’t bother me,” she says.


 
The plane takes off and is in the air for an hour before things get
chaotic in their row.


 
Ton’s head lolls onto Kaew’s shoulder. She pushes him off.


 
“Oh, sorry, guess I dozed off.”


 
“Doze off the other way then,” she snaps.


 
Ton opens up a bag of dried fruit, “Want some?”


 
She takes some but before she pulls her hand out, he sticks his hand in
and fishes around.


 
“Will you hurry up?” she can’t take her hand out with his squeezed next
to hers.


 
“Patience, sheesh. Ah, here’s the one I want.”


 
“Ton!” Apparently the piece wants is her hand, bringing it up to bite.
“Let go!” She uses her other hand to push his face away.


 
He laughs. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I thought that was a piece of
dried banana.”


 
She pretends to join in his laughing. “I think you should lay off the
dried stuff. It must be dehydrating you. Here.” She pours his cup of water into
his mouth, half of it spilling down his chin.


 
“Are you crazy?” he exclaims.


 
“Oh! So sorry, I thought you were thirsty! Here, let me help you wipe
that.” She pats his face with a lot more force than needed.


 
“That’s not enough. I want something else to wipe my mouth with,” Ton
playfully grabs her and puckers his lips at her, while she fights him off.


 
“Is there a problem here?” a flight attendant asks politely.


 
Ton and Kaew freeze.


 
“Uh,” she stutters, “We’re just…”


 
“It’s just a little accident. My girlfriend is very clumsy, but I
forgive her.” He smooches her on the cheek. Kaew has to hold in her screech
until the attendant leaves, but he threateningly tries to kiss her again, so
Kaew turns away instead, shooting him murderous looks over her shoulder.


 
 


 
“Yes mom, I’ve arrived,” Fon says into her phone, “Mom…” she trails
off, feeling a dizzy spell coming over her. “Mom, I’ll see you back at home, okay?”
Putting her phone away, Fon massages her temple, feeling weary after countless
such migraines have followed her all the way from the States.


 
 


 
“I’ll go over and give mom a call that we’ve landed,” Mek informs the
other two. Kaew is still annoyed by having to sit with Ton throughout both
flights to get back to Thailand. Ton nods at him to go on.


 
Crossing the floor to get to the phones, Mek bumps into a woman.
“Excuse me…” he calls out in surprise as, in the next moment, she’s falling
against him and they both hit the ground “Miss? Miss?”


 
“Mek, what happened?”


 
“I don’t know, she just fainted all of a sudden. Miss?”


 
 


 
It’s afternoon by the time the train comes to a stop. Getting off, Phu
sweeps his sharp eyes across the area.


 
“Khun Roong, what are you planning to do here?”


 
“Does it look like I’ve ever been here before?” she replies, running a
hand through her hair. She’s not quite used to the new length, but she does
enjoy how light it makes her feel to have less hair. “That’s the point of
exploring.” She skips off to look at the shops around them. The town is smaller
than the one they were previously in, and looks even quieter. The people appear
to give each other space, while at the same time sharing an intimate
atmosphere. All the people that Roong smiles and waves at return her greeting
kindly. With the bright sun out, she pulls on her cap then searches for food.


 
Phu seats himself with her at the table and orders after she does. Even
as she eats, her eyes wander around to catch every detail of sound and sight so
that she can go back and share them with her brothers. The change of scene is
very refreshing, Roong thinks. That is, until her eyes land back on Phu. She grudgingly
continues until finishing her meal, then gets up and leaves. Throughout the
afternoon, she doesn’t talk to him, but Phu doesn’t mind, and instead walks
after here from here to there. Observers might guess they aren’t even
companions, if not for the way he seems attached to her like a string runs
between them, never far from her.


 
“Where can I find a doctor here?” she asks the store clerk.


 
“There’s a clinic down that way.”


 
She leads them both to the small hospital, where Phu asks, “Are you not
feeling well?”


 
“Have you forgotten about your wound?” she rolls her eyes at him. “You
should get it looked at.”


 
“But—“


 
“No buts. I’m not taking responsibility if you die from infection. Yot
will probably blame me.” She asks for a doctor and Phu gets admitted to get
stitches.


 
“How is it?” Roong asks when he reappears.


 
“It’s all set.”


 
She confirms it by seeing his clean bandaged arm, then she thrusts a
small container at him. “The nurse said to buy this one for your wound. It
helps with pain, and it’s an antiseptic too.”


 
Phu accepts it, surprised at her forethought, “Thank you. You didn’t
have to.”


 
“Like I said, I’m not going to be the one to blame for you getting
hurt.”


 
Once back outside, she grins giddily, seeing balloons being sold and
buys herself one.


 
Crossing a bridge to a park area, she sees a little boy standing alone
and strolls over to him. “Little bro, this is for you.” She presents him with
the red balloon, so that a toothy grin stretches across his young face.


 
“Thank you!”


 
She watches him run away to his father, but her cheerfulness is
extinguished once she witnesses the father yelling at the boy and beating him.
She’s just about to step forward but Phu grabs her arm.


 
“What are you thinking of doing?” he asks.


 
“I’ll teach that man a lesson! His son didn’t even do anything but he
started hitting him.” Roong and Phu look over and see a woman, who must be the mother,
run over and pull the son away, while the father marches off.


 
“It’s over. Don’t go make things worse,” Phu gently suggests.


 
Roong yanks her arm from him and stalks back to the bridge.


 
“Khun Roong!” He catches up as she pays the ferryman to rent one of his
small boats. She gets in and is followed by Phu, both taking up one oar and
peddling downriver.


 
“Bastard…he’s lucky I was held back, otherwise his head would have been
blown in…” She catches him looking at her. “You have something to say, just say
it. I’m not your king or anything.”


 
He complies, “You’re rather more violent than the normal person, aren’t
you?”


 
“Aren’t you also carrying a gun with you?”


 
“It’s to be used as protection.”


 
“And what about that little boy that has no protection?”


 
“His mom will take care of him.”


 
“She can’t fight someone like that crazy man, especially if she’s his
wife. He’ll just beat her too.”


 
“But getting yourself involved won’t help either of them.”


 
She sighs sharply, then suddenly stands and starts using her oar to
ferociously slap the water surface, frightening fish away and splashing water.


 
“I think that’s enough,” Phu holds up a hand to deflect the water
splashed at him, “Khun Roong…”


 
She plops back down, and sees him giving her a curious look once again.
“What now?”


 
“Just…I just thought briefly how you’re like that balloon, all bright
on the outside and full of hot air on the inside.”


 
“You’re insulting me?!”


 
“I thought you said I could speak freely,” he explains, “Be careful.
One of these days, someone’s going to pop you and you’ll deflate all the way
down to earth.”


 
“We’ll see who has the guts to do anything to me.” Roong starts poking
him with the end of her oar.


 
“Oi! Khun Roong, stop,” he blocks her while she adamantly keeps looking
for open spots to poke at him.


 
“Who’s going to get knocked down to earth first, huh? Who?” She jabs
again. Phu grabs hold of it. “Let go,” she commands. “Let go, I said!”


 
When he obeys, she falls over backward. She groans in pain, “Ahh…You…!”


 
“I did what you told me to do,” he shrugs. She rubs her back sullenly.
“Aren’t you going to help row?”


 
“You injured me, so you can row by yourself!”


 
 


 
“How come you got back so late?” Yot asks while Mek and Ton settle down
on the couch.


 
“There was a little accident at the airport. Some woman fainted and Mek
insisted that we take her to the hospital,” Ton explains. He looks over to Mek,
“Hey Mek, what are you doing? Thinking about that pretty fainted lady?” he
jokes.


 
“Shush,” Mek nudges him with a foot. In fact, he was thinking about the woman. For some reason, when she fell
unconscious in his arms, Mek felt a bad aura around her, like some unnatural
force was putting pressure on her. His mom told him to always trust his
instincts, so when Mek and the other s were leaving the hospital, he’d been
reluctant to go. But since the woman’s parents arrived, he didn’t see how he
could interfere with her much, since they’re strangers.


 
“Anyway, it’s good that you’re back now,” Yot says.


 
“Really?” Mek grins cheekily, “Are you sure you’re not regretting the
chance to be here alone with your woman?”


 
“Who’s my woman?”


 
“That one that you brought here to ‘protect’ you.”

“What is she protecting, you or your heart?” Ton and Mek high five each other,
hooting in laughter.


 
“Huh, you’re one to talk. Exactly when are you going to take
responsibility for Kaew?” Yot retorts.


 
“Take responsibility for what?” Ton asks.


 
“Aow, a playboy like you, I’m assuming you put some moves on her…but
nevermind-- knowing Kaew, it probably didn’t work, huh?”


 
Ton gives Yot a glowering glance. “Shut up.”


 
“Shut up,” Yot mimicks. “Can’t say anything, can you?”


 
“Alright, enough you two. Right now, we still don’t know where Roong
is,” Mek reminds.


 
“She’s fine, she sent a postcard here the other day,” Yot informs. “I
lost it, but she wrote that she was doing fine.”


 
“From…?”


 
“It was sent from, uh, Africa.”


 
“What? You’re saying she went to Africa?” Ton exclaims incredulously.
“She’s become such a sneak lately…”


 
“Who knows…”


 
Mek levels his gaze at Yot, “Yot, she really sent a postcard from
Africa?”


 
“Yeah. You know she wasn’t in Brazil, so she must be in Africa.”


 
“Then why…” Mek pulls out the postcard, “is it postmarked from Brazil?”


 
Yot sits up fast. “Where did you get it?”


 
“Pim found it near the trash and thought Uncle Fai would still want it.
She gave it to me.” Mek lets the card fall on the table. “You’ve been lying to
us, haven’t you?”


 
The realization dawns on Ton. “Wait. So Yot lied to us that Roong was
in Brazil. And now that we’re back, you’re lying that she’s in Africa??”


 
Yot gulps.


 
“And this handwriting…it’s not Roong’s.”


 
“Well how can you tell?”


 
Mek scoffs, “It’s not rocket science. An impatient person like Roong
can’t write as neatly as this,” he slaps it on the table. “Now why don’t you
tell us right now what you know.”


 
Caught in his own trap, Yot unwillingly give in.


 
Mek sighs when the listening is over. “Yot, come here…” Yot hides
behind a pillow. “I said, come here.” Yot drags himself over and kneels by Mek
like a sad puppy. Mek flicks him over the head. “That’s for making me and Ton
go on a wild goose chase without even telling us about all this!”


 
Ton flicks his head also. “And that’s for making me get my tongue tied
over trying to speak Portuguese.”


 
“Seriously. You knew all this, so why did you keep it a secret?” Mek
asks sternly.


 
“I just felt sorry for Roong. You know how paranoid Uncle Fai can be,
it even makes me feel suffocated sometimes, and he’s not even my dad.”
Truthfully, Yot understood the desire for freedom. Sometimes, when the
anticipation of becoming a king becomes too much, he feels drowned in the
pressure of all his duties. And he’s never gone anywhere without guards before;
he’s used to it, but he can still see how Ton and Mek seem to have complete
control of their own lives and it’s something he yearns to have a taste of. If
he can’t, then at least he’ll help Roong get to taste that freedom for the both
of them.


 
“Where is she now?” Mek demands.


 
“The last call I made to Phu, they were in N~~~u, but that was two days
ago.”


 
“Call him tonight. We’re going to bring her home.” The finality in
Mek’s tone discourages Yot from arguing further.


 
“You’re not going to tell uncle, are you?”


 
“You think I’m stupid? If I tell uncle Fai, there will be a burning
trail from here to where Roong is by tomorrow with our corpses tossed somewhere
along the way.”


 
Yot  sighs.


 
“Well, at least I got you some time to yourself…” he says, though
knowing Roong can’t hear.


------AN
 
jjinxx
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 10
 
“One room?” the innkeeper asks.

Roong’s jaw drops at the innkeeper’s assumption that she and Phu are a
couple. She clears her throat. “N-no. Two separate rooms,” she holds up two
fingers, just in case it isn’t made clear.

“Unfortunately, our small inn doesn’t have much space. There’s only one
room left. Which one of you wants it?”

Roong scratches her head in thought, turning to Phu. “You should go
look for another inn.”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

“I’m not going to run away, if that’s what you think.”

“Whatever I think, I’m sure you’ll manage to surprise me.”
 
She frowns at his honest response.

“So what’s it going to be?” The innkeeper asks.

“I’ll stay out here in the waiting area,” Phu says.
 
He was really going to sit out there the entire night? “Stop acting
like a watchdog and go find someplace to sleep,” Roong persists.

Phu simply motions to the innkeeper, “She can have the room. Go on.”

Roong finds that her feet are rather reluctant to leave. She glances
back at him as he sets his bag down and sits against the floor.

When the innkeeper comes back, Phu asks, “Is the room secure?”

“Don’t worry. Our town is safe, and all my customers are good people.
But son, it looks like your girlfriend must be mad at you, wanting to stay by
herself like this.”

“Oh, no uncle, it’s not like that. She…I’m just…”

He laughs. “There’s nothing to think about. Just you wait. Women’s
hearts are soft. She’ll give in to you soon.”

“You don’t know this woman, uncle. She’s hard as steel and hot as the
fire that forges it.”

The innkeeper laughs again. “And you say she’s not your girlfriend.”

Roong sits in bed, counting off each of her family members in the photo
she’s holding. “Good night to dad, mom, grandma, grandpa, uncles Din, Lom, and
Puwanes, aunties Cha-aim, Krati, and Nam, p’Mek, p’Ton, nong Lek, and…” she scrunches
her nose, “…Yot. You troublemaker, sending that guy to bother me. You should
have just come yourself, then I can kick you all the way back to the farm. How
am I supposed to travel freely with someone trailing along after me like that?”
Although Phu has actually proved himself to be useful so far.

Speaking of which, she wonders how Phu is doing out there. “Hmph, just
one night on the floor won’t kill him.” But what about his wound? What if he’s
weak from it, and falls ill? “If he gets sick, I can just leave him behind.
Nothing to it. He deserves it for…” For
what
? For doing his duty and following Yot’s instructions? “…For…for being
annoying!” she chides herself for wavering so easily. No matter what, she
shouldn’t easily accept him being with her.

Roong creeps quietly back out to the reception area, looking around the
corner to peek over at Phu. His head is tilted back against the wall, sitting
with legs crossed. She tiptoes over, standing next to him. Seeing him sit
still, she takes the blanket in her arms and drops it on him, then turns to go
back to her room. But three footsteps later, she stops and looks back. The
blanket is piled uselessly on his lap, not doing its job at all. Roong tiptoes
back. She sticks her hand out and waves her fingers in front of his face,
double-checking to see if he’s still sleeping, then bends down and lifts two
corners of the blanket. Right when she wraps it around his shoulders, Phu’s
eyes open.

“What the heck!” she gasps, sitting back in surprise.

“Khun Roong? What are you doing?” he asks.

Hand over her heart, Roong eyes him curiously. “Were you really asleep
just now?”

He nods. “And why aren’t you asleep?”

“I…I was just insomniac for a few minutes.”

“Insomniac?”

“For just a few minutes,” she repeats before fast-walking back to her
room.

Phu watches until she disappears around the corner, then gathers the
blanket in his hand. She brought it for him? Hearing more footsteps, he sees
Roong returning.

She tosses a pillow at him, then turns on her heels.
 
“Thank you,” she hears from behind her. Roong peers back at him once
and then hurries away.

The next morning, Phu wakes at the first sound of voices.

“See, what did I say, son?” the innkeeper sees him getting to his feet.
“She softened up a little, huh?”

“A little,” Phu confirms.
 
“I have some advice for you. If you want to win over her heart, you
should smile at her,” the innkeeper says.

“Smile?” Phu quirks one brow.

“That’s right. She’s mad and you’re serious-looking like that, it’s not
going to lighten up the mood. Smiles are invitations for happiness. With a
handsome face like yours, you should smile. I guarantee she’ll smile back.”

Phu thanks him for his advice. “But it’s not my duty to make her
happy.” Those responsibilities are beyond someone with his rank. He folds up the
blanket and carries it with the pillow to Roong’s room, leaving it outside the
door, then heads out.

Roong steps outside the inn, sighing full of energy, feeling
well-rested.

Sitting at the bench nearby, Phu turns to see Roong stretching her arms
above her, face lifted to soak up all of the morning’s warmth. Gold seems to be
caught in her fair skin, from spending so much time outside. His eyes remain on
her as she gathers her short choppy hair up into a ponytail, until Phu becomes
aware that he isn’t the only one admiring this picture. Across the street,
there’s a guy cleaning a car and paying more attention to Roong than to his
scrubbing; and a man walking by has his head turning, turning, and turning in
order to keep looking at her.
 
Roong turns at the sound of a throat being cleared gruffly. Phu’s
beside her, holding out a bag. “What’s this?”

“Breakfast.”

“You ate already?”

“Not yet.”

“Come eat with me.” Roong catches the surprise in his eyes, but
casually says, “I’m not rude enough to eat without inviting the person with
me…”

Later that day, the two of them come upon the edge of the town.

“What’s this way?” Roong wonders, turning down a different road.

“Wait, khun Roong,” Phu stops her, narrowing his eyes down the road,
“That looks like it leads to a different village.”
 
“I want to check it out.”
 
“We don’t know what village it is and what type of people live there.”

Roong quickly calls out to one of the women walking by. “Where does
this road lead?”
 
“To the village of R~~~.”
 
“Will it take long to get there?”

“Oh no, not long at all,” the woman answers.
 
“Thank you! There, are you satisfied?” she asks Phu.

“But it’s already afternoon. We should go tomorrow. Who knows what
we’ll find once we get there? We should ask one of the locals to guide us.”
 
“Or…” she rests her hands on her hips, “we can find out ourselves. But
if you want to wait, you can do so. I’ll go on ahead first.” With that, she
turns and starts walking. Against his better judgment, instead of trying again
to persuade her, he goes after her.
 
The sun beats down on them relentlessly. They walked for almost two
hours with not another living soul met along the way.

“Why haven’t we gotten there yet? I don’t see a village anywhere.”
Roong takes off her sunglasses, surveying the land and greenery around them.
“That woman probably didn’t know what she was talking about.”
 
“She probably thought we meant to go by car.”
 
“How could she have thought that? Did she see us driving a car?”
 
“Hey, they had cars back there, and they probably usually give tourists
rides. How could she know that you would run here so eagerly?”
 
“Me?” she gaped, “If you’re so smart, why are you only talking about
this now? Hmph, I’m tired.”
 
“See what your impatience leads to? Now we have to walk all the way
back.”
 
“I don’t think so. Let’s just keep going, and maybe we’ll get there
soon. Besides, it’s getting dark.”

After thirty minutes, they stop once more to rest.

“See? I was prepared this time,” she proudly produces a variety of
fruit and wrapped rice. “I’ll share with you just this once because I’m a
generous person.”
 
He simply responds, “Thank you. We should hurry and keep moving along.”

Darkness is now wrapped all around them. Their only source of light is
a small flashlight Phu brought.
 
“Are we ever going to get there?” she grumbles.

“Do you need to rest again?”

“Here in the dark? No thanks. Hey, what’s that over there?” Light is
seen glinting and highlighting the distant treetops. “That must be the
village.” Relieved, Roong eagerly keeps walking, though Phu is on alert.
 
“What are they doing…” They peek from the trees and see several
bonfires lit in the clearing beyond the woods. “Some kind of festival?” she
guesses, hearing music and laughter.
 
“Who’s there?” A voice calls out towards them. Two men holding torches
approach Roong and Phu. “Who are you two?”
 
Roong greets them respectfully, “Hello. We came from the town and found
ourselves here at your village. We’ve never been here before, so I’m sorry if
we’re intruding on your event.”
 
“It’s fine, we’re not people that turn away travelers. Tonight is our
celebration. Since you’re here already, you’re both welcome to stay and join
us.”
 
“This way,” the other man invited. “My name is Tao. This is Nai.”
 
“Nice to meet you, and thank you for your hospitality. My name is
Roong.”
 
“I’m Phu.”
 
“Welcome to R~~~. We hope you have fun with us tonight.”
 
Tao and Nai introduce them to some of the other villagers, who
graciously offer food and drink, and talk to them while they watch the dancers
and musicians.
 
“So what are you all celebrating?” Roong asks.

“It’s our annual summer celebration,” Nai explains. “We always hold
this event to share our bounty with everyone and wish each other well for the
upcoming harvests.”

“I like this,” Roong says, clasping her hands excitedly, “It’s like at
my home. We celebrate each year’s success with a big family gathering and all
the farm workers are invited. Each year has its own fun memories.”
 
“Well, since you’re both still young, you’ll have plenty of time to make more memories.”

“What do you mean?” Roong asks.

“Don’t you two have…” he points back and forth between her and Phu.
 
“Have what?” Roong is a little slower to understand his insinuation
than Phu, who rubs his neck silently.
 
“You and Phu,” Tao says, “are a couple, right?”
 
“W-what? What makes you think that?” Roong asks.
 
“Well…the way you’re sitting close like that.”
 
That fact pointed out, Roong and Phu realize their legs are touching,
and quickly slide a little farther from each other.
 
“It’s not like that,” Roong stammers, “Look, everyone else is sitting
close together too.”
 
“Ooh,” Tao says, “Sorry for misunderstanding.”
 
Roong turns to talk to Nai.
 
“Such an important celebration like this makes it better to be
surrounded by family, doesn’t it?” she admires the festive and affectionate
aura sparked around them.

Nai nods, “With all my brothers and sisters with me, my life is never
boring or worthless.”

“Speaking of this, I miss my family too.”

“Do you have a big family?”
 
“I’m an only child, but I have four cousins that I see regularly and
all my aunts and uncles. My grandparents spoil me also,” she hugs herself
giddily, thinking of everyone. “I wonder how everyone’s doing. I had a
disagreement with my father before I left. It’s still not resolved yet,” she
admits.
 
“Parents can never stay mad at their children,” he assures her. “If you
haven’t done wrong, then you just go back and fix things up. If you’ve done
wrong, then you go back and apologize. Parents only want to know that they are
not disappointing their children.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s one of the most difficult things in the world, raising a
child. One can’t help questioning whether they are doing it right or not.”

“I think my parents are the best in the world,” Roong declares proudly.

Nai pats her head, “I hope you let them know that then.”
 
“I’m afraid my dad might…hate me for being disobedient. Do you think a
child like me is bad?”
 
Nai chuckles. “Everyone has a mind of their own, and a difference of
opinion doesn’t always mean that you are disobedient. It might be hard for your
father to accept, but that’s just because you’re growing up. I hope to have a
daughter half as brave as you one day. Your father will forgive you, trust me.”
 
Tao asks, “How about we all go up to join the dancing?”
 
Roong shakes her hand, “I don’t know how to move as graceful as the
dancers.”

“Right now is what they call freestyle,” Tao laughs, “You can dance
however you like. Everyone is a good dancer if they’re having fun with it.
Let’s go.” He tugs her up.

Roong’s hand reaches out and pulls Phu along with them. “Khun Roong,” he
protests.
 
“If I’m going to dance, then you’ll have to too, since you’re also a
guest here. Come on!”
 
All Phu’s life, he’s been taught to stand straight and still,
controlling all of his muscles; so right now, he can’t mimic the dancing at
all. He looks around at Tao and the others, but their body language is one
which he is quite illiterate with. He pleads, “Khun Roong, let me go sit.”

“No.” She bursts out laughing at his robotic moving. “You’re so stiff.
Loosen up a little.” She takes his hands and starts swinging them back and
forth, jumping up and down, ducking under his arms, and finally they’re both
spinning in circles. Breathless with laughter, they come to a halt, falling
into each other’s arms.
 
Roong teases, “I bet they’ve never seen you do that inside the palace.”

He shakes his head, still not caught up on his breath yet, but
forgetting to be too self-conscious.

“Uh…I think we can sit down now. We’ve done our part as guests.” Roong
slowly disengages from Phu, marching back to their seats with extra force in
her steps as if she’s trying to shake off her bashfulness.
 
Finally, Nai says, “Since it’s late already, you two should spend the
night here. I’ll have Tao send you back to town tomorrow morning.”

Roong and Phu nod, their eyes traveling towards each other and both
cease nodding at the same time. Roong stuffs more food in her mouth to avoid
talking.
 
Nai says, “Mom, do you have a spot for Roong and Phu to rest tonight?”

Nai’s mother leads them to one of the houses. “I hope you’ll be
comfortable here. We don’t have more modern lodgings, but everything is clean
and laid out with blankets.”
 
“Thank you so much,” Roong hugs her. Phu finds himself admiring the way
she made her way so easily into the people’s hearts. “Everything tonight was
perfect. I learned so much from the stories that Nai and Tao told me.”

“Yes dear. Now go on up with Phu.”

It isn’t until Nai’s mother left and she and Phu are inside that Roong
realizes that the house is a single room with a single bed. They exchange
awkward glances.
 
“Khun Roong, make yourself comfortable. I’ll go ask Tao if there’s
another place for me.”

“Don’t,” she says, “It’s fine.”
 
“But this isn’t appropriate.”
 
“Now’s not the time to worry about petty stuff like that. It’s not like
we’re strangers,” she reasons, “Plus, the others are probably tired and ready
to sleep already. Just stay here.”

“Then…I’ll—“
 
“Don’t tell me you’re going to go sleep outside on the grass,” she
quips at him.
 
He breathes a laugh. “No. I was planning on just resting on the floor.”

“Then,” she reaches on the bed, “take this.” She holds out the blanket.

“No, you use it,” he pushes it back.
 
Roong notices his hand touching hers. She and Phu fall silent once
more. She throws it at him abruptly. “Just do as I say. Sheesh, so disobedient.
What kind of soldier are you?” She hides her flustered face by quickly getting
into bed and turning away from him.

Half an hour later, when Phu hears her breathing regulate and grow
soft, he gets up and spreads the blanket over her. Before he comprehends what
she’s doing, Roong has yanked him down towards her, forcing him to sit at the
bed’s side.
 
“Teddy…I miss you…” she mumbles. She snuggles closer to him, clutching
his arm, and Phu shifts closer. A smile graces his lips for not expecting this.
 
------A/N
jjinxx
 

jjinxx

Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 11
 
Roong wakes up the next morning to the sound of wood being knocked. She
blinked her eyes flutteringly, sitting up and grimacing at finding out she yet
again held onto Phu while sleeping.

“Phu,” she calls softly, “get up.”

He stirs, yawning.

“I was wondering,” she cocks her head a little, “How do you wake up so
fast?”

“I had to practice a lot,” he explains sheepishly, never having
considered that other people found it strange, “I’m used to it. Shall we get
going?”

Roong and Phu are invited to join breakfast with Nai’s family.

“Here’s some food for your journey,” Nai offers them a cloth sack,
prepared after they all finish their morning meal.
 
“Thank you so much, p’Nai,” Roong smiles gratefully. “I had a great
time here.”
 
“If you come this way again in the future, be sure to stop by again,” he says.
 
“Thank you,” Phu reiterates.
 
 
Once they reach the town by car and exchange some words with Tao, Tao
pulls away back down the once unfamiliar road. Roong and Phu wave to his
distancing car.
 
Someone bumps into Roong.
 
“Excuse me.”
 
Roong recognizes the man—he’s the father that she saw beating the
little boy. “You…”
 
“You know me, girl? Should we go get acquainted?” he gives her a sleazy
smile, eyes shamelessly roaming down her body.
 
Roong’s hands scrunch into fists, but before she gets the chance to
avenge the little boy, Phu jerks the man away from her and punches him in the
face.
 
“Son of a—“ the man gets back up and grabs Phu by the shirt, “You
looking for trouble?”

Phu raises his hand again, and the man cowers away quickly.
 
“Phu!” Roong hisses, restraining him, “Don’t. Come on, let’s go.” She
tows him away from the man, who throws curses their way. “What the heck did you
go and get in my way for?” she demands.
 
“He doesn’t have the right to touch you,” Phu replies in irritation.
 
She narrows her gaze at him, “And what right do you have to protect me?
I can take care of myself.”
 
Phu fishes around for an answer, “I…I have the duty as your guard and
the person that Yot entrusted to look after you.”
 
She scoffs, “Someone was being high and mighty before, telling me to
not get involved in other people’s business.”

He stops walking suddenly.
 
“What now?” she nags.
 
“Uh…” he glances down, then at her again.
 
She follows the direction of his eyes, and quickly lets go of his hand.
“L-let’s get going. We’ll be late again.”
 
They get onto the train once more, and set off without any trouble.

Phu asks, “So where are we going now?”

“Before I return to the mountains, I want to go see…”
 
As the train nears its destination and slows, Roong sticks her head out
of the window, so thrilled by the sight of the ocean’s glittering blue
contrasting against the calm of the sky that a laugh bubbles out of her and is
carried away into the passing air. When the train comes to a stop she wastes no
time exiting and running out of the station, then crossing the street to the
beach.

The sound of her laughter dances with the sound of the sea, and she
flies across the sand with leaping steps. Phu shakes his hair out of his eyes,
all the better to watch the delight she’s displaying.

Roong kicks her shoes off and runs into the shallow waves. “Whooo!” 
Turning to see him staring at her, she calms down a little, though unable to
restrain her happiness.

“Phu! Have you ever seen the ocean before?”

“I have,” he answers.
 
How can he resist touching the water, she wonders. Roong slyly stops
smiling. “Come here.”
 
“What is it?”
 
She waves earnestly at him, “Come, Phu. I want to show you something I
saw in the water. I think it’s a fish.” Once Phu approaches close enough to the
water’s edge, she yanks him by the arm and pulls him into the water.
 
“Hey! Khun Roong!”

Roong splashes him, while he laughs and runs from her. “Where do you
think you’re going?” she gives chase after him. He stops suddenly, making her
run into him. “Oi! What are you doing?” Phu turns to him with a gleam of
mischief in his eye and starts splashing her, this time chasing her back.

“Enough, enough! I give up!” Out of breath, Roong drops onto the sand,
digging her feet in.

“Why did you want to come to the ocean?” Phu wonders to her.

“Because it’s beautiful. I’ve only been here twice before and I love
it! Also,” she smirks at him, “my mom told me that the first time she and dad
began their love seriously, they were by the sea. They didn’t even predict that
they were going to fall in love with each other, but things just went along
like that and before you know it, mom says she just knew dad was hers all
along. Sometimes she sulks at him, but I can tell she’s possessive of dad,”
Roong giggles. She sighs, “I miss them a lot.”
 
“So are you ready to go home?” he asks.

 
“Yeah.” She jumps to her feet, holding her hand out to him. Phu looks
at it, surprise written clearly on his face. “What are you waiting for? My
hand’s not on fire or anything.”

Phu clasps it and gets up. They share the beautiful ocean view
together.
 
 
To get to the nearest airport, Roong and Phu have to take the train
back to the big city.

That next day, when the train makes a stop back in P~~~~~~, Phu gets up
to go use the bathroom. While he’s gone, Roong stares down at her family photo.
“Very soon now, you’re all going to get to see me!” she whispers to herself,
just as excited to go home as she was when she set off on her journey. “Then
we’ll have lots of fun. And I hope…dad won’t stay mad at me.” She starts
doubting. “He wouldn’t hold a grudge would he? I’m his daughter, like Nai
said…” Roong gasps when the photo slips out of her hands and out the window.
Seeing it on the ground, Roong quickly gets off the train to go pick it up.

Retrieving it, she brushes it affectionately free of dirt, and turns to
go back in.

“Did you miss me?”
 
Roong freezes. “Stupid scumbag…” she mutters under her breath, seeing
it was the same old gang leader from before. And she can’t get past him to go
in and grab her gun.

“You’re dead meat this time,” he murderously cackles. “I’ll make you
pay for what you did.” He stealthily takes out a gun so that only she can see
it. “Come with me. And if you dare yell, I’ll just shoot you.”

She was just about to shout Phu’s name, but seeing the gun made the
name die in her throat.

“Get moving!”
 
He pushes her past other people, pressing the gun into her back. Roong
tries to stay calm as they walk, gripping her family photo for strength. Two
other thugs appear, behind the building where they arrive at. The leader grins
maliciously, eying Roong like a hyena. “Now is payback time, you little slut.”

She strikes out at him, punching him in the nose. Seeing the blood from
his face, he barks at his minions to grab her.

“STOP.”
 
He turns.
 
“Phu!” Roong struggles to throw off the ones who are holding her. Phu’s
there, he’s standing tall and pointing his gun at the guys.

“Let her go,” Phu orders.
 
“I don’t think so,” the leader also points his gun at him. “Put your
gun down, or she gets hurt.”
 
Phu’s jaw clenches furiously.
 
“You don’t believe me? Boys, go ahead.”
 
One of the guys slaps Roong
 
“Stop, stop!” Phu shouts. “I’ll do it! Don’t touch her!”
 
“Now you’re taking me seriously.”
 
Phu slowly lowers his gun, even though Roong yells at him not to. He
keeps his eyes on her, making sure none of them are doing anything to her. The
fear on her face is enough for him to let go of his gun completely. He doesn’t
want her to get hurt further.

“That’s it. Good boy.” The leader goes over and kicks Phu, but Phu
moves back. “If you don’t want her to get hurt, then stay still!”

Phu panics when the other guys tie Roong down. She kicks at one, but
the other one slaps her and punches her in the stomach. Phu doesn’t see the
plank swinging at him, and suddenly, stars swim in front of his vision, head
throbbing. The leader batters him again and again with the wooden plank.

“Phu!” Tears of frustration burn Roong’s eyes, as she uses all of her
strength to break free of her bonds. She kicks one of the guys again. When he
hits the ground, she rips one of her hands through the ropes and uses that
bleeding hand to snatch the gun that the guy dropped. “Stop it! I said STOP!”
she screams, pointing the weapon at the leader. Her aim is true, she knows she
won’t miss, but she can’t shoot just yet—not with Phu being on the receiving
end of the leader’s gun this time.
 
“Drop the gun, you hussy, or I’ll blow his brains out and then kill
you!”

“That’s my sister you’re threatening.”

The leader cries out with a bullet shot into his foot. He falls to the
ground in agony.

“P’Ton!” Roong can’t believe her eyes, as Ton, Mek and Yot come
forward, along with an unknown woman, all four of them holding their own
weapons. The other two thugs don’t dare make a move, being outnumbered,
allowing Ton and Yot to knock them down and start beating them.
 
Mek shouts, “Roong, come here! Quick!” Roong runs straight into his arms,
feeling her body shake while he holds her still. He makes her look up at him.
“You’re okay right?” Seeing traces of bruising on her face, he curls his lips
and goes over to kick the leader in the gut.
 
“Phu!” Roong looks over and finds the woman kneeling at his side and
examining his injuries.
 
“Up you get, p’Phu,” she assists Phu slowly to his feet. Phu presses a
hand to his head, blood crusting down his temple.
 
“Khun Roong…” he asks.

“Phu,” Roong approaches him, “Are you okay?” The hand she reaches up
with hesitates to touch him in case she hits an injury. She has never felt
herself tremble so much at the sight of the blood Phu lost.

He nods, “What about you? Are you…”

“Don’t worry. We need to get you to a hospital first. You don’t look so
good.”
 
He gives a crooked smile. “I’ve gotten worse than this before.”

Noi tsked, “Stop boasting. She’s right, you need to get patched up.”
 
“Yot,” Roong gasps, and throws her arms around her cousin’s shoulders.
 
“It’s okay. We’re here now…” He looks over her head at the woman, “Noi,
can you clean Phu up a bit?
 
Noi has already ripped the bottom of her blouse and reaches up to tie
it around Phu’s head.
 
“Roong!!” Ton shoves Yot aside and scoops her up. “We found you! We
found you!”

“Alright, alright, put her down before you squeeze the life out of
her,” Mek says. “We should go report to the local sheriff and then leave. We’re
going home.”

Home. The word runs like silk through Roong’s body. She’s going home
with her brothers and feels so grateful for their presence in her life. But as
she watches Noi shouldering some of Phu’s weight, she also feels a rushing
sense of gratitude for this stranger who has appeared in her life.
 
------
 
“What’s wrong?” Noi asks. The group of Adisuans and their two friends
are sitting in the airport, waiting for the call to board their plane. Seated
next to Phu, Noi noticed his fingers curled into a fist. “Are you in pain?”

He flexes his hand open. “No, I’m fine,” he assures her. Noi goes back
to flipping through the travel photo book that Roong lent to her. Phu
discretely glances at Roong, who is two seats away from him. Her cheek is
lightly bruised and the corner of her mouth bears a red cut. Looking at those
scars reminds Phu of the way those thugs abused her with no hesitance or
remorse.
 
“Phu, are you sure you’re okay?” Noi asks again, glancing down at his
hand that was once more clenched.

“Hm?” he averts his eyes from watching Mek gently examine Roong’s
bruise. “Oh, it’s nothing. I guess I’m feeling a little uncomfortable but I’ll
take some pain medications.”
 
“Phu,” Yot nods for him to follow him over to the side of the room.

“What is it, Yot?”
 
Yot pats his shoulder. “Thanks man, for everything you did. I can’t
imagine what might have happened, and I could have prevented this if only I
wasn’t so confident in myself.”

“Come on Yot,” Phu offers a smile, “Don’t blame yourself. Things are
settled now and your sister is going home. She’s safe with you now and that’s
all that matters. Don’t think too much about this and that.”

Yot sighs. “You’re right. But still, I can’t thank you enough. I’m
lucky that you’re my friend.”

Phu shakes his head, “That’s what friends are
for. Glad I could help. Come on.”
 
------A/N
 
jjinxx
 
@ImQueen: thanks!!!
 
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