Saeng Daet Lae Fon (complete)
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jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 7 Fill the Empty Corner
The engagement had barely ended and the next thing Yaya knew, there was some freakish agreement between the elders that she should move in to get to know her fiancé better. Though he disapproved of her rejection to learn the proper ways of a socialite her father had never punished her for her past misdemeanors. Yet, he had all but dumped her onto the doorstep of the Phraisong Residence, to be locked behind the barbed gates of freaking Nadech. Her father had said if she was going to blow a fuse in a house it might as well be her own.
“Feel free to roam the house and choose any room you’d like. Oh will show you around, I’m terribly sorry that I have to be at work.”
“It’s ok,” she replied weakly to Khun Norachai. “Thank you.”
“Mario.”
“Yes Uncle. See you tonight.”
Oh gave her a tour of the house. She vaguely recalled details from the night of Nadech’s birthday, but saw nothing special about it. Sure, it was beautiful, big, spacious, modernly decorated. But other than that, it was just a normal house with lonely corners and lifeless rooms.
“Now, over here—“
“What’s down this way?” Yaya asked, peering around a corner.
“Oh, that’s the third wing. We don’t use it.”
“Why not?”
“Nadech doesn’t…I mean, we just don’t usually have guests over often so there’s no point in making extra work for the maids. Besides, that wing wasn’t renovated with the rest of the house so it’s kind of old.”
She squinted at him. “You said Nadech doesn’t what?”
Oh searched for an explanation. “Uhhhh…he doesn’t want people in that wing. It’s sort of a sore topic. Hey, wait!”
Yaya bound down the hall and opened the first door she came to. A bathroom. She went on to the next. It opened into a wide room with a large window that also came with a window seat. “How neat! Hey, I like this room. I think I’ll make it my bedroom.”
Oh hurried in after her. “Yaya, you see, this place is kind of off limits.”
“Why? It’s not in use right? And Khun Norachai did say I could choose any room I like. Or is there a specific reason Nadech doesn’t want anyone here?”
“He’s not going to let you stay here.”
“Oh really?” That settled it for her. Yaya was going to stay in the room Nadech least wanted for her.
Oh didn’t have a choice but to give in, so he had the servants bring furniture in. She was left alone in her new bedroom. Yaya hadn’t quite recovered from her new surroundings so she felt rather desolate and all alone in this cursed house.
She grabbed a pillow and started whacking it around. “Why? I don’t want to be here!”
She paused, hearing voices coming closer. One of them she recognized belonging to the person who makes her blood boil.
“Why is she in there?”
The door flew open and Yaya threw the pillow with all her force. It hit the bull’s-eye, bouncing off the face of her fiancé. They glared at each other.
Oh came in as calm as if he were strolling through a park. It was a technique he’d acquired from Khun Norachai when dealing with a displeased Nadech. “Hey, Nadech.”
“Not this room.”
Yaya felt chilled by his voice. Although his eyes shot daggers at her, there was something different about the way he spoke those three words.
Shoving aside whatever she thought she might have heard, Yaya made a quick decision. She didn’t know why he was so upset yet again, but now that she had no choice but to stay, she was going to make this man realize it was a mistake to mess with her. And first off would be to annoy the hell out of him. He wanted her out of this room.
So she said, “Since my parents insist that I stay here, I will choose where I sleep.”
Nadech took a step towards her but Oh commanded, “Stop. She’s right. She is now also the owner of this house and can certainly choose something as simple as her own bedroom.”
“You know it’s not that simple,” Nadech growled. She raised her chin at him.
“I’m sorry but it’s Uncle’s orders. We can’t go against him,” there was a sharpness to Oh’s statement that he rarely used on his friend. “I have a meeting to go to. Uncle told me, and I quote, that he expects all of Yaya’s possessions organized and clean, so that she will not even imagine this place as anything other than her home.” He glanced to the servants, who all nodded.
Nadech knew that order was meant more for him than the servants. When Oh had gone, Nadech ordered, “Prepare a bed set and furniture for me.”
They left to carry out the directions.
Yaya eyed Nadech suspiciously. “There’s already furniture in here.”
He walked to a door in one of her walls. She hadn’t even noticed it before, so consumed by turmoil as she was. The plain door stood to her right. He rolled his eyes to her. “From now on, I will be sleeping on the other side.” He opened it and she looked into an empty room.
“These rooms are connected,” she stuttered.
“Yep. But if that’s not close enough for you,” he closed the distance between them until he looked directly down at her, “I can join you in here.”
Feeling claustrophobic suddenly, she backed off from him. “Don’t even say something crazy like that. And you can’t stay in that room!”
He scoffed. “You can get my father to answer to your spoils, but not me.” Nadech narrowed his eyes. “You thought you would challenge me to get me upset? Nice try. Looks like we’ll get plenty of opportunities to get to know each other…dear.”
As Nadech walked down the hall, he heard two doors slam. He knew Yaya would lock the doors, but it didn’t matter because he had the key to the connected door. Not that he would ever use it for anything other than to get back at her if she continued playing games with him.
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Yaya curled up on her window seat, pouting in frustration. Margie was on the phone with her. “It wasn’t bad enough I have to live with him, now I’m right next to him?!”
“Real smart Yaya. Although…” Margie laughed. “I think he moved next to because he likes you.”
“That’s impossible. He hates me as much as I hate him. If you had seen him, you’d know just how much hate was floating in the air at the time,” Yaya waved her hand in the air.
“You’re wrong. You didn’t see him during the engagement. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you while you were dancing with Mario. Nobody else dared to come ask you for a dance, not even Alex.”
Yaya frowned. “Really?”
“M-hm! Oooooh! And he kissed you—“
Yaya covered her other ear. “Don’t mention that! He was totally doing that just to get back at me because I threatened him.”
“Okay, fine. Believe what you want. I think he likes you. If you can’t stand him that much, just go stay in one of the other rooms.”
From her perch, she could see Nadech out on the lawn with Oh. She made faces at them. “I’m not going to surrender to him by changing rooms. That would make me the weak one.”
“He must have a serious reason to not want you in there.”
“It can’t be that big of a deal. I bet he just doesn’t want anyone going against him.”
Margie laughed evilly. “Well, he sure hasn’t had a full dose of you yet. Girl, do what you gotta do. You’re the owner of his beloved house now.”
Yaya smirked.
"You sure you want to stay in the third wing?"
"What choice do I have?" Nadech glanced up at the window where a figure he knew was sitting and perhaps cursing his guts into infinity. She wanted to push his buttons, well he would push right back. Hard.
Oh silently thought, 'Yep, I was right. This is the emergency you'll have a hard time overcoming. And it came in the form of one sassy babe.'
-------------
“I’m really sorry man. I’ll make it up to you guys when I get back. What would you and Yaya like as an engagement present?”
Nadech shook his head over the phone. “Don’t worry about it. Just take care of your people and take your time. I’ve got things covered here.”
“Thanks.” Mark ended the call and returned to the living room where Mint and her Auntie Sri were watching a lakorn. He could tell Mint was putting up a smile to keep Auntie happy, but she was in fact very worried.
When Mark had come to pick Mint up, he found her running to the door, her face stricken with anxiety. Auntie had fallen ill. They took her to the hospital but once she regained consciousness, she refused to stay longer than a night. So Mark promised Mint that he was going to help her watch and make sure Auntie was healthy before leaving.
“That Ken Theeradeth sure is a hottie.”
Mint laughed at her Aunt’s comment. “He doesn’t beat my guy though.”
“Why thank you dear,” Mark joined them on the couch.
“I was talking about Aum Atichart,” Mint teased.
Later, after Auntie fell asleep, Mint settled next to Mark and said, “I’m sorry you had to miss your friend’s engagement. You really didn’t have to stay.” She was eternally grateful to have had him that day though.
“Sweetie, don’t worry. They’ve still got the wedding in the future for us to attend. You just relax for a bit, alright?” He pecked the side of her head while praying that the two wouldn’t have to worry about any more problems. Mark wouldn’t be able bear anything happening to them.
Chapter 8 Mistaken Devil
Little Nadech hesitantly approached the door to the nursery. The memory of last night’s incident riddled his five year old mind with guilt. “Mama?”
The fragile form of Mrs. Phraisong turned. Though she was pale and small her smile grew strong at the sight of her eldest child. “Nadech, sweetie, come sit with mama.”
Nadech grew shy as he reached the luxurious crib. “Is she…okay?” he stuttered, unable to look at his mom.
She picked him up and sat him on her lap so he could peer into the crib where a six month old baby girl laid upon the silk. Nadech couldn’t help but sigh in relief. The last time he had leaned over her crib, he had accidentally dropped his sippy cut and the hot chocolate spilled out, scalding the baby girl's tiny hand.
“Your dad’s home. I’ll go greet him,” his mom said and left him beside the crib.
Nadech leaned as far as he could to reach his baby sister. “You’re okay, right?”
She slept on soundly, so he took it as a yes.
“I’m…I’m sorry. P’chai will never make you cry again. I’ll always take care of you, so don’t hate me, okay?”
Silence. Another yes.
Suddenly, he heard the door slam. It was his parents’ room, way down the hall, but he could hear the door anyhow. Nadech turned his attention back to the baby. “I promise.”
Nadech started awake, breathing hard. He felt a cold sweat coat his body, even though his room was the usual low temperature separate to the rest of the house. Peeling the covers back, he sat up and ran his hands through his hair. It was a night for him to endure a dismal past echoing off the walls of the room that haunted him.
Yaya woke up early in the morning to use the bathroom. The one bathroom in her wing was fortunately right next to her room. Not being much of a morning person, her eyes were still heavy with sleep as she finished her business. Yaya yawned while washing her hands and looked up in the mirror at the sound of something sliding. She whipped around and screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Will you be quiet?” Nadech asked, annoyed.
“You! What are you doing in my bathroom? Who told you you can come in here?”
“This isn’t your bathroom.”
“Yes it is!” She yelled, then quickly covered her eyes again, glimpsing Nadech half naked with only a towel covering his lower body.
“You’re mistaken. Your bedroom was never meant as a bedroom in the first place and this is not a personal bath. It’s here for anyone who needs it.”
“But right now it belongs to me!”
“Too bad. It’s the closest one to my room, so I’ll use it when I have to. You chose this so I don’t want to hear complaints. Are you done? I’d like to get dressed. Or do you want to watch?”
Yaya rushed out as he reached for the tuck in his towel. She was too cranky to go back to sleep. Her attempts to get back at him were not going well.
Nadech silently cursed for forgetting to lock the door. Before, he didn’t have to worry about these trivial things. He sighed.
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“I’m surprised. I didn’t think you were the type to go on a hunger strike.” Oh helped himself to a seat near the porch swing that Yaya was perched on, and stretched comfortably.
Yaya granted him a feeble smile. “I’m not. Just not that hungry.”
“Well I hope you gain back your appetite. Aunt Pam will have a fit if she finds out you’re not eating. And her feelings will be hurt if she thinks you don’t like her cooking.”
Yaya grimaced, looking down at her lap. “I’ll let her know it’s not that.”
Oh breathed in the misty air of a rainy day. “May I be frank with you? I know it isn’t my place to be sticking my nose in your business but since you are going to marry my friend…”
Yaya snorted at that. If she had been surprised that someone as laid back as Oh was truly a friend to Nadech, it was nothing compared to when she found out they actually lived together. How could he put up with someone so uptight? Oh wait, she should probably ask that out loud since she’d need all the survival advice there was.
Oh lifted a corner of his mouth in a knowing smile. “Yes, Nadech is my friend. And although I know the position you’re in feels pretty sucky, I can guarantee you that he’s really not such a bad guy.”
“Please, do tell me all about his hidden gentle soul. I’d hate to have confused him for the devil.”
Oh laughed. “Now come on, you can’t really think that badly of him. Why not give my buddy a chance?”
“Right, because he’s likes me sooo much.” Since he’d violated her eyes with his half-nakedness that morning, she hadn’t seen Nadech, which suited her perfectly fine because she’d rather not die from high blood pressure. The darn guy really had gone and moved into the room next to hers and for two nights she’d fallen into an edgy sleep. She didn’t fear he’d harass her. No, he was more likely to strangle her in her sleep.
“Remember, the point of this is that you two can learn more about each other. He’s actually a very accommodating person. You don’t know yet, but Nadech’s not the type to get worked up over anything. It’s just been stressful for him recently.”
Yaya didn’t really think he deserved sympathy when she was the one doing things against her choice.
“He seems like a stick about to snap in half if people just look at him.”
“He just takes a while to warm up to people. Also, Nadech can become very absorbed in work, I think it runs in his blood, and that’s mostly why he’s often introverted, but if you make the effort, I’m sure he’d open up to you. What?” She was looking at him like he was making some very bad joke. “Seriously. Trust me. If there’s anything you ever need, let him know. Nadech would never want to upset the woman who is his wife, which you will soon be.”
“And here I thought you were trying to comfort me.”
That made Oh roar with laughter, so that Yaya couldn’t help cracking a smile too, because his jolliness was that contagious. Once the giggles had subsided, he stood up wiping his eye. “You know, I’m really glad you’re here. We all are. You’re going to be good for Nadech.” She didn’t know what that meant and he didn’t explain. “Now, if you are determined to clash head to head with Nadech, I suggest you power up because that guy is a hundred times more obstinate than anyone you’ve met.” He bid her good bye to get to work.
Yaya’s stomach growled suddenly, and after being in the decent company of Oh, she decided he was right and she might as well go find something to eat.
Kim took a deep breath and willed herself to be strong. She had to be if she was going to help Nadech get out of this.
Kim had stayed over at the house of a friend of hers for the last few days because she hadn’t been ready to face Nadech’s fiancée moving into the house yet. But now she could not put off her plan any longer. She told herself that this was all for Nadech’s sake.
Yaya glanced up at the sound of the kitchen door. A very pretty girl in a school uniform who she didn’t know entered.
She stopped and asked, “Where is Aunt Pam?”
Yaya gulped down a mouthful of food. “She said she was heading out to talk to the gardener.”
“Oh.” A heartbeat of silence. “I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Kim.”
“You’re Oh’s sister.” She remembered him telling her. “Um, I’m—“
“Urassaya. You’re P’Nadech’s fiancée,” Kim said coolly.
“Please, call me Yaya and omit the description,” Yaya said.
Kim frowned slightly in confusion. Did Yaya not like Nadech?
“Would you like to join me?” Yaya motioned to the extravagant arrangement of food before her which Aunt Pam had very eagerly prepared for her. “It’s delicious, but I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of this myself.” To Yaya’s delight, Kim nodded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, are you around the house often? It’s just, I noticed the other three are at work a lot.”
“M-hm, I only have class three days a week.” Trying to remain polite, Kim said, “I was at a friend’s house, so excuse me for not welcoming you properly.”
“No way, that’s fine.” It wasn’t like Yaya had expected or wanted a grand welcoming. She really hoped she and Kim would get along because it would be so much more endurable if she had a friend here.
As they spent the afternoon together, Yaya couldn’t help feeling like Kim was being reserved in front of her. Or was she just a shy person? Still, Yaya was thankful to have someone to talk to. Somehow, their conversation turned to Nadech.
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the bathroom situation. P’Nadech rarely sleeps late, so he’ll be out of your way.” They were by the open window in the living room, and Kim had made them some tea.
Yaya groaned. “But still, I don’t want to share anything with him. I want to avoid him as much as possible.”
Steeling herself for her mission, Kim forced herself to say, “Honestly. I think you should really get to know P’Nadech. He’s—“
“Really not a bad guy. Oh told me.”
“Yes. P’Nadech is probably the nicest person in the world.”
Yaya looked doubtful.
“Wanna know something? P’Oh and I don’t have parents. And we’re not related to Uncle in any way.” Yaya sat forward. She’d always been curious about their relationship. “But once we came into this house, I never felt like anything was missing from my life again. And do you know who I have to thank for that? Nadech. He found us and begged his father to let us come with him. And his father loves us. Even though other people might see Nadech as an arrogant and detached man, I know that he inherited his father’s compassion.”
“That may be true, but it doesn’t dismiss the fact that we don’t like each other.”
“You can grow to like him, I know it. And it would be amazing if you took the first step.”
“Me?” Yaya nearly fell out of her seat at the suggestion. “No. Everything about that idea is wrong.”
“But P’Nadech is slow when it comes to women, if you don’t make the first move, you’ll never progress.” Kim stopped abruptly, seeing Yaya’s innocent smile. “Great, now you’re going to really not progress, aren’t you?”
“Look Kim, I get that Nadech is a person you respect. But,” Yaya made a face, “it’s asking too much of me to get along with him. He’s so…unlikeable.”
Kim sighed. This might be harder than she thought. Of course, Yaya wasn’t going to like P’Nadech if he acted so distant with her. She had to do something to make them get closer.
:fanfic:
------------- Author's note
Enjoy a double update!
jjinxx
The engagement had barely ended and the next thing Yaya knew, there was some freakish agreement between the elders that she should move in to get to know her fiancé better. Though he disapproved of her rejection to learn the proper ways of a socialite her father had never punished her for her past misdemeanors. Yet, he had all but dumped her onto the doorstep of the Phraisong Residence, to be locked behind the barbed gates of freaking Nadech. Her father had said if she was going to blow a fuse in a house it might as well be her own.
“Feel free to roam the house and choose any room you’d like. Oh will show you around, I’m terribly sorry that I have to be at work.”
“It’s ok,” she replied weakly to Khun Norachai. “Thank you.”
“Mario.”
“Yes Uncle. See you tonight.”
Oh gave her a tour of the house. She vaguely recalled details from the night of Nadech’s birthday, but saw nothing special about it. Sure, it was beautiful, big, spacious, modernly decorated. But other than that, it was just a normal house with lonely corners and lifeless rooms.
“Now, over here—“
“What’s down this way?” Yaya asked, peering around a corner.
“Oh, that’s the third wing. We don’t use it.”
“Why not?”
“Nadech doesn’t…I mean, we just don’t usually have guests over often so there’s no point in making extra work for the maids. Besides, that wing wasn’t renovated with the rest of the house so it’s kind of old.”
She squinted at him. “You said Nadech doesn’t what?”
Oh searched for an explanation. “Uhhhh…he doesn’t want people in that wing. It’s sort of a sore topic. Hey, wait!”
Yaya bound down the hall and opened the first door she came to. A bathroom. She went on to the next. It opened into a wide room with a large window that also came with a window seat. “How neat! Hey, I like this room. I think I’ll make it my bedroom.”
Oh hurried in after her. “Yaya, you see, this place is kind of off limits.”
“Why? It’s not in use right? And Khun Norachai did say I could choose any room I like. Or is there a specific reason Nadech doesn’t want anyone here?”
“He’s not going to let you stay here.”
“Oh really?” That settled it for her. Yaya was going to stay in the room Nadech least wanted for her.
Oh didn’t have a choice but to give in, so he had the servants bring furniture in. She was left alone in her new bedroom. Yaya hadn’t quite recovered from her new surroundings so she felt rather desolate and all alone in this cursed house.
She grabbed a pillow and started whacking it around. “Why? I don’t want to be here!”
She paused, hearing voices coming closer. One of them she recognized belonging to the person who makes her blood boil.
“Why is she in there?”
The door flew open and Yaya threw the pillow with all her force. It hit the bull’s-eye, bouncing off the face of her fiancé. They glared at each other.
Oh came in as calm as if he were strolling through a park. It was a technique he’d acquired from Khun Norachai when dealing with a displeased Nadech. “Hey, Nadech.”
“Not this room.”
Yaya felt chilled by his voice. Although his eyes shot daggers at her, there was something different about the way he spoke those three words.
Shoving aside whatever she thought she might have heard, Yaya made a quick decision. She didn’t know why he was so upset yet again, but now that she had no choice but to stay, she was going to make this man realize it was a mistake to mess with her. And first off would be to annoy the hell out of him. He wanted her out of this room.
So she said, “Since my parents insist that I stay here, I will choose where I sleep.”
Nadech took a step towards her but Oh commanded, “Stop. She’s right. She is now also the owner of this house and can certainly choose something as simple as her own bedroom.”
“You know it’s not that simple,” Nadech growled. She raised her chin at him.
“I’m sorry but it’s Uncle’s orders. We can’t go against him,” there was a sharpness to Oh’s statement that he rarely used on his friend. “I have a meeting to go to. Uncle told me, and I quote, that he expects all of Yaya’s possessions organized and clean, so that she will not even imagine this place as anything other than her home.” He glanced to the servants, who all nodded.
Nadech knew that order was meant more for him than the servants. When Oh had gone, Nadech ordered, “Prepare a bed set and furniture for me.”
They left to carry out the directions.
Yaya eyed Nadech suspiciously. “There’s already furniture in here.”
He walked to a door in one of her walls. She hadn’t even noticed it before, so consumed by turmoil as she was. The plain door stood to her right. He rolled his eyes to her. “From now on, I will be sleeping on the other side.” He opened it and she looked into an empty room.
“These rooms are connected,” she stuttered.
“Yep. But if that’s not close enough for you,” he closed the distance between them until he looked directly down at her, “I can join you in here.”
Feeling claustrophobic suddenly, she backed off from him. “Don’t even say something crazy like that. And you can’t stay in that room!”
He scoffed. “You can get my father to answer to your spoils, but not me.” Nadech narrowed his eyes. “You thought you would challenge me to get me upset? Nice try. Looks like we’ll get plenty of opportunities to get to know each other…dear.”
As Nadech walked down the hall, he heard two doors slam. He knew Yaya would lock the doors, but it didn’t matter because he had the key to the connected door. Not that he would ever use it for anything other than to get back at her if she continued playing games with him.
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Yaya curled up on her window seat, pouting in frustration. Margie was on the phone with her. “It wasn’t bad enough I have to live with him, now I’m right next to him?!”
“Real smart Yaya. Although…” Margie laughed. “I think he moved next to because he likes you.”
“That’s impossible. He hates me as much as I hate him. If you had seen him, you’d know just how much hate was floating in the air at the time,” Yaya waved her hand in the air.
“You’re wrong. You didn’t see him during the engagement. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you while you were dancing with Mario. Nobody else dared to come ask you for a dance, not even Alex.”
Yaya frowned. “Really?”
“M-hm! Oooooh! And he kissed you—“
Yaya covered her other ear. “Don’t mention that! He was totally doing that just to get back at me because I threatened him.”
“Okay, fine. Believe what you want. I think he likes you. If you can’t stand him that much, just go stay in one of the other rooms.”
From her perch, she could see Nadech out on the lawn with Oh. She made faces at them. “I’m not going to surrender to him by changing rooms. That would make me the weak one.”
“He must have a serious reason to not want you in there.”
“It can’t be that big of a deal. I bet he just doesn’t want anyone going against him.”
Margie laughed evilly. “Well, he sure hasn’t had a full dose of you yet. Girl, do what you gotta do. You’re the owner of his beloved house now.”
Yaya smirked.
"You sure you want to stay in the third wing?"
"What choice do I have?" Nadech glanced up at the window where a figure he knew was sitting and perhaps cursing his guts into infinity. She wanted to push his buttons, well he would push right back. Hard.
Oh silently thought, 'Yep, I was right. This is the emergency you'll have a hard time overcoming. And it came in the form of one sassy babe.'
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“I’m really sorry man. I’ll make it up to you guys when I get back. What would you and Yaya like as an engagement present?”
Nadech shook his head over the phone. “Don’t worry about it. Just take care of your people and take your time. I’ve got things covered here.”
“Thanks.” Mark ended the call and returned to the living room where Mint and her Auntie Sri were watching a lakorn. He could tell Mint was putting up a smile to keep Auntie happy, but she was in fact very worried.
When Mark had come to pick Mint up, he found her running to the door, her face stricken with anxiety. Auntie had fallen ill. They took her to the hospital but once she regained consciousness, she refused to stay longer than a night. So Mark promised Mint that he was going to help her watch and make sure Auntie was healthy before leaving.
“That Ken Theeradeth sure is a hottie.”
Mint laughed at her Aunt’s comment. “He doesn’t beat my guy though.”
“Why thank you dear,” Mark joined them on the couch.
“I was talking about Aum Atichart,” Mint teased.
Later, after Auntie fell asleep, Mint settled next to Mark and said, “I’m sorry you had to miss your friend’s engagement. You really didn’t have to stay.” She was eternally grateful to have had him that day though.
“Sweetie, don’t worry. They’ve still got the wedding in the future for us to attend. You just relax for a bit, alright?” He pecked the side of her head while praying that the two wouldn’t have to worry about any more problems. Mark wouldn’t be able bear anything happening to them.
Chapter 8 Mistaken Devil
Little Nadech hesitantly approached the door to the nursery. The memory of last night’s incident riddled his five year old mind with guilt. “Mama?”
The fragile form of Mrs. Phraisong turned. Though she was pale and small her smile grew strong at the sight of her eldest child. “Nadech, sweetie, come sit with mama.”
Nadech grew shy as he reached the luxurious crib. “Is she…okay?” he stuttered, unable to look at his mom.
She picked him up and sat him on her lap so he could peer into the crib where a six month old baby girl laid upon the silk. Nadech couldn’t help but sigh in relief. The last time he had leaned over her crib, he had accidentally dropped his sippy cut and the hot chocolate spilled out, scalding the baby girl's tiny hand.
“Your dad’s home. I’ll go greet him,” his mom said and left him beside the crib.
Nadech leaned as far as he could to reach his baby sister. “You’re okay, right?”
She slept on soundly, so he took it as a yes.
“I’m…I’m sorry. P’chai will never make you cry again. I’ll always take care of you, so don’t hate me, okay?”
Silence. Another yes.
Suddenly, he heard the door slam. It was his parents’ room, way down the hall, but he could hear the door anyhow. Nadech turned his attention back to the baby. “I promise.”
Nadech started awake, breathing hard. He felt a cold sweat coat his body, even though his room was the usual low temperature separate to the rest of the house. Peeling the covers back, he sat up and ran his hands through his hair. It was a night for him to endure a dismal past echoing off the walls of the room that haunted him.
Yaya woke up early in the morning to use the bathroom. The one bathroom in her wing was fortunately right next to her room. Not being much of a morning person, her eyes were still heavy with sleep as she finished her business. Yaya yawned while washing her hands and looked up in the mirror at the sound of something sliding. She whipped around and screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Will you be quiet?” Nadech asked, annoyed.
“You! What are you doing in my bathroom? Who told you you can come in here?”
“This isn’t your bathroom.”
“Yes it is!” She yelled, then quickly covered her eyes again, glimpsing Nadech half naked with only a towel covering his lower body.
“You’re mistaken. Your bedroom was never meant as a bedroom in the first place and this is not a personal bath. It’s here for anyone who needs it.”
“But right now it belongs to me!”
“Too bad. It’s the closest one to my room, so I’ll use it when I have to. You chose this so I don’t want to hear complaints. Are you done? I’d like to get dressed. Or do you want to watch?”
Yaya rushed out as he reached for the tuck in his towel. She was too cranky to go back to sleep. Her attempts to get back at him were not going well.
Nadech silently cursed for forgetting to lock the door. Before, he didn’t have to worry about these trivial things. He sighed.
-------------
“I’m surprised. I didn’t think you were the type to go on a hunger strike.” Oh helped himself to a seat near the porch swing that Yaya was perched on, and stretched comfortably.
Yaya granted him a feeble smile. “I’m not. Just not that hungry.”
“Well I hope you gain back your appetite. Aunt Pam will have a fit if she finds out you’re not eating. And her feelings will be hurt if she thinks you don’t like her cooking.”
Yaya grimaced, looking down at her lap. “I’ll let her know it’s not that.”
Oh breathed in the misty air of a rainy day. “May I be frank with you? I know it isn’t my place to be sticking my nose in your business but since you are going to marry my friend…”
Yaya snorted at that. If she had been surprised that someone as laid back as Oh was truly a friend to Nadech, it was nothing compared to when she found out they actually lived together. How could he put up with someone so uptight? Oh wait, she should probably ask that out loud since she’d need all the survival advice there was.
Oh lifted a corner of his mouth in a knowing smile. “Yes, Nadech is my friend. And although I know the position you’re in feels pretty sucky, I can guarantee you that he’s really not such a bad guy.”
“Please, do tell me all about his hidden gentle soul. I’d hate to have confused him for the devil.”
Oh laughed. “Now come on, you can’t really think that badly of him. Why not give my buddy a chance?”
“Right, because he’s likes me sooo much.” Since he’d violated her eyes with his half-nakedness that morning, she hadn’t seen Nadech, which suited her perfectly fine because she’d rather not die from high blood pressure. The darn guy really had gone and moved into the room next to hers and for two nights she’d fallen into an edgy sleep. She didn’t fear he’d harass her. No, he was more likely to strangle her in her sleep.
“Remember, the point of this is that you two can learn more about each other. He’s actually a very accommodating person. You don’t know yet, but Nadech’s not the type to get worked up over anything. It’s just been stressful for him recently.”
Yaya didn’t really think he deserved sympathy when she was the one doing things against her choice.
“He seems like a stick about to snap in half if people just look at him.”
“He just takes a while to warm up to people. Also, Nadech can become very absorbed in work, I think it runs in his blood, and that’s mostly why he’s often introverted, but if you make the effort, I’m sure he’d open up to you. What?” She was looking at him like he was making some very bad joke. “Seriously. Trust me. If there’s anything you ever need, let him know. Nadech would never want to upset the woman who is his wife, which you will soon be.”
“And here I thought you were trying to comfort me.”
That made Oh roar with laughter, so that Yaya couldn’t help cracking a smile too, because his jolliness was that contagious. Once the giggles had subsided, he stood up wiping his eye. “You know, I’m really glad you’re here. We all are. You’re going to be good for Nadech.” She didn’t know what that meant and he didn’t explain. “Now, if you are determined to clash head to head with Nadech, I suggest you power up because that guy is a hundred times more obstinate than anyone you’ve met.” He bid her good bye to get to work.
Yaya’s stomach growled suddenly, and after being in the decent company of Oh, she decided he was right and she might as well go find something to eat.
Kim took a deep breath and willed herself to be strong. She had to be if she was going to help Nadech get out of this.
Kim had stayed over at the house of a friend of hers for the last few days because she hadn’t been ready to face Nadech’s fiancée moving into the house yet. But now she could not put off her plan any longer. She told herself that this was all for Nadech’s sake.
Yaya glanced up at the sound of the kitchen door. A very pretty girl in a school uniform who she didn’t know entered.
She stopped and asked, “Where is Aunt Pam?”
Yaya gulped down a mouthful of food. “She said she was heading out to talk to the gardener.”
“Oh.” A heartbeat of silence. “I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Kim.”
“You’re Oh’s sister.” She remembered him telling her. “Um, I’m—“
“Urassaya. You’re P’Nadech’s fiancée,” Kim said coolly.
“Please, call me Yaya and omit the description,” Yaya said.
Kim frowned slightly in confusion. Did Yaya not like Nadech?
“Would you like to join me?” Yaya motioned to the extravagant arrangement of food before her which Aunt Pam had very eagerly prepared for her. “It’s delicious, but I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of this myself.” To Yaya’s delight, Kim nodded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, are you around the house often? It’s just, I noticed the other three are at work a lot.”
“M-hm, I only have class three days a week.” Trying to remain polite, Kim said, “I was at a friend’s house, so excuse me for not welcoming you properly.”
“No way, that’s fine.” It wasn’t like Yaya had expected or wanted a grand welcoming. She really hoped she and Kim would get along because it would be so much more endurable if she had a friend here.
As they spent the afternoon together, Yaya couldn’t help feeling like Kim was being reserved in front of her. Or was she just a shy person? Still, Yaya was thankful to have someone to talk to. Somehow, their conversation turned to Nadech.
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the bathroom situation. P’Nadech rarely sleeps late, so he’ll be out of your way.” They were by the open window in the living room, and Kim had made them some tea.
Yaya groaned. “But still, I don’t want to share anything with him. I want to avoid him as much as possible.”
Steeling herself for her mission, Kim forced herself to say, “Honestly. I think you should really get to know P’Nadech. He’s—“
“Really not a bad guy. Oh told me.”
“Yes. P’Nadech is probably the nicest person in the world.”
Yaya looked doubtful.
“Wanna know something? P’Oh and I don’t have parents. And we’re not related to Uncle in any way.” Yaya sat forward. She’d always been curious about their relationship. “But once we came into this house, I never felt like anything was missing from my life again. And do you know who I have to thank for that? Nadech. He found us and begged his father to let us come with him. And his father loves us. Even though other people might see Nadech as an arrogant and detached man, I know that he inherited his father’s compassion.”
“That may be true, but it doesn’t dismiss the fact that we don’t like each other.”
“You can grow to like him, I know it. And it would be amazing if you took the first step.”
“Me?” Yaya nearly fell out of her seat at the suggestion. “No. Everything about that idea is wrong.”
“But P’Nadech is slow when it comes to women, if you don’t make the first move, you’ll never progress.” Kim stopped abruptly, seeing Yaya’s innocent smile. “Great, now you’re going to really not progress, aren’t you?”
“Look Kim, I get that Nadech is a person you respect. But,” Yaya made a face, “it’s asking too much of me to get along with him. He’s so…unlikeable.”
Kim sighed. This might be harder than she thought. Of course, Yaya wasn’t going to like P’Nadech if he acted so distant with her. She had to do something to make them get closer.
:fanfic:
------------- Author's note
Enjoy a double update!
jjinxx
chubbycheeks
imma kick ur-ass-aya !
yay for double updates! 
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 9 Ladies Take Action
Yaya hummed a happy tune as she set the table for lunch the next day. “Auntie Pam, why did you bring an extra plate?”
“Because there’s three of you eating of course.”
Yaya looked up. “It’s just Kim and me today.”
“Yaya!” Kim entered the dining room, dragging Nadech by the arm. “Look who’s joining us.”
The smile slid off of Yaya’s face. She took a seat.
Kim grinned at Nadech and pulled him over to the seat next to Yaya. “Sit here.”
“Kim!” Yaya objected but Nadech pulled out the chair and sat down.
“Let’s start. I’ll have to get back to work in an hour.”
“Okay! Here,” Kim dished some food onto his plate. “Yaya helped Auntie Pam cook specially for you.”
'What?' Yaya mouthed to her.
“So you have to eat a lot,” Kim continued.
While Kim chattered away to both of them, Yaya and Nadech ate quietly. Yaya smiled and nodded, trying to pay attention. She had gotten used to not having Nadech around so it felt strange having her fiancé sit near her like this. Plus she was still grumpy about their bathroom situation.
Nadech took a sip of water and Kim said, “P’Nadech, have a bit more. Just a bit more ok?”
“I’m getting full.”
Kim voiced Yaya’s disbelief. “You hardly ate. You know this isn’t good for you.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not letting Nok take you back to work until you eat more. How about half of what’s left? Okay? Pleeeaaase?” She made a pleading gesture.
“Fine,” he agreed without much fuss.
Yaya watched and got the feeling that this was a regular scene between them. They seemed close. Here with Nadech, all of Kim’s reservations were down. She smiled more easily around him and her eyes sparkled.
When they were done, Kim asked, “Was lunch good? How was the first time eating your future wife’s cooking?”
Again, Yaya had no idea what Kim was trying to do. Even though Kim was a willing companion, when Yaya talked with her, there was definitely a line Kim didn’t want her to cross. So why was she acting like Yaya was a close friend she was setting Nadech up with?
And it was more than a bit of a stretch to say she’d prepared the food. The only thing Yaya had trusted herself to do was toss the salad. She hadn’t even cut the vegetables because she was slow and they came out uneven and ugly so she stopped and simply handed utensils to Kim and Auntie Pam.
“It was edible,” Nadech answered.
Edible? Yaya was about to tell him off for being so rude about Auntie Pam and Kim’s hard work, but Kim spoke up. “I’ll walk you out okay?” She motioned to Yaya that she’d be back.
“P’Nadech, I think you should try to come home for lunch every day,” Kim suggested as they got outside. “Yaya’s probably lonely always eating by herself and P’Oh and I can’t always be here.”
“I’m sure she would prefer not to see my face.”
“Aow, why would you say that? She’s your…fiancée,” Kim hesitated. “Um, it’d be mean of you to not pay attention to her.”
“She can have anything she wants, but I’m not going to spoil her. I’ll be home later.” Nadech have her head a pat.
Kim made a funny face. Did he even realize what he’d said?
“Don’t be mad at him,” Kim actually laughed hearing Yaya’s outrage at Nadech’s indifference to the food.
“He’s so rude! How can you put up with it?”
“It’s not like that. P’Nadech doesn’t intend to be mean. When it comes to food, he doesn’t have any interest in flavor or preference. The only thing he’s picky about is he can’t eat spicy things.”
“Then why did you make up all that about me making lunch for him? You know I can’t cook.”
“Now’s a good time to learn! Don’t you want to?”
Yaya admitted she did want to learn to cook, but not for the purpose of pleasing her fiancé. She wrinkled her nose. “What a boring life he has. He doesn’t like anything. He doesn’t feel anything.” Even when he was mad, he was so controlled it drove her mad.
“That’s not true. If you knew more, you’d realize P’Nadech has a lot of emotions held inside. It’s just too painful for him to reveal them.” Kim rubbed her hands. “Nevermind. You’ll find out eventually.”
Yaya didn’t understand what she meant. Pokerface Nadech had feelings?
“From now on, it will be your job to make sure he eats well. Understand?”
Seeing Kim so stern with her hands on her hips, Yaya could only nod. “Uh…is Nadech anorexic?”
“Of course not!” Kim was shocked by the suggestion. “Not liking food is different from people who starve themselves. P’Nadech knows nutrition is important for his health. All you have to do is remind him when he’s too focused on work.” She frowned. “I don’t know why P’Nadech seems so tired lately. He has dark circles under his eyes. I’ll tell Uncle he’s working too hard…”
While she stewed over Kim’s mysterious words, the memory of the engagement flashed in her eye, the moment when he’d kissed her while dancing. Yaya shivered. “What the heck was that for?! Ew, don’t remember that!” But it wasn’t so much that she’d been offended he’d kissed her. It was more her surprise at how gentle he was.
Just for a minute, Yaya allowed herself to question why he’d done that. Right away, she ruled out Margie’s theory that he liked her.
Kim had said Nadech found it a waste of time to look good for other people and he hadn’t gone out of his way to seem like the perfect fiancé, so Yaya guessed it was true to a point.
All he did every day was work, work, work, so Oh attended the social stuff most of the time and she could tell that even though he kept a low profile, it was more like he was avoiding society than trying to keep a clean image. Grudgingly, Yaya admitted they had one thing in common. But she reminded herself that she was definitely not Nadech’s type, if indeed he had a type at all, so it was impossible for him to have acted out of feelings. But some of his actions were so uncharacteristic that they seemed impulsive. Like when he’d tied her bow for her. And when he came to her aid that day with Yuke.
“Hm, that kind of uptight guy would probably like someone prim and proper like Kim, who’s sweet and cute.” Judging from what she saw at breakfast, Kim appeared to enjoy taking care of him.
“Tch, he acts so obedient around her. No wonder she worships him. But he’s always bullying me…”
-------------
Nadech’s pen paused over the paper in front of him. He continued writing for a few minutes and read the work documents. Nadech sighed as more noise interrupted his train of thought. He got up from his desk.
“Urassaya.” He called from their door. He doubted she could hear him, so he unlocked the door and went in. A large screen TV was playing a horror movie that blared loudly.
“Please turn that down.” At once he knew it was pointless since the volume was so high he could barely hear himself.
Yaya sat balled up on the sofa, hugging her knees and munching on some chips as the movie played. Oh boy, here comes a scary part. You could always tell because the movie character would be walking alone and then she would stop and a shadow grew from behind the character.
“Turn it down,” came a voice right next to Yaya’s ear. She was so startled that she jumped up and began beating the monster.
“Augh!” Yaya grabbed the bowl of chips and dumped it onto him and would have done a lot more damage but he stopped her before she could hit him with the ceramic bowl.
“Stop,” he commanded.
Yaya gulped. He looked pissed off…which had been her objective but seeing it in reality was kind of scary.
Nadech leaned down until their faces were an inch apart. Instead of retaliating, he just reached for the remote and turned down the volume. “Why are you watching this now?”
“Uh…it’s a habit. I like watching movies late at night.” She turned back to the screen innocently. “So, you know, I’ll probably be watching movies often around this time. If it bothers you, you should go back to your old room.”
Nadech had his tongue in his cheek, hearing her not so subtle plan. “It doesn’t bother me. But don’t you think you’re disturbing the others?”
“Hey, I made sure I wouldn’t. Oh and Kim aren’t home tonight and Uncle sleeps too far away to hear. I only made it loud enough to…I mean, it’s really fun watching movies like this.” She glanced over her shoulder as he brushed chip crumbs off his sleeves. “You can go back to your room now. I’ll try to keep it down.”
Instead, Nadech rounded the sofa and sat at the other end. “I think I could use a break from work.”
“You were working?” she gaped.
“Is the movie good?”
“It’s alright.”
“Can’t be bad if you’re staying up this late to watch it. I’ll join you. We can have some bonding time.”
“What?” She hadn’t planned on having him stay! “Aren’t you tired? Don’t you have to go to work early?”
“Shh.” Nadech sat back comfortably with his feet stretched out on the couch.
Yaya shook her fist at him. Great.
While the movie played, Nadech peeked over at Yaya who yawned, blinking back sleep. He smiled.
Probably because he’d been waking up in the middle of the night for the last few days, Nadech’s mind grew conscious. He realized the TV was still on so he turned off all the electronics. By the light of a single lamp, his eyes fell on Yaya and an unexpected peace settled in his heart at the sight of her slumber. He carefully lifted her and carried her to her bed.
Nadech repressed his guilt at forcing her to endure this. But even if she hated him now, even if they stayed strangers forever, he had resolved from the beginning to never do anything to hurt her. Of course, he didn’t tell this to her. What would she care about his promises when he had messed up her life? When her existence had forced him to it? The only thing he could do was to take care of her to the best of his abilities. Even if she did test his patience often.
Nadech looked over the room. It looked completely different. The crib was gone and so was the rocking chair and random toys. It had once echoed with laughter and twinkling children’s music. The sudden memories tensed his spine, and he quickly strode back to his side where the air conditioning threw relief over him.
-------------Author's note
Lalala...
jjinxx
Yaya hummed a happy tune as she set the table for lunch the next day. “Auntie Pam, why did you bring an extra plate?”
“Because there’s three of you eating of course.”
Yaya looked up. “It’s just Kim and me today.”
“Yaya!” Kim entered the dining room, dragging Nadech by the arm. “Look who’s joining us.”
The smile slid off of Yaya’s face. She took a seat.
Kim grinned at Nadech and pulled him over to the seat next to Yaya. “Sit here.”
“Kim!” Yaya objected but Nadech pulled out the chair and sat down.
“Let’s start. I’ll have to get back to work in an hour.”
“Okay! Here,” Kim dished some food onto his plate. “Yaya helped Auntie Pam cook specially for you.”
'What?' Yaya mouthed to her.
“So you have to eat a lot,” Kim continued.
While Kim chattered away to both of them, Yaya and Nadech ate quietly. Yaya smiled and nodded, trying to pay attention. She had gotten used to not having Nadech around so it felt strange having her fiancé sit near her like this. Plus she was still grumpy about their bathroom situation.
Nadech took a sip of water and Kim said, “P’Nadech, have a bit more. Just a bit more ok?”
“I’m getting full.”
Kim voiced Yaya’s disbelief. “You hardly ate. You know this isn’t good for you.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not letting Nok take you back to work until you eat more. How about half of what’s left? Okay? Pleeeaaase?” She made a pleading gesture.
“Fine,” he agreed without much fuss.
Yaya watched and got the feeling that this was a regular scene between them. They seemed close. Here with Nadech, all of Kim’s reservations were down. She smiled more easily around him and her eyes sparkled.
When they were done, Kim asked, “Was lunch good? How was the first time eating your future wife’s cooking?”
Again, Yaya had no idea what Kim was trying to do. Even though Kim was a willing companion, when Yaya talked with her, there was definitely a line Kim didn’t want her to cross. So why was she acting like Yaya was a close friend she was setting Nadech up with?
And it was more than a bit of a stretch to say she’d prepared the food. The only thing Yaya had trusted herself to do was toss the salad. She hadn’t even cut the vegetables because she was slow and they came out uneven and ugly so she stopped and simply handed utensils to Kim and Auntie Pam.
“It was edible,” Nadech answered.
Edible? Yaya was about to tell him off for being so rude about Auntie Pam and Kim’s hard work, but Kim spoke up. “I’ll walk you out okay?” She motioned to Yaya that she’d be back.
“P’Nadech, I think you should try to come home for lunch every day,” Kim suggested as they got outside. “Yaya’s probably lonely always eating by herself and P’Oh and I can’t always be here.”
“I’m sure she would prefer not to see my face.”
“Aow, why would you say that? She’s your…fiancée,” Kim hesitated. “Um, it’d be mean of you to not pay attention to her.”
“She can have anything she wants, but I’m not going to spoil her. I’ll be home later.” Nadech have her head a pat.
Kim made a funny face. Did he even realize what he’d said?
“Don’t be mad at him,” Kim actually laughed hearing Yaya’s outrage at Nadech’s indifference to the food.
“He’s so rude! How can you put up with it?”
“It’s not like that. P’Nadech doesn’t intend to be mean. When it comes to food, he doesn’t have any interest in flavor or preference. The only thing he’s picky about is he can’t eat spicy things.”
“Then why did you make up all that about me making lunch for him? You know I can’t cook.”
“Now’s a good time to learn! Don’t you want to?”
Yaya admitted she did want to learn to cook, but not for the purpose of pleasing her fiancé. She wrinkled her nose. “What a boring life he has. He doesn’t like anything. He doesn’t feel anything.” Even when he was mad, he was so controlled it drove her mad.
“That’s not true. If you knew more, you’d realize P’Nadech has a lot of emotions held inside. It’s just too painful for him to reveal them.” Kim rubbed her hands. “Nevermind. You’ll find out eventually.”
Yaya didn’t understand what she meant. Pokerface Nadech had feelings?
“From now on, it will be your job to make sure he eats well. Understand?”
Seeing Kim so stern with her hands on her hips, Yaya could only nod. “Uh…is Nadech anorexic?”
“Of course not!” Kim was shocked by the suggestion. “Not liking food is different from people who starve themselves. P’Nadech knows nutrition is important for his health. All you have to do is remind him when he’s too focused on work.” She frowned. “I don’t know why P’Nadech seems so tired lately. He has dark circles under his eyes. I’ll tell Uncle he’s working too hard…”
While she stewed over Kim’s mysterious words, the memory of the engagement flashed in her eye, the moment when he’d kissed her while dancing. Yaya shivered. “What the heck was that for?! Ew, don’t remember that!” But it wasn’t so much that she’d been offended he’d kissed her. It was more her surprise at how gentle he was.
Just for a minute, Yaya allowed herself to question why he’d done that. Right away, she ruled out Margie’s theory that he liked her.
Kim had said Nadech found it a waste of time to look good for other people and he hadn’t gone out of his way to seem like the perfect fiancé, so Yaya guessed it was true to a point.
All he did every day was work, work, work, so Oh attended the social stuff most of the time and she could tell that even though he kept a low profile, it was more like he was avoiding society than trying to keep a clean image. Grudgingly, Yaya admitted they had one thing in common. But she reminded herself that she was definitely not Nadech’s type, if indeed he had a type at all, so it was impossible for him to have acted out of feelings. But some of his actions were so uncharacteristic that they seemed impulsive. Like when he’d tied her bow for her. And when he came to her aid that day with Yuke.
“Hm, that kind of uptight guy would probably like someone prim and proper like Kim, who’s sweet and cute.” Judging from what she saw at breakfast, Kim appeared to enjoy taking care of him.
“Tch, he acts so obedient around her. No wonder she worships him. But he’s always bullying me…”
-------------
Nadech’s pen paused over the paper in front of him. He continued writing for a few minutes and read the work documents. Nadech sighed as more noise interrupted his train of thought. He got up from his desk.
“Urassaya.” He called from their door. He doubted she could hear him, so he unlocked the door and went in. A large screen TV was playing a horror movie that blared loudly.
“Please turn that down.” At once he knew it was pointless since the volume was so high he could barely hear himself.
Yaya sat balled up on the sofa, hugging her knees and munching on some chips as the movie played. Oh boy, here comes a scary part. You could always tell because the movie character would be walking alone and then she would stop and a shadow grew from behind the character.
“Turn it down,” came a voice right next to Yaya’s ear. She was so startled that she jumped up and began beating the monster.
“Augh!” Yaya grabbed the bowl of chips and dumped it onto him and would have done a lot more damage but he stopped her before she could hit him with the ceramic bowl.
“Stop,” he commanded.
Yaya gulped. He looked pissed off…which had been her objective but seeing it in reality was kind of scary.
Nadech leaned down until their faces were an inch apart. Instead of retaliating, he just reached for the remote and turned down the volume. “Why are you watching this now?”
“Uh…it’s a habit. I like watching movies late at night.” She turned back to the screen innocently. “So, you know, I’ll probably be watching movies often around this time. If it bothers you, you should go back to your old room.”
Nadech had his tongue in his cheek, hearing her not so subtle plan. “It doesn’t bother me. But don’t you think you’re disturbing the others?”
“Hey, I made sure I wouldn’t. Oh and Kim aren’t home tonight and Uncle sleeps too far away to hear. I only made it loud enough to…I mean, it’s really fun watching movies like this.” She glanced over her shoulder as he brushed chip crumbs off his sleeves. “You can go back to your room now. I’ll try to keep it down.”
Instead, Nadech rounded the sofa and sat at the other end. “I think I could use a break from work.”
“You were working?” she gaped.
“Is the movie good?”
“It’s alright.”
“Can’t be bad if you’re staying up this late to watch it. I’ll join you. We can have some bonding time.”
“What?” She hadn’t planned on having him stay! “Aren’t you tired? Don’t you have to go to work early?”
“Shh.” Nadech sat back comfortably with his feet stretched out on the couch.
Yaya shook her fist at him. Great.
While the movie played, Nadech peeked over at Yaya who yawned, blinking back sleep. He smiled.
Probably because he’d been waking up in the middle of the night for the last few days, Nadech’s mind grew conscious. He realized the TV was still on so he turned off all the electronics. By the light of a single lamp, his eyes fell on Yaya and an unexpected peace settled in his heart at the sight of her slumber. He carefully lifted her and carried her to her bed.
Nadech repressed his guilt at forcing her to endure this. But even if she hated him now, even if they stayed strangers forever, he had resolved from the beginning to never do anything to hurt her. Of course, he didn’t tell this to her. What would she care about his promises when he had messed up her life? When her existence had forced him to it? The only thing he could do was to take care of her to the best of his abilities. Even if she did test his patience often.
Nadech looked over the room. It looked completely different. The crib was gone and so was the rocking chair and random toys. It had once echoed with laughter and twinkling children’s music. The sudden memories tensed his spine, and he quickly strode back to his side where the air conditioning threw relief over him.
-------------Author's note
Lalala...
jjinxx
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 10 Taste of Sorrow
“Mom! You’re here?” Yaya squeezed her mom in a big hug. She hesitated when she saw her dad, but missed him too much to resist a hug. “I missed you guys so much!”
Her mom patted her cheek. “Still miss us like a little kid. Good that Khun Norachai asked us to have dinner tonight.”
“What? Dinner?” Yaya’s face fell. Oh snap, why tonight of all nights?
“Come everyone. We can catch up over dinner. I hear Yaya helped prepared dinner for us tonight.”
“Really dear? Have you been learning to cook?”
Yaya laughed uneasily. “It’s not that easy. I just help Aunt Pam prepare the ingredients and…finishing touches. Come on Mom.”
At the table, her mom commented, “Dear, sit next to Nadech.”
Pouting, Yaya complained, “But I miss you. I want to sit next to you.”
“I don’t mind ma’am. I won’t miss her too much with just one meal without her by my side.”
Yaya glowered at him from across the table. He was really making her look bad here.
“Nadech, you look pale. Are you feeling ill?”
He looked up. “No, I’m fine.”
“Yaya, you should really make sure he stays healthy. It’s your responsibility now, you know.”
“Yes Mom…” she mumbled unwillingly.
Yaya tried to send signals to Auntie Pam not to give Nadech the dish she’d specifically prepared earlier, but Auntie Pam didn’t see her. Once the dishes were served, everyone dug in. The elders began their conversions. Yaya peeked across from her and watched Nadech chewing. She waited for a reaction but none came. Nadech took spoonfuls of food, one after another.
A bit disappointed, she wondered if she’d heard Kim wrong. Suddenly, a clatter of silverware rang through the room. Nadech stood up.
“Excuse me. I’m not very hungry right now. Please enjoy the rest of dinner.” He pushed past Oh, not minding their inquiries.
“What’s the matter? Maybe he’s not feeling well after all.” Her mom looked closer at the dish, then turned to frown sternly at Yaya. “Dear, what is this?”
“What is what Mom?”
“Nadech’s plate. His food has pepper in it.”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie. You said you handled the ingredients. Did you try to play a trick on him? My goodness, look at it.”
“It wasn’t really a trick.” Yaya grimaced at her parents who shook their heads disapprovingly. “I might have put in too much.”
Yaya sighed at the tray in her hands. Her mom had ordered her to bring normal food up to Nadech. “And don’t come down until he’s finished every grain of rice,” she mimicked.
Kim gave her an encouraging nod. “Good luck.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t you noticed how P’Nadech has such a small appetite?”
“I know you said he doesn’t have much preference. So he just doesn’t get hungry? At all?” But that explained why Kim had acted like a nanny to him.
Kim shrugged. “It’s like that. He eats at home because we set a regular meal time. I only have to worry when he drowns himself in work, then someone has to call him up to remind him. And importantly, he absolutely can’t handle pepper.” Kim couldn’t believe Yaya had used that small detail to play a trick on Nadech.
“Tch, like a stubborn child.” But Yaya was feeling more and more guilty. If this happened to be Nadech’s first meal today, his stomach was probably burning.
Yaya thought about knocking on his door but felt like that would lower her dignity. So instead, she entered through the connecting door. Her body tensed at the unnaturally cool room. Geez, was this where the cold that crept into her room came from? All this time she thought a window was loose.
She froze, seeing him sitting at his desk staring at her. He didn’t complain that she didn’t knock.
“Here. Mom made me bring you food.”
He didn't hesitate to say, “No thank you.”
“Look, she’s angry at me and said I was mean. I didn’t think you’d get so upset. You could have just asked for another serving. Now my mom made a big deal out of it.”
“You started it but you’re still blaming me? I tried to not make a big deal out of it by leaving.”
“And see how well that worked.” Yaya huffed and set the tray on the table. “Can you just finish this so I can leave? My mom’s serious when she said I can’t go back down until you’re done.”
“Tell her I’m not hungry.”
Drawing a deep breath to sustain her patience, Yaya held up a cup of milk. “Kim said you don’t like spicy food. Here.”
“I’m fine.” Nadech’s mouth was on fire but he didn’t hurry to breathe to relieve the burning, or do anything to show he was uncomfortable.
“Do you want me to apologize? I’m sorry. There, are you happy? Can you just finish the meal?”
“I said I don’t want it.”
Yaya gaped in bewilderment. “Why are you being so stubborn? And you ate more than just one bite, isn’t your mouth hot?” She was sure she’d put at least ten peppers in there. Even someone who was used to spicy food wouldn’t be able to hold up as long as he was. “Drink the milk, it’ll take away the burn and then you can eat the rest of the food.”
“I don’t have time to.”
He was thinking about work again? He really was a work maniac. Yaya looked around, and unable to find a clock, she grabbed his wrist.
He watched silently.
Yaya made a frustrated face. “Gosh, what’s with all these gadgets and buttons? Ugh, there.” She pushed his hand back at him. “I changed it. You now have time to finish dinner. Okay?”
Curiously, he glanced at the time. She’d turned it back an hour. “This is supposed to fool me into thinking I have a fake extra hour?”
“Now you have a fake extra forty five minutes.” She held the milk in front of him. “Don’t worry, I don’t use the same trick twice, and my mom even prepared this herself. Are you going to let it go to waste? Huh?”
When he refused, Yaya took the straw in the milk glass and stuck it into his mouth.
Surprised, he scowled at her.
“I’m not someone who has the patience to sweet-talk you into eating. You’re an adult now but you don’t even take care of yourself. Drink the milk,” she ordered fiercely. “Do you like wasting food? Don’t you know there are people out in the world who can’t even afford a cup of milk?”
Nadech stiffened at her words. They struck his heart where the constant worry about his little sister lived. He drank from the straw.
She thrust the spoon at him. “Now eat the food.”
With the spoon nearly taking his eyes out, Nadech had no choice but to take it and use it. He knew she wasn’t going to give up anyway.
While waiting for Nadech, Yaya peered around the room. It was bare, with minimal furniture, and a desk piled with papers. “Why is it so cold in here?”
She paced around but there wasn’t much to look at unless you were interested in architect and business papers. On his dresser bureau, she spied a picture frame. It held the image of three individuals. She recognized Nadech, Oh, and Kim. Pressed under the frame was another photo. Flipping it over, Yaya looked at a toddler girl resting in the lap of a woman.
“I’m done.”
She turned back. “Geez, you’re done already? You shouldn’t eat so fast or you’ll get sick.”
“I thought you wanted me to hurry so you could leave. Or did you want to spend more time with me?” his eyes glinted almost playfully.
Yaya nearly dropped the dishes. “Please. I just…didn’t want my mom to blame me if you got a stomachache or something. Hmph.”
When she was gone, Nadech patted his stomach. He had to admit, he’d been feeling weary that day. Now that he had a full meal, his head was a little clearer, and his body felt more grounded.
“I apologize for my daughter teasing Nadech,” Khun Arich said.
“Don’t worry about it. I know she means no harm.” Khun Norachai actually found it entertaining that she dared to play such a trick on his son.
“I hope Nadech won’t tire of her antics. He has a calm personality, that’s why I trusted that he would be able to handle Yaya.” Her father smiled. “I’ve spoiled her. I’ve always let her do what she wanted. I let her study abroad, I didn’t mind who she made friends with. She thinks I’m punishing her now. In fact, I love my daughter so much, and will always support her, no matter how crazy her ideas are. But I just want her to learn that she can’t always stand alone against society. They will judge her and she needs to learn that sometimes it’s best to move with the crowd so she won’t stand out and be judged by their heartless eyes.”
“The two kids actually have a lot in common. But yes, Nadech has learned to blend in.”
“Exactly. Nadech is one of the most capable and respectful men I’ve met. I know he’ll take care of Yaya well.”
-------------
“Oh?”
He held up a finger to ask for an extra second, then looked up from his book. “Yeah?”
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“When exactly did you and Kim come to live here?”
“Mm…probably when I was ten and Kim was around six.”
So the picture couldn’t be of Kim. The baby girl hadn’t looked like Kim either.
Yaya’s eyes gazed around the room, hesitant. “Nadech once said that my bedroom wasn’t initially a bedroom. Do you know what it was used for? And what about the room he uses now?”
Oh’s face grew grim. “Your room used to be a nursery.”
“His nursery?”
“His little sister’s. The one he sleeps in now was a playroom.”
That came as a shock. “He has a sister?”
The house had few pictures to indicate what the lives or personalities of its inhabitants were, unlike her parents’ home, where the walls and cases were adorned with childhood photos of Yaya and her parents and relatives. No wonder she hadn’t known.
“We don’t talk about her or…”
“Nadech’s mom?” she guessed. Oh nodded. “What happened to them? Are they…dead?” She had assumed that of Nadech’s mom.
Oh shook his head. “We don’t know.”
She couldn’t have heard a more unexpected reply. “What does that mean?”
“No one knows where they are now. They left when he was eight years old. His sister was only three and though I've never seen her, I know that he loved her very much.”
She swallowed back the heartache that caught her off guard hearing this for the first time.
He could tell she wanted to know more. “It feels wrong telling you a story that doesn’t belong to me. I think it’s enough for now for you to know that Nadech has two very important people who he has not once forgotten about, even though he has no idea where they are.” He didn't add that that was the reason Nadech didn't like anyone in the third wing. It wasn't her fault and she shouldn't have to feel guilty over it.
Nadech has a lot of emotions inside. It’s just too painful for him to reveal them.
This was what Kim meant? Yaya leaned her head against the glass, sitting on her window seat which had become her favorite spot. She glanced around the room and tried to imagine how it would have looked decorated for a baby girl. Would the walls have cartoon animals? Where did the crib stand? Did Nadech’s mom used to sit in here often, rocking her daughter to sleep while her son read a book at the same window seat she was on now?
Yaya brushed away a tear. “What the heck is this?”
She imagined her mom or dad getting lost somewhere she couldn’t find them, and years passing without a glimpse of them. The thought shook her. The sadness she felt didn’t make sense, because she honestly didn’t think she’d ever understand the pain, but simply imagining was bad enough. Was this why he had such a hard time letting this house go? After all, all he had left of them were memories. Anyone would cling to that with their last breath.
“No wonder Pokerface is so aloof. What in the present time can make up for the absence of people who are so important?”
Yaya took a deep breath, jumping to her feet. “That doesn’t give him an excuse to shut himself up in a dark world.”
Always having been a sucker for beings who were hurting, this news brought out the nurturer inside her. She was beginning to see that he was not such an empty shell after all. And she also began to see that this house was not a prized possession to Nadech, but perhaps more like a fortress of memories, with windows to his past. She couldn't believe she was thinking this, but for the first time since she'd met Nadech, Yaya found something good about being engaged to him, because at least one of them would be able to have emotional comfort from this house. His pain must make her breakup with Yuke seem like a pinch.
-------------Author's note
Oh gah, when i was editing this i kept thinking of Fai's: Sympathy is the root to love.
:whistle:
jjinxx
“Mom! You’re here?” Yaya squeezed her mom in a big hug. She hesitated when she saw her dad, but missed him too much to resist a hug. “I missed you guys so much!”
Her mom patted her cheek. “Still miss us like a little kid. Good that Khun Norachai asked us to have dinner tonight.”
“What? Dinner?” Yaya’s face fell. Oh snap, why tonight of all nights?
“Come everyone. We can catch up over dinner. I hear Yaya helped prepared dinner for us tonight.”
“Really dear? Have you been learning to cook?”
Yaya laughed uneasily. “It’s not that easy. I just help Aunt Pam prepare the ingredients and…finishing touches. Come on Mom.”
At the table, her mom commented, “Dear, sit next to Nadech.”
Pouting, Yaya complained, “But I miss you. I want to sit next to you.”
“I don’t mind ma’am. I won’t miss her too much with just one meal without her by my side.”
Yaya glowered at him from across the table. He was really making her look bad here.
“Nadech, you look pale. Are you feeling ill?”
He looked up. “No, I’m fine.”
“Yaya, you should really make sure he stays healthy. It’s your responsibility now, you know.”
“Yes Mom…” she mumbled unwillingly.
Yaya tried to send signals to Auntie Pam not to give Nadech the dish she’d specifically prepared earlier, but Auntie Pam didn’t see her. Once the dishes were served, everyone dug in. The elders began their conversions. Yaya peeked across from her and watched Nadech chewing. She waited for a reaction but none came. Nadech took spoonfuls of food, one after another.
A bit disappointed, she wondered if she’d heard Kim wrong. Suddenly, a clatter of silverware rang through the room. Nadech stood up.
“Excuse me. I’m not very hungry right now. Please enjoy the rest of dinner.” He pushed past Oh, not minding their inquiries.
“What’s the matter? Maybe he’s not feeling well after all.” Her mom looked closer at the dish, then turned to frown sternly at Yaya. “Dear, what is this?”
“What is what Mom?”
“Nadech’s plate. His food has pepper in it.”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie. You said you handled the ingredients. Did you try to play a trick on him? My goodness, look at it.”
“It wasn’t really a trick.” Yaya grimaced at her parents who shook their heads disapprovingly. “I might have put in too much.”
Yaya sighed at the tray in her hands. Her mom had ordered her to bring normal food up to Nadech. “And don’t come down until he’s finished every grain of rice,” she mimicked.
Kim gave her an encouraging nod. “Good luck.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t you noticed how P’Nadech has such a small appetite?”
“I know you said he doesn’t have much preference. So he just doesn’t get hungry? At all?” But that explained why Kim had acted like a nanny to him.
Kim shrugged. “It’s like that. He eats at home because we set a regular meal time. I only have to worry when he drowns himself in work, then someone has to call him up to remind him. And importantly, he absolutely can’t handle pepper.” Kim couldn’t believe Yaya had used that small detail to play a trick on Nadech.
“Tch, like a stubborn child.” But Yaya was feeling more and more guilty. If this happened to be Nadech’s first meal today, his stomach was probably burning.
Yaya thought about knocking on his door but felt like that would lower her dignity. So instead, she entered through the connecting door. Her body tensed at the unnaturally cool room. Geez, was this where the cold that crept into her room came from? All this time she thought a window was loose.
She froze, seeing him sitting at his desk staring at her. He didn’t complain that she didn’t knock.
“Here. Mom made me bring you food.”
He didn't hesitate to say, “No thank you.”
“Look, she’s angry at me and said I was mean. I didn’t think you’d get so upset. You could have just asked for another serving. Now my mom made a big deal out of it.”
“You started it but you’re still blaming me? I tried to not make a big deal out of it by leaving.”
“And see how well that worked.” Yaya huffed and set the tray on the table. “Can you just finish this so I can leave? My mom’s serious when she said I can’t go back down until you’re done.”
“Tell her I’m not hungry.”
Drawing a deep breath to sustain her patience, Yaya held up a cup of milk. “Kim said you don’t like spicy food. Here.”
“I’m fine.” Nadech’s mouth was on fire but he didn’t hurry to breathe to relieve the burning, or do anything to show he was uncomfortable.
“Do you want me to apologize? I’m sorry. There, are you happy? Can you just finish the meal?”
“I said I don’t want it.”
Yaya gaped in bewilderment. “Why are you being so stubborn? And you ate more than just one bite, isn’t your mouth hot?” She was sure she’d put at least ten peppers in there. Even someone who was used to spicy food wouldn’t be able to hold up as long as he was. “Drink the milk, it’ll take away the burn and then you can eat the rest of the food.”
“I don’t have time to.”
He was thinking about work again? He really was a work maniac. Yaya looked around, and unable to find a clock, she grabbed his wrist.
He watched silently.
Yaya made a frustrated face. “Gosh, what’s with all these gadgets and buttons? Ugh, there.” She pushed his hand back at him. “I changed it. You now have time to finish dinner. Okay?”
Curiously, he glanced at the time. She’d turned it back an hour. “This is supposed to fool me into thinking I have a fake extra hour?”
“Now you have a fake extra forty five minutes.” She held the milk in front of him. “Don’t worry, I don’t use the same trick twice, and my mom even prepared this herself. Are you going to let it go to waste? Huh?”
When he refused, Yaya took the straw in the milk glass and stuck it into his mouth.
Surprised, he scowled at her.
“I’m not someone who has the patience to sweet-talk you into eating. You’re an adult now but you don’t even take care of yourself. Drink the milk,” she ordered fiercely. “Do you like wasting food? Don’t you know there are people out in the world who can’t even afford a cup of milk?”
Nadech stiffened at her words. They struck his heart where the constant worry about his little sister lived. He drank from the straw.
She thrust the spoon at him. “Now eat the food.”
With the spoon nearly taking his eyes out, Nadech had no choice but to take it and use it. He knew she wasn’t going to give up anyway.
While waiting for Nadech, Yaya peered around the room. It was bare, with minimal furniture, and a desk piled with papers. “Why is it so cold in here?”
She paced around but there wasn’t much to look at unless you were interested in architect and business papers. On his dresser bureau, she spied a picture frame. It held the image of three individuals. She recognized Nadech, Oh, and Kim. Pressed under the frame was another photo. Flipping it over, Yaya looked at a toddler girl resting in the lap of a woman.
“I’m done.”
She turned back. “Geez, you’re done already? You shouldn’t eat so fast or you’ll get sick.”
“I thought you wanted me to hurry so you could leave. Or did you want to spend more time with me?” his eyes glinted almost playfully.
Yaya nearly dropped the dishes. “Please. I just…didn’t want my mom to blame me if you got a stomachache or something. Hmph.”
When she was gone, Nadech patted his stomach. He had to admit, he’d been feeling weary that day. Now that he had a full meal, his head was a little clearer, and his body felt more grounded.
“I apologize for my daughter teasing Nadech,” Khun Arich said.
“Don’t worry about it. I know she means no harm.” Khun Norachai actually found it entertaining that she dared to play such a trick on his son.
“I hope Nadech won’t tire of her antics. He has a calm personality, that’s why I trusted that he would be able to handle Yaya.” Her father smiled. “I’ve spoiled her. I’ve always let her do what she wanted. I let her study abroad, I didn’t mind who she made friends with. She thinks I’m punishing her now. In fact, I love my daughter so much, and will always support her, no matter how crazy her ideas are. But I just want her to learn that she can’t always stand alone against society. They will judge her and she needs to learn that sometimes it’s best to move with the crowd so she won’t stand out and be judged by their heartless eyes.”
“The two kids actually have a lot in common. But yes, Nadech has learned to blend in.”
“Exactly. Nadech is one of the most capable and respectful men I’ve met. I know he’ll take care of Yaya well.”
-------------
“Oh?”
He held up a finger to ask for an extra second, then looked up from his book. “Yeah?”
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“When exactly did you and Kim come to live here?”
“Mm…probably when I was ten and Kim was around six.”
So the picture couldn’t be of Kim. The baby girl hadn’t looked like Kim either.
Yaya’s eyes gazed around the room, hesitant. “Nadech once said that my bedroom wasn’t initially a bedroom. Do you know what it was used for? And what about the room he uses now?”
Oh’s face grew grim. “Your room used to be a nursery.”
“His nursery?”
“His little sister’s. The one he sleeps in now was a playroom.”
That came as a shock. “He has a sister?”
The house had few pictures to indicate what the lives or personalities of its inhabitants were, unlike her parents’ home, where the walls and cases were adorned with childhood photos of Yaya and her parents and relatives. No wonder she hadn’t known.
“We don’t talk about her or…”
“Nadech’s mom?” she guessed. Oh nodded. “What happened to them? Are they…dead?” She had assumed that of Nadech’s mom.
Oh shook his head. “We don’t know.”
She couldn’t have heard a more unexpected reply. “What does that mean?”
“No one knows where they are now. They left when he was eight years old. His sister was only three and though I've never seen her, I know that he loved her very much.”
She swallowed back the heartache that caught her off guard hearing this for the first time.
He could tell she wanted to know more. “It feels wrong telling you a story that doesn’t belong to me. I think it’s enough for now for you to know that Nadech has two very important people who he has not once forgotten about, even though he has no idea where they are.” He didn't add that that was the reason Nadech didn't like anyone in the third wing. It wasn't her fault and she shouldn't have to feel guilty over it.
Nadech has a lot of emotions inside. It’s just too painful for him to reveal them.
This was what Kim meant? Yaya leaned her head against the glass, sitting on her window seat which had become her favorite spot. She glanced around the room and tried to imagine how it would have looked decorated for a baby girl. Would the walls have cartoon animals? Where did the crib stand? Did Nadech’s mom used to sit in here often, rocking her daughter to sleep while her son read a book at the same window seat she was on now?
Yaya brushed away a tear. “What the heck is this?”
She imagined her mom or dad getting lost somewhere she couldn’t find them, and years passing without a glimpse of them. The thought shook her. The sadness she felt didn’t make sense, because she honestly didn’t think she’d ever understand the pain, but simply imagining was bad enough. Was this why he had such a hard time letting this house go? After all, all he had left of them were memories. Anyone would cling to that with their last breath.
“No wonder Pokerface is so aloof. What in the present time can make up for the absence of people who are so important?”
Yaya took a deep breath, jumping to her feet. “That doesn’t give him an excuse to shut himself up in a dark world.”
Always having been a sucker for beings who were hurting, this news brought out the nurturer inside her. She was beginning to see that he was not such an empty shell after all. And she also began to see that this house was not a prized possession to Nadech, but perhaps more like a fortress of memories, with windows to his past. She couldn't believe she was thinking this, but for the first time since she'd met Nadech, Yaya found something good about being engaged to him, because at least one of them would be able to have emotional comfort from this house. His pain must make her breakup with Yuke seem like a pinch.
-------------Author's note
Oh gah, when i was editing this i kept thinking of Fai's: Sympathy is the root to love.
:whistle:
jjinxx
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 11 Beginning of Beauty
“Good morning!”
Nadech quirked a brow over his newspaper at Yaya, who came in carrying a tray.
“Where’s Uncle?” Yaya asked.
“He left for an appointment.”
Yaya pushed food towards him. “Here, eat this. What are you waiting for?”
“My coffee.”
She shook her head. “I see you drink too much coffee. Have juice instead. It’s refreshing, so you don’t need caffeine.” She insisted by pointing at the orange juice-filled glass. Seeing Nadech’s steady eyes on her, Yaya straightened up and explained casually, “My mom said it’s my responsibility to, um…” Take care of him? Ha. “Uh, Kim wanted me to make sure you had a full breakfast, so you can’t refuse. You can take it up with her if you want but I’m not going to get scolded.”
Nadech considered refusing, but she didn’t usually get up this early and never was she this cheerful in his presence that he thought he might as well make her mood last in order to have peace of mind before heading to work. He could just get coffee once he reached the office.
And the tangy flavor of the juice wasn’t too bad.
Yaya chewed some bread and swallowed, then cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about what I did last night.”
“You already apologized.”
She considered that. It hadn’t been sincere the first time she said it, but she just shrugged. “Good point. Anyway, it’s just that I’ve been thinking that neither of us really had any choice in our current situation, so there’s no point in being enemies.” Never mind that it was mostly out of her own actions. “So can we…start over?”
A bit of orange juice went down the wrong tube. Nadech cleared his throat several times.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes.” He answered.
“So. Friends, what do you say?”
“I already answered you.”
“You said yes…” Yaya looked up. It was just like him to answer two questions with one word. “Oh. Okay then.” Satisfied, she sat back.
Nadech snapped his newspaper straight; it helped hide the corner of his lips tugging upward. At least until Yaya guilted him into eating a large bowl of porridge.
And so, trying to somewhat appease the past, it became Yaya’s official chore to feed Nadech, seeing as the company was facing a very busy time planning for the start of a new branch. But he wasn’t making things easy.
Kim and Yaya glanced at each other when they heard a stomach gurgle. Stopping herself from going to Nadech as she was tempted to, Kim elbowed Yaya softly and pointed her chin at him. Sighing, Yaya got up and went to interrupt his reading.
“You didn’t eat today, did you?”
“What? Yes I did.” He continued flipping through stacks of paper that were a foot tall.
Yaya sent Kim a flat stare. They both knew his definition of a meal was equal to just enough that hunger didn’t distract him from work. Kim waved her over and they went into the kitchen.
Grinding her teeth because she was trying to be nice, Yaya set a plate of fruit next to Nadech. “Since it’s late, you can just have this light snack. Don’t say a thing.” She ordered before he could protest.
Nadech stopped reading. “Are you trying to make me inhale the food?” She had forked a piece of fruit and shoved it at his face.
“Then use your mouth to eat it.” She was tired of his stubbornness, and also honestly a little worried with his eating habits—she expected him to knock out one of these days. That wouldn’t make her parents happy. “If you don’t finish this before bed, you’re going to be sorry.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
The next day was a full day of conference meetings.
“…The price has been settled on.”
“It hasn’t been purchased yet. We’re just waiting for the president’s approval. We’ve inspected every acre…”
The voices in the conference room went silent as a squeaking electronic voice rang out, “I’m hungry! I’m hungry! I’m hungry!”
Sitting still, Nadech waited for someone to turn it off. Then he lifted his eyes and quickly fished his cell phone out of his pocket, eyes widened in shock that the insolent noise was coming from it. He pursed his lips and jabbed the off button.
Oh and Mark caught each other’s eyes and looked away quickly. Other members of the board, however, were openly chuckling because never has their no-nonsense boss appeared as flustered as he’d been, if only for two seconds.
“Uh,” Mark spoke up for Nadech’s sake, “It appears to be lunch time. Sorry for keeping you all here so late. How about we take a one hour break and resume after you all get back? Thank you everybody.”
Nadech nodded to them. “Thank you. Go ahead.”
“Having a cute fiancée must be nice.”
“Ah, to be young and in love.”
“Did you ever imagine Khun Nadech engaged?”
“Leave him.” Mark stopped Oh from following Nadech, who disappeared out the door. “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”
Mark and Oh laughed over the interrupted meeting.
“I’ll bet you it was Yaya who did it. Kim would never dare do anything to bother the guy during work like that. Funny, it’s like watching fire edge toward water."
“Actually,” Oh paused and snorted. “It’s not that bad. Yaya’s putting up a fight but Nadech’s dealing well.”
“I think she’ll find out soon enough that he’s not easily provoked.”
“Oh I don’t know. Yaya’s not someone he can easily ignore either.” Oh held a smug suspicion that it wasn’t simply because they’re engaged. He’d been concerned that staying in the third wing would have a negative effect on Nadech, but seeing that Yaya was a healthy distraction for him, Oh stopped worrying. “Did I tell you what she did to Nadech this one time at dinner?”
After hearing the incident, Mark cracked up. “It would seem juvenile, but that’s just what Nadech needs. Some spice in his life.”
“Speaking of which, I notice you’re making frequent stops in a certain small town.” Oh eyed Mark in a knowing manner.
“You know what? I’m starting to get the feeling that a ring is appropriate.”
Oh’s jaw dropped. “No way! First Nadech and now you?”
“What can I say? It’s love. Next thing we know, you’ll be standing at the altar too.”
“Only if I’m gagged and chained up and dragged all the way there.” They laughed.
-------------
“Urassaya.”
His voice wasn’t raised but the severity of his tone stopped Yaya in her tracks. She turned to see a grim-faced Nadech standing with arms crossed at the back door. Lowering her camera, she cautiously approached the porch. “You’re back already?”
“Apparently I’m hungry,” he stated dryly.
Yaya pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh. She had waited for him to turn off his phone that morning, then snuck it from the table and set the alarm. After, she just prayed that no one would call him and ruin her plan.
“That was not funny.”
“Oh come on, I already warned you, so what else could I do? I bet you really did forget about lunch, didn’t you? And I bet the other people were grateful to take a break.”
His sideways glance gave him away. Taking a deep breath, Nadech said, “I’ll have lunch at home then, since I’m here.”
Yaya frowned. “But Auntie Pam isn’t home.”
“So what were you going to have?”
Nadech gingerly picked up the sandwich.
“This was my all time favorite when I was studying in the States. It’s easy to make and tastes good,” Yaya explained in between chewing.
He nibbled on it. Everything about the sandwich was sticky. The peanut butter. The jelly. But he somehow finished one after another. “What were you doing outside?”
“I was bored so I went for a walk and took my camera. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it since we…” she caught his eye. “Um, I’ve been wanting to take a look around the neighborhood.”
He looked at the camera. “You like photography?”
She nodded and grinned. “I love it. I like beautiful things, and I want to make them last.” She glanced at his skeptical face. “What? You don’t like it?”
He shrugged. “Beautiful things distract people.”
Slackjawed, Yaya shook her head. But what did she expect from someone so jaded? “But it’s not just that even. I remember the moment when I really got serious about photography. It was my grandfather’s favorite hobby too and one day, he drove me out to a construction site of a project he was working on. He was only visiting, so he took me around and we both had our cameras out. I couldn’t really find anything I liked about the site. It was boring and I thought it was weird that he was photographing so much of the unfinished building and the materials and machines. They didn’t look pretty at all. But later, he showed me a photo. It was a pile of scrap metal and pipes and at first I thought it looked like garbage. But once I really studied the picture, I realized he had captured the metal all twisted into this shape…” The memory produced a faint smile from her. “It looked like a flower. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect flower with colorful petals, but Grandpa pulled an unexpected splendor out from something that was so ordinary, something I had thought was ugly. Only someone as brilliant as Grandpa was could see it that way and then use light and angle to capture it for the eyes of others.”
She found Nadech watching her intently. “Anyway, it’s not just about pretty things. It’s about an individual’s perception of what is beautiful that might not be the same for everyone else.”
“May I see what you found today?”
Surprised, Yaya answered, “Sure,” and handed him the camera.
Scrolling through her digital camera, Nadech found that she took pictures of just about everything. Clouds floating in the sky. The thorny vines on their gates. The view of a tree from below. A crack in the road with a weed peeking out. A black bird taking flight from a streetlamp. The dewy tips of grass blades. Cherries scattered at a tree’s base. They went on and on. He cocked his head at one of a child playing with dirt.
“Hey, that one was at a playground. I didn’t think there would be one around here. The boy was with his dad and they even had a picnic basket. It was very cute. I remember doing that once with Y…”
This triggered a past scene, when she and Yuke had skipped a class and climbed a hill next to school. There, he laid out a blanket and served her some sandwiches and grape juice. The vision in her mind left her feeling a bit hollow. She hated that she missed him after what he’d done to her.
“Who were you with?”
“Never mind.”
But Nadech did have a guess in mind. And he didn’t like it. He pursed his lips. “I should head back. Thanks for lunch, Yaya.”
Yaya arched her eyebrow, because she realized his cool tone had been absent until now, but just replied, “You’re welcome.” She grabbed a tissue. “You have jelly on your face.”
Nadech glanced at the tissue, then at her. He leaned down. “Can you get it for me please?”
Her eyes grew round.
“Hurry. I don’t want to be late.”
Awkwardly, she dabbed away the stain at the corner of his mouth. It was then that she noticed the gentle curve of his lips and the slight pink color. They looked way too soft to be a guy’s. Pushing back her chair in alarm, she said, “Done!”
Yaya let out a breath to calm her heart once he was gone. “Okay, I did not just think that. My eyes were nowhere near his lips, and never will they be again.” Yeah.
As she cleared away the dishes herself, she realized they’d had a decent conversation today. Or, at least he had listened as she talked about something that actually meant something. And then her hands slowed when she also realized he called her Yaya instead of Urassaya. And then, she shook her head furiously to wipe away the smile that had grown on her face. But it was not as easy as the way Nadech had been able to wipe her mind and replace the Yuke memories with the image of his lips.
-------------Author's note
Happy Tuesday!
jjinxx
“Good morning!”
Nadech quirked a brow over his newspaper at Yaya, who came in carrying a tray.
“Where’s Uncle?” Yaya asked.
“He left for an appointment.”
Yaya pushed food towards him. “Here, eat this. What are you waiting for?”
“My coffee.”
She shook her head. “I see you drink too much coffee. Have juice instead. It’s refreshing, so you don’t need caffeine.” She insisted by pointing at the orange juice-filled glass. Seeing Nadech’s steady eyes on her, Yaya straightened up and explained casually, “My mom said it’s my responsibility to, um…” Take care of him? Ha. “Uh, Kim wanted me to make sure you had a full breakfast, so you can’t refuse. You can take it up with her if you want but I’m not going to get scolded.”
Nadech considered refusing, but she didn’t usually get up this early and never was she this cheerful in his presence that he thought he might as well make her mood last in order to have peace of mind before heading to work. He could just get coffee once he reached the office.
And the tangy flavor of the juice wasn’t too bad.
Yaya chewed some bread and swallowed, then cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about what I did last night.”
“You already apologized.”
She considered that. It hadn’t been sincere the first time she said it, but she just shrugged. “Good point. Anyway, it’s just that I’ve been thinking that neither of us really had any choice in our current situation, so there’s no point in being enemies.” Never mind that it was mostly out of her own actions. “So can we…start over?”
A bit of orange juice went down the wrong tube. Nadech cleared his throat several times.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes.” He answered.
“So. Friends, what do you say?”
“I already answered you.”
“You said yes…” Yaya looked up. It was just like him to answer two questions with one word. “Oh. Okay then.” Satisfied, she sat back.
Nadech snapped his newspaper straight; it helped hide the corner of his lips tugging upward. At least until Yaya guilted him into eating a large bowl of porridge.
And so, trying to somewhat appease the past, it became Yaya’s official chore to feed Nadech, seeing as the company was facing a very busy time planning for the start of a new branch. But he wasn’t making things easy.
Kim and Yaya glanced at each other when they heard a stomach gurgle. Stopping herself from going to Nadech as she was tempted to, Kim elbowed Yaya softly and pointed her chin at him. Sighing, Yaya got up and went to interrupt his reading.
“You didn’t eat today, did you?”
“What? Yes I did.” He continued flipping through stacks of paper that were a foot tall.
Yaya sent Kim a flat stare. They both knew his definition of a meal was equal to just enough that hunger didn’t distract him from work. Kim waved her over and they went into the kitchen.
Grinding her teeth because she was trying to be nice, Yaya set a plate of fruit next to Nadech. “Since it’s late, you can just have this light snack. Don’t say a thing.” She ordered before he could protest.
Nadech stopped reading. “Are you trying to make me inhale the food?” She had forked a piece of fruit and shoved it at his face.
“Then use your mouth to eat it.” She was tired of his stubbornness, and also honestly a little worried with his eating habits—she expected him to knock out one of these days. That wouldn’t make her parents happy. “If you don’t finish this before bed, you’re going to be sorry.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
The next day was a full day of conference meetings.
“…The price has been settled on.”
“It hasn’t been purchased yet. We’re just waiting for the president’s approval. We’ve inspected every acre…”
The voices in the conference room went silent as a squeaking electronic voice rang out, “I’m hungry! I’m hungry! I’m hungry!”
Sitting still, Nadech waited for someone to turn it off. Then he lifted his eyes and quickly fished his cell phone out of his pocket, eyes widened in shock that the insolent noise was coming from it. He pursed his lips and jabbed the off button.
Oh and Mark caught each other’s eyes and looked away quickly. Other members of the board, however, were openly chuckling because never has their no-nonsense boss appeared as flustered as he’d been, if only for two seconds.
“Uh,” Mark spoke up for Nadech’s sake, “It appears to be lunch time. Sorry for keeping you all here so late. How about we take a one hour break and resume after you all get back? Thank you everybody.”
Nadech nodded to them. “Thank you. Go ahead.”
“Having a cute fiancée must be nice.”
“Ah, to be young and in love.”
“Did you ever imagine Khun Nadech engaged?”
“Leave him.” Mark stopped Oh from following Nadech, who disappeared out the door. “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”
Mark and Oh laughed over the interrupted meeting.
“I’ll bet you it was Yaya who did it. Kim would never dare do anything to bother the guy during work like that. Funny, it’s like watching fire edge toward water."
“Actually,” Oh paused and snorted. “It’s not that bad. Yaya’s putting up a fight but Nadech’s dealing well.”
“I think she’ll find out soon enough that he’s not easily provoked.”
“Oh I don’t know. Yaya’s not someone he can easily ignore either.” Oh held a smug suspicion that it wasn’t simply because they’re engaged. He’d been concerned that staying in the third wing would have a negative effect on Nadech, but seeing that Yaya was a healthy distraction for him, Oh stopped worrying. “Did I tell you what she did to Nadech this one time at dinner?”
After hearing the incident, Mark cracked up. “It would seem juvenile, but that’s just what Nadech needs. Some spice in his life.”
“Speaking of which, I notice you’re making frequent stops in a certain small town.” Oh eyed Mark in a knowing manner.
“You know what? I’m starting to get the feeling that a ring is appropriate.”
Oh’s jaw dropped. “No way! First Nadech and now you?”
“What can I say? It’s love. Next thing we know, you’ll be standing at the altar too.”
“Only if I’m gagged and chained up and dragged all the way there.” They laughed.
-------------
“Urassaya.”
His voice wasn’t raised but the severity of his tone stopped Yaya in her tracks. She turned to see a grim-faced Nadech standing with arms crossed at the back door. Lowering her camera, she cautiously approached the porch. “You’re back already?”
“Apparently I’m hungry,” he stated dryly.
Yaya pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh. She had waited for him to turn off his phone that morning, then snuck it from the table and set the alarm. After, she just prayed that no one would call him and ruin her plan.
“That was not funny.”
“Oh come on, I already warned you, so what else could I do? I bet you really did forget about lunch, didn’t you? And I bet the other people were grateful to take a break.”
His sideways glance gave him away. Taking a deep breath, Nadech said, “I’ll have lunch at home then, since I’m here.”
Yaya frowned. “But Auntie Pam isn’t home.”
“So what were you going to have?”
Nadech gingerly picked up the sandwich.
“This was my all time favorite when I was studying in the States. It’s easy to make and tastes good,” Yaya explained in between chewing.
He nibbled on it. Everything about the sandwich was sticky. The peanut butter. The jelly. But he somehow finished one after another. “What were you doing outside?”
“I was bored so I went for a walk and took my camera. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it since we…” she caught his eye. “Um, I’ve been wanting to take a look around the neighborhood.”
He looked at the camera. “You like photography?”
She nodded and grinned. “I love it. I like beautiful things, and I want to make them last.” She glanced at his skeptical face. “What? You don’t like it?”
He shrugged. “Beautiful things distract people.”
Slackjawed, Yaya shook her head. But what did she expect from someone so jaded? “But it’s not just that even. I remember the moment when I really got serious about photography. It was my grandfather’s favorite hobby too and one day, he drove me out to a construction site of a project he was working on. He was only visiting, so he took me around and we both had our cameras out. I couldn’t really find anything I liked about the site. It was boring and I thought it was weird that he was photographing so much of the unfinished building and the materials and machines. They didn’t look pretty at all. But later, he showed me a photo. It was a pile of scrap metal and pipes and at first I thought it looked like garbage. But once I really studied the picture, I realized he had captured the metal all twisted into this shape…” The memory produced a faint smile from her. “It looked like a flower. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect flower with colorful petals, but Grandpa pulled an unexpected splendor out from something that was so ordinary, something I had thought was ugly. Only someone as brilliant as Grandpa was could see it that way and then use light and angle to capture it for the eyes of others.”
She found Nadech watching her intently. “Anyway, it’s not just about pretty things. It’s about an individual’s perception of what is beautiful that might not be the same for everyone else.”
“May I see what you found today?”
Surprised, Yaya answered, “Sure,” and handed him the camera.
Scrolling through her digital camera, Nadech found that she took pictures of just about everything. Clouds floating in the sky. The thorny vines on their gates. The view of a tree from below. A crack in the road with a weed peeking out. A black bird taking flight from a streetlamp. The dewy tips of grass blades. Cherries scattered at a tree’s base. They went on and on. He cocked his head at one of a child playing with dirt.
“Hey, that one was at a playground. I didn’t think there would be one around here. The boy was with his dad and they even had a picnic basket. It was very cute. I remember doing that once with Y…”
This triggered a past scene, when she and Yuke had skipped a class and climbed a hill next to school. There, he laid out a blanket and served her some sandwiches and grape juice. The vision in her mind left her feeling a bit hollow. She hated that she missed him after what he’d done to her.
“Who were you with?”
“Never mind.”
But Nadech did have a guess in mind. And he didn’t like it. He pursed his lips. “I should head back. Thanks for lunch, Yaya.”
Yaya arched her eyebrow, because she realized his cool tone had been absent until now, but just replied, “You’re welcome.” She grabbed a tissue. “You have jelly on your face.”
Nadech glanced at the tissue, then at her. He leaned down. “Can you get it for me please?”
Her eyes grew round.
“Hurry. I don’t want to be late.”
Awkwardly, she dabbed away the stain at the corner of his mouth. It was then that she noticed the gentle curve of his lips and the slight pink color. They looked way too soft to be a guy’s. Pushing back her chair in alarm, she said, “Done!”
Yaya let out a breath to calm her heart once he was gone. “Okay, I did not just think that. My eyes were nowhere near his lips, and never will they be again.” Yeah.
As she cleared away the dishes herself, she realized they’d had a decent conversation today. Or, at least he had listened as she talked about something that actually meant something. And then her hands slowed when she also realized he called her Yaya instead of Urassaya. And then, she shook her head furiously to wipe away the smile that had grown on her face. But it was not as easy as the way Nadech had been able to wipe her mind and replace the Yuke memories with the image of his lips.
-------------Author's note
Happy Tuesday!
jjinxx
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 12 Going Out
“Yaya?”
“Yes Margie.”
“So, like I was saying, I’m going to be at Jack’s party. You should go too. Just because you got a man now, doesn’t mean you should stop hanging out with your friends.”
Trying to pacify her, Yaya said, “Okay, sorry I haven’t been getting out. I guess I could visit P’Jack too. He might have something for me to work on. I’m bored of sitting around.”
“Cool beans!” Margie chirped. She swept her eyes around and noted how few personal items were around the house. “Kind of a secretive bunch aren’t they?”
“No, Uncle’s very nice and Oh and Kim are pretty cool.”
“I know Oh, he’s hard to miss.” Margie added cheekily, “Actually, your handsome fiancé’s hard to miss too. Do you need to ask permission from him first?”
“Of course not. He’ll probably be glad to have a night of peace.” Looking up, she saw that Nadech had appeared at the entrance to the living room. “You’re back.”
He came in and Yaya averted her eyes that had unconsciously sought out his forbidden lips. “Um…this is my friend—“
“Margie.” Margie stood. “Pleased to meet you, Khun Nadech.” He shook her proffered hand. “I hope you don’t mind my sudden visit.”
“Any friend of Yaya’s is welcome here. This is her home now.” He looked pointedly at Yaya.
“Thanks. I might as well take this opportunity to invite you to a party being held this weekend at my friend’s house. His name’s Jack Sirichon—you’ve probably heard of him. You should meet everyone since you’re Yaya’s fiancé.” Margie made an obvious effort to ignore the silent objections from Yaya.
But to Yaya’s relief, Nadech politely declined. “I’m afraid I’ve already made plans.”
Margie said, “Oh! Were you planning on being somewhere with Yaya?”
“No.” They both answered.
“Margie, I already told you I was free to go to the party,” Yaya said.
“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t intruding on your time together,” Margie explained.
Before Yaya could defend the incredibility of that idea, Nadech said, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want Yaya to miss out on her friends. Besides,” he pulled Yaya to his side and looked into her eyes, “once you get home, all I have to do is take three steps and I’m by your side, just like those lovely nights we spend together, right?”
Yaya’s late night movie “habit” had actually deteriorated after he joined her the first time. In fact, with Kim’s tyrannical orders for Yaya to keep up her job, she’d been going to sleep earlier. So right now, she could just strangle him until his soft curvy lips were blue for laying out false implications in front of Margie.
He continued, “So what is the party for?”
“Ah, it’s a for-fun thing preceding our next charity event. Yaya here has been one of our main photographers since high school.”
“Really? I thought she was talented the first time I saw her photographs but this is pretty amazing. If you guys ever need any help, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Yaya nodded and gave him a strained smile.
Margie grinned. “That would be great! Thank you so much.”
Turning back to Margie, Nadech’s eyes actually squinted in a small smile. “I just hope this Jack doesn’t have his eye on my lovely fiancée, or I might be forced to keep her home. You ladies have fun chatting. I’m going to put my things away.”
Yaya watched him leave the room with narrowed eyes and found Margie blinking at her with large eyes. “I hate him.”
Margie burst out laughing. “Before, I wouldn’t have questioned that. But he doesn’t seem so bad that even you would hate him.”
Yaya shook her head. Everyone seemed to fall for his gentleman side.
“What have you been keeping from me? I know you told me your rooms are close but what’s with all those ‘lovely nights’?”
“NOTHING. He was joking.” Which didn’t happen often.
“You know what, fine. I can wait.” Margie laughed again. “And maybe it’s a good thing Khun Nadech’s not going to be at the party. We both know Jack would have his eyes on Nadech more than on you.”
That was true and made Yaya giddy. Jack was into fashion and men. What was awesome about him was that he put together the most spectacular charity events and it was all due to his passion to help everyone, from animals to people. Being rich himself, he not only donated often, but had connections to high society individuals who helped to make their organization successful.
Yaya and Margie met him during high school and while traveling during college, the girls had stayed in contact with him since they had plenty of opportunities to participate in foreign charities and keep Jack up to date.
“Maybe we should get Nadech involved with the events. He’d be a major power endorser.”
“We don’t need him,” Yaya said.
“Well, I’m sure he’d be interested anyway. His father, Khun Norachai, donates regularly. I gotta go. I’ll see you later. You make sure to keep your honey happy, okay?”
“Would you like to go with me Kim?” Yaya asked. “Don’t be shy. They’re really nice people.”
Kim thought for a minute. She supposed this could be an opportunity to learn more about what Yaya likes. “Do you really have to go though?”
Yaya nodded. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, so I promised Margie that I would go. Why do you ask it like that?”
“Well, I just thought you might want Nadech to go along.”
“He said he has plans already.”
“Ah. That’s right, it’s almost the end of the month.”
Dusting the dirt from her hands after finishing planting seeds at the edge of her new garden, Yaya asked, “What’s at the end of the month?”
“P’Nadech visits the temple.”
That was news to her of course. “You don’t go with him?”
“P’Nadech likes going alone…I’ve made up my mind. I’ll go with you to meet with your friends.” Kim offered a smile that hid her deception.
She was glad to see that Yaya seemed to have softened somewhat towards Nadech, but not quite to the point where Kim wanted her to be. Too bad she couldn’t get Nadech to help put in more effort without her plan being exposed. So she’d have to rely on Yaya’s pity to jumpstart some deeper feelings for him. And once she was willing to do anything for her fiancé, that would be the time for Kim to show her how she was standing in the way of his happiness by keeping her presence in this house.
-------------
Nadech prayed and gave alms. One day out of every month, he allowed himself to forget about the demands of life. Here, during the last Saturdays, was where he could concentrate on silence, silence from the world and silence from his mind.
The day grew bright and gradually, the sun began to lower in the sky. Only then did he leave.
A yawn rose in him. Shaking his head lightly, Nadech ran into someone and landed on the ground.
“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
His eyes caught a flash of color beside him.
Mint waited for the man to say something, but he just stared at the woven garland of flowers.
“Did you make this?” he asked.
She glanced left and right. "Yes... Sir, are you alright?”
He then looked up. “Oh, yes, I’m fine.”
“Well, come on up. Wouldn’t want someone to come by and step on you.”
He accepted the hand she offered to help him up. “Thank you. Here.” He held out the flowers.
Mint smiled. “Do you like it?”
“It’s pretty. I haven’t seen anyone make these in a while.”
“You can have it then. Consider it my apology for carelessly walking into you.” Mint gave a single nod when he looked unsure. She checked her watch. “Well, have a nice evening.”
Mint met up with her Aunt and Mark. It was the death anniversary of her mom. Mark had joined the two ladies for the day and when they were done, he drove them back home. While Auntie took a nap in the back seat, Mark asked, “Mint, you said your mom was born in Bangkok?”
“That’s what Auntie tells me. She said that mom had requested to be buried in her home town too.”
Reaching across, Mark locked his hand with hers. He glanced down and smiled back at the road. He had found the perfect ring for that beautiful hand, silver studded with diamonds and sapphires. Today was a day of mournful remembrance for Mint. But soon, he would create a day of joyful remembrance for her when he gave her that ring.
-------------Author's note
Future guest appearances by Krerk Chiller, playing Jack Sirichon. Yes, he is gay again. I couldn't help it. I needed a gay character and P'Noo Tor was my go-to. Krerk is just too good at it.
jjinxx
“Yaya?”
“Yes Margie.”
“So, like I was saying, I’m going to be at Jack’s party. You should go too. Just because you got a man now, doesn’t mean you should stop hanging out with your friends.”
Trying to pacify her, Yaya said, “Okay, sorry I haven’t been getting out. I guess I could visit P’Jack too. He might have something for me to work on. I’m bored of sitting around.”
“Cool beans!” Margie chirped. She swept her eyes around and noted how few personal items were around the house. “Kind of a secretive bunch aren’t they?”
“No, Uncle’s very nice and Oh and Kim are pretty cool.”
“I know Oh, he’s hard to miss.” Margie added cheekily, “Actually, your handsome fiancé’s hard to miss too. Do you need to ask permission from him first?”
“Of course not. He’ll probably be glad to have a night of peace.” Looking up, she saw that Nadech had appeared at the entrance to the living room. “You’re back.”
He came in and Yaya averted her eyes that had unconsciously sought out his forbidden lips. “Um…this is my friend—“
“Margie.” Margie stood. “Pleased to meet you, Khun Nadech.” He shook her proffered hand. “I hope you don’t mind my sudden visit.”
“Any friend of Yaya’s is welcome here. This is her home now.” He looked pointedly at Yaya.
“Thanks. I might as well take this opportunity to invite you to a party being held this weekend at my friend’s house. His name’s Jack Sirichon—you’ve probably heard of him. You should meet everyone since you’re Yaya’s fiancé.” Margie made an obvious effort to ignore the silent objections from Yaya.
But to Yaya’s relief, Nadech politely declined. “I’m afraid I’ve already made plans.”
Margie said, “Oh! Were you planning on being somewhere with Yaya?”
“No.” They both answered.
“Margie, I already told you I was free to go to the party,” Yaya said.
“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t intruding on your time together,” Margie explained.
Before Yaya could defend the incredibility of that idea, Nadech said, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want Yaya to miss out on her friends. Besides,” he pulled Yaya to his side and looked into her eyes, “once you get home, all I have to do is take three steps and I’m by your side, just like those lovely nights we spend together, right?”
Yaya’s late night movie “habit” had actually deteriorated after he joined her the first time. In fact, with Kim’s tyrannical orders for Yaya to keep up her job, she’d been going to sleep earlier. So right now, she could just strangle him until his soft curvy lips were blue for laying out false implications in front of Margie.
He continued, “So what is the party for?”
“Ah, it’s a for-fun thing preceding our next charity event. Yaya here has been one of our main photographers since high school.”
“Really? I thought she was talented the first time I saw her photographs but this is pretty amazing. If you guys ever need any help, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Yaya nodded and gave him a strained smile.
Margie grinned. “That would be great! Thank you so much.”
Turning back to Margie, Nadech’s eyes actually squinted in a small smile. “I just hope this Jack doesn’t have his eye on my lovely fiancée, or I might be forced to keep her home. You ladies have fun chatting. I’m going to put my things away.”
Yaya watched him leave the room with narrowed eyes and found Margie blinking at her with large eyes. “I hate him.”
Margie burst out laughing. “Before, I wouldn’t have questioned that. But he doesn’t seem so bad that even you would hate him.”
Yaya shook her head. Everyone seemed to fall for his gentleman side.
“What have you been keeping from me? I know you told me your rooms are close but what’s with all those ‘lovely nights’?”
“NOTHING. He was joking.” Which didn’t happen often.
“You know what, fine. I can wait.” Margie laughed again. “And maybe it’s a good thing Khun Nadech’s not going to be at the party. We both know Jack would have his eyes on Nadech more than on you.”
That was true and made Yaya giddy. Jack was into fashion and men. What was awesome about him was that he put together the most spectacular charity events and it was all due to his passion to help everyone, from animals to people. Being rich himself, he not only donated often, but had connections to high society individuals who helped to make their organization successful.
Yaya and Margie met him during high school and while traveling during college, the girls had stayed in contact with him since they had plenty of opportunities to participate in foreign charities and keep Jack up to date.
“Maybe we should get Nadech involved with the events. He’d be a major power endorser.”
“We don’t need him,” Yaya said.
“Well, I’m sure he’d be interested anyway. His father, Khun Norachai, donates regularly. I gotta go. I’ll see you later. You make sure to keep your honey happy, okay?”
“Would you like to go with me Kim?” Yaya asked. “Don’t be shy. They’re really nice people.”
Kim thought for a minute. She supposed this could be an opportunity to learn more about what Yaya likes. “Do you really have to go though?”
Yaya nodded. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, so I promised Margie that I would go. Why do you ask it like that?”
“Well, I just thought you might want Nadech to go along.”
“He said he has plans already.”
“Ah. That’s right, it’s almost the end of the month.”
Dusting the dirt from her hands after finishing planting seeds at the edge of her new garden, Yaya asked, “What’s at the end of the month?”
“P’Nadech visits the temple.”
That was news to her of course. “You don’t go with him?”
“P’Nadech likes going alone…I’ve made up my mind. I’ll go with you to meet with your friends.” Kim offered a smile that hid her deception.
She was glad to see that Yaya seemed to have softened somewhat towards Nadech, but not quite to the point where Kim wanted her to be. Too bad she couldn’t get Nadech to help put in more effort without her plan being exposed. So she’d have to rely on Yaya’s pity to jumpstart some deeper feelings for him. And once she was willing to do anything for her fiancé, that would be the time for Kim to show her how she was standing in the way of his happiness by keeping her presence in this house.
-------------
Nadech prayed and gave alms. One day out of every month, he allowed himself to forget about the demands of life. Here, during the last Saturdays, was where he could concentrate on silence, silence from the world and silence from his mind.
The day grew bright and gradually, the sun began to lower in the sky. Only then did he leave.
A yawn rose in him. Shaking his head lightly, Nadech ran into someone and landed on the ground.
“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
His eyes caught a flash of color beside him.
Mint waited for the man to say something, but he just stared at the woven garland of flowers.
“Did you make this?” he asked.
She glanced left and right. "Yes... Sir, are you alright?”
He then looked up. “Oh, yes, I’m fine.”
“Well, come on up. Wouldn’t want someone to come by and step on you.”
He accepted the hand she offered to help him up. “Thank you. Here.” He held out the flowers.
Mint smiled. “Do you like it?”
“It’s pretty. I haven’t seen anyone make these in a while.”
“You can have it then. Consider it my apology for carelessly walking into you.” Mint gave a single nod when he looked unsure. She checked her watch. “Well, have a nice evening.”
Mint met up with her Aunt and Mark. It was the death anniversary of her mom. Mark had joined the two ladies for the day and when they were done, he drove them back home. While Auntie took a nap in the back seat, Mark asked, “Mint, you said your mom was born in Bangkok?”
“That’s what Auntie tells me. She said that mom had requested to be buried in her home town too.”
Reaching across, Mark locked his hand with hers. He glanced down and smiled back at the road. He had found the perfect ring for that beautiful hand, silver studded with diamonds and sapphires. Today was a day of mournful remembrance for Mint. But soon, he would create a day of joyful remembrance for her when he gave her that ring.
-------------Author's note
Future guest appearances by Krerk Chiller, playing Jack Sirichon. Yes, he is gay again. I couldn't help it. I needed a gay character and P'Noo Tor was my go-to. Krerk is just too good at it.
jjinxx
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 13 Sad Love Song
Arriving at the party, Yaya greeted Jack. Well, it was more like they squealed over each other until Yaya introduced Kim to Jack.
My, my, what a beauty she is! Jack exclaimed. Where do you get your hair done? Ive been searching for that color for ages!
Its her natural hair color, Yaya informed, and gave Kim a bare-with-it look.
Well, some people have all the luck. Get your pretty little heads inside and have some fun before we get down to business.
So you guys coordinate charity events? Kim asked.
Yep. PJack has at least two a year.
Kim looked around at the large party room, fashionably decorated but filled with people who looked quite normal. These are all your friends?
I know most of them. I dont really call those over there friends though. She nodded in the direction of a small group that was dressed in conventional brand names of the upper class.
Yaya might not see eye to eye with the arrogance of the rest of high society, but others, like Jack, knew when to stay on their good side, so he always made sure to invite a couple to keep them feeling important.
Margie sidled up to them, looking tense. Yaya, I think we should go outside.
But we just got here. Let us get some refreshments. Ah, by the way, this is Ohs sister, Kim.
Thats real nice but I really think we should go outside. Its quite stuffy dont you think? Margie started pushing them.
Yaya was about to ask what the problem was but her eyes caught him. He was walking towards themtowards herand she felt like deer frozen by headlights.
Through the engagement, moving into the Phraisong Residence, and trying to get along with Nadech, her mind had pushed Yuke into a far tiny box in her brain. And now, all those resisted thoughts were flooding her mind all over again. It was almost overwhelming.
Margie turned and stepped in front of Yaya just as Yuke reached them. What do you want? she demanded.
Yaya, I want to talk with you. His eyes didnt leave hers.
You have no right to ask anything from her!
I know. I just want to talk.
Its okay. Yaya assured Margie. Look after Kim for a bit, will you?
Who is he? Kim asked, though she felt like she knew.
A stupid prat. He was Yayas boyfriend and Im going to kill Jack for inviting him. We have plenty of people helping us and just because hes a good planner doesnt mean Jack needs him…
While Margie continued to mutter reasons to justify chopping Yukes head off, Kim struggled to solve this latest dilemma. This wasnt good. An ex-boyfriend could very easily become an obstacle between Yaya and Nadech.
Once they were alone, Yuke started talking right away. Yaya, Im so sorry. I never meant to hurt you
Dont worry, Ive gotten over it.
He shook his head. Dont tell me you really like being engaged. Ive known you long enough to know that you would hate an arranged marriage.
Who said it was arranged? When I found out we were getting engaged, I could barely wait to sign the marriage certificate. It wasnt completely true, but what the hell, she had made that mistake earlier on. And you dont get to talk about how well you know me. Because you left me.
And I cant begin to tell you how much I regret it.
What, you havent found the girl who can hold your hand in public with?
Yaya, I never stopped loving you.
Her heart clenched.
Im sorry for what I did. It was the most moronic, stupid, selfish thing ever. But I just…I wanted to scare you. I was getting so impatient about hiding our relationship that I thought if I scared you, you might go to your parents and declare that you want to be with me.
Did you want to be with me?
Yuke took her hands. Of course. Im telling you this because as idiotic as it was, I just couldnt bare being with you without your parents approval. But I know now that waiting for the right time is better than never being with you.
Why had he never given her encouragement by going to see her parents with her in person, but expected her to do all the work? You were right. We shouldnt have waited.
He smiled, but she continued. We should have ended things sooner.
What are you saying?
Im saying that maybe I put off telling my parents about us because I was afraid they wouldnt accept us. But maybe it was also because we arent meant to be. Look, I dont care what your social status is, I really dont. She pulled her hands from his grasp. But the fact that I hid you from my parents, and that you let me hide you from my parents, may mean that we didnt care enough to be together.
Thats not true! He hugged her. Can you really tell me you didnt love me? Huh?
No, she couldnt deny that. To her horror, tears were welling up in her eyes at the memory of being held by him like this.
Im sorry for hurting you! But I love you.
Yaya twisted away from him. Im engaged!
You dont love him! Thats why, no matter whose ring youre wearing right now, Im not letting you go again. Im not going to make the same mistake, Yuke declared determinedly. Im going to earn your forgiveness. You dont want me to wait? Thats fine. Ill go see your parents now and beg them
Just stop! Yaya yelled. Who do you think you are? You pinned the blame of having to wait on me, and now you think everything can go back to normal if you go and beg my parents? Its too late.
I know what I did was wrong and thats why Im trying to fix things.
Im engaged, she enunciated every syllable.
But you dont love him, Yuke repeated. Do you expect a marriage to last without love?
She almost laughed. You ended things at the moment when I needed you the most.
Yuke looked away in shame.
So dont tell me about what it takes to make a marriage last.
As she turned her back, Yuke said, Im not giving up.
Yaya reentered the party taking deep breaths.
There you are. Are you alright? Kim asked.
Yaya nodded. You know, I think we should head back early. I can get the details of the plans from Margie later. Have you seen her?
She left a while back to lecture Jack.
Yaya sighed. Im sorry for cutting this short.
Its fine. Do you want to go find Jack and Margie and tell them were leaving? Kim asked.
Sure.
Kim turned around and bumped into a woman. The woman narrowed her eyes at Kim. Kim raised a brow at her and was about to walk past.
Looks like ill-bred people lack manners also.
Yaya stopped Kim before speaking to the stranger. Excuse you. Dont talk about my friend that way.
Its fine Yaya. Kim recognized the woman now. It was Wannarot, more publicly known as View.
Its not fine. She shouldnt be so rude.
Your friend was in my way and nearly knocked me over, View accused.
Maybe its those tacky high heels that youre having trouble balancing in, Yaya said.
View took in Yayas jeans and blouse. Someone who dresses with as little taste as her low class pals shouldnt be commenting on fashion.
Someone with eyes in the front of her head shouldnt be blaming others over a small accident. Come on Kim, lets not waste our time.
Kim smirked a little, seeing View flush.
On their way home, Yaya apologized again. Sorry you had to meet such an unpleasant person. Jack usually invites a few of them because he needs people with influence who will promote the charities. I try to avoid them as much as possible, so I dont know who she was.
I understand. It was fine up until the end. Honestly, you were right, the people were all very nice.
Kim knew exactly who View was. The woman had been after Nadech since college and openly expressed hatred towards Kim, who everyone knew was not born into the same class as Nadech. But the fact that she was one of the few whom Nadech paid attention to had always infuriated View, especially since she thought herself to be above everyone else.
-------------
Nadech sighed and knocked on the connecting door. When there was no response, he called out, Im coming in.
Peering in, he found Yaya at her window seat with photo albums strewn around the floor. She was digging furiously into a bucket of ice cream and he realized she had her headphones in her ears. Nadech said her name again and she looked up.
Sorry, I knocked but you didnt answer.
Its fine. Did you need something? She turned off her ipod.
Father wanted me to tell you we are to attend a party next weekend.
Do we have to?
Its one of dads friends, so yes, we have to.
Ive had enough of people to last me a while.
He crossed his arms, seeing her grumpy face. It took him a minute to decide if he should ask but he did in the end. How was the party?
She didnt want to be reminded. Fine.
Kim said you left early.
She winced and stuffed more ice cream in her mouth. Nadech took the spoon out of her hand.
Give that back!
He dabbed a bit of the cold treat on his lips and tasted it, then rubbed his chin. Yep, tastes like sweet regret and bitter heartbreak.
How does he do that? How can he tell that she had been thinking about Yuke?
Yaya snatched back the spoon. Im not heart-broken.
Denial, he replied and gestured at her. Isnt this what girls do when theyre heart-broken? Sit and stare off into the distance while eating sweets and reminiscing over old pictures? Oh, and Im going to guess you were listening to a sad love song?
Ror by Potato, to be exact, because she wanted something angsty. Fuming, Yaya snapped, Fine, I was reminiscing. Do you have a problem with that?
Just dont let it show when were out in public together.
Oh I forgot that you dont like being asked personal questions. Ill help you avoid them by simply not going out with you at all then.
His eyes darkened. Are you sure its not because you dont want to be seen with me? Youre afraid itll get back to your ex?
Yeah, Im a completely inappropriate fiancée who will just humiliate you. Are you happy now?
Nadech returned to his room, fists clenched. He tried to concentrate on work but half of his mind kept wandering back to the room next door.
Why had he said that? Did he expect her to forget someone she dated so soon?
Nadech told himself it still didnt matter who she had feelings for as long as she didnt back out of this marriage. But when Kim had casually mentioned that Yaya had met her ex-boyfriend at the party, itd struck a nerve in him. Or rather, it had made his knuckle itch to punch the moron. Nadech still remembered the day his dad made him visit Yaya. He was only going to drop off the flowers, but when he found her in the garden listening to that jerk, Nadech nearly beat him to a pulp. It hadnt been any of his interest to interfere but no one deserved to have their heart walked all over like that, and he could tell Yaya had been trying to cover up that wound.
Nadech gave himself a mental kick for insensitively bringing up such a sore subject. She was sad enough without him making things worse.
-------------Author's note
:rain:
jjinxx
Arriving at the party, Yaya greeted Jack. Well, it was more like they squealed over each other until Yaya introduced Kim to Jack.
My, my, what a beauty she is! Jack exclaimed. Where do you get your hair done? Ive been searching for that color for ages!
Its her natural hair color, Yaya informed, and gave Kim a bare-with-it look.
Well, some people have all the luck. Get your pretty little heads inside and have some fun before we get down to business.
So you guys coordinate charity events? Kim asked.
Yep. PJack has at least two a year.
Kim looked around at the large party room, fashionably decorated but filled with people who looked quite normal. These are all your friends?
I know most of them. I dont really call those over there friends though. She nodded in the direction of a small group that was dressed in conventional brand names of the upper class.
Yaya might not see eye to eye with the arrogance of the rest of high society, but others, like Jack, knew when to stay on their good side, so he always made sure to invite a couple to keep them feeling important.
Margie sidled up to them, looking tense. Yaya, I think we should go outside.
But we just got here. Let us get some refreshments. Ah, by the way, this is Ohs sister, Kim.
Thats real nice but I really think we should go outside. Its quite stuffy dont you think? Margie started pushing them.
Yaya was about to ask what the problem was but her eyes caught him. He was walking towards themtowards herand she felt like deer frozen by headlights.
Through the engagement, moving into the Phraisong Residence, and trying to get along with Nadech, her mind had pushed Yuke into a far tiny box in her brain. And now, all those resisted thoughts were flooding her mind all over again. It was almost overwhelming.
Margie turned and stepped in front of Yaya just as Yuke reached them. What do you want? she demanded.
Yaya, I want to talk with you. His eyes didnt leave hers.
You have no right to ask anything from her!
I know. I just want to talk.
Its okay. Yaya assured Margie. Look after Kim for a bit, will you?
Who is he? Kim asked, though she felt like she knew.
A stupid prat. He was Yayas boyfriend and Im going to kill Jack for inviting him. We have plenty of people helping us and just because hes a good planner doesnt mean Jack needs him…
While Margie continued to mutter reasons to justify chopping Yukes head off, Kim struggled to solve this latest dilemma. This wasnt good. An ex-boyfriend could very easily become an obstacle between Yaya and Nadech.
Once they were alone, Yuke started talking right away. Yaya, Im so sorry. I never meant to hurt you
Dont worry, Ive gotten over it.
He shook his head. Dont tell me you really like being engaged. Ive known you long enough to know that you would hate an arranged marriage.
Who said it was arranged? When I found out we were getting engaged, I could barely wait to sign the marriage certificate. It wasnt completely true, but what the hell, she had made that mistake earlier on. And you dont get to talk about how well you know me. Because you left me.
And I cant begin to tell you how much I regret it.
What, you havent found the girl who can hold your hand in public with?
Yaya, I never stopped loving you.
Her heart clenched.
Im sorry for what I did. It was the most moronic, stupid, selfish thing ever. But I just…I wanted to scare you. I was getting so impatient about hiding our relationship that I thought if I scared you, you might go to your parents and declare that you want to be with me.
Did you want to be with me?
Yuke took her hands. Of course. Im telling you this because as idiotic as it was, I just couldnt bare being with you without your parents approval. But I know now that waiting for the right time is better than never being with you.
Why had he never given her encouragement by going to see her parents with her in person, but expected her to do all the work? You were right. We shouldnt have waited.
He smiled, but she continued. We should have ended things sooner.
What are you saying?
Im saying that maybe I put off telling my parents about us because I was afraid they wouldnt accept us. But maybe it was also because we arent meant to be. Look, I dont care what your social status is, I really dont. She pulled her hands from his grasp. But the fact that I hid you from my parents, and that you let me hide you from my parents, may mean that we didnt care enough to be together.
Thats not true! He hugged her. Can you really tell me you didnt love me? Huh?
No, she couldnt deny that. To her horror, tears were welling up in her eyes at the memory of being held by him like this.
Im sorry for hurting you! But I love you.
Yaya twisted away from him. Im engaged!
You dont love him! Thats why, no matter whose ring youre wearing right now, Im not letting you go again. Im not going to make the same mistake, Yuke declared determinedly. Im going to earn your forgiveness. You dont want me to wait? Thats fine. Ill go see your parents now and beg them
Just stop! Yaya yelled. Who do you think you are? You pinned the blame of having to wait on me, and now you think everything can go back to normal if you go and beg my parents? Its too late.
I know what I did was wrong and thats why Im trying to fix things.
Im engaged, she enunciated every syllable.
But you dont love him, Yuke repeated. Do you expect a marriage to last without love?
She almost laughed. You ended things at the moment when I needed you the most.
Yuke looked away in shame.
So dont tell me about what it takes to make a marriage last.
As she turned her back, Yuke said, Im not giving up.
Yaya reentered the party taking deep breaths.
There you are. Are you alright? Kim asked.
Yaya nodded. You know, I think we should head back early. I can get the details of the plans from Margie later. Have you seen her?
She left a while back to lecture Jack.
Yaya sighed. Im sorry for cutting this short.
Its fine. Do you want to go find Jack and Margie and tell them were leaving? Kim asked.
Sure.
Kim turned around and bumped into a woman. The woman narrowed her eyes at Kim. Kim raised a brow at her and was about to walk past.
Looks like ill-bred people lack manners also.
Yaya stopped Kim before speaking to the stranger. Excuse you. Dont talk about my friend that way.
Its fine Yaya. Kim recognized the woman now. It was Wannarot, more publicly known as View.
Its not fine. She shouldnt be so rude.
Your friend was in my way and nearly knocked me over, View accused.
Maybe its those tacky high heels that youre having trouble balancing in, Yaya said.
View took in Yayas jeans and blouse. Someone who dresses with as little taste as her low class pals shouldnt be commenting on fashion.
Someone with eyes in the front of her head shouldnt be blaming others over a small accident. Come on Kim, lets not waste our time.
Kim smirked a little, seeing View flush.
On their way home, Yaya apologized again. Sorry you had to meet such an unpleasant person. Jack usually invites a few of them because he needs people with influence who will promote the charities. I try to avoid them as much as possible, so I dont know who she was.
I understand. It was fine up until the end. Honestly, you were right, the people were all very nice.
Kim knew exactly who View was. The woman had been after Nadech since college and openly expressed hatred towards Kim, who everyone knew was not born into the same class as Nadech. But the fact that she was one of the few whom Nadech paid attention to had always infuriated View, especially since she thought herself to be above everyone else.
-------------
Nadech sighed and knocked on the connecting door. When there was no response, he called out, Im coming in.
Peering in, he found Yaya at her window seat with photo albums strewn around the floor. She was digging furiously into a bucket of ice cream and he realized she had her headphones in her ears. Nadech said her name again and she looked up.
Sorry, I knocked but you didnt answer.
Its fine. Did you need something? She turned off her ipod.
Father wanted me to tell you we are to attend a party next weekend.
Do we have to?
Its one of dads friends, so yes, we have to.
Ive had enough of people to last me a while.
He crossed his arms, seeing her grumpy face. It took him a minute to decide if he should ask but he did in the end. How was the party?
She didnt want to be reminded. Fine.
Kim said you left early.
She winced and stuffed more ice cream in her mouth. Nadech took the spoon out of her hand.
Give that back!
He dabbed a bit of the cold treat on his lips and tasted it, then rubbed his chin. Yep, tastes like sweet regret and bitter heartbreak.
How does he do that? How can he tell that she had been thinking about Yuke?
Yaya snatched back the spoon. Im not heart-broken.
Denial, he replied and gestured at her. Isnt this what girls do when theyre heart-broken? Sit and stare off into the distance while eating sweets and reminiscing over old pictures? Oh, and Im going to guess you were listening to a sad love song?
Ror by Potato, to be exact, because she wanted something angsty. Fuming, Yaya snapped, Fine, I was reminiscing. Do you have a problem with that?
Just dont let it show when were out in public together.
Oh I forgot that you dont like being asked personal questions. Ill help you avoid them by simply not going out with you at all then.
His eyes darkened. Are you sure its not because you dont want to be seen with me? Youre afraid itll get back to your ex?
Yeah, Im a completely inappropriate fiancée who will just humiliate you. Are you happy now?
Nadech returned to his room, fists clenched. He tried to concentrate on work but half of his mind kept wandering back to the room next door.
Why had he said that? Did he expect her to forget someone she dated so soon?
Nadech told himself it still didnt matter who she had feelings for as long as she didnt back out of this marriage. But when Kim had casually mentioned that Yaya had met her ex-boyfriend at the party, itd struck a nerve in him. Or rather, it had made his knuckle itch to punch the moron. Nadech still remembered the day his dad made him visit Yaya. He was only going to drop off the flowers, but when he found her in the garden listening to that jerk, Nadech nearly beat him to a pulp. It hadnt been any of his interest to interfere but no one deserved to have their heart walked all over like that, and he could tell Yaya had been trying to cover up that wound.
Nadech gave himself a mental kick for insensitively bringing up such a sore subject. She was sad enough without him making things worse.
-------------Author's note
:rain:
jjinxx
chubbycheeks
imma kick ur-ass-aya !
i'm loving every bit of this fanfic! thanks jjinxx!
orihime303
sarNie Hatchling
Keep up the good work! Plz update soon!DD :worthy:
DD :worthy:
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 14 The One
The next morning, Yaya didnt show up for breakfast. Nadech guessed she was still mad at him. Still, he stalled for a few minutes before driving to a meeting with Mark.
The afternoon wore on.
…the blueprints are being looked over for the last time by Khun Arich himself.
Mark glanced up at Nadech. He said, Why dont we take a break?
Sure. Nadech watched Mark check his phone and answer a text. So, Oh tells me youve found the one?
Mark snickered. Did he now? I guess hes got to be right at least once in his life.
So tell me about her.
She is sweet, kind, respectful, hard-working, cute…
Nadech smiled. He could tell Mark had been wanting to express all of this for some time now.
…passionate…
Yaya was a person filled with fierce emotion for everything around her.
…she can get sassy with you too…
Nadech remembered Yaya signing the marriage certificate on accident and he almost choked on a stifled laugh.
…beautiful…
Yaya was beautiful. It was why Nadech tried not to be around her so much.
…not to mention she throws a heavy punch.
Youve been on the receiving end of one of those before?
Huey, no way. Mark grinned. He liked receiving the kisses more.
Whats her name?
Mint.
I mean whats her actual name?
Mark shook his head. You know what your problem is? Youre too formal, and as a friend who has found his The One I dont want you calling her by anything other than Mint, because I want you all to become familiar with each other. In fact, Im going to introduce her to you and Yaya and everyone soon. Youre going to get to know her and youre going to love her.
So you love her then? Nadech asked, looking out the window.
Mark looked to the scenery outside his condo, and pointed with a finger out the window. Shes like my sunshine. I dont just love her, I know now that I need her. He shook with a little laugh. I would say she needs me too, but shes so strong, I feel like shell always survive even without me. Plus she would never rely on me entirely. She wouldnt even move in here and let me take care of her.
Its good that she wants to work. Women should have that chance to have something for themselves.
Anyway, has Yaya shown any interest in the company?
Nadech shook his head. Why would she?
You know, she majored in mass communication. You should encourage her to do more with it. Dont let her fade away alone at home. Mark stretched. Want to get something to eat?
Nadech said, I think we can stop here for today. I actually have something at home to check on.
Mark suspected that something was really a someone and wondered if she would ever be Nadechs The One.
-------------
Nadech stopped in the hall outside Yayas bedroom door.
Young master, Auntie Pam said. Khun Yaya isnt feeling well.
Frowning, Nadech knocked on the door and went in. Yaya?
Nearing her bed, his foot kicked something. It was a photo album, flipped open to a picture of Yaya and the other guy. They were kissing.
His attention drew away when he took in the sight of two empty ice cream buckets lying on the floor and raised his hands to his hips. For real?
Shut up, came a grouchy voice from a ball of blankets on Yayas bed, which melted into groans of pain.
Come on, take some medicine.
I cant, she whimpered and rolled up tighter. She so regretted eating all that ice cream on an empty stomach. Now it was experiencing icy cramps so she could barely even move. Yaya clutched her abdomen for another spasm when cool hands lifted her from her cocoon.
You have to drink medicine or else its not going away, he explained softly and motioned to Aunt Pam to bring the medicine.
Yaya nodded, so he helped her sit up more but suddenly, she lurched forward and threw up on her bed.
After he got a bit of calming drink into her, Nadech pulled the covers over Yaya, who was lying in his bed while her own was getting cleaned up. Immediately, she curled up again and he realized it was too cold in there for her. He went to the thermostat of the air conditioner and turned it off. It would take a while to warm the room up but Nadech had already sent Aunt Pam away and he didnt want to leave Yaya alone to go get blankets. So he slipped in between the sheets next to her. Sensing her shivers, he moved closer until she was against him and tucked her into his body.
…all your fault… He heard her mumble in her sleep.
Yaya watched as Yuke edged closer to the end of the cliff. Merciless, she raised her arm at him and yelled, Charge!
Her army of colorful snow cones and orange creamsicles attacked Yuke until he finally fell from the cliff and drowned in a sea of vanilla ice cream where vicious chunks of Oreos fought over his body.
Her triumphant laugh was cut off when a queasy sensation washed over her. Ugh! This is all your fault, idiot Yuke!
The pain raised her to a half conscious state where she thought she heard Nadechs voice. He said something, maybe it was two words, but before she could decipher them, the pain subsided. A surrounding warmth lulled her back to sleep.
But not before she turned herself over; as she wrapped an arm around Nadech, unfamiliar emotions wrapped around his heart. The feeling paralyzed him for a moment until he mentally shook it off. And then he was even more disturbed to feel the rage that urged him to hunt down and tear apart the fool who had broken the heart of the woman in his arms. Next thing he knew, he was inhaling the gentle fragrance of her body and it calmed him down so suddenly. All of it was very unsettling and new to him, so that Nadech was tempted to jump out of his bed if not for the one solid feeling that she needed him at the moment.
-------------
Yaya wanted to see her mom and have her stroke her hair again. But the very gentle tummy rub she was being given felt just as nice at the moment. She tried moving her fingers but felt a little weak. Realizing it was not her own hand on her stomach, Yaya opened her eyes and then recognized the mahogany desk that stood in her line of vision. She vaguely recalled feeling sick that morning. Had Nadech come to see her?
Well, how else could she have ended up in his room? And on his bed?
Aw man…
You need to throw up again princess, or are you better now?
If I wasnt so tired, Id kick you in the…posterior.
Nadechs chest bubbled with laughter. Better now, he concluded and loosened his arms from her.
She almost protested the absence of his hand on her tummy but instead just groaned and rolled on her back.
Ill tell Aunt Pam to bring more medicine or tea.
When he was gone, Yaya glanced around the room. It looked the same as the last time shed been in there. So what felt different? As she pondered, Yaya pushed herself up and fixed a pillow behind her. Oddly, she spotted a small flower garland, the type you might bring to temples. Kim must have made it. Everything else was the same neutral tones except for the pale blue walls. Oh, and the pretty blanket that was making her really hot right now. She pulled the blue blanket out and folded it neatly.
From the window, she saw that it was getting dark. When did Nadech get back?
A knock sounded from the door. Kim entered and sat on the bed beside her. How are you feeling?
Better now, she echoed Nadechs observation. Thanks. Geez, I slept pretty long huh?
You know, PNadech came back from his meeting and when he saw you sick in bed, he stayed here the whole time and didnt move. Kim smiled. He was really worried about you. Her eyes caught the blue blanket before she got back up. They cleaned up your bed. Ill go prepare some clothes for you so you can change after you eat.
Thanks Kim, Yaya managed to say.
On the other side, in Yayas room, Kim leaned against the closet door, trying not to cry. Things would move forward better this way. If Nadech showed more gentleness like now, Yaya would like him more. Just like her plan.
He stayed with her the whole time? Without even leaving?
Hm, such a devoted fiancé, she joked, though smiling reluctantly. She was reaping the punishment for acting like a heart broken teenager. She was especially annoyed that Yuke had ruined the experience of eating ice cream for her. Nadech was right. Yuke didnt deserve her time.
Yaya expected to feel uncomfortable being in his room like this, but strangely, it was the actual opposite, she had to admit. Burrowing into the middle of the bed, she closed her eyes.
Nadech pushed the door open with a shoulder. Seeing her asleep again, he walked in lightly and set his tray at the foot of the bed. His eyes examined her, feeling relief at the peace on her face.
Like a string was pulling his hand by the tip of his fingers, he reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
Yayas eyes fluttered open and his hand returned to his side.
Sorry, I dozed off.
Are you still tired? She shook her head. Here, ready to eat?
She made a face while chewing the rice porridge. Its so plain.
If you finish it, Ill let you have some ice cream.
His teasing made her look over at him.
Seeing her do a double take, he asked, What?
You were smiling.
He straightened up. Is that weird?
Uh huh, she nodded.
His eyes flattened. Then I wont do it anymore.
Wait! No, you have to! She insisted. Or…or else I wont go to Uncles friends party with you.
Oh? I wasnt aware you had a choice.
Yaya glared at him and continued eating. Someone has to be there to embarrass you, right?
Several seconds of silence, and then he said, Thank you for agreeing to come.
Yaya swallowed, very much taken aback by his tone. As if he was truly relieved she said she would go. Hmph, I guess I owe you for today. It must have been torture that you couldnt get any work done.
-------------
And then he said You only get to see your fiancée throw up once, right?
Thats what he hopes, Margie replied. Calming down her giggles, she sighed breathily. You are one lucky gal, landing a hubby that takes good care of you. Ah ah! she wagged a finger in front of Yaya who was about to deny that. Hes going to be your hubby.
Yaya replaced the shirt and hanger on the rack and pulled out a salmon-pink wrap dress. Whatever. Hey, what do you think of this?
Cute!
Yaya studied the dress closely. I was thinking it would look nice on Kim.
Ohs little sister? Margie squinted. I could imagine her in this. Not that I know her well, but from the few times shes accompanied Oh and Nadech to social gatherings, she appeared pretty lively. Different from when she was at Jack's party.
Really? Yaya saw her the most lively around Nadech.
Yeah, you know, the goody cute type. Any special occasion for this?
Oh told me that Kims going to the coast with some classmates, so I thought Id get her something fun to wear.
With a sneaky smile, Margie said, Are you ever worried that she might have a crush on Nadech?
Yaya threw a dull look at her. Please, I dont have time to think about things like that. Besides, she added casually, theyre like siblings. Remembering the way Kims face shined when she talked to Nadech, Yaya became aware of a possibility that Kim might like Nadech. But it didnt make sense. Nah, Kim wouldnt have weird taste in men like him.
Margie snorted. Right. So how have you and this sister been getting along?
Pretty good actually. She doesnt talk as much as Oh, but shes easy to get along with.
Margie tapped her chin, measuring her words carefully. But from what I used to see, she seems pretty attached to Nadech. And you know, shes the only woman hes ever been involved with. Oh! Not romantically, she quickly said. But I mean, before you, Khun Nadech was known for being reclusive towards the opposite s3x.
Pfft, hes like that with everyone. Yaya stopped before saying even his dad.
Okay, fine. But his sister has gone out with him plenty of times. Isnt it about time you and Nadech made a public appearance together?
Were going to a party for his dads friend this weekend.
Margie clapped her hands. Perfect! Since were here, lets get you a dress for it!
Nah, I have plenty already.
But this is an important occasion! Margie yanked her away by the arm. Lets see. I doubt its going to be something so formal that youll need a gown. You need something pretty, simple, a little flirty…
:fanfic:
-------------Author's note
Thanks for reading all! Enjoy this chapter! The title started out as 'Better Now' because, well, their relationship is getting...better now? But then it's because of each other. They are each other's 'the one'... :wub:
jjinxx
The next morning, Yaya didnt show up for breakfast. Nadech guessed she was still mad at him. Still, he stalled for a few minutes before driving to a meeting with Mark.
The afternoon wore on.
…the blueprints are being looked over for the last time by Khun Arich himself.
Mark glanced up at Nadech. He said, Why dont we take a break?
Sure. Nadech watched Mark check his phone and answer a text. So, Oh tells me youve found the one?
Mark snickered. Did he now? I guess hes got to be right at least once in his life.
So tell me about her.
She is sweet, kind, respectful, hard-working, cute…
Nadech smiled. He could tell Mark had been wanting to express all of this for some time now.
…passionate…
Yaya was a person filled with fierce emotion for everything around her.
…she can get sassy with you too…
Nadech remembered Yaya signing the marriage certificate on accident and he almost choked on a stifled laugh.
…beautiful…
Yaya was beautiful. It was why Nadech tried not to be around her so much.
…not to mention she throws a heavy punch.
Youve been on the receiving end of one of those before?
Huey, no way. Mark grinned. He liked receiving the kisses more.
Whats her name?
Mint.
I mean whats her actual name?
Mark shook his head. You know what your problem is? Youre too formal, and as a friend who has found his The One I dont want you calling her by anything other than Mint, because I want you all to become familiar with each other. In fact, Im going to introduce her to you and Yaya and everyone soon. Youre going to get to know her and youre going to love her.
So you love her then? Nadech asked, looking out the window.
Mark looked to the scenery outside his condo, and pointed with a finger out the window. Shes like my sunshine. I dont just love her, I know now that I need her. He shook with a little laugh. I would say she needs me too, but shes so strong, I feel like shell always survive even without me. Plus she would never rely on me entirely. She wouldnt even move in here and let me take care of her.
Its good that she wants to work. Women should have that chance to have something for themselves.
Anyway, has Yaya shown any interest in the company?
Nadech shook his head. Why would she?
You know, she majored in mass communication. You should encourage her to do more with it. Dont let her fade away alone at home. Mark stretched. Want to get something to eat?
Nadech said, I think we can stop here for today. I actually have something at home to check on.
Mark suspected that something was really a someone and wondered if she would ever be Nadechs The One.
-------------
Nadech stopped in the hall outside Yayas bedroom door.
Young master, Auntie Pam said. Khun Yaya isnt feeling well.
Frowning, Nadech knocked on the door and went in. Yaya?
Nearing her bed, his foot kicked something. It was a photo album, flipped open to a picture of Yaya and the other guy. They were kissing.
His attention drew away when he took in the sight of two empty ice cream buckets lying on the floor and raised his hands to his hips. For real?
Shut up, came a grouchy voice from a ball of blankets on Yayas bed, which melted into groans of pain.
Come on, take some medicine.
I cant, she whimpered and rolled up tighter. She so regretted eating all that ice cream on an empty stomach. Now it was experiencing icy cramps so she could barely even move. Yaya clutched her abdomen for another spasm when cool hands lifted her from her cocoon.
You have to drink medicine or else its not going away, he explained softly and motioned to Aunt Pam to bring the medicine.
Yaya nodded, so he helped her sit up more but suddenly, she lurched forward and threw up on her bed.
After he got a bit of calming drink into her, Nadech pulled the covers over Yaya, who was lying in his bed while her own was getting cleaned up. Immediately, she curled up again and he realized it was too cold in there for her. He went to the thermostat of the air conditioner and turned it off. It would take a while to warm the room up but Nadech had already sent Aunt Pam away and he didnt want to leave Yaya alone to go get blankets. So he slipped in between the sheets next to her. Sensing her shivers, he moved closer until she was against him and tucked her into his body.
…all your fault… He heard her mumble in her sleep.
Yaya watched as Yuke edged closer to the end of the cliff. Merciless, she raised her arm at him and yelled, Charge!
Her army of colorful snow cones and orange creamsicles attacked Yuke until he finally fell from the cliff and drowned in a sea of vanilla ice cream where vicious chunks of Oreos fought over his body.
Her triumphant laugh was cut off when a queasy sensation washed over her. Ugh! This is all your fault, idiot Yuke!
The pain raised her to a half conscious state where she thought she heard Nadechs voice. He said something, maybe it was two words, but before she could decipher them, the pain subsided. A surrounding warmth lulled her back to sleep.
But not before she turned herself over; as she wrapped an arm around Nadech, unfamiliar emotions wrapped around his heart. The feeling paralyzed him for a moment until he mentally shook it off. And then he was even more disturbed to feel the rage that urged him to hunt down and tear apart the fool who had broken the heart of the woman in his arms. Next thing he knew, he was inhaling the gentle fragrance of her body and it calmed him down so suddenly. All of it was very unsettling and new to him, so that Nadech was tempted to jump out of his bed if not for the one solid feeling that she needed him at the moment.
-------------
Yaya wanted to see her mom and have her stroke her hair again. But the very gentle tummy rub she was being given felt just as nice at the moment. She tried moving her fingers but felt a little weak. Realizing it was not her own hand on her stomach, Yaya opened her eyes and then recognized the mahogany desk that stood in her line of vision. She vaguely recalled feeling sick that morning. Had Nadech come to see her?
Well, how else could she have ended up in his room? And on his bed?
Aw man…
You need to throw up again princess, or are you better now?
If I wasnt so tired, Id kick you in the…posterior.
Nadechs chest bubbled with laughter. Better now, he concluded and loosened his arms from her.
She almost protested the absence of his hand on her tummy but instead just groaned and rolled on her back.
Ill tell Aunt Pam to bring more medicine or tea.
When he was gone, Yaya glanced around the room. It looked the same as the last time shed been in there. So what felt different? As she pondered, Yaya pushed herself up and fixed a pillow behind her. Oddly, she spotted a small flower garland, the type you might bring to temples. Kim must have made it. Everything else was the same neutral tones except for the pale blue walls. Oh, and the pretty blanket that was making her really hot right now. She pulled the blue blanket out and folded it neatly.
From the window, she saw that it was getting dark. When did Nadech get back?
A knock sounded from the door. Kim entered and sat on the bed beside her. How are you feeling?
Better now, she echoed Nadechs observation. Thanks. Geez, I slept pretty long huh?
You know, PNadech came back from his meeting and when he saw you sick in bed, he stayed here the whole time and didnt move. Kim smiled. He was really worried about you. Her eyes caught the blue blanket before she got back up. They cleaned up your bed. Ill go prepare some clothes for you so you can change after you eat.
Thanks Kim, Yaya managed to say.
On the other side, in Yayas room, Kim leaned against the closet door, trying not to cry. Things would move forward better this way. If Nadech showed more gentleness like now, Yaya would like him more. Just like her plan.
He stayed with her the whole time? Without even leaving?
Hm, such a devoted fiancé, she joked, though smiling reluctantly. She was reaping the punishment for acting like a heart broken teenager. She was especially annoyed that Yuke had ruined the experience of eating ice cream for her. Nadech was right. Yuke didnt deserve her time.
Yaya expected to feel uncomfortable being in his room like this, but strangely, it was the actual opposite, she had to admit. Burrowing into the middle of the bed, she closed her eyes.
Nadech pushed the door open with a shoulder. Seeing her asleep again, he walked in lightly and set his tray at the foot of the bed. His eyes examined her, feeling relief at the peace on her face.
Like a string was pulling his hand by the tip of his fingers, he reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
Yayas eyes fluttered open and his hand returned to his side.
Sorry, I dozed off.
Are you still tired? She shook her head. Here, ready to eat?
She made a face while chewing the rice porridge. Its so plain.
If you finish it, Ill let you have some ice cream.
His teasing made her look over at him.
Seeing her do a double take, he asked, What?
You were smiling.
He straightened up. Is that weird?
Uh huh, she nodded.
His eyes flattened. Then I wont do it anymore.
Wait! No, you have to! She insisted. Or…or else I wont go to Uncles friends party with you.
Oh? I wasnt aware you had a choice.
Yaya glared at him and continued eating. Someone has to be there to embarrass you, right?
Several seconds of silence, and then he said, Thank you for agreeing to come.
Yaya swallowed, very much taken aback by his tone. As if he was truly relieved she said she would go. Hmph, I guess I owe you for today. It must have been torture that you couldnt get any work done.
-------------
And then he said You only get to see your fiancée throw up once, right?
Thats what he hopes, Margie replied. Calming down her giggles, she sighed breathily. You are one lucky gal, landing a hubby that takes good care of you. Ah ah! she wagged a finger in front of Yaya who was about to deny that. Hes going to be your hubby.
Yaya replaced the shirt and hanger on the rack and pulled out a salmon-pink wrap dress. Whatever. Hey, what do you think of this?
Cute!
Yaya studied the dress closely. I was thinking it would look nice on Kim.
Ohs little sister? Margie squinted. I could imagine her in this. Not that I know her well, but from the few times shes accompanied Oh and Nadech to social gatherings, she appeared pretty lively. Different from when she was at Jack's party.
Really? Yaya saw her the most lively around Nadech.
Yeah, you know, the goody cute type. Any special occasion for this?
Oh told me that Kims going to the coast with some classmates, so I thought Id get her something fun to wear.
With a sneaky smile, Margie said, Are you ever worried that she might have a crush on Nadech?
Yaya threw a dull look at her. Please, I dont have time to think about things like that. Besides, she added casually, theyre like siblings. Remembering the way Kims face shined when she talked to Nadech, Yaya became aware of a possibility that Kim might like Nadech. But it didnt make sense. Nah, Kim wouldnt have weird taste in men like him.
Margie snorted. Right. So how have you and this sister been getting along?
Pretty good actually. She doesnt talk as much as Oh, but shes easy to get along with.
Margie tapped her chin, measuring her words carefully. But from what I used to see, she seems pretty attached to Nadech. And you know, shes the only woman hes ever been involved with. Oh! Not romantically, she quickly said. But I mean, before you, Khun Nadech was known for being reclusive towards the opposite s3x.
Pfft, hes like that with everyone. Yaya stopped before saying even his dad.
Okay, fine. But his sister has gone out with him plenty of times. Isnt it about time you and Nadech made a public appearance together?
Were going to a party for his dads friend this weekend.
Margie clapped her hands. Perfect! Since were here, lets get you a dress for it!
Nah, I have plenty already.
But this is an important occasion! Margie yanked her away by the arm. Lets see. I doubt its going to be something so formal that youll need a gown. You need something pretty, simple, a little flirty…
:fanfic:
-------------Author's note
Thanks for reading all! Enjoy this chapter! The title started out as 'Better Now' because, well, their relationship is getting...better now? But then it's because of each other. They are each other's 'the one'... :wub:
jjinxx
orihime303
sarNie Hatchling
Keep up the good work! This one was awesome. Continue plz!!!DD
DD
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 15 Wear a Smile
“Are you going somewhere Yaya?” Kim asked the next morning.
“I’m going over to that playground. Oh! Would you like to come with me? You can be my model,” Yaya asked.
Kim hesitated. “The one past fifth road? Um, no, I’m sorry.”
She looked slightly distressed, so Yaya nodded that it was okay.
Kim relaxed as she reached her room. The playground. Her memories of back then weren’t exactly unbearable, because Mario had always been there to protect her. But it was such a helpless past and sometimes scary to imagine living without knowing if she and Oh would have a tomorrow that she never wanted to revisit that era of her life if she could help it.
Her eyes caught a package on her bed. Unwrapping it, she held up a pretty beach dress. On a note were the words: Have fun in the sun!
There was no way Uncle had given this to her. He usually gave savings bonds as gifts and this wasn’t a special day. Kim texted Oh and asked if he had bought her anything and his reply was no. There was only one other person who knew she was going to Hua Hin. Kim smiled.
Yaya set her camera down for a second, peering out the back window. She saw Kim hugging Nadech. Suddenly feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, Yaya fast walked to the front door and headed out.
“Thank you for the gift!” Kim said, pulling away from their hug.
“What do you mean?” Nadech asked.
“Upstairs. I found the beach dress you got me.”
He replied, “Maybe it was Oh.”
Confused, Kim said, “But I already asked him and he said he didn’t. And I’m sure Uncle didn’t get it for me either.”
“I think Yaya went shopping today. She must have bought it for you.”
“Oh.” She tried not to let her disappointment show. She smiled. “No wonder. It’s really pretty. Yaya has good taste.”
“Was there anything else you needed for the trip? Let me know, okay?” He gave her small smile.
She nodded as they headed back inside.
Nadech spotted a camera and recognized it. “Kim, have you seen her?”
“Huh?” She looked up as if in a daze. “Aunt Pam?”
“Yaya.”
“She…oh, she said she was going to the playground.”
Nadech reached for the camera. “I’ll be back later, kay?”
“Okay…” Kim treaded her way back to her room. She sighed. Of course P’Nadech hadn’t bought her the dress. Hadn’t she told Yaya that Nadech and his father were alike? The closest thing to clothing he gave her was jewelry.
Suddenly, she was even less willing to go on her trip, but she had signed up for it a long time ago and her classmates were expecting her. “Will this work out?”
-------------
Back and forth. Yaya swung gently on one of the swings, lost in thought. It couldn’t be, could it? It was one hug. Between siblings.
She exclaimed in annoyance. “Margie! Your nosiness rubbed off on me. None of my business what they do because they’re siblings…who aren’t really related, who spent a lot of time together, who…”
Shaking her head, she used her legs to push herself. She looked down at her stomach and smiled, remembering Nadech’s soft touch. She hadn’t imagined he had it in him to personally nurse her back to health.
Her swing stilled and all of a sudden, a hand slid around from behind her and rested on her stomach. Startled, she nearly fell backwards but Nadech caught her and settled her back on the seat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, a little shaken by his sudden appearance. He was always like that, like a whisper or a shadow.
He asked. “Does your stomach hurt again? You were rubbing it.”
“No. Nope.” She shook her head to emphasize it. Realizing his arm was around her, she wriggled off the swing. “Why are you here?”
He held out her camera. “I saw this downstairs and assumed you forgot it.”
“I did!” She reached for it, but he pulled it out of reach.
“What were you thinking about that was making you talk to yourself like a crazy person?”
‘You hugging Kim.’ She glowered at him. “None of your business.” She pulled her camera bag from him and started putting the camera into focus. Clicking a few shots, she looked over her shoulder. “Why are you still here?”
“You want me to go?”
“No.” And she realized she didn’t. As much as he kept to himself, he made pretty decent company as long as she didn’t goof off. “I was just asking.”
Nadech approached the main structure of the playground. He had to duck his head to pass the red tunnel. He spoke more to himself than to her,“I used to live here.”
Yaya whipped around. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, not nothing. You said you used to live here?” He continued to walk around the slides. She hurried over. “That doesn’t make sense. You mean you played here a lot?” Somehow, even with his less than playful personality, she could imagine a mini version of Nadech sliding down the plastic swirly slides.
“No,” he looked back at her. “When I was a kid, for three days and nights, I LIVED here.”
“Say what?”
Trying to avoid the exact nature of his runaways, he said, “When you were little, didn’t you ever run away from home?”
“Not exactly. I went on an expedition, but our driver was my chauffeur and mom packed me a picnic and said I had to be back by five.”
“I ran away at least…let’s see, eleven times. Within a month.”
“How? What…?”
“I only made it past the end of the block four times though.”
Yaya stared quizzically as he added up each instance.
“Once, I was able to grab a cab, but I didn’t bring any money.”
She waited.
“I guess you can add the THAT time too…”
“Which one?” she asked, a little—no, a lot lost.
He shook his head at the foolish attempts. He wondered why he was telling her this, when he hadn’t shared the specifics of it with anyone before. “This place marked my last try.”
Yaya pretended to fiddle with her camera but after a while, her curiosity made her ask, “Did you meet Oh and Kim during one of those times?”
“Right here, in fact.” Nadech remembered those days. “Oh was the landlord, Kim was the princess and I was…the escaped convict.”
Yaya raised her brow at hearing his role when she expected to hear him say ‘prince’. But then, princes didn’t exist in Nadech’s mind, probably. “Bet you missed home after one cold night here.”
“Those three days were the best in my life. Even after I returned to the house, I came back for a visit now and then.” His eyes ran over the playground, up to the highest level where the three kids had celebrated after a day of harvesting food from the closest street market. He lifted his arms to grasp the monkey bars.
Yaya snapped a photo of him.
He swung his body onto a platform, climbed up a ladder, crossed a yellow bridge, and worked his way up to the red tunnel.
Yaya lowered her camera and snickered. “I dare you to crawl through it!”
“How can I fit inside it now?”
“Of course you can. Do it! Do it! Do it!” she egged him on.
He shook his head.
“Chicken!” She hung her camera around her neck and pulled herself up the blue slide to reach the platform on the other side of the tunnel. Then she started screaming. “Augh! A bee! There’s a bee on me! Get it off!”
“Stay still!”
She started jumping around, yelling in fear. “It’s still by me!”
He ducked down and wriggled fast through the tunnel. “Are you okay?”
Click.
He blinked in surprise after the picture was taken. Yaya covered her mouth, laughing. “See? I knew you could fit in it.” She clapped her hands delightfully, cracking up again, as she sat back on her heels.
Lying on his stomach, he tugged her forward, bringing her face to face with him. When she moved, he pulled her back. “Wait.”
He inched closer and closer. Her heart thundering, Yaya closed her eyes.
“There’s a bee.”
“Ow!”
She started slapping his hand that was pinching her cheeks. He escaped back into the tunnel and reappeared on the other side at lightning speed.
Scrunching her face, she yelled, “So much for not fitting in there. That hurt!” She massaged her cheek.
“That’s what you get for lying.”
Looking up, Yaya was floored by his laughter, and by the smile that curved his eyes. Like an involuntary motion, her hands raised her camera and clicked. Nadech took a shuddering breath to subside his giddiness, his face lifted to the sky and she saw life radiate from him. Click. Here was a completely different creature from the one she’d met inside that walled up house. And he didn’t even seem aware of his transformation. Her camera clicked hungrily.
Nadech jumped to the ground and glanced at the sky. “Are you done here? We should get back.”
She slid neatly down a pole. “I’ll go back when I want to. Oi!”
Giant raindrops stung her face.
“Are you ready to go now?”
She stuffed her camera in the bag and ran after him. Running all the way back, they skipped from tree to tree, trying to avoid getting soaked. Of course, it became completely useless once a car drove into a puddle next to them, drenching them from the waist down. Nadech forced her to use his sweater as a cover, claiming that she was still recovering from her sickness. Not wanting to bring up the whole dispute again, she accepted it, but pulled him next to her.
“This is barely covering both of us” he protested. “One of us might as well stay dry.”
“If you get sick, I’ll probably catch it from you anyway.” She shook her head seeing their house up ahead. “We might as well get sick together. If my parents visit and see that you got a cold from the rain, I’ll have to listen to a wearisome lecture. It’s safest to just bare it out with you.”
Nadech stopped abruptly right as they just reached the gates of the house.
“Hey, why are you just standing there?”
“Isn’t that what I said to you once?”
She made a face. “Yeah well, I see what you mean now, so don’t take it personally.” He was rubbing off on her, it appeared, and this brought out her tinkling laughter, which he caught and joined in.
Finishing her list of things to bring on the trip, Kim pushed the window curtain aside for a better view of who was at the gate. It was the two of them, laughing together in the rain. She watched as Nadech fixed his sweater over Yaya, while she kept pulling him toward her as he tried to make sure only she was covered, as they walked to the front door.
Like the rain outside, Kim was showered by a curious feeling. It was at the core of her heart where Nadech lived, and while it throbbed with longing for him, it also pulsed with appreciation for the scene she witnessed. The two mixed emotions stirred up the prelude to a mild storm in her. Was she to complete her scheme and eventually separate Nadech and Yaya?
But she had never seen him like this before. His laugh was colored like a rainbow. His footsteps up the stairs were springy. The greater part of her that had been raised by Mario said if she loved him, she would let him choose his path, because what she saw was just as Oh had said: 'Now he has someone he has to take care of, so you have to let him go.'
But the inch of selfishness that had grown up loving Nadech told her she deserved him as well.
Kim was not the only one watching the couple’s entrance to the house. Khun Norachai sat back in his chair and for the first time since his family was cut in half, he felt he’d finally done something for his son.
-------------Author's note
Sorry for the short update!
jjinxx
“Are you going somewhere Yaya?” Kim asked the next morning.
“I’m going over to that playground. Oh! Would you like to come with me? You can be my model,” Yaya asked.
Kim hesitated. “The one past fifth road? Um, no, I’m sorry.”
She looked slightly distressed, so Yaya nodded that it was okay.
Kim relaxed as she reached her room. The playground. Her memories of back then weren’t exactly unbearable, because Mario had always been there to protect her. But it was such a helpless past and sometimes scary to imagine living without knowing if she and Oh would have a tomorrow that she never wanted to revisit that era of her life if she could help it.
Her eyes caught a package on her bed. Unwrapping it, she held up a pretty beach dress. On a note were the words: Have fun in the sun!
There was no way Uncle had given this to her. He usually gave savings bonds as gifts and this wasn’t a special day. Kim texted Oh and asked if he had bought her anything and his reply was no. There was only one other person who knew she was going to Hua Hin. Kim smiled.
Yaya set her camera down for a second, peering out the back window. She saw Kim hugging Nadech. Suddenly feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, Yaya fast walked to the front door and headed out.
“Thank you for the gift!” Kim said, pulling away from their hug.
“What do you mean?” Nadech asked.
“Upstairs. I found the beach dress you got me.”
He replied, “Maybe it was Oh.”
Confused, Kim said, “But I already asked him and he said he didn’t. And I’m sure Uncle didn’t get it for me either.”
“I think Yaya went shopping today. She must have bought it for you.”
“Oh.” She tried not to let her disappointment show. She smiled. “No wonder. It’s really pretty. Yaya has good taste.”
“Was there anything else you needed for the trip? Let me know, okay?” He gave her small smile.
She nodded as they headed back inside.
Nadech spotted a camera and recognized it. “Kim, have you seen her?”
“Huh?” She looked up as if in a daze. “Aunt Pam?”
“Yaya.”
“She…oh, she said she was going to the playground.”
Nadech reached for the camera. “I’ll be back later, kay?”
“Okay…” Kim treaded her way back to her room. She sighed. Of course P’Nadech hadn’t bought her the dress. Hadn’t she told Yaya that Nadech and his father were alike? The closest thing to clothing he gave her was jewelry.
Suddenly, she was even less willing to go on her trip, but she had signed up for it a long time ago and her classmates were expecting her. “Will this work out?”
-------------
Back and forth. Yaya swung gently on one of the swings, lost in thought. It couldn’t be, could it? It was one hug. Between siblings.
She exclaimed in annoyance. “Margie! Your nosiness rubbed off on me. None of my business what they do because they’re siblings…who aren’t really related, who spent a lot of time together, who…”
Shaking her head, she used her legs to push herself. She looked down at her stomach and smiled, remembering Nadech’s soft touch. She hadn’t imagined he had it in him to personally nurse her back to health.
Her swing stilled and all of a sudden, a hand slid around from behind her and rested on her stomach. Startled, she nearly fell backwards but Nadech caught her and settled her back on the seat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, a little shaken by his sudden appearance. He was always like that, like a whisper or a shadow.
He asked. “Does your stomach hurt again? You were rubbing it.”
“No. Nope.” She shook her head to emphasize it. Realizing his arm was around her, she wriggled off the swing. “Why are you here?”
He held out her camera. “I saw this downstairs and assumed you forgot it.”
“I did!” She reached for it, but he pulled it out of reach.
“What were you thinking about that was making you talk to yourself like a crazy person?”
‘You hugging Kim.’ She glowered at him. “None of your business.” She pulled her camera bag from him and started putting the camera into focus. Clicking a few shots, she looked over her shoulder. “Why are you still here?”
“You want me to go?”
“No.” And she realized she didn’t. As much as he kept to himself, he made pretty decent company as long as she didn’t goof off. “I was just asking.”
Nadech approached the main structure of the playground. He had to duck his head to pass the red tunnel. He spoke more to himself than to her,“I used to live here.”
Yaya whipped around. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, not nothing. You said you used to live here?” He continued to walk around the slides. She hurried over. “That doesn’t make sense. You mean you played here a lot?” Somehow, even with his less than playful personality, she could imagine a mini version of Nadech sliding down the plastic swirly slides.
“No,” he looked back at her. “When I was a kid, for three days and nights, I LIVED here.”
“Say what?”
Trying to avoid the exact nature of his runaways, he said, “When you were little, didn’t you ever run away from home?”
“Not exactly. I went on an expedition, but our driver was my chauffeur and mom packed me a picnic and said I had to be back by five.”
“I ran away at least…let’s see, eleven times. Within a month.”
“How? What…?”
“I only made it past the end of the block four times though.”
Yaya stared quizzically as he added up each instance.
“Once, I was able to grab a cab, but I didn’t bring any money.”
She waited.
“I guess you can add the THAT time too…”
“Which one?” she asked, a little—no, a lot lost.
He shook his head at the foolish attempts. He wondered why he was telling her this, when he hadn’t shared the specifics of it with anyone before. “This place marked my last try.”
Yaya pretended to fiddle with her camera but after a while, her curiosity made her ask, “Did you meet Oh and Kim during one of those times?”
“Right here, in fact.” Nadech remembered those days. “Oh was the landlord, Kim was the princess and I was…the escaped convict.”
Yaya raised her brow at hearing his role when she expected to hear him say ‘prince’. But then, princes didn’t exist in Nadech’s mind, probably. “Bet you missed home after one cold night here.”
“Those three days were the best in my life. Even after I returned to the house, I came back for a visit now and then.” His eyes ran over the playground, up to the highest level where the three kids had celebrated after a day of harvesting food from the closest street market. He lifted his arms to grasp the monkey bars.
Yaya snapped a photo of him.
He swung his body onto a platform, climbed up a ladder, crossed a yellow bridge, and worked his way up to the red tunnel.
Yaya lowered her camera and snickered. “I dare you to crawl through it!”
“How can I fit inside it now?”
“Of course you can. Do it! Do it! Do it!” she egged him on.
He shook his head.
“Chicken!” She hung her camera around her neck and pulled herself up the blue slide to reach the platform on the other side of the tunnel. Then she started screaming. “Augh! A bee! There’s a bee on me! Get it off!”
“Stay still!”
She started jumping around, yelling in fear. “It’s still by me!”
He ducked down and wriggled fast through the tunnel. “Are you okay?”
Click.
He blinked in surprise after the picture was taken. Yaya covered her mouth, laughing. “See? I knew you could fit in it.” She clapped her hands delightfully, cracking up again, as she sat back on her heels.
Lying on his stomach, he tugged her forward, bringing her face to face with him. When she moved, he pulled her back. “Wait.”
He inched closer and closer. Her heart thundering, Yaya closed her eyes.
“There’s a bee.”
“Ow!”
She started slapping his hand that was pinching her cheeks. He escaped back into the tunnel and reappeared on the other side at lightning speed.
Scrunching her face, she yelled, “So much for not fitting in there. That hurt!” She massaged her cheek.
“That’s what you get for lying.”
Looking up, Yaya was floored by his laughter, and by the smile that curved his eyes. Like an involuntary motion, her hands raised her camera and clicked. Nadech took a shuddering breath to subside his giddiness, his face lifted to the sky and she saw life radiate from him. Click. Here was a completely different creature from the one she’d met inside that walled up house. And he didn’t even seem aware of his transformation. Her camera clicked hungrily.
Nadech jumped to the ground and glanced at the sky. “Are you done here? We should get back.”
She slid neatly down a pole. “I’ll go back when I want to. Oi!”
Giant raindrops stung her face.
“Are you ready to go now?”
She stuffed her camera in the bag and ran after him. Running all the way back, they skipped from tree to tree, trying to avoid getting soaked. Of course, it became completely useless once a car drove into a puddle next to them, drenching them from the waist down. Nadech forced her to use his sweater as a cover, claiming that she was still recovering from her sickness. Not wanting to bring up the whole dispute again, she accepted it, but pulled him next to her.
“This is barely covering both of us” he protested. “One of us might as well stay dry.”
“If you get sick, I’ll probably catch it from you anyway.” She shook her head seeing their house up ahead. “We might as well get sick together. If my parents visit and see that you got a cold from the rain, I’ll have to listen to a wearisome lecture. It’s safest to just bare it out with you.”
Nadech stopped abruptly right as they just reached the gates of the house.
“Hey, why are you just standing there?”
“Isn’t that what I said to you once?”
She made a face. “Yeah well, I see what you mean now, so don’t take it personally.” He was rubbing off on her, it appeared, and this brought out her tinkling laughter, which he caught and joined in.
Finishing her list of things to bring on the trip, Kim pushed the window curtain aside for a better view of who was at the gate. It was the two of them, laughing together in the rain. She watched as Nadech fixed his sweater over Yaya, while she kept pulling him toward her as he tried to make sure only she was covered, as they walked to the front door.
Like the rain outside, Kim was showered by a curious feeling. It was at the core of her heart where Nadech lived, and while it throbbed with longing for him, it also pulsed with appreciation for the scene she witnessed. The two mixed emotions stirred up the prelude to a mild storm in her. Was she to complete her scheme and eventually separate Nadech and Yaya?
But she had never seen him like this before. His laugh was colored like a rainbow. His footsteps up the stairs were springy. The greater part of her that had been raised by Mario said if she loved him, she would let him choose his path, because what she saw was just as Oh had said: 'Now he has someone he has to take care of, so you have to let him go.'
But the inch of selfishness that had grown up loving Nadech told her she deserved him as well.
Kim was not the only one watching the couple’s entrance to the house. Khun Norachai sat back in his chair and for the first time since his family was cut in half, he felt he’d finally done something for his son.
-------------Author's note
Sorry for the short update!
jjinxx
jjinxx
Is your "nom" Fai-approved?
Chapter 16 A Nice Mistake
Yaya got out of the shower and while letting her hair air-dry she eyed the box standing in a corner of the room warily. It contained stacks of photo albums from high school years and from the first time she’d met Yuke. Funny how today none of her murderous avenging thoughts about Yuke had come up in mind. Instead, her mind moved on to Nadech and his tale of running away.
Crazy, but Oh was right. Nadech had actually opened up to her a little today. And she liked what she saw of him, standing in that playground like he was breathing for the first time in too long. His dimples were sweet too and she had to admit it felt special seeing him smile.
When she heard Nadech come out of the bathroom and listened to his walk into his room, she went to knock on their door.
He opened it.
“Here.” She returned his sweater. “Thanks. Do you want some tea? Aunt Pam just brought some up.”
“Sure.”
-------------
“So are you going to pay me for being your model today?” Nadech asked, his finger tapping on the saucer he held. “You didn’t think I missed you secretly photographing me, did you?”
She actually HAD thought he wouldn’t notice.
“So what does a model usually earn?”
She turned away. “It’s up to you, I guess. How much do you want?”
“One.”
“One baht?” she laughed.
“One request. Delete the pictures.”
“Oh ho, I don’t know. I think the others will find it amusing to see Nadech playing around like a monkey.”
“Sure you don’t just want to secretly admire them by yourself?”
She rolled her eyes. “I swear on the grave of Peter that was never my intention.”
“Peter?”
“My golden retriever that died when I was nine.”
“Right. How did he die?”
“Well, when I found him, he was already really sick, and the doctor said he wouldn’t make it. I really loved him during that one week I had him though. Then there was Narak, who I adopted from a shelter.” She frowned. “But she died too. So I gave up for a while. Until I adopted Sam. She used to chase Yuke around, he was so afraid of her…”
There it was again. That name. Nadech was unaware of his fingers tightening around the cup.
It amazed Yaya that three months of dating Yuke did not sound very long but when she counted all the years they had known each other, she realized he had been a big part of her life. The weird thing was she did not feel he was such a big loss right now and it surprised her every time his name popped up because even though she had been upset over their breakup, she realized she was living very well without him. And a little part of that might be credited to Nadech, Yaya thought grudgingly.
“Sam died too, but she was also very sickly.” Yaya had felt the most affection and sympathy for the smallest and weakest ones, who she always dreamed she would help survive. Then Jack came to her and she realized she could help many of those poor animals in a different way. Trying to brighten the mood, she said, “Anyway, those pictures are mine. There's no way I'm deleting them.”
He watched her blow gently on the steaming teacup. “I suppose I can’t measure up to the tall man with the pointed chin anyway.”
Who? Yaya was about to ask when the answer came to her. Yuke. She asked grimly, “What are you implying?”
“Not much. It’s none of my business who you used to take photos with while kissing.”
“Wait. You looked at my stuff?”
“Nearly tripped over it, actually, they were all over the floor.” ‘They’ being her old photo albums.
She winced. It must have been during the ice cream incident. For some reason, she felt like he’d caught her doing something indecent, which made her feel defensive, so she snapped, “Well, you’re right. It’s none of your business. And I’d appreciate it if you withheld from mentioning my past.” She mumbled under her breath, “You don’t hear me asking about your ex-girlfriends…”
“The past is something hard to run from.”
“Yeah, and it’s really helpful of you to guilt me about Yuke.”
“I wasn’t—“
“I mean, it’s not like I want to think about him other than to imagine him going through some really intricate, well-deserved pain. And I don’t want to see or be reminded of him or the time we were together but I can’t help it if I have pictures of him and sure, we kissed, it’s what people who date do, but that doesn’t mean I deserve to hear you nag about it like I’m supposed to erase him completely for your image or whatever. I mean, how many girls have you kissed in your life?” She finished her rant in one breath and carelessly took a gulp of tea. It scalded her mouth and she spluttered.
Fanning herself after setting down the cup, she didn’t see him come up to her, lift up her chin and place his lips on hers.
He looked into her eyes and whispered, “One,” and then, without missing a beat, kissed her again. His were cool and gentle, like a snowflake, soothing her tender lips.
And then he was gone and she opened her eyes. “W-wait. One what?” she stuttered.
He stopped at their door. “I changed my mind. That was my one request.”
-------------
THAT had been a mistake. Nadech scribbled furiously, not even pausing from one proposal to the next until they were all read and notes were recorded. He set his pen in the penholder and then sat back in his chair.
It was too warm in here, but he didn’t want to turn on the ac and have the coldness penetrate into the room next to his. A cold shower, that was what he needed.
Was it shooting baby animals? Theft? Murder? Theft AND murder of a little old lady? Because Yaya knew she must have done some terrible crime in her past life to have been bestowed such torture as she was feeling now, tossing and turning in bed. Finally, with a frustrated huff, she sat up.
The real question was why. Why had he done that? Why had Nadech kissed her and caused her mind to freeze every thought except him and his cursedly breath-stealing, body-tossing, mind-blanking kiss!?
Because ever since she’d noticed his lips, she’d wondered what they would feel like in a kiss.
“Nooo!” she buried herself under her blanket. Wondering and wanting were two different things and she so had not wanted to kiss him. After a minute, she realized she was rocking back and forth, even while lying on her side.
“Pokerface is making me go nuts!” she burst back into the open air, clutching both sides of her face frantically. “Him and his stupid request. ONE request he said!”
One?
She shook her head as a ridiculous idea flashed in her mind. “How many girls…? No way. He was only referring to the request. He was not answering my question, right?” Her eyes swept wonderingly across the room as her thoughts spilled verbally. “…because if he was answering my question, it’d be unbelievable. BUT, assuming just hypothetically for some reason that he WAS answering my question because he’s someone who would use one ambiguous, open-ended answer,” she rolled her eyes, “there’s no way he’s only kissed ONE girl in his life, right? Unless he meant…me?”
The word had barely left her lips when she leapt out of bed and ran to the bathroom where generous amounts of cold water were splashed on her face.
“Whew.” She pat her face dry.
“That’s my towel.”
Her head shot up. She scrambled to hold the towel up so she couldn’t see his reflection as he stood leaning against the side of the shower, with the door opened part way, just enough to see his head and bare shoulders. “You’re here?!”
Not waiting for a reply, she scurried to the door but because she still had the towel over her face, she smacked into it.
“Yaya!” Nadech exclaimed and opened the shower door wider when she stumbled backwards.
“Stop!” she held up a hand, as if she knew he was about to step out naked. “Just stay where you are.” Hunched under the towel but making sure she could see the door—and ONLY the door—Yaya escaped.
Nadech opened the cupboard next to the sink and to his dismay, found a single towel left. It was lavender, sprinkled with white flowers. Definitely Yaya’s. But it would have to do. That’s what he got for forgetting to lock the door again.
------------
Yaya wasn’t sure how long she hid under her covers, even ignoring the knocks coming from their door. What could Nadech possibly want from her? She was embarrassed enough. That's twice now that she had been too preoccupied to even check if the bathroom was in use.
“What am I hiding for?” she lectured herself, then collapsed all stretched out on the bed. “It’s his fault for not locking the door. That’s right, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re both adults. In fact, I should demand for him to tell me why he did that to me earlier.” She marched in her blue and white striped pj bottoms and gray shirt to their door and rapped sharply.
It opened and her mouth, posed in a question, froze, seeing him ruffle his damp hair with one of her flowered towels.
Nadech, seeing her stare in surprise, quickly pulled down the towel awkwardly. He side-glanced her and found a grin stretching her face. Then she was overcome with giggles, which made her miss Nadech’s small smile. This was what he wanted to see from her.
“Is your head okay?”
“Oh,” she touched it. “Yeah, it was a small bump.”
“I dunno. I thought I heard a few brain cells die. And you really need to stop doing that. My body’s not for public viewing, even if you are my fiancée.”
She prayed that it was too dark for him to see her blush. “It’s your fault.” And it wasn’t just not locking the door. She bit her lip, remembering the kiss that had kept her up. And because the question was itching her tongue, she blurted, “Was that your first kiss?”
“My first and second, if you’re counting.”
“Really???”
He must not have realized how shocking that was to her, because he merely shrugged, not looking abashed in the least. “I never had the wish to do it before.” Which would have sounded terribly romantic if he hadn’t continued to say nonchalantly, “It won’t happen again. Well, if you’re sure you’re alright, get to bed.”
'No! I’m not alright! What gives you the right to kiss me twice, and mess with my head and then just go back to bed like nothing happened?' Yaya stomped over to him.
'I couldn’t help it.' His face was stern. 'I don’t understand why I did it either.'
'I’ll tell you why you did it. You like me.'
He stared at her and let that suggestion run through his brain that had probably never been unsure of anything in his life. 'Maybe I do.'
'Why don’t we find out?'
Yaya kissed him, her arms hugging around his neck as they had yearned to. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his room. Their door swung shut.
Yaya woke up to the earth-shaking boom of thunder. When she realized she had just had a dream about Nadech, she became wide awake.
“Oh. Em. Gee.” She flung herself out of bed and plopped down at the couch. “This is not happening. This is not happening…”
-------------
“Have fun kiddo.”
Kim smiled up at Nadech from inside the car. “See you in a few days. Yaya, I’ll see you! Let’s go P’Oh.”
As the car drove off, Nadech turned to Yaya. He could tell she was agitated. And she had that slightly blurry look like she was still sleepy.
“You okay? Was the storm keeping you up?”
“Yeah, the storm,” Yaya mumbled. She was in no way going to admit that she’d been too scared to go back to sleep because she was afraid she’d fantasize about him again.
He caught her glaring at him at the table. “Be ready by five so we can leave for Uncle Palada’s house.”
“Is he your actual uncle?”
“He’s a very close friend of father’s, so I grew up calling him that. He was our family lawyer before his son took over.”
“Patchata?”
“Yes. My real relative, Uncle Thongchai will be there too.”
Yaya recalled meeting him briefly at the engagement, a tall thin politician with the dark handsome features that ran in the Phraisong family.
They were silent to each other the rest of the day. Yaya, because she wanted minimal reasons for him to appear in her sleep; Nadech, because he realized he couldn’t afford to repeat that act again. The real reason why he had kissed her, the reason Yaya had searched desperately for, was because he did not like her having thoughts of that other man; whether those thoughts were good, bad, or indifferent, Nadech wanted him out of her head. And. It had dawned on him after last night that he had to control himself around her, because heavens knew where that sort of crazy stunt would lead him. Possibly death, and at the very least a severe case of insanity.
-------------Author's note
And so it is revealed that Nadech Phraisong is quite...virginal.h34r:
jjinxx
Yaya got out of the shower and while letting her hair air-dry she eyed the box standing in a corner of the room warily. It contained stacks of photo albums from high school years and from the first time she’d met Yuke. Funny how today none of her murderous avenging thoughts about Yuke had come up in mind. Instead, her mind moved on to Nadech and his tale of running away.
Crazy, but Oh was right. Nadech had actually opened up to her a little today. And she liked what she saw of him, standing in that playground like he was breathing for the first time in too long. His dimples were sweet too and she had to admit it felt special seeing him smile.
When she heard Nadech come out of the bathroom and listened to his walk into his room, she went to knock on their door.
He opened it.
“Here.” She returned his sweater. “Thanks. Do you want some tea? Aunt Pam just brought some up.”
“Sure.”
-------------
“So are you going to pay me for being your model today?” Nadech asked, his finger tapping on the saucer he held. “You didn’t think I missed you secretly photographing me, did you?”
She actually HAD thought he wouldn’t notice.
“So what does a model usually earn?”
She turned away. “It’s up to you, I guess. How much do you want?”
“One.”
“One baht?” she laughed.
“One request. Delete the pictures.”
“Oh ho, I don’t know. I think the others will find it amusing to see Nadech playing around like a monkey.”
“Sure you don’t just want to secretly admire them by yourself?”
She rolled her eyes. “I swear on the grave of Peter that was never my intention.”
“Peter?”
“My golden retriever that died when I was nine.”
“Right. How did he die?”
“Well, when I found him, he was already really sick, and the doctor said he wouldn’t make it. I really loved him during that one week I had him though. Then there was Narak, who I adopted from a shelter.” She frowned. “But she died too. So I gave up for a while. Until I adopted Sam. She used to chase Yuke around, he was so afraid of her…”
There it was again. That name. Nadech was unaware of his fingers tightening around the cup.
It amazed Yaya that three months of dating Yuke did not sound very long but when she counted all the years they had known each other, she realized he had been a big part of her life. The weird thing was she did not feel he was such a big loss right now and it surprised her every time his name popped up because even though she had been upset over their breakup, she realized she was living very well without him. And a little part of that might be credited to Nadech, Yaya thought grudgingly.
“Sam died too, but she was also very sickly.” Yaya had felt the most affection and sympathy for the smallest and weakest ones, who she always dreamed she would help survive. Then Jack came to her and she realized she could help many of those poor animals in a different way. Trying to brighten the mood, she said, “Anyway, those pictures are mine. There's no way I'm deleting them.”
He watched her blow gently on the steaming teacup. “I suppose I can’t measure up to the tall man with the pointed chin anyway.”
Who? Yaya was about to ask when the answer came to her. Yuke. She asked grimly, “What are you implying?”
“Not much. It’s none of my business who you used to take photos with while kissing.”
“Wait. You looked at my stuff?”
“Nearly tripped over it, actually, they were all over the floor.” ‘They’ being her old photo albums.
She winced. It must have been during the ice cream incident. For some reason, she felt like he’d caught her doing something indecent, which made her feel defensive, so she snapped, “Well, you’re right. It’s none of your business. And I’d appreciate it if you withheld from mentioning my past.” She mumbled under her breath, “You don’t hear me asking about your ex-girlfriends…”
“The past is something hard to run from.”
“Yeah, and it’s really helpful of you to guilt me about Yuke.”
“I wasn’t—“
“I mean, it’s not like I want to think about him other than to imagine him going through some really intricate, well-deserved pain. And I don’t want to see or be reminded of him or the time we were together but I can’t help it if I have pictures of him and sure, we kissed, it’s what people who date do, but that doesn’t mean I deserve to hear you nag about it like I’m supposed to erase him completely for your image or whatever. I mean, how many girls have you kissed in your life?” She finished her rant in one breath and carelessly took a gulp of tea. It scalded her mouth and she spluttered.
Fanning herself after setting down the cup, she didn’t see him come up to her, lift up her chin and place his lips on hers.
He looked into her eyes and whispered, “One,” and then, without missing a beat, kissed her again. His were cool and gentle, like a snowflake, soothing her tender lips.
And then he was gone and she opened her eyes. “W-wait. One what?” she stuttered.
He stopped at their door. “I changed my mind. That was my one request.”
-------------
THAT had been a mistake. Nadech scribbled furiously, not even pausing from one proposal to the next until they were all read and notes were recorded. He set his pen in the penholder and then sat back in his chair.
It was too warm in here, but he didn’t want to turn on the ac and have the coldness penetrate into the room next to his. A cold shower, that was what he needed.
Was it shooting baby animals? Theft? Murder? Theft AND murder of a little old lady? Because Yaya knew she must have done some terrible crime in her past life to have been bestowed such torture as she was feeling now, tossing and turning in bed. Finally, with a frustrated huff, she sat up.
The real question was why. Why had he done that? Why had Nadech kissed her and caused her mind to freeze every thought except him and his cursedly breath-stealing, body-tossing, mind-blanking kiss!?
Because ever since she’d noticed his lips, she’d wondered what they would feel like in a kiss.
“Nooo!” she buried herself under her blanket. Wondering and wanting were two different things and she so had not wanted to kiss him. After a minute, she realized she was rocking back and forth, even while lying on her side.
“Pokerface is making me go nuts!” she burst back into the open air, clutching both sides of her face frantically. “Him and his stupid request. ONE request he said!”
One?
She shook her head as a ridiculous idea flashed in her mind. “How many girls…? No way. He was only referring to the request. He was not answering my question, right?” Her eyes swept wonderingly across the room as her thoughts spilled verbally. “…because if he was answering my question, it’d be unbelievable. BUT, assuming just hypothetically for some reason that he WAS answering my question because he’s someone who would use one ambiguous, open-ended answer,” she rolled her eyes, “there’s no way he’s only kissed ONE girl in his life, right? Unless he meant…me?”
The word had barely left her lips when she leapt out of bed and ran to the bathroom where generous amounts of cold water were splashed on her face.
“Whew.” She pat her face dry.
“That’s my towel.”
Her head shot up. She scrambled to hold the towel up so she couldn’t see his reflection as he stood leaning against the side of the shower, with the door opened part way, just enough to see his head and bare shoulders. “You’re here?!”
Not waiting for a reply, she scurried to the door but because she still had the towel over her face, she smacked into it.
“Yaya!” Nadech exclaimed and opened the shower door wider when she stumbled backwards.
“Stop!” she held up a hand, as if she knew he was about to step out naked. “Just stay where you are.” Hunched under the towel but making sure she could see the door—and ONLY the door—Yaya escaped.
Nadech opened the cupboard next to the sink and to his dismay, found a single towel left. It was lavender, sprinkled with white flowers. Definitely Yaya’s. But it would have to do. That’s what he got for forgetting to lock the door again.
------------
Yaya wasn’t sure how long she hid under her covers, even ignoring the knocks coming from their door. What could Nadech possibly want from her? She was embarrassed enough. That's twice now that she had been too preoccupied to even check if the bathroom was in use.
“What am I hiding for?” she lectured herself, then collapsed all stretched out on the bed. “It’s his fault for not locking the door. That’s right, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re both adults. In fact, I should demand for him to tell me why he did that to me earlier.” She marched in her blue and white striped pj bottoms and gray shirt to their door and rapped sharply.
It opened and her mouth, posed in a question, froze, seeing him ruffle his damp hair with one of her flowered towels.
Nadech, seeing her stare in surprise, quickly pulled down the towel awkwardly. He side-glanced her and found a grin stretching her face. Then she was overcome with giggles, which made her miss Nadech’s small smile. This was what he wanted to see from her.
“Is your head okay?”
“Oh,” she touched it. “Yeah, it was a small bump.”
“I dunno. I thought I heard a few brain cells die. And you really need to stop doing that. My body’s not for public viewing, even if you are my fiancée.”
She prayed that it was too dark for him to see her blush. “It’s your fault.” And it wasn’t just not locking the door. She bit her lip, remembering the kiss that had kept her up. And because the question was itching her tongue, she blurted, “Was that your first kiss?”
“My first and second, if you’re counting.”
“Really???”
He must not have realized how shocking that was to her, because he merely shrugged, not looking abashed in the least. “I never had the wish to do it before.” Which would have sounded terribly romantic if he hadn’t continued to say nonchalantly, “It won’t happen again. Well, if you’re sure you’re alright, get to bed.”
'No! I’m not alright! What gives you the right to kiss me twice, and mess with my head and then just go back to bed like nothing happened?' Yaya stomped over to him.
'I couldn’t help it.' His face was stern. 'I don’t understand why I did it either.'
'I’ll tell you why you did it. You like me.'
He stared at her and let that suggestion run through his brain that had probably never been unsure of anything in his life. 'Maybe I do.'
'Why don’t we find out?'
Yaya kissed him, her arms hugging around his neck as they had yearned to. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his room. Their door swung shut.
Yaya woke up to the earth-shaking boom of thunder. When she realized she had just had a dream about Nadech, she became wide awake.
“Oh. Em. Gee.” She flung herself out of bed and plopped down at the couch. “This is not happening. This is not happening…”
-------------
“Have fun kiddo.”
Kim smiled up at Nadech from inside the car. “See you in a few days. Yaya, I’ll see you! Let’s go P’Oh.”
As the car drove off, Nadech turned to Yaya. He could tell she was agitated. And she had that slightly blurry look like she was still sleepy.
“You okay? Was the storm keeping you up?”
“Yeah, the storm,” Yaya mumbled. She was in no way going to admit that she’d been too scared to go back to sleep because she was afraid she’d fantasize about him again.
He caught her glaring at him at the table. “Be ready by five so we can leave for Uncle Palada’s house.”
“Is he your actual uncle?”
“He’s a very close friend of father’s, so I grew up calling him that. He was our family lawyer before his son took over.”
“Patchata?”
“Yes. My real relative, Uncle Thongchai will be there too.”
Yaya recalled meeting him briefly at the engagement, a tall thin politician with the dark handsome features that ran in the Phraisong family.
They were silent to each other the rest of the day. Yaya, because she wanted minimal reasons for him to appear in her sleep; Nadech, because he realized he couldn’t afford to repeat that act again. The real reason why he had kissed her, the reason Yaya had searched desperately for, was because he did not like her having thoughts of that other man; whether those thoughts were good, bad, or indifferent, Nadech wanted him out of her head. And. It had dawned on him after last night that he had to control himself around her, because heavens knew where that sort of crazy stunt would lead him. Possibly death, and at the very least a severe case of insanity.
-------------Author's note
And so it is revealed that Nadech Phraisong is quite...virginal.
h34r: jjinxx