Phayu

Phayu laid his head on the glass of the window of his balcony doors, letting the cool seep through his heated head. At this moment in time, he hated himself, feeling like a loser. He had hurt so many people. He should have put Som in his place long ago, not allowing to get this far. And now, he had failed Rain. He had clubbed him with Som and Ple, thinking of them as annoying juniors. While Som definitely was, after what he had heard from his family about Ple, he felt bad for her. And Rain. As far as Rain was concerned, Phayu had decided to give up. He would never be worthy of that boy. It would be better if he let someone better than himself take care of Rain.

Phayu lifted his head and wiped the single tear that ran down his cheek and took a deep breath, staring out of the window. He would resign. Rain needed that job more than he did. He would talk to his Dad and Pa. They had several business dealings outside the country. He would leave. That would be the biggest gift he could give his Queen. That beautiful person who had brought him so much happiness. He could do this for his Rain. He turned around at the knock on his door. "Come in!" he said, expecting to see Fah or Pai. "Rain?" he asked, shocked at the sight of the boy standing in front of him. "Hello Phi," he said. "Rain? What are you doing here?" Phayu asked. "May I come in Phi?" Rain asked. Phayu nodded, immediately going towards him.

"Your things Phi," Rain said, as he kept everything that Phayu had left behind at the office on Phayu's table. Phayu nodded, a sad smile on his face. Of course Rain was not here for him. "Thank you Rain," he said, and turned back away, knowing that Rain would leave soon. "May I talk to you Phi?" Phayu heard Rain say. He turned again, feeling shocked. "Sure," Phayu said. "May I sit Phi?" Rain asked. Phayu nodded. He waited for Rain to speak, but he didn't say anything, just kept staring at him. "Rain?" Phayu asked him. "Will you not sit?" Rain asked, as he shifted on the couch, making place for Phayu. Phayu stared at him.

Rain

When Rain had decided to come to the compound, he had no idea what he would say to Phayu, whether he would say anything at all, whether he would even meet Phayu. He had stood in the foyer, thinking what he should do with Phayu's things, at first thinking of just leaving them there. Then he realised that he had not heard any sounds from inside the house. The number of bodyguards had been low as well. But Phayu's bike had been outside. While it was quite possible that he had gone in one of the cars with the rest of the family, suddenly Rain wanted to take a chance. So he had knocked on Phayu's door, surprisingly thrilled at finding him there.

At first he thought he would just give him everything and leave, but as he saw Phayu standing there, the sadness in his smile broke something inside Rain. Rain had stared at heartbreak in the eye, and that is exactly what he saw on Phayu's face. And he could not just leave Phayu like that. He had always been drawn to Phayu and hurting him was something that Rain could never do. "Phi, you..," "Rain, I..," they both said at the same time, then stopped. "You go first Phi," Rain said. "I want to apologise to you Rain. So many troubles in your life, and it seems like I am the reason. I will try and make your life easier; I assure you," Phayu said. "And how do you plan to do that Phi? By leaving Bangkok? By running away like the coward you are?" Rain asked, point blank.

Phayu

Phayu stared at Rain, extremely surprised that Rain had been able to guess what his plans were. "How..?" "Do you know why I started liking you Phi?" Phayu shook his head, wondering where this was going, but well prepared for heartbreak. After all, Rain spoke in the past tense. "When I first saw you, I was around 11, being bullied for my scar. You looked so imposing, as you loomed upon my bullies. One of them nearly pissed his pants. I found that so funny. Not 2 minutes ago, he had been poking my scar and trying to make me feel ugly, and now, he was cowering in fear. You took me away from there, and then bought me ice-cream. You spent time with an unknown boy and you taught me that bullies are cowards. That we need to learn to stand up for ourselves. You were the first person, apart from Sky, who gave me a worth," Rain said.

"That was you?" Phayu asked. Rain nodded. "I was that boy Phi. Sky thinks that I started liking you this past year, since Freshmen Orientation, but I liked you long before that. You were the first person in my life at that point who did not find my face disgusting, despite of the scar being so visible. You made me feel that I could be considered human too," Rain said. Phayu did not utter a word. He couldn't. Anything he said would make him sound like an idiot. "I may not have fallen in love with you at that moment Phi, but you definitely made an impact. I was 11, so I thought it is just gratitude I feel. But when I started training, I realised it was more than gratitude. It is only when I saw you at last cheer that realised that what I felt for you was way more than just being thankful. I put you on a pedestal, like other students from the Uni did. Then I heard stories about you from your family, and I understood. You were just another person, flawed like the rest of us, and my like grew into something more. There was more than gratitude, more than respect, more than infatuation, more than like," Rain said.

"How did you know I planned to leave Bangkok?" Phayu asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "I have been watching you over a year Phi. I know that sounds very creepy, but you have tells," Rain said. Phayu was surprised. Even his family couldn't make out what he was thinking at a given point in time, then how could Rain? Rain sighed. "Now you are thinking how I have you so figured out, when your family doesn't," he said. Phayu reared back in shock. "Don't worry Phi, not psychic," Rain said, plucking Phayu 's next thought from his head. "You have this twitch under you right eye, almost indiscernible, but there. It's like, your skin is flickering, rather than your eye," Rain said.

"So, do you plan to leave Bangkok?" Rain asked. "I just think it would be better for you..," Phayu trailed off when Rain laughed bitterly. "Wow Phi! Trying to palm off your failures on me much?" he asked, making Phayu's jaw tighten. "Don't blame your cowardice on me Phi. You just wanted an excuse to leave in any case, but it will be easier to dump the blame on me, right? Did you ever think to stand up and fight? In my opinion, it makes you worse than the bullies I faced that day, many years ago," Rain said. "Rain," Phayu said, his voice a soft warning. "Or what Phi? You will beat me up? Afraid now that home truths are being flung on you?" Rain asked.

Rain

Rain knew that he was simply goading Phayu. His original plan had been to just come in, drop Phayu's things and leave. But seeing Phayu this way, slightly broken and despairing, had set off alarms on his radar. And he couldn't leave his Phi like that. His Phi was not supposed to be sad. "Or what Phi? You will beat me up? Afraid now that home truths are being flung on you?" Rain asked. He knew very well he was goading Phayu, but he was willing to do that. He wanted to see how Phayu would react. Would he really give up on Rain without even trying. Rain wanted to fling himself on Phayu and beg him to stay, but he never wanted anyone to have that kind of power over him. Ever. So he watched the myriad expressions crossing Phayu's face.

Ple

To say that she was nervous, would be an understatement, but she was prepared. She was more that willing to bear the consequences of her actions. Som had really crossed all limits. Not only had he ensured that Rain's award was revoked, but he was also now working on getting his scholarship removed. She knew from the conversations she had heard, so she had done something unthinkable. She had taken his phone and taken screenshots of his chats with P'Jack and P'Bank; anything and everything relevant. She had also made sure to clean out all evidence that she had done such a thing. She knew that if she was ever discovered, there would be hell to pay. But this was for Rain. For their best friend, who had already gone through so much in his young life.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sig asked, as Ple stood with Sky and Sig waiting for Som and his cronies to come in. Por was doing something else. They had used this week to collect as much information as they could and were now almost ready to face-off with the worst person they had ever known. The three of them had made Rain's week miserable. P'Jack had actually tried to grind himself on Rain. Sig had been so furious that he had wanted to march up to the man and break his fucking nose. It took Sky, Por and Ple to hold him down. They couldn't afford marks on Som until they exposed him, because then that would boomerang on them. They wanted to hold a bloodless coup, and they needed to be extra careful. "Absolutely! I am not gonna back down. He may be my brother, but he doesn't deserve to be," Ple said, standing confidently with her boys.

Som, Jack, and Bank walked in with a swagger, as if they owned the fucking Uni. "Hello seniors," Sig said, loud enough for a few people to turn and see and look at the group. "Have respect for your seniors Ai'Sig," Som said, nose in the air. "Don't you know respect is a two way street. You get respect only when you are ready to give it," Ple said. "Ple! Stay out of this," Som said. "Huh!" Ple curled her lip in disgust. "Like you stay out of our lives Phi?" she asked, saying the Phi as if she was literally spitting it out. "What the hell do you want?" Jack asked. "We just wanted to remind you that you are also the recipients of some awards," Sky said. "So? What do you think what you can do about it? We deserved it, that slut doesn't!" Bank said.

"Let's get down to business then," Sky said. "First and foremost, let's make certain things crystal clear. You will withdraw the complaint against Rain right away. If not, we have all the material and evidence to prove defamation. We can easily prove that you have been slandering his character, not only in private, but also in public. We also have enough evidence to prove sexual harassment. We have already submitted all necessary documents to our lawyer. He has confirmed that we have everything required to file a civil, as well as a criminal case against you. But we can ensure that no action is taken against you, as long as you publicly apologise to Rain," Sig said. "And if we don't do that?" Jack smirked.

"Ah, well! We had hoped to settle this in an easy manner. But you asked for this," Sig said. "What the fuck do you mean?" Jack asked. "Por? You ready babe? If yes, go ahead," Ple asked. Suddenly the common room TV, which was used to project school news, came to life. Every single video that they had recorded as proof against the three seniors came on screen. Screenshots of their conversation, defaming Rain and talking trash about him, their planned attack, videos of the physical and sexual taunts against Rain, everything was aired like the filthiest laundry for everyone to see. "Turn it off, turn this shit off right away," Som screamed as more and more people, including teachers, collected around, watching the drama unfold.

"How dare you slander us like that?" Jack shouted, pulling Sig's collar. "Like what? Like you did with Rain?" Sky asked. "He deserved it. He shouldn't have put himself out in public if he didn't want any attention on himself," Bank said. Instead of helping Sky pull Bank and Sig apart, Ple marched upto Som, and slapped him right across the face! Som reeled back in shock, as did his friends. Bank immediately let go of Sig to look at the brother-sister duo. "HOW DARE YOU HIT ME?" Som screamed. "JUST YOU WAIT!! MOM-DAD WILL HEAR OF THIS!" he added. "That's exactly what I want," Ple said calmly. "What?" Som stared nonplussed at his sister. "Well, if they do something for me, I have enough evidence to prove their mistreatment of me. Also. I would be only too happy to tell everyone how they are harbouring a criminal," Ple said, her smirk clear.

"What is happening here?" the Dean came forward on a run, followed by some members of the faculty, as well as a member of the board. "Som, Jack, Bank! Explain yourself!" he shouted. "And you!" he looked at the three friends. "If Rain doesn't deserve an award, then neither do they, Sir," Ple said clearly. "Rain's ideas are original, whereas the three of them could not have an original idea even if it thrown at them." "We will take a call on Rain's award, and his scholarship," the Dean relented. "As for the three of you, you are suspended until further notice. No internship will be provided to you, nor will your year-end project be considered for grading till this mess is cleared up." "They need to apologise to Rain, Sir," Sky said. "We will figure everything out. For now, disperse," the Dean said. He then turned to one of the lecturers. "Escort these three men out. We will see what best can be done later," he said, turning away and leaving.

"He is not going to do anything about Rain's apology or award and scholarship," Por's voice came through their earphones. "It's time to call Uncle Vegas then," Ple said, satisfaction dripping from her tone.