"Sometimes I wonder when the weather station will give us a correct report. This is the third time in four days that they have been wrong with the forecast," Phayu sighed, as he looked at the torrential downpour, causing another race to get cancelled. Saifah looked at his brother. "You should take the SUV if you are going back to the house. I will go in the trucks to the compound," he said. "Nah! I will take the bike," Phayu said, just as Pai walked up. "What's up? Did Pa call?" he asked, leaning on his baby. "Yeah! Race cancelled," Saifah said, watching as the trucks rolled up close to the mechanics' tent.

"Are you coming to the compound Ven?" Pai asked. "I am going home. I have an important presentation tomorrow, and the house is closer to the office. Pai and Saifah nodded. The three of them supervised the loading of the bikes to be taken to the garage, and those which would be shifted back to the compound. Phayu bid his brothers goodbye. "Tell Pa I will be over to see him next week Ro," he said, before swinging his leg over his bike and riding off. The rain had gotten heavier and he was literally driving on muscle memory, almost unable to see the road clearly through the visor of his helmet.

But he did notice the slightly battered BMW by the side of the road, looking sadly lopsided. Although Phayu had to give it to the person who was driving it. They at least had the foresight to switch on the hazard lights. Phayu sighed and drew up on the side of the car. He knocked on the window and gestured backwards. He was amazed at the sight that met his eyes when the window rolled down. The cutest little boy looked up at him. He looked to be a serious person, but the tiny creases next to his eyes and mouth clearly showed that he smiled often

Phayu was enamoured despite himself. He had had his fair share of partners, but this little brown haired cutie was definitely someone different. "Your back tyre is gone Nong. If you pop the boot, I can help you change it," he said. The boy looked confused for a second, then his face cleared. "So that was the sound I heard," he said, shaking his head at his own folly. He quickly unlocked the boot and Phayu went around and took out the tools and the spare. He went through the motions and then realised that the rain had stopped over his head, which was weird, because it still seemed to be raining around him. He looked up and saw that the cutie was holding up a yellow umbrella over him. Phayu smiled behind his gaiter mask. "Nong, I am already drenched. You can stay dry inside," he said. "It seems unfair Phi, that you are changing my tyre in the rain and I stay inside all snug and dry. This is the least I can do," the boy said.

Phayu shook his head and got back to work. The boy looked on in interest. Once he was done, he lugged the tyre back and put it in, closing the boot. "If you are driving a car Nong, you must take care of it too," he gently admonished. If it had been anyone else, he would have given them a piece of his mind, but this boy was too cute to scare away. "I usually do Phi. In fact, this tyre had just been changed. So I am wondering what went wrong," the boy said, looking a bit forlorn. Phayu couldn't bear to see the sadness on that cute face, so he pulled down his gaiter. The boy's eyes widened. "P'Venice?" he breathed out.

Phayu was taken aback. No one outside of his family knew his real name. He went by Venice only when he was playing a Theerpanayakul. In the real world, he was Phayu. So how did this boy know his name? "How do you know that name?" he asked, his voice hard. He knew he had sounded mean as fuck when the boy flinched a bit, but held his ground, head going up in mutiny. Phayu was impressed despite himself. "I use your garage for my car's service. I have seen your pictures along with P'Rome's," he said calmly. "Did Ro give you our real names?" Phayu was confused. How had that happened? "No, Khun Vegas and Khun Pete did," the boy said. Now Phayu was even more dumbfounded. His parents? The top secret keepers of the world? Had told an unknown boy something like this?

"You have met my fathers?" he asked, sounding a little put out. The boy nodded. "I seem to be at a disadvantage. You know everything about me, and I don't even know your name," Phayu said. He had forgotten about going home, forgotten it was raining, forgotten the world. All that existed was the two of them under the yellow umbrella. The boy blushed slightly, eliciting the strangest reaction from Phayu. He hardened, shocking himself. How could someone's blush turn him on? He tried to adjust himself unobtrusively. "My name is Varain Phi, but everyone calls me Rain. I am a 1st year architecture student at Chula," the boy said. "Really?" Phayu asked, surprised. The boy nodded happily.

"I was also in Chula, in the faculty of Architecture," Phayu told him. "I know Phi, but I have never seen your name there," the boy said, pouting slightly. Phayu stopped himself from licking his lips by sheer will power. "I went by Phayu at the Uni," he said, swallowing the saliva that had pooled in his mouth. "Oh! P'Phayu? The most amazing student at Chula?" Rain asked, his tone changing a bit, making Phayu confused now. He nodded, noticing how Rain's smile had fallen away. "It was nice meeting you Phi. It's getting late, you should head home, as should I," Rain said, turning away and slipping into the car, closing the umbrella and leaving so abruptly that Phayu was left standing by the side of the road, completely lost as to what had happened.

The entire night, he couldn't sleep. He rushed for the client presentation, arriving minutes before the other party, surprising Mhok. Phayu was never late. "Anything wrong?" he asked. "No Phi, had a bad night," Phayu replied, saved from expanding on that when the receptionist announced that the clients were here. The presentation went well and Phayu immediately rushed to the garage. He was surprised to find his whole family there. His Dad, Pa, Saifah and Chai, all were seated in their common office and chatting. "Ven!" His Pa was the first to notice him. He hugged both of them and then sat with Saifah. "What are you doing here? Didn't you have a presentation?" Saifah asked. "Ro, do you know Rain?" Phayu asked, without mincing words.

"I do," Saifah sounded surprised. "We all do in fact," Chai said. "Sweetest boy ever," Vegas said, which was definitely strange, because Vegas was never nice to anyone. Except maybe his husband. "He hates me," Phayu said. Saifah threw back his head and laughed. "Well, I am glad someone is smart enough to do that. You deserve it after what you did to the poor boy," he said. "What did I do to him? I have never even met him," Phayu said, sounding irritated. "Do you remember the competition held the Uni about a month ago, that you were called to judge?" Pete asked. Phayu nodded, not knowing what this was leading to. "He had the best project in all of them, but you gave the first prize to some other project that was not even good enough. But because the Uni was sending top 3, he managed to scrape through," Vegas said.

"Why would I do something like that? That's ridiculous!" Phayu said indignantly. "Wait. There is proof. Apparently, you didn't even bother to look at his project. Surprisingly, it was this very project that got the first prize at Singapore's Architecture awards for its green and eco-friendly sustainability. And you rejected it for that very reason, because it was not modern enough. So, that's why my cute little Nong hates you from the bottom of his heart," Saifah said. "So how come he was okay with me being P'Venice?" Phayu asked. Because he hasn't seen Phayu, but has seen you in pictures," Pete said. "Look, I didn't even judge those. P'Mhok did. I only did the preliminaries, and then he took over," Phayu said, sounding despondent. "You should tell him that, not us," Pete said firmly, putting an end to all discussion.

On Monday morning, Phayu went directly to the Uni, causing an uproar when he asked for Rain. Some other student pointed towards the canteen, saying that at this time of the day, he was likely to be there. Phayu went in, looking around, finally spotting the auburn hair. He marched up to the table and sat down in front of Rain, startling his whole group. "I only did the preliminaries on the presentations and projects. My senior P'Mhok was the one who did the final judging of your projects," Phayu said without any preamble, before anyone could say anything or even greet him. Rain looked taken aback. "I am sorry?" he asked. "You hate me because of that project na? I didn't do the final judging. I swear on my job as an architect. I had a site visit that day, so I went there, and P'Mhok took over," Phayu said.

"And why do you see the need to tell me this?" Rain asked. "Because I want to hit on the cute boy who held a yellow umbrella over my head, not caring about himself. How can I do that if he doesn't like me?" Phayu said, smirking a bit at the stumped look on Rain's face. Rain shook his head a bit, as if dislodging something in his ear. "I think I heard that wrong. Could you please repeat it?" he asked. "I want to pursue you Rain," Phayu said. "Why?" Rain asked, genuinely curious. "One, you are the cutest boy I have ever seen. Two, not many people earn the trust of my family, and because I love them, I want my partner to be loved by them too. Who better than you?" Phayu said, making Rain turn beet red, hiding his face in his hands.

Phayu knelt in front of him, removing Rain's hands away. "So? May I get this chance?" he asked. The entire canteen took up the chant of 'Say yes!' making Rain smile. He looked towards his friends, who nodded, then looked back at Phayu. "But Phi, you just saw me yesterday," he said, unsure still. "Well, haven't you heard of love at first sight? How could I ever resist a cute boy?" Phayu asked, sounding smug. "So? One chance?" he added. Rain looked into his eyes for a few moments, and whatever he saw must have gotten through, because he nodded. "Okay Phi," he said shyly, surprised when Phayu lifted him off his feet and twirled him around. "I won't let you down," he whispered in the younger boy's ear as he set him down, catcalls surrounding them as they stared into each other's eyes!