"Sky? Rain didn't come with you?" Pete asked, looking around for the boy. Phayu's ears perked up, wanting to know Sky's reply. "No Uncle Pete. He left immediately after the exam and he was not in the dorm when I got back. I have no idea what happened, or where he went," Sky said. The whole family was in the exclusive club that belonged to them, and Pai had invited Sky and his friends over to get rid of the stress of exams. "Sky? Isn't that P'King?" Ple suddenly pointed out. "It is. If he is here, P'Uea, Dao and Kleun will be there too. Let's go meet them," Sig said, jumping up and pushing his way through the crowd. "P'King?" he asked, as he stopped in front of the man Ple had pointed out. "Yes, that is me? And you are?" the man asked.

"Hello Phi, I am Sig, Rain's friend," he said, waiing. "Oh, okay. How can I help you?" King asked. "Phi, do you know where Rain is?" Sig asked. "Nong, you said you are his friend. If he didn't tell you, why do you think he would have said anything to me?" King asked, feeling bad, but knowing that Rain did want his whereabouts revealed. "He stays with you all more than he does with us nowadays," Sig said, sounding a bit belligerent. "Then you should all reflect as to why, instead of coming and asking me questions about things that hardly concern you," King said, collecting his drinks and walking away, feeling bad and mad. Sig went back to the table and told the group seated there what happened, feeling properly chastised.

Rain woke up to the sounds that he had woken up to all his life. The last few months in Bangkok had taught him to appreciate his own sleepy little hometown even more. He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed down to the kitchen after he had freshened up. His parents were just sitting down to their breakfast, "Mae, Phaw, he said, running in, super excited to be there. "Careful lu," his mother said, smiling happily. It was good to have their boy back. "We thought you would sleep a bit more," his father said, smiling at him too. Sending their Rain away had been the hardest thing they had done, but seeing him happy had settled all their worries. They knew they had raised a strong, smart boy, but the fear as parents never really went away, especially since they knew how hard the world could be on people from the LGBTQIA+ community, despite the passing of the bill.

"So? Did you meet anyone interesting?" his father asked. Pin-drop silence fell across the table, as Rain looked at his parents with eyes filled with sorrow. "Rain? Lu? What happened?" his mother asked, immediately solicitous of her son. "I did meet someone," Rain said, and proceeded to recount the story of how he had expectations, but the man himself did not care. It hurt him to talk about Phayu, but he knew that his parents would understand. "Rain, I am so proud of you lu. You must learn to put yourself first. You did the right thing. If he really cared for you, he would have reached out by now," his father said, and his mother nodded as well, deciding then and there to keep Rain busy and distracted.

One week later, Phayu stared at the gloomy weather outside the window. Every since Rain had left, it had been like he had taken away the sunshine from the city. Even the weather Gods had decided that Phayu needed to be reminded of the boy every single day, even if he was not around in person. As if Phayu needed a reminder! He snorted. From the day Rain had pulled away from him, Phayu had felt a sense of void in his life. He had friends before, he had lovers before, but their coming or going didn't change anything in the trajectory of his life. He continued to be the same way, enjoying life, working in Mhok's firm, helping the family business. When he had deemed it time, he had slowly begun to move more towards his own path, and had a pretty hard reputation in the Mafia world. He had done things his way, at his pace, and as the oldest Theerpanayakul of the new generation, no one dared question him or his intentions.

Phayu had learnt one lesson from a very young age; if someone tried to get close to you, it was for a reason, and most likely the reason was your name. When the first such incident happened, Phayu reeled under the shock and trauma. Later, his heart hardened. He was what he was, and he could not change who he was. But he did change his name, which is why no one in the Uni knew who he exactly was. And Phayu preferred it that way. But somehow, Rain had been able to slip past all the guards he had erected around his heart. Rain had become a really sweet friend, someone who knew everything about him, and among all of Sky's group, it was Rain who had been a solace to him. While he had not talked much to the boy, he had realised that unlike other people from the Uni, Rain was not one to talk unless spoken to. He did not fawn over Phayu the way Ple or Som did, or look at him as he was someone special, like Sig and Por did. He behaved with Phayu exactly in the same way he did with Sky, calmly and coolly.

Phayu realised that he had started to enjoy the feeling of peace that Rain brought with him, and its loss had hit him hard. But the biggest problem was, according to him, that he didn't know why Rain had chosen to disappear from his life. He had racked his brains trying to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong, but he came up with a blank. He then wondered if it was one of Sky's and Rain's friends who had done something, and he asked Sky about it. "I am not sure Phi, but I don't think so. I know Sig really teases him, P'Som doesn't like him much but doesn't really care anyway, Por does join Sig sometimes, but he is more or less harmless. As for Ple, I know she is fond of Rain, says he is a pretty good person to know. Actually, most of the 1st years think of Rain that way. He is sweet," Sky said, after thinking for a while. "And do you think Som said anything to him?" Phayu asked, a bit worried. "Honestly Phi? I don't think so. Rain is actually pretty sensitive to undercurrents. He knows P'Som doesn't like him, so he steers clear of the man. And P'Som also doesn't go out of his way to talk to Rain either, so yeah," Sky said. "Then why did Rain cut himself off from the rest of you?" Phayu asked, and Sky stared at him, perplexed.

This was a question that had been bothering him as well. But it was not like he could tell Rain to open himself up? He had not been very forthcoming with Rain either, right? He had known the boy almost an year; they lived together, ate together, worked together, but when the time came to express the truth, hadn't he stepped backwards first? So there was no way in hell he could force Rain to talk about himself. In the time he had known Rain, it had become pretty clear to him the Rain was the perfect example of 'still waters ran deep'. He was so much more than he seemed on the surface. There were depths to him that they had not even begun to touch. As for why he had decided to cut himself off from them, and from the Theerpanayakul family, that would be question to which only Rain had a response. But it did bug Sky, and after their conversation, it was clear there was something of the sort was bothering P'Phayu too. Unfortunately, there was hardly anything anyone could do.

Pete looked at his phone for the 5th time in 10 minutes, and sighed. Again. The message had been delivered, but no one had read it yet. He looked up when the door opened and his oldest walked it. Venice, or Phayu as he was known as by people who cared for him, was looking miserable and Pete wondered what had happened. "Penny for your thoughts lu?" Pete said, as Phayu settled into the sofa with his head pillowed on his father's lap. Now Pete started feeling a bit worried. "Why do even the weather Gods want me to think of Rain Pa?" Phayu asked, sounding a bit whiny. Pete gamely swallowed his laughter. So this was how it was. His oldest had finally fallen, and he couldn't have chosen better for Venice, than the sweet little sunshine boy.

"So, Rain huh?" Pete asked, a snicker escaping him, despite all his attempts to stay serious. Phayu hmphed, knowing his Pa would enjoy this.. this phase he was going through. But he would still give good advice, which was something he desperately needed. "I don't know Pa. I thought he was a friend. And he was. Everything about him was so.. so perfect. He brought so much peace to me. And then suddenly, he was gone. I don't even know why," Phayu trailed off. Pete nodded, thoughtful, looking again at his phone. He had wondered the same thing. Why had Rain begun to distance himself from the family. His message had been to Rain, asking him when he would come back. But there had been no answer so far.

"Look lu, I am not looking to place any blame on you, but did you think back and see if any incident came to mind? If something happened?" Pete asked, stroking Phayu's hair. Phayu was quiet for a few minutes. "I did Pa. I thought long and hard. In fact, I even asked Sky if any one of them had said anything to him. But nothing. We are all drawing a blank. As far as I know, he continued to work with them on projects and stuff, but then that means it has to be something I did?" Phayu sounded so despondent that Pete's heart went out to him. "Lu, I am going to say something. Please don't take it the wrong way," Pete said. Phayu nodded. "Ven, you have a reputation. I know you built it up to escape the heartbreak the younger you was given, but for someone like Rain, it could be something that repels him. He never approached you for who you were, in fact, he didn't care about it at all, if I remember correctly, right?" Pete asked. "Yes Pa. When Sky introduced us, it was a polite waii and that's it. He couldn't care less as to who I was," Phayu said.

"Ven, Rain was not brought up in Bangkok. He doesn't know who the Theerpanayakuls are. Plus, he is a brilliant young man in his own right. So your reputation at the Uni wouldn't bother him either. But he is still a sweet, innocent boy. Did you make your stand clear with him? What you feel for him? Did you ever stop to think that the way you were treating him, differently from others, could have been misconstrued as something else? That he could have read something deeper into it? And when it went bust, he decided to remove himself from your periphery, and removed you from his life?" Pete asked, as Phayu sat up straight and stared at his father. This was something he had not considered, even in his wildest dreams. But there was a humongous possibility that his Pa was right.

"What do I do Pa?" he asked. "Well, for starters, you need to sort out your feelings. If you think you want Rain in your life, then you need to know in what capacity he is going to be there, friend, or lover. If it's as a friend, then you need to approach him and talk to him and convince him to be your friend. If it's as a lover, then you need to court him properly, make him feel the love. Ven, if you love him, only then approach him. Don't make him one of the many who have walked in your life. The others who came before him, they knew who you were and couldn't care less what happened to them, as long as they could boast of having been in your bed. Rain is not like that. He deserves to be someone's endgame, and make sure you know your heart before you ask for his in return, okay?" Pete said, hoping Phayu would understand.

Phayu stared at his father thoughtfully. What did he want from Rain? He remembered every little thing about the boy; his thoughtful nature, his calm demeanour, his warmth, his beauty, his rare smiles that were like both a gift and a benediction. Phayu recalled the moments when he would just sit with Rain while the younger boy would be doing his projects and try to annoy him to gain his attention, just spilling over with laughter when Rain would turn and glare at him with those beautiful brown doe eyes, looking more like a mad bunny rather than a mad human. He knew for sure he had never done that with anyone. He had never wanted someone's attention as badly as he had wanted Rain's. Is that what love was?

Pete looked at his son and realised that Phayu was hardly the stoic person they thought him to be as he watched the myriad expressions cross his face. He smiled to himself. His son was smitten and had not even realised it. But Pete could see the exact moment Phayu's bulb had gone on. He shook his head. It looked like he would be getting a son in-law sooner than he thought. That is, if Rain ever gave his foolish son a chance. But he also knew one very important thing. Phayu was a Theerpanayakul. He was Vegas's son in every way, and he had inherited his father's tenacity in spades. If he decided to pursue Rain, then he was not going to give up until Rain was his. Permanently. And somehow, Pete knew that Rain was not a passing fancy for Phayu, because for no one had Phayu looked as miserable as he was looking now. This time, the boy meant business, and Pete really hoped that Rain felt the same way about his son.