KongArt Week

3. Speak

Day 3 Prompt: "Please tell me."

There was always that one rule his mother told him.

Speak only when spoken to.

It was the same phrase his family has told him his whole life, from the day he was sent to school, to the evening he was sent off to marry a man he just met.

As if he was mute, Arthit never spoke. In retrospect, he spoke only when necessary. When he needed to call for maintenance when people would ask him about the company when his boss would require a response from him after asking him to do his report. Other than that, he never spoke, not even chatter or any storytelling.

Because what was there to tell when he wasn't asked?

Growing up in a wealthy family should have had its perks, and yet Arthit could barely point out anything. Maybe it was the fact that he could read all the books he desired, or he always had a meal prepared for him. But why was there a required price to pay? Born as the sole heir, his parents already set a path for him, and that path could only be taken without his voice.

Graduating from a pristine university, with flying colors, excelling in working his way up to the top in their own company, his parents could not have asked for a better son. Living his life, Arthit felt like he was a hollow shell like he was never a person.

His name, Arthit Rojnapat, heir of Rojnapat Incorporated. Just that. Not Arthit Rojnapat, the pink milk lover, not Arthit Rojanapat, the astronomy enthusiast, not Arthit Rojanapat, the loving son.

Every day, he walked down the path, neatly cleaned, and polished by his parents.

Like a doll, molded from a factory. A vessel. A tool of convenience.

This is what that rule led him, to be a meek nobody. And if no one would ask him to speak, he would talk to no one. It was a give and take. Even without his parents being physically there with him, the rule was deeply ingrained into his head that he could never forget about following it. His classmates would always avoid him, mostly mistaking him for a mute or a boring person.

Arthit was actually very boring if he would say so himself. His life would definitely be boring with all the business and commerce books being shoved down his throat 24/7. The only colorful thing in his library was his secret astronomy book, which he sneaked into his home after making an excuse that he had to buy school supplies for university that day.

He loved his parents, because who else was there to love when he had no one?

Trapped. Caged. Cornered.

Unspoken words, just like the million other words he wanted to say but couldn't. Chains wrapped around his throat, like a leash, a pet.

He wanted to get out, run away from this hell. But life was always there to fuck him up. The day when he thought he could run away, his bags ready, and enough money was stuffed inside it to feed himself for a year, it was the day his parents dragged him to the office.

To the top floor, the biggest meeting room he has ever been in.

He remembered his mother glowering at him, and his father sent him a warning, like was telling him to behave. Because a man, who looked like his age, was standing seven feet away from him, his back facing him.

Lean, muscled, and expensive; that's what he looked like in Arthit's eyes.

"Arthit, meet your fiancee, Kongpob Suthiluck."

The pale man widened his eyes, his body rigid. His mother swiftly pushed him forward, at the same time the man turned around. He wanted to scream, shout, cry, and sob. But all he did was be silent. Just like always.