Lil' Prince

Chapter 6

Kongpob: 17 Arthit: 8

3rd Person's POV

"Arthit, stop that!" Prem gently hit on the back of Arthit's hand when he noticed his younger brother slumping on the couch, biting his nail. Arthit stopped and looked up at Prem, curving his lips into a small smile.

"Stop doing that, Oon. Dad told you not to bite on your nails anymore." Prem reprimanded but Arthit was silent for a moment before he nod his head and turned back to the television. Noticing that Arthit wasn't biting his fingernails anymore, Prem continued scrolling through his phone and when he looked up again, he saw Arthit on his phone and biting on his nails anew.

"Arthit Rojnapat." The boy being called stiffened, his hand placed back onto his lap.

"What's wrong? You didn't start biting your nails until two weeks ago." Prem asked, scooting closer to Arthit. It's not only his nail-biting behavior that confuses Prem, Arthit hadn't been quite himself lately. He was on his phone most of the time and he was always seen nervously biting on his fingernails or picking on the skin of his finger. When their brothers or father was inquiring about his recent behavior, he would mostly just remain silent.

"Nothing, P'Prem." He was picking on his finger again and Prem sighed defeatedly.

"Why don't you go to bed? It's getting late after all." Arthit nodded and greeted him goodnight before going back to his room. At that moment, Kongpob immerged from the kitchen with two cans of booze in hand. He handed one of them to Prem and took the seat beside him.

"What's wrong with that kid?" He lifted his chin, pointing at Arthit's retreating back.

"He seems to be kinda off lately. But we couldn't grasp what had actually happened."

"Is the bastard from his school around again? If so, we can-"

"It's not him, the guards had told me the boy was never around Arthit anymore."

"What about his studies? Is it getting harder for him to catch on?" Kongpob took a sip of the drink from the can and leaned on the back of the couch. His eyes squinted slightly as he watched the channel Arthit had turned to on the television before leaving the living room. It was a reality show, starring celebrities, and their kids.

"He's watching this?"

"Yeah, these few weeks he'd been liking these types of shows and he's doing fine and school. My dad had already spoken to their homeroom teacher and the guards to know if anything abnormal happened, but the problem is nothing is wrong."

Kongpob hummed softly hearing his best friend ranting worriedly about his youngest brother. He'd known that the youngest Rojnapat is the treasure of the family and they will not let anything or anyone harm him. So, Arthit's weird behaviors were leading the brothers and father into thinking of the worst scenarios.

"Well, there's no point in doing anything right now. Just wait, maybe he'll speak to you when he wants to, okay?" Kongpob patted Prem's shoulder as the latter heaved a sigh of defeat.

"I supposed so."

_______________________________________

Arthit was laying in his bed. It was another sleepless night for him. His hand was clutching tightly onto his phone as he took deep breaths, trying to calm himself and fall asleep.

"Sleep, Oon." He said to himself, feeling his racing heart. He tossed and turned a few more times before he eventually sat up on the bed, switching on his phone. He looked through the messaging apps and found no new incoming messages.

Tears started welling in his eyes and he blinked, trying to force the tears back in. He felt a little suffocated in the room so he took his phone and stepped out of his bedroom. He was wandering on the first floor before walking down the stairs to the kitchen to grab some water. He was tiptoeing, afraid that his brothers or father would be aware that he was still awake. When he was in the kitchen, he tried to reach the countertop to get the jug of water but couldn't as it was placed far out of his reach.

He was about to give up when a tanned hand reached out from behind him and got the jug, pouring water into his mug. He was startled for a moment before turning around to find Kongpob standing right behind him.

"You scared me, P'." He whispered, patting his chest to calm himself from the shock.

"Why are you still up, kid?"

"Couldn't sleep." Arthit pouted and took a few gulps of the cooling water, "You're sleeping over, P'Kongpob?"

"Yes, had a project with Prem and the deadline is nearing." Kongpob leaned against the refrigerator and rubbed his face with his hand to chase off the tiredness from staying up way past midnight for a few days in a row.

"Prem told me you're behaving quite concerningly recently. What happened?"

"Nothing, P'." Arthit shook his head before drinking another sip of water.

"You don't need to hide from me, kid. You didn't trust me?" Kongpob had thought he would eventually gain some of the kid's trust after the incident with the boy in the school. But maybe he'd thought wrong.

"It's not that I don't trust you, P'. There is nothing wrong." Arthit tried to assure Kongpob but the latter saw right through his façade.

"You've been watching these family reality shows lately. Is it about your mom?" That simple question made Arthit freeze and he saw tears instantly form in the youngest's eyes. Most might have thought Arthit was living his best life being born into a wealthy family, but Kongpob knew Arthit wasn't as happy as how people thought he might be. The complications in the family, especially from both side of his parents, was weighing on his shoulders. He'd put on a joyful mask but Kongpob knew it was all just for show since he'd himself put on a mask for the world to see.

"It is about her." Kongpob confirmed and saw the soft nod from the boy.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Kongpob asked and Arthit shook his head. He tried to wipe off his tears but more tears started rolling down his cheek and the next time he knew, Kongpob had pulled him into his warm embrace as he broke into sobs.

"Shh, whatever it is, it'll be better soon, okay?" Kongpob not knowing how to console a child could only pat his back gently.

"M-Mom." Arthit whispered through his hiccups, "Sh-She doesn't want m-me anymore."

Indeed, it'd been about a month since his mind was preoccupied with his mom. He'd heard from one of the servants that his mother would get married to another man and he would be abandoned, that she would not visit him anymore. This realization delve into his heart, even more, when he didn't receive texts or calls from his mom for a month. She didn't come to visit nor did she send any gifts like she usually would.

"Mom doesn't want Arthit anymore."

He'd thought it was because his fingernails were long at first since his mother had reprimanded his long fingernails when she came over to visit him. He was afraid that she didn't like his nails so he would tell the servants to help him cut his nails. But he thought it wasn't short enough, maybe that was the reason his mother didn't want to talk to him. And after eavesdropping on the conversation between the servants, he was even certain that his mom no longer loves him anymore.

His heart was cold but the consoling pats on his back were comforting him.

"Your P' is here."

At least he knew he wasn't actually all alone.

A/N:
Finally updating this story even though I should be preparing for tests and assignments. I'd planned to take down one of my stories, 'Under The Same Moon'. I hadn't updated that story for a really long time because that story will be touching on a heavy topic and I don't have the time to do more in-depth research since I really don't want to mess up the plot. I'm still considering this decision because I don't want to leave the current readers and new readers hanging. That's all from me, I'll try to update again when I find the time❤️