Summary: Wang and Inthawut start to light the candles during the storm and a second of tension is exchanged between them.
WangInthawut; 180 Degree The Series.
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I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that "A candle can be lit as a prayer for peace or a request for healing.", but at that moment when all the lights were off because of the storm and Sasiwimol was already way too high hugging a bottle of wine in the corner of the living room, I knew that what passed between Wang and I was far from a prayer, it felt like a sin. It burned everything I had fought for so long to build after Siam's passing, still it didn't turn me into ashes as I expected. I could feel the air charged around us.
At that moment, looking into Wang's eyes in the dim-lit room, I wasn't sure if I was seeing an angel possessing someone's body, a ghost from the past, or a boy trying to play with fire. But the thing is: he wasn't a boy. He had made sure to repeat several times since their arrival that although I seemed to be more mature – because I refuse to use the harsh words he had been evoking to refer to my age – he wasn't a kid either. On the top of his 20 years old Wang looked like someone who had already solved all of life's mysteries and that only made me more interested in him.
Yeah, he looked exactly like my only true love at the same age. Damn, Siam was the most beautiful person I have ever seen in this life. But there was something about Wang that was his only, not inherited from his dad. Wang was bold in a way Siam could never muster on our youth. Maybe, if the both of us had been more daring like this back then, we wouldn't be fated to break apart and break our hearts in the process.
"Aw, there is no more wine! In, didn't you offer me more wine? Go and bring me another bottle!", Mol had the sense to scream, finally crawling out of her trance just to ask something to help her to get lost on it again. That would be a long evening for all of us, I could feel it in my bones – not that I would reveal this piece of information to Wang because he would probably make another joke about "old people predicting things".
Startled by his mom's whining, Wang blinked twice and swallowed hard, like he had been holding his breath during all this time we were supposed to be lighting the candles, but just stood there looking into each other's eyes – or the shadows inside our gazes, who knows?
"I'm coming, Mol! Don't worry!", I replied to my long time friend while looking at her son. Could he understand that my words were also meant for him? I could go and help him too, if he asked. I could help him not to worry about the fears I was capable of seeing behind his snarky comments.
"You better go now or judging by a person of your age walks, you'll be here when it's morning again.", he said, that smart sparkle back to his eyes. He was definitely teasing me.
I bit my bottom lip to repress a smile and turned to Mol – only God knows what I would do if I wasn't strong enough to break eye contact with that little devil next to me.
"I'm going now, I'll be back in a minute."
My words were composed, being delivered into the real world using all the rest of self-control I still had. An oblivious witness could never imagine it took so much from me to do that.
Then I did the most mature thing I could in that setting: I ran. I ran from the living room, leaving my guests there with a question mark above their heads, to grab the wine bottle, my heart beating so loud like it was trying to mimic the thunder crossing the sky.
